Wednesday’s Indivisible CA statewide call was rich with ideas and opportunities for activism. Here are links for the call notes and chat box comments, which in turn provide links to key resources for national and state actions. 

At the state level, Nina Moussavi pointed out that seven of the State Strong priority bills are still awaiting signature by the Governor, and urged support for those bills at  leg.unit@gov.ca.gov. The  call notes have other links to state actions for TJ Cox, Christy Smith, and other key California races. In a discussion of upcoming propositions, various CA Indivisible groups provided links to published analyses of what’s at stake with each proposition. At the national level, Nina supplied extensive lists of actions and resources for the critical weeks ahead, all recorded in the chat box.

The national Indivisible organization has recommended the following actions for this Friday 6/19 and beyond:

1. RSVP for a Juneteenth Day of Action event near you. The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) has created a centralized map for folks to register events and RSVP to them—there are several in Berkeley & Oakland Friday. If you’re looking for ways to take action from home, a good starting point is our resource for taking action in solidarity with Black lives — but we also encourage you to stay intentionally plugged in and aware of the demands and activities of Black-led organizing groups in your area.
2. Call on your own local and state officials and tell them to defund your local police department and invest those funds in resources people need in Black communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of color. Local governments must commit to cutting funding for the police and investing it in Black community-led education, health and safety programs (such as funding for schools and youth homelessness services, solutions to the opioid crisis, and non-police responders for crises such as mental health response teams and community violence prevention programs). There is a national crisis of violence against Black people that spans centuries. Now is the time for visionary and radical change that you can be a part of. Call on your own local and state officials and demand this long overdue change.
3. Urge your elected officials to sign onto the No Cash from Cops campaign. This is a campaign led by our partners at Color of Change, urging elected officials to refuse to take any political donations from police unions or sheriff associations, and donate any contributions already taken to Black-led community strengthening initiatives.

During the May 20 state Indivisible call, Aram Fischer hosted a presentation on the MVP, a national group funneling investment into social justice work and grass-roots democracy. It hit home with us.

It’s frustrating to live in a deep blue corner of a deep blue state and have few outlets for activism. We’re tired of sky-is-falling emails from campaigns warning that all will be lost without a midnight cash infusion.   We know that money sent to a campaign can evaporate in TV ads or consultant fees.  We’d like to see donations to a political group actually reach the grass roots and have a lasting impact. And we think there’s an alternative approach worth considering—the Movement Voter Project or MVP at https://movement.vote/

 The Movement Voter Project “works to strengthen progressive power at all levels of government by helping donors – big and small – support the best and most promising local community-based organizations in key states, with a focus on youth and communities of color.”

 “Sometimes very simple ideas are the most brilliant ones,” writes Arlene Avakian.  “The idea behind MVP is to connect the dots between grassroots activism and electoral politics. MVP does what no other group does. It seeks out, vets and supports progressive community-based organizations around the country, particularly in communities that are most affected by economic and racial injustice. Based in their communities, these groups know their neighbors, know the issues people care about. They are successful in engaging people to make real change in their communities year round. At election time they turn out votes up and down the ticket.”

MVP-supported local groups helped elect Maggie Hassan to the Senate in 2016, helped mobilize the voters to elect Doug Jones in 2017, and helped Virginia Democrats win state elections across the board in 2019.  In 2018, MVP directed $14 million to 354 groups in 42 states for mobilization and engagement. 100% of donations to MVP go to the grass roots, an investment in the critical infrastructure of democracy. This could be the key to the November election and many more to come.

The following post comes via Patti Crane of Indivisible Beach Cities/ISBLA and Michelle Maniere Fowle of The Resistance Northridge:

California Indivisibles: Tell Congress to fund #VirusFreeVoting and to protect the Post Office!

Here’s the toolkit for Thursday’s Virtual Protest: http://bit.ly/vfvdigitaltk  

Join Indivisibles and others nationwide in our #VirusFreeVoting Virtual Protest on Thursday from 3-5 pm PT!

We ask Congress to fund $4 billion for Vote at Home and we insist on protecting the Post Office. Show that NO ONE can take away our vote and our voice.

Please tag your electeds and get the #VirusFreeVoting hashtag trending.

Click the online toolkit so you can take a selfie with a sign, make a video, post a tweet or an Instagram message, share a message on Facebook. You can also send a letter to your electeds, trigger phone calls to Congress, and do even more for two straight hours of digital activism.

This week is critical because it may be our last chance to demand that Congress ensure relief to every person in this country, regardless of tax or immigration status, age, or disability. 

