50501 FRIDAY BRIEFING | DECEMBER 5, 2025
Tracking the pattern from “this is temporary” to “this won’t affect you” to “there’s nothing you can do” and why that’s wrong.
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TL;DR
Cyber Monday boycotts. Hegseth allegedly ordered “kill everybody” September 2 including firing on shipwrecked survivors (illegal). The “this won’t affect you” pattern repeated. Trump ended Haiti TPS despite 1.4M displaced and UN mass atrocity warnings.
Monday: Your Wallet Became Your Vote
Thousands boycotted Amazon (Bezos: $2M to Trump), Target (abandoned DEI), and Home Depot (allows ICE hunts).
One reader: “Cancelled Amazon. Joined a farmer’s food co-op. This is resistance.”
Montgomery’s bus boycott: 381 days, $3,000 daily losses. They won.
Economic accountability works when we organize collectively.
What companies are you boycotting? Drop names in comments.
Tuesday: Illegal Orders Went Public
September 2: Hegseth allegedly ordered “kill everybody” during Caribbean strike. After first missile, survivors clung to wreckage. Admiral Bradley allegedly ordered second strike, killing them.
Attacking shipwrecked survivors violates U.S. military law, Geneva Conventions, and Law of Armed Conflict.
Trump’s response is to threatened the six Democratic lawmakers who warned troops to refuse illegal orders with sedition charges.
Call Congress to halt the Caribbean killings and demand full Armed Services Committee investigations into Hegseth’s alleged “kill everybody” order: (202) 224-3121
Veterans: Drop your branch in comments if you want to add your voice.
Why we’re asking: Your answer helps us understand what resonates so we can dig deeper on the topics you care about. Plus, polls like this help the Substack algorithm understand our community is engaged and active, which means your voice helps more people discover the movement.
Wednesday: The Pattern Has a Name
“Don’t worry. None of that will affect you.”
First immigrants, then trans people, then teachers, then women’s autonomy. Eventually everyone becomes “some human” who matters less.
One reader: “The only way I sleep is by protecting neighbors and democracy during the day.”
Historical resistance: Underground Railroad, WWII networks, Sanctuary Movement. Organized community defense beats isolation.
What’s ONE thing you’re committing to this week? Drop it in comments
Thursday: Haiti Became “Safe Enough”
Trump ended Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status. Effective February 3, 2026.
Their claim: Haiti “improved.”
Reality: 1.4M displaced, 5.7M facing hunger, 90% gang control, UN mass atrocity warnings.
Hundreds of thousands who’ve lived here 15 years become deportable overnight.
Call senators: (202) 224-3121 | Find rapid response: cliniclegal.org
Know affected Haitian families? Share resources in comments.
Perspective
When citizens organize proactively and pressure systems relentlessly, institutions respond. When they don’t, people disappear.
We’re organizing boycotts with measurable consequences, demanded accountability for illegal orders, refused comfort over solidarity, and documented cruelty so it can’t be normalized.
This is how democracies defend themselves:
documentation and organized action.
✅ Keep Taking Action
This Upcoming Week pick 1-2 action items:
Download ACLU Know Your Rights: aclu.org/know-your-rights
Create an emergency plan: 3 contacts, childcare authorization, document copies
Find rapid response network: cliniclegal.org
Cancel one subscription funding authoritarianism
Call Congress to halt the Caribbean killings and demand full Armed Services Committee investigations into Hegseth: (202) 224-3121
Text 5 people about organizing neighborhood response
Make one public commitment in comments (65% higher follow-through)
How are you taking action this upcoming week? Every action helps.
When people write down their goals, and especially when they commit publicly, the odds of achieving them rise significantly, by some estimates around 40%.
What’s one action from the list above that you’ll take this week?
Your comment does three things:
Makes you more likely to actually do it
Shows others they’re not alone in this work
Tells the Substack algorithm this community is active (which helps more people discover the movement)
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Resources
Immigration: (202) 224-3121 | aclu.org/know-your-rights | cliniclegal.org | 1-855-435-7693 | locator.ice.gov
Action: fiftyfifty.one | unitedwedream.org | nilc.org
Crisis: 1-877-565-8860 (Trans) | 1-866-488-7386 (Trevor) | 988 (Crisis)
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Amazon, Target, Walmart, Spotify, Home Depot, Starbucks and any other company I can avoid that does not align with my values
Tractor Supply..also abandoned DEI