Megan Fowler
@mefowler.bsky.social
School Librarian. Washington DC resident. Cheerleader for effective advocacy practices.
Reposted by Megan Fowler
I just like to post these data from time to time to puncture the mythological aura of mid 20th c protests. They were less popular than pretty much any 21st c mass action & people criticizing them used the same lines. Protest is about people coming together, shaping narratives, & building power.
June 14, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I just like to post these data from time to time to puncture the mythological aura of mid 20th c protests. They were less popular than pretty much any 21st c mass action & people criticizing them used the same lines. Protest is about people coming together, shaping narratives, & building power.
Sigh.....
BREAKING: President Trump just fired our nation's Librarian. My statement here:
May 9, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Sigh.....
Another good report of others who have experienced this same rapid descent into fascism. Do not stay silent.
“Today, right now—and I mean right this second—you have the most power you’ll ever have in the current fight against authoritarianism in America,” writes @adriennelaf.bsky.social. If you wait to speak out against autocrats, you have already lost:
A Ticking Clock on American Freedom
It’s later than you think, but it’s not too late.
bit.ly
April 23, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Another good report of others who have experienced this same rapid descent into fascism. Do not stay silent.
Reposted by Megan Fowler
Remember this the next time Congress tries to tell DC they know better than us.
Remember this the next time Congress calls DC’s leaders unqualified.
Congress has blown open a massive budget hole for DC and doesn’t care about us enough to even take the “easy fix.” www.axios.com/local/washin...
Remember this the next time Congress calls DC’s leaders unqualified.
Congress has blown open a massive budget hole for DC and doesn’t care about us enough to even take the “easy fix.” www.axios.com/local/washin...
April 11, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Remember this the next time Congress tries to tell DC they know better than us.
Remember this the next time Congress calls DC’s leaders unqualified.
Congress has blown open a massive budget hole for DC and doesn’t care about us enough to even take the “easy fix.” www.axios.com/local/washin...
Remember this the next time Congress calls DC’s leaders unqualified.
Congress has blown open a massive budget hole for DC and doesn’t care about us enough to even take the “easy fix.” www.axios.com/local/washin...
Love this! The big cities provide fantastic photos of the masses, but the small towns show us real bravery.
I'm going to make a thread of all the small town protests I've seen here on bsky, including many in "red" towns/areas. Seeing all these is truly amazing and I send my thanks & appreciation to my fellow Americans standing up for democracy. #handsoff #handsoff2025.
Here goes! (in no particular order):
Here goes! (in no particular order):
April 7, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Love this! The big cities provide fantastic photos of the masses, but the small towns show us real bravery.
Reposted by Megan Fowler
While ILMS funding supports many programs, poor rural communities will likely feel these cuts first and most deeply. Rural libraries, which serve as lifelines to communities w/o reliable access to broadband, rely heavily on this funding for survival. This is criminal.
www.pbs.org/video/defund...
www.pbs.org/video/defund...
PBS News Hour | Library and museum support agency faces massive cuts | Season 2025
Library and museum support agency faces massive cuts after Trump order
www.pbs.org
April 3, 2025 at 2:33 AM
While ILMS funding supports many programs, poor rural communities will likely feel these cuts first and most deeply. Rural libraries, which serve as lifelines to communities w/o reliable access to broadband, rely heavily on this funding for survival. This is criminal.
www.pbs.org/video/defund...
www.pbs.org/video/defund...
Reposted by Megan Fowler
🌸 Weekend event roundup 🌸
Looking for ways to spring into action? There are plenty of opportunities this weekend to get engaged with Free DC, show solidarity with your neighbors, and build community. See you in the streets!
Get more info and sign up: freedcproject.org/events
Looking for ways to spring into action? There are plenty of opportunities this weekend to get engaged with Free DC, show solidarity with your neighbors, and build community. See you in the streets!
Get more info and sign up: freedcproject.org/events
April 2, 2025 at 10:17 PM
🌸 Weekend event roundup 🌸
Looking for ways to spring into action? There are plenty of opportunities this weekend to get engaged with Free DC, show solidarity with your neighbors, and build community. See you in the streets!
Get more info and sign up: freedcproject.org/events
Looking for ways to spring into action? There are plenty of opportunities this weekend to get engaged with Free DC, show solidarity with your neighbors, and build community. See you in the streets!
Get more info and sign up: freedcproject.org/events
"Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you can do to show courage right now — it matters more than you know."
