INSIDER NEWS FROM THE FRONTLINES OF THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION
HEADLINES: Medicare for All Rally | Keith Ellison: George Floyd Murder | OR Activist Attacked by GOP Rep | Regunberg for Congress (RI-1) | Beckles for CA State Senate | & MORE!
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Our Revolution is the country’s largest grassroots-funded progressive political group because of you!
Right now, we’re waging campaigns to raise wages, abolish medical debt, end fossil fuel subsidies, and more. If you’re able, we hope you’ll pitch in an extra donation to help us meet our end-of-month goal of $10,000 to help fund this work!
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Thursday marked the 3rd anniversary of George Floyd’s death, and we sat down with Minnesota AG and Our Revolution Board Member Keith Ellison, who put Derek Chauvin - the murderer of George Floyd - behind bars in a rare conviction for police brutality.
A leader at the forefront of the battle for police reform and true public safety, Keith joined our LIVE Organizing Call on Monday to impart lessons from the case as told in his new book, “Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence.”
“When we stand against police brutality, we’re standing up for the idea that the government should not be able to use arbitrary violence against you because you’re the wrong color, the wrong religion, the wrong politics,” Keith said.
“This is about equal protection under the law. No one is above the law, no one is beneath the law,” Keith told us in this clip. “This issue of police brutality is solvable, we don’t have to live with it.”
Indeed, Congress has not passed the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act and the number of police-involved incidents doesn’t seem to have stopped, but we are seeing more police officers being prosecuted for killing people.
But, when progressive leaders like Keith stand up for what’s right, they can face massive blowback, and it’s up to us to be there for them when they do.
Keith faced an onslaught of negative ads from police unions and big money in his run for re-election in November, but Our Revolution made 500,000 voter contacts and helped him win by 20,000 votes. “Because of Our Revolution, we prevailed,” he said.
He explained, “some prosecutors who want to hold police accountable and make sure everyone lives under equal justice, but think ‘if I do this the police union is going to come around next election and defeat me, then I won’t be able to do any good for anybody.”
“We’ve got to stand together. It’s way better to win the election, not just know we fought the good fight,” Keith said. “We’re in it to win it, and we know most people share our values — we just have to reach them.”
While they last, get your signed copy of Keith Ellison’s new Book, “Break The Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence” with any donation of $35 or more!
Get an insider’s look at the George Floyd murder trial and the strategy to win real police reform and true public safety. Each book sold helps fund this necessary work.
GET YOUR COPY OF KEITH'S NEW BOOK!
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THE FIGHT FOR MEDICARE FOR ALL & FREEDOM FROM MEDICAL DEBT
This week, Our Revolution joined Bernie Sanders and US Rep. Pramila Jayapal for a town hall and rally to reintroduce Medicare for All in Congress! And, we’re organizing people with medical debt to speak up and fight for health care justice.
Join our growing team organizing to build pressure on Congress and the President to cancel medical debt, end price-gouging, guarantee free care, and stop predatory collection tactics. Our next meeting is this Wednesday at 7 pm ET on Zoom.
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After the Medicare for All rally on Capitol Hill, Our Revolution Howard County MD leader Jake Burdett was physically attacked by US Rep. Clay Higgins for asking questions at a MAGA press conference.
“Higgins seemed to forget he had to resign from being a cop for excessive force years ago,” Jake told us on our live call. “It was scary, he put his hands on me, and I knew I had no choice but to let it happen.”
The crowd yelled at Higgins to stop, but afterward Capitol police detained Jake instead of the Congressman for 30 minutes. “I still don’t know if it’s over,” Jake said.
SEE THE VIRAL VIDEO HERE!
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NEW ENDORSEMENT! Our Revolution is backing Aaron Regunberg for Congress in a special election to replace outgoing US Rep. David Cicilline in RI-1.
Electing Aaron means building on Cicilline’s work and making sure this seat stays progressive. It means keeping a yes vote for Medicare For All, canceling medical debt, and universal childcare. We cannot give up any ground.
