In the warming afterglow of their Jan. 17 protest rally, I telephoned Tom Bethin. He was buzzing.
Earlier that day, his all-volunteer organization, Indivisible Sonoma County, had organized a speaker series on Santa Rosa’s civic plaza. Backed by a 10-foot tall banner emblazoned, “RISE UP AND RECLAIM OUR DEMOCRACY,” six candidates for two congressional seats (including Mike Thomson and ole Mike McGuire) sought to fire up the crowd (and justify their leadership). After the inspiring talk, the crowd—numbering in the hundreds, was offered candles and arranged on the square to form a giant, manifesting peace sign. Visit indivisiblesoco.org to watch the aerial video recap.
I describe this rally—a fist raised to the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s second inauguration—partly to do a bit of inspiring myself. And to put my finger on two of the qualities that have made the Indivisible network the most effective protest movement of the Trump era. Those being close communication with elected leaders and diverse, and (I daresay) fun, protest tactics.
These two qualities come out of the origins of Indivisible—and its national structure.
Indivisible was founded by (just) two former congressional staffers (young insiders). And its national organization consists of more than 2,500 self-organizing and semi-autonomous local groups (in almost all U.S. congressional districts). These local groups are in a two-way dialogue with a national parent organization—which pools good ideas coming up from below—in addition to setting priorities for the movement and orchestrating national days of resistance (such as “Hands Off,” “Ice Out” or “No Kings,” which drew 7 million protesters into 2,700 local expressions of peaceful defiance like the rally I described). These things I gathered while talking to Bethin. Here are some quotes.
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Tom, I find you have a great political brain. It’s like talking to a gassed-up policy wonk. What is your professional employment?
Tom Bethin: I’m retired. I was the owner of Shutterbug Camera Store.
How many people subscribe to Sonoma Indivisible’s Substack newsletter?
About 8,000.
Get hip, Sonoma. What tactics is the Sonoma County organization currently fielding?
They have changed a lot. During Trump 1.0 and the Biden Administration, our tactics were primarily based on a model of constituent pressure on elected officials actually based on the Tea Party Movement—without their ideology, of course (laughs). With Trump 2.0, we have really had to change our methods. We couldn’t wait, and our elected leaders were failing to step up.
Word. Tell me more about your organization.
We are volunteer-driven, enthusiasm-driven. Protests happen because people show up at our meetings and say, “I have an idea”—and we make them the lead on it.
Beyond the struggle for today, your local organization is taking the long few on how to build a more resilient democracy for the future.
We have come up with something of a strategic framework. It has four key areas we need to be headed toward. We need to build a united front with other organizations; we need to be in coalition. We need to grow community power through alternative organizations—in the absence of federal government help. We need to inspire defections among people that are actively taking part in the MAGA attack on our country, or abetting by passively stepping aside. And, we need to develop responses to threats of violence.
Learn more: Make contact with local Indivisible organizations in Marin, Sonoma or Napa. Their sites host info guides, statement pieces, protest calendars, update newsletters and opportunities to join or to donate. Action converts fears for the future into fierce empowerment. indivisiblesoco.org.
