Safety Checklist for November

bit.ly/UpSafetyChecklist

A version of this is published at this link and easier to look at. Please share from here.

The scenarios anticipated by this document are not the apocalypse or the purge. This is about pre-emptive action to take care of yourself in what will undoubtedly be an unpredictable and chaotic time.

This document is meant to help you take some precaution and map how you plan on acting, engaging, or abstaining from action in November. Remember: each of us has a different risk model, meaning that we each know best what we can or can’t handle, have capacity for, or expertise on.

Your safety plan should serve you and people you care about. Not having some of the items of this list does not reflect a lack of preparation -- you can best assess. A recommended way to use this list is to make a copy, share with friends, and check the things you feel/have, and then make a plan to get anything missing.

The information here is relevant to New York, but feel free to adapt and share in other cities.

Questions you should answer prior to Nov 3:

* What concerns you about the elections, if anything?

* Is it the threat of white supremacist militants?

* The pandemic and possible protests?

* Not being able to get food/supplies?

* Will you be going to a protest, or many protests?

* If so, what level of action will you be engaging in?

* Have you looked at de escalation and safety resources?

* Skip down to The Streets resources.

* Will you be staying at home, or staying with a friend?

* Skip down to Prepping At Home resources.

* Maybe your anxieties are more political, existential?

* Skip down to Self-Care resources or

* Skip down to I Want to Be Informed.

* Or maybe you’re ready to organize?

* Do you have a pod?

* Do you have resources you’ll be sharing or want to share?

* Money, food, etc?

* Are you connected to community mutual aid networks or protest funds?

* Do you have their contact info ready to share?

* Do you have your neighbor’s contact info?

* Have you cleaned up your digital security, made space on your phone and computer?

* NYC Action Fund: pays protest bail.

________________

Self Care Resources:

Questions you should answer prior to Nov 3:

* Maybe your anxieties are more political, existential?

* How will you take care of your mental health this month?

* How will you make time for yourself?

* Self-care ideas:

* Think about limiting your news and social media intake:

* Maybe to an hour a day? An hour in the morning and evening?

* Find a favorite food to enjoy on the day of the election.

* Find 10 minutes of time at least to spend on something that feels good.

* Try journaling or writing about how you’re processing this moment.

I Want to Be Informed:

* Stopping the Coup Guide

* Choose Democracy Trainings

* Election Defenders Trainings

* Hold the Line Trainings & Guide to Election Scenarios

* NYC Ballot Measures & NYS Ballot Guide

* Election Defense Resources (training, toolkits, community organizing and safety resources, etc. Some is specific to Central IL, most is relevant nationally)

Political Education

* Voting is Not Harm Reduction - Indigenous Action

* Fifty Years of Fred Hampton’s Rainbow Coalition

* Socialist Strategy and Electoral Politics

* The ballot box cannot dismantle settler colonialism

* Beyond Voting: anarchist organizing, electoral politics and developing strategy for liberation

* In Defense of Looting by Vicky Osterwell

* The Abolitionist Map

* Crip the Vote

* Decolonization Is Not A Metaphor

Prepping at Home Resources:

Questions you should answer prior to Nov 3:

* Will you be staying at home, or staying with a friend?

* Have you confirmed with those friends or made plans?

* For others, you care about, do you know where they will be?

* Have you decided where you’ll be staying, and noted down or exchanged important phone numbers?

* Do you know how to get to a meeting location?

* Do you know your closest subway station, bus stop, and train station? Your closest clinic or hospital?

* Do you have critical phone numbers written down?

* Do you have a safety plan for home?

* More here.

* Resource from Permies.com

* Do you have a go-bag with the following?

Note: all items are suggested, per your discretion and need.

* Medication

* Access Tools (inhaler, expandable cane)

* Snacks

* Water

* Pen

* Extra mask

* Sanitizer

* Metrocard

* Extra cash

* Portable charger

* Do you have supplies?

* 1 week’s worth of groceries (incl. Non perishable cans).

* 2 toilet paper rolls

* 2 paper towels

* Toiletries

* Masks, sanitizer, cleaning supplies

* 1 bag of pet food (if you have a pet)

* 2 gallons of bottled water

* Flashlight

* Portable charger

* Self-defense mechanism (taser, pepper spray)

* Tape or glue

* Accessibility needs (inhaler, extra pair of glasses, etc,)

* Tampons/Pads/Diva cup if you need them

* Birth control or hormone supplies

* First aid kit:

* List from Mayo Clinic if you can’t get all this:

* Bandaids

* Isopropyl alcohol

* Ibuprofen

* Acetaminophen

* 1 week’s worth of allergy medicine

& nasal spray

* Vitamin c packet

should be fine!

* If you’re disabled:

* Do you have what you need to stay at home for at least a week?

* Do you have someone you can call who would support you?

* Do you have a go-bag with the following:

* Medication

* Access Tools (inhaler, expandable can)

* Snacks

* Water

* Pen

* Extra mask

* Sanitizer

* Portable charger

* Do you know where you would go if you felt unsafe at home?

* Do you know your closest subway station, bus stop, and train station?

* Have you confirmed with them?

* Do you have a map of where that is, or printed out directions?

* Would you have enough money for a metrocard or a taxi?

In the Streets Resources:

Questions you should answer prior to Nov 3:

* Will you be going to a protest, or many protests?

* If so, what level of action will you be engaging in?

* Have you looked at de escalation and safety resources?

* Do you have the materials necessary for this, including:

* Mask

* Sanitizer

* Flashlight

* Portable charger

* Water bottle

* Raincoat

* Group of comrades

* Snacks

* Self-defense mechanism

(taser, pepper spray, etc.)

* NLG Number

* New York City, NY: (212) 679-6018

* Other cities

* NYC Action Fund: pays protest bail.

* Protect Yourself & Friends from Surveillance

* How to Respond to Risk of Surveillance While Protesting

* Ruckus Society’s Security Culture for Activists

* Digital Resilience During Actions

* De-escalation & De-Arrest

* Know Your Rights

* CCR Legal Briefing for People Consider NVDA

* De-Arrests are Beautiful

* Direct Action for Prison Abolition

* Vision Change Win Community Safety Toolkit

* NYC Action Fund: pays protest bail.

* Medics

* Herbal Street Medic Kit

* From Sprout Distro:

* Recommend: (A)BC's Mini Guide to Protesting

* 10 Steps for Setting Up A Blockade

* Health and Safety at Militant Actions

* An Activist's Guide to Basic First Aid

* Banner Drops, Stencils, Wheatpaste, and Distributing Information

* Blocing Up

* Blockade, Occupy, Strike Back

* Bodyhammer: Tactics and Self-Defense for the Modern Protestor

* Direct Action Survival Guide

* Direct Action Tactics

* Do-It-Yourself Protest Guide: 2012 Redux

* Don't Back Down!

* Earth First! Wolf Hunt Sabotage Manual

* Fight the Man and Get Away Safely

* Good Manners and Affinity Groups

* In Defense of Smashing Cameras

* It’s Vacant, Take It!

* Mask Up: How & Why

* Radical Defense

* Riot/Control

* Voting vs. Direct Action