Take action today with climate calls
Join the Parade!
Memorial Day in central New York is the kickoff of summer parade and festival season. We encourage IMVers to walk in local parades with the candidates they support.
This year there are two great opportunities that will allow you to observe Memorial Day meaningfully in remembrance of U.S. military personnel who died while serving the country and show your support for candidates who share your values and vision for our community, state, and nation.
On Monday, May 27th, please join:
James Meyers for State Senate
Utica Memorial Day Parade
Meet at South Utica Price Chopper parking lot
9:00 am
Sarah Klee Hood for Congress
New Hartford Memorial Parade
Please line up at the New Hartford Shopping Mall
6:15 pm (parade starts at 7 pm)
And thanks to all who came out for our Sarah Klee Hood canvass last Saturday. About 15 volunteers helped the SKH campaign kickoff primary canvassing in Oneida County. The many Democratic voters with whom we spoke are very excited at the chance to defeat Unrepresentative Brandon Williams at the polls in 2024! If you haven't seen Sarah Klee Hood's new ad, check it out!
Climate Crisis Working Group Actions
PLEASE MAKE 2 CALLS:
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act has a real chance to be passed!
1) First, call Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins' office at (518) 455-2585 (if you can't get through, try (518) 455-2715)
2) Then call Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie's office at 518-455-3791 (if you can't get through, try 718-654-6539)
SCRIPT: "Hi, my name is ____ and I'm calling from ____ to urge [the Majority Leader/Speaker] to not water down the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act S4246b/A5322b and bring it to a vote this session." (Feel free to use your own words about why these bills are important:) This bill needs to be strong to address the problem. These bills are the key to reducing packaging waste, cutting climate change emissions, removing toxic chemicals from packaging, increasing refillables, reducing air pollution, and protecting environmental justice communities.
Note: NEW SIENNA POLL. 82% of NY Voters Say Single-Use Plastic Packaging Is a Problem! And, a bipartisan 67% of voters support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act.
Paid Canvasser Jobs: Spread the Word
Citizen Action of Central New York is hiring paid canvassers to knock doors starting right now through election day on November 5th. The hours are flexible, and the pay is good ($21.50/hr). Canvassers will be hired for both Utica and Syracuse, the largest cities in NY22, where we have an opportunity to flip NY22, replace Brandon Williams, and take back the US House of Representatives.
Applicants in the Syracuse area: APPLY HERE.
Applicants in the Utica area: APPLY HERE.
Please share this employment opportunity widely with your networks.
IMV Needs Volunteers for Summer Tabling
Once again, IMV plans to table at key events both to register voters and also to talk about the importance of voting and the political activism we do. We have stickers, tattoos, voter engagement boards, and more. We just need volunteers to help staffing our table. If you can volunteer for 2-3 hours, please email IndivisibleMV@gmail.com and let us know when. Thank you!
Saturday, June 1st Utica Pride Fest 10am-4pm MVCC Utica
Sunday, June 9th 12-6pm Jewtica. JCC, Utica
Saturday, June 22nd, 12-5 Juneteenth (Utica)
More LTE Workshops
Kudos to Kathy Wojo who had an excellent letter in the Daily Sentinel and in the Syracuse Post-Standard (Syracuse.com online) supporting Sarah Klee Hood this week!
Are you willing to write a Letter to the Editor? Check out the next LTE workshops:
Wednesday, May 29th,10:30-11:30 am
NY22 LTE Morning Writing Power Hour! Register here. We welcome anyone across NY22 who needs support in writing a letter-to-the-editor. Our goal is to have Indivisibles get 20 LTEs published ahead of the June 25th primary. We'll have templates and breakout rooms that are topic specific including: supporting Sarah Klee Hood; reproductive freedom; NY ERA ballot measure; and why Democrats need to vote in the primary.
Wednesday, May 29th, 6:30-7:30 pm
NY22 LTE Evening Writing Power Hour! Register here.
For those who can't make the morning session.
Tuesday, June 11th, 12-1 pm
New York LTE Workshop on LGBTQ rights
Come learn how to write a letter-to-the-editor in support of LGBTQ rights with Matthew Skinner, Executive Director of The Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission, part of the NY United Courts system. Register here.
Planned Parenthood Event in Clinton June 4th
PPGNY Votes PAC wins competitive elections by appealing to voters who believe in the importance of our mission. State and local races can be determined by only a few hundred votes, and these wins help New York become the national leader this moment requires. Nearly two dozen states across the country have banned or severely restricted abortion access since the Roe v. Wade was overturned. Your support will allow us to continue to cement New York's position as a leading abortion and reproductive health access state.
IMV member Katheryn Doran is hosting a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood of Greater NY Votes PAC in Clinton on Tuesday June 4th, 5:30 -7:00 pm. Please sign up if you can attend, and donate if you can't! We apologize for the registration link error in the newsletter last Friday. HERE is the corrected link. Register now.
Celebrate Pride with Adrienne Martini
Adrienne Martini is running for State Assembly in the 122nd district currently represented by Republican Brian Miller. She is doing a "Coffee and Pride" loop through Sherill and New Hartford to celebrate Pride month and meet with supporters on June 1st. Please register now to join her at one of the events--including a stop at Peter's Cornucopia. Register and/or donate here.
Take These Indivisible Actions Today
Every Monday Indivisible (national) sends an email with a summary of critical, actionable news, some inspiration and hope (often from groups like ours across the country), and five actions. Here are the actions to take today, based on Monday's email.
RSVP for the Majority over MAGA Weekend of Action Kickoff Call on Thursday, June 13 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. The Dobbs decision changed the course of contemporary American politics by making it clear to all of us that MAGA Republicans weren’t just here to make threats, they were going to follow through and rip away our rights. Help us use that anniversary to remind people that there’s a better option. Join the kickoff call to hear about how we’ll be highlighting the fight for reproductive rights during our upcoming weekend of action on June 21-24. For more information on the weekend of action itself, check out our Majority over MAGA Weekend of Action (June 21-24) Toolkit.
Register for a virtual informal coffee chat with Leah and Ezra on Friday, May 31 at 4pm ET/1pm PT. Join Leah and Ezra in a laid-back setting to discuss the current state of play for the 2024 election with a focus on their most recent newsletters. If you’ve been looking for a place to ask specific questions of our national leadership, this is the space. Drop your questions in the Zoom registration and hear directly from our Co-Executive directors.
Register for Neighbor2Neighbor--the powerful tool for talking and listening to Democratic voters in your neighborhood. We have opened pre-registration for Indivisible Action’s version of our highly effective, community conversation program -- Neighbor2Neighbor. If you want to have the biggest impact on voter turnout, this is the most effective way we’ve found to mobilize community members (our numbers prove it).
Call your representative and tell them to hold the corrupt Supreme Court (SCOTUS) accountable. Whether it’s Clarence Thomas taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from a billionaire MAGA donor, or Alito publicly supporting insurrection, the Supreme Court has a crisis of accountability. Tell your representative that they must pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act to impose ethical rules on all SCOTUS justices today. When you’re finished, call your senators and tell them they must hold SCOTUS accountable too.
Call your senator and demand they protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) access nationwide. The MAGA agenda did not just stop at repealing Roe. They intend to ban contraception, IVF, gender-affirming care, marriage equality, and more. Sen. Tammy Duckworth has introduced the Access to Family Building Act, a bill that would enshrine access to IVF and related services as a federal right, protecting both would-be families and their medical providers. If your senator is a Democrat, call and make sure they are a cosponsor. If your senator is a Republican, tell them to put their money where their mouth is, pass this bill, and actually support families. When you’re finished calling, send your senators an email urging them to protect IVF access.
Finally, it's been a few weeks since we've reminded you to contact elected representatives in Washington to push for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid. Here is what Indivisible says:
"We must call, and keep calling, our elected representatives to ensure the safety of the civilians of Rafah, the return of the remaining hostages, free access to aid, and movement toward a lasting peace in the region.
If you’ve called before, call again.
If you haven’t called yet, now is the time to pick up the phone.
We have a moral responsibility to do everything in our power to push for peace."
On this weekend when we remember so many who died in wars, we have within our citizen power the ability to press for an end to war, a reduction in the use of military weapons against civilian populations, and the immediate provision of food and medicine to people trapped in a war zone. Please call and keep calling.
Facebook Memories: A Note from the Editor
Yesterday in my Facebook Memories I saw a post from May 23, 2017 encouraging attendance at a workshop at The Other Side in Utica organized by Sarah Reeske (long before she became a professional political organizer, and a few weeks before we settled on the name Indivisible Mohawk Valley). We filled the space with a couple dozen people and learned how to write LTEs and Op-Eds, as well as media advisories and press releases, all of which we still do today in an effort gain earned media attention and to influence public opinion.
In that Facebook post from 2017, still within the first six months of the Trump presidency, I also wrote:
"Every day in this active resistance my heart is buoyed by the camaraderie, solidarity, and community.
If my grandchildren ask me someday what I did during this challenging time for our democracy I will be able to say: "everything I could, every single day. We never quit and never gave up on our vision. We worked hard and we worked together. We didn't sit around and moan and complain and passively watch tv and tweet or share posts. We worked our a--es off. We organized and rallied, planned and learned, knocked on doors and met with representatives, raised money and recruited others to the movement. And we occasionally spelled each other so that everyone could take care of themselves and their families.
We did it so that this country could be not just great but also good, and not just for a few, but for ALL.
'It always seems impossible until it is done.'
-Nelson Mandela"
Still, seven years later, we press on.
Keep the faith.
Take action.
Seriously. Go back up through this email now and take the climate actions. Call Sens. Schumer, Gillibrand, and Unrep. Williams about SCOTUS, IVF, and a ceasefire. Register for a training. Write an LTE. Show up for the candidates who will fight for your values.
I can't think of a better way to honor the memory and sacrifice of those who fought for freedom and for equality in wars than by keeping up the fight for freedom and justice for all in the best way that civilians can--through peaceful, non-violent political action.
--Jen DeWeerth
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