MAKE A DONATION THAT REALLY COUNTS

 This comes from Marion Sirefman: "Here's an opportunity to donate to the group BLOC , Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, which has been active in their Milwaukee area for some years now, aiming to increase the percentage of blacks voting. Their participation is crucial to Democratic wins in the Milwaukee area and in statewide Wisconsin elections.  My long-time friend Nick Rabkin in Chicago, started fundraising for BLOC in 2020, and is now rededicating himself to the effort.  " 

 

Almost two years ago, I wrote an email to some friends, perhaps you were among them, encouraging them to support a remarkable Milwaukee organization – BLOC, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities. That initial effort grew, as friends contributed to support BLOC’s work and passed the word on to their friends, who passed the word to theirs. Somewhere along the line, you joined the effort, though you may not have heard from me directly. Eventually, we raised $80,000. Though the Black population of Wisconsin is relatively small, the state is so equally divided politically that the Black vote has an outsized impact. BLOC helped elect a liberal State Supreme Court justice shortly after the pandemic began and then contributed to Biden’s slender margin in Wisconsin.

 

 With midterm elections rushing toward us, I’m writing with the same idea in mind. Here’s a link to make a contribution to BLOC now. Please read on, though, to learn more about how BLOC strategically contributes to turning the tide in Wisconsin, and how Wisconsin is key to stopping the right’s assault on democracy nationwide.

 

1.     Wisconsin really is a swing state, and it’s absolutely critical.  To hold and grow their Senate majority, Democrats must unseat Sen. Ron Johnson, who is as deep-MAGA as they come.  They must also re-elect Gov. Tony Evers and prevent a Republican super-majority in the state legislature, where gerrymandering has given the GOP 62% of the seats with just 46% of the raw vote. Evers’ vetoes have stalled its efforts to take over the election apparatus entirely – so far. These are ambitious objectives for a midterm election, and the Black vote will be a pivotal element of a winning coalition. Wisconsin is the front line of the national fight for democracy. Wherever you may live, Wisconsin matters. A lot. Contribute here to support BLOC.  (And listen to this remarkable podcast episode of Words to Win By for more perspective about Wisconsin.)

2.     Racism is the beating heart of Republican strategy in Wisconsin. The state is nearly 80% white. Republicans have honed Its long history of systemic racism to a razor edge with dog whistle language claiming white Wisconsin has paid too high a price to provide for public good, especially in low-income communities where Republicans have also focused voter suppression efforts. (Republicans don’t hesitate to provide for private good, though – like a $3 billion subsidy for a Foxconn plant that was never built in a town that is 90% white.) For decades, as Democrats failed to confront racist fear mongering, political cynicism has grown, depressing the vote in the Black community and flipping rural white voters. Now, Kyle Rittenhouse, has become the poster child for white supremist terror nationwide. Wherever you may live, Wisconsin matters.  Contribute here to support BLOC.

3.     Two developments make it possible to tip Wisconsin consistently Blue. First, BLOC has spent the past three years developing a civic culture capable of defining issues from a Black perspective and pressing the Democratic Party to rise from the defensive crouch it assumed around race for decades. BLOC’s fundamental purpose is to give Black Wisconsin powerful reasons to engage politically and vote. It expands the Black electorate in a state that is evenly split. It leads an alliance of other community organizations of color, and it goes where it is most needed – from the nation’s most incarcerated zip code in Milwaukee to new initiatives in Kenosha and Racine. Wherever you may live, BLOC matters. (This 2020 New Yorker article on Milwaukee was my introduction to BLOC. It is still a great introduction.) Contribute here to support BLOC.

     Second, since 2018, a robust party leadership has rebuilt the WisDems’ organizational infrastructure, engaged a new army of volunteers across every corner of the state, developed a disciplined and successful response to Republican racial fear mongering, overcome the challenges of Covid and voter suppression, and built a multi-racial coalition that takes no votes for granted. WisDems chair Ben Wikler has a strong relationship with BLOC’s Angela Lang and understands that his success depends, in part, on BLOC’s. Biden’s victory in Wisconsin prompted the DNC to substantially increase resources for WisDems, and its success is now influencing states nationwide. Wherever you may live, Wisconsin matters.

 

Our inboxes will be swamped by campaigns all over the country this election year. This is different. Supporting BLOC is not about supporting a particular candidate or campaign. It is about building Black political infrastructure in a state where a relatively small Black population can help determine the fate of the whole country. Here’s how you can help:

1. Make a contribution to BLOC. If you can repeat it monthly.

2. Make a list of friends and family, and invite them to help out too. Use the link in this email so we can track our progress, and ask them to pass the invitation along to their friends and family. 

