[ The defeat of Donald Trump and the building of grass roots
political independent. Reports from The Movement for Black Lives
(M4BL); Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ); Labor Campaign for
Single-Payer, California Calls] [[link removed]]

TRUMP DEFEATED - FOUR TAKES: BLACK PEOPLE DEFEATED TRUMP; WE WIN WHEN
WE FOLLOW BLACK WOMEN; 10 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2020 ELECTION AND THE
FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE; CALIFORNIA'S PROP 15  
[[link removed]]


 

The Movement for Black Lives; Showing Up for Racial Justice; Labor
Campaign for Single-Payer, California Calls
November 12, 2020
xxxxxx

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_ The defeat of Donald Trump and the building of grass roots
political independent. Reports from The Movement for Black Lives
(M4BL); Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ); Labor Campaign for
Single-Payer, California Calls _

The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL),

 

Black People Defeated Trump (The Movement for Black Lives)
We Win when we Follow Black Women (Showing Up for Racial Justice -
SURJ)
WTF Just Happened? 10 Takeaways From the 2020 Election and the Future
of Healthcare (The Labor Campaign for Single-Payer)
California's Prop 15 (California Calls)

 

BLACK PEOPLE DEFEATED TRUMP (THE MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES)

BLACK PEOPLE SHOWED UP, AND WE WON. FROM PHILLY TO ATLANTA TO DETROIT,
BLACK PEOPLE DEFEATED TRUMP, AND PUSHED BACK AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY.
WE PROVED THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN THIS NATION SUPPORT OUR FIGHT
FOR BLACK LIVES AND OPPOSE HATE, BIGOTRY AND INDIFFERENCE.

Black people moved through so much pain and heartbreak to get to
today. We’ve lost over 235,000 people to COVID-19, including a
disproportionate number of our family and loved ones. We lost millions
of jobs when we already face a precarious economic situation every day
due to racial capitalism. And lawmakers across the country did
everything they could to stop us from organizing, voting and building
power.

We won anyway. This is a testament to the power of Black people and
Black organizing.

This win is also a testament to the power of Black women. Black cis
and trans women and femmes are at the forefront of our movement. Black
women rejected the white supremacist agenda and mobilized our
communities to turn out and vote.

But our work is not done. WE HAVE ALWAYS SAID: THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
DOES NOT STOP AT THE BALLOT BOX. We have our first Black woman Vice
President alongside many new Black women, trans and non-binary leaders
who were voted into office across the country. Now, our job will be to
hold these leaders accountable to the people’s demands.

WE HAVE A VISION FOR BLACK LIVES
[[link removed]] AND
A PLAN FOR THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.

We will champion the BREATHE Act
[[link removed]] to
divest from ineffective, racist policing and invest in our
communities. We will dig in on local defund the police
[[link removed]] campaigns
all over the U.S. We will double down on our commitment to be about
ALL Black lives including trans, gender nonconforming and intersex
people, disabled people and immigrants.
 

KEEP SHOWING UP WITH US:

*
RSVP FOR OUR POST-ELECTION ROUNDTABLE NEXT WEEK
[[link removed]].
We’ll detail our plan for the first 100 days and beyond.

*
JOIN 150,000+ PEOPLE and become a community co-sponsor of
the BREATHE Act
[[link removed]].

*
STAY READY, BE ALERT AND CONTINUE ORGANIZING to safeguard our
communities against state and/or white supremacist violence and
repression. _The people have spoken and we must ensure the will of
the people is respected._

*
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK
[[link removed]], INSTAGRAM
[[link removed]] AND TWITTER
[[link removed]] to
get and share updates using #M4BL and #TheWorkisNotDone.

*
TEXT POWER TO 90975 to receive our calls to action.

We must make Black lives matter after elections, too. And we must hold
politicians accountable to the Black people who put them into office.
We’re not going anywhere — Black movement was here long before
this election and will be here long after.

In power and solidarity,

The Movement for Black Lives [[link removed]]

_[The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) formed in December of 2014, was
created as a space for Black organizations across the country to
debate and discuss the current political conditions, develop shared
assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to
achieve key policy, cultural and political wins, convene
organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared
movement wide strategy. Under the fundamental idea that we can achieve
more together than we can separately.]_

 

WE WIN WHEN WE FOLLOW BLACK WOMEN (SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE -
SURJ)
 

Today, we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief. The people of
this country – led by communities of color – have voted out Donald
Trump.  

