This is it. With this week’s events in Charlottesville, Virginia--as well as the shocking response, or lack thereof, from Donald Trump--it is no longer possible to deny the fact that there is nothing short of an abundance of white supremacists and Neo-Nazis thriving within the United States. It’s by all definition a terrifying time, but we cannot let ourselves be frozen by fear. It is crucial that we fight back. Here are seven straightforward ways to do so.

1. DONATE.

This one is a given. If you’re in a position to give money, there are many organizations that could use your financial support, including Black Lives Matter, the NAACP, and the ACLU. For a thorough list of Charlottesville-based nonprofits, take a look at this Twitter thread by author Sara Benincasa.

One essential thing to remember about donations: anything makes a difference. Many people, including myself, are too often guilty of shrugging off the prospect of donating with the excuse of only being able to contribute a few dollars. And yet when a thousand people contribute $5 each, there is a tremendous difference being made. By giving, you actively help. By abstaining, you remain passive. It’s that simple.

2. STAY INFORMED.

This doesn’t mean checking your Twitter feed every morning. Not only is information on social media unreliable; it also can become overwhelming very quickly. Find a few sources to check consistently--it’ll be easier on your brain than trying to consume every bit of micro-media shared and retweeted by your friends, and you’ll find that you’re much more thoroughly educated on present issues. I personally recommend the following: Democracy Now!, DeRay Mckesson’s Pod Save The People, and Unicorn Riot (the documentation of recent events by the latter organization in particular is unparalleled).

3. ATTEND PROTESTS (AND COUNTER-PROTESTS).

It can be easy to dismiss the opportunity to join local marches and other events in the same way one might shrug off donations: what difference, after all, can one person make? And the same answer applies: difference only ever begins with a multitude all deciding to be that one person. Beyond that, attendance at a protest is essential for the individual even more than the group. By going out and joining a physical movement of people, you are actively removing yourself from fear-induced apathy. You are taking a literal first step to making a change for yourself and your activism that can all too often feel impossible. And chances are, you’ll learn something--various sympathetic organizations are often present at marches and rallies, eager to explain what you can do next to further your action.

4. PAY ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE THINGS.

Supporting the communities targeted by the rise of white supremacy, Nazism, and fascist ideologies in the United States is not an abstract concept. These are people in your day-to-day life, and their suffering right now is immeasurable. The same elements of basic allyship as always remain applicable: reject microaggressions, respect, listen, amplify. These basic dignities are no less relevant with the increase in immediate danger: if anything, marginalized groups need your genuine support now more than ever, in the subtler ways as well as the more outright ones.

5. VALUE YOUR VOICE.

Allyship is too often equated with silence. Privilege is not an excuse for silence; passivity is compliance within systems of active oppression. You have as much of a voice as anyone, and now is the time to use it. There are white supremacists and Nazis marching the streets in broad daylight. Unless and until you vocalize the fact that this is unacceptable to you, you are a part of the problem. Fear cannot be an excuse anymore. In the past, few people have had trouble condemning the Nazis and the KKK. Now that these groups are displaying themselves proudly, it becomes more crucial than ever to remind them--and those around you--that they are unacceptable, and that we will not allow their presence. And, no, we should not be tolerating intolerance.

6. DO NOT ERASE HISTORY.

And, no, I’m not talking about knocking down monuments. I’m referring to the way in which the past has been bizarrely distorted into a blatant, instantaneous nightmare. Nazi Germany didn’t happen overnight, and any amount of historians and survivors alike will tell you that one of the crucial factors leading to its rise was the silence of the general public. We cannot allow something like this to happen again. We cannot dismiss the past and tell ourselves that it was something implausible or impossible to repeat. It is essential to take an active stance against the hatred spreading through our country. It’s easy to imagine our place in history, to tell ourselves that we would have done something more than the thousands and thousands of people who silently lived through it. But history is now. The time to prevent these unspeakable horrors is the present. A repeat is not inevitable, but it is possible. It is our job to avert it, now, before we’re nothing more than another staggering number that will baffle and dismay future history students.

7. STAY POSITIVE.

I don’t mean this in any trifling way. There is no faster path towards utter immobilization than despair. Take action, but also take time to remind yourself that this is not yet the end. Take a leaf out of Chelsea Manning’s book and keep in mind that we are powerful. If a woman with devastating experiences on the scale of hers can keep her head up, then so can we. We are the winning side. To quote the hashtag coined by Ms. Manning: #WeGotThis.