How do we inform, connect with, and mobilize voters so they understand how democracy can work for them all the time and not just every 2 or 4 years when there's an election?
Making calls and sending postcards, letters and texts are critical, but nothing beats on the ground, local, face to face organizing. And how do we, in blue MA, or anywhere, support the groups who are doing this critical work of organizing, informing and turning out voters in key races and places?
Join us on Monday, Nov 20th, to hear how the Movement Voter Project has created an incredibly successful and impactful strategy to find and fund the most effective local voter organizing groups (with a focus on youth, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), LGBTQ+, and immigrant voters) to win elections and change policy where it's needed most!
Winning Everything Everywhere All At Once
with Movement Voter Project
Monday, November 20th, 7 - 8pm ET
Back in June, we identified two state campaigns with national significance. We took to heart the advice offered by many Democratic strategists, notably David Pepper in his presentation to IN-SLWM. Focus attention on state and local races! Build our movement from the grassroots!
We turned our attention to Ohio in June, writing to 4,290 likely pro-choice voters with voter registration information. We followed up with 3,290 postcards in September and October, alerting voters to the opportunity to put access to reproductive freedom in the Ohio constitution. In just a few days the outcome will be clear….
Virginia was another focus of our work in these busy months. We sent 2,850 postcards to help voters register to vote; another 5,760 in support of Democratic candidates. The outcome of these state legislative elections will be decided on Nov 7. Whatever the outcome, however, thousands of voters have been alerted to the importance of these races and of their vote!
Our postcarding operation is taking a bit of a break, but we will be back in the new year (if not sooner!!) ready to take on all that the 2024 cycle pitches at us! Stay tuned.
In the Streets
Pass MA Bills S1114/H1599
"An Act Enhancing Access to Abortion"
Massachusetts has the ROE ACT
so you might think we are all set in MA. NOT TRUE!
Anti choice centers “Crisis pregnancy centers” (CPC) outnumber legitimate reproductive health clinics 3 to 1. Find more about them HERE.
Younger pregnant people can make every health care decision about their pregnancy, except the decision to terminate it.
Patients and providers cannot choose the location for abortions later in pregnancy.
S1114/H1599, An Act Enhancing Access to Abortion would
Require ultrasound technicians to work under the supervision of a licensed Clinician in CPCs
Eliminate all parental consent requirements
Empower patients and providers to choose the location for abortion procedures
This bill is now in the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 21 at 1PM, so please contact your Rep/Senator and ask them to cosponsor this bill before then.
Check here to find out if your Rep/Senator is a cosponsor House Bill H.1599 and Senate Bill S.1114 - An Act Enhancing Access to Abortion
Thank them if they are cosponsors and if they are not, ask them to cosponsor
Then call/email Chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary
Call on Costco to drop dirty bank Citi as its credit card partner because of Citi’s role in funding catastrophic climate change.
Did you know?
Costco’s credit cards are issued by Citi - one of the dirtiest banks on the planet. Citi pumps billions into building new oil, gas, and coal projects that are creating toxic air pollution and worsening deadly fires, floods, hurricanes, and extreme heat. Since 2016, Citi has provided more than $332 billion in financing polluting fossil fuel companies, threatening our homes, our jobs and our lives. Costco is a big, popular company -- more than 30% of Americans are Costco shoppers (and who doesn't love the free samples!). Its motto is "do the right thing", and it's already made several climate commitments. Costco can continue to solidify its lovable brand by dropping its toxic partnership with Citi.
What Costco must do
Costco, as a huge client of Citi, can contribute to climate solutions by telling Citi if it doesn’t stop funding fossil fuels, then Costco will drop the bank as its credit card issuer. Costco should not let Citi undermine its own climate actions or harm Costco members, workers, or communities who are being devastated by climate impacts.
What you can do
Sign this petition to tell Costco that it needs to drop Citi as its credit card issuer if Citi doesn’t clean up its act. Costco has a history of listening to its paying members and caring about its public reputation. So, let’s make sure Costco hears from members and non-members alike! By signing this petition you will be taking a stand for a healthier future for your family, your friends and your community.