THIS WIN IS A TESTAMENT TO THE POWER OF MULTI-RACIAL GRASSROOTS
ORGANIZING. These last four years we have again seen that People of
Color, but most especially Black women, offer the vision, leadership,
and organizing work to get _all of us_ free.

I am so proud of how we showed up in this election. We knew white
voters elected Trump and we took responsibility for organizing our own
to get him out. We threw down in Georgia – a place the Democratic
Party had written off and where Black women organizers have been
leading the way. We joined partners on the ground in Georgia,
including the New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter, Fair Fight,
Working Families Party, and so many other groups that had already laid
the foundation to flip Georgia because of their tremendous ongoing
work to expand the electorate with more Black voters while keeping
real solutions to working people’s problems front and center.

SURJ MADE OVER A MILLION CALLS TO WHITE VOTERS WHO WE KNEW WERE
SUFFERING UNDER THIS ADMINISTRATION AND WHO ARE INFREQUENT
VOTERS. Over 3,800 SURJ members had 36,000 conversations with voters
and secured 21,200 commitments to vote.

AND IT WORKED. The New York Times is reporting
[[link removed]] that
Biden made major gains in majority-white counties among white people
who didn’t attend college. THAT'S WHO WE CALLED.

THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO ORGANIZE OUR OWN – AND TO DO IT AT
SCALE AND IN SERVICE OF A VISION SET BY BLACK MOVEMENT LEADERS.

When we build multi-racial coalitions and invest in long-haul
organizing, we win, y’all! And let’s be clear: DEFEATING TRUMP
WAS A _MOVEMENT WIN, _NOT A WIN FOR THE DEMOCRATIC
ESTABLISHMENT. Years of powerful Latinx organizing laid the
groundwork for progressive wins in Arizona. Black leadership paved the
way to defeat Trump in Georgia. Grassroots organizers across the
country built the people power to send visionary progressive
candidates to the halls of Congress.

We know the road ahead will not be easy. Our movement is going to have
to fight hard against a Biden administration – and we’re up
against an emboldened Right. More white people voted for Trump in 2020
than in 2016 and the Right will not let up for a single
second. WE’VE GOT OUR WORK TO DO TO CONTINUE TO ORGANIZE MORE OF
OUR PEOPLE AWAY FROM WHITE SUPREMACY. 

Today, we celebrate – and recommit to organizing alongside our
partners for the long-haul.

WE NOW KNOW CONTROL OF THE SENATE WILL BE DECIDED IN GEORGIA ON
JANUARY 5TH. WANT TO TAKE ACTION WITH US TO HELP WIN? Sign up here
[[link removed]] and
we’ll be in touch to put you to work after we’ve checked in with
our partners and rested up

In solidarity and with hope,
Erin Heaney
SURJ Director

Showing Up for Racial Justice - SURJ
[[link removed]]
81 Prospect Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

 

WTF JUST HAPPENED? 10 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2020 ELECTION AND THE FUTURE
OF HEALTHCARE (THE LABOR CAMPAIGN FOR SINGLE-PAYER)
 

 

The 2020 electoral rollercoaster ride is almost at an end. While it is
still possible that the keys of the White House will have to be pried
from Donald Trump's cold hands, it is all but certain that Joe Biden
will become president on January 20, 2021. There is good reason to
celebrate the triumph of democratic process and the peaceful
transition of power under some very trying circumstances.

