Spoiler Alert: It’s By Organizing Where You Live
Women are always asking us if there’s anything that they can do to be effective in countering extremism in 2025. And the answer is yes, yes, 160 times yes! This guide will help you bring the joy of Red Wine & Blue to your community — while getting sh*t done that truly makes a difference.
This guide will walk you through:
- Building Your Community: Starting, Sustaining, and Growing Your TroubleNation Group
- Taking Back Power: Elections & Advocacy
- Showing Up: Protests, Boycotts, & Beyond
- Caring for Each Other: Mutual Aid & Protection
- The Secret to Effective Messaging
Using This Guide
Every unique action in this guide is highlighted in lavender so you can easily identify it. With so many great ideas here, there is definitely something for everyone! Links to external resources referenced will be at the bottom of each web page.
None of us has time to waste, so we want to be doing the work that adds the most value. This doesn’t mean your group will need to use everything in our toolkit; you can “choose your own adventure” and decide which parts are right for you. You should walk away with a roadmap for building your group and working together to stand up for your values and fight back against extremism.
While this guide is designed for TroubleNation group leaders (or those looking to start one), it’s also for ANYONE who wants to make a difference. Whether you’ve been unsure of where to start or simply want to bring fresh ideas to your group leaders, this guide is for you. Not yet part of a group? Click here to find and join your local TroubleNation group, get involved, and share what you’re about to learn.
A letter from Katie Paris, founder of Red Wine & Blue
One of our body’s five responses to trauma is to freeze. This is our body’s way of shutting down when it feels like fighting or fleeing isn’t an option.
Sound familiar?
My hope is that this guide helps you get out of freeze — and into a healthy response mode that enables you to take effective action, care for yourself and others, and make lifelong friends along the way.
Before diving in, here are the three things I need you to know:
- You are the majority
- Going local is the most effective way to fight back
- There is power in friendship
Read Katie's Full Letter
My hope is that this guide helps you get into a healthy response mode – so you can take effective action and make lifelong friends along the way. Here’s what you need to know before diving in:
1) You are the majority.
An overwhelming majority of Americans share our values. Most of us support public schools, common sense gun laws, and
reproductive rights. We don’t like book bans, separating families, or political attacks targeting LGBTQ+ kids. Don’t let anyone convince you there’s more that divides us than unites us.
2) Going local is the most effective way to fight back.
When extremists are dismantling the federal government, focusing on your own neighborhood might not be the first thing you think of.
But protections come from local government. Imagine telling an immigrant neighbor frightened of ICE raids that you called your Congressperson. Now imagine telling them you were fighting to make sure your school district had the right policies in place to protect their kids if it happened. Which one would make them feel safer?
Just a few calls to your school board, city council, or state legislature, can lead to change. And just a handful of votes can determine who’s in office.
In 2025, there are 100K open local seats on the ballot – more than in 2024 – and they’re taking place every Tuesday between now and November.
3) There is power in friendship.
At RWB, we’re all about friend-to-friend organizing (aka relational organizing) because we’re all about friendship, community, and doing what works.
Your friends may not answer the door for a canvasser, but they’ll take your call or answer your text. And when they answer, your conversation will be more impactful because your friends and family trust you.
Together, we have the ability to influence our neighbors and friends who want to do something but are unsure of what to do, don’t pay attention to local elections, might be vulnerable to disinformation, or just plain “don’t think about this stuff.”
These are our superpowers if we’re brave enough to use them: Knowing we’re not alone, taking action where we live, and tapping the power of friendship.
Let’s be brave together,
Katie
Who We Are
Red Wine & Blue is an empowered community of women working to change the world together, one friend at a time. We help you make meaningful connections, organize in your community, and become more effective than you ever imagined. If you want to make a difference, have fun, and make lifelong friends along the way, you’re in the right place.
“I don’t think [Red Wine & Blue] has a problem with this. But it’s really important to have a better time than the other side is having.”
And Find Community!
And Build Community!
160 Ways to Change the World
Explore the many ways you can make a difference in your community — and see what actions make sense for you! The sections below will help you plan how you’ll change the world by organizing where you live.
The Right Next Step
You don’t have to have everything mapped out — you only have to decide on the next right step!
Stay Active
Keep meeting regularly with your group, communicating often, and encouraging immediate and impactful actions. Set small goals and work towards them, such as three things to do:
- By next week
- By the end of the month
- Within the next six months
Stay Engaged
Keep taking the next right step so that you don’t lose momentum, but pay attention to burnout. Remind your group to prioritize self-care and to pace themselves.
Stay Connected
Be a community. Stay in touch with each other so that you can celebrate successes together and be supportive of each other when times are hard. And stay connected with your coalition partners, the TroubleNation team, and Red Wine & Blue — remember, we are all in this together!
“Just do the next right thing one thing at a time. That’ll take you all the way home.”
