Chop Wood, Carry Water 10/10 💙

Oct 10, 2022

Hi, all, and happy Monday!

Also, of course, happy Indigenous Peoples Day.

I elected not to take the day off today because there is a tremendous amount to do, but I want to emphasize the importance, relevance, and gravity of this day. I sit writing this email on stolen land, and you sit reading it on the same. Underscoring this today (and every day) isn’t about “feeling bad about ourselves.” It’s not, in fact, about us at all. It’s about acknowledging the past and current harms done to others so that we can both gain in compassion and work to amend said harms.

So we take our small actions to increase justice, democracy, and equity. To heal our poisoned land. To honor promises and oust promise-breakers. Our small deeds aren’t a fix, but they’re a stitch or two in the hugely torn garment we’re collectively trying to mend. If enough of us sew, each on their own little patch, we can achieve a measure of repair. Of comfort. Of beauty, even.

If no one sews, the garment will simply continue to tear.

So let’s pick up our needles and get to work, one more time. 🪡

Call Your Senators (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I know Congress is working on a year-end spending bill, and I want the Senator to work to include in it funding to expand access to affordable housing and prevent evictions. Eviction rates are back to pre-pandemic levels, with Black people and Latino people disproportionately facing the highest rates. This gross inequity cannot continue. Please include funding to address our housing crisis in the year-end spending bill. Thanks. [H/T]

Call Your House Rep (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I know Congress is working on a year-end spending bill, and I want the Congressmember to work to include in it funding to expand access to affordable housing and prevent evictions. Eviction rates are back to pre-pandemic levels, with Black people and Latino people disproportionately facing the highest rates. This gross inequity cannot continue. Please include funding to address our housing crisis in the year-end spending bill.

I’d also like the Congressmember to sign on to the Resolution Recognizing the Human Right to Utilities by Reps Tlaib and Bush. We must return control of utilities to the public sector and guarantee access to essential utility services as a right for all. Thanks. [H/T]

Extra Credit ✅

Easy ask! Please post this on your favorite social media site!

If you live in AZ, CA, FL, GA, NC, NV, PA, TX, or WI there’s a new tool to make voting blue--including for judges--easy. It’s called the Blue Voter Guide. It's especially great for infrequent or low-propensity voters! Please share! Find it at
http://BlueVoterGuide.org

Get Smart! 📚

Tonight, Monday, October 10 from 7:30 – 9pm EDT please come to Turn PA Blue’s Turning Outrage Into Action!

The fight for our democracy doesn’t end on Election Day. Year-round action is needed not just at the national level, but also at state and local levels. We must remain continually vigilant to stop the GOP from destroying voting and civil rights and help prevent extreme right wing attacks against our school boards and local governments.

So come hear from an amazing panel of women who will help you take the next steps!

Learn how to make your voice heard in your community, deal with opposition to new ideas from either side of the aisle and see how YOU can continue to fight for what matters most.

Speakers:

Congresswoman Susan Wild
Rep. Melissa Shusterman
Rep. Sara Innamorato
Jamie Perrapato, Turn PA Blue
Deb Ciamacca, Promote the Vote
Sherry Luce, Red, Wine and Blue
Jacqueline Westman, The Union (the Union is a Coalition of Pro-Democracy Organizations founded by the Lincoln Project)

This should be incredible. Sign up here.

Save Jess!! 🙏🏼

Y’all, I am in a tight spot. I have massively over-ordered on postcard packets for my hub—I think my anxiety got the better of me and also I assumed I’d have the same level of volunteerism I did in 2020. I do not. I have thousands and thousands of postcards that need writing FAST. If anyone knows ANYONE in the Northeast LA area who can write for me please, please send them my way. I am stressed about it.

Also, I can ship packets to people outside of L.A., but only if you can cover the priority mail cost—sorry I am already so out of pocket on these. You’d have to be able to turn them around very quickly on receipt, too. Like, in a day or two. 😬

I have:

📫 Pre-addressed PA Voter registration cards (theoretically send by 10/14, but a few days past that is OK)

📫 Pre-addressed Christy Smith cards to be mailed by the 16th (again, a few days past that is acceptable)

📫 Postcards to Swing States going into North Carolina. Supposed to be mailed on the 17th exactly.

God help me. I have SO MANY MORE cards coming after these. Can anyone help? 😂😫

Win Races—text!

📲 There’s a big textbank to NC on Tuesday 10/11 from 11a-3p PT with Field Team 6 and The New North Carolina Project, texting people of color and registering Dems for NC Races up and down the ballot. Sign up here.

📲 And don’t forget NexGen has texting to young people to make sure they vote almost every day this week! Sign up here.

Voter Protection 🚨

Y’all, I’m hearing from VoPro Pros that they really need help with their PA volunteer recruitment phonebanks. You’ll be calling SuperDems who have volunteered in previous elections and asking if they can do so again. Very friendly calls.

They’ll train you, of course.

Lehigh Valley & NE PA, Tuesdays, 6-8pm EDT: https://www.mobilize.us/pavotepro/event/483596/

Central PA, Thursdays, 6-8pm EDT: https://www.mobilize.us/pavotepro/event/483603/
Southeast PA, Wednesdays, 6-8pm EDT: https://www.mobilize.us/pavotepro/event/483609/

Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)

[to your House rep] [H/T] [Quick send text SIGN PPTKOF to 50409]

In 1835, the U.S. government and the Cherokee Nation signed the Treaty of New Echota, which forced the Cherokees to give up their ancestral homelands and move west on the Trail of Tears. In return for signing the treaty, they were promised $5 million, relocation assistance, compensation for lost property, and a voice in Congress.

But Congress never took the formal action necessary to establish the designated seat.

Today, almost 200 years later, tribal leaders are STILL pushing Congress to make good on this promise. If approved by the House of Representatives, the Delegate could sit on committees, request meetings with Cabinet officials, and push for new policy proposals. These powers can be crucial, and the Cherokee Nation deserves a seat at the table.

It’s Indigenous Peoples Day. I’m writing to ask you to prioritize seating a Cherokee Nation delegate. It’s time to make good on our promise. Thanks.

OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk tomorrow.

Jess

Chop Wood, Carry Water