IN 2024, WE MUST SECURE PEACE
AND DEFEAT TRUMP
This week, we honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his mission for equality and peace — joining a diverse coalition demanding an end to all war.
On Wednesday, Our Revolution founder Bernie Sanders forced a vote in the Senate to investigate the human rights abuses in Gaza — as we continue his push to stop funding the bombing of Palestinian civilians and children.
We also watched in horror this week as Republican primary voters in Iowa voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump — now the likely nominee despite 91 criminal charges and being ineligible by the 14th Amendment to be on the ballot.
The far right is energized and we face crucial battles on many fronts, but our movement for peace and prosperity is growing stronger every day — thanks to all of you.
Your grassroots support has never been more important. If you’re not already a member of Our Revolution, please consider committing to a monthly contribution or a one-time donation today!
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Local power matters. We refuse to let the far right take over school boards and critical down ballot seats that directly impact people's lives.
Bernie Sanders founded Our Revolution to build power from the bottom up, and we’ve helped elect more than 1,000 progressives at every level of government.
We know strong city and state leadership is the last xxxxxx for the working class against the rise of rightwing and corporate extremism — and that’s why we’re rolling out exciting new slates to build progressive power in 2024.
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First, as you know, Our Revolution is working overtime to make sure Barbara Lee becomes the next U.S. Senator from California. This week, she snagged a key endorsement from McClatchy papers, including the Sacramento Bee.
“Barbara Lee stood out from the rest. Her independence, her perseverance in fighting for the underdog and her life experiences set her apart,” the endorsement reads.
As Rep. Lee heads up our California endorsements, and with ballots due to hit mailboxes around Feb. 5th, Our Revolution is proud to announce our Sacramento County Progressive Power Slate!
Sean Frame for CA Assembly (District 6)
Dr. Flo Cofer for Sacramento Mayor
Katie Valenzuela for Sacramento City Council
(District 4)
Mai Vang for Sacramento City Council (District 8)
Roger Dickinson for Sacramento City Council
(District 2)
Murad “Moe” Sarama for Sacramento County Office of Education (Area 4)
Our slate of champions are taking on anti-union and pro-school privatization opponents and running on strong platforms of progressive change. Click here to visit our website to learn more about this slate!
In addition to growing progressive influence on the California Assembly and building a progressive majority on Sacramento City Council, we are endorsing 13 progressives running for important seats on the Democratic Party of Sacramento County Central Committee:
District 1 - Andrés Ramos, David Lee Mandel, Mohammad “Mo” Kashmiri, Shirley Toy, Fatima Malik, and Tamika L’Ecluse
District 2 - Justin “J.D.” Garcia
District 3 - John D. Kincaid
District 4 - Chris Yatooma
District 5 - Lee “Marsha” Miller, Monica Madrid, Randa Allathkani, and Yassar Dahbour
Help Our Revolution elect progressive champions in Sacramento County by donating here.
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In San Francisco, a group funded by corporate billionaires has pledged to spend $850,000 in the Democratic County Central Committee Candidates race opposing our slate of diverse, progressive leaders:
Assembly District 19 - Sandra Lee Fewer, Greg Hardeman, Natalie Gee, Connie Chan, Frances Hsieh, Gordon Mar, Leah LaCroix, Queena Chen, Hene Kelly, and Mano Raju
Assembly District 17 - Sydney Simpson, John Avalos, Michael Nguyen, Jeremy Lee, Peter Gallotta, Anita Martinez, Jane Kim, Joshua Rudy Ochoa, Sal Rosselli, Gloria Berry, Vick Chung, Patrick Bell, Adolfo Velasquez, and Kristin Hardy
These candidates have a real shot at winning and holding these seats and continuing to build a strong progressive bloc that gives our movement power and leverage to advance our progressive priorities against the political establishment.
We need to continue our transformation of the California Democratic Party from the inside out. Click here for more info about this slate on our new web page!
We are pleased to announce endorsements for Judges Michael Begert and Patrick Thompson of the San Francisco Superior Court.
Rightwing forces are trying to push tough-on-crime judges, and we need to support fair, impartial judges and preserve the independence of the San Francisco judiciary.
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AIPAC lobbyists are already preparing to spend more than $100 MILLION to try to unseat some of our strongest peace champions in Congress, including Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, Summer Lee, and others.
Progressives are under attack for demanding a Ceasefire and an end to the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians and children — and we must have their back in 2024.
Help fund Our Revolution’s voter outreach operation by pitching in any amount or committing to a recurring contribution. We must make sure our most powerful anti-war voices are not silenced by big money in 2024.
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As we head into 2024, we’d love to hear from you about candidates our members are excited about! Email our political team at [email protected] to nominate candidates for Our Revolution’s endorsement.
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It was a packed house for Our Revolution’s Education for All Town Hall with Barbara Lee at the Bayview Opera House in San Francisco on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.
Barbara laid out her vision for education in California and beyond — and her historic run for U.S. Senate.
“There is no place for the profit motive in public education,” she said. “Education is about enriching our young people. We can’t let corporations and billionaires run our schools. It’s so important we elect progressives at all levels of government to push back.”
Barbara was joined on stage by Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese, CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and many local officials, educators, students, and parents active in the fight for educational justice.
Special thanks to Our Revolution’s local chapter, San Francisco Education Alliance for organizing this inspiring and successful event!
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You can help elect Barbara Lee from anywhere in the country by making calls as part of Our Revolution’s Phone Bank Team. It’s a lot of fun, but this is serious business because we know what it would mean to get a powerhouse like Barbara in the U.S. Senate!
