In case this is useful or a good prompt

[asakiyume]

A friend here on Dreamwidth urged me to share with US readers the means of getting in touch with your legislators so you can keep them apprised of your feelings and concerns. [ ] (The square brackets are made of adamantium and are capable of holding the depth and heat of your feelings and concerns.)

It is very easy to contact your federal legislators. congress.gov has a "find your member" feature. Type in your address, and it will tell you your senators and your representative.

If you then go to your legislators' websites, you can get contact information not only for them in DC, but in your state as well. For example, my US senators have phone numbers in Washington, in Boston, and--for people like me in western Massachusetts--in Springfield, MA. If one voice mail gets filled up, you can try another.

You can also use organizations like Five Calls.

I believe most (maybe all?) states have similar pages for your state-level legislators. As an example, here's what I got when I typed "find my state legislators" into Google.



I think reaching out is important regardless of the political orientation of your legislators. If they think like you do, they can still use encouragement. If they're dead set against you, they can still damn well listen to a person in their voting district.

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

If they think like you do, they can still use encouragement.

It also helps to support their position when they can point to evidence of it being an issue their constituents are vocally supportive of/opposed to! (And, not to be flippant, but as someone who previously answered the phones in an elected official's office: it's so nice to occasionally hear from people who are not yelling at you.)

[asakiyume]

Oh boy, that must have been quite the duty. Eeep!

[light_of_summer]

Thank you so much for posting this! 🤗

[asakiyume]

Thank you for suggesting it!

[sovay]

A friend here on Dreamwidth urged me to share with US readers the means of getting in touch with your legislators so you can keep them apprised of your feelings and concerns. [ ] (The square brackets are made of adamantium and are capable of holding the depth and heat of your feelings and concerns.)

*hugs*

I have been calling mine.

[asakiyume]

I have been doing it... a little. But I've also been writing postcards.

[sovay]

But I've also been writing postcards.

That's cool. I hope they are read appropriately for their time and investment. (I happen to be able to make quick phone calls without feeling fragmented or depleted.)

[asakiyume]

Totally get it! I find postcards more self-protectively distancing and not a lot of effort, whereas conversely, I stress out a lot about the phone calls. But sometimes I can manage them.

[sartorias]

Calling and leaving messages...no guarantee anyone listens, but number might be important.

[asakiyume]

That's what I figure.

[pameladean]

The more this kind of information is scattered about, the better. I keep losing track of my previous means of connection with my representatives. Because I'm so mad all the time my organization goes out the window. So thank you!

P.

[pameladean]

As long as I'm here, I just want to say that I recently subscribed to the Atlas Obscura feed, and about every third entry makes me think that you wrote it.

P.

[asakiyume]

Awww! That's one of the most flattering things anyone has ever said to me. I love Atlas Obscura.

[asakiyume]

You are very welcome! I am so glad my friend suggested I do this.

I am angry all the time too. It's wearing me out.