As I write this I’m in South Africa on vacation. Just to make this painfully obvious: The whole world is clear on what we’ve done. They know Trump is a dictator. There’s no debate. (He’s actually a pretty stereotypical dictator; we’ve just always thought of America as exceptional.) When I speak with those who’ve lived both under apartheid and now under President Jacob Zuma, they know Trump is bad news. He’ll enrich himself, destroy institutions and hurt countless people both physically and financially with glee. Because South Africans (and arguably most Africans) know bad government when they see it, they use one word to describe Trump: Corrupt. It’s always offered with a knowing shrug, like to them it’s the most obvious thing since the sun rising in the east.

OK, so now what do we do?!

In the wake of the election, activist and filmmaker Michael Moore said he wants to be the leader of the #resistance and build a movement that would “dwarf Occupy.”

As a journalist, I covered Occupy for The Atlantic. I went to eight different Occupy Camps in two countries (one was Canada). So I can say without reservations, Mr. Moore, please don’t.

Occupy as a movement was doomed from the beginning. They decided to go with an anarchist model: No leaders; everyone has a vote; everyone has a veto. They were perpetually bogged down in marathon meetings, with no clear path. This tedium wore down well-meaning activists very quickly. It also made it nearly impossible to build a coalition and grow the movement.

This movement needs People or an organization who can address the very people who can help to make the change that they want, but even before that, they must have a clear vision of what their goal is. Then they must make sure Americans VOTE -- including themselves. Protesting in this day and age is not enough. Organization is critical. It makes the message much more serious. The media has been around these protests, but I don't think they know what exactly the message is, and thus -- it's hard to report about. If the end game is to only show what is perceived to be police brutality (as it appears at the website,) then I honestly have to say -- is this what they want? I would present that this might make people less inclined to join the movement.

It is because of these questions I have, I won't be joining in the protests when they come to DC.If I am going to stand up for something, I want to know specifically what it is we are trying to change; the movement hasn't specified that. I don't stand behind anonymous faces in a crowd. I don't wear masks. I don't wear bandanas.

No leader of a social change movement in this country ever hid in anonymity. Not the civil rights movement, not the equality movement, not abolitionists or suffragettes. Even the founding of our nation had names and faces to the social change -- and ultimately the revolution. They had faces and names and a goal.