However, the post-election prospects for the Medicare for All movement
are far less certain. Here are ten takeaways from this past year that
might shed some light on the future of healthcare justice under a
Biden Administration:

* 72% OF THE VOTERS SUPPORTED MEDICARE FOR ALL. In exit polls
conducted by Fox News, 72% of the voters were in favor of a
"government run healthcare plan"
[[link removed]] despite
the fact that Fox deliberately chose the most polarizing way to frame
the question. This is consistent with other polls conducted among both
Democratic and Republican voters during the primary season.
* EVEN THOUGH THE DEMOCRATS LOST SEATS IN CONGRESS, NOT A SINGLE
COSPONSOR OF THE MEDICARE FOR ALL ACT WAS DEFEATED. Medicare for All
was a winning issue in this year's Congressional races.
[[link removed]] Even
Medicare for All supporters in swing districts, like Katie Porter in
Orange County California, were re-elected while swing district
opponents went down in defeat.
* MORE THAN 14 MILLION AMERICAN HAVE LOST THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE
SINCE MARCH. The COVID depression has eliminated employment based
health coverage for over 14 million people
[[link removed]].
This is in addition to the 2.3 million who lost their insurance
during the first 3 years of the Trump administration.
[[link removed]]
* THE COVID DEPRESSION IS MAKING IT URGENTLY CLEAR TO UNIONS WHY WE
NEED TO TAKE HEALTHCARE OFF THE BARGAINING TABLE.  Despite heroic
efforts to keep their members covered during the shutdown, union
health funds are running out of money
[[link removed]] as
the economic crisis extends into 2021. Continuing shortfalls in state
and local government revenues will threaten millions of jobs
[[link removed]] and
increase pressure on public sector unions to negotiate major
concessions on healthcare benefits.
* THE MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX IS ALREADY MOBILIZING TO SHAPE THE
HEALTHCARE POLICY OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION. In this election
cycle, Big Pharma shifted much of its political contributions from
the Republican to the Democratic Party.
[[link removed]] Within
hours of Biden being declared the winner of the election, AHIP--the
health insurance industry lobbying group--sent a letter of
congratulations to President-elect Biden.
[[link removed]]
* PRESIDENT BIDEN WILL NOT SUPPORT MEDICARE FOR ALL.  Not only did
he vow to veto Medicare for All legislation
[[link removed]] during
this year's primary debates, in his 36 years as a U.S. Senator, he
never once co-sponsored single-payer legislation, despite strong
initiatives led by Senator Kennedy in the 1970s and Senator Wellstone
in the 1990s.
[[link removed]]
* PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PROPOSED "PUBLIC OPTION" WILL BE INEFFECTIVE AND
WILL FACE MASSIVE RESISTANCE FROM HEALTHCARE PROFITEERS.  Allowing
individuals and employers to purchase a Medicare-like health insurance
product in a healthcare marketplace will not address the distortions
and inequalities of our commodified healthcare system nor would it
break the link between healthcare and employment. By it's nature, it
cannot achieve the efficiencies and cost savings of a Medicare for All
solution. Nonetheless, the medical industrial complex is likely to
pull out all stops to defeat it as they did in Connecticut in 2019.
[[link removed]]
* PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PROPOSED LOWERING OF THE MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY
AGE TO 60 WOULD MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO 20 MILLION ADDITIONAL AMERICANS
BUT MEDICARE ITSELF NEEDS TO BE EXPANDED AND IMPROVED.  Decreasing
the eligibility age for Medicare would increase the healthcare
security for millions without undermining the social insurance model
that sustains Medicare. However, Medicare itself has significant gaps
in coverage and needs to be modernized and improved to eliminate the
necessity of private supplemental insurance while enhancing
prescription drug coverage and adding dental, long term care and other
essential services. Medicare for All bills like HR 1384
[[link removed]] do
exactly that and these improvements should be incorporated into any
proposed expansion legislation.
* THE SUPREME COURT COULD VERY WELL DISRUPT THE POLITICS OF
HEALTHCARE IN THE COMING YEAR. President Biden has premised his
healthcare policies on a strengthened Affordable Care Act. The ACA has
already been decimated by four years of Trump administration attacks.
The Supreme Court decision--due in June of 2021--while unlikely to
overturn the entire ACA, could severely limit its scope. This will
increase the pressure for a long-term, comprehensive solution to
America's healthcare crisis.
* POLITICAL GRIDLOCK MAY BE GREAT FOR WALL STREET BUT IT'S HELL ON
AMERICA'S WORKING FAMILIES. While Wall Street booms in anticipation
of a divided Congress, little relief is in sight for working class
Americans.  The Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act
[[link removed]] could
provide help to almost every American whether they are insured or
uninsured, working or unemployed and would be a huge stimulus for the
economy. Congress needs to put aside its partisan differences and
enact this and other essential relief legislation as America enters
the "long dark winter" of the COVID depression.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

The world's most unequal, expensive and inefficient healthcare system
is in crisis and Medicare for All is the only effective solution.
Despite President-Elect Biden's stated opposition, Medicare for All
enjoys broad public support and will continue to drive the political
agenda. Now that the most important election of our lifetimes is over,
labor and other social movements must embrace this support and help
build momentum to overcome the power of the medical industrial complex
and finally win the fight to make healthcare a right for everyone in
America.

