Happy 6th Birthday, IMV!
Last Chance to Help Celeste Friend Win the Primary
Join the Purple Posse on Saturday, June 23rd at 10 am at the intersection of Genesee St and Memorial Parkway. Celeste Friend for Mayor of Utica will rally to celebrate democracy and Early Voting. Bring signs supporting Celeste and Early Voting. This will be a quick rally to motivate all of us as we head into this final stretch of the campaign, and then we can head to vote at MVCC, or get out there and GOTV and make sure others get out to vote. We hope you will join us!
And check out this amazing ad that was just released by a PAC not affiliated with Celeste's campaign, but that captures the spirit of her leadership and vision for a Utica for All. Imagine what could happen if a majority of Democrats, and eventually, a majority of Utican voters heard about Celeste in ad like this. Please share the link with your friends by text, email, and on social media! Here's the link: https://fb.watch/lkAcQZDzzb/ Watch it and share it!
It's not too late to sign up to volunteer for the final days of GOTV for Celeste! FILL OUT THIS FORM. Join the Utica For All of Us Purple Posse Team! And "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has."
Brandon Williams Tried to Cut Child Care for NY Families
"We narrowly avoided a government shutdown because Republican lawmakers wanted to slash funding for child care, SNAP, Medicaid, and other supports for families.
Representative Brandon Williams voted in support of the initial bill proposed that would have cut 17,000 child care and preschool spots in New York and ban any new investments in child care for the next ten years.
What’s worse, the bill that Williams supported would have also:
Slashed food assistance for 54,000 New Yorkers between the ages of 50-55
Cut federal rental assistance and raised housing costs for thousands in our state
CONTACT BRANDON WILLIAMS TODAY
With inflation and the cost of living at record highs, so many families in New York are struggling to make ends meet. Taking away support for basic essentials like child care, food, and housing is unthinkable. Rep. Williams’ attack on our families is out of line with New York values and the needs of our communities.
The 22nd Congressional District includes some of our state’s worst child care deserts. It’s outrageous that while our families struggle to find and afford care, Brandon Williams voted to make things harder for us.
We need MORE ACCESS TO CHILD CARE, NOT LESS. Contact Representative Williams today and tell him how you feel about his support of this brutal proposal."
(This message is from our shared-values ally, Citizen Action. If you are not member of Citizen Action, please become a member now. Citizen Action continues to do on the ground organizing in the Mohawk Valley on child care, housing, and other issue advocacy, and to lift up the voices of those who are directly impacted on these issues.)
Urgent Request from Our Partner, Mohawk Valley Latino Association
Sonia Martinez reports that MVLA has been receiving many calls from new arrivals to the Utica area who are asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants coming to Utica from other cities in search of more affordable housing and some stability while they request work papers and await the processing of their cases. Because of the shortage of housing, even in our area, it is taking them a while to find a place of their own, and they are running out of money. MVLA requests contributions to replenish the fund that helps new arrivals to our area. Many of our local elected officials have turned their backs on these new arrivals and said there is no way to house or help them In the meantime, they are here--most of them families with children--and they need temporary assistance to get on their feet. Please contribute what you can to our longtime ally and partner, MVLA.
Mail your check to Mohawk Valley Latino Association at their address and mark the memo line "Immigrant Fund." (There is currently no way to make the designation for direct assistance on the MVLA website donate button.) Currently Republicans and even conservative Democrats across the country, including in the Mohawk Valley, are using the arrival of immigrants in need for political purposes and stirring up xenophobia to do it. (LA Mayor Karen Bass does a good job of explaining how and why at minute 3:45 ). IMV will look for opportunities to join the advocates on this issue including religious leaders and MVLA in pressing on elected leaders and to message that the Mohawk Valley welcomes immigrants as it always has. In the meantime, we need to help those who are struggling to be safe and housed in this critical moment.
Please put "Immigrant Fund" in the memo line of your check and mail to:
Mohawk Valley Latino Association
28 Scott St.,1st floor
Utica, NY 13501
Save the Date for IMV Events in July and August!
Please save the the date for two important IMV events, our biggest of the year:
Annual IMV Potluck Picnic
Wednesday, July 19th, 5:30 - 7:00 pm
New Hartford Town Park (Sherrill Brook-Birch Pavilion, to the left near the big playground)
Bring a dish to share
NY22 Congressional Candidate Forum
Wednesday, August 16th, 6-8 pm
MVCC Utica Campus
(This event is like our 2022 event but this time we will get to meet the candidates well in advance of the Democratic primary). We will invite a variety of allies to co-sponsor, including the Oneida County Democratic Women's Club, Working Families Party, and others.
Happy 6th Birthday, IMV
This past Tuesday, June 20th, Indivisible Mohawk Valley celebrated our 6th birthday! In 2017, a bunch of engaged (and also enraged!) people had been organizing demonstrations against Donald Trump and Claudia Tenney (remember our Deplora-ball counter rally with over 125 people wearing black outside Cavallo's in April 2017?) and their onslaught of harmful and destructive legislative and executive actions following the 2016 election and the Women's March.
We had been meeting monthly at Schuyler Commons in North Utica and our numbers at the weekly Claudia Tenney picket had been growing. We hosted workshops on how to write a letter to the editor and we issued our first media advisories and press releases about our local progressive activism. Then at our June meeting we met at Jervis Library in Rome on June 20th and voted to name ourselves Indivisible Mohawk Valley. We committed to follow the playbook we found in the Indivisible Guide for how to weaken our Trumpian Member of Congress, resist the forces that went against our values, and work to elect better representatives. It was a decision to move beyond secret, private Facebook groups and into the territory of risky, time consuming, and public political activism. We went boldly forward in our commitment to social, racial, economic, and climate justice. We've been at it ever since.
We want to thank every single one of you for the work you've put in, and for the times you've shown up for causes, events, and for each other. In the rain, sleet, heat, snow, and freezing temps, (and even for almost a year of virtual, phone-banking, zooming activism only during Covid!) you've shown up to advocate for policies, to resist injustice, and to help elect candidates that share our values. THANK YOU and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IMV!
Ways to celebrate:
Join in Celeste's rally on Saturday and volunteer for GOTV.
Donate to MLVA for immigrants in need.
Join Citizen Action, which organizes low income people and communities of color in Utica
Call Brandon Williams, and tell him what you think about how he's hurting NY22.
Mark your calendar for our July 19th Picnic and our big candidate event on Aug. 16th
We are so glad you are part of IMV! If the time is not right for you to join in....
"We'll hold your note for you." (from Emmie, because in choir, everyone needs to stop for a breath even as the singing goes on)
Remember to Breathe, then PUSH. Because...
Democracy is not a spectator sport.
Follow us on Twitter using @indivisiblemv and of course our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.