Home - Stand Up Daily

Vision: Stand Up Daily to make our government functional and keep Mother Earth livable for All Peoples, all children, and all species that we share this beautiful and damaged planet with.

Mission: Empower and Unite We-The-People to have life, liberty and happiness by Standing Up Daily to reclaim our country nonviolently from the 1% and from corporate-controlled politicians.

Goal: To Stand Up Daily for what we believe in and care about by creating our own customizable (& reusable) yard sign to put in our windows or out in our yards. And bring to rallies, marches, town hall meetings, etc.
These plastic yard signs are blank in the middle and ready for us to let our neighbors - and the world - know what we stand up for (or against) by using 'permanent' markers (e.g. Sharpies) to add our own words or drawing. Then to edit or completely replace it use denatured alcohol or Williams Lectric Shave to erase the marker making each sign customizable and reusable on both sides for two-signs-in-one.

Another way to Stand Up:
Stand Up Daily (or as often as possible) with your neighbors, co-workers or Zoom participants, pick your own time and actions, initiate your actions by putting a hand up in the air to signal the start of a Minute Of Silence (MOS ideas are shared below). Then after the silence, cheer and shout out something like "LET US VOTE" several times; sing a song; flash your house lights; or do whatever you decide to do. Use NextDoor.com to coordinate plans with your neighbors. It's free for neighborhoods all across America!

Make chalk art in the streets or put a Stand Up Daily / Green New Deal sign in our windows and in our yards. (order them here) .

• Make Earth Day another annual event like National Night Out (first Tuesdays every August) but in the Spring.

TO CLARIFY: Standing Up Daily is about the 99% standing up daily, but not necessarily about any one person or any group standing up every day. It is about We-The-People standing up united whenever/wherever we can make it happen.

For example, Greta Thunberg and students around the world chose Fridays for Youth Climate Strikes (#FridaysForFuture), other groups can pick their own day of the week, or a day once a month or whatever opportunity each group chooses.

Imagine the buzz, the excitement, the hope it would create knowing that somewhere some of our 99% are standing up dramatically and nonviolently without having to get out into the streets (hopefully). Although that may be what it takes.

Citizens across the country can stand up wherever they are at exactly any pre-determined clock time, e.g. 12:12 PM (because we're at the twelfth hour) for a Moment Of Silence, while holding up a signs that clarify which of the NAGS you are standing up for. Do this while at work, in school, while shopping, at a meeting, in church or pull over and park if driving.

In Isreal a siren goes off annually in memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II, and EVERYONE stops and stands up for two minutes of silence.

The STAND UP DAILY "NAG" STRATEGY: NAG stands for National American Goal. Whenever we are gathered in a group in public, e.g. at work, in school or at any kind of event and we are united and committed to a chosen NAG (listed below), Stand Up for it! Inspire ourselves and others. Get the attention of the media and encourage - or nag as necessary - our politicians into legislative action.

Stand Up relentlessly any day, every day, weekly - or as often as it works - anywhere and everywhere. Be creative and powerful together, make it an adventure!

List of NAGs: Paul Goren, chair of the University of Minnesota Poli-Sci Dept, said (before the Parkland Florida massacre and the March For Our Lives) that the top two goals for fixing our politics are:

#1) Get Big Money Out of Politics and #2) fix Gerrymandering

Other NAGs (or make up one your group likes):

• Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act AND HR 1 (For the People Act)

• Police Reform / Demilitarization

• Healthcare For All

• Infrastructure Jobs with Living Wages (Green Economy)

• Sensible Gun Laws

• Climate Justice

NOTE: Greta Thunberg supports "Fridays For A Future" & the Green New Deal - It will be awesome if or when students (and Americans across the country) Stand Up every Friday (or every school day) for these two NAGs: Sensible Gun Laws & the Green New Deal! This combination will give youth what they are demanding: A LIVABLE FUTURE.

