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What's coming up this week Indivisibles,
It’s hard to believe that April is nearly over, and with it, the third full month of the Biden Administration.
With the pandemic still raging and the Capitol Riot still fresh in our minds, the new president had a lot going on, so his team delayed the usual February Joint Address to Congress until this week. Make sure to put 8pm ET / 5pm PT on Wednesday on your calendar to watch!
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An aside: One of the strange quirks of the American system is that while an incoming president does make a speech to Congress in the spring, for some reason we don’t call the first one a “State of the Union” address. But don’t be confused if you hear someone refer to it as the State of the Union or “SOTU” -- this is the speech they mean!
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While we watch the speech, we’ll be particularly interested in seeing how much (or little) President Biden prioritizes democracy in his address. With D.C. Statehood passing the House last week and now headed for the Senate, a markup of the For the People Act in the Senate in early May, and Republicans still using the threat of a filibuster to try and halt real progress in its tracks, it’s never been more important for him to be out and public with his democracy plans. Want to know what you can do to promote democracy reform? Check out the John Lewis Voting Rights Act Votercades in the “National Events” section below. Without further ado, here are your weekly to-dos:
Your 4 weekly to-dos
- Watch Biden’s Joint Address! It will start at 8pm ET / 5pm PT and should be broadcast and streamed on all of the major news networks, as well as C-SPAN. Join us on Facebook and Twitter during the speech to follow along.
- Make calls to your senators & member of Congress on our recovery priorities. We expect part two of Biden’s Build Back Better Plan, the American Families Plan, to be released sometime this week, so this is a crucial moment.
- Watch and share our latest video on why relying on the budget reconciliation process in the Senate is unsustainable. Budget reconciliation can be a confusing process so our latest video explains what reconciliation is and how the only path forward is to eliminate the filibuster once and for all.
- Take action for democracy reform with the For the People Project. Check out our For the People Project page to learn more about our plans and find ways to take action.
We’re able to build, host, and maintain resources like this, as well as events, organizing, ads, and more because of grassroots supporters. If you’re able, click here to donate to help fund our work.
This week on the Hill
This week we’ll be paying a lot of attention to the signals the Biden Administration puts out in advance of the Joint Address. We expect they’ll release the second half of the American Families Plan (the second half of the administration’s recovery package) sometime before the address. We’ll be looking for the president’s plan to go big in terms of size, speed, and scope. We already have a resource out on the first half of the plan (click here to read it) which we’ll update with more details throughout the week. We’ll be looking for alignment with the priorities the Congressional Progressive Caucus put out recently and standing with the caucus to negotiate to get these policies in the final recovery package.
Progressives have the ability to commit their votes together as a voting bloc and use that leverage in legislative negotiations to secure progressive wins and prevent harmful compromises, and we’re excited to see them use it to win these necessary components of a robust and inclusive recovery. Here’s what we’re looking for in the package:
- A Pathway to Citizenship
- Dramatically Lower Drug Prices & Use Savings to Pay for Public Health Expansion
- Investments in Climate
- Investments in the Care Economy
- Investments in Housing
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s what the CPC did for the American Rescue Plan! This play resulted in some huge progressive wins like $1400 checks and extended UI making it into the final bill. You can learn more about the package and what we’re looking to see by clicking on our recovery resource, here.
Related: We also expect the THRIVE Act to be introduced in the House and Senate on Thursday. Remember, THRIVE is the blueprint for a progressive recovery grounded in climate, jobs and justice, that we’ve been working on with our friends at the Green New Deal Network for the last six months. It makes major investments in the economy, going big on the scope of recovery, and including strong cross cutting climate, equity, and labor standards, and it offers the best legislative texts for accomplishing the CPC’s priorities around climate, jobs, and overall size. We should be pushing Democratic members of Congress to sign on as cosponsors. Check out our THRIVE resource here to stay up to speed.
National Events
TO BE RESCHEDULED: POC Caucus Conversations: COVID Vaccine - Increasing Equity, Decreasing Hesitancy. Please note that the People of Color Caucus will be postponing this call, originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 27. Last week’s news has heavily impacted us, and we think it’s critical to hold space for our POC leaders and members to receive the support they need. We will share the new date once confirmed in our next group leader email.
On Wednesday at 7pm ET (right before the Joint Address) join activists for the John Lewis Mobilization Town Hall. This town hall is for activists and local organizations to learn more about the May 8th John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Day of Action mobilization where we will take to the streets for more than 100 "Votercades" in more than 100 cities. Then sign up to host a Votercade or find one near you.
Tough Talk: Tools for Anti-Racism Conversations with Friends & Family on Saturday, May 15 beginning at 12pm ET / 9am PT Interested in learning how to courageously and empathetically dialogue with your loved ones about anti-racism? Wishing you were more confident in talking about anti-racism with friends and family? On Saturday, May 15, join Indivisibles and other progressive activists across the nation for a customized, half-day workshop. This session is for everyone interested in playing an active role in dismantling white supremacy and its ever-present impacts on our communities. While white supremacy affects people differently, we have all been socialized within it -- and therefore, must continue to work against it.
Facebook Training Series Join us for a series of Facebook trainings. The series will be broken up into two parts: one for folks who are new to Facebook and the other for those who have some experience. Learn how Facebook can be used in large or small audiences for connecting with other people to gain knowledge, expand advocacy, effectively share, and connect with others.
In the Facebook basics training, learn what Facebook is all about, and explore the basics about creating a page or group, tagging folks, and much more!
During the Facebook strategy training, we’ll dig into how analytics can improve your reach with Facebook, how algorithms work, and explore how lists and promotions can improve your reach.
Social Media Training Series: Facebook Basics May 3rd 3pm ET / 12pm PT
Social Media Training Series: Facebook Basics May 5th 8pm ET/ 4pm PT
Social Media Training Series: Facebook Strategy May 10th 3pm ET/ 12pm PT
Social Media Training Series: Facebook Strategy May 12th 8pm ET / 5pm PT
Take the Indivisible Census
All of the energy and passion we've put into our organizing since the inauguration in January is already starting to pay off. We’re seeing wins with members of Congress (MoCs) fighting for the strongest COVID-19 relief, speaking out against the filibuster, and now they’re starting to fight for the boldest recovery plan possible through the THRIVE agenda. Being able to tell the story of our work this year is a way that we show our power, but in order to do that, we need to build a shared understanding of who we are as a community -- and to provide a way for you, as the leaders of this movement, to share that with us directly.
We’re excited to work with Dr. Dana Fisher, a prominent researcher on American political movements, and her team at the University of Maryland to launch the 2021 Indivisible Census, and we’re asking you to participate. Please click here and take a few minutes to complete the Indivisible Census today.
IndivisWin of the Week
All over the country, Indivisibles have been flying their 51-star flags proudly to support D.C. Statehood! Keep sending us your photos and check out this great compilation from our video team. Want your own 51 star flag? You can order one here.
Thanks! Don't forget to keep up with everything we're doing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
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