Resources
Authoritarianism & Democratic Decline
Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive overnight. It creeps in through executive orders, purges of government workers, threats to the free press, and laws targeting dissent. Since January 2025, Americans have witnessed many of these red flags. This section gathers reporting, analysis, and historical comparisons to help recognize and resist this alarming trend. Explore, share, and use them to educate others.
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“Project 2025, Explained” – ACLU report on the Heritage Foundation-led initiative and its risks to civil rights and democratic norms
“The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025” – January 2024 report by United To Protect Democracy on how an authoritarian president will dismantle our democracy and what can do to protect it
“The Authoritarian Weakness of Project 2025” – Deep dive by American Progress on how the Heritage Foundation’s plan would dismantle checks and balances
“Unmasking the Anti-Democracy Agenda of Project 2025” – Democracy Docket article outlining DOJ and DHS reforms within the agenda
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"Timothy Snyder on freedom and democracy" - NPR interview with Yale historian Timothy Snyder, author of the 2017 book On Tyranny, on WHYY's The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane
How Democracies Die – book by Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt published in 2018.
How Fascism Works – Yale philosopher Jason Stanley’s 2020 book on identifying fascist methods in modern politics
"Prequel by Rachel Maddow: when America flirted with fascism" - 2023 book by MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow
"Fascism shattered Europe… echoes today in the U.S.” – UC Berkeley historians draw parallels between modern U.S. trends and 1920s–30s Europe
"Fear & Fascism: How America Reached a Political Breaking Point" - YouTube video by Columbia professor Lincoln Mitchell
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"Breaking Down All of Trump’s Day 1 Presidential Actions" - TIME magazine review of 26 executive orders issued on Inauguration Day—including rescinding DEI programs, redefining sex and gender, and eliminating civil protections.
"Trump Orders Federal DEI Staffers Placed on Leave" - Business Insider article details how agencies were directed to dismantle DEI offices, terminate associated staff, and remove training materials.
"Pentagon removes major media outlets from dedicated workstations in new 'rotation program'" - NBC News, The New York Times, NPR, and Politico must vacate their office spaces for other news organizations.
"White House bars Associated Press from spaces like Oval Office and Air Force One" - CBS News story on the president's press restrictions following the AP's refusal to use his new “Gulf of America” terminology.
"How Trump’s Actions Undid Biden’s LGBTQ Student Protections" - Education Weekpieceexplains how early executive orders rolled back Title IX protections for transgender students and reinforced a binary definition of sex.
"Thousands Fired in US Government as Trump & Musk Purge Federal Workers" - AP News documents mass layoffs across agencies under Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) instruction to drastically reduce workforce and freeze grants.
"Analyzing DOGE One Month In" - Harvard Kennedy Schoolcommentary evaluating DOGE and its dismantling of federal structures and staff.
“Trump is setting the US on a path to educational authoritarianism” – Guardian story on federal restrictions to academic freedom and historical teaching
"These Are The Students Targeted by Trump's Immigration Enforcement Over Campus Activism" - TIME magazine
"The People Being Disappeared By ICE in Los Angeles" - The New Yorker
"Trump wants L.A. to set itself on fire. Let's rebel smarter" - Los Angeles Times story on protests against ICE and the National Guard in LA on June 9, 2025.
Urban League Declares “State of Emergency” – AP News report on how Project 2025 is already cited as a direct threat to civil rights
"Trump's Hostile Takeover of D.C. Is Straight Out of the Summer 2020 Playbook" - TIME, 2025
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“The Dangers of Project 2025: Global Lessons in Authoritarianism” – American Progress explores parallels with illiberal regimes in Hungary and Turkey
“Hungary’s Opposition Warns U.S.” – Guardian report on warnings that U.S. threats mirror right-wing autocrats like Viktor Orbán
Protect Democracy on global threats to freedom and democracy and what we can do to push back the tide of authoritarianism
THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP
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STAY WOKE
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THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP - STAY WOKE -
THE ATTACK ON “WOKE”, DEI, AND RELATED TERMS
For decades, conservatives have followed a pattern of weaponizing language and distorting terms like “woke”, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Critical Race Theory (CRT), political correctness, and multiculturalism—reframing them as threats to stoke fear, provoke backlash, and justify rolling back civil rights and progressive reform. It’s a familiar playbook but one that can be stopped by exposing it and pushing back.
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Lead Belly, "Scottsboro Boys" - In this 1938 Library of Congress recording made by folklorist Alan Lomax, folk-blues legend Lead Belly sings about the wrongful conviction of nine Black teenagers in Alabama and warns: "I advise everybody be a little careful when they go down through there. Stay woke, keep their eyes open." This is the first known use of the phrase “stay woke.”
"Scottsboro Boys Museum" - more context about the legal case that inspired Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird
"Master Teacher" - 2008 song by Erykah Badu in which she helped popularize "stay woke" for a new generation.
"#StayWoke" - The phrase surged in popularity during the 2014 Ferguson protests and became a rallying cry within the Black Lives Matter movement. It was widely used on social media to express political consciousness, solidarity, and resistance.