Learn more in Bill McKibben's blog post here that includes FAQs about Why Costco, What you can do with your Costco-Citi Anywhere Visa Card, and more about this campaign.
Other Ways to Pitch In
DONATING FOR 2024 – WHERE TO GIVE?
Election Day 2023 is past, and we’re still celebrating some impressive wins. But as we all know, the 2024 campaign has been underway for some time already. Election Day 2024 is a year away, and IN-SLWM has been providing a number of perspectives on what activists can expect in the way of strategies and tactics that can help us win next year.
If your inbox is anything like mine, though, you’re getting deluged by candidates and organizations from all over asking for money. Mostly I delete their messages and usually unsubscribe from their mailing lists. But this onslaught highlights the big question: If I want to donate toward a Democratic victory in 2024, how do I decide where my money should go to do the most good?
Full disclosure: I’m not an expert on the subject. These are my opinions and my suggestions, which are informed by the fact that I’m no expert. My own strategy is to give to funds that support more than one candidate or more than one organization. It’s like a mutual fund: Spread the money around so that the likelihood of success is better than trying to pick winners myself.
We already have some good choices for giving toward victory in 2024. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has a fund that targets five U.S. Senate races as well as helping defend four House seats. It also supports candidates for school boards in Virginia, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania. Click herefor more information and here to donate.
Swing Left has set up a Win Back the House fund. Here’s their description:
Democrats lost the U.S. House by just 6,675 votes in 2022, and will only need to net five additional seats to regain the majority. This fight is winnable, so we're intentionally investing early in Swing Districts where our collective efforts can make the biggest impact.
Indivisible also has a fund for winning back the House, by defeating the 18 “Un-Representatives” – Republicans who won their seats in districts that Joe Biden carried in 2020. Here’s what it’s about:
Working to hold these Republicans accountable won’t be easy — it’ll take a massive awareness campaign to expose the truth of their MAGA complicity to people in their districts, constant support of groups and activists for ongoing accountability work, and a growing grassroots presence on the ground ready to do the work to win. It’ll also take millions of dollars. We have the people and the plan to get it done, but we need your financial help too.
This fund supports Indivisible to do the organizing needed to defeat the Un-Representatives. Unlike Swing Left, which is a PAC, they can’t raise money for candidates.
Another important group working hard to preserve and expand democracy is Movement Voter Project (MVP), headquartered right here in Northampton. Their mission is to support grassroots groups around the country who organize, educate, and advocate for democracy all the time, not just during election season. They provide funding, training and other support for these groups on the ground doing the daily work that brings real change to communities and under-represented people. MVP has a variety of funds to support groups based on geography, issues, and constituencies. Here are a few of their many funds:
This looks like a daunting list, but keep in mind that whatever you choose to support contributes to the cause of defeating MAGA extremism and building a more robust democracy – something we can all get behind. Choose what interests you, click on the links I’ve provided, and read up on your choices. If you can, sign up for monthly giving – it’s the most effective way to provide ongoing support. (But be sure to specify an end date to your monthly giving.)
There will be new opportunities for giving in the new year, and I’ll do my best to keep you informed on these. Just remember: Donating is activism! If you can, give what you can to the groups that you prefer. We’re all in this together. Thank you.
Cheers
Michael Dover
IN-SLWM Steering Committee
TEAMS
The Feminist Action Team
of Indivisible Mass Coalition Fridays at 4PM on Zoom
Join feminists from the Berkshires to the Cape as we plan and implement actions to protect and expand our rights! Currently, we're working to expose the deceptive practices of fake abortion clinics (aka CPC's) and strengthen women's autonomy here in MA and across the country!
On Wed evenings at 8 pm or Fri mornings at 9 am, join Paul Spector and activists from across the country to collaborate on helping Democrats win elections. At Paul's meetings, you will...
hear upbeat political news
share questions and comments
learn about new political actions
support fundraisers with special guests -- such as Swing Left, Movement Voter Project, Flip the Senate, New Georgia Project, and Bucks County Democrats
hear inspiring music (mostly from Playing for Change).
