Insider News from the Political Revolution!
HEADLINES: Rally for Reproductive Rights! | Chris Smalls & Bernie on Amazon | Defend Democracy Town Hall | Nina on What’s Next | Annette Johnson Wins Race | & MORE!
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The far right is fighting to take away democracy and reproductive freedom in America. Corporate Dems are standing in the way. Become a Movement Builder today to help progressives seize the levers of power to move our country forward — not backward.
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Join us Monday at 8:30p ET/7:30 CT for our National ‘Organize-to-Win’ Call with US Rep. Rashida Tlaib on the state of the progressive fight in 2022!
We’ll also be joined by San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, an incredible criminal justice reformer who’s facing a far-right recall attempt. Then, we’ll hear from Vincent Fort on his run for Congress in GA-13 and Erin Palmer on her run for DC Council Chairwoman.
RSVP HERE
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FIGHT FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
The far right is laser-focused on dismantling reproductive freedom in America, and Our Revolution is taking to the streets to push back and calling on Democrats to codify Roe v. Wade.
Our Revolution jumped into rapid response with actions all day Tuesday at courthouses around the country, working with allies like Ultra Violet and Planned Parenthood to host numerous events for reproductive rights this week.
Andrea Jimenez, an indigenous member of the Rutgers student chapter of Our Revolution, spoke at our event in Montclair, NJ: “This will not stop those who are desperate and in danger from making the choice best for themselves. You will only stop safe abortions, and as a result, you will kill thousands of women,” NorthJersey.com reported.
“There was a sense of doom knowing this information and as a community organizer for Our Revolution Hillsborough it is important to act and be able to bring those who feel the same together,” Didier Jiminez told TapInto.net.
Not only are we protesting, but we’re also organizing to defeat anti-choice Democrat US Rep. Henry Cuellar, who Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed and Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn rallied for this week to try to stop Jessica Cisneros from going to Congress.
Our Revolution is fighting to replace Democrats like Cuellar in the House, as well as Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin in the Senate, who are blocking action to protect reproductive rights and personal privacy.
A person’s right to control our own body is fundamental to human dignity. We must stand together and fight to protect our freedom, even if corporate Dems are standing in the way.
Become a sustaining member of Our Revolution today to help fund this urgent fight.
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LABOR FIGHT UPDATE
May Day — International Workers’ Day — was last week, and there’s a lot of activity on the frontlines of the labor fight in America.
On Thursday, Senate Budget Chairman Bernie welcomed Amazon Labor Union organizer Chris Smalls to testify before the committee on the company's illegal anti-labor tactics.
Bernie reaffirmed our call for President Biden to issue an executive order barring federal contracts and corporate welfare for union-busters and labor law violators like Amazon, who spend millions against unionization and fire organizers.
US Sen. Lindsay Graham berated Bernie for holding the hearing, calling it “dangerous” and defending Amazon’s right to “make money.” He said he “can’t wait” for Republicans to take back the Senate “so this demonization of companies will cease.”
Bernie ignored the vitriol and gave the floor to Chris Smalls, who told Graham: “You forget, we’re the people who make these companies operate. The process to hold these companies accountable isn’t working — that’s the reason we’re here today.”
“It’s in your best interest to realize it’s not a Democrat or Republican thing, it’s a worker’s issue,” he said. “We’re the ones suffering in the corporations you’re talking about, and you should listen because we represent your constituents as well.”
Amazon spent millions against the ALU organizers, and Chris testified that he and others were fired and arrested for organizing and delivering food to coworkers.
“We want to feel that the government is allowing us to use our Constitutional right to organize,” Chris told the committee. “The notion that the people united in this democracy will outmatch tyranny is the oldest American ideal.”
“Even though we did everything right and won at JFK8, Amazon is refusing to meet us at the bargaining table,” he said. “The things Amazon does — breaking the law, intimidation — these are real things that traumatize workers.”
Now, Amazon is forcing a court battle over their victory at the JFK8 facility in Staten Island, The Washington Post reports. “They’re going to stall, they filed 25 objections,” he said. “To me, the corporations control whatever they want. They break the law, they get away with it, they know that already.”
“We need to pass the PRO Act so workers are protected and encouraged to organize, and if that doesn’t work,” Chris said, “I’m here to let you know on behalf of hundreds of thousands of workers that we are going to keep organizing across this country.”
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RALLYING FOR WORKER RIGHTS
On May Day on Sunday, Our Revolution joined US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and labor unions for a rally in Washington Square Park in NYC.
Our Revolution New Jersey activists also marched in solidarity with domestic workers in Princeton fighting for workplace justice and immigration reform. We joined Starbucks Workers United NJ organizer Sarah Mughal for the event held by Unidad Latina en Acción.