Aaron started as a community organizer and became a State Rep, building coalitions to pass laws for paid sick days, higher wages, and renewable energy. And, as a new lawyer, he’s supported court cases to hold Big Oil companies accountable for their environmental crimes.
“There are so many issues that we can win real change on,” Aaron told us in this clip. “The cool thing about this race is that we have a really good shot to win this thing. If we do the work, if we organize our communities with the help of OR and your amazing members, we can win.”
We must protect this seat and keep up the work of taking on corporate power and fighting for regular people. Plug in with our team of organizers to help elect Aaron Regunberg on Election Day September 6th!
JOIN OUR ELECT PROGRESSIVES TEAM
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Jovanka Beckles has kicked off her run for California State Senate with the backing of Our Revolution East Bay and Richmond Progressives! She’s the strongest progressive in the race and would be the second black woman in the state’s 40-seat legislature.
Jovanka got a rare local endorsement from Bernie Sanders in her run for Richmond City Council in 2014, when she was embattled with Chevron. She won her race and helped get $100M from the corporation to invest in the people of the city.
An activist, Jovanka is featured in the Smithsonian for her work with BLM and the Oakland Museum, which describes her as a ‘community member facing down goliath, who became a member of Richmond City Council as Chevron waged a multi-million dollar campaign against her, went on to raise the corporations’ taxes, lower crime by 33 percent and pass California's first rent-control ordinance in 30 years.’
“Siblings, this is just to say that I have a track record of standing up and defending the community,” she told us on our live call.
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The best way to make an impact on these races from anywhere in the country is to sign up to make calls with our team of volunteers.
JOIN THE PHONE BANK TEAM
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VICTORY! Last week, Our Revolution-backed Sara Innamorato beat back big money to become the next Allegheny County Executive - creating a progressive trifecta in Pittsburgh!
We backed Sara in her successful run for PA House back in 2018 alongside now-US Rep. Summer Lee, and now we’re proud to see her take the helm of the second-largest county in Pennsylvania!
As County Exec, she’ll have the power to directly affect people’s lives — from county-wide housing to addressing human rights violations in the county jail to protecting abortion care.
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On Monday, Our Revolution joined One Fair Wage at the National Restaurant Association annual convention in Chicago to call out the lobby’s nefarious acts against workers.
As adults cannot survive on subminimum wages and the service industry faces a labor shortage, the Restaurant Association is lobbying to allow teens to work late and serve alcohol.
“It’s 2023, and we still have to fight for child labor laws?” asked Mike Oles, OR Organizing Director told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Get involved with our Raise the Wage Team to organize state by state for better pay and an end to subminimum wages for tipped workers!
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Our Revolution is waging campaigns to raise the wage, abolish medical debt, end fossil fuel subsidies, and more. If you’re able, pitch in an extra donation to help us meet our end-of-month goal of $10,000 to fund this work!
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An estimated 41% of Americans are saddled with nearly $200 billion in medical debt. It forces people to cut back on food and shelter, put off needed care, and put their lives on credit cards.
Do you owe money for medical care that you couldn’t afford? Have you put life expenses on credit cards to pay medical bills? Share your story!
Our goal is to feature voices from every congressional district in America to build pressure on Congress and the White House to abolish medical debt at its source.
TELL YOUR STORY
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Join our next LIVE National Organize-to-Win Call on the topic of climate, the dirty deal, and the debt ceiling. Sign up at the link and tune in with progressive leaders from around the country at 8:30 pm ET/5:30 pm PT next Monday, June 5th!
RSVP
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must shut down the dirty permitting deal with Manchin. Or we will shut down his whole block.
We cannot allow Chuck Schumer to sell out our future to Joe Manchin. And we won't. That's why we are announcing we will take action outside Schumer's home if he doesn't take a hard line on this crucial issue.
RSVP to meet at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn on May 30th at 5:30 pm. Stand with us to hold Senator Schumer accountable!
RSVP AND JOIN US ON TUESDAY!
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WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!
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