Will Robinson's Newsletter

10/12/2025

Marches matter. They give people courage, visibility, and belonging. They show the country that resistance isn’t fringe — it’s mainstream, multiracial, and moral. But every organizer knows that a march’s true power is not the day itself — it’s what happens in the 90 days that follow.

The challenge is to turn the adrenaline of protest into the architecture of power. Because democracy isn’t defended in moments; it’s defended in actions.

III. The Three Pillars of Resistance 2.0

1. Build Parallel Institutions

Authoritarians win when they convince people that there is no alternative — that power only flows from the top down. We fight back by building the alternative: local civic hubs that coordinate timing, message, and action.

These don’t have to be formal organizations; they can be neighborhood assemblies, union halls doubling as media centers, or congregations opening their doors for weekly coordination. The point is simple — create infrastructure that answers to the people, not the palace.

This is what Solidarity did in Poland and what the civil rights movement did in the American South — it built networks of trust that could outlast repression and confusion. In our time, it means creating places — physical or digital — where ordinary people can organize together without needing permission from politicians or platforms.