Our Revolution rallied with Bernie, Amazon, and Starbucks workers two weeks ago, and while Amazon Labor Union didn’t win their 2nd election at the LDJ5 facility in Staten Island, Starbucks Workers United has continued to rack up wins — including in New Jersey, where our members were excited to lend support.
And, Our Revolution South Carolina will hold a virtual Labor Forum at 11 am Saturday, May 14, with State Sen. Mia McLeod, who is running for Governor; Charles Brave, president of the Int’l Longshoremans’ Union in Charleston; and Our Revolution SC board member Keith Grey Sr., who’s running for State House.
Workers are rising up and waging the fight, but the bosses are fighting back with everything they’ve got. Become a movement builder today to help us fight for worker power.
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ORNJ PUSHING REP. KIM ON M4A
Our Revolution Trenton Mercer elections chair Brady Rivera wrote a persuasive op-ed in NJ.com making “an urgent call for Rep. Andy Kim to support Medicare for All.”
“The ACA was never meant to be the end; it was meant to be a step forward to improve our system,” Brady wrote. “We cannot wait any longer. There is a growing movement for a solution on the scale of the crisis in our healthcare system.”
The op-ed was also picked up by Common Dreams and noted the integral organizing work of our members in New Jersey’s 3rd District — attending town halls and demanding the local delegation take action.
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2022 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE KICKOFF!
To show our gratitude to members joining at higher donation levels, we’re sweetening the deal! For $10 a month, we’ll throw in our sticker 6-pack, and at $15, you’ll get the stickers and a poster. For $27, get both and a tote bag, or join at the $50 level to get it all and a T-shirt.
As committed Movement Builders, we know the real reward is taking action to make a better world, but we want to share these fun items as a way of thanks.
BECOME A MOVEMENT BUILDER
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DEFEND DEMOCRACY TOWN HALL
On Tuesday, Our Revolution held a special Town Hall to Defend Democracy, laying out our campaign to bar insurrectionists from the ballot.
Joined by our partners with Free Speech For People, we spoke with Our Revolution members standing up to file legal challenges against insurrectionists running for re-election and taking action to demand state elections officials uphold the Constitution.
Carrie Goode, a plaintiff in Arizona, discussed the challenge against US Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, and State Rep. Mark Finchem. And, Georgia plaintiff Mike Rasbury talked about his role in taking Marjorie Taylor-Greene to court, where she was grilled on the stand for three hours.
Virginia Tegel, a long-time Our Revolution activist, told us she took part in a rally in NC, urging her state elections officials to bar Madison Cawthorn because “our democracy is at stake.”
We’re excited to report that as a result of the call, members in Colorado stepped up to challenge US Rep. Lauren Boebert — who gave comfort to January 6th Capitol attacks and disqualified herself from seeking re-election.
Also this week, Madison Cawthorn was put under oath at a hearing in North Carolina, where a three-judge appeals panel agreed with our challengers, but a final decision is still pending, according to CNN.
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NINA TURNER’S LOSS + LOOKING TO 2024
Folks, this is a painful loss — sending Nina Turner to Congress would have been huge for our movement. But, we have many more opportunities to put progressives into power this election season, and Nina is looking to the future.
“To the people of this movement, not only is spring coming, help is on the way,” she said Tuesday night. “2024 is coming. Sometimes you get what you ask for, and that money coming in here to suppress and malign the voices of working class people in this district, they ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Super PACs poured $3M into ads against Nina in the last two weeks, outpacing her campaign commercials 50:1. “They’ve got a formula, this was a test case, and it’s time to decide that we’re not going to take it anymore. I’m going to be on the frontline of that fight — all they did was reinforce my resolve.”
Our field operation was strong and generated palpable energy on the ground, but Republican redistricting split the primary into two dates which seem to have confused a lot of voters, leading to near-record-low turnout.
Our Revolution Ohio State Coordinator Diane Morgan and East Cleveland City Councilwoman and Our Revolution member Patricia Blochowiak were interviewed about on Status Coup about our ground game. “More than 150 volunteers helped get Nina’s message out and engage the community in a very deep way,” Patricia told Jordan Chariton. “We are helping to turn that tide.”
Nina had a message to the movement: “We’ve got to take the gloves all the way off. Now is the time for the true freedom-fighting progressives to stand up and be accounted for.”
“The neoliberals aren’t playing with us. We’ve got to be disciplined and united — and we can’t get off focus because the things we’re fighting for are beautiful,” she said. “We can’t check out — that’s what the corporatists want. This is just one step; we have faith and we have fight.”
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Congratulations to Annette Johnson on her re-election to Pike Township Trustee in Indianapolis!
