We say this every month, we know, but this is a really important meeting for all members and friends of IMV.   We will devote some time to our REI (Race, Equity & Inclusion) conversation, and as usual there is a lot to discuss!   We are also looking ahead to the 2021 elections and how we can be effective as campaign volunteers.  Local candidates need and appreciate all the help we can offer them.  We'll be more effective and impactful if we plan, organize, and coordinate together. 

Share the event link with anyone who may want to get involved.  See you Sunday!
 

Please Make These Calls Today

HR 51 Statehood for DC passed the House yesterday--no thanks to Rep. Tenney, who voted to deny full representation to nearly 400,000 Black and brown Americans today.  WTF.  Even with her racist, anti-democratic, neo-colonial (she supports taxation without representation) vote, HR51 won the day.  Now we need to press the Senate to pass it, and that means telling Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand to end the filibuster as well.

Here is your top action for today:

1) Call both of your Senators and tell them to pass S51 Statehood for DC. Use this tool to make it easy.
2)  Call both Senators and tell them to pass S1 For the People Act immediately.  Use this script & tool.

Please make your calls now.  It's two calls to Sen. Schumer and two calls to Sen. Gillibrand.   No point to calling Tenney on anything.  She is not only opposed to democracy, civil rights, and economic support for her constituents, she is totally irrelevant in Congress.  Meanwhile, we hear from Indivisible National that we are running out of time on these two democracy bills.  We have at most 1-2 months left to get these bills pushed through the Senate to a vote. There are deadlines in the bills that relate to the 2022 election, so we can't wait.  
 

IMV Local Candidate Meet-n-Greets Big Success 

We had a great turnout on Monday and Tuesday for our IMV Local Candidate Meet-n-Greets.  Thanks to Sarah Reeske for coordinating with candidates and putting the events together, and to Olivia Paul for emceeing both evenings.  We had a terrific line up of candidates, and many of you expressed appreciation for the events.  Here are the candidates we met:

City Council
Celeste Friend - incumbent for Utica Common Council Ward 3
Delvin Moody - incumbent for Utica Common Council Ward 5
Katie Aiello - candidate for Utica Common Council Ward 1
Gregory Lane - first time candidate for Rome City Council Ward 1

County Leg and Court Seats
Evan Moynihan - first time candidate for Herkimer county legislature district 16
Matthew Pilatzke - candidate for Oneida county legislature district 17
Caroline Reale - first time candidate for Oneida county legislature district 15
Karen Stanislaus - candidate for Oneida County Family Court Judge 

There were a few candidates who could not attend, and we hope to hear from them in the future, and we also plan to have a candidate meet and greet for Utica and Rome Board of Education candidates next month.  Local candidates need and appreciate our support.  
 

Happy Earth Day: Action Items

Mother Nature provided a rich display of talents yesterday in central New York for the 51st Earth Day.  For the record, that was two Earth Days in a row in CNY with snow, freezing temps, and high cold winds.  The good news is that we have a lot going on for climate activism. 

• Our "Thank You, Rachel May Climate Rally" organized with the Kirkland Town Democratic Committee a couple weeks ago in Clinton was covered on the front page of The Waterville Times.

• The IMV Climate Crisis Workgroup developed this awesome resource for celebrating Earth Day--not just on Earth Day but every day.

• The weekly #BLM rally in Clinton (today at 4-5 pm) will have a focus on climate and racial justice in honor of Earth Day. Please join us, socially distanced and masked in the Village Green, and bring signs about Earth Day, racial justice in policing or environmental policy, Black Lives and the George Floyd verdict--all those messages are welcome.

• We need some volunteers to help organize and/or attend a lobby visit (vi Zoom) with Assemblywoman Buttenschon to press her to co-sponsor and support the CCIA. The bill has been introduced in the Assembly, and it needs co-sponsors and advocates. We want to make sure that Marianne understands this bill and how dramatically it would help central New York--and then support it. Please email IndivisibleMV@gmail.com to volunteer.
  

Climate Crisis Work Group Meeting Monday, April 26

As with the March meeting our April Climate Crisis workgroup meeting will start at 6:30pm and then at 7pm we will sign off and then sign on to the HeatSmart presentation. There will be a zoom link for each and they need to pre-register for the second part. Our Cleaner and Greener Heating and Cooling sessions are presented by HeatSmart CNY and Heat Smart Mohawk Valley and sponsored by the Climate Crisis Working Group of Indivisible Mohawk Valley. Here is that schedule:

Heat Pumps 101: Incentives for Cleaner and Greener Heating and Cooling
April 26, 2021 | 7 – 8pm
RSVP | Facebook Event
Join HeatSmart CNY and Heat Smart Mohawk Valley for an online workshop on what incentives are available for you to switch your home or property to renewable heat pumps!
Heat pumps are often cheaper and safer to operate, require less maintenance, and add comfort (both heating and cooling) to your home. And, they are essential for dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions! Participants will learn about geothermal and air source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and building performance improvement. We will explain financing options and the thousands of dollars in incentives and tax credits available to help make these technologies and energy efficiency upgrades affordable for residences, businesses, and community buildings.

