“Democracy will always prevail over autocracy.
Freedom will always prevail over oppression.”
 – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, 2/24/22

Help Ukraine
 

There are a number of ways that we can help the people of Ukraine as they fight to save their democracy, their homes, and their lives.

A list of charitable organizations helping to support their plight is here. Please consider donating to one or more of these organizations.

Indivisible-RISE Actions and Events

     Spotlight on Battleground States  

Monthly Meeting, Tues, March 15, 2022,
7-8:15 pm

At our January meeting, we described the general landscape in the battleground states where we’re focusing much of our efforts this year. Since then, I-RISE leaders and volunteers have been taking actions in a few of those states: writing postcards to Arizona, phone banking to Georgia, texting to voters in various battleground states, and planning to canvass in New Hampshire. At our March and April meetings, we’ll hear from experts from some of these states to discuss the status and the landscape in those states in more depth and from the perspective of activists on the ground. We’re lining up speakers from NH, AZ, PA and more, so please mark your calendar for Tuesdays March 15 and April 19 and join us on Zoom for these informative reports.

   Keep Growing our Postcard Writing Team!

Our postcard writing team is still growing, which means we’re making an ever-expanding impact on upcoming tight elections. We’re writing to increase Democratic voter registration in Arizona, one of the key battleground states where every voter makes a difference! 

We also have streamlined our procedures for increased convenience for our writers. Now, you can let us know if you want to be included as a regular weekly writer and we’ll automatically send you addresses every Friday.

Email us at indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com to write with us, and let us know how many addresses you’d like (in multiples of 10), and whether you’d like to be set up as a recurring weekly writer. You can pick up packets of 50 postcards at no charge whenever you need them, and you provide the postage. If you are new to this process, no worries – we’ll send you detailed instructions in response to your initial email.

In case you are wondering about the impact of these postcards, consider the positive information shared in this article that concludes: “A handwritten postcard arriving in the mail makes it through the messaging clutter and is noticed... Even in deep red areas, it’s always better for us to speak for the Democrats than let the Republicans do it.”

Texting Hour

 Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm. Register 

Our weekly texting hours with Indivisible-Acton Area are going strong, with many interesting and productive campaigns to work on. The gatherings are fun, with people attending from right here in Newburyport and as far away as California, and with interesting texting campaigns to voters in battleground states. Most recently, we texted for a pro-choice organization asking voters from Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina their views about a women’s right to choose. These lead to some interesting (and sometimes feisty) conversations. These texts also are helping to identify the voters to reach out to when it is time to encourage people to get out and vote. 

Join us to train as a newcomer, refresh your knowledge and get back to texting, raise questions, and enjoy each other’s company while texting. We’re texting with Movement Labs on the popular and straightforward Spoke system, which will prepare you to text any time With Movement Labs, MoveOn and other organizations and campaigns. Register here. 

Multiple Phone Banking Opportunities

Mondays, 3-5 (beginning 3/7)
Tuesdays, 3-5
Wednesdays, 4-6 pm

We’re excited to have our Pennsylvania voter registration phone banks finally starting! Please join us once to try it out, and then we hope you will keep coming back every Monday at 3-5 pm! Email us at indivisible.rise.newburyport@gmail.com for the link, which we’ll send when we have the final details ironed out with Field Team 6.

Our two other phone banks are continuing:

• On Tuesdays at 3-5 pm, we partner with Field Team 6 and the California Dems to call unregistered likely Democrats in Georgia to encourage them to register to vote. Georgia is a key battleground state this year, with Senator Warnock facing another tight election and Stacey Abrams running again for Governor. Register here. 
• On Wednesdays at 4-6 pm, we make voter protection calls with Common Cause. These calls are critical and time-sensitive efforts to protect voters in key states. Most recently, we called voters in TX to recruit election protection monitors for their upcoming primary elections. Register here to call with us on Wednesday afternoons or with another group almost any day.

Making phone calls is one of the best uses of our activist time. If you’ve never phone banked or you haven’t done so in a long time, please consider signing up for even one shift and see how it goes. You may be pleasantly surprised! 
 

Join Us for Happy Hour
Second Friday of Every Month at 5:30

Most attendees at the last Zoom gathering said they are comfortable starting to gather in person again. So, barring any Covid surges, let's meet in person at Loretta on March 11th for Persistence Happy Hour. See you at 5:30. We're looking forward to catching up in person! 

Many More Options!
 

We love working as a community and hope that you will join us at some (or all!) of the weekly actions we have planned and others that we will be planning throughout this critical year.  We also want to inform you of other opportunities, in case you want to try something different or our actions don't meet your schedule.

The I-RISE Action & Event calendar links to the calendars of a few larger MA groups, where you can learn about many options for taking actions any day of the week. Check those links here for opportunities. 

A few interesting ideas:

1. Make a difference in NH:

   Contact your friends (and other voters): Our neighboring state needs our help getting out the vote for the March 8 Town Meeting when 11 towns will vote on a ballot measure to remove voting machines. If you know people in these towns, alert them: Hampton, Windham, Goffstown, Rye, Alton, Salem, Hudson, Milton, Hopkinton, Loudon, Kensington, and Raymond. Also, please sign up here to make calls to help get out the vote. 
   
   Learn about their critical races, what’s at stake, and why out of state supporters are crucial to electing Democrats up and down the ballot in 2022! Organize NH, the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign is holding their virtual Out of State Introduction to NH event on Wednesday, March 9th at 6:30 PM. Sign up here to attend.

2. Wisconsin Voter Protection: Wisconsin has four separate election dates this year, and there is a great need for voter protection volunteers. Sign up to recruit poll observers or train to answer hotline calls. Both of these options are rewarding and productive work, which will be increasingly needed in many states as the elections approach. This is a good way to get an early start.

3. Social Media Monitoring is back! Common Cause’s program is now being run by Civic Listening Corp. The process is much the same as it was with Common Cause. Sign up here to join their volunteer ranks and train using their materials. 

4. Indivisible Acton Area’s new website, Turn Purple to Blue, is a great resource for up to date information on actions and races in battleground states, plus articles about current issues and actions.

Please sign up here to volunteer with I-RISE. Choose among numerous options and devote as much or as little time as you prefer! Every bit makes a difference! 
 

• Bookmark our Event Calendar for events sponsored by Indivisible-RISE and allied organizations.
• Find us on Facebook  and visit our website.