Trump has lied about tariffs, lashed out at economic truth-tellers, and threatened and acted against his political enemies. He has targeted immigrants and foreign students, brown and Black Americans, women and gay family members. He's fired civil servants and slashed vital services—unchecked by the Supreme Court and Congress, despite reckless illegality and celebrated cruelty.
Local mutual aid projects help us reconnect with community reality, not myth. Not only do such projects help meet our survival needs, but they build a shared understanding of how and why so many people are struggling, and what solutions can address wide injustices. They make visible hard truths that legacy media and the government ignore.
Whether they knew it or not, 49.8% of Americans in 2024 voted for fascism's core myth: a national rebirth led by a forceful leader who embodies the nation and dominates all. Trump claimed that he alone can fix us. But history is never written by just one of us—and throughout this year, we've been reminded that together, we still have the power to push back, slow harms, and advance a different future.
Tune in to this inspiring, provocative talk with 50501 activists to learn tools for coming together, building community, and laying the groundwork for our collective survival and movement-building. Click here to access resources for further learning.
Meet the Speakers
Leading the conversation was Carmen Rios (she/her), a feminist superstar and AEOO's digital director. Carmen is a writer, editor, podcaster, public speaker, and digital strategist who has spent nearly two decades telling stories that advance intersectional gender justice. Most recently, Carmen was the supervising producer and host of Looking Back, Moving Forward, a five-part audio series for Ms. magazine about the intertwined history of the magazine and the feminist movement. Her writing and reporting on queerness, gender, race and class has been published in print and online by outlets including BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, DAME, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic, the National Women’s History Museum, SIGNS and the Women’s Media Center.
Katrina “Kat” Duesterhaus (she/they) is an award-winning activist and nationally recognized feminist leader in the 50501 Movement (50 Protests, 50 States, 1 Day). Kat helped mobilize over 5 million Americans for peaceful protests on April 5 and June 14 by forging partnerships with groups like Indivisible, Women’s March, and others on the frontlines. She has also helped pass four major Florida laws to protect survivors, organized over 300,000 letters to elected officials and led the viral Equal Rights Amendment campaign that reached millions, contributing to the national pressure that pushed President Biden to declare the ERA the law of the land before leaving office. Kat is the founder of Bans Off Miami, co-founder of Occupy Florida, and a founding board member of the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity. Her leadership has earned her the Marsha P. Johnson Award and the Giraffe Award.
Sarah Parker (she/her) is a passionate advocate for reproductive freedom and social justice in Florida. Sarah is the Executive Director and President of Voices of Florida, an organization she co-founded in 2021 to oppose a proposed six-week abortion ban in Manatee County. Voices of Florida champions reproductive healthcare, equality, and human rights, and is driven by Black and queer individuals. Parker, a proud Black mother and long-time Sarasota resident, has been involved in grassroots activism since the Occupy Movement. She co-founded Occupy Florida, later known as Occupy Tally, in response to Florida's 2023 abortion ban. As part of the Floridians Protecting Freedom coalition, she played a key role in the successful Yes on 4 campaign, ensuring that Floridians could vote to protect abortion rights.
What is a Zoom of Our Own?
This event was recorded live. As some feminist epistemologists (Gilligan, Belenky et al.) have taught us, seeing and seeking connections seems to be women’s ways of knowing and reasoning. Our economics is lived in tangible and complex communities. Our goal is to model how women can talk together and learn together about traditionally male territory still new to most women.
Our Zoom of Own Series brings women (and men!) together to construct a fuller knowledge and set of values now omitted from the mainstream “free market.” Together, we're flipping the script on a racist, sexist economy.