Meet Blake Gendebien, Our NY21 Candidate

The main reason Congress is not stopping Trump and Musk is that the House and Senate are currently controlled by Republicans.  We have to start to change that starting NOW.

There are three special elections for Congress in coming months--and one of them is right here in New York!  Following a selection process by the Democratic Committee Chairs of the 15 counties that make up the NY21 congressional district, our candidate to replace Elise Stefanik is...Blake Gendebien! 

What if you don't live in NY21?  Not an excuse! We will all be needed to help flip NY21 even if we live in NY22 or another district, and in fact, Indivisibles from across the state are going to help flip this geographically huge, mostly rural seat. The most populous city in NY21 is our very own Rome--right here in Oneida County and in our Indivisible Mohawk Valley territory.  So, join us: 

Virtual Meet-n-Greet with Blake Gendebien
 Date: Tuesday, February 18th
 Time: 6:30-7:30pm 
 Registration link: https://indivisible.zoom.us/meeting/register/GQ6Us1UrQXaDWsp8ga1BJA
 Who: Primary audience will be Indivisibles in NY (Yes, you can invite your like-minded friends to attend)

Purpose: 

• Indivisibles meet Blake 

• Blake wants to build a relationship with Indivisibles 

• Homework! People now have a story about Blake to share publicly with friends, family, on social media, in letters-to-the-editor, etc.

Guardrails from Indivisible’s Legal Team

• Candidate won’t be allowed to campaign, for example ask for donations, ask for people to volunteer, ask people to visit his website. This is just for us to get to know him!

• Campaign website: https://blakegendebienforcongress.com/

Why should I attend the virtual meet-n-greet? 

• You’ll be happy for at least an hour! 

• You’ll probably hear some cow jokes

Sign up HERE today to attend for just one hour on Tuesday!

Indivisible OneNYS Meeting

Invitation from NYS Indivisible Managing Organizer, Sarah Reeske:

"Please come to our statewide call on Wednesday, February 19th so we can have some statewide conversations. I’ll dedicate an hour (6-7pm) to new group leaders and then the general meeting 7-8pm. Register here. One thing on the agenda we’ll have to discuss is whether we want to do a blue state convening with available funding from Indivisible. Here’s where you can read more details."

Remember, sign up using the link, but don't join until Wednesday at 7pm, when the meeting is open for all Indivisibles in NY. 
 

Indivisible Mohawk Valley Meeting Sunday, Feb. 23rd

We are super excited for our February 2025 meeting!

IMV February 2025 Meeting
 Sunday, Feb. 23rd, 1:30-3:30 pm
 New Hartford Public Library (Sammon room, the big room at the lower level)
 2 Library Lane, New Hartford 

Agenda for this meeting includes
1) What we can do to resist the Trump/Musk administration and the Republican congress
2) Structured & interactive planning session for a local public demonstration related to the protecting the Department of Education
3) Announcements/Updates: Rep. Mannion, NY21 election, Climate, Petitioning

We are now starting our 9th year of monthly meetings. And these meetings are where our real work gets done. We make political activism local, but-size, and fun!   We look forward to seeing you there!  
 

Calling Congress: Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Let’s continue to push Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand to fight Trump nominees!. Indivisible is here to make it bite size for you with this new landing page with both a calling and emailing tool for you to use. All 47 Senate Dems stayed together and opposed Vought’s confirmation like we demanded–time to tell them thank you. 

As you've probably been seeing across media (Rachel Maddow, social media posts, Indivisible communications), we know that our rallies in front of offices and our calls to our MoCs (that's Members of Congress) are making a difference.  Since Indivisibles and other activists started organizing and concentrating our constituent power with targeted demands about stopping the Musk takeover and the funding freezes, calls per minute to the Senate switchboard went from 40 to 1600 per minute--a 40 fold increase!  Pretty soon the House will be seeing the same kind of numbers.  

What if you want an easy way to make your calls to your Members of Congress every day, without forgetting, and without having to pull up old emails or visit various websites?There's an App for that! It's called 5 Calls, and we recommend that you put it on your phone (it's free).  You can even set a reminder on the app so it reminds you at your preferred calling time to make your calls. Calling works!  
 

