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Next week’s “Free America Walkout” is asking Americans to walk out of work (and school) on Tuesday, January 20, to disrupt “business as usual” in protest of the Trump administrations recent actions and policies, including its treatment of immigrants, attempts to curb democracy, recent abuse by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and the recent fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. The protest’s main organizers are the Women’s March. The group came to prominence the day after President Donald Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, when it organized a massive nationwide protest, drawing hundreds of thousands of Americans to Washington, D.C. At that time, the protest on January 21, 2017, was the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Now, nearly nine years lateralmost to the daythe Women’s March is back, marking the one-year anniversary of Trump’s second inauguration. On January 20, were calling on people everywhere to turn their backs on fascism and walk out, Rachel OLeary Carmona, executive director of Womens March, tells Fast Company. Authoritarianism runs on our obedience, and were withdrawing it. We walk out because a free America is the only America worth calling great. By disrupting “business as usual,” organizers explain they are sending a message to the administration that its actions will not be tolerated. This is a protest and a promise. In the face of fascism, we will be ungovernable, the Free America website says. Here’s what to know. What’s happening on Tuesday, January 20? More than 450 events are scheduled in all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Canada, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Walkouts, sit-downs, vigils, and meetups are set to take place in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Boulder, Houston, New York City, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon and Maine), San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Tucson, and Washington, D.C. These include school walkouts; marches to federal buildings, city halls, local court houses, and capitals; and more. Why a walkout, not a march? “Marches show how many people care. Walkouts show how much power we have,” the website says. “And we have seen the power of walkouts around the worldpeople from Poland to Chile who have fought peacefully and successfully to dismantle injustice and topple authoritarian regimes.” “At this moment, visibility alone isnt enough,” the website continues. “We need action that tests our strength, builds coordination, and proves that noncompliance is a legitimate response to injustice.” Historically, walkouts and sit-insalongside protestshave been an effective nonviolent tool to create change. From the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements to the current New York City nurses’ strike, workers, students, teachers, and ordinary Americans have walked off the job and sat in protest to register their discontent. Who else is helping to organize the Free America Walkout? The day’s events are organized by the Women’s March organization along with 50501, a progressive grassroots movement, with a coalition of national and local partners including Feminist, Free DC, and the Immigrant Rights Committee in Tampa.
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As we head into the new year, I am facing a daunting prospect. After over 34 years in higher education as a professor and administrator, Im moving to the private sector to support more effective teaching practices. I would classify this change as a significant career pivot. I am changing market sectors (public sector to private) and shifting from serving a single institution to a global base of clients. Decisions like this are not to be made lightly. It is important to ensure that you are making this move to run toward something attractive and not just away from something that frustrates you. Here are three important considerations if you think a significant career move may be in your future. Why do you want to do this? Career pivots are generally rooted in dissatisfaction. There is something about the work youre doing now that is frustrating or unsatisfying. For many people, there is a particular crisis that initiates the real desire to take a pivot. It could be an illness, accident, or death in the family, or it could be a crisis at work. Crises are helpful, because they allow people to take stock of their lives. Significant milestone events like a birthday or the end of a year can play the same role. However, dissatisfaction provides energy to run away from something. A career pivot also involves running toward something. So, a successful career pivot must also involve a reason to take on a new role. One common career switch involves moving from a position that no longer fits your personal values to one that is a better fit to the values important to you. For example, you may have been focused on achievement early in your career and now feel like doing something that benefits society is more important than personal gain. It is useful to be explicit about the ways that a new job may be a better fit to your personal values, because that compatibility is a crucial source of long-term satisfaction. In addition, you want to ensure that you are clear-eyed about what a new career path entails. Just about every job has a certain number of frustrating tasks you have to put up with. You want to acknowledge the frustrations and drudgery of the path youre selecting so that you are not just engaging in the mythical belief that the new career path will be free of BS. How does your experience and expertise transfer? If you are going to be successful in the new role, there has to be something about your knowledge and skills that will enable you to contribute. Psychologists use the word transfer to name the capacity to take what you know and what you can do in one