• Immigration Policy Reform

• Stop Wars (end the Military-Industrial Complex, Ban Nuclear Weapons, create a Department of Peace)

------------------

While it would be a miracle and most powerful if America could get focused on one NAG at a time - but because there are several very important NAGs, and different groups each focused on our favorite - that is unlikely, or perhaps our groups could Stand Up for a different NAG for each day of the week...

Money Mondays (Get Big Money Out Of Politics: Reverse Citizens United, reform Campaign Financing);
Voting Rights Tuesdays
Worker Wednesdays (Infrastructure & green jobs w/ living wages for all);
Think Healthcare-for-All Thursdays;
Fridays For a Future (Climate Justice & sensible Gun Laws);
Sane Society Saturdays (police demilitarization, immigration reform, legalize marijuana)
Stop War Sundays (end the Military-Industrial Complex, Ban Nuclear Weapons, create a Department of Peace)

WHY STAND UP:

We-The-People are standing up to disrupt the status quo and to get our demands fulfilled. “Power concedes nothing without a demand” – Frederick Douglass.

HOW to Stand Up:

Simply Stand Up with a hand up high in the air, with a peace symbol or a Nelson Mandela fist or hold hands with each other.

WHEN TO Stand Up:

Plan ahead to have our groups self-initiate out-of-the-blue (similar to flash mobs), which is more dramatic and exciting than having someone tell us when to start.

At a predetermined clock time.
When a certain speaker at a town hall meeting or rally is done talking so she/he/they are respected and not interrupted.
When there is a speaker that the group strongly disagrees with Stand Up and do our action as soon as that person starts talking.
When a march reaches a certain destination.
At sporting events at the end of a particular period, quarter or inning.
In food courts at malls during lunch or dinner time.
At church after a certain part of the service is done.

Venues for Stand Up Actions

Pick an ACTION TO TAKE after the group is standing up with a hand up:

Go quiet for a Moment of Silence (MOS): 50 second video of a NYC MOS

Shout out our NAG a few times.

Sing a song.

Hold up signs or flags.

Do a Die-In.

Take a knee.

Do a flash-mob performance.

Share a "3 - Breath Hug" with each other.

Find someone to share a hug with - with permission, a real hug - and do it with your hearts next to each other and arms respectfully and gently wrapped around.

If this is not for someone, simply put your hand over your heart to show that you are not ready or not interested. Or maybe just smile & bow to others.

Start the hug with both of you taking one deep breath at the same time, breathe in and out together, then do two more, also in sync. Close with a bow towards each other. Do more with others if you’d like.

As a man I find that a man-with-man hug is grounding and nurturing, a great way to experience the day with my fellow human beings. And to make it even better a man-with-woman hug is for me icing on the cake.

When I was at the Pineridge Reservation in April of 2019 I started out one morning sharing a man-with-man hug with an MKP brother and then I shared a man-with-woman hug with an Apache - Taos woman. Afterwards I mentioned to her that for me, in addition to having a man-with-man hug and a man-with-woman hug, wouldn’t it be great to also have a man-with-elder hug, and a man-with-two-spirited person hug.

She said: “You just got both”. That made my day right there.

FYI, “two-spirited” is what indigenous people call those who are bi-sexual or not straight. They are way more accepting of the whole spectrum of sexuality than most of us. Or at least that is my understanding.

Wouldn’t lots of us sharing some or all four of these hugs daily make the world a better place for all of humanity?

Again, here's that 2014 NYC Moment Of Silence at the People’s Climate March...

HOW TO DO ACTIONS:

Nonviolently.

Like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jesus, many youth groups and Extinction Rebellion – USA they are committed to nonviolence.

Do actions long enough to cause an interruption and garner attention, but not long enough to get arrested unless that’s what we decide to risk.

Dramatic actions done quickly can make a point and win hearts without angering fellow Americans.

AFTERWARDS:

Let others that are present know what we’re up to and invite them to join us next time or create their own Stand Up actions.

Handout explanatory flyers, give-away (or request donations)  T-shirts, little flags, buttons, yard signs, etc. Ask what is important to them. Buy their kids an ice cream, share a joke, sit down for coffee or buy a meal for someone there, including cops, security, media and politicians.