Hopelessness is the opposite of justice.
Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
It’s Election Day in Wisconsin, so as soon as I’m done here I’ll be jumping straight on Activate America’s dialer to help get out the vote. I called for two hours yesterday and was, as always, totally rejuvenated by the feeling that comes from doing something to effect the outcome of a critical election—as opposed to just worrying about it.
These elections in Wisconsin involve at least two MAGA nutcases who are running for election supervision positions. It’s critically important that we beat them. If you’ve phone banked for Activate America before you can jump o the dialer at any point today. Toolkit here.
There’s a lot that’s scary happening right now. A lot that’s heartbreaking. A lot that’s infuriating.
But there are also SO MANY great people working their hearts out to make sure we prevail.
They know that giving up isn’t an option. That “checking out” is a privilege we can’t afford. That perseverance is mandatory if we believe in justice.
And that hope is an action.
So let’s go practice hope one more time.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling once more to say that I want the Senator to vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s wildly qualified nominee, to the Supreme Court. I also want the Senator to vote NO on Jennifer Rearden, his one truly awful judicial nominee, and YES on all of his strong nominees for the Fed, the FCC, and the FTC. It’s unacceptable that these confirmations are taking so long. We need these seats filled! Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
First, I want to say how glad I am that the House passed the MORE Act last week. Now I’d like them to pass H.R.5657, the Medical Marijuana Research Act. This bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act to make marijuana accessible for use by qualified marijuana researchers. It’s a good companion bill to the MORE Act and I hope the Congressmember will support it. Thanks!
Extra Credit ✅
🚨 URGENT Action Alert! 🚨
Y’all, we can be of real help here.
In 2008, Melissa Lucio, a Mexican-American mom from the Rio Grande Valley, was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death after her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, died following an accidental fall. Melissa is facing execution on April 27, because of a biased and inadequate death investigation. Activist groups are joining together to call for the scheduled execution of Melissa Lucio to be halted.
Please write a letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Follow the instructions and print one of the template letters here, sign, and send to the addresses listed at the bottom! (You can also handwrite if easier). We need to get at least 50 letters per office, so we need 70 volunteers to send 2 letters each. I’m raising my hand. 👋🏼 How about you?
Get Smart! 📚
Friendly reminder:
If you’re a Spectrum internet TV customer and you’ve absolutely HAD IT with Fox “News,” join me (I’m co-hosting!) and Defenders of Democracy Against Disinformation (DDAD) at a Zoom Workshop this Thursday on how to subscribe to Spectrum TV Choice and GO FOX-NEWS-FREE WITH SPECTRUM TV. Stop subsidizing this toxic network in your monthly TV payment.
Thursday, April 7th, 6-7 pm Pacific Time/9-10 pm Eastern Time. Register here.
[Extra credit—post the above on social!]
Flip FLORIDA! 🍊
Y’all, I just got off the Big Tent meeting where the two Mi Vecino co-founders spoke. I’m blown away. This organization—the only full-time, year round voter registration org in Florida—is INCREDIBLE. What they’re doing gave me so much hope. I actually made a donation, which I hadn’t planned on doing.
If you have any spare cash I’m sticking out my tip jar for Mi Vecino. Please make a donation. WE NEED THEM to expand their work. Tax deductible donations here. Non-tax deductible (more partisan work) here.
And don’t forget, if you want to help flip Florida I’ve got an adopt-Florida newsletter (sign up here) and resource doc (check it out here).
Win Races! 🗳
More letter writing opportunities! So cool!
Working America is conducting a set of letter experiments. They will be sending 30,000 letters to recipients in AZ, GA, MI, MN, NV, NC, OH, PA, and WI, focusing on health care, worker pay, affordable housing, and climate change. These personalized letters will increase the importance of these issues and frame how folks think about their civic engagement.
Sign up now to send letters as a part of this experiment. Shortly after sign up, you will receive a follow-up email with instructions, templates, and directions to get access to your list of 50 letter recipients. You will put your letters in the mail between April 18th-25th.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to all 3 reps] [quick send text SIGN PREWCU to 50409]
Yesterday’s IPCC report was very clear: we aren’t doing nearly enough to slow climate change. This is all the more frustrating as the report points out that we can do so much! We have the technology to save ourselves.
The only thing stopping us is greed. Pure and simple.
The IPCC clearly names fossil fuels as the #1 driver of climate change. We are running out of time. We must stop fossil fuel expansion. We must transition QUICKLY to renewable energy. President Biden needs to declare a climate emergency to prevent irreversible harm and mass suffering. Then he needs to use the Defense Production Act to build the green infrastructure we need—and create loads of jobs— fast.
I am asking you, as my elected representative, to prioritize the climate emergency. Push the President towards aggressive action. Hold oil and gas companies accountable for their reckless profiteering. And for God’s sake work to pass legislation to speed the transition along. Your children and grandchildren will thank you, and so will your constituents.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
Bill McKibben Third Act and 350.org suggests we cancel credit cards connected to Chase, Citi Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo—all involved in supporting fossil fuel and lobbyists—as a means of nonviolently expressing disapproval of this support.
Jessica, will the DDAD Zoom be recorded? I have two other commitments that night and I'd like to watch. I can't get my husband to quit AT&T which just drives me crazy so I want to find out as much as I can about getting FAUX news off my cable. I get DDAD emails too so I am studying how to do this. One thing that I know works for any cable company is to threaten to quit them and then they might scramble to keep you.
And I love the Bryan Stevenson quote today. He is one of my heroes and his book Just Mercy tears at your heart when you read it. It's important but so sad in many ways.