"Jordan Peele Explains Why Childish Gambino's 'Redbone' Was Perfect for 'Get Out'" - YouTube interview with Director Jordan Peele on his use of the "Stay Woke" refrain from the song "Redbone" in his film [video]
"A history of 'wokeness'" - comprehensive 2020 Vox story
"What does the word 'woke' really mean, and where does it come from?" - 2023 NPR story [audio]
"How Woke Went From 'Black' to 'Bad'" - additional context on the history of "woke" from 2022 NAACP Legal Defense Fund story
"Matt Gaetz Blasts "Woke-topians" in Bizarre RNC Speech" - Mediaite, 2020
"Florida's Governor Just Signed the 'Stop Woke Act.' Here's What It Means for Schools and Businesses" - TIME, 2022
"Anti-Woke, Inc." - New Yorker story about Vivek Ramaswamy's 2022 book
"Why 'Woke' Is A Convenient Republican Dog Whistle" - TIME, 2023 on DeSantis' proposed rejection of Advanced Placement African American Studies class from Florida high schools
"How political rhetoric has reshaped the meaning of 'woke'" - 2023 NBC News story on modern attacks by the right [video]
"What does 'woke' mean and why are some conservatives using it" - 2025 ABC News story
"Wrecking ball: Trump's war on 'woke' marks U.S. society's plunge into 'dark times'" - 2025 Guardian story
"Cuts To Woke Programs" - May 2025 White House statement [PDF]
"Trump has weaponized the government to replace 'wokeness' with his version of diversity" - 2025 CNN story
"Reclaiming the word 'Woke' as Part of African American Culture" - 2023 NAACP resolution
"Where 'woke' went wrong" - Financial Times, 2025
"NAACP's fight to reclaim 'woke' as part of African American culture" - 2025 ABC News story on efforts to reclaim "woke" [video]
"President Trump Finally Ends the Madness of NPR, PBS" - White House statement, 2025 that claims the two entities use "taxpayer funds each year to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news'"
"CPB says it is shutting down after being defunded by Congress, targeted by Trump" - PBS News, 2025
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"What is DEI, and why is it dividing America" - CNN, 2025
"The history of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in America" - NPR, 2025 [audio]
"The Real History Behind DEI And Workplace Equity in America" - Forbes, 2025
"Racist dog whistle: the right wing has weaponized ‘DEI’" – The Guardian, 2024
"Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing" - January 20, 2025 White House Executive Order
"Federal agencies begin removing DEI guidance from websites in Trump crackdown" - AP News, 2025
"Trump Orders Federal DEI Staffers Placed on Leave" - Business Insider article details how agencies were directed to dismantle DEI offices, terminate associated staff, and remove training materials.
"Federal agencies bar Black History Month and other 'special observances'" - NBC News, 2025
"The Great Resegregation: The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil-rights movement" - The Atlantic, 2025
"'Draconian' Layoffs, Grant Terminations Come for the NEH" - InsideHigherEd, 2025
"Trump Told Park Workers To Report Displays That 'Disparage' Americans. Here's What They Flagged" - New York Times, 2025
"DEI Was Never Going to Save Us" – 2025 story in The Nation calling for deeper reform versus surface-level DEI gestures
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"What is Critical Race Theory, And Why Is It Under Attack?" - Education Week, 2021
"Critical race theory: What it is and what it isn't" - The Conversation, 2021
"How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over CRT" –2021 New Yorker profile on Christopher Rufo’s pivotal role in creating the anti-CRT narrative
"The Anti-CRT Campaign" - Harvard Law Review, 2023 [PDF]
"Why the Right Is Wrong About Critical Race Theory" –Truthout, 2025
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"Political correctness: how the right invented a phantom enemy" - The Guardian, 2016
"'Politically Correct': The Phrase Has Gone From Wisdom To Weapon" - NPR, 2016
"The not-so ironic evolution of the term 'politically correct'" - Oxford University Press blog, 2019
"Generation Grievance: How the Political Correctness Myth Was Born" - LitHub, 2021
"Political Correctness Used To Be Funny. Now It's No Joke" - New York Times, 2023
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"The Nation: A Campus Forum on Multiculturalism; Opening Academia Without Closing It Down" - commentary in the New York Times by professors in 1990 at the height of debates around multiculturalism and the canon.
"Cover Stories: Whose America?" - 1991 essay in TIME
"A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America" - 1993 book by UC-Berkeley historian Ronald Takaki who helped establish the Ethnic Studies program, a precursor to multiculturalism.
"Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism" - 1995 book by historian David Hollinger
"Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future" - 2012 essay by Will Kymlicka for the Migration Policy Institute with national and global context since the 1970s [PDF]
"Who We Be" - 2014 book by Jeff Chang chronicles the emergence of multiculturalism and conservative cultural conflict from the civil rights era forward.
"Rethinking the History of Multiculturalism: New Perspectives on American Pluralist Ideologies" - Journal of American Ethnic History, 2024.
THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP
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STAY WOKE
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THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP - STAY WOKE -
Additional Resources and organizations we support
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Alt National Park Service — Grassroots environmental advocacy group that formed in resistance to censorship and rollback of protections for public lands.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — Defends and preserves individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Brennan Center for Justice — Nonpartisan law and policy institute focused on democracy, voting rights, and justice reform.
CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights) — California-based nonprofit advancing immigrant rights and policies that promote human dignity.
Democracy Docket— Source for up-to-date information on voting rights, gerrymandering, and election-related litigation.
Democracy Forward — The spearhead of the legal battle against Trump overreach
DNC (Democratic National Committee) — National governing body of the Democratic Party, supporting candidates, platform, and voter engagement.
Interfaith America — Organization fostering cooperation across religious and nonreligious lines to strengthen civic life.
"Letters from an American" — Boston University political historian Heather Cox Richardson’s daily Substack (also on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X) on U.S. politics and history.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) — Nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization advocating for political, educational, social, and economic equality.
Planned Parenthood — A leading provider of reproductive health care, education, and advocacy, ensuring access to essential services and protecting the rights of women, men, and families.
Poor People’s Campaign — Rev. Dr. William Barber II's movement to address systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and militarism through moral revival.
RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services) — Provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees.
Revolutionary Love Project — Movement and educational hub led by activist Valarie Kaur, advocating love as a public ethic to drive social justice.
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) — Monitors hate groups, litigates for civil rights, and promotes tolerance education.
THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP
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STAY WOKE
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THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP - STAY WOKE -