Here’s the solution: demand your representatives pledge to vote ‘no’ on the next coronavirus package unless it prioritizes the People First Agenda

The package must include these four policies:

• Keep people on payrolls: Stop mass layoffs, and preserve employment relationships for all businesses, including small businesses. Ensure federal dollars go to workers and small businesses, not enriching CEOs and Wall Street.
• Provide financial relief: Expand aid for the most vulnerable in the COVID-19 epidemic, including direct cash assistance, increased food aid, debt relief, and eviction protections.
• Protect public health: Guarantee full health coverage for all COVID-19 care and protections for all frontline workers.
• Defend elections: Enact a vote-by-mail requirement for 2020 federal elections while maintaining access to in-person voting for those who do not have access to mail voting.

If it doesn’t, representatives must vote no. 

On Tuesday, April 14, 2020 the Declaration for American Democracy Coalition will kick-off a national call-in campaign to compel Congress to Protect Our Vote. In the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic, Congress must institute reforms that will allow voters to safely cast their ballot and provide states the $4 billion in funding they need to run safe and secure elections.

On April 7th, voters in Wisconsin were forced to choose between protecting their health and participating in our Democracy. This cannot happen again.

Call your Senators today at 1-888-415-4527 to ask them to include $4 billion in funding to secure our elections in the next stimulus package.

This critical funding should be used by states to increase vote-by-mail, expand early voting and online and same-day registration, and to ensure the safety of voters and poll workers, amongst others reforms.

Voters should not have to choose between their health and their vote. Voting by mail or absentee ensures that the voters can participate in our elections without having to venture outside during the pandemic. And expanded early voting will ensure that voters that need to vote in person won’t be faced with long lines and massive crowds. In order to win funding in time for the November election, we need to demand our elected officials act now!

Learn more about how you can take action to protect our democracy by participating in the coalition’s Digital Town Hall series, which kicks off on April 20th!

The following gallows humor is circulating on the Internet and bringing cheer to many of us:

Captain Trump of the RMS Titanic here.

~There isn’t any iceberg. 

~There was an iceberg but it’s in a totally different ocean.

~The iceberg is in this ocean but it will melt very soon.

~There is an iceberg but we didn’t hit the iceberg.

~We hit the iceberg, but the damage will be repaired very shortly.

~The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg.

~We are taking on water but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat,

and they are beautiful lifeboats.

~Look, passengers need to ask nicely for the lifeboats if they want them.

~We don’t have any lifeboats, we’re not lifeboat distributors.

~Passengers should have planned for icebergs and brought their own lifeboats.

~I really don’t think we need that many lifeboats.

~We have lifeboats and they’re supposed to be our lifeboats, not the passengers’ lifeboats.

~The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship.

~Nobody could have foreseen the iceberg.

Author unknown

As Trump’s acquittal in the Senate appears a near certainty, “reject the cover-up” protest rallies are being held around the country this Wednesday at 5:30 pm by a broad coalition of pro-democracy and progressive groups. The nearest ones at the moment are in Emeryville and El Cerrito, but people are angry, and more may well be organized.  You can find details at https://rejectthecoverup.org/.

Indivisible, Move-On, and just about every other progressive group in America will be in the streets Tuesday evening December 17 to declare that Nobody Is Above the Law.  Join this historic nationwide mobilization on the eve of Trump’s impeachment—the vote is expected Wednesday. Click here to RSVP for rallies in Oakland, El Cerrito, Emeryville or other Bay Area cities. Start times range from 4 to 5:30 pm; signs are welcome but not required.

Indivisible Book. In Thursday’s Indivisible national webinar Ezra Levin made a pitch for pre-ordering the new book We Are Indivisible: a blueprint for democracy after Trump, co-written by Ezra and Leah Greenberg.  It will be out Nov. 5; if there are 5,000 pre-orders it will immediately appear on best-sellers lists and generate national attention and reviews. It’s $27; proceeds from its sale go to Indivisible’s new Save Democracy Fund, a project to support Indivisible’s pro-democracy reform work at state, federal, and presidential levels.

Impeachment Daily. If you aren’t already swamped with impeachment news, you can now watch the Impeachment Daily on YouTube. The first episode is here, presented by Meagen Hatcher-Mayes, Indivisible’s Director of Democracy. During the webinar, Meagan stressed the role Indivisibles played in bringing more Democrats around to support for the impeachment inquiry and the importance of continuing grass-roots pressure as the process moves forward. Prepare for a national Day of Action when the articles of impeachment are finalized.