Folks find his meetings educational, uplifting, and hopeful, and it's wonderful to see 50-100 other people at each of the two meetings. To check out the meeting, come Wednesday at 8 p.m. or Friday at 9 a.m. EDT, to this Zoom room: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87820043147?pwd=aXZ0K3QrZGtHR2dBUFlCZnk2TU1hQT09
Letters to the Editor (LTE) Writing Team Adopt, Amend, & Send Our-Your Letter to the Editor
Tuesday, November 7th, 7-8 PM
Our team is dedicated to writing letters to the editors of our local newspapers and sharing them with others to send to their newspapers, too.
Letters to the Editor (LTE’s) are effective in sharing our progressive views widely with our neighbors and community. They often attract the attention of our political leaders too, and we already have had several published.
Our goal is to motivate ourselves and others to write valuable, high-quality LTE’s on topics which are important to us, and get them published locally and across the state. (Maybe nationally in the future).
We meet every two weeks on Tuesdays at 7:00pm (on Zoom) to strategize and plan. Our next meeting is Tuesday, December 5th at 7PM.
The Climate Team has evolved into a new format. We’ve started a Google Group with free exchange among team members – sharing resources like links to climate-related articles and forwarding emails from climate activist groups, discussing climate topics, and continuing to post action alerts.
Our redesigned and reorganized website is now up and running! There are still some changes to content coming, but it’s a great new look. (See the screenshot of part of the home page below for a sample.)
Many thanks to volunteer Nora Brown for creating the new design, and Steering Committee members Amy Gates, Larry Pareles, Pat Bukowski, and Seth Wilpan for their help in bringing the new website into being. If you haven’t visited the site recently, take a look at in-slwm.org. Comments and suggestions are welcome – write to Michael Dover at michael@in-slwm.org and let me know what you think.
Indivisible New England Digest:
National Workshop, Webinar & Call Calendar
We are fortunate to have Judy Stadtman as our Indivisible National regional organizer. Judy is the liaison between the national organization and local groups in CT-MA-ME-NH-VT. She does an incredible job keeping IN-SLWM connected to and supported by Indivisible National.
Judy is incredibly active and responsive to our needs. She is eager to lend a hand and hear from anyone who seeks her advice or guidance. If you have any questions or would like to connect with her, please don't hesitate to email her at Judith@Indivisible.com. She looks forward to hearing from you!
SELECTED READING
This section of our newsletter features articles written by one of our subscribers and an article or two selected by our steering committee. Subscribers to the newsletter are welcome to submit writing by email to info@indivisiblenorthampton.org with the subject line "Newsletter Submission".
The opinions expressed in the writings don't necessarily reflect any consensus of Indivisible Northampton.
That Zen saying is also the name of a daily email from activist and Substack columnist Jessica Craven. On weekdays she offers a bunch of actions for subscribers to take, such as phoning senators and representatives – often with different scripts for Democratic and Republicans – about issues needing their attention. On the weekends, she highlights items from the news that are encouraging, under the headline “Celebrate This!” Here’s the link to her substack page.
SPEAKING OF FACEBOOK…
If you’re not already subscribed to either our Facebook Page or group, consider joining! We share daily posts from political historian-commentator Heather Cox Richardson, occasional posts from other sources such as Robert Reich and Robert Hubbell, announcements of our public Zoom meetings, and opportunities for action. To follow our Facebook Page (followers do not post) , click here. To join our Facebook Group (members can post), click here. Both receive all IN-SLWM announcements and the daily Richardson posts.
Trouble Joining the Meeting?
When you click the link in your confirmation email, a Zoom page will open in your web browser and the Zoom app will open.
If the Zoom app does not open, here are a few things you can try. You will need to know the meeting id, which is embedded in the address of the Zoom page that opened. On the page that opened in the browser, in the address bar you'll see an address that looks something like this:
