This month, TroubleNation groups have been celebrating the holidays and giving back. Taking direct action is important, but don’t forget that joy and community-building are also key to dismantling authoritarianism.

The Akron Democracy Defenders group hosted an event at a local winery for members to come together and regroup before the new year!

They had a cookie swap, played “Are You Smarter Than Our President” trivia (spoiler alert – yes), and asked attendees to commit to volunteering with one of their community partners doing mutual aid work.

LKN Troublemakers, a group that has grown to almost 400 members in less than a year, came together for a 2025 review and 2026 planning session – which included a signature drink!

Two Red Wine & Blue members, Beth and Jeff, organized a giving tree at their local gym and collected two carloads of non-perishable food items for their community hunger center.

And we can’t forget all the groups that hosted holiday parties, including a pajama party by CALM (Charlotte Area Liberal Moms).

We had an emotional start to 2025, but we didn’t let the extremists get us down. Together, we held onto hope and joy. They went low, so we went local, digging into our local communities to protect one another and democracy.

So what does 2026 look like for Red Wine & Blue? It’s all about taking the amazing group of women we’ve brought together and achieving real change in the 2026 midterms.

From Pajama Parties to Food Drives