A MetaCocoMom Guide to Tomorrow’s General Strike
We are in the “Year of the Shift.” We’ve talked about finding a spiritual home that affirms our bodies, and we’ve talked about the systemic exhaustion of our labor. But tomorrow, Friday, January 30th, we move from talk to the labor of refusal.
I am withholding my participation from the capitalist machine. No school for the JSquad. No transportation costs. No spending. No “business as usual” while our government bankrolls state-sponsored terror like ICE.
If you’ve been looking for a way to act but don’t know where to start, here is the MetaCocoMom AFROP Model for a home-based strike.
The AFROP Strike Framework
- A – Active Brains: We aren’t “checking out”; we are checking in. Tomorrow is a day of political education. We are visiting the local library to ground ourselves in history that wasn’t taught in the suburbs.
- F – Focused Art: The children won’t just be “drawing.” They will be creating Afrofuturist blueprints—visualizing a world where their neighbors are safe—and we are sending those “visions” directly to our representatives.
- R – Real Experiences: We are leaning into the silence. By withholding our transportation and our wallets, we experience the “Real” weight of our own economic power. When we stop, the machine feels it.
- O – Opportunities: We are calling our “contractors” (our Reps and Senators). Every call is a logged record of our presence. This is the opportunity for my children to hear their own voices shaking the halls of power.
- P – Practicalities: What is the cost? Zero dollars. We are redirecting the time, energy, and money we would have spent on the “machine” back into our own home and our own healing.
The Strike Day “Stay-In” Syllabus
If you are striking from home and need to focus your mind without losing your resolve, here is our family’s curated watchlist.
Note for the Moms: The first list contains adult-focused themes and language. I suggest previewing these or saving them for when the kids are in the “Active Brains” library phase.
For Mature Audiences (The Architecture of Systems):
- 13th, John Q, Losing Isaiah, V for Vendetta, Get Out, Higher Learning, Malcolm X, Do The Right Thing, Women of Brewster Place.
For the Whole Family (The “Little Activist” Syllabus):
- The Color of Friendship (Disney): A beautiful look at racial prejudice and the labor of building bridge-across-differences.
- Arthur (PBS): “Arthur Takes a Stand” (Season 21, Episode 4). Arthur meets Congressman John Lewis and learns how to stage a peaceful sit-in protest.
- Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum (PBS): “I am Rosa Parks / I am Thurgood Marshall.” These episodes explain the mechanics of fairness and the bravery required to change a law.
- Sesame Street (PBS): “The Power of We” Special. A fantastic tool for teaching kids how to be an “upstander” against racism and how to use their voices for the collective “we.”
- Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (PBS): Episode 1065. The iconic 1969 moment where Fred Rogers and Officer Clemmons (a Black police officer) share a wading pool together. It’s a masterclass in quiet, radical resistance through hospitality.
- Daniel Tiger (PBS): “A Fair Place to Play / Miss Elaina’s Bandage.” Great for the youngest strikers (like my twins) to learn about equity and seeing everyone’s skin color as beautiful and valued.
Action: The Solidarity Chain
We overcome this with ACTION, and that action starts with solidarity. We cannot be “spiritually gentrified” out of our own power if we stand together.
Your Task Today:
- Read and Prep: Decide one thing you will “withhold” tomorrow.
- Share the Light: Share the link to this blog with one friend. Encourage them to read it and join us in whatever capacity they can.
- Voice It: If you must spend tomorrow, buy Black, Brown, or Immigrant. Redirect the flow of your labor to those who keep the “spirit of the place” alive.
We shall overcome this, one refusal at a time. See you on the other side of the strike.
The “Contractor” Script for Kids
When the JSquad makes their calls tomorrow, they won’t be reading a policy paper. They will be speaking from the heart. Use this script for your own little activists:
The Kid Script: “Hello, my name is [Name] and I am a kid in your neighborhood. I am staying home today because I want my neighbors to be safe. Please stop spending money on ICE and give that money to our schools instead. I want to live in a place where everyone is welcome. Thank you!”
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