Welcome to Organizer’s Corner — a (free) newsletter from your friends at Get Pod Local! Because we can help you stay inform — but then what?
Enter in your weekly Call To Actions (CTA!) from our Resident Precinct Chair, Joey Cade!
This Feels Overwhelming.
I’m struggling to write this week — and I suspect many of you are struggling to read the news, too.
Everything feels loud. Scary. Unstable. We’re being asked to keep going to work, keep living our lives while something enormous and dangerous is unfolding in plain sight. It feels unreal.
It feels like the end of an empire — because in many ways, it is.
I’m seeing it everywhere.
Group chats.
Mutual aid threads to help those in hiding here in TX.
Mom groups having conversations about go-bags and contingency plans.
Plus the impending sense that this is only the beginning — and that it’s about to get much worse…
If you feel frazzled, stressed, or unable to think clearly right now, please hear this: that is not a personal failure. That is the psychological impact of authoritarianism doing exactly what it is designed to do.
Authoritarians don’t just seize power through laws and force — they seize it through exhaustion, fear, and overwhelm. They want us frozen. They want us panicked. They want us to feel like we must either fight or flight, to give up entirely.
But here’s the truths we have to keep reminding ourselves — and the one thing grounding me this week:
Power is not decided in our panic.
Power is decided when citizens engage.
Power is decided in elections.
And this week the 2026 election season officially begins in Texas!
We are always the first up on the US elections calendar — even as the country feels like it’s on fire.
This week some sneaky, hidden special elections get underway here in TX. Most of us don’t have an election this week, but….
If you live in and around the Fort Worth / Midcities area, you get to vote for Taylor Rehmet for Texas Senate District 9. I’m jealous - I’d love to vote for Taylor, a veteran and union worker who surprised everyone winning the majority of the votes in his fall election.
He’s finally in his runoff election with a Republican vying for the winnable, flippable Texas Senate seat. It would be a HUGE deal to take that seat from a Republican and we’re lucky to have a phenomenal candidate who’s been working his heart out. Please get involved with Taylor’s campaign & VOTE if you are in TX Sen Dist 9.
If you live in Houston, you get to vote for Christian Menefee for Congress. Texas House Dist 18 is having a runoff following the passing of Rep Sylvester Turner (may he rest in power). Get Pod Local has proudly endorsed our friend and fellow progressive Christian Menefee for the seat and hope you will vote for him.
District 18 Map There are also special elections in Grand Prairie for City Council seat 8 (don’t have endorsement list yet but will; DM me) and a City Council seat in Frisco where Dems I know are recommending Ann Anderson.1
📢 If you live in any of the above areas 📢
Early voting: January 21–27
Election Day: Saturday, January 31
These elections are confusingly placed just before the start of Primary Election voting, intentionally …
…and they are happening while we’re distracted and overwhelmed. So turnout will be miniscule. Hence, your vote will carry more weight than usual.
If you live in any of these areas and can get yourself to the polls between Jan 21 & 27 to get your vote in, you can be proud of that good work.
And it will make you feel good, deservedly so. If we can flip that TX Senate seat we’ll give Democrats more power in the next legislative session. LFG!
Remember…
Voting is not pretending everything is fine.
Voting is not complacency.
Voting is one of the clearest refusals to surrender power that ordinary people still have. (I can’t say with confidence that we will still have this right in the autumn, but we do this spring!)
Yes, we need our current elected officials to take ACTION and we are calling for that - and will hold them accountable by voting….2
I won’t tell you not to prepare for what’s coming, not to help those in need in our communities, or not to take this danger seriously. We were made to take care of each other. We must build community resilience. And we have to keep paying attention. (I recommend the GPL News Briefs, which keep me informed without the heart palpitations news gives me. Watch on YT and get deets & source links on our Substack.)3
But I also want to say this clearly, especially if you’re feeling like you’re drowning this week, like I do:
You are allowed to rest.
You are allowed to feel joy.
You are allowed to live your life while resisting.
Burnout does not stop authoritarianism. Sustained, collective action does.
