Dear Indivisibles,
It’s time for our May monthly newsletter! We write these letters to share
with you what we’re thinking and what we’re hearing from Indivisible
groups around the country. As always, feel free to reach out directly to
us by Twitter: [ [link removed] ]@ezralevin and [ [link removed] ]@leahgreenb. Let’s get to it.
Some personal news: one small addition to the Indivisible movement
These are our personal newsletters, so we’re going to take authors’
prerogative to share some big personal news: Leah just entered her second
trimester with our first child! We found out last week that we’re having a
boy; the due date is a week before the election (so nothing stressful
about that at all). Leah’s doing well other than to-be-expected
first-trimester wooziness.
We’d been thinking about starting a family for a long time. Back in
November 2016, on the eve of what we assumed would be Hillary’s election,
we were planning to start our family soon. But with the terror of the
incoming Trump administration and the incredible explosive growth of the
Indivisible movement, we put those plans on hold. How could we divert our
attention from this movement and bring a child into a world like this?
Now we’re in the early stages of a global pandemic and economic
catastrophe, reeling from 3+ years of Trump’s vicious attacks on our
democracy and our neighbors. The world of 2020 has only become more
dangerous and frightening.
Everywhere we look, we’re seeing devastation - lost lives, lost jobs, a
terrible crisis with no end in sight that’s falling hardest on those who
can least bear it. We feel strange - and honestly, a little guilty - to
have news that makes us so excited in a moment when everything around us
is so painful. But we’re also really grateful, because - as many parents
have told us - kids focus the mind. Having a child in the midst of all of
this right now feels like an act of resistance - a stubborn insistence
that we all can make the world better - because Trump does not control our
world; because we are not powerless; because the alternative is
unacceptable.
We delayed having this kid so that we could see through the fight with
Indivisible, and in no small part , it’s Indivisible that gives us the
gumption to bring new life into this world now. Our little boy will be
born during the end of the Trump era, but he’ll grow up in the world we
make together.
At the very least, we’ll have one more small GOTV companion come November.
And we can’t wait to teach him his representative’s phone number.
What we’re reading
Pregnancy books are probably not really relevant to most folks on this
list (though if you’re looking for one, we really thought Emily Oster’s
[ [link removed] ]Expecting Better - a data-based approach to pregnancy advice - was
great). Here are a few recs that might be more of interest:
We all know that Trump and his GOP allies in the states are rushing to
reopen the economy despite all the warnings from public health experts
that this will cause more sickness and death. Focusing in on the
meatpacking industry, [ [link removed] ]Jeet Heer writes in The Nation that this push to
reopen the economy forces lower-income working Americans to choose between
losing their lives and losing their livelihood. The virus may not
discriminate, but our policies do.
For readers of this newsletter, it’s probably no surprise that the virus
does not just reveal a growing class divide, but a gaping racial divide as
well. A few weeks ago [ [link removed] ]Ibram Kendi in The Atlantic wrote on the
disproportionate impact COVID has had on communities of color, with vastly
higher infection and death rates. That’s why Rep. Ayanna Pressley, one of
the strongest allies of the Indivisible movement in Congress, [ [link removed] ]fought
for and successfully won provisions in the most recent COVID legislation
data requirements to better track racial disparities related to COVID and
COVID response.
Moments like this expose the structural inequities in our society - and
force us to look directly at the racism and bigotry that have long shaped
our politics and policymaking. No one breaks this down better than Heather
McGhee, former president of the progressive think tank Demos and an early
member of Indivisible’s board of directors. We recommend you watch her
recent [ [link removed] ]Ted Talk on how racism negatively impacts policymaking that
leaves everybody worse off - and pre-order her coming [ [link removed] ]book
Finally, we don’t seem to recommend a lot of fiction, but there was a good
short story in the New Yorker this month that might resonate with
Indivisibles. [ [link removed] ]Love Story by George Saunders is a story of a dystopian
distant future in a continuing Trump Era. A grandfather writing to his
distraught grandson about the present-day period of history. He pleads,
“What would you have had me do? What would you have done? ... Organized a
march? Then and now, I did not and do not know how to arrange a march.”
While the story takes place in the future, we read it mostly as a story
about the fierce urgency of now.
How we’re thinking about Indivisible’s role in the world right now
This fierce urgency of now feeds directly into our thinking about
Indivisible’s role during this crisis. You are already receiving emails
and resources from the national Indivisible on the advocacy and electoral
issues of the day. You know that there is a live debate in Congress over
what kind of legislative response we’ll see in the coming weeks (more info
[ [link removed] ]here). You know Indivisible groups all over the country are building
the in-state volunteer armies right now to retake the Senate and
presidency in November (check out the wildly popular Payback Project
[ [link removed] ]here).
These advocacy and electoral actions are what Indivisible is all about.
It’s how we’ll ensure the federal response to COVID is as humane as
possible, and ensure Trump goes down in November. It’s what we were
created to do - Indivisibles pressure and, if necessary, replace our
representatives.
But in this new moment of national trauma, we’re also thinking of an even
more fundamental defining feature of the Indivisible movement: community.
When we were interviewing Indivisible leaders for the [ [link removed] ]Indivisible book
last year, we heard no word more often than “community.” In the wake of
the 2016 election, local Indivisible groups formed from strangers who
reached out to each other in search of support at a time of national
trauma. For more than three years, thousands of these communities have
been building themselves up to be beacons of light in the darkness of the
Trump era.
The country desperately needs these Indivisible communities today. We have
joined more statewide and regional Indivisible zoom calls than we can
count these past few weeks, and we hear the stories of your good work. We
see groups sewing masks and delivering them to elder care facilities. We
hear from Indivisible groups raising donations for local food banks. We
see members setting up help for those applying for unemployment benefits.
We hear from members and leaders who are facing unemployment, reduced
hours, hits to their small businesses, and fears for their own health and
families - and still taking the time to help others. Yet again, millions
of Americans are now reaching out for support and to take action - and
Indivisibles are there.
The advocacy and electoral work is big important stuff - it shapes the
contours of national and local politics. But no less important, our
community-building work defines our humanity. We need that humanity right
now.
So our question to you this week is simple: how are you working with your
local Indivisible group to support your own community at this time of
national trauma? Feel free to reply directly to this email - we’ll read
through the responses.
Until next month
We know April was tough. We know that there is a lot going on - with your
families, in your communities, in Congress, with Trump. We are so thankful
that you continue to build this Indivisible movement with us. It is what
gives us hope every day for the future - it’s the light that shines the
way forward for us. Until the next newsletter, please stay safe and
healthy, and keep building your community. Together we will persist,
survive, thrive, and win.
In solidarity,
Ezra & Leah
Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors, Indivisible
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