What to Do Wednesday
Your Weekly Guide to Staying Politically Active—From Abroad
Wednesday, 26 November, 2025
Thanksgiving Edition
This Week’s Theme: Decency and Virtue as Acts of Resistance
Happy Thanksgiving from Democrats Abroad Italy. As we head into a long weekend centered on gratitude, connection, and reflection, I want to anchor this week’s message around a simple idea.
When there is cruelty, responding with decency is a form of resistance.
When there is corruption, responding with virtue is a form of resistance.
This is not passivity. It is not disengagement. It is a quiet but powerful refusal to mirror the behavior that harms our democracy. Decency and virtue are forms of fortitude. They are a choice to keep our civic muscles strong, even when the political climate feels exhausting or corrosive.
Thanksgiving has always been a moment when Americans, wherever we are in the world, reconnect with what we value. This year, let’s bring that spirit deliberately into our political and civic lives.
What To Do This Week
1. Practice Political Resistance Through Personal Decency
This week’s call to action is intentionally personal.
In your own life, among your family, friends, coworkers, and communities, choose decency as a form of resistance. Treat people with integrity and care even when the broader culture feels coarse or cynical. Resist cruelty by refusing to echo it. Resist corruption by living in alignment with your values.
Small acts matter. They are contagious. They set a tone. They hold a line. And they keep us anchored in the democratic ideals we are working to protect.
2. Write a Note of Gratitude to a Lawmaker
For many weeks our calls to action have involved pressure, accountability, and protest. This week is unusual.
Your task is to send a note of gratitude.
Contact your member of Congress if you feel they have earned appreciation for their work. Or, if your own representatives are not the ones who most inspire you, write to another member of Congress or government official whose actions you value. Thank them for their courage, clarity, decency, or hard work in this difficult moment.
Gratitude in politics is not naïve. It is a strategic reinforcement of the kind of public service we want to see more of.
You can find the contact information for any elected official on this site: The U.S. and its government | USAGov
3. Stay Grounded in Your Own Values
Take time over the holiday weekend to reconnect with what motivates you. Democracy work is long-term work, and it is powered not only by outrage but by commitment. Consider what decency and virtue look like in your own political practice. Consider how you model the resistance you want to see.
Upcoming Events
Join us at an upcoming in-person or virtual event:
Wednesday 26 November @18:30 Southern Chapter Thanksgiving Eve Aperitivo
Saturday 13 December @16:30 Triveneto Holiday Meetup, 13 Dec, Treviso
“In the face of cruelty, one must never lose sight of human decency. It is the quiet courage that sustains free societies.”
Albert Camus
Warm wishes for a meaningful Thanksgiving.
Leyani Redditi
Chair,
Democrats Abroad Italy
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