On Tuesday, January 13, Trump posted on his social media platform: “Iranian Patriots, keep protesting—take over your institutions!!!” Our president is fanning the flames of civil unrest in Iran, apparently completely unaware of the irony. Nonetheless, with his post, he’s demonstrated that he understands the importance of institutions in a civil society. It may explain why he’s taken over the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, and CBS.

I encourage you, here in the United States to … well, not to “take over your institutions,” but become a leader in a local institution—or at least a member or a volunteer. A central theme of Corridor Rabbit is that tyranny requires local cooperation. It means that an authoritarian will eventually want to influence the institutions that define your local community.

Schools are institutions. Libraries and museums are institutions. The houses of worship in your town are institutions. The Salvation Army. The Rotary. Kiwanis. The newspaper—if you still have one.

“Defend Institutions” is lesson two in Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny. He writes:

It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side.

Corridor Rabbit is meant to serve as a casual guide for how to start and grow an informal resistance (persistence) group. It is not authoritative; it is a live journal documenting our efforts. It is a call to action. It’s an invitation to connect and share what you are doing to resist authoritarianism. Read more about the goals of Corridor Rabbit.