Chop Wood, Carry Water 3/8
Chop Wood, Carry Water 3/8
When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.
Malala Yousafzai
Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
Running a bit behind, so I’ll make this quick.
Sometimes, when I’m feeling impotent, or like the forces arrayed against us are just too great, I like to play a little “It’s a Wonderful Life” game in my head. I ask myself how the world would be different if we, the Resistance, didn’t exist. It’s a quick way to remind myself just how much worse things would be for everyone if we weren’t working our butts off every day.
Without you and me, and millions like us…
Trump would still be President.
The GOP would hold both chambers of Congress.
The ACA would be gone.
Child separation would be happening as policy.
Environmental progress would be reversed.
The US would be isolated and held up as a laughingstock.
In Eastern Europe? God only knows.
It’s easy to focus on the ways we are hitting impasses. But it’s incredibly important to remember just. How. Much. We. Have. Done.
This is a slog. But the entire trajectory of history is being altered by our efforts. So it’s OK to be tired. It’s OK to feel small. It’s OK to eat too much pasta.
Just keep taking the actions. We’re making a bigger difference than you know.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I’m glad that the House passed the “Honor Our PACT Act,” a bill that would give US veterans assistance with health issues related to their exposure to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know that it’s now been sent to the Senate, and I’d like the Senator to support it.
Also, I want the Senate to pass the omnibus spending package NOW. We have to get Ukrainians the aid they need, and we need more funding to protect us from future COVID variants. And we cannot let the government shut down.
[If GOP add:] I’m angry that Republicans are blocking this bill because they don’t support COVID funding. The GOP has been wrong about COVID this whole time—because of it hundreds of thousands of people have died unnecessarily. They need to stop blocking COVID funding, stop obstructing money going to Ukrainians fighting for their lives, and vote yes on the whole package now. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling in support of HR 6559, the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, which would change the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit colleges and Universities participating in Federal student assistance programs from giving preferential admissions treatment to legacy students or donors. [Optional add: Legacy preferences exacerbate discriminatory admissions practices by giving extra leverage to wealthy white students and families. It’s time for them to end.] Thanks. [More info]
Extra Credit ✅
So the Florida legislature just passed it’s despicable “Don’t Say Gay” bill, and the Disney Company—one of the largest employers in the state— has said nothing to oppose it. I just wrote to them here and also at their Corporate Responsibility email (click here for an auto-populated email or write to responsibility@twdc.com), and gave them a piece of my mind. Please join me!
I said (please personalize):
I'm writing because I'm extremely upset about the Don't Say Gay bill that the Florida legislature just passed, and which Ron DeSantis has said he will sign into law.
I'm sickened by the Florida GOP's overt homophobia, and by the very real harms this bill will cause. And I'm even more upset because Walt Disney World, one of the largest and most powerful employers in Florida hasn't made a public statement denouncing it.
Disney World claims to be welcoming to the LGBTQ community, but your actions tell a different story. I'm done with Disney products until you take a stand. Silence equals complicity.
Thanks.
Get Smart! 📚
Tomorrow, Wednesday March 9th, at 4PM PST I am offering my webinar Activism 101 to a small Indivisible group on the east coast. Because they are few in number they’ve told me it’s OK to open it up to the public. If you’d like to join for this one-hour, free webinar on easy ways you can help us win in November—and overcome politics-related anxiety and despair—please do. Or tell a friend!
I promise it’s worth it.
Register here.
Write Postcards! 🌅
Postcards to Swing States’ first postcard program of 2022 is finally here!
Sign up now to write postcards to rally Democrats to vote in states with key Senate races in November: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire.
For this program, volunteers need to provide their own postcards and stamps. Mail the postcards no later than May 31. They'll email you a list of voters and instructions, which will include the message to write. They'll recommend a place to buy postcards, but you can use any generic postcards or buy them from any source.
Let’s do this!
Win Races! 🗳
Environmental Voter Project is quietly working to ensure that voters in swing states are registered to vote by mail. Can you help?
Tomorrow, from 6-7:30 ET they’re leading a phonebank into Virginia. Register here.
These phonebanks are SO EASY and fun, and once you’re trained you can also call on your own time. Check it out!
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to your Senators] [H/T and H/T] [Quick send: text SIGN PXXCOY to 50409]
Currently, Russia is exploiting a loophole in the sanctions placed on its central bank that are allowing the government and oligarchs to launder money through gold. The Russian Federation is purchasing gold to offset the devaluation of its currency, the ruble, and is then selling that gold on international markets in exchange for high-value currency. This makes our other economic sanctions much less effective.
Because Russia is intent on using any loophole it can find to get around the economic sanctions of the United States and our allies, Congress needs to make it harder for Putin to liquidate Russia’s gold and use those proceeds to fund its invasion of Ukraine.
Fortunately, a bipartisan group of senators just introduced a bill to do just that. The bill, the Stop Russian Government and Oligarchs from Limiting Democracy (Stop Russian GOLD) Act, introduced by Senators King, Cornyn, Hagerty and Hassan, would target Russia's ability to sell gold reserves. It would apply secondary sanctions to any American entities knowingly transacting with or transporting gold from Russia’s central bank holdings, or selling gold physically or electronically in Russia.
I support it and hope the Senator will immediately co-sponsor it. Please fold it into the omnibus spending bill and pass it immediately. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
Responding to your pep talk for today, I want to share that being aware of communities of activism, participating in a few of them, even in modest ways, gives me a view of cause and effect I never saw before. When Nancy changed her mind so quickly about members of Congress not being allowed to do stock trading while in Congress for instance, I was excited that something I participated in did that!! It is very empowering, even though I am personally only doing a little bit. I am doing it regularly, and I am not alone. So thank you, Jessica, and thanks to the larger community of more avid activists you represent. And thanks to the people like me who do what they can, even if it's a little bit.