Point is: Courage is contagious. And I gotta say, I'm seeing a surprising and growing amount of courage recently.
Democracy might just survive this thing after all. Read my unusual dose of optimism here (and subscribe!): www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/when-leade...
Democracy might just survive this thing after all. Read my unusual dose of optimism here (and subscribe!): www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/when-leade...
When leaders fail, people… step up?
The surprising trend giving me hope; plus, the dumpster-fire elections EO
www.ifyoucankeepit.org
April 2, 2025 at 12:54 AM
"Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you can do to show courage right now — it matters more than you know."
Reposted by Megan Fowler
DOGE has just completely gutted the IMLS, firing all staff, closing down their email addresses, and leaving any funding for 2025 in question.
bookriot.com/imls-gutted/
bookriot.com/imls-gutted/
The Institute for Museum and Library Services Was Just Gutted
DOGE fired all IMLS employees and closed down their emails. It is assumed all funding for 2025 coming from the federal agency will not be happening.
bookriot.com
March 31, 2025 at 8:52 PM
DOGE has just completely gutted the IMLS, firing all staff, closing down their email addresses, and leaving any funding for 2025 in question.
bookriot.com/imls-gutted/
bookriot.com/imls-gutted/
Reposted by Megan Fowler
Looking for stuff to do this weekend? Check out our new Civics Roundup post; we'll be listing ways to get involved around D.C. each week!
Your weekly civics roundup
Upcoming ways to plug-in around D.C.
51st.news
March 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Looking for stuff to do this weekend? Check out our new Civics Roundup post; we'll be listing ways to get involved around D.C. each week!
As @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social writes: "Authoritarians demand the right to define what is true."
Incredibly NOT The Onion: The “Restoring Truth & Sanity to American History” order directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate what he finds “improper” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education & research centers, and the National Zoo www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...
Trump issues executive order to eliminate ‘anti-American ideology’ from Smithsonian
The order directs the vice president to eliminate what he finds “improper” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 28, 2025 at 1:30 AM
As @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social writes: "Authoritarians demand the right to define what is true."
Reposted by Megan Fowler
I wrote about why American science is under attack. TLDR: it's because authoritarians demand the power to define what is true, and the entire project of empirical study is a threat to that power.
www.brookings.edu/articles/pop...
www.brookings.edu/articles/pop...
March 27, 2025 at 5:31 PM
I wrote about why American science is under attack. TLDR: it's because authoritarians demand the power to define what is true, and the entire project of empirical study is a threat to that power.
www.brookings.edu/articles/pop...
www.brookings.edu/articles/pop...
Reposted by Megan Fowler
We closed out the day visiting an incredible 379 House offices about the DC Local Funds Act. Special thanks in particular to the 40+ DC students who joined us today — it’s a joy to speak up for DC alongside you!
March 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
We closed out the day visiting an incredible 379 House offices about the DC Local Funds Act. Special thanks in particular to the 40+ DC students who joined us today — it’s a joy to speak up for DC alongside you!
An important distinction.
p.s. Since people confuse hope and (toxic) optimism: www.resilience.org/stories/2023...
![I always feel it’s very important to clear up the distinction between hope and optimism. For me, optimism is a form of certainty: everything will be fine, therefore, nothing is required of us, which is really the same as cynicism and pessimism and despair. Hope, for me, is just recognizing that the future is being decided to some extent in the present, and what we do matters because of that reality.
I think the fundamental role of imagination and hope is just the ability to imagine a world that’s different from what it is now. [Writer] Adrienne Maree Brown once said that all organizing is science fiction because you’re imagining something that doesn’t exist yet. But of course, it’s like, what is it that you’re imagining? I find that so many people around me are very good at imagining everything falling apart, everything getting worse; they’re good at dystopia, they’re bad at utopia.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ya7gfadgypyypiva5pboi6mi/bafkreiao5tu4y2dcxjpfitkyrskark727qdwqr5rwkobwdef4xmasrlwwm@jpeg)
March 26, 2025 at 8:27 PM
An important distinction.
Reposted by Megan Fowler
NEW: Erdogan has banned protests in Turkey. He has threatened to arrest anyone attending one.
This is the people’s response.
Fighting for their democracy with another vast gathering in Istanbul tonight. #Turkey 🇹🇷
(🎥 Credit: Özgür Özel - Chairman, Republican People’s Party)
This is the people’s response.