This might not seem like a big race, but Annette oversees a $30M budget — in office, she raised the minimum wage for township employees to $15 and fought hard to save local control of the fire department.
Despite her record, establishment Dems rigged the county Democratic Party endorsement against her in this race. “It’s like David-and-Goliath — but we did it four years ago and we’ll do it again. We’re in the community, and we work alongside the grassroots,” she told us on a recent National Organizing Call.
She was right. Together, we beat the establishment in her race and we’re going to do it again up and down the ballot this election season.
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ACTIVIST SPOTLIGHT
Our Revolution Phone Bank Force activist Taylor Pinckney told us how good it feels when our voter outreach efforts pay off. While phone banking, she heard from a voter who was glad our work helped him switch from a centrist candidate to Erica Smith for Congress in NC-1.
“He thanked Our Revolution and me for opening his eyes that Erica Smith was the most progressive candidate, and he said that’s what his district needs,” Taylor said. “It was cool to see the impact — when I make these connections with voters, it motivates me to keep the work going.”
If you have just one hour a week, you can make a difference, too! Our crew will be there every step of the way to help you make calls, earn rewards, and tip the balance of power!
JOIN THE FORCE!
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PROGRESSIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PRIMARIES
Even as Democrats are set to get demolished in the midterms, progressives can still increase their share of power, NPR reports. Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese was interviewed on their Politics Podcast about our prospects in these primaries.
Joseph pointed to Joe Biden’s endorsement of corporate incumbent U.S. Rep Kurt Shrader (OR-4) — who has blocked the president’s agenda — over Jamie McLeod-Skinner as a “strategic mistake” for the party.
“When you look at the issues, a true progressive in that race has a better shot than the current incumbent who was an obstructionist to the president’s agenda,” Joseph said.
Other elections on May 17th include Summer Lee for Congress in PA-12, and Nida Allam and Erica Smith for U.S. Congress in North Carolina’s 4th and 1st districts.
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OUR REVOLUTION vs. SUPER PACS
Billionaires and oil barons are lining the pockets of our candidates’ opponents in these critical primaries. They know what’s at stake in these races, and so do we. That’s why we’re mobilizing our ground game and waging the fight in each of these pivotal primary races.
Working-class fighters like Rep. Andy Levin, David Segal, and Jessica Cisneros are being targeted with expensive smear campaigns from every direction. But, we have their back, and we know that M4A, a living wage, and climate action are the true mainstream positions of the people in this country.
Our candidates rely on the power of the movement — which means we need more volunteers and activists to help us drown out corporate money.
Join our Phonebank Force Today
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Join us Monday at 8:30p ET/7:30 CT for our National ‘Organize-to-Win’ Call with US Rep. Rashida Tlaib on the state of the progressive fight in 2022!
We’ll also be joined by San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, an incredible ally to our movement who is facing a far-right recall attempt. Then, we’ll hear from Vincent Fort on his run for Congress in GA-13 and Erin Palmer on her run for DC Council Chairwoman.
RSVP HERE
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Join Our Revolution South Carolina at 11 am Saturday for a virtual Labor Forum! Join the discussion in Zoom with SC State Sen. Mia McLeod, who is running for Governor; Charles Brave, president of the Int’l Longshore Workers' Union in Charleston; and SC House candidate Keith Grey Sr., who also serves as a board member for Our Revolution SC.
RSVP
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This week, we’re ramping up calls to elect Amy Vilela to Congress. She is a progressive champion who is a powerful Medicare for All ally.
We'll be calling thousands of voters in Nevada CD-1 which includes Las Vegas — SIGN-UP HERE to make calls for Amy!
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With less than two weeks to Election Day, we’re calling voters to help elect Attica Scott to Congress and defeat the Democratic establishment in Louisville.
VOLUNTEER HERE!
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Erica Smith is on the ballot on May 17th and we’re getting out the vote to elect her to Congress in North Carolina’s CD-1, which includes the city of Rocky Mount and Greenville.
SIGN UP TO MAKE CALLS!
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Help us defend democracy by electing progressive Secretary of State candidate Alexi Giannoulias in Illinois!
MAKE A DIFFERENCE — SIGN UP TODAY!
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Are you a member of Our Revolution? For $5 a month, you’ll be part of choosing our candidate endorsements and crafting our platform and strategy. Plus, we’ll send you our new 2022 Membership Card.
To show our gratitude to members joining at higher donation levels, we’re sweetening the deal! For $10 a month, get a sticker 6-pack, and at $15, get the stickers and a poster. For $27, get both and a tote bag, or join at the $50 level to get it all and a T-shirt.
BECOME A MOVEMENT BUILDER
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