📢 Resist & Rising Together Weekly: Good News and Progress from the Resistance

Resist & Rising Together Weekly shares uplifting stories of resistance, resilience, and real progress in the fight for democracy. Each week, we highlight victories for justice, freedom, and equality.

We’re powered by people, not corporations. Subscribe for free to stay informed — or go paid to help build grassroots change and fuel people-powered resistance.

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Hey there! Before we dive into the good news this week, I want to start with our Calls to Action. A friendly reminder — we’re a community that believes in the power of change and puts in the work to make it happen. It might not seem like much to spend five minutes signing a petition, writing a letter, or making a call, but when we act together, those small efforts add up. That’s how we hold our leaders accountable to the will of the people.

Today’s Calls to Action

• Click here to Tell Congress: Release the Epstein Files Now

• Click here to Stop Skyrocketing Costs and Chaos — Pass Medicare for All

• Click here to Tell Starbucks CEO: I won’t cross the picket line!

• Click here to Tell the EPA: Restore Solar for All Funding Now

• Support our work by upgrading your subscription or gifting to someone

Resist & Rising Together Weekly: Good News and Progress from the Resistance

Each week, Resist & Rising Together Weekly by People Power United shares stories of courage, creativity, and collective power from people pushing back against fascism and building a better future. While authoritarians try to divide and silence us, we rise—community by community, action by action—to defend democracy, demand justice, and celebrate progress. From victories in the courts and wins for workers to breakthroughs in climate action and moments of solidarity, this movement reminds the world that power in America belongs to the people, not to kings, billionaires, or authoritarians.

Because resistance isn’t just about fighting back—it’s about moving forward. Together, we are writing the story of progress, one act of people power at a time.

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Today, we honor the strength, resilience, and courage of the American people—those rising together to reject tyranny and defend our democracy.

✊ Rallies & Protests Highlights

🛍️ ‘We Ain’t Buying It’: Grassroots Groups Mobilize to Boycott Target, Home Depot, and Amazon

• A coalition of grassroots organizations launched a nationwide boycott campaign targeting major retail corporations during Thanksgiving week, accusing them of collaborating with or enabling the current administration’s anti-democratic and discriminatory policies. The campaign urges consumers to redirect their dollars to small, local, historically-marginalized businesses and withdraw support from companies seen as complicit in undermining civic rights and worker protections. It marks a direct use of consumer power as a tool of resistance and a call for economic accountability in the service of democracy. — Cardinal Pine

🌊 A flotilla kicks off the People’s Summit for activists at UN climate talks

• A large group of Indigenous leaders, climate activists and organizers gathered by canoe on Guajará Bay to launch the “People’s Summit” alongside the COP30 climate negotiations in Belém, Brazil. The sea-borne procession symbolized community power and solidarity as negotiators gathered at the official talks. Participants emphasized the importance of centering historically marginalized peoples in climate decision-making and combining spiritual, cultural and policy approaches to resilience. — Associated Press

🌎 Movement Wins for the Planet

🌍 Climate Protesters Demand to Be Heard as They March on COP30 with Costumes and Drums

• Tens of thousands of activists—including Indigenous leaders, youth organizers and rural workers—marched through the Brazilian city hosting the global climate summit to demand urgent climate justice, bold commitments on fossil fuel phase-out, and respect for land and ecosystem rights. The march featured symbolic actions like a “funeral for fossil fuels,” drumlines, and mass participation despite high heat and humidity, highlighting public resolve in contrast to slow official negotiations. It demonstrated that movement power and community voice are rising at the heart of international climate diplomacy. — Associated Press

👷 Movement Wins for Workers

📣 Norfolk Southern reaches collective bargaining deal with railroad union

• A major freight operator and its union for railroad workers reached a five-year deal covering about 970 employees, delivering an 18.8 % compounded wage increase, earlier paid vacation, better health benefits and work-rule enhancements. This deal finalizes ratification with 12 of the company’s 13 unions and puts the organization well on its way to full contract closure. It signals strong labor leverage in a vital industry and a capacity for meaningful gains despite corporate pressures. — WDBJ7

📜 Movement Wins for the Rule of Law and Democracy

🧑‍🏫 US states, nonprofits sue over Trump rule limiting student loan forgiveness

• A coalition of 21 states has sued the U.S. Dept. of Education over a new rule excluding employers they deem to have a “substantial illegal purpose” from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The states argue this places a politically-linked loyalty test on public-service employment and threatens to cut off loan relief for teachers, nurses, and social-workers. Critics warn the vague “illegal” threshold could disproportionately impact organizations serving immigrants and transgender youth. — Reuters

🕊️Movement Wins for Human Rights

🙏 In honor of a patron saint, Catholic groups pray, protest outside Miami immigration court

• A large inter-faith gathering surrounded the Miami-Dade immigration court where clergy and volunteers recited the names of detained immigrants and called for “Cabrini Pledge” sign-ups to support them. The vigil asserted that community solidarity, not just legal fights, plays a critical role in resisting punitive immigration enforcement. Attendees urged local residents to volunteer with immigration nonprofits and accompany detainees during hearings. — Miami Herald

📣 Immigration crackdown inspires uniquely Chicago pushback that’s now a model for other cities

• Residents of Chicago have organized decentralized, grassroots resistance to a sweeping federal immigration enforcement initiative, employing tactics such as neighborhood patrols, whistle alerts, vendor buy-outs, and rapid response networks. Activists distribute bright orange whistles and mobilize school escorts and bystander filming to disrupt both immigration agents and the atmosphere of fear in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods. The approach has drawn national attention as a replicable model for other cities confronting aggressive federal enforcement. — Associated Press

🍽️ SNAP benefits restored as the federal government reopens

• With the end of the U.S. federal government shutdown, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is once again fully funded and states are instructed to resume full benefit payments this month. Many households that depended on food aid and were caught in the funding disruption are now seeing relief, though timing varies by state. The reinstatement signals a critical short-term victory for families facing food insecurity and community advocates who pushed for immediate action. — CBS News

People Power Rising

Thanks for joining us for Rising Together Weekly: Good News and Progress from the Resistance. See you next week!

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Together, we can protect and empower those we love, champion our rights, freedoms, and democracy, hold our leaders accountable to the people’s will, and inspire voters to make a meaningful difference.

Laurie Woodward Garcia (paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests), People Power United

Laurie joining other activists and organizations to drop thousands of petitions off to Congress for reforms to the Supreme Court

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