Hey John! It’s nice to meet you — I’m Jessica Maag.
This is my first time I’m writing to you and all my fellow Women’s Marchers. Usually I’m the one reading these emails, but today I’m excited to be on the other side.
I’m emailing because I want to share with you my Women’s March story and how I became an active organizer in my community this year.
I hope that when you’re finished reading my story, you’ll understand why I’m thankful for the support and encouragement Women’s March gave me to learn more about the power of grassroots organizing and then you’ll chip in $5 to help power Women’s March’s organizing work for the Senate runoff in Georgia next week.
Here’s how it started: Earlier this year, I started homeschooling two of my children. With my new schedule, I wanted to find a way to start getting involved with the election. I wasn’t sure how at first, but then Women’s March sent me an email about becoming a Digital Defender — so I signed up. I quickly loved the messaging during this training: We’re able to meaningfully reach millions of people online with what we post and the information we share has a huge impact on our democracy. I learned how each of us can help make the internet a place where people can find reliable data, positive voices, and places to build community.
Then the pandemic hit. Then Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd all made headlines for being brutally murdered. What I witnessed happening all around me motivated me to learn more about how I can create change in my own community.
I started going out to my street corner every day to protest police brutality with my family. I took the next step by attending the Defund the Police trainings that Women’s March hosted over the summer. Afterwards, I signed up to join their Feminist Organizing School classes. The idea that we can invite others into action through meaningful conversation rang true and it gave me confidence to take brave action. I found myself asking, “How can we invite others into this conversation?
That’s how I went from joining my first online meeting about defunding the police, to organizing weekly meetings in my own community. What started out as a Facebook group of mutual acquaintances, quickly grew into an organized Women2Women Organizing Circle of community members called SPEAK (Supporting Positive Efforts of Action and Knowledge). Over the past months, our Circle has put together text banks, organized meetings with local elected officials, helped share Women’s March volunteer opportunities online, created a webpage about voter registration, made yard signs about the election, canvassed at parks, partnered with local high school students to contact voters, and so much more.
Today we are a completely grassroots group of volunteers and I’m beyond proud of what we’ve built together.
It’s incredible how after living in Des Plaines for most of my life, I was able to make so many connections with people in my city this year because of the organizing tools Women’s March gave me. I’m grateful for the training, encouragement, and support that Women’s March provided me to start doing this work. It’s my hope that Women’s March can continue inviting women like me to organize and volunteer in their communities. I know firsthand that this is how we make the change we want to see locally.
Thanks for reading my story — I hope it also inspires you to take action in any way you can.
Jessica
 |
 |
 |
To receive fewer emails, please click here.
Women’s March is a 501c(4) organization. Your generous support helps us prepare for fights we see coming and those we don’t. Donations are not tax deductible. If you prefer to make a tax-deductible gift, we encourage you to support the Women’s March Network. Gifts to the Network support our organizing, communications, advocacy and public education efforts.
To update your name or email click here.
This email was sent to [email protected]. Email is the most important way we keep in touch with people like you. If you need to remove yourself from our email list, click here to unsubscribe.