PHONE BANK FOR BARBARA LEE
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On Thursday, Bernie Sanders joined us for the Democracy is Not for Sale Movement Call to discuss the critical need to overturn Citizens United — this month marks 14 years since the disastrous Supreme Court ruling that unleashed a flood of Big Money in politics.
“Corporations are not people and money is not speech,” Bernie said. “The forces against us in the fight to overturn Citizens United are, by definition, extremely wealthy and extremely powerful, but let me emphasize that they are the 1% and we are the 99%.
“It’s time my colleagues in DC understand that our government and our economy must work for all of us, not just the billionaire class,” he said.
Our movement has been crucial to engaging the 99% in politics to elect progressives and mount pressure on politicians to represent us, not the 1%. Become a recurring monthly member of Our Revolution or give a one-time donation today to empower our collective voice.
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Last week, we took a deep dive into the filibuster and democracy with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee on Our Revolution’s LIVE National Organize-to-Win Call.
Progressives are leading the fight for a government and an economy that works for all of us — that means ending the racist relic of the filibuster and delivering material change for people’s lives.
Merkley spoke to how the current Senate is broken, gridlocked, and a threat to the foundations of our democracy. He explained how the minority party can just declare a “no talk” filibuster requiring 60 votes to pass nearly any bill, and have veto power over the majority’s agenda — all behind closed doors.
“The filibuster is used by the powerful to block progress on every issue - from democracy reforms to climate legislation,” Merkley said. “No matter what aspect of the progressive movement you’re passionate about, we need to push Congress to fix this.”
We were also joined by Mike Zamore, who served as Sen. Merkley’s chief of staff from the beginning and co-authored their new book “Filibustered: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America.”
“The filibuster is perfect for the Republicans, it’s ‘heads I win, tails you lose,’” Zamore said. “We can’t build power when we’re hamstrung by the filibuster. It’s not just policies that get blocked, it’s us and our power and our ability to show that our vision of America is worth fighting for.”
Barbara Lee gave powerful insights into the institutional racism from which the filibuster emerged — and how we must fight back.
“This is one of the fights we have to make if we’re going to defend our democracy and our freedoms,” she told us. “I’ve said this for years — a lot of people think it’s a law, but any rule that is established to discriminate against African Americans has got to be awful.”
Rep. Lee said she intends to join Sen. Merkley in the Senate so they can work together with our outside movement to fix the filibuster and deliver policy that saves lives in America.
Don’t miss this final opportunity to get your signed copy of Sen. Merkley’s and Mr. Zamore’s new book “Filibustered: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America” — skip Amazon and buy it through Our Revolution here to help support this movement!
LAST CHANCE TO GET YOUR SIGNED COPY HERE
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Last weekend, Our Revolution played a major role in this year’s Reducing the Threat of Nuclear War Conference — one of the nation’s most significant gatherings of Nuclear Disarmament advocates, led by Massachusetts Peace Action.
Joining the discussion with leading peace advocates from around the country were U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Our Revolution Board Chair Larry Cohen, who spoke to the need to defend and expand progressive representation in Congress in order to advance an agenda for peace.
“We can’t just elect Democrats who support a bloated military budget,” Larry said. “And, this isn’t just about a single issue, but the need for a coalitional politics that stands for real change.”
As a member of Congress who has repeatedly voted against the Pentagon budget, opposed new rounds of nukes, and more, Ro Khanna is an important voice against militarism.
Ro worked with Bernie Sanders to pass the first War Powers resolution to bring the war in Yemen to a close. During the call, he dug into the details of why he is calling on President Biden to abide by the resolution following dozens of American and UK strikes in Yemen last week.
“We can’t have a president of either party getting us involved in another Middle East conflict,” Ro said. “I’ve spoken for Ceasefire for humanitarian reasons: children are being killed, the possibility of famine, the release of hostages.”
“But there are also regional reasons for deescalation,” he explained, “so we don’t expand into Yemen and prevent a wider war in the Middle East. I view this as an urgent task for members of Congress, particularly the Congressional Progressive Caucus, to get us to a point of ceasefire in Gaza.”
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee has been on the forefront calling for a Ceasefire and we all remember how she stood alone to vote against giving George W. Bush unilateral power to go into war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Wherever I am or what platform I have, I’m going to fight for peace and security for people no matter where they live — Gaza, Ukraine, and our own communities,” Barbara told Our Revolution.
“I don’t believe in taking our resources and tax dollars to enrich arms dealers that are scamming the system and creating war,” she said.
Check out this LA Times article on why Barbara is the Peace Candidate in this race compared to her opponents, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, then sign up at the link below to help elect Barbara Lee to the U.S. Senate!
JOIN PROGRESSIVES FOR BARBARA LEE
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Every seat matters. That’s why Our Revolution is gearing up NOW for 2024 to expand our organizational capacity and our voter turnout operation for the crucial battles to come.
Not only must we defeat Donald Trump and the far right, but we have got to take back the House, defeat enemies of progress like Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate, and elect amazing progressives like Barbara Lee to turn this ship around.
If you can, please kick in a few bucks to help us staff up for the big elections ahead in 2024 — there’s no time to waste!
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We know what we’re fighting for, but we need to share the message far and wide. Get your new Our Revolution T-shirt and advocate for our progressive values everywhere you go!
We are proud to stand up for Education for All, Racial Justice, Reproductive Rights, Medicare for All, Economic Justice, Labor Rights, Housing for All, Environmental Justice, LGBT+ Rights, and so much more. In short: JUSTICE FOR ALL.
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From boots on the ground to the halls of Congress — we are building an organized progressive movement at every level of government. If you’re already a member of Our Revolution, THANK YOU! If you’re not yet an official member, please consider signing up for a recurring monthly donation today!
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WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!
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