This moment doesn’t require you to do everything.
It requires you to do the next right thing. That’s it. Resistance doesn’t succeed when a few of us pretend to be super heroes. Resistance wins when every single one of us pitches in just a little.
There’s something small we can each do.
If you have a special election, please make a plan to vote by putting in on your calendar now. If you’re not in those areas, help one person you know who is.
This post has tons of ways to do something to help with the protests, media, and countless other support ideas. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
You may be surprised to hear there are protests in Dallas almost EVERY day now. DM me if you can’t find them!
Watch: Anti-ICE protestors demonstrate on pedestrian bridge above U.S. 75
Please become a Vecinos Unidos court watcher or if you are a non-English native speaker, help them remotely to translate their KYR (know your rights) info.
Get involved with El Movimiento and get on their list to take a neighborhood observer training to learn how to help when you see ICE activity, or host a fun KYR whistle kit making party with them. (Or, come to mine on Feb 3, 6:30pm)
Start talking to friends about the Primary Election that is fast approaching…
Watch the TX Dem Primary Statewide Race zoom event I helped host on Jan 13th to familiarize yourself with the races and candidates.4
In Dallas, attend one of the many events I have between now and Feb:
The tyrannical authoritarians wants us isolated and overwhelmed.
Community — and participation — is how we push back.
I don’t know what’s coming next. I share your fear that this may be just the beginning. But I do know this: giving up our agency now only guarantees the worst outcomes.
So this week, let’s do the thing that still matters. Each of us will focus both on caring for ourselves and our loved ones, and also find little ways to take action and support the resistance.
And then we keep going — together.
With honesty, solidarity, and care.
Viva la revolución,
Joey
This newsletter is free, but if you’d like, please buy us some coffee. xoxo
Organizer’s Corner is a Newsletter brought to you by our very own, Joey Cade. Lots of folks have ideas of what can help / what you should do — and while no one has all the answers, we (specifically Joey) do have some. Okay, a lot. Joey is not just a co-host of Get Pod Local …she’s also the Precinct Chair for Dallas’ Precinct 1052.
Your Moment Of Zen
The Ladies of LSU. just destroyed the UDA Nationals 2026 stage!
Other GPL Goodies
Get Pod Local The Podcast: Season 2 with Jalon and Joey
Joey and Jalon sit down with Politicians, Community Leaders, and movers and shakers making a difference. And almost every episode, the Dallas Mayor catches a stray. He deserves it. It’s fine. Episodes drop every Tuesday! Coming Soon!
GPL Presents: New Newsletter with Jalon Nichols
Every Friday, Jalon catches you up on what is going on out here, who is doing it, how does that impact your everyday life, and what everyone is saying about. We are based in Texas, so we have a lot of Texas news, but we cover the whole wide world. There is a LOT of stuff going on everyday, and no one can keep up with it all, but we attempt to….for you. (Clap for us).
GPL Presents: Organizers Corner w/ Joey Cade
Every Sunday night, Joey Cade, our Resident Precinct Chair, lays out our Call To Actions for the week. Because knowing what’s going on is one thing. But doing something about it is another. Let’s do both!
GPL Presents: Water Cooler with Jalon and Joey
Every morning, Jalon D’na and Joey Cade check in and talk about something we read or saw on slack. Videos drop every Thursday!
GPL Presents: Daily Briefs with Jalon Nichols
Everyday, Jalon reads you the headlines of the day — just to keep you in the know. Think NPR at the top of each hour, with a lot of shade some jokes.
Good News!
Our News Briefs are now everywhere you get your podcasts! So you can take me on your commute, in the gym, or when I like to listen to podcast, while you’re washing dishes.
Subscribe and leave a review for us!
AND voting isn’t the ONLY thing we can / should do…but it IS the one thing we ALL should do.
We are also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for audio only versions! Take Jalon D'na to the gym or on your commute with you, or listen to her while you’re washing dishes. Biggest news of the day, under 3 minutes, and always with a side of jokes / levity.
Let me start stretching now before this election season starts up frfr.
Yup. We've gotta get warmed up!!