One Small Thing
Hi there. If you've found your way here, chances are you might be feeling hopeless or scared, and you might need an idea for something to do today to help you feel like you're planning for an uncertain and challenging future, to get affirmation that what you're doing matters, and to feel like you're connected to the world. I often feel that way too, so I've made a list of some of the things I do and plan to do to feel better. Some of them are reading and education-focused, and some of them are direct action; some are a little more involved than others, so pace yourself, and only do what you feel you can, and don't be upset if it doesn't turn out perfectly. It's just One Small Thing. You can always come back tomorrow and try it again, or you can try something new.
As Mariame Kaba says, hope is a discipline, and we have to practice every day.
If you have more ideas that you'd like me to add to this list, please email them to me at meg.pillow@gmail.com. This list is just getting started, and I'd love to hear from you.
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I'm really glad you're here. The only way we get through this is together. Please come back again sometime.
Do you feel like shit? Start here
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Check on a neighbor and see what they need ​
Get the list of needs from your local food kitchen and buy one thing from it
Take an opioid overdose prevention course (online courses)
Buy some Narcan to have on hand or to give to a friend
​Donate 10 N95 masks to your local mask bloc
Read Malcolm X's autobiography
Write and mail a letter to someone you love
Attend a school board meeting
Get change for a $10 to keep in your wallet for unhoused folks
Donate to Little Miss Flint's Clean Water Fund
Set up a family and friend phone tree for emergencies
Attend a local government meeting
Make a big batch of food and split it with a friend or neighbor
Check the expiration dates on your at-home COVID tests
Donate to a local bail fund or to the Bail Project
Buy one physical media copy of a favorite album, movie, or television show
Contact your representatives about an issue that matters to you
Text a friend you haven't heard from in a while
Sign up to speak at a local government or school board meeting
Start a document of meatless and low-cost recipes and share it with your friends
Share on social media about an organization's fundraiser
Donate to or share one GoFundMe
Back up your documents to the cloud and to an external hard drive
Read up about protest safety
Request your library purchase a friend's book ​
Donate to Kentucky Health Justice Network
Buy a case of water bottles to share with delivery people
Build your disaster supply kit
Call an elderly family member and ask them to tell you a story, and record it or write it down
Check the expiration dates on your canned goods
Attend a protest or share on social media about a protest
Comment something kind or thoughtful on a stranger's social media post
Call a school to see if it has a school lunch balance and pay it or fundraise to pay it
Set up a disaster response plan for your family
Update your will
Give someone a hug and tell them how much you care about them
Read The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
Buy an air purifer for a local school or small business
Write an op-ed for your local paper
Read Black Liberation Through Action and Resistance
Buy a small sewing kit and learn the basics of how to mend
Make sure you have a physical copy of important passwords
Read up about community archives; consider starting one or find one in your area
Offer to babysit for a friend or neighbor
Read up on vacant lot restoration and adopt-a-lot programs
Buy a weather radio; if you can, buy one for a friend
Research local organizations you'd like to volunteer for
Identify at least one native plant to plant in your yard or community garden
Donate to the Climate Action Fund
Purchase a LifeVac for yourself or a friend
Sign up for a CPR and/or first aid course
Write down a list of your skills and at least one new skill you'd like to learn
Research local farms with farmshare or co-op programs
Read at least one new piece of updated COVID-19 research
Make a list of the people in your life and the skills they have (carpentry, gardening, car repair)
Read Our History Is The Future
Share your skills database with the people in your life
If you're going to the store, offer to shop for a family member or friend
Read and subscribe to Hammer & Hope, A Magazine of Black Politics & Culture
Open a high-yield savings account for yourself or a loved one
Learn how to install a rain barrel
Update your passport
Start a tool library with your neighborhood or your friends
Make sure you have a few gallons of bottled water in your basement
Read up on community alternatives to policing
Donate to or fundraise for a local nonprofit
Read and subscribe to the journal South Asian Avant-Garde
Put all your important documents into a fire-safe file
Find out if there's a seed library in your town or start one
Find someone else who is hopeless or scared and share this list with them