Fighting for their democracy with another vast gathering in Istanbul tonight. #Turkey 🇹🇷
(🎥 Credit: Özgür Özel - Chairman, Republican People’s Party)
March 23, 2025 at 8:48 PM
NEW: Erdogan has banned protests in Turkey. He has threatened to arrest anyone attending one.
This is the people’s response.
Fighting for their democracy with another vast gathering in Istanbul tonight. #Turkey 🇹🇷
(🎥 Credit: Özgür Özel - Chairman, Republican People’s Party)
This is the people’s response.
Fighting for their democracy with another vast gathering in Istanbul tonight. #Turkey 🇹🇷
(🎥 Credit: Özgür Özel - Chairman, Republican People’s Party)
Reposted by Megan Fowler
The fascists don’t just want people to be afraid of dissenting. They also want you to feel hopeless and cynical, convinced change can’t happen.
They want you to just take care of your own life because the greater world is too much.
They want you to feel this precisely because things *can* change.
They want you to just take care of your own life because the greater world is too much.
They want you to feel this precisely because things *can* change.
March 23, 2025 at 4:27 AM
The fascists don’t just want people to be afraid of dissenting. They also want you to feel hopeless and cynical, convinced change can’t happen.
They want you to just take care of your own life because the greater world is too much.
They want you to feel this precisely because things *can* change.
They want you to just take care of your own life because the greater world is too much.
They want you to feel this precisely because things *can* change.
"You are very unlikely to change the politics of folks who vote differently from you, but you can humanize each other and build trust."
There is a robust pro-democracy majority in America, but it needs to be more vocal and take action to defend our shared values.
There's a new silent majority — and they need to be activated
There is a robust pro-democracy majority in America, but it needs to be more vocal and take action to defend our shared values.
wagingnonviolence.org
March 19, 2025 at 1:48 AM
"You are very unlikely to change the politics of folks who vote differently from you, but you can humanize each other and build trust."
"Understanding when movements succeeded during Trump’s first term is important for identifying how activists can effectively oppose Trump policy in his second administration."
"As The New York Times noted not long ago, Trump 'had not appeared to be swayed by protests, petitions, hashtag campaigns or other tools of mass dissent.' That’s a common perspective these days.
But what if it’s wrong?" theconversation.com/social-movem...
But what if it’s wrong?" theconversation.com/social-movem...
Social movements constrained Trump in his first term – more than people realize
Pushback works.
theconversation.com
March 19, 2025 at 1:04 AM
"Understanding when movements succeeded during Trump’s first term is important for identifying how activists can effectively oppose Trump policy in his second administration."
Plenty of agencies getting gutted, so this isn't surprising. But it's likely going to fly under the radar, so I'm highlighting here.
www.ala.org/news/2025/03...
www.ala.org/news/2025/03...
ALA statement on White House assault on the Institute of Museum and Library Services
An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America...
www.ala.org
March 15, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Plenty of agencies getting gutted, so this isn't surprising. But it's likely going to fly under the radar, so I'm highlighting here.
www.ala.org/news/2025/03...
www.ala.org/news/2025/03...
Oh, yes. We can certainly ignore the many parents and middle aged women I joined at Senate offices today.
It's certainly a decision to frame this as a "young people are mad" thing and not a "people who don’t want fascism are mad" thing.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
March 15, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Oh, yes. We can certainly ignore the many parents and middle aged women I joined at Senate offices today.
Glad to be one of the few hundred people who walked into Senate offices today and yesterday to help make this happen.
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
thehill.com
March 15, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Glad to be one of the few hundred people who walked into Senate offices today and yesterday to help make this happen.
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
thehill.com/homenews/sen...
Spent the morning in Senate offices today with a few hundred smart, professional activists who are doing all we can to save DC and stop the Continuing Resolution from passing. We lost the vote, but we are all prepared to keep working.
March 14, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Spent the morning in Senate offices today with a few hundred smart, professional activists who are doing all we can to save DC and stop the Continuing Resolution from passing. We lost the vote, but we are all prepared to keep working.
The day's not over. If you haven't called/emailed your Senator yet, it's not too late.
🚨 Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave.
Tell them:
1. Vote NO on Cloture
AND
2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill.
Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.
TODAY is the showdown.
🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121
Tell them:
1. Vote NO on Cloture
AND
2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill.
Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.
TODAY is the showdown.
🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121
March 13, 2025 at 1:42 AM
The day's not over. If you haven't called/emailed your Senator yet, it's not too late.