area and use it in another. As you contemplate this career pivot, talk to people who are already doing this work about their day-to-day work life. If possible, shadow one of them for a while. Think about how you would react or solve problems in the new work you would be doing. Are you able to take your experience and apply it in the new setting? At the same time, you want to be realistic about your willingness to learn. Some people are very comfortable in situations in which they are a relative novice. They dont mind being someone who needs to be helped along and may make a certain number of rookie mistakes. Making a career pivot involves learning a lot. Youre not going to be the most effective person at work when you start in the new role. If you find that exciting, then you are a good candidate to make a change. Where does your life satisfaction come from? Earlier, I mentioned one big source of life satisfaction, which is the fit between the results of the work you do and your values. But, that is not the only thing that will make your life satisfying. For one thing, you may not derive your greatest satisfaction from your work. Instead, you may have organizations, hobbies, or relationships that are a deeper part of what makes your life worth living. If so, you want to think about how the new responsibilities at work will relate to what is most important to you in life. For another, your happiness with work is not just in the relationship between the mission of the organization and your personal values. The day-to-day engagement with work is also going to affect how you feel. Long commutes can suck the life out of you, even if you like the work youre doing. If you are someone who needs to be around people a lot, then a job that is mostly done remote may not feed your desire for social interaction. How does the work youll be taking on relate to the things you do and do not like to do? Look for some ways that your daily work life will bring with it a few elements that will be truly enjoyable so that you can envision yourself getting out of bed excited to take on the day rather than wishing that the weekend would arrive sooner. I explored all of these questions as I moved toward my new career path. Im excited to share more details about it over the next few weeks.
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Well, this could be awkward for Americans traveling abroad. Beginning on January 21, the U.S. will indefinitely suspend immigrant visa processing from 75 countries as part of the Trump administrations crackdown on immigration. While the suspension only applies to those visas needed for employment or to join family in the U.S.and not student or tourist visasit includes many beloved travel destinations for Americans. The countries selectedincluding the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Thailandwere deemed high risk of public benefits usage by the State Department, according to a statement on Wednesday. The ban goes into effect next week, at which time no immigrant visas will be issued to nationals of the 75 affected countries until further notice. Under President Trump, we will not allow foreign nationals to abuse Americas immigration system and exploit the generosity of the American people, Tommy Pigott, spokesperson for the State Department, posted on the X platform on Wednesday. This announcement follows one from last week in which the U.S. added seven countries to a list of mostly African nations whose passport holders must post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply to enter the country. EFFECTS ON LEGAL IMMIGRATION This latest visa crackdown also builds upon prior bans that affected 40 countries, effectively barring entry for nearly half of the immigrants who came to the country legally in 2024, David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, wrote in a blog post. Linking the crackdown to concerns about welfare use among legal immigrants is not good justification for this type of immigration restriction, partly because immigrant visa recipients are already barred from receiving any federal means-tested public benefits for five years, Bier said. President Trump is leading the most anti-legal immigrant administration in American history, Bier wrote. This is just the latest action to slash legal entries to the United States. WHAT THE BAN COVERS The list also has notable exceptions, including several countries that are otherwise the subject of scrutiny by the current administrationChina, Mexico, and El Salvador, for example. Whats more, it doesnt target nationals from several countries for which the U.S. processed the most visas in recent years, such as the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, India, and Vietnam. In addition to the exception for tourist and student visas, dual nationals who have a valid passport from a country thats not on the list are exempt from the pause, according to the State Department. And no visas have been revoked, the agency said. POTENTIAL RIPPLE EFFECT Even though tourism visas arent affected, the change in visa policy could have a ripple effect. The U.S. is expected to see a boom in foreign tourism this year, bringing in more than 1.2 million visitors for the matches scheduled for June and July, according to estimates by Tourism Economics. In 2025, the U.S. welcomed 6% fewer foreign than in the previous year, according to figures released this week by the World Travel and Tourism Council. And a survey conducted in October by Global Rescue found that, as a result of U.S. international policy announcements in 2025, some 61% of American travelers believe theyll be viewed more negatively while traveling abroad. FULL LIST OF AFFECTED COUNTRIES The full list of countries affected by the ban on visas that goes into effect next week is: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote dIvoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
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