For the safety of our community, we are conducting our meetings online until conditions permit us to resume assembling in person.
Monday February 6th 7-8 PM Saving Democracy in 2023 - YOUR Priorities, Our Path Together!
* Member Survey Results
* IN-SLWM Plans
and YOU!
Join our discussion on how we plan to help save democracy in 2023 - with your help! We're excited to share the results of our Member Priority Survey (thanks to all who responded), and our strategies and tactics moving forward based on what matters most to you! .
Monday, Februrary 6th, 7-8pm, via zoom
Zoom opens at 6:50, meeting begins at 7PM
After beating back a rumored 'red wave', and delivering historic victories for Democrats - and democracy - in the midterms, our weekly phone bank for democracy is returning Feb 9th - hopefully, with you!
We'll be partnering with the Wisconsin Dems and Swing Blue Alliance to make sure that the WI State Supreme Court flips to a progressive majority, protecting voting, reproductive and other freedoms in this crucial swing state. See here for more info on this critical race.
Post midterm we are focussing on states where the battle for democracy is playing out! Postcards/addresses are available for Wisconsin, where there is an important race to replace a retiring State Supreme Court Justice who has been an ultra conservative opponent to progressive legislation. The primary is on 2/21 and you can send postcards to likely Democrats, encouraging them to support the progressive candidates. The top two vote getters will go on to the election in April.
WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT ELECTION:
FUNDRAISER FOR GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS
This may be an off-year, but not an inactive one. RIght now, we have a chance to make a huge difference through a single election, in Wisconsin. We’re raising money to help make that happen.
Wisconsin used to be a stronghold of progressive politics, but 10 years of Republican misrule have made it hard for progressive policies to become law, despite having a Democratic governor. But on April 4, Wisconsin will hold an election that carries higher stakes than any other contest in the U.S. this year. According to the state’s Democratic party, the race “for a seat on the state’s evenly divided Supreme Court, will determine the fate of abortion rights, gerrymandered legislative maps and the Wisconsin governor’s appointment powers — and perhaps even influence the state’s 2024 presidential election.” This is a chance to flip the court from an extreme right-wing majority to a progressive majority. For more on what’s at stake, read this recent New York Times article. (It’s outside the paywall, so anyone can access it from the link).
In just about any election, an important element in helping progressives win is what is happening on the ground – who is talking to voters, helping them register, educating them about the issues, and getting them out to vote. That's why I’ve organized a fundraiser for Northampton-based Movement Voter Project’s Wisconsin Fund, which supports around 20 grassroots groups throughout the state. These are folks who are on the job year-round; they’re in communities and of those communities. They’re the ones who can explain to voters why this election is important, how it will affect their daily lives, and who benefits if the court stays in Republican hands. But the Wisconsin Fund is about more than this one election. These groups are about winning Wisconsin back for all of its people. If you’re interested in learning more about the groups you’ll be supporting with your donation, take a look at this short (9 minutes) video from MVP.
We chose to raise money for MVP’s Wisconsin Fund because we believe that progress is more than winning elections. If we win this Supreme Court race, the groups on the ground will keep progressive issues front and center to bring real change to the state.
Please give what you can by going to this link. We have two months to make a difference. I’ve set a goal of $5,000 by April 4. You can help us get there – or even go past this goal. Let’s win this!
BAR INSURRECTIONISTS FROM THE BALLOT
Sign the Petition
Enacted after the Civil War, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment disqualifies from public office any individual who has taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and then engages in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or gives aid or comfort to those who have.
By inciting a violent attack on Congress in an effort to prevent the certification of his own electoral defeat, Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and violated his oath of office. Free Speech For People and Our Revolution have teamed up to urge Secretaries of State and chief election officials across the country to follow the mandate of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and bar insurrectionists from any future ballot.
Sign hereto tell Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin to abide by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and bar Trump from appearing on any future ballot in MA.
And read about this success in New Mexico! where citizens filed suit and a County Commissioner was removed from office as a result of his participation in the Jan. 6th insurrection!
TEAMS
Update on IN-SLWM Climate Group
Our Climate Group is now receiving action alerts by email, about climate action of all sorts and addressing climate issues of all sorts. So far, group members have seen alerts concerning the Mountain Valley Gas Pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia, a petition to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to drop opposition to a young people’s lawsuit about federal inaction on climate, a petition to support state funding for zero-carbon renovations in existing buildings such as public schools and affordable housing, and two actions in support of legislation – one for a climate bank in Massachusetts and the other for a section of the U.S. Farm Bill to deal with food loss and waste, a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. There’s plenty to do; these alerts make it easier to take action.
Join feminists from across the state to help organize actions centering on women's rights.
We're focused on the fight for abortion rights and access, currently working to expose and limit the harm done by Anti-Abortion Clinics, or AACs (otherwise known as Crisis Pregnancy Clinics, CPCs) here in MA, with education, standouts, legislative advocacy and more.
You can help us plan, organize, and build feminist community, by joining us every Friday at 4pm - for Feminist Fridays at Four!
And here's our continuously updating toolkit with actions to take RIGHT NOW in the fight for reproductive freedom! Please share widely!
The Friday Action Group
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
NEWS
Northampton Reparations Committee Webinar
On January 24 the Northampton Reparations Committee presented an online webinar cohosted by Forbes Library.
Do you live in Amherst, Greenfield, South Hadley or anywhere else outside of the Northampton area? Even though our group name begins with “Indivisible Northampton,” it ends with “Western Massachusetts.” We’d like to hear from folks like us in the hinterlands about what you’d like to see happening in this part of the Valley.
Would you like more pickup spots for postcard and letter campaigns?
Would you come to or even help organize in-person events in Amherst or Greenfield or elsewhere?
Would you join carpools from or near your town to canvass in New Hampshire next year?
Do you have other ideas to help engage folks from your area in IN-SLWM’s activities?
Thanks!
Amy Gates (Amherst) Michael Dover (Leverett)
SELECTED READING
This section of our newsletter features one article written by a subscriber and one article 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.
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