Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/20

Hi, all, and happy Thursday!

Hope you enjoyed your rare midweek break. I can’t pretend I took the day off completely—I didn’t—but I did have a lighter day than usual, and even that was nice. I so enjoyed, too, watching my fellow Americans acknowledge and celebrate such a hugely important day—one that wasn’t even a federal holiday until 2021! We got free Juneteenth cupcakes at our local taco place last night, for example! It was wonderful—America at her best.

Progress is happening, folks. It’s all around us if we look for it.

Speaking of which, reader Susan Troy posted a quote from John Lewis in the comments yesterday. I’d read parts of it before, but not the extended version. I thought I’d share it with you:

Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.

Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society.

Take a long, hard look down the road you will have to travel once you have made a commitment to work for change. Know that this transformation will not happen right away. Change often takes time. It rarely happens all at once. In the movement, we didn't know how history would play itself out. When we were getting arrested and waiting in jail or standing in unmovable lines on the courthouse steps, we didn't know what would happen, but we knew it had to happen.

It’s that last line I just love: “We didn’t know what would happen, but we knew it had to happen.” We, too, have no idea how the future will play out, but we understand what our roles are today. We know what our actions must be. We know the direction in which we must march.

The rest is in the hands of history.

There’s a certain freedom in that, isn’t there? We can’t control results, so why try? We can simply keep doing the work one day at a time, taking the actions we know must be taken, regardless of how they play out. Chop wood, carry water. Rest. Repeat.

It sounds simplistic, but it’s a formula that works—often much better than we expect. And regardless of outcome, it’s how we change the story for the better. Even if we’ll never know how that story ends.

So let’s get chopping one more time.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I understand that lawmakers in both the Senate and the House are working on legislation, to be announced any day now, to repeal the parts of the Comstock Act that deal with abortion. Is the Senator helping with this effort? If not I’d like him/her to. I’m a pro-choice voter and I’ll be watching to make sure my Senator is fighting for reproductive freedom.

Also I’m furious that a Republican Senator blocked the passage of the bump stock bill on Tuesday. Gun violence is another top issue for me; Americans want action on bump stocks, as well as assault weapons, safe storage, and background checks. If we don’t get it with this Congress we will vote in one that will act. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I understand that lawmakers in both the Senate and the House are working on legislation, to be announced immanently, to repeal the parts of the Comstock Act that deal with abortion. Is the Congressmember helping with this effort? If not I’d like him/her to. I’m a pro-choice voter and I’ll be watching to make sure my lawmakers are fighting for my reproductive freedom.

[If GOP add:]

Also, I understand that Republicans just narrowly passed an NDAA that is filled with poison pills on abortion, LGBTQ rights, climate, and more. This infuriates me. We are tired of Republicans’ stunts. We don’t want culture wars. We want lawmakers that govern responsibly. Right now Republicans can’t seem to do that; I’ll remember it on Election Day. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s send this short letter to President Biden through his contact form. Background info is here.

I’m writing to ask the U.S. to open pathways to Palestinian refugees, particularly those with family members in the United States, to seek relief in the United States. You can do this by granting Priority-2 designation to certain Palestinians with immediate family members in the U.S. The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis and we should be helping civilians—especially women, children, and the elderly—get out in every way we can. Please grant Priority-2 designation to refugees with American families who are looking to escape the violence in Gaza. Thanks.

Get Smart! 📚

National Briefing on Reproductive Justice with Movement Voter Project—on Wednesday, June 26 @ 5 pm PT

Hear from Movement Voter PAC staff and organizers on the ground about the plan to protect and expand reproductive rights in 2024 by pursuing three key objectives:

• Win a pro-choice federal trifecta by mobilizing pro-choice swing-state voters.

• Leverage ballot measures to secure abortion rights and turn out unlikely voters.

• Build pro-choice state power by winning state Supreme Court & legislative majorities.

Register here.

Spread the Word! 📣

The Center For American Progress is out with a short new explainer about the Comstock Act and how it will be used to ban abortion medication under a second Trump administration. Please read it and please share. There is very little awareness—I mean almost none—of the Comstock Act in America, yet if a Trump DOJ chooses to weaponize it we will lose the medication used in 60% of American abortions, as well as in miscarriage care and for other medical purposes.

We’ve got to get the word out. Please read this short piece and disseminate it widely.

Also, I just discovered CAP’s “top performers” content library and it is INCREDIBLE! Check it out and use it often! There’s so much good graphic content in there to help spread the word about Biden’s good work and the danger of MAGA.

Give 💰!

We are $1300 away from our goal in the Chop Wood, Carry Statehouses matching campaign! SOOO CLOSE! Give here to help me close the gap? And my gosh, read this new NYT article about the States Project’s work. It’s incredibly inspiring!

Win Races! 🗳

From reader Cheryl Johnson:

I recently ran across a website that had downloadable QR codes that would take you to the voter registration portal for each state. This will give you a means to help people register to vote on the fly. An easy way to get young people registered is to ask them if they are registered. If they answer No, ask if they are interested and pull up the QR code of the state you are in.  

I [also] have a sticker I bought on Etsy with a QR code that takes you to vote.org. I put it on the back of my phone, which serves the same purpose for getting people connected to the vote registration website. But you could use the downloadable QR code in your email signature or put it on your social media account. This is an easy low effort form of activism. If enough of us practice it, we CAN increase voter registration.

YESSSS!

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

[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PWMJKR to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

I am writing today as your constituent to urge you to pass the Break the Cycle of Violence Act (H.R 5003/S. 2638).

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their communities, and yet every 11 minutes, there’s a fatal shooting in the United States. That is unacceptable. This public

health crisis is destroying families and costing our nation $557 billion every year, in addition to the emotional cost of not having loved ones home safe and sound.

Our communities are hurting. We need to do everything we can to stop the violence before it happens.

The Break the Cycle of Violence Act would provide federal grants for community violence intervention programs that are proven to reduce gun violence. These programs foster collaboration between residents and officials to address neighborhoods’ unique needs. They expand economic opportunities to communities facing hardships and engage individuals at the highest risk of being affected by violence, thus breaking the cycle.

Despite these programs having existed in communities across the country for years and demonstrating success, they continue to experience inadequate funding. By passing the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, you can save lives and ensure more communities are free from gun violence.

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

Talk soon.

Jess