A month has passed since I last posted about how we are to respond to the aggressive actions being taken by the Federal government against people and organizations that disagree with and challenge the America he is trying to create. In that blog, I focused on Timothy Snyder’s Lesson 18 –“Be calm when the unthinkable arrives”. I discussed ways we can listen to our bodies and control our response so as not to take an action or say something we later regret.

In this section, I want to focus on how we can prepare ourselves for the time when President Trump attempts to deploy National Guard troops to our city. He has already done so to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Memphis. He also persistently threatened to send troops to Chicago. I refer to these actions and threats as an invasion; they are unwanted, unrequested, and designed to humiliate the Democratic mayors of those cities. So, if Trump decides to invade our city, whether that be Chicago, New York, Seattle, or in my case, Philadelphia, how can we be prepared?

We must take the possibility of the invasion of the military into our communities as a real threat. Timothy Snyder writes in Lesson Six of On Tyranny: “Be wary of paramilitaries.” He explains: “When men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of their leader  [or covering their faces with scarves so as not to be identified],  the end is nigh.” While Trump has yet to call in paramilitary groups like the Proud Boys and others who invaded the Capitol on January 6, 2021, I would not be surprised if a significant number of the masked ICE agents are from such groups. No wonder they don’t want their identities revealed.

So, what are we to do if there is an invasion of our community? Daniel Hunter, a longtime activist organizer and editor with the newsletter Waging Nonviolence, offers these ideas.

First , we must plan ahead. An organization in Washington D.C. called Free DC began planning for the invasion of troops in their city months ago. They role-played many scenarios about ways they should react if attacked by National Guard soldiers or ICE agents . As a result, they were not caught off-guard. Last week in Philadelphia the city’s District Attorney Larry Krasner held three town hall meetings in which he urged citizens to use cell phones to document troop activity and to keep his office informed of anything that seemed illegal or overly violent. Philadelphia Council member Kendra Brooks, who is a long-time activist, says she will be training residents how to become active bystanders keeping track of what the troops are doing. This is getting prepared.

Second, Daniel Hunter says we should lead with values such as prioritizing joy, being present, and acting in solidarity with other like-minded people. And we need to push our elected leaders to do the same. We are not in this struggle alone. Working with other like-minded people gives us focus and inner strength.

Third, we need to give clear instruction for peoople who want to be involved in  the resistance and stress that there are many ways for people to be involved that don’t involve risking arrest. People can provide rides, make posters, bang pots and pans, sing songs, take pictures, march nonviolently, and  support those who decide to take civil disobedience actions. There is a place for everyone.

Finally, Hunter stresses that we build our plan for the long haul. We must be aware of and accept the probability that this will be a long struggle. We are learning how to respond from cities like D.C. and Los Angeles that have already faced  an invasion of Trump’s troops. We can take what they have learned and employ it in our local struggles. We also need to take breaks every once in a while to care for our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. If we try to be at every action, demonstration, and protest, we will wear ourselves out. This is not a sprint; it’s a marathon, so we must care for ourselves.

For those of us who are spiritually oriented, regardless of one’s religious or spiritual heritage, we also need to take time to nurture our souls, whether through prayer, contemplation, worship, or simply being with other like-minded folks. Practices like that will help us stay in the struggle no matter how long it goes on. I speak as one who burned out more than once, until I came to realize the importance of spiritual care which is a form of self-care.

While writing this blog, I learned about another strength we have as a collective in solidarity with each other. A week ago, comedian Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air because of a comment he made regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The executives of Disney, the parent company of Kimmel’s late-night show, were pressured by the Trump administration to fire Kimmel. In response to Disney’s action, an estimated 700,000 Disney subscribers dropped their subscriptions, moving Disney to reverse its decision and put Kimmel back on the air. The lesson there was that people standing up to the government pressures rather than folding is powerful in itself.

We can resist orders and invasions of many kinds. Together we are powerful!