Last week, longtime congressman and Civil Rights movement hero John Lewis died at 80 years old after six decades as a giant in the fight for racial justice. Congressman Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders who bravely withstood violence from white supremacists and police in the 1960s, and his selfless protest helped pass the Voting Rights Act. He was called the “Conscience of Congress,” voting against ever-increasing military spending and always speaking up for what is right. He stood in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, the modern-day resurgence of the Civil Rights movement he led. For his entire adult life, John Lewis was an inspiration to activists and all who believe in justice.
Many politicians have honored John Lewis’s courage and leadership with words. But words are not enough. We want to honor John Lewis with action.
Days after Congressman Lewis’s death, America stands at a precipice. Trump’s DHS has sent armed secret police into Portland and other cities to attack, kidnap, and terrorize Black Lives Matter protesters. Aid extended to people unemployed by the COVID-19 pandemic is about to expire, and Republicans aren’t in a hurry to pass additional aid as the pandemic rages. We face one of the most contentious elections in history in just over 100 days. Cities like our own perpetuate unjust and racist policing instead of helping communities out of poverty.
It’s a dire situation. But historically, it has been in dire situations like this when people like John Lewis have prevailed. We want to follow the example he set by continuing to fight even in the most frightening of times. And we aren’t alone in our fight. In the past four years of resisting Trump’s agenda, we have built a community of new and veteran activists. On the streets, over the phone, in federal offices, through postcards and more, we have fought for justice together. Our unity and determination binds us and makes us stronger together. If we keep on working together, we will prevail. And finally, we will honor John Lewis by winning our fights.
So here are this week’s actions in our fight for justice.
Tell your members of Congress to oppose Trump’s secret police!
Protesters in Portland, Oregon have been under assault for the last month by the police there. Now they’re also being targeted by federal agents under the authority of DHS wearing no identification and using unmarked rental vehicles who are snatching alleged protesters off the streets a considerable distance away from the federal property they’re ostensibly there to protect.
Not all of our members of Congress have spoken out against this, particularly Senator Feinstein, and even those who have spoken out have taken little action.
Contact your members of Congress and tell them to oppose Trump’s secret police snatching people off the streets!
Tweet to get the HEROES Act passed!
The benefits of the CARES Act will expire at the end of the month, throwing millions of unemployed people into financial crisis. The national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures is about to end. Meanwhile, so much PPP program funding has been diverted by corruption and blocked by racism that it’s running out of money to support the small businesses it was intended to protect. The HEROES Act is designed to address these issues and help America survive the pandemic, but nine weeks after House Democrats passed it, Mitch McConnell and the Republican-led Senate refuse to take it up or offer a meaningful alternative.
All four of our members of Congress (MOCs) are already committed to passing HEROES, and we don’t call senators from other states, so calls to MoCs aren’t the best use of our energy. So we’ve decided to reach out to major corporate GOP donors instead. They’ve spent a lot to buy their influence – so we want you to use your presence on Twitter to pressure 12 of these donors to use it to pass the HEROES Act. We don’t want you to attack them for supporting the GOP. We want you to remind them that crashing the economy doesn’t benefit them or their stockholders (or us).
Send them a Twitter message like this:
@Corporation, economic collapse is bad for all of us. You donate to Republicans; tell them to pass #HeroesAct ASAP. We're a consumer-based economy. Unemployed, uninsured, homeless Americans can’t sustain it. Overwhelmed local governments & hospitals can’t fight #COVID19
For more information on this initiative and more, check out our call-to-action webpage here.
Follow up on our victory in San Francisco!
We asked you to call your Supervisor to support the proposal to repeal the charter amendment which mandates a minimum of 1,971 armed police officers in the city at all times. We supported this initiative, led by Defund SFPD Now, because the city has continued to give more and more money to SFPD while cutting money from schools and homelessness services, among others. Read more about that in our blog post here.
Well, you called, and we won! Yesterday, the SF Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the proposal. Next, voters must confirm by supporting the ballot initiative in November.
The last we heard, the San Francisco budget still cuts $40 million from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, along with tens of millions of dollars in cuts from the Public Library and other services. At the same time, it gives SFPD an additional $43 million. We are following the City’s budget discussion closely and will continue to live-tweet selected meetings on our Twitter account and let you know when to call in to make a public comment.
Indivisible National’s Week of Action: voter outreach now lays the groundwork for November
The clock is ticking for the most important election of our lives. Right now we’re recruiting people to text bank with Indivisible National’s IndivisiText Team. Text banking is an extremely fast, effective, and fun way to reach voters, and IndivisiText Team aims to reach 12 million of them by Election Day!
Indivisible National is holding a Week of Action to train new texters next week. But the time to start is right now! You need to sign up for a text banking training to join the team, so sign up now – and bring three friends with you!
The next training webinar is TODAY at 4 PM PT. Register here.
If that day and time doesn’t work for you, there are three more this month:
Saturday, July 25, at 5:30 PM PT (Register here)
Tuesday, July 28, at 5 PM PT (Register here)
Thursday, July 30, at noon PT (Register here)
If none of those work for you, look for “Indivisible Text Banking Training” events on Indivisible National’s frequently updated texting schedule.
We'll also have a New Members meeting on Sunday, August 2, at 1 PM, which will focus on text banking training and flipping the Senate. Please join us for this event to meet new members and learn how to text bank! RSVP here.
On Saturday, August 15, from 5-6 PM, join Indivisible Los Gatos for a Zoom fundraiser for Indivisible’s Payback Project. Attendees will receive an "insider look" on how to take back the U.S. Senate and how the Payback Project will do that. What does it take to win a seat in the Senate? There will be time for sharing stories and a Q&A. Guests include Rep. Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Ezra Levin (co-founder of Indivisible National), and María Urbana (National Political Director of Indivisible National).
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ISF New Members Meeting: Sunday, August 2, 1–3 PM via Zoom. Register here to join our online meeting. This meeting is specifically for folks new to Indivisible SF. It will include a full session where you can get trained and onboarded to start texting into other states to help flip the Senate, elect progressive Representatives, and connect voters with their local Indivisible groups!
TODAY: Wednesday, July 22, 4 PM: Indivisible Text Banking Training. Get started with IndivisiText Team with this training session introducing the text banking tools we use to connect with voters! Register here.
Pints & Postcards: Thursday, July 23, 6–8 PM via Zoom. The pandemic might keep us from holding our popular Pints and Postcards event in person, but that just means we have to bring the event to you! Join us and our friends at Vote Forward for Virtual Pints and Postcards. RSVP here.
Saturday, July 25, 5:30 PM: Indivisible Text Banking Training. Get started with IndivisiText Team with this training session introducing the text banking tools we use to connect with voters! Register here.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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