"We have the power to write the future we want for this country." 

- President Joe Biden 

Events Listed in this Edition

Reminder: Don’t Miss Our 2021 Plan Review Meeting 

Please join us at the next Indivisible-RISE Zoom meeting on Tuesday, February 16, 6:30-7:30 pm, when we will discuss 2021 areas of focus and actions to take this year. The Democrats may have a trifecta, but the margins are thin and there is much work to be done to ensure that our legislators make progress and we keep electing more Dems! Please invite your friends to participate with you at the upcoming meeting on Zoom here. 

Postcard Writing Continues

With your writing hands rested, we hope you are ready to get started again writing postcards to voters! We are getting up and running with a variety of issues about which we will be writing to voters. Among those are postcards to constituents of members of Congress engaged in seditious acts reminding them to vote them out of office.

While still remote for now, we hope to be able to hold Action Hours outside in warmer weather. Stay tuned for that! To learn more about our current efforts (and, hopefully, to join us), please contact Kath Mason at kmmason63@gmail.com or Kathy Stark at kstark12@gmail.com. 

Legislative Watch Team - 2021 Relaunch 

Please join the MA State Legislative Watch Team on Zoom on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:00 pm to help plan the group’s strategy for the new State Legislative Session. We plan to:

·      Follow key state legislative initiatives

·      Watch and report on the Governor and the new House Speaker

·      Advocate for greater transparency in state Government

·      Track bills filed and supported by our local legislators

·      Share our findings and initiate actions to create positive change

Join the Zoom meeting to learn more and share your areas of interest! 

Make Phone Calls with Moms Demand Action

Moms Demand Action holds weekly phone bank sessions hosted locally. Participants call voters in other states to ask them to contact their members of Congress and persuade them to vote in favor of stronger gun safety legislation. Moms uses an easy system that allows callers to directly connect voters with their legislators. Training and support are provided, and callers of all levels are welcome!

Please join Moms’ Call Together MA events on Sunday afternoons at 3:00 - 4:30 pm. RSVP here to join the February 21 event, and here for the February 28 session. If you would like to participate but are not available either of those dates, please contact Becc O’Brien at robrien.me@gmail.com.   

Force Multiplier Speaker Series

Force Multiplier has launched a series of free online Community Conversations this winter entitled NEXT.  These conversations offer opportunities to learn, discuss and raise questions that will help us move forward together. The idea is to help us think about the state of national politics and how engaged citizens can work to make sure we hold onto our victories. 

The next speaker in the series is Anna Palmer, former Politico Washington correspondent and founder of Punchbowl News. Anna’s talk entitled “An Insider Takes Us Inside Congress!” will provide an update on the new Congressional Democratic majority and what the Republicans are up to. She also will offer her insights about what makes Washington tick and where the real power resides. 

Please join this informative discussion on Zoom on Thursday, February 18 at 7-8 pm. Register here to attend. 

I-RISE Letters to the Editor

This month, I-RISE members wrote letters in response to a Newburyport Daily News editorial about Massachusetts residents migrating to Florida and New Hampshire due to state taxes. That editorial relied on studies by the Pioneer Institute without disclosing Pioneer’s conservative bias. Our members’ letters call out concerns about that important fact. Read the published letters here:

Pioneer promotes 'right wing agenda', shares important information about the so-called think tank widely cited by the Boston Globe and regional newspapers. "Organizations like the Pioneer Institute, ALEC and SPN were created in various states around the country to promote and implement “free market” policies such as limited taxation, privatization of government services, charter schools, corporate deregulation and anti-union right to work laws."

Editorial didn't elevate public dialogue - calls out communication patterns that let us circulate unsupported information as fact and give the whiff of respectability while sidestepping complexity and accountability.

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