We're not giving up. We're meeting Sunday to plan
Not Going to Let Them Win in a Forfeit
We hope you saw Ezra's message to all of us after we lost a hard fight for democracy on Wednesday:
"So what can we do after losing a hard fight? Here are the options:
We can give up.
We can keep building power.
That’s it. End of list. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the fascists win in a forfeit." --Ezra Levin, Indivisible's co-founder
IMV is NOT giving up. We have work to do from the ground up that has the potential to change the game on voting, health care, climate, racial justice, and more. It means getting legislation passed in New York. It means winning back congressional seats in New York. It means building political power in Oneida and surrounding counties. In our sixth year as a grassroots progressive volunteer political organization, we are positioned to do the work. AND WE WILL.
Please join us on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 3 pm for our 2022 kickoff meeting on Zoom. We have an exciting and inspirational agenda that looks ahead to what we can accomplish together in 2022. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85307220499.
Voter Registration Volunteer Opportunity
Dylan Black, our NY22/24 Build the House Organizer has offered an awesome opportunity for us to Register Voters, an activity that we absolutely LOVE to do, but have not had a chance to do much in the past couple of years.
Please check your calendars, and then sign up for either Friday, Feb. 4 or Saturday, Feb. 5 to register voters at the Utica Comets game. Here is the sign up form. Please volunteer! And feel free to share the sign up link with your friends: https://bit.ly/3qKH9fP
LTE Writers Strike Again
Congratulations to Betsy Briggs and Judy Jerome, whose powerful and well crafted letters were published in the Utica OD on Sunday. Betsy's letter about why the state legislature needs to vote on and pass the NY Health Act was also published in My Little Falls. Judy's letter championed the voting rights bills before the Senate and called out Claudia Tenney's shameful no vote on voting and democracy. Please take time to read these letters and use them as excellent examples of how to persuade the public on an issue that matters you in the pages of your local newspaper.
Sign Up Here to Meet with NYS Controller DiNapoli
When Indivisibles come together, we send a strong message about what matters to us! In November we met with Governor Hochul, and this month we have a statewide meeting with Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, the State’s chief fiscal officer who ensures that State and local governments use taxpayer money effectively and efficiently to promote the common good. All Indivisible groups and members are invited to this conversation to learn more about how the Comptroller’s work intersects with the issues and justices we fight for. How can we work together? Come find out! Register here to join other NYS Indivisibles with Tom DiNapoli on Wednesday, January 26th at 7pm!
Climate Crisis Workgroup Update
This week we are asking you to call Governor Hochul and Assembly Leader Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins to let them know that they need to fund the CCIA (Climate and Community Investment Act) with $15B in this year’s final budget and not undermine the CLCPA with false solutions. In the Governor’s newly released executive budget, she did not include $15 billion for the CCIA into the executive budget. (The CCIA is the way NYS will fund implementing the CLCPA,Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019.) We need to let them know that we expect implementation of the CLCPA-and that means passing the CCIA.
Governor Hochul: 518 474-8390
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins: (518) 455-2585
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie: 518-455-3791
We Did the Work for Democracy: THANK YOU
All of you who did the work to try to pass the voting right legislation in the Senate and #EndtheFilibuster: THANK YOU! Sarah Reeske created one of the most powerful social media campaigns we've ever seen, #FilibusterFriday, and ran it for an entire year, with the help of indivisibles across the country using Twitter. We all called our Senators and held rallies, and spread the word. Some of our members spent last Sunday night calling West Virginians on Hub Dialer to connect them with Sen. Manchin via phone. It was a lot of hard work, and then, as we know, Manchin and Sinema and 50 Republicans let us down.
If you want to see all the accolades we received for our activism work, and add your own, please check out this google doc. One lesson we learned? We need to keep electing better people and win. Think that's impossible? Last night on the Indivisible NYS call, one participant reminded us that before we got rid of the IDC through grassroots organizing and knocking doors, the Republican control of the NYS Senate also seemed unbreakable. It's not impossible. It just takes years of organizing, and not just at the federal or state level but at the city, town, and county level as well. Republicans built power from the ground up in dozens and dozens of states. We can do the same.
Some people rode a bus to DC on Jan. 20, 2017 (five years ago yesterday), wore a pink hat, and called it good. YOU HAVE STAYED IN THE FIGHT! Let's stick together and do the work. Join us Sunday as we plan our sixth year of activism, and get inspired to make progressive politics local, bite sized, and fun!
Follow us on Twitter using @indivisiblemv and of course our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.
