december 2017 playlist

happy 2018!! before we say goodbye to 2017, here's our playlist for the last month of the year.

perfect symphony // ed sheeran x beyonce

faded // kim petras x lil aaron

real friends // camila cabello

ocean drive // pia mia

meant to be // bebe rexha x florida georgia line

love hate pain killer // chelsea lankes

pink sand // cailin russo

end game // taylor swift x ed sheeran x future

islands // r3hab x kshmr

walk away // 3lau x luna aura

shedontknowbutsheknows // tove lo

all night // steve aoki x lauren jauregui

porche // charli xcx x mo

belong // cash cash x dashboard confessional

this again (remix) // breathe carolina x dropgun x taku-hero

i am human // escape the fate

do you love me // escape the fate

♥ what were your favorite songs this year

& who are you hoping to hear more of in 2018? ♥

1 year of political activism

the 2016 elections and what followed throughout 2017 had millions of people get politically involved in various ways. folks are starting to realize what's at stake and are voting for the first time or even running for public office.

i've never been so politically engaged as i had in the past year, and what a fight it has been and a long road ahead it will be. but i am so ready to help fight to protect our rights, people and to uphold our constitution. 

here, i want to document and be accountable for my personal activism, and to give appreciation to grassroots/groups/volunteers who helped constituents understand what's going on at capitol hill and how to get our voices heard so far this past year.

the first women's march

my friends and i marched to support and stand up for women's rights at the first women's march in january 2017. there were approx 30,000 people marching at our local march, and it was uplifting to see how passionate these people were. this nationwide (including a few countries who joined us) march was monumental and empowering. rise up.

i went back to college!!

one important step when getting involved politically is to be educated. one of the ways i did that was by going back to school. i never thought i'd go back to college. after studying psychology (major) and political science (minor) for almost two years, i dropped out in 2013. at first i said i was going to take a break for one year before going back. then...i never ended up going back. until after the 2016 election. so "1 year" turned into 4 years later. who knew the threat of our country's well-being and constitution would be what convinced me to step foot on city college campus again?

aclu of northern california + sac county action meetings, in-person trainings + webinars

attending local aclu chapter meetings and trainings helped me understand so much and taught me how to effectively use my voice to be heard by our elected officials as well as others in our government. we are so incredibly grateful for aclu chapters nationwide taking time to educate constituents, inform us what's going on and what we can do, and how to reach out to our elected officials.

coffee/meeting with our assembly member + reps

aclu of northern california was a huge help in guiding us and help us meet with our local assembly member and congress(wo)man, and i don't think i could have done this without them or the group of volunteers who went with me (or vise versa, as they took charge and i joined them to discuss certain topics).

town halls

unlike coffee/meeting with my reps, town hall meetings were not new to me. but it has been a while (4 years) since i went to one, though. although i didn't go up to ask questions to our reps, i did learn quite a few things from fellow concerned peers and what our rep had to say on issues brought up. yes, i did bring a notebook to jot down notes and i don't care what people there thought.

phonebanking + textbanking

in college (my first run), we had done practice phonebanking in our poli-sci courses, but we haven't actually done real phonebanking. so phonebanking constituents in swing states to vote for the democratic/progressive candidates for real was rewarding. nerve-wracking, but rewarding. and thanks to the indivisible guide team and their partnership with the rally app, fellow peers and i got to textbank for candidates as well. most notably for doug jones. textbanking was quite an experience as well, and probably the most preferable form of -banking, though maybe not as effective as phonebanking. either way, whatever you're more comfortable with, go for it! or try something new if you're up for a challenge.

donating to grassroots campaigns

i've donated to a few grassroots who campaign for progressive candidates since the election now that the 2018 midterms are underway. donating to candidates campaign can help them no matter the amount you're able to contribute. like every vote, every dollar and share counts. shoutout to people power, flippable.org and indivisible.org for the resources to help make this happen!

i can't believe it's been a whole year of work already! we've got ways to go and more work to do to ensure our democracy and rights. 2018 midterms are around the corner, so register if you haven't already and vote in november!

helpful guides to help you get started:

5 calls

flippable

people power

indivisible guide