Are “regular people” increasingly drawn to activism under the Trump administration? Durham resident Kathryn Pollak thinks so. After all, she’s one of them. The Duke social psychologist and researcher had always canvassed for the Democratic Party before elections, but that was the extent of her political activism. Then came Trump’s second electoral victory.
Six months later, Pollak’s life has radically changed. In early February, she began sending out a daily Substack newsletter, Engaged Durhamites for Democracy, to a handful of people, offering upbeat news and upcoming activism opportunities. She uses the newsletter, which now has around 850 subscribers, to help galvanize people who otherwise might feel overwhelmed by everything going on. Pollak also spends time every day phoning her Washington, D.C., representatives, spreading the word to North Carolinians through calls and door-knocking, and leading several weekly protests.
Pollak talked to the INDY about empowering people, the magic of 3.5 percent, and whether protesting makes a difference.
INDY: How did all of this start for you?
Pollack: This last time canvassing, for Kamala, felt different. I was having a much harder time getting folks to vote. I was getting things like “You only show up every four years. You don’t care, you only want my vote.” That kind of came together for me: I can’t just go every four years. It is disingenuous. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I started emailing my friends, like 15 people, saying, “We should get together and talk about doing something, not just at election time.” But I didn’t know that I was going to be doing all this. It’s been very organic.
Do you have a particular angle?
My goal was to get people who have never been politically active to do stuff. We are powerful. We’re giving these people—politicians—our power, and if they don’t do what we need them to do, we will take our power and we will give it to somebody else. That’s how it works. But people don’t always think of themselves that way.
In your Substack, you wrote about a woman you encountered at a car inspection site. You thought she was probably a Trump supporter but asked her anyway how she thought things were going in this country. And she surprised you by saying “Things are crazy!”
Yeah, it shocked me. I almost didn’t do it. My voice was almost trembling when I was talking to her. But when she said it’s “crazy,” that was when I said, “Well, do you want to get more involved?” And she goes, “Yeah, I do.”
I appreciate how you emphasize listening and respect in these interactions.
Positivity is contagious, you know? We need to have compassion for the people who voted for this person. Why would they ever join us if we’re like, “You’re stupid” or “Get over yourself”? Compassion and kindness in the face of animosity is a powerful tool.
Do you have a goal of talking to a certain number of people every day?
No. But I talk to almost everybody if I’m in any kind of situation where there’s enough time to have a conversation. I played tennis today and got two players to sign up for the Substack. We need to grow this movement. I’ve heard it from so many different places: if you get 3.5 percent of the population resisting consistently, the regime topples. We need 11 million people.
You write about protests in the area. Do you organize the protests at the Raleigh Tesla dealership?
Yes. I was terrified at first—I’d never organized a protest in my life. Usually we get around 100 people. We’re there every Friday now. And then we do our Tuesday morning protest on the bridge [over the Durham Freeway]. And now Avelo [at the airport, protesting the airline’s deportation flights]. Eighteen people are signed up for tomorrow, at seven in the morning!
Are people becoming more engaged, or less?
I’m seeing more energy. When Senator Tillis wouldn’t meet with us [for a town hall event], we found out that he was having a luncheon with his donors at a country club. Within two days, we had 100 people there, protesting outside of the country club.
But will any of this make a difference, ultimately?
It’s already making a difference. Tillis voted against Ed Martin [for U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.]. That was huge, and the president withdrew [Martin’s] name. I feel like our calls to Tillis are working: he knows we’re paying attention. The more our elected officials realize that we are not happy and the lower the president’s ratings go, the safer they feel to separate from him and speak against him. And for the folks who already agree with us, the more they see us, the more they feel supported and emboldened to take steps.
There’s another big protest coming up soon—are you part of that?
Yes, I’m part of the planning committee. It’s June 14. A lot of the nation is doing a “No Kings” theme, but [in Durham] we don’t want the attention to be on him; we want it to be on our rights. So “Liberty and Justice for All,” that’s our theme.
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