Call to action - with actions!

Today, international women's day, hundreds showed up for a rally in Morristown to support women's rights and express our fears and anger about the rapid loss of rights under the current administration. I was asked to close the event with some action items. Here is what I shared.

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I have been going to a lot of events lately and people recognize how dire things are, but they want to know what to do, besides doomscroll and become filled with despair or get into pointless arguments on social media.

Many of you, like me, believe that the future of our country and the world may be on the line, with Trump turning his back on our Democratic allies, embracing dictators, consolidating power, and politicizing government on every level. There is no cavalry coming to save us from this insanity. We are the cavalry.

Below are five tasks that you can do to fight back:

Task one: Help Democrats win this year. The nation’s eyes are on Virginia and New Jersey, the only states to have state-wide elections this year. Every single assembly seat and the governorship is up. The Republicans are working incredibly hard to register voters in New Jersey and just this week Fox News was saying that New Jersey is in play for Republicans. We cannot let this happen. Make sure you and everyone you know is properly registered to vote and to VOTE BY MAIL in the primary as well as the general. Join a local organization and help them mobilize for this year’s elections. I urge you to team up with an existing organization and team up with them – we don’t have time to reinvent the wheel. A few I will call out – Action Together New Jersey, NJ 11th for Change, your town’s Democratic Committee, your County Democratic Committee, Indivisible, and Red, Wine, and Blue.

Task two: Be outspoken and visible. Champion the common-sense value of diversity at work, at home, at school, and everywhere else. Ask your workplaces not to be cowards like Target and Facebook and Amazon. And while you are at it, champion other values like honesty, empathy, and kindness, the values you hold and try to uphold in your family, values that are universal across those of all faiths and no faiths. People are tired of hearing about Trump – they have tuned it out. But I think they are responsive when you talk about our shared core beliefs and urge them to hold their elected officials to the same values we try to instill in our children. Your visibility is critical, because people are scared to speak out. A lot of my family is in the federal government, and they are afraid, or even post on social media. I know others who work for companies that are being targeted by Trump or the FCC who are also afraid. But there is safety in numbers. Keep turning up, making noise, get those bumper stickers, lawn signs, write letters to the editor, be as vocal as you can be, so others have the courage to do the same. Some in politics and the media are saying that the lack of large scale protests this time is a sign of acquiescence. We cannot acquiesce.

Task three: Put pressure on your elected officials at every level. That includes your town council members. Find out who your municipal officials are and who your state representatives are and either go to a public meeting or send them an e-mail. If every one of you does that, it will be a deluge to them. And then since your state reps are all up for election, keep the pressure on them. A lot of what Trump is doing is rolling downhill to us and our constituents – we need to hear from you that you want us to step up too.

Task four: Contribute money. I don’t know how many of you remember the fabulous governor of Texas, Ann Richards. Talk about a female role model for all of us. She pointed out that Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did – only backwards and in heels. Remember that. Thirty years ago, she came to my public policy graduate school to speak to us about the realities of politics. And, she shared that there are three things that matter in politics: money, money, and money. Tragically, today this is even more the case thanks to the Supreme Court. I absolutely believe that Democrats need to push for a constitutional amendment to say that money is not speech. But until then, we cannot unilaterally disarm. Task four is to donate money to a local or state election.

Task five: run for something. I never in a million years thought I would run for office. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get good candidates to step up. So when I say we need at a seat at the table I am serious in saying you can be that seat.

To reiterate: Get involved in this year’s elections by teaming up with a local organization, be vocal and visible in your opinions, reach out to your state and municipal representatives, donate money, and get serious about running for something.

Jocelyn Mathiasen is a 3-time elected member of the Chatham Borough Council She holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and works as a consultant to help local governments streamline their operations and become more efficient, effective, and responsive to residents.