Outraged and Overwhelmed? This Is Your Staying Human Field Kit for No Kings Day
The advice missing from every protest guide: how to stay human, grounded, and strategic in the face of authoritarian chaos and aggression.
Marines on American streets. A U.S. Senator detained. Trump’s military parade stomps into D.C. as thousands of “No Kings Day” protests are planned nationwide.
If you're oscillating between outrage and overwhelm, you're feeling the effects of engineered disorientation — exactly as intended.
But here’s what no protest guide is telling you: how to protect your humanity, your clarity, and your strategic range when Trump’s goal is to break all three.
So let's talk about your Staying Human Field Kit — the essential supplies you need to carry this weekend and beyond.
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What's in Your Kit: Three Critical Supplies
Think of this as tactical gear for your progressive spirt. When disinformation floods the feeds, when provocations escalate, when adrenaline hijacks your discernment — this is what you pull out of your pack to stay true to what matters most.
Supply #1: Choose Your Stance, Not Their Script
This administration wants you reactive. They're deploying soldiers specifically to provoke confrontation because escalation serves their narrative. When protesters get reactive, Fox News gets its headlines: "Trump heroically protects American cities from violent extremists."
Your move this weekend: Before you leave your house, ask yourself: "What stance am I choosing to embody?"
Then name it: “Strategic defiance.” “Calm strength.” “Moral clarity under fire.”
Write it on your hand. Keep it visible. Say it out loud. Carry it with you. Refuse to comply with their script that casts you as the dangerous extremist they need you to be.
From my post on 80 Tiny Moves for Everyday Resistance in the Authoritarian Harm Complex: "Refuse to comply in advance. Notice when you start to. Stop."
Supply #2: Reconnect to What You're Fighting FOR
If all we offer is being anti-Trump, we won't build the progressive future worth fighting for.
Your move this weekend: Write one sentence: "I'm fighting for..."
Tape it to your mirror. Put it in your pocket. Look at it when crowd energy overwhelms you, when the chants get hijacked, when despair creeps in. Let it be your touchstone.
This connects to my framework from Authoritarian Harm to Clarity of Purpose: "Strategy begins not with a plan, but with conviction: knowing what you won't tolerate and what you insist on making real."
Stay human.
Stay strategic.
Shape tomorrow.
I chose this trifecta as my motto for good reason — these are the three commitments that will sustain people, organizations, and movements beyond the immediate crisis.
Supply #3: Expand Your Range, Not Your Reactivity
Getting through periods like this requires cultivating what I call strategic range and versatility — the capacity to respond in a variety of ways to rapidly shifting conditions without losing your center or compromising your values.
Your moves this weekend:
If you feel scattered: Pause. Check your inputs. Are you scanning headlines, or doing recon? Strategic vigilance keeps you alert. Doom-spiraling keeps you paralyzed. Cut off the spiral. Take in just enough information to stay strategic. Don’t get lost in hot takes designed to hook you with fear and outrage.
If you're not protesting: Don’t mistake quiet for weakness. Support networks, legal observers, care providers, quiet recon — these are core to movement resilience. Claim your lane. Occupy it with purpose. Give yourself grace and compassion.
If you're struggling to name what you’re experiencing: Language is power.
That ache in your gut? That’s moral injury.
That bone-deep fatigue? Somatic harm.
That confusion and fog? Narrative dislocation.
Naming is a form of resistance that gives you insight and leverage.
Quick Reset Protocol When You Feel Hijacked
If reactivity or escalation hits, deploy the Field Kit: This is your emergency reset protocol when you feel hijacked by fear, fury, or disorientation:
Interrupt the spiral. Stop scrolling. Unclench your shoulders. Breathe from your belly.
Ask: "Am I responding from my values, or reacting to their bait?"
Return to your anchor. Read your “I’m fighting for…” sentence. Say it out loud.
Run a quick options check. Am I stuck in one reaction, or can I see at least two next moves?
Find strength in connection. Text one person who’s also trying to stay human and strategic. Swap tips. You don't have to carry this alone.
Why This Matters Beyond This Weekend
This is about building your capacity to think and act under siege.
Every time you choose strategy over reactivity, solidarity over isolation – you’re refusing to let Trump claim your mind or humanity, and you're strengthening the muscles we'll need for the long haul.
Your Staying Human Field Kit is how you resist that “flood the zone” manipulation. Keep it stocked. Share it. Adapt it. Talk about it tonight, in line at the protest, or with someone who's scared to go.
Then tell me — what’s one move in your personal field kit for staying human under siege? Reply to this post or drop it in the comments. I’ll feature a few in next week’s dispatch.
Correction: The original version of this post inaccurately said a senator had been arrested. I corrected the introduction to note that a senator was detained, not arrested.
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Strategies for Staying Human in the Face of Authoritarianism
If you’re looking for practices, tools, and deeper reading to help you stay grounded under pressure, this growing list is for you.
Thank you for this handy and powerful playbook for staying human in the face of authoritarian chaos and aggression, Paul! I'm torn about attending a protest tomorrow because all my usual suspects that I would go with are out of town, and I am concerned about safety. But I'm also angry and want to be part of this movement (and hoping it will reach the 3.5% of the population needed to thwart authoritarianism). Not sure yet what I'll do. But in the meantime, I am using fierce self-compassion to begin gathering women on a micro-level (working with a national activist group) to start a movement where women claim their voices and step into their power. That's my biggest hope for radical transformation and it keeps me moving forward, which keeps me from spending too much time in fear and anxiety.