Climate Crisis Working Group

Thanks to all who attended the in-person meeting of the group this past Monday! The CCWG signed a statewide letter this week in opposition to the "Clean Fuel Act"--a false solution that dilutes the CLCPA.  This week CCCWG is taking a break from the usual  phone calling and emailing to state electeds. Enjoy a free moment, and mark your calendar for an upcoming event sponsored by the Kirkland Town Democratic Committee:

Beyond Plastics with Alexis Goldsmith 
When: Wednesday, February 26, 6:30pm
RSVP here.   

"Plastic is the fastest-growing sector of the fossil fuel industry, threatening to derail climate progress. Plastic currently warms the planet 4x more than the global aviation industry. Federal action to address the problem remains unlikely in the foreseeable future - but we have an opportunity to take decisive action at the state level by passing the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill.  Together, these bills will address planet-warming, ocean-polluting single-use plastics by reducing them at the source. Beyond Plastics National Organizing Director, Alexis Goldsmith, will provide information about these bills, the legislative process in Albany, and how we win in 2025 with grassroots action. These bills are facing fierce opposition from petrochemical interests, but with your action we WILL get them done."
 

New Resources from Indivisible NYS Organizer Sarah Reeske

In case you missed Sarah's recent trainings, here are the recordings, which you may find helpful if you are new to Indivisible organizing, or new to Bluesky, an exciting new platform that operates a bit like the old Twitter, but is not run by MAGA-fascist trolls.  

• Introduction to Bluesky training (1 hour) - follow me @sreeske.bsky.social so I can follow you back

• Grassroots Activism 101 crash course (2 hours) - learn organizing basics, electoral work vocabulary, and how all of our work is rooted in social justice so you can be confident in taking action.

And if you haven't read it yet, we do recommend taking a look at Indivisible (2025 edition): A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink.  
 

Quick Updates

• This week, IMV signed a statewide Indivisible letter to Gov. Hochul.  Our goal was to let her know we have things to discuss with her, and ask her for a meeting. Please read the letter here. We'll keep you posted!

• People who signed up for the recent rally at Sen. Schumer's office and other central NY Indivisibles met virtually with Josh Pearlman, a Schumer staffer last Friday. It was a good first step, but only the beginning of our push to get Schumer and Gillibrand to use all the tools available to the minority party in the Senate. On the positive side, we are starting to see Democratic unity on many of the confirmation votes. The goal is that Democratic senators should completely withhold participation in the Senate so long as Trump is acting illegally and Republicans do not act to stop him.

• Rep. John Mannion continues to use short videos on social media to call out the illegality and chaos of the Trump administration and the complicity of Republicans in Congress.  Last week he spoke to a large rally in front of the Department of Education in DC. Check out his video this week. 

Motivation to Keep Going
Does this feel real?

• You started out exhausted even before the Republicans took over Congress on January 2nd and Trump walked into the White House on January 20th. 

• You know people who share your values but have decided to check out of politics and their civic duties. 

• You've done all the things, or you're doing all the things, and it feels like it's not making a difference.  

Remember:  It took Republicans more than 40 years to get to this point--where they have installed a populist fascist and a tech-authoritarian ignoring the co-equal branches of government, the place they were driving all along.  It may take us even longer to put things back together and start building an inclusive and progressive democracy that embraces the liberal consensus once again. That should not be a surprise, and we need to understand that political activism in a time like this is a brutal marathon and not a sprint.  There is no quick fix.  

But for now our goal is simple: To fight like hell to ensure that the constitutional crisis currently unfolding does not lead to the technocratic oligarchy of Musk's dreams, the cruel and kleptocratic monarchy of Trump's fantasy. The courts can help, but they move slowly, and we are the ones who can shift public opinion and build a people's movement. 

Until a week or so ago, media were reporting that there was no public resistance to the attempt to wipe out nearly 250 years of constitutional government with a flurry of illegal executive orders, the silence of Congress and the courts, freezing of funds, and firing of federal workers.  But there is a different narrative now, and it is because of all of us. 
 
 Thank you for rolling up your sleeves instead of throwing in the towel. How much is the US Constitution and the rule of law worth to you?  How much do you want to pass participatory democracy down to your children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren?  We can do this if we are willing to do the work.

We were made for this moment.  

Join us Sunday, Feb. 23rd, 1:30-3:30 pm. 
Sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/751827/

Check out all the events in the Calendar, and stop by CAFE Fridays if you need a boost with like-minded folks.
Democracy is not a spectator sport. 
 
Follow us on Bluesky: @Indivisiblemv.bsky.social, on Instagram's Threads.net/@indivisiblemohawkvalley, on X (Twitter) using @indivisiblemv and of course on our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.