Spoiler Alert: It’s By Organizing Where You Live
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 fight back effectively, take care of yourself and others, and have way more fun than the other side is having.
Before diving in, here are the three things I need you to know:
- You are the majority.
- You have an enormous amount of leverage where you live.
- Your power is your network.
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 this group has a problem with this. But it’s really important to have a better time than they’re having.”
How Red Wine & Blue Bucked National Trends in 2024
Everything we do is grounded in our core values — building authentic relationships, leading with love, embracing continuous learning, creating inclusive and welcoming spaces, and facing challenges with resilience and boldness.
The 2024 presidential election made us feel a whole range of emotions: heartbreak, anger, fear, and resolve. The RWB community worked hard to bring our friends, family, and everyone we know to the polls and spread the message of the extremist threat of a second Trump term.
But despite losses at the federal level, almost everywhere RWB targeted locally, MAGA had a bad election night. Across the country, RWB bucked national trends to bring home wins:
- Three-quarters of the school board extremists we targeted lost in Michigan — and almost ALL of them lost in Virginia.
- The state legislative candidates we supported picked up seats in both chambers of the Ohio legislature, narrowly defended the majority in the Pennsylvania State House, broke the supermajority in the North Carolina State House, and won tight races in the Michigan State House.
- One of RWB’s top priorities for 2024 was defeating the Moms for Liberty extremist who lost her bid for NC Superintendent, trailing Trump by 3-5 points in nearly all of our targeted counties.
- Both pro-reproductive freedom MI Supreme Court candidates won by nearly 13 points.
The vast majority is with us, and when we organize, they show up.
It’s that common-sense majority of women that RWB has been recruiting, training, and empowering to organize right where they live, in their own communities, starting with their own friends and neighbors.
We’re so glad you’re here. Welcome!
The Purpose of This Guide
Groups sometimes ask 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
Each time there is a unique action that you or your group can take, it will be 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.
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.”
