Re: your breaking out in tears, Joanna Macy says “ the heart breaking open is the appropriate response.” Let none of us feel embarrassed or need to apologize for our tears. Our culture really needs to get over it’s aversion to deep genuine grieving .Thanks for modeling that.
I love that you quote Joanna Macy, whom I worked with a few times many years ago, and I loved Jessica's tears. We have much to grieve, and, if anything, I believe our grief can fuel our action(s).
I'm canvassing for Gay Valimont in Florida's First Congressional District tomorrow. Being an extra in her commercials today and tomorrow as well. Working to get rid of Matt gaetz!
Reading about your emotional moment on the Zoom yesterday, we couldn't help but think that by showing your emotions so spontaneously, that you positively impacted the audience in a way staying coll and collected could not have. Vulnerability touches people deeply. What a stroke of good fortune that you didn't edit your emotions and let things flow. Brava!
I'll be canvassing in Durham in the Hayti district with the Durham Dems. Hayti was a thriving Black community until urban 'removal/renewal' put a highway through the middle of it decades ago. The mayor of Durham, Leo Williams (he spoke at the DNC convention) and other elected officials will be canvassing alongside us, and the canvass will begin and end with a social gathering in a park. The people we canvass will be invited to join us at the gathering after the canvass. Should be fun!
I'm one of those overseas voters (and don't assume that we're not fully aware of what's going on in the U.S.; we're still U.S. citizens and I've voted in every election whether at home in Chicago or from overseas since I turned 18 a looooong time ago!), and thanks to your list contacted votefwd.org, where I found I can write letters to other (targeted and registered) U.S. overseas voters! All over the world! They still have 40,000 voters waiting to be adopted, and the letters need to go out by September 30 (longer lead time for mailing and longer return time for those ballots). Overseas voters live in all different countries (it's really fun addressing the envelopes), and we also vote in all different states. You never know which couple of voters we can urge over the edge in critical states.
The first go round earlier this year was a randomized control trial to see if the letters were effective inb getting voters abroad to register. I guess it showed encouraging results (or else they needed more data to measure the effectiveness) since they created a larger campaign.
Hi Pamela, I'm also writing letter to Americans overseas. I wrote a big bunch back in June sending them absentee ballot applications. I really like this current reminder letter to vote early. Each one takes a bit of time to do, and postage costs a bit more, but I feel it is so worth it as they tell us voters overseas are pretty much ignored by all the election work over here. I also write postcards with Field Team 6, Blue Wave, and Center for Common Ground. And I am working at screwing up my courage to make DCCC Ballot Cure phone calls or for the Voter Protection calls Jessica wrote about today. I am such a nervous wreck when making regular phone calls where you have to talk about the issues, so I'm hoping these info only calls will do the trick to get me over my nerves for the future.
You can also do this through https://www.democratsabroad.org/ . We're always looking for volunteers (the whole organization is volunteer). And please be sure anyone you know who needs a ballot requests it through votefromabroad.org and not from other random websites that aren't trusted. There are a few that advertise all over the place.
I don’t have any Save Democracy plans yet for the weekend but I’m just finishing a voter registration drive where we registered a first time voter. She just became a citizen two days ago after living her for 35 years. She told us that this time she absolutely had to be able to vote.
Hi Sherry. My local League of Women Voters chapter registers new citizens at every single naturalization ceremony. I usually sign up to do it once or twice per month.
You shouldn't feel embarrassed about getting emotional during your segment. It was so raw and real and it touched us all!! Thanks so much for participating! We loved having you.
Yesterday I was in the Democrats Abroad UK London campaign office and we were streaming the call, but I had to leave before you came on, Jessica. I'm sorry I missed it -- you have so many admirers here. Today I along with groups of trained voter registration volunteers held voter drives at three study abroad centers in London which had among them well over 1,200 US citizen students here for a semester abroad. We helped them register and request their ballots and they REALLY want to vote! In the coming weeks we will be staffing drives all over the UK. Overseas voters have been the margin of victory for Democrats in close elections up and down the ballot and we are determined to make that happen again, with the help of thousands of young voters who are studying all over the world. They are safer from gun violence outside the US than in it--and that is just one thing they want to change.
Last night was Thursday postcarding with Simon Rosenberg's Hopium Community (I'll be doing that again next week!), and this Saturday I'll be phonebanking Dem voters in PA with the team from fated Fated States and Indivisible--this is a great group of romance novel writers and readers who gather on Zoom to defend democracy. Lots of joy and laughter and discussions about what we're reading (or writing!) now! We'll be phonebanking together, every Saturday from 1 - 3 PM ET from now until the election. Here's the sign up link if you're interested in joining us: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/665082/ (And our household is postcarding with Field Team Six to register voters in NC every single day from now until mid-October!!)
thank you for your honest tears, Jess. We need our open hearts in this moment. I am writing letters to working America members. Working America is an amazing organization, empowering working class people. They have a multi layered, evidence based approach to listen, offer support, and at election time giving their 5 million members the information they need to vote for candidates who support what’s important to them. They are about a quarter way through their goal of 1 million letters, so they could use more volunteers. hope you’re join me. https://volunteer.workingamerica.org/
when you click on, “sign up to volunteer” you’ll come to the page with choices for states to write to. Before you can choose a state, though, you need to sign up for an account. You do that from the upper right corner dropped down menu, and choose sign up. Then you should be able to choose a state and indicate how many contacts you want to receive. Then you will get a confirmation email with your list of contacts on a Google sheet, the letter template, and a link to go back to the website. It is a little confusing. I’m happy to help anybody who’s having trouble if I can.
One thing I like is you can type up your personal story and then just cut and paste it into your letter. so the only writing is the address, The person’s name and signing your name. I also get return address labels printed off at the copy place.
Oh, really? The instructions were really vague to me, but I assumed I had to write out the personal story. That would make sending these letters out much easier!
I went to the orientation meetings a couple of times and they made it clear. We had the option to either hand write or type and cut and paste into the letter. Some people like to write. I prefer to be able to send more letters and write less. Working America is researching every aspect and it apparently is as effective whether you write it long hand or type and paste it in.
I'll be hosting the Swing Blue Alliance phone bank to elect Janelle Stelson and eject Scott Perry in PA-10. Come join me and my co-hosts Jean Capizzi and Aidan Ferguson at the link in today's (9/6) Chop Wood, Carry Water email.
Re: your breaking out in tears, Joanna Macy says “ the heart breaking open is the appropriate response.” Let none of us feel embarrassed or need to apologize for our tears. Our culture really needs to get over it’s aversion to deep genuine grieving .Thanks for modeling that.
Thank you, Linda.
I love that you quote Joanna Macy, whom I worked with a few times many years ago, and I loved Jessica's tears. We have much to grieve, and, if anything, I believe our grief can fuel our action(s).
I'm canvassing for Gay Valimont in Florida's First Congressional District tomorrow. Being an extra in her commercials today and tomorrow as well. Working to get rid of Matt gaetz!
Fantastic thank you!
I wish you success with that!!
Oh brother, do I hope you get rid of that little twerp. Good luck!!!
Reading about your emotional moment on the Zoom yesterday, we couldn't help but think that by showing your emotions so spontaneously, that you positively impacted the audience in a way staying coll and collected could not have. Vulnerability touches people deeply. What a stroke of good fortune that you didn't edit your emotions and let things flow. Brava!
That's very kind of you. Thank you.
Crying over another tragedy is honorable and compassionate, not embarrassing. I write Postcards every evening!
Thanks, Cherie.
I'll be canvassing in Durham in the Hayti district with the Durham Dems. Hayti was a thriving Black community until urban 'removal/renewal' put a highway through the middle of it decades ago. The mayor of Durham, Leo Williams (he spoke at the DNC convention) and other elected officials will be canvassing alongside us, and the canvass will begin and end with a social gathering in a park. The people we canvass will be invited to join us at the gathering after the canvass. Should be fun!
Amazing! Thank you for all you do, MArilyn!
If you want to know more about opps in NC, check out this google doc: https://tinyurl.com/VotingRightsActions.
Regardless of where you live, if you want to see my Insider's Guide to election activism, check out my new blog: https://marilynhartman.substack.com/.
I'm one of those overseas voters (and don't assume that we're not fully aware of what's going on in the U.S.; we're still U.S. citizens and I've voted in every election whether at home in Chicago or from overseas since I turned 18 a looooong time ago!), and thanks to your list contacted votefwd.org, where I found I can write letters to other (targeted and registered) U.S. overseas voters! All over the world! They still have 40,000 voters waiting to be adopted, and the letters need to go out by September 30 (longer lead time for mailing and longer return time for those ballots). Overseas voters live in all different countries (it's really fun addressing the envelopes), and we also vote in all different states. You never know which couple of voters we can urge over the edge in critical states.
Oh I am so glad to know this! I thought they had given out all of those addresses! I will order some up!
The first go round earlier this year was a randomized control trial to see if the letters were effective inb getting voters abroad to register. I guess it showed encouraging results (or else they needed more data to measure the effectiveness) since they created a larger campaign.
Hi Pamela, I'm also writing letter to Americans overseas. I wrote a big bunch back in June sending them absentee ballot applications. I really like this current reminder letter to vote early. Each one takes a bit of time to do, and postage costs a bit more, but I feel it is so worth it as they tell us voters overseas are pretty much ignored by all the election work over here. I also write postcards with Field Team 6, Blue Wave, and Center for Common Ground. And I am working at screwing up my courage to make DCCC Ballot Cure phone calls or for the Voter Protection calls Jessica wrote about today. I am such a nervous wreck when making regular phone calls where you have to talk about the issues, so I'm hoping these info only calls will do the trick to get me over my nerves for the future.
You can also do this through https://www.democratsabroad.org/ . We're always looking for volunteers (the whole organization is volunteer). And please be sure anyone you know who needs a ballot requests it through votefromabroad.org and not from other random websites that aren't trusted. There are a few that advertise all over the place.
I don’t have any Save Democracy plans yet for the weekend but I’m just finishing a voter registration drive where we registered a first time voter. She just became a citizen two days ago after living her for 35 years. She told us that this time she absolutely had to be able to vote.
Thank you, Sherry!
Hi Sherry. My local League of Women Voters chapter registers new citizens at every single naturalization ceremony. I usually sign up to do it once or twice per month.
You shouldn't feel embarrassed about getting emotional during your segment. It was so raw and real and it touched us all!! Thanks so much for participating! We loved having you.
Aw thank you, Marian. I appreciate that.
Thanks for all you do, Jessica! I will be phone-banking for the Harris-Walz campaign on Saturday and writing letters for Vote Forward!
AMAZING! Thank you!
Yesterday I was in the Democrats Abroad UK London campaign office and we were streaming the call, but I had to leave before you came on, Jessica. I'm sorry I missed it -- you have so many admirers here. Today I along with groups of trained voter registration volunteers held voter drives at three study abroad centers in London which had among them well over 1,200 US citizen students here for a semester abroad. We helped them register and request their ballots and they REALLY want to vote! In the coming weeks we will be staffing drives all over the UK. Overseas voters have been the margin of victory for Democrats in close elections up and down the ballot and we are determined to make that happen again, with the help of thousands of young voters who are studying all over the world. They are safer from gun violence outside the US than in it--and that is just one thing they want to change.
Laura, you have totally blown me away! THANK YOU!
Last night was Thursday postcarding with Simon Rosenberg's Hopium Community (I'll be doing that again next week!), and this Saturday I'll be phonebanking Dem voters in PA with the team from fated Fated States and Indivisible--this is a great group of romance novel writers and readers who gather on Zoom to defend democracy. Lots of joy and laughter and discussions about what we're reading (or writing!) now! We'll be phonebanking together, every Saturday from 1 - 3 PM ET from now until the election. Here's the sign up link if you're interested in joining us: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/665082/ (And our household is postcarding with Field Team Six to register voters in NC every single day from now until mid-October!!)
I put that phonebank in the newsletter yesterday! Thank you SO MUCH!
(And our household is postcarding with Field Team Six to register voters in NC every single day from now until mid-October!!)
⬆️
This NC resident says thank you!!
I'm going to be doing the post it notes with several groups of friends and putting them in public bathrooms!!! Thanks for that great idea!
Incredible! Where do. you live?
Postcarding this weekend, doing my best to keep it legible! 💙
Thank you!
I'll be postcarding this weekend to get Ohio voters registered!
Amazing, Antoinette! Thank you!
thank you for your honest tears, Jess. We need our open hearts in this moment. I am writing letters to working America members. Working America is an amazing organization, empowering working class people. They have a multi layered, evidence based approach to listen, offer support, and at election time giving their 5 million members the information they need to vote for candidates who support what’s important to them. They are about a quarter way through their goal of 1 million letters, so they could use more volunteers. hope you’re join me. https://volunteer.workingamerica.org/
I want to do this so badly but find their dashboard a little confusing...
when you click on, “sign up to volunteer” you’ll come to the page with choices for states to write to. Before you can choose a state, though, you need to sign up for an account. You do that from the upper right corner dropped down menu, and choose sign up. Then you should be able to choose a state and indicate how many contacts you want to receive. Then you will get a confirmation email with your list of contacts on a Google sheet, the letter template, and a link to go back to the website. It is a little confusing. I’m happy to help anybody who’s having trouble if I can.
One thing I like is you can type up your personal story and then just cut and paste it into your letter. so the only writing is the address, The person’s name and signing your name. I also get return address labels printed off at the copy place.
Oh, really? The instructions were really vague to me, but I assumed I had to write out the personal story. That would make sending these letters out much easier!
I went to the orientation meetings a couple of times and they made it clear. We had the option to either hand write or type and cut and paste into the letter. Some people like to write. I prefer to be able to send more letters and write less. Working America is researching every aspect and it apparently is as effective whether you write it long hand or type and paste it in.
by the way, if you’re checking out Working America’s website, it’s much more functional if you’re on Computer instead of on your phone.
I'll be hosting the Swing Blue Alliance phone bank to elect Janelle Stelson and eject Scott Perry in PA-10. Come join me and my co-hosts Jean Capizzi and Aidan Ferguson at the link in today's (9/6) Chop Wood, Carry Water email.
SBA phonebanks are my favorite!