Call to Action: Moving Beyond the All-or-Nothing Mentality
Were you outraged when President Trump “renamed” the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and Denali to Mt. McKinley? Usurpuring language gets to the core of culture-grabbing and erasure, and nothing makes me go from chill to IRATE faster. These are words…our literal means of communication and documentation. Just as the Long Wars saw the hijacking of words like “patriot” and “haji,” these changes are no joke. They have life and death consequences, and I won’t stand for it.
But how to escape Google, an organization that seems to be supporting this administration at every turn? Believe me, as a user of Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube, I’ve been asking myself this question all of 2025. Previously, I shared hacks to avoid Google search engines by switching to Duck Duck Go. Now, I’d like to encourage folks to explore OpenStreetMap, a map database maintained by volunteers and companies worldwide. There are two apps I’ve explored that use OpenStreetMap data (not Google Maps data) to provide navigation tools for walkers, bikers, and drivers: Organic Maps and MapCarta. Give them a try and get that damn pervasive Google Maps off your phone! It’s giving away your data and your data is being sold by a company that donated $1 million dollars to Trump’s inauguration committee (and then some)! Your data! Those dollars! That inauguration! OMG!
I wrote back in January that I would no longer avoid overtly political writing in my newsletter and I meant it. White moderation is godawaful, pervasive, complex, and probably closer to most of us than we think (no matter what ethnicity we are). Not familiar with white moderation? Get familiar. It matters.
And white supremacist culture coupled with late-stage capitalism has too many of us thinking that life is all or nothing. That a boycott doesn’t matter unless it’s whole-hog (if it even matters at all). That if you shop at Amazon, you might as well give up and shop at Whole Foods and Target and Walmart and Sam’s Club too. But the human experience isn’t that simple; it never has been. Activism is not perfect and it doesn’t have to be to make a difference.
So maybe use Gmail, but drop Google Maps.
Ditch Amazon, but get limited items at Whole Foods if you must.
Or keep boycotting Target except for two trips a year.
Or drop Facebook, but keep Instagram if you must.
Or for every $100 spent on corporate media, donate $20 to an independent reporter.
In other words – do what you can – as long as you…
DO SOMETHING
(And if you need support in the form of enlivening your creativity, curated activist links, and real-time writing community, the Sustaining Circle gives you all that and more…)
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