Navigating the National Shutdown as a small business owner
There's a National Shutdown tomorrow... but what role are small businesses supposed to take in that?
Hey gang. I know I don't normally do sends on a not-Tuesday, but this feels both important and timely.
I've decided to participate in the National Shutdown that's set to take place on Friday, January 30th.
I share this because, as a small business owner, I thought long and hard about this decision before asking my team if they wanted to participate. After all, I’m just the owner of a little anticapitalist website and marketing studio, leading a team of three. Does that really matter in the grand scheme?
With past blackouts and shutdowns, I did want to close for the day... but I ultimately couldn’t help but think about my clients. They’re small businesses, they’re service providers, they’re nonprofit changemakers. That’s who would’ve been affected if I didn’t show up for work.
Everything I do is built in support of people who’ve made it their life’s work to do good for others, whether that’s on a smaller scale or a global one. I felt like I would only HURT the cause if I left those folks without my support.
In this moment, however, standing in solidarity just feels too important to let pass. People are rising up across the nation, and the time is now.
And, let’s be real, here: there’s literally no marketing need that constitutes a real emergency. 😉
I'm also sharing this because I know that my choice also comes from a place with a certain amount of privilege. A lot of small businesses, and workers in general, feel they can’t afford to close down for an entire day. January is a slow month for a lot of local businesses, and closing for even one extra day could have dire consequences.
That’s why I think this is also a time to remind ourselves:
We win this by standing against corporations and broligarchs, not by starving ourselves and our communities.
If you can’t afford to strike this Friday, please know that at least one person out here understands what an incredibly difficult choice that is to make. Your survival matters, and there's more than one way to show up for the cause.
If you do strike, I hope you'll visit the local businesses that choose to open–there are quite a few staying open to offer safer spaces, or even free food and drink, to the community. Helping local business helps to create the economy that fuels the kind of world we all want to live in: one where our people are fed, housed, and thriving, away from the abuses of corporate culture.
And please, do what you can to stay active. Keep calling your representatives. Let’s come together as a community and DEMAND that ICE be defunded and dismantled.
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