 

HELP SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY

 

 

 

Call or email script:

Sen. Durbin/Duckworth,

I’m  __________ and I am a constituent. My address and zip are __________. 

Voting rights are the cornerstone of our democracy. I ask that you do everything in your power to pass voting rights legislation including the Freedom to Vote Act (S.2747)  and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Reforming the filibuster will also be required to get this done. Pres. Biden said himself that there were “certain things that are just sacred rights” and a “sacred obligation” that shouldn’t be beholden to obstruction from the minority party, listing the debt limit and voting rights. Please also make sure that the transformative Build Back Better Act gets passed through the Senate too.

Email for Sen. Durbin:  https://www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/email 

Email for Sen. Duckworth:  https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/connect/email-tammy 

 

Call the White House

Script: 

Pres. Biden said we’re facing “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.” He’s 100% right and we need him to use every lever of power and influence at his disposal to persuade the Senate to pass the Freedom To Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, including speaking out against the filibuster.

Contact: 1.202-456-1111 The White House comment line is open Tuesday to Thursday, from 10am – 2pm CT. 

When you reach a staff member, tell them your name and that you are a constituent. Then, demand that Pres. Biden do everything in his power to help overcome the filibuster and pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights and Advancement Act.

Email Pres. Biden

Script: 

Dear Pres. Biden, 

You have said that we are facing “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War”.  I couldn't agree more.

We volunteers cannot out-organize nationwide voter suppression. We cannot organize voters who are no longer allowed to vote early during their off-work hours or together on Sunday through “Souls to the Polls.” We cannot help them access drop-off boxes that are no longer there.  We cannot remove burdensome witness requirements and unfair ballot receipt deadlines. We cannot protect voters from intimidation from partisan poll watchers. We cannot force states to increase polling place access so that minority voters won’t have to take time off work and wait in hours-long lines. We cannot undo destructive gerrymandering.

We need you to push Senate Democrats to pass the Freedom To Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act with a carve-out for the filibuster.  How can Democrats remain in office if their own voters are turned away or intimidated at their polling places or if state legislatures take over elections?  Georgetown University historian Thomas Zimmer explains, “Unless the system is fundamentally democratized, we’ll soon reach the point where it will become impossible to stop America’s slide into authoritarianism through elections.” 

Please act now to save our Democracy and pass voting rights legislation.

Contact: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

 

 

A Five Year Aniversary

Here is a bit of history, contained in a letter to Indivisible leaders. I thought you might like to read it.  It's from Ezra Levin, co founder and co-executive director of Indivisible.

 

Indivisibles,

Five years ago, Leah and I were making final tweaks to the Indivisible Guide, which I then tweeted out after work a few days later while eating some memorably delicious tortilla soup at our kitchen table (see our first-ever news coverage back then for a trip down memory lane). So for our final newsletter of 2021, I want to reflect on what’s in Indivisible’s DNA, and what it means for this moment when we’re fighting for immediate democracy reforms while bracing ourselves against the rising tide of authoritarianism in America. This is a story about political despair, hope, and power. I’ll reward you with a couple new pics of our 14-month-old Zeke if you make it to the end!

Indivisible leaders are light in the dark

Let’s start with where Indivisible started at a particularly dark time in American history. We faced a Trump-led trifecta in D.C. and Republican gains across the country. Incoming Republican leaders were pointing to the World War 2 Japanese internment camps as a guide for future policy (“Trump Camp’s Talk of Registry and Japanese Internment Raises Muslims’ Fears”). The incoming Speaker of the House was promising to remake the country in Trump’s image (“Paul Ryan: Now time to 'go big, go bold'”). Leaders in the Democratic Party prioritized finding common ground with this authoritarian movement (Senate Democrats’ Surprising Strategy: Trying to Align With Trump). We seemed to be living through a real-life enactment of that poem all high schoolers are forced to read, “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

But as dark as that moment was, we also had us. In blue, purple, and red districts around the country, we reached out and found each other. And when we pulled ourselves together, we found that there were more of us than there were of them -- and through our collective will we could actually change what was politically possible. In this dark period of our history, we didn’t have Amanda Gorman’s words yet, but we viscerally felt what the poet laureate would describe in her 2021 inaugural poem: “[T]here is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.” 

“Being the light” is a good description of what I’ve seen Indivisible leaders do all around the country for the last half a decade. We’ve taken on hard battles that we weren’t guaranteed to win but that we knew were right and necessary -- defending the Affordable Care Act, building a blue wave in 2018 to take the House, defeating the incumbent president, and securing a Democratic trifecta. This young movement has brought quite a bit of light to our political world these past few years.

