Thank brave people for taking a stand
for democracy and against tyranny 

 

Every Wednesday for the past 5 years, I've led a free Zoom workshop called Get Up and Write

Starting in April 2025, I added a 3-minute segment at the end
We all write postcards to a brave person standing up for democracy

It's fun to imagine that person receiving cards from a bunch of appreciative strangers!

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What we are learning: 

It's easier and more fun to do this in community than alone

It's a great way to start the day

It's good to do as a regular, weekly practice

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Be part of it!​

Check this web page each week for the postcard recipient and send your own card to them

You can share the link and multiply the impact!

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This week's recipient (Dec 24, 2025):

Wilmer Chavarria, Superintendent
Winooski School District
60 Normand Street
Winooski, VT 05404
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Dear Superintendent Chavarria, 

Thank you and your colleagues for acting bravely on behalf of your students and community, and for responding boldly and publicly to tyranny and demagoguery. Your actions are invigorating and inspiring. May your courage be contagious!

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9% of the district’s students are Somali. In response to Trump’s anti-Somali tirade, District leaders hosted a Somali flag-raising ceremony. Read more

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​​Past recipients:

Nov 19: Omar Jorge, CEO, Compare Foods Supermarkets in Charlotte, NC (helping protect immigrants by waiving delivery fees)

Nov 12: Evanston, IL Mayor Daniel Biss (helping his city resist the brutality and lawlessness of ICE)

Oct 22: Marc Elias (lawyer leading the fight to uphold our system of elections)

Oct 15: Hon. Karin J. Immergut: Blocked sending National Guard troops to Oregon (later overturned)

Oct 8: Hon. Diane Schafer Goodstein: Blocked Trump regime’s attempt to access SC voter data. On Oct 5 her home burned. Political arson? Unknown. But the very fact of that possibility is horrifying.

Oct 1: Bishop Michael Pham of San Diego (standing up for people targeted by ICE; Watch video)
Sept 24: Hon. Sonia Sotomayor (for her powerful, eloquent dissents)
Sept 10: Hon. Sparkle L. Sooknanan (blocked the Trump regime from deporting Guatemalan minors)
Aug 20: Texas State Rep. Nicole Collier - refused to sign a “permission slip” to leave the state Capitol. 
Aug 13: Texas State Rep. Ann Johnson who left the state to protect democracy. Watch interview

Aug 6: Youman Wilder, baseball coach, defended his young players from ICE agents - Read more

July 23: Maurene Comey (prosecutor fired by Trump regime; warned colleagues not to succumb to fear).

July 16: Hon. Joseph N. Laplante (blocked Trump exec. order ending birthright citizenship - Read more)
July 9: Michael Osterholm (helped launch the Vaccine Integrity Project)

June 18: Ben Schrader (resigned rather than prosecute Kilmar Abrego Garcia on trumped-up charges)

June 4: Marc Van Der Hout, immigration rights attorney representing Mahmoud Khalil 

May 21: Jaime Cook, Principal, Sackets Harbor Central School. Read about her here.​​

May 14: Sen. Chris Van Hollen

May 7: Hon. Beryl A. Howell (U.S. District Court)

April 30: Hon. Loren L. AliKhan (U.S. District Court)

April 23: Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Delaware)
April 16: Alan Garber, President of Harvard University

April 9: Christopher Eisgruber, President of Princeton University

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Other stuff I'm up to

Charlie Varon's Comic Bonbons (political satire)

​​​Get Up and Write (my free weekly Zoom workshop)

Charlie's Monday Salon (for writers and performers, in person in San Francisco)

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