I Marched in #Women'sMarch in Chicago - What's Next?

I was one of more than 200,000 people attending the Chicago Women's March, and one of several million attending Women's Marches across the US and the world. Hopefully this is the beginning of an on-going effort that results in a different type of political engagement and representation than we now receive from either of the US political parties.

In many past articles I've used this ENOUGH graphic to show steps of engagement needed to make mentor-rich, non-school, volunteer-based, learning programs available in more places.  I've tagged 185 articles in this blog with the category "learning", which is the first step that I recommend anyone take to build their personal engagement.

This week I found two web sites that I encourage you to look at to learn more ways to be politically engaged in the coming years.  One is titled the "Invisible Guide" which is copying some of the organizing tactics of the Tea Party and Occupy Movement to draw new political strength to progressive issues. Follow them on Twitter at @Invisibleteam

The other is SwingLeft.org which is identifying legislative districts that will be contested in the 2018 election and encouraging people who live near one of these to take an active role in assuring that progressive candidates win. Taking a progressive majority in the US Congress and/or in state legislatures, can blunt many of the drastic ideas proposed by the new GOP leadership. Follow them on Twitter at @swingleftorg

I put both of these in this section of the Tutor/Mentor web library.

I'm particularly interested in the SwingLeft strategy because of its use of maps. In the presentation below I showed a strategy to build support in the Illinois general assembly for drop out prevention strategies, including non-school tutor/mentor programs. The strategy seeks to identify legislative districts that should support such efforts based on their closeness to areas with high drop out rates.

Using maps to build public support for dropout prevention in Illinois by Daniel F. Bassill on Scribd

In another presentation I used maps to show many overlapping political districts in Chicago where there are poorly performing schools, high rates of violence, and a great need for youth supports such as well-organized non-school tutor/mentor programs.

In the above EDUCATE graphic I focus on Learning, as the first follow-up step for those who engage in the Women's March. Unless you take time to read articles I post, and follow the links, then share the information with others in your network, you're not applying the first, and most important step toward creating the future we want in America and in the world.

Start today. Make time every day.