The problem with political despair

Just because we’ve notched some big wins doesn’t mean that it’s easy or automatic for Indivisible leaders or anyone else to keep “being the light” -- it takes effort, a lot of effort. A couple of weeks ago, the ever-insightful Michelle Goldberg wrote The Problem of Political Despair, describing the problem as her sense and fear that many previously-engaged folks are giving up and tuning out. Trump is out of office, Congress is in its lethargic slog, and the GOP continues to fall down that ideological cliff it jumped off years ago. The filibuster. Manchin and Sinema. The lack of legislative momentum. The voter suppression. The gerrymandering. The looming threat of a coup in 2024. It’s so much. It’s too much. Why engage? What does it even matter if we do?

The problem with political despair is that it’s easy, alluring, and self-defeating. None of us wants to be a sucker, and nobody wants to waste their time. Cynicism can feel smart and reasonable, and it absolves us from responsibility or blame for the fires consuming our society. Not your problem anymore! You can watch Succession or Ted Lasso and live your own damn life! But of course, it’s also self-defeating -- the other side, the anti-democracy authoritarians like McConnell and Trump, triumph when we give in to despair.

So what are we to do?

The answer to despair isn’t hope; it’s power

In the five years we’ve been organizing for democracy, here’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned: political despair doesn’t come from the challenges we face -- it comes from feeling powerless to do anything about the challenges we face. The central task for all of us organizing within Indivisible is not to convince folks that things are OK; or that winning is as simple as signing a petition; or even that everyone should feel hopeful. The central task for a pro-democracy organizer is to identify what folks can actually do, and then give them a sense of their power to affect real-world change. 

The title of the Indivisible Guide hit on that -- it was a “practical” guide. This wasn’t some sort of philosophical essay on democracy -- it was step-by-step instructions on building and applying national political power at the local level. The goal of that original Google Doc and the goal of Indivisible ever since then has been to look squarely at the problem, critically evaluate what is in our power to do that is worth a damn, and then translate that into actionable guidance for real people.

Five years ago, I didn’t know for sure that we would succeed in saving the Affordable Care Act, winning back congress, or defeating the incumbent president. But I believed that an engaged group of active leaders across the country could affect the outcome of these fights. And I had an idea of some specific strategies and tactics that would allow them to do that. The hope that came from that Guide and the organizing that followed was a product of newly-minted local leaders accepting, applying, and building their own personal and collective political power. 

What that means for where we go next

Will we pass the Build Back Better bill before the end of the year? Will we amend the filibuster and pass the Freedom to Vote Act? Will pro-democracy forces survive the midterms? Will we avert a coup in 2024? Will we safeguard our republic thereafter? Will we overcome the challenges of gerrymandering, voter suppression, election subversion, and political violence? 

I’m not here to tell you the future, and you shouldn’t trust anybody who claims to know how this will turn out. 

But five years into this movement for democracy, I know that there are still more of us than there are of them. I know that we can still be the light. And I believe that an engaged group of leaders throughout the country can influence the course of our democracy -- because I’ve seen it happen these past five years. I’ve seen an entire national political system bend to the will of an organized and fired-up constituency with a clear demand -- again and again and again.

Here’s something I can predict with confidence. Our opponents will change, our challenges will shift, and our strategies and tactics will have to evolve. This is easy to predict because it’s characterized the Indivisible movement since our founding.

We started with a simple guide to congressional advocacy. Since then, we pressured our own elected, we registered voters, we set up community aid drives, we designed billboards, we held meetings in bars and church basements, we scheduled guest speakers, we ran and attended trainings on racial equity and inclusion, we shared recipes, we fundraised for candidates, we cajoled our friends, we hounded our opponents, we wrote millions of postcards, we sent millions of texts, we endorsed candidates, we ran debates, we ran for office, we stepped up, we recruited new leaders, we stepped back, we lost, we drank, we took a break, we rejoined, we won, we celebrated, we built communities, we built power. 

This is the creative, persistent, locally-led, and ever-evolving Indivisible movement that I have been so proud to be a part of this last half-decade. When we were finishing up the Google Doc back then, I hoped someone might read it and find it useful. I did not dream that you all would take 23 pages of poorly copyedited text and turn it into a nationwide movement that would give me hope for our democracy. But here we are, still standing Indivisible, still changing the course of history together, come what may.

In solidarity,

Ezra Levin

Co-Founder, Indivisible

PS: You made it to the end! As promised, here’s Zeke at just about 14 months. He is confidently toddling his way around town now, exploring the world with an enthusiasm and adventurous spirit that brings Leah and me so much joy every da

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