JOIN US FOR THE MEDICARE FOR ALL VIRTUAL STRATEGY CONFERENCE JANUARY
23-24, 2021.

The path forward to healthcare justice is difficult and fraught with
peril. We need to come together as a movement to gain strategic
clarity and build unity. We don't have the luxury to wait until it is
safe for all of us to travel again.  We need to be ready when the
Biden Administration takes office.

This January, we will be co-hosting the first ever Medicare for All
Virtual Strategy Conference with our allies, Healthcare Now.
[[link removed]] During
the week of January 18, we will feature evening presentations and
panels from leaders in the Medicare for All, social justice and racial
equity movements. On the weekend of January 23-24, we will conduct a
series of plenary discussions and dozens of workshops to address the
burning issues of our movement. Registration information will be
posted shortly. Please plan to join us.

In Solidarity,

Mark Dudzic,
National Coordinator

Labor Campaign for Single Payer [[link removed]]
P.O Box 34262
Washington, DC 20043

 

CALIFORNIA'S PROP 15 (CALIFORNIA CALLS)
 

We always knew that Prop 15 was going to be a neck and neck,
razor-thin race. Right now, we are still unable to call the final
outcome. The good news is that we are only 400,000 votes behind, with
5 million more ballots still to be counted throughout the state.

It may be several more days before we know the results with full
certainty.

BUT THIS MUCH WE DO KNOW:

We built the BIGGEST, BROADEST AND MOST POWERFUL COALITION of
progressive social forces in recent history. Organized over nearly six
years—with community-based, racial and social justice groups at the
heart of it—we forged together an amazing array of diverse partners
including labor union, civil rights, housing, health, education, and
environmental groups, and elected leaders in a common quest for
transformative change of California’s tax system to invest in our
people and our future.

Together, we CHALLENGED THE “THIRD RAIL” OF CALIFORNIA
POLITICS that held Proposition 13’s special protections for
multi-national corporations to be sacrosanct and untouchable. More
than 1.7 million Californians signed our petition to place Prop 15 on
the ballot—the largest number of signatures ever collected in
California history. As official endorsements from the _New York
Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle_ and
the _Sacramento Bee_ signaled, we demonstrated that even the
mainstream had to agree the time for change was overdue.  

We deployed the MOST SOPHISTICATED, COORDINATED, LARGE-SCALE GROUND
GAME in California history. California Calls served as the backbone
for reaching young voters, new voters, low-income and people of color
voters across the state, building upon 10 years of experimentation and
field programs to authentically engage voters who often stay home.
Pivoting from door-to-door to an entirely virtual phone and digital
outreach program, the Million Voter Project trained more than 21,000
grassroots leaders and volunteers and reached over 1 million key
voters in 2020—many of them several times. We believe they will pull
us through—if not this time, certainly the next.

Our coalition demonstrated GROWING MOMENTUM FOR TRANSFORMATIVE
SOLUTIONS—not incremental ones—to address income inequality,
racial justice, educational excellence, and economic opportunity for
all. As our state continues to reel from the pandemic, recession and
wildfires, we know that wealth and power must be redistributed. We
know that the most vulnerable must be protected and have an equal
voice in shaping their own destiny. We know that California’s future
must be guided by the values of inclusion, justice and equity.

The Schools & Communities First campaign has expanded our vision and
emboldened our confidence. It has lifted our spirits and unified us in
the belief that together, fundamental change is possible.

For the future,

Anthony Thigpenn,
Founder & President, California Calls [[link removed]]

California Calls
You can reach us at [email protected]
(323) 735-9515

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