I’m from Kentucky, but I live in Peru. It’s hard to explain what it feels like being abroad while news from the US scrolls by on my social media. Another tragedy. Another abuse. When I first moved abroad, I felt helpless. Activism had been part of my life for so long. But in a (seemingly) distant country, my language skills shaky at best, what could I do? If I wasn’t there, did I even have a role to play?
I tried finding opportunities in Lima. Ultimately, though, I’m an outsider here. And more than that, my heart is still in the US.
Fortunately, over the years, my understanding of activism has deepened. Activism is much more flexible, much broader than I thought it was. At its heart, it’s about being active. It’s about choosing to shape culture, not just be shaped by it.
Here’s a few accessible (and free) ways I’ve found to practice activism as a US citizen living abroad. These are coming specifically from my perspective as a writer, editor, and reader. If getting out is hard on you for any reason, including just being an introvert, these options are also for you.
Become a champion for a small literary or art magazine.
Small and mid-level magazines are usually passion projects. They tend to be run by editors fighting to create a space for marginalized voices or for themes that are on the “taboo” side of society. The work these publications share is often by new, small creators—artists and writers without a big following, generally at the beginning of their careers. These publications, humble as they may seem, are markers of free speech, sandboxes for people learning to speak out, and seeds for new communities (on top of being mini-communities themselves).
How to start? You could start by searching for local ones, e.g., “Cincinnati-based literary magazines.” I cover a few in my blog “5 Free, Paying, AI-Free Literary Magazines You Have to Submit To.” And check out Erika Krouse’s Ranking or the Poets & Writers list. Choose one to three ‘zines that resonate with you.
Then support them!
- Interact with their social media posts (not just liking, but commenting and sharing)
- Sign up for their newsletter
- Read their publication, then talk about your favorite pieces (online or otherwise!)
- Look up and follow your favorite contributors each issue
- Email or message the editors a few words of gratitude/encouragement
- Let any creative friends know when the ‘zine has a submission deadline coming up
Creating any kind of art, including writing, can be lonely work. Plus it takes courage to put yourself out there, especially when you’re just getting started. But you can foster that labor and courage by being a kind reader.
Use your local library (or libraries).
In the battle for good, libraries are tanks. Absolute juggernauts. Beyond education and literacy, libraries are crucial to activism: free internet access, free meeting spaces, relentless community building, free assistance from librarians with any kind of research. But libraries have to justify their existence. Using libraries contributes to the statistics they need to justify their funding and apply to grants.
How to start? First off, get a library card. Get another library card. Heck yeah, multiples. Look up your local library, maybe give them a call, and they’ll help you. They want you to have a library card. After that, enjoy that card!
- Download the free app Libby and register your new card. This app is so accessible and easy to use, great for ebooks and audiobooks.
- Subscribe to your local library’s email newsletter! My libraries email great book recommendations alongside all the upcoming classes and events for the month.
- Borrow and request stuff by small or marginalized authors! Seriously, if your library doesn’t have a book, you can ask them to acquire it, usually via a simple form on their website. That’s huge for indie authors.
Write reviews.
One of the most powerful things you can do as a consumer is to write reviews. Yet so few people do it. For a small business, artist, or author, good reviews can change lives. The more money we shift from giant corporations to normal people, especially folks looking to invest in their communities, the better.
How to start? Get familiar with relevant review platforms. Where can you review what you want to review? Make a profile if you need to. And when it comes to writing reviews, bear in mind that a sentence is all it takes! “Great quality.” “Really fun read.” “Can’t wait to come back!” Just be honest.
- Read a book you loved? (Even one you got via the library?) Say so on Amazon, Goodreads, or StoryGraph.
- Is there a local cafe or cute shop you appreciate? A salon or museum? A local bookstore? Even if all you’ve done is browse the shop, you can write a review. Google the place and see if you can leave a Google review. Those are super visible. You can sometimes also leave reviews at the place’s website or on major apps like Yelp or TripAdvisor.
- Be vocal about supporting your friends. If you have a friend starting a business, and you sincerely believe in their service or product or craft, don’t be shy! Offering a testimonial for their website or dropping a review on their LinkedIn page can be huge.
Start wishlists.
Just because you aren’t spending money now doesn’t mean you never will. Start assembling a “potential gifts” list of small artists and indie authors you love, local shops and bakeries, and organizations or creators who support good causes and sell cute products. Going forward, you’ll be able to share ideas with friends struggling to think of gift ideas for their loved ones, and you can drop clear suggestions when asked what kind of present you might like.
How to start? Make a bookmark folder in your browser (or anywhere) labeled “Gifts” and start filling it with options. Try to find places with a range of prices, things that make good stocking stuffers as well as bigger aspirational gifts.
Here’s a few tips and places to start:
- I’ve been really excited to check out services like OwlCrate and its competitors. Even if a monthly subscription is out of budget, their websites seem to boost lots of small creators.
- I’m also excited about sites like Marmalade, which are emerging as competition to Etsy to help combat dropshipping and poor treatment of artists.
- Search for local art festivals, book fairs, or oddity exhibitions and sign up for their newsletters.
- Open your heart to art as a gift. Art prints are so freaking cool and a great way to support artists! Commissions are wonderful too: a painting of your childhood home or living room in holiday decor, a felt mini-sculpture of your pet, handmade jewelry or desk knickknacks.
- Special editions of somebody’s favorite book can make a great gift!
- Consider crafts too! Lots of beautiful hand-poured candle companies donate to causes: I’ve ordered from Prosperity Candle (women in need) and Sydney Hale (animal rescues) and loved both.
Bear in mind: As you collect options, watch out for dropshipping sites, which can be a real bummer; look up reviews from places other than the shop’s website itself. Also look for artists who are vocally anti-GenAI and open about their own forms of activism.
Create art.
Remember how to be creative. Do art you’re “bad” at. Heal the part of you that feels anything you make needs to fetch a good price. Relearn how to be gentle with yourself. Make something for the joy of the process. Find your flow state. Activism can be internal work too.
How to start? Only got printer paper and a pen? Play with patterns. Doodle. Draw a curving line that feels good, then add some swirls. If you like writing, pick three interesting objects from around your house and draft a poem or short story that incorporates all three. Whatever activity you pick, do it ten times on different days. Experiment. Flex new muscles.
There’s all kind of spin-offs here too:
- Visit small local art exhibits (usually free) or museums (which often have a day of the week or month that offers free entry).
- Visit a local art shop. Not all art supplies are expensive! A set of new crayons, a little watercolor tray. Pretty paper. You don’t need fancy, professional supplies to have fun. Even just a visit can provide inspiration.
- Check community centers and libraries for art classes or writing workshops. Think pottery, photography, music, painting—anything that’s new to you and might be fun to try. My “Writing Resources” page also offers a whole section of free options.
Start a club.
HEY. Don’t panic. Three people counts as a club. Heck, two people counts as a buddy system, at the very least! Clubs don’t have to be super formal. They don’t even have to be in person. Just start connecting with other people. Humble interest groups are great community builders, and community is key to activism.
How to start? Agreeing to co-read a book with a friend or two is a brilliant launching point. But any interest will do: art, cooking, baking, pottery, jewelry, fashion, knitting. You don’t even need to do that activity together; you can just agree to talk about it and share resources or relevant news. The key is figuring out how to communicate. On that front, try to be flexible and open to learning a new platform. Discord and Slack offer free profiles. A small, private Facebook group can do the trick. WhatsApp chat groups, for just three to five people, can be all you need.
Identify your “core” causes.
It’s impossible to care equally about all the injustices in the world at once. The good news, though, is that everything is interwoven. By caring deeply about a few specific things, which means practicing activism on those fronts (however small), we tug on important threads.
How to start? This one’s personal. What do you care about? Who do you love most, and what makes their life unnecessarily hard?
Cards on the table, here’s a few causes I care about deeply:
- organ donation, specifically anything to do with heart health and research (read “My Sister’s Heart Transplant” for more);
- frank conversations about death and dying (check out The Order of the Good Death for more), including centering the grieving (vs. using death to center your own values and beliefs);
- anything gender related (women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights);
- fatphobia (was a big fan of the Maintenance Phase podcast);
- injustices related to immigration and the ways institutional racism manages (or tries) to stay invisible.
It’s not that I don’t care about anything else. It’s that these issues resonate with me so powerfully that I’m way less likely to burn out when wrestling with them. Keeping your activism local, heartfelt, and focused is way more likely to lead to consistency and long-term growth.
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