Hi, all. Happy Friday! And happy Rosh Hashanah to those celebrating the Jewish New Year this weekend! Shana Tova! I’m off to the Youth Climate Strike in Downtown L.A. today so I have to get this newsletter out quickly. I did, though, first want to tell you a story.
If you read Nancy MacLean's book, "Democracy In Chains," (and it's not an easy read, but worth the slow going), you will find the narrative pushed by the right: the "makers" (the rich who create jobs) and the "takers" (those who get anything from the government, including Medicare and Social Security, let alone Medicaid or SNAP). The GOP causes their voters to suffer unnecessarily, because they also push a racist narrative here, that those who "take" are people of color...remember Ronald Reagan's "welfare queen?" Those who "make" jobs are, of course, rich white men. Thank you, Jessica, for making those calls, and trying to help that woman, and us all!
Yes! I really see that. Right now I am reading (or listening to) Matthew Desmond's "Poverty in America." It's a similar thesis, although MacLean's book may be more focussed on the racial angle. But Desmond talks about it, too. You have to! I will be sure to read that book. Didn't she just speak at the NC event I promoted last week? Maybe that event was in the NC email and not the main one, though. I have so many different emails! LOL.
Yes, you did! That was actually an event I organized, and it was just in the NC email. Marilyn Hartman, who lives around the corner from me, reached out to you and asked you to promote it! It was a fabulous event; we had over 95 attendees on zoom on a gorgeous fall afternoon and raised a little over 13K! Thank you so much for your part in helping with that.
"Democracy in Chains" is one of the most important books I have read to open my eyes to what I call "the long game plan" by the right. And I see Jessica's comment about "Poverty in America"...another really important book that helps me to see that we don't have to live like this! (I also recommend Matthew Desmond's "Evicted" about the greed and shenanigans that go on that cause a cycle of poverty and people becoming unhoused)
WAIT!!! Two 🤬ing dollars an hour?!?!? And she doesn't want to get on Medicaid for fear of abusing it? Hopefully, she understood from you that she's actually the one being abused. Onward... BTW, thanks for sharing - woke my blood pressure up.
Hi! Just wanted to let you know, I researched the "Child Care Stabilization Act" and found two at Congress (dot)gov. From what I can see "numbers" have been assigned to both the Senate and House bills of this name. In case you want to update your email. Hopefully, it is the 'act' you were referring to in your latest 9-15th eNewsletter.
Oh wow that must have just happened! Because when I spoke to my Congressmember's office yesterday they looked it up, confirmed he was already a co-sponsor, and told me it was as yet unnumbered. I'll get those numbers for next time, but your lawmakers will know what bill you're talking about.
I was so happy for friends in Tennessee that Aftyn Behn got elected to their state legislature. They are working to turn Tennessee blue, and this is a good boost. How awesome to read that Aftyn Behn subscribes to Chop Wood, Carry Water!
She does! She wrote and asked if I would post a plea for help from her about two weeks before the election and I did. Turns out she absolutely trounced the other guy, but you never know! And I feel really hopeful for Tennessee right now. Lots of good stuff happening there!
Thank you for sharing Julie's story. It's how I grew up. My mom was raising 5 kids on her own from the early 70's to mid 80's. She got $300/month in child support and made 2 to 3 thousand a year working in a cannery and nursing home. She refused public assistance because then her friends and family and community would call her a welfare queen. So you can imagine what is was like for my siblings and I. We have more health issues than we should because we didn't have care as children. I've been fighting against that messaging ever since.
I read the book by Rebecca Solnik called Hope in the Dark, after Jessica provided a quote from it. I'm excited to find out that her brother David has a studio in Richmond, CA where I live. He recently organized the printing of 5 amazing posters to stop fossil fuel.
I am so inspired by your work Jessica and appreciative of what you are doing. I wish that there was a way to get all my friends to subscribe to you. Have you thought of somehow having a membership campaign? There are so many people that I feel can benefit from your work and at the same time should be supporting you. :).
That's so kind of you! I think there is some kind of referral campiagn, because I know others are participating in it--I think if you refer three friends who get a paid subscription you get a free month? But yeah, I typically just let it be a word of mouth thing--friends tell friends. But as we get into these critical, nation-altering elections I suppose I should get a bit more aggressive. Because we do need everyone on board that we can get. Suggestions?
Oh, Jessica! Thank you for phone banking with SURJ to KY and your story about Julie. I was out knocking doors in Louisville yesterday and it's so important to have these types of conversations! (I am a member of the Louisville SURJ chapter) We have so much work to do in KY but it is possible with base building, listening and reaching out to folks who feel they don't have a voice. And, for your readers who don't know about SURJ, I would like to encourage to check them out!
SURJ is honestly one of the best groups I know of. I'm SO GLAD to hear that you are in the Louisville chapter! Yes, everyone, PLEASE join SURJ! Surj.org is the website.
I’m writing for some basic guidance: I’ve just started trying to call my legislators at least 2-3 times per week using information provided here. But I wonder if the office staff who answer the phone start to realize that the same person is calling over and over, and start to dismiss my call.
Any ideas or actual data about the impact of repeat calling by the same person?
Hi Trudi - My understanding is that the staff members who typically handle the calls are trained to just record notes on what issues and positions you are calling about. That feels right to me, based on making quite a few calls to my Representative and Senators.
And may I say, Good for you, making those calls 2 or 3 times a week. Great!
I hope that others will chime in, but here are a few thoughts: 1) Pick a time that is your recruitment week/month/day...2) Come up with a recruitment template that you can ask your current viewers to use that helps describe who you are and what you do. I do struggle to explain you to others - do you consider yourself a democracy advocate? Maybe you can include a little piece on what a week is like in your life so people get the sense of what it takes to do what you do and can appreciate it more.
I think what you are doing is fantastic and we need more people engaged and involved. Maybe you can make your "recruitment" piece be what you would say if you had the forum to speak to everyone who shares your hopes, visions and maybe needs some inspiration to have your passion :).
Then put the request out there. Encourage people to push to anyone they think might be interested. Maybe you can put together a bit of what you think of as your "best of". Of course, I think that there would be too many of those ;).
If you read Nancy MacLean's book, "Democracy In Chains," (and it's not an easy read, but worth the slow going), you will find the narrative pushed by the right: the "makers" (the rich who create jobs) and the "takers" (those who get anything from the government, including Medicare and Social Security, let alone Medicaid or SNAP). The GOP causes their voters to suffer unnecessarily, because they also push a racist narrative here, that those who "take" are people of color...remember Ronald Reagan's "welfare queen?" Those who "make" jobs are, of course, rich white men. Thank you, Jessica, for making those calls, and trying to help that woman, and us all!
Yes! I really see that. Right now I am reading (or listening to) Matthew Desmond's "Poverty in America." It's a similar thesis, although MacLean's book may be more focussed on the racial angle. But Desmond talks about it, too. You have to! I will be sure to read that book. Didn't she just speak at the NC event I promoted last week? Maybe that event was in the NC email and not the main one, though. I have so many different emails! LOL.
Yes, you did! That was actually an event I organized, and it was just in the NC email. Marilyn Hartman, who lives around the corner from me, reached out to you and asked you to promote it! It was a fabulous event; we had over 95 attendees on zoom on a gorgeous fall afternoon and raised a little over 13K! Thank you so much for your part in helping with that.
"Democracy in Chains" is one of the most important books I have read to open my eyes to what I call "the long game plan" by the right. And I see Jessica's comment about "Poverty in America"...another really important book that helps me to see that we don't have to live like this! (I also recommend Matthew Desmond's "Evicted" about the greed and shenanigans that go on that cause a cycle of poverty and people becoming unhoused)
WAIT!!! Two 🤬ing dollars an hour?!?!? And she doesn't want to get on Medicaid for fear of abusing it? Hopefully, she understood from you that she's actually the one being abused. Onward... BTW, thanks for sharing - woke my blood pressure up.
Isn’t it crazy? But that’s what republicans teach their voters. So sad.
Thanks for everything Jess. Happy New Year. I appreciate the story about Medicaid. I had no idea.
I thought about you, Alan! I even though about telling her to subscribe to your newsletter, but the poor thing has no time to read. ):
Hi! Just wanted to let you know, I researched the "Child Care Stabilization Act" and found two at Congress (dot)gov. From what I can see "numbers" have been assigned to both the Senate and House bills of this name. In case you want to update your email. Hopefully, it is the 'act' you were referring to in your latest 9-15th eNewsletter.
Oh wow that must have just happened! Because when I spoke to my Congressmember's office yesterday they looked it up, confirmed he was already a co-sponsor, and told me it was as yet unnumbered. I'll get those numbers for next time, but your lawmakers will know what bill you're talking about.
I was so happy for friends in Tennessee that Aftyn Behn got elected to their state legislature. They are working to turn Tennessee blue, and this is a good boost. How awesome to read that Aftyn Behn subscribes to Chop Wood, Carry Water!
She does! She wrote and asked if I would post a plea for help from her about two weeks before the election and I did. Turns out she absolutely trounced the other guy, but you never know! And I feel really hopeful for Tennessee right now. Lots of good stuff happening there!
Thank you for sharing Julie's story. It's how I grew up. My mom was raising 5 kids on her own from the early 70's to mid 80's. She got $300/month in child support and made 2 to 3 thousand a year working in a cannery and nursing home. She refused public assistance because then her friends and family and community would call her a welfare queen. So you can imagine what is was like for my siblings and I. We have more health issues than we should because we didn't have care as children. I've been fighting against that messaging ever since.
Heartbreaking. Thank you so much for working to change the future so that other kids can have a different experience.
Sweet New Year to all!
Back atcha!
I read the book by Rebecca Solnik called Hope in the Dark, after Jessica provided a quote from it. I'm excited to find out that her brother David has a studio in Richmond, CA where I live. He recently organized the printing of 5 amazing posters to stop fossil fuel.
I am so inspired by your work Jessica and appreciative of what you are doing. I wish that there was a way to get all my friends to subscribe to you. Have you thought of somehow having a membership campaign? There are so many people that I feel can benefit from your work and at the same time should be supporting you. :).
That's so kind of you! I think there is some kind of referral campiagn, because I know others are participating in it--I think if you refer three friends who get a paid subscription you get a free month? But yeah, I typically just let it be a word of mouth thing--friends tell friends. But as we get into these critical, nation-altering elections I suppose I should get a bit more aggressive. Because we do need everyone on board that we can get. Suggestions?
Oh, Jessica! Thank you for phone banking with SURJ to KY and your story about Julie. I was out knocking doors in Louisville yesterday and it's so important to have these types of conversations! (I am a member of the Louisville SURJ chapter) We have so much work to do in KY but it is possible with base building, listening and reaching out to folks who feel they don't have a voice. And, for your readers who don't know about SURJ, I would like to encourage to check them out!
SURJ is honestly one of the best groups I know of. I'm SO GLAD to hear that you are in the Louisville chapter! Yes, everyone, PLEASE join SURJ! Surj.org is the website.
I’m writing for some basic guidance: I’ve just started trying to call my legislators at least 2-3 times per week using information provided here. But I wonder if the office staff who answer the phone start to realize that the same person is calling over and over, and start to dismiss my call.
Any ideas or actual data about the impact of repeat calling by the same person?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Trudi
Hi, Trudi! I answer that question in my FAQ doc. Find it here! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yug2slxUsuKNduC7uLF4u4VbOrh56CbPg_rzzNhTpfA/edit
Hi Trudi - My understanding is that the staff members who typically handle the calls are trained to just record notes on what issues and positions you are calling about. That feels right to me, based on making quite a few calls to my Representative and Senators.
And may I say, Good for you, making those calls 2 or 3 times a week. Great!
Yes Bill that's exactly right. They tally how many calls, not who makes them.
Thanks very much!
I hope that others will chime in, but here are a few thoughts: 1) Pick a time that is your recruitment week/month/day...2) Come up with a recruitment template that you can ask your current viewers to use that helps describe who you are and what you do. I do struggle to explain you to others - do you consider yourself a democracy advocate? Maybe you can include a little piece on what a week is like in your life so people get the sense of what it takes to do what you do and can appreciate it more.
I think what you are doing is fantastic and we need more people engaged and involved. Maybe you can make your "recruitment" piece be what you would say if you had the forum to speak to everyone who shares your hopes, visions and maybe needs some inspiration to have your passion :).
Then put the request out there. Encourage people to push to anyone they think might be interested. Maybe you can put together a bit of what you think of as your "best of". Of course, I think that there would be too many of those ;).
Question: Is phoning representatives and senators more effective than e-mailing them?
The answer is in my FAQs doc! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yug2slxUsuKNduC7uLF4u4VbOrh56CbPg_rzzNhTpfA/edit