Based on your responses to our IMV survey about volunteering to support campaigns this year, we have planned our first door-knocking event for Sunday in support of Anthony Brindisi for Supreme Court and Karen Stanislaus for Oneida County Family Court Judge.

We're kicking off our IMV local election action! There will be something for everyone in terms of work that helps our awesome local candidates. Postcards writing is just a couple weeks ahead--so block off some time now, postcard writers!

The core of our work ahead is canvassing for those who can do it, and postcards for everyone to work on in the evenings and when canvassing isn't happening. Remember that local elections are where our volunteer hours have the biggest impact, because even a few votes can make the difference in a local election. Let's do the work and win!

Are you still reeling from local floods, rising temperatures this summer, and the UN's 2021 Climate Report? Don't be paralyzed by hopelessness. Join with IMV friends and TAKE ACTION.

The Climate Crisis Working Group is having a Climate Jobs & Justice Rally on Friday, August 27th from 4-5 pm at the intersection of the Parkway and Genesee Street (MVCC side) to bring attention to the urgency of Climate Change on a national, state and local level. This is very timely with the IPCC report calling for deep reductions in CO2 levels and greenhouse gas emissions. So please bring signs such as Electric Vehicles, Renewables, Solar Panels, Heat Pumps, New Electric Grid and join together with friends.

Whew! We had a whirlwind meeting under the Pavilion at Cherrywood on Tuesday night, and thanks to our facilitator, Dawn Laguerre, we finished just before the rain arrived. (If you missed it, this is the survey you should take asap), then read on to see what we covered at our August meeting:

The 2021 local elections are approaching fast. We all know that building the bench locally is a necessity to our long term ability to hold power and make it easy to make the laws that lead to a more just, equitable, and sustainable future. As in 2017 and 2019, IMV will use its people power to help elect candidates who reflect IMV’s progressive values. This year, we’d like to choose regular days and times that IMV members will work together to canvass or do lit drops or postcards. We may help a different candidate each week, but always as a group. The goal is to have fun together AND help progressive candidates get elected! (We know some candidates have already organized specific canvassing nights, and we will try to pick other times that won’t conflict.)

Indivisible National's co-founders, Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, have the cutest little baby, a nine month old named Zeke. If you're on the email list, you've probably seen pics. Poor little Zeke has had both his mom, and then his dad, arrested in the past couple weeks. Read on for a message from Ezra.

Progress on infrastructure and the budget resolution matter because we need to keep up the momentum and remind Democrats of the key message of the most recent Indivisible Guide: Go big, go fast, get it right. And nowhere is that urgency more important than on getting the For The People Act over the finish line before recess. As Ezra tweeted following news that some Democrats are closer to working to find agreement on S. 1:

"We're at that stage of the fight where nobody really knows if we're maybe winning or maybe losing. Don't let this fog cloud what *you* can do. SHOW UP. Tell the Senate to put off recess til they reform the filibuster and pass the damn democracy bill."

IMV CAFE Fridays (Zoom) is still going strong. Join this morning at 9:30-10:30 am. Then, please make every effort to show up for IMV's first Fourth Friday Climate Crisis Rally in Utica at the intersection of Genesee Street and Memorial Parkway today 4-5 pm. Bring a climate crisis sign, be careful crossing the street, and join folks at the statue in the median.

At our August IMV meeting we'll organize ourselves into effective teams to volunteer for candidates between mid-August and the November election. Currently we are scheduled to meet on Aug. 10 but we may need to move that meeting in order to accommodate our many members who are judicial convention delegates and are responsible for actually putting Anthony Brindisi on the ballot for the NYS Supreme Court seat he is seeking. We'll let you know soon the where and when of this critical August meeting. Anthony is still in the fight. Our other candidates are in the fight, and we'll be right there with them.

It's time for our annual Progressive Politics Potluck Picnic!

When: Tuesday, July 13th, 5:30-7:30 pm

Where: Sherrillbrook (New Hartford Town) Park, on Route 12. We'll be in the pavilion to the immediate right when you enter the park.

Who: Everyone is invited, including pets, partners, families, kids, friends.

What to bring: A dish to share whether main dish, salad, dessert, or otherwise. Please also bring a small package of diapers or some money to donate to Citizen Action's diaper collection.

What will be provided: Water, cups, plates, napkins, utensils. If you’d like to bring your own reusable drink container/drink, plate, utensils that's fine too!

We will have a few minutes for some announcements, but this is mostly a social time to connect with political action friends and make new ones. Plus, we know you won't want to miss this very special guest...

Anthony Brindisi is joining us!

In a 6-3 decision yesterday, the extreme right wing Supreme Court majority undermined what was left of the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it ruled in an Arizona case that Republican lawmakers were free to restrict voting rights in most situations. This does not bode well for the fate of voters across the country who have been the targets of hundreds of laws proposed by Republican state legislatures over the past nine months. But we are not giving up. The fight for S1 For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is just heating up.

The For the People Act was filibustered in the Senate. Meanwhile, states across the nation are passing voter suppression laws. Over 20 have been passed and hundreds more bills are coming down the line. The For The People Act would stop them in their tracks.

But only if we act now. We need to show Senator Schumer that this is a fight we cannot back down from. There is overwhelming grassroots support for voting rights and we cannot let democracy be delayed. We need every single one of our IMV activists to show up in Utica this Monday, June 28th, 5-6 pm at Oneida Square (1300 Genesee Street) for our Utica Deadline for Democracy Rally.

More than 1200 people joined the Facebook live session with Sen. Chuck Schumer on Wednesday night to build energy and show our commitment to passing S1 For The People Act before the Fourth of July.

If you were on the call, you know there is a huge amount of energy for passing S1. No matter how hard Sen. Manchin makes it, Sen. Schumer knows he has to get it done. There is no way that this democracy can survive if Republican state legislatures have free reign at overturning elections, suppressing votes, gerrymandering districts, and otherwise undermining free and fair elections and majority rule. Our job is to encourage and support Sen. Schumer while he does the work behind the scenes over the next few weeks.

We'll have a major Deadline for Democracy Rally in Utica on Monday, June 28, 5-6 pm at Oneida Square.

Well, Zoom was a thing, but are so excited to see IMV back together again in person at our June 2021 meeting on Tuesday, June 15th, 6:30-8:00 pm at Cherrywood's outdoor pavilion, 1 Cherrywood Circle, Clinton (on Route 5).

We’ll have some cake to celebrate the fourth anniversary of our decision to organize officially as the political activism group Indivisible Mohawk Valley.

Please bring a friend, new or returning to IMV, and bring diapers! Click below to see details. We can't wait to see you!

A contingent from the IMV Climate Crisis Working Group joined NY Renews' first in-person action in over a year in Albany to push for passage of the CCIA.

IMV members should continue to call their Assembly members, Senators, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, and Gov. Cuomo and say, "Pass the CCIA now!" And at the same time tell them to pass the Teachers Fossil Fuel Divestment Act.

Two years ago, Indivisible Mohawk Valley was part of a coalition and our advocacy helped enact New York’s nation-leading climate bill, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). This bill set ambitious goals for New York. Over the past year, the Climate Action Council and its advisory committees have been meeting to establish plans. But goals and plans are not enough. We need to implement them! And that is where the Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA, S4264A/A6967) comes in. This bill would require companies importing or creating greenhouse gas-emitting products to pay a proportionate fee and thereby provide a revenue stream to implement the goals and plans for community investment, good, green jobs, a just transition, and consumer protection.

There are only three weeks left in order to push the Climate and Community Investment Act over the finish line. IMV and the Kirkland Town Democrats are hosting an in-person rally in Clinton today, May 21, 4-5 pm during our usual Honk-n-Wave for Black Lives to show our people power and the support for the CCIA following dozens of rallies held across the state on Tuesday.

Today, Friday, from 4 -5 pm we're having a special PASS THE CCIA Rally/Silent Protest devoted to the Climate Crisis along with the Black Lives Matter stand in Clinton on the Green. We want to thank Rachel May for co-sponsoring the CCIA bill along with encouraging other legislatures to co-sponsor the bill. We will also be doing the event next Friday, May 21st, same time same place.

With the NY State legislative session scheduled to end June 10,  NY Renews, NYS Indivisible groups, IONY (Invest in Our New York) Coalition, and the IMV Climate Crisis Workgroup are all turning their focus to the urgency of passing the CCIA (Climate & Community Investment Act).

Please join other IMV members taking action in the coming week.

On Wednesday evening, President Biden called on Americans to uphold the tenets of democracy.  He said, “We have to prove democracy still works, that our government still works, and we can deliver for the people."  

For  IMV and for Indivisibles across the country, saving democracy means the For the People Act (HR1/S1), along with making DC a state, the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill (HR4), and in order to pass those, an end to the filibuster immediately. 

From Sarah Reeske: “We need Sen. Schumer to put it up for a floor vote by the end of May.”