Happy Tuesday, Activists!
We have so much to cover today, most of it exciting! And two Calls To Action to start the path to accountability and healing.
First up -- Constituent Comment Card Recap
Thanks to you, we took 150 comment cards to Senator Toomey and Senator Casey’s offices! Below is a photo of our intrepid delivery team at Senator Casey’s office.
GOT INAUGURATION DAY PLANS?
Join our Inauguration Watch Party tomorrow.
Let’s celebrate this inauguration together! We worked so hard to see this day. Let’s raise a glass (or coffee mug!) and toast the new president and vice president and watch the festivities together. We’ll start the zoom at 11:00 and keep it open until about 4:00. So stop by any time and say hi!
Sign up here for the zoom link to join.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service – follow-up
You may have heard that yesterday President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden came to Philadelphia for their MLK Day of Service activity, loading boxes of food at Philabundance. The Bidens were there with two of their granddaughters – and one of our members!
Many of you know the fabulous Roopa, one of the leaders of our huge election postcard project. Roopa is a long-standing and extremely involved volunteer at Philabundance and was one of the very few volunteers invited to be there along with the Bidens. Check out the photos below! We celebrate you, Roopa!
OUR NEXT MEETING: JUDICIAL GERRYMANDERING
We have scheduled two meetings to learn about the judicial gerrymandering scam the Republican-controlled PA legislature is trying to have passed as a PA Constitutional Amendment. If passed, this change will put significant political pressure on our judges and their rulings. It has to be passed by the voters and Governor Wolf cannot veto it. We can’t let this pass.
Join us to learn all about it and what we will do to prevent it. The meetings are at two different times on Wednesday, February 3, on Zoom.
We have two phenomenal expert speakers for these issues:
Deborah R. Gross, Esq., President and CEO, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts
Carol Kuniholm, Chair, Fair Districts PA
When: Wednesday, February 3, 1:00 pm
When: Wednesday, February 3, 7:00 pm
CALL TO ACTION
For Philadelphia:
Sen. Toomey – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. 202-224-4254; Allentown 610-434-1444; Erie 814-453-3010; Harrisburg 717-782-3951; Johnstown 814-266-5970; Pittsburgh 412-803-3501; Wilkes-Barre 570-820-4088; email link
Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. 202-224-6324; Scranton 570-941-0930; Erie 814-874-5080; Harrisburg 717-231-7540; Pittsburgh 412-803-7370; Bellefonte 814-357-0314; Allentown 610-782-9470; email link.
Rep. Evans – D.C. office 202-225-4001; Phila. office (215) 276-0340; email link
Rep. Boyle – D.C. office 202-225-6111; Phila offices 215-335-3355; 215-426-4616, 215-744-7901, 215-982-1156, 267-335-5643; email link.
For outside Philadelphia:
Find your House Representative’s phone number and email at this link.
Find your Senators’ phone numbers and emails at this link.
Two actions for this week.
1. First, the Senate reconvenes today and at some point they will be presented with the House Article of Impeachment. Then the Senate trial will begin. Call our senators demand they vote to convict and to disqualify Trump from ever holding office again.
2. Next, we need to pressure Congress to vote on statehood for DC.
In light of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we can reflect on his life and legacy and apply it to this struggle. We need to take action and demand justice for the 700,000 people who’ve been disenfranchised in the District of Columbia. One of the key priorities outlined in the new Indivisible Guide is democracy reform, and that starts with addressing critical racial justice and civil rights issues like DC statehood. Historically, racist politicians have prevented DC from becoming a state because the city has long been a majority Black city. You can read more detail in our previous newsletters here, here, or here.
Indivisible has some thoughts on putting this into perspective and add some urgency to finally getting DