Thanks to all those who joined IMV for our 7th annual women's march event: "Bigger than Roe." It was wonderful to see more than 50 of you lining the sidewalks again, and the energy level was high in spite of the cold weather. (We know that those of you who could not attend were there in spirit.) We got a nice length segment on WKTV showing our members and our signs. Jill was our spokesperson, and she communicated the message that we were standing up peacefully for the human rights that everyone deserves and that we were doing it together to build up community rather than divide or tear down. It was a positive message that resonated with that very first Women's March in 2017. Looking around at us in our pink hats on Sunday it was clear that it's been quite a political journey so far--and worth the trip.

Everyone is welcome to join IMV in Utica at noon on Sunday, Jan. 22nd, for our sister rally, part of the national 2023 Women's March. It's the exact date of the 50th anniversary of Roe. That's BIG, and yet, our demands for rights and freedoms are even bigger than Roe.

Many of us first got involved, or got re-energized, in politics at Women's Marches in 2017. It's been seven years. Together, let's stay strong!

IMV's January 2023 Meeting was packed with energy and information. We had several first time attendees at our meeting on Zoom on Tuesday--WELCOME if you are new to Indivisible Mohawk Valley!

We also sought and received your input on plans for a Utica Women's March Rally on the national day of the March--Sunday, January 22! We will meet at noon at the corners of Genesee and Memorial Parkway/Burrstone, and wave signs and make some noise. This year's theme is Bigger Than Roe and it means this: "We are not going gently. We are taking our fight to every state in this country on January 22, 2023. We are putting all politicians on notice: If you come for our families, our freedoms, or our future, we are coming for your seat. Our movement is strong. Our movement is growing. Our movement is bigger than Roe."

Can you believe that IMV (that's all of us!) has been doing grassroots political activism for six years? We're ready to make our seventh year our very best one yet! Please join us on Zoom this Tuesday evening, and invite a friend. We have a lot to cover, including some time we'll be devoting to planning the seventh annual Utica Women's March. Bring your ideas!

Thank you to everyone who came to our IMV Zoom meeting on Tuesday evening and participated in breakout sessions. You generated wonderful ideas about how to approach messaging and political action while we have MAGA Republican Members of Congress and a Republican controlled House in 2023. We missed you if you were not able to attend. There's always an opportunity to catch up at a CAFE Friday in the next few weeks--every Friday morning at 9:30 am on Zoom.

Congratulations to Sen. Warnock, and all the Indivisibles in Georgia, across the country, and all of you who volunteered to help with the runoff in Georgia by texting, donating, writing, and calling! We won the 51st seat! And while we are still stinging in central New York from the loss of congressional seats, in November, we have an amazing Senate majority leader who has been and remains a leader working with the President, and a Governor is who head down and doing the work of governing. Onward!

We are looking forward to seeing you for our last meeting of the year on Zoom Tuesday, Dec. 13th, 7-8 pm. We have a quick and simple agenda to preview the new Indivisible Guide for 2023 and what it means for us here in our congressional districts with Republican MOCs, Democratic senators, and lots of state and local work to do as well.

Many thanks to all the IMV members who made calls to legislators and the Governor and rallied for a two year moratorium on cryptomining! Many thanks also to Rachel May who co-sponsored the bill. After grassroots advocacy from NYS residents, business owners, winemakers, electeds, activists, & more, NYS is now the first state to protect the climate, environment, & local businesses & communities from energy-hogging cryptomining.

Every year we gather post election for good Tex-Mex food and fellowship to celebrate all the hard work over the past months. Our post-election celebration is part of making political activism in the Mohawk Valley local, bite-sized and fun. Please join IMV for our Annual Fall Fiesta on Saturday, Nov. 19th, 3:30-5:30 pm. We're meeting at the Jewish Community Center 2310 Oneida Street, Utica. See you there!

Tis Veteran's Day, as we honor those who have served in our nation's defense, we also can be proud of the practical. local work that we have done in recent years to protect our democratic system of government, where elections celebrate the non-violent transfer of power as well as government by and for the people. We practice a form of defending democracy through our voting and through our political activism. Sometimes we win, as happened across the country where Indivisible's helped defeat MAGA extremism and proto-fascism. Sometimes we lose, as happened here locally, in spite of all our best efforts to Get Out the Vote (GOTV) for our excellent Democratic candidates.

Get Out the Vote is an all-hands on deck, four day effort that goes for about 10 hours per day for four days. Dedicate all the time you possibly can to this effort. The experts agree that the messaging, the strategy, the commercials, the mailers--these are all in the rearview mirror. Now it's just about who gets the most voters to the polls. Click in to sign up!

Join Indivisible Mohawk Valley for a bite size, local, and fun party the night before GOTV (get out the vote) begins the next day! We’ll have pizza, salad, drinks and desserts plus candidates, campaign staff, and volunteers who are ready to flip NY22 blue! We're going to energize each other to do the work in the last four days that lead to tremendous voter turnout for our tremendous Democratic slate! See you 5-7 pm tonight at our 2022 Blue NY22 Crew Party at 238 Genesee Street in Utica (next to Motus).

Please click in and sign up for multiple shifts. Our freedoms depend on it. Our democracy depends on it. Remember you are knocking in Oneida County not just for Fran Conole but for representation in the state assembly with Dan Butterman and Marianne Buttenschon, for Judge Murad, for Gov. Hochol & Lt. Gov. Delgado, for Merima and for all the Democrats on the ballot. Thank you!

Harvest on the Hill is a Utica tradition with a community stroll, candy for kids, and music along James Street in Cornhill that typically has several thousand attendees. It's a great way to reach voters on the first day of Early Voting, just 10 days before Election Day, so IMV is going to have a table with apples, candy, and a contest where kids can vote on their favorite candy while we do voter registration and talk to their parents about voting. This will be a super fun way for you to spend a couple hours volunteering and making the day fun. You can even wear a costume!

This election may be the most consequential of our lifetimes. We thought that was 2020, but it turns out that defeating Trump was not enough to save democracy. We must come together and do the work to defeat Trumpism. MAGA extremism can not have its way in our central NY communities.

Not sure where to start? Read on…

Earlier this week you may have seen the news about one of the first major polls for NY22. The poll found MAGA Republican extremist Brandon Williams ahead of Francis Conole by about 5 points. Here is what our IMV friend and one of our favorite political candidates, Sarah Klee Hood, said on Twitter in response:

"Polls don’t vote. Are you disheartened by what you saw yesterday? Good. Pretend the polls were even worse than that & put in the volunteer work to get it going in the right direction. The undecideds % was still in the teens. Are you going to knock on their door & talk to them?"

Question: What is October?

Now the real question: Are you committing to doing what it takes to get voters to the polls to elect candidates who will protect our freedoms to work, live, learn, vote, and love the way we want and protect the rule of law and norms of our representative democracy?

Today across the globe, young climate activists are striking and demonstrating to spur emergency action on the climate crisis; they are striking for their lives and futures. IMV's Climate Crisis Workgroup will hold a solidarity demonstration in front of Rep. Tenney's district office (430 Court Street in Utica) at 5pm - 6pm. Court Street is where we'll stand with signs, but our target audience is not Tenney. She doesn't care about anyone's future but her own. Our audience is the people driving by--heading to Varick street or home from work. We want them to be reminded that we CAN take action to address the climate crisis.

We had an excellent and efficient Zoom IMV meeting on Tuesday evening. It was great to hear from Fran Conole (NY22 Democratic candidate) and his Grassroots Director focused on Oneida and Madison county, Jon Lipe. With the critical midterm and local elections in just eight weeks, our focus is direct voter contact and campaign volunteering.

Please join IMV for our September Meeting (on Zoom!) Tuesday, Sept. 13th, 7:30-8:30 pm. We will hear from Francis Conole, and Jon Lipe, brand new Grassroots Director for his campaign. We'll also get an overview of our core Midterm messaging to help all of our Democratic candidates and a quick update on our overall electoral plan for the next nine weeks.

This weekend, rest from your labors. Seriously, enjoy the fresh air and have some fun this weekend in honor of your own labor and the labor of others.

Then, get ready to roll up your sleeves. It's clear that many more voters than expected are feeling more energized and motivated to go to the polls to vote for candidates who will protect their freedoms to live, vote, love, marry, and plan families as they wish. So just as we did in the 2018 midterms, we need to #KnockAllTheDoors and do all the other work to identify, mobilize, and turn out voters in November.