Saturday marked the 58th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Almost six decades after Dr. King proclaimed that “now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,” we are again charged with defending our democratic ideals.
Because the right to vote is under attack to a degree we have not seen for generations.
That’s why Public Citizen is doing everything in our power to win passage of two landmark pieces of democracy legislation, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
- Our campaign includes strategies to pressure any “moderate” Democrats who haven’t grasped the magnitude of Republican schemes to sabotage our democracy.
- We are calling on Senate Democrats to work together to plow through Republican obstructionism — including by taking the filibuster out of Mitch McConnell’s abusive hands for something so essential — and pass these critical laws.
- Protecting the right to vote simply must take precedence over preserving an antiquated Senate procedure that originated by accident, does not even appear in the Constitution, and has been exploited again and again to perpetuate white supremacism.
In this battle for democracy, we are bringing to bear the full scope of our experience — now a half-century strong — in grassroots organizing, groundbreaking research, and an enviable record of effective advocacy in Congress, the White House, and the courts.
But ...
I’m looking at some numbers that could see us pulling back right when we should be charging ahead.
In August of last year, we had 2,155 online donations come in.
Through the first 29 days of August *this* year, that number was down to just 728. That’s not a typo.
- I know we’re deep into a brutal summer — with heat waves and droughts and fires and hurricanes filling up the news.
- The COVID-19 emergency is getting worse with the Delta variant even as millions upon millions of Americans continue to reel from the pandemic’s ongoing economic fallout.
- Families are worried about getting kids back into school safely.
- And there is chaos and terror in Afghanistan.
- In short, there are understandable reasons why nonprofits like Public Citizen are seeing drop-offs in donations.
That’s why I’m asking: If you *can* make a contribution right now, please donate today.
As extra incentive, a group of longtime benefactors will match anything you can chip in today dollar-for-dollar.
CONTRIBUTE NOW
Here’s some even better news:
If you sign up for our popular monthly giving program today, your contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar every month for one full year. Become a Monthly Donor today.
Thank you for reading this.
Thank you for anything you can chip in.
And thank you for everything you do as part of Public Citizen.
- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
P.S. If donating today is not right for you, that’s OK. I hope you’ll understand that I have to ask from time to time — especially when we’re facing a shortfall — so that we have the real-world resources to carry out all the essential work you and Public Citizen are doing together.
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