Heat Pumps 101: Case Studies and Testimonials
May 24, 2021 | 7 – 8pm
RSVP | Facebook Event

Virtual Tour of Cleaner and Greener Heating and Cooling: Utica House with Air Source Heat Pumps
June 28, 2021 | 6:30pm
RSVP | Facebook Event

Again, save the dates above, and be sure to join for the first part of the group meeting Monday, April 26th at 6:30 pm: https://fb.me/e/3MfLJIgog

Reminder to Donate to our Community Projects

You may remember that we shared three critical community fundraising projects at our February meeting. Thanks for all those who have been sending checks, making birthday fundraisers on Facebook, and showing up to clean up gardens and parks on Saturday If you have not yet made a monetary contribution, this is your reminder and the how-to information:

Rebuilding the Village is a not-for-profit organization located in, and serving, the Cornhill Community in Utica New York. The organization promotes racial equity, community empowerment, and social justice by providing advocacy, emergency intervention, and support services for at-risk children, youth and families in an effort to combat poverty, sub-standard living conditions, substance abuse, street crime and gun violence. For more information or to make a donation, please see the website https://www.rebuildingthevillageutica.com/. Donations by check can be mailed to: Lillian Woods, Treasurer 516 Rockhaven Road, Utica, New York 13502. IMV members stepped up to support the summer program for children last year, and we need to keep up our efforts.

LaAbundancia Community Center is a new garden space for residents of Cornhill to grow, prepare and eat traditional foods, celebrate holidays, the arts, and the many Latino and Hispanic cultures which make the Mohawk Valley their home. Over the next year, MVLA is launching the School for Ecosystem Advocacy. Through this program, participants will learn to create landscapes that control stormwater, remediate toxic soil, increase soil carbon storage and create edible landscapes using permaculture design techniques. The members of MVLA and MUCC together with our neighbors in Cornhill will design the property so that it meets these goals. Watch a video which describes the project here.
Any donations by check should be made out to MVLA. Mohawk Valley Latino Association, 2nd Floor, 309 Genesee St., Utica, NY 13501

The Proctor Park Peace Garden Project will restore an area of FT Proctor Park, centering around a stone cistern surrounded with a pathway and a bed of perennial grasses and flowers and a bench placed in the garden. Eventually, a small backdrop of trees will further define this garden. It will be dedicated to victims of genocide, political violence, and injustice and to the cause of peace, a distinctive spot for contemplation and respite. The psychological and physical benefits of green spaces in urban areas are well known, and the use of indigenous plants will promote healing of the earth as well. We have received a small grant and number of donations at the $100 above and level, and now are closing in on the last $2000--200 $10 donations would get us to our goal. Donations should be made out to IMV and sent to 2 Laurelwood Dr., New Hartford, NY 13413. Carol Gable has also set up a convenient GoFundMe for the project, so you can contribute there as well, and share the page with your friends.

Thank you for your tremendous generosity to our social justice projects.

Accountability in Minneapolis, More Work to Do

We breathed a sigh of relief at the news of the verdict in the Chauvin trial. A white policer was found guilty of murdering a Black person. However, the truth is that this was a Black Swan event--a rarity--as Indivisible's Black Caucus has said. Even as the verdict was announced, police shot and killed a 16 year old girl--a child-- who had called for help in Ohio, and we have no reason to believe that police killings of Black people will slow anytime soon.

We need to imagine a new social world in which people who are in crisis for any reason are provided de-escalation and help instead of police violence. We need to imagine a world where police don't stop Black people for driving, shopping, walking, running, or sleeping while Black and then escalate the interaction to abuse, beating, and murder. We need to imagine it, and then we need to demand that our cities and towns and highways are safe for everyone and everyone is treated with respect.

Many of you showed up for town and city council meetings, completed surveys or provided comment, attended community forums over the past year. As police reforms are implemented locally, we need to continue to show up in support of those leading the push for reform in our community. See you this afternoon at the Black Lives Matter Rally in Clinton, and and don't forget to make your calls about S51 and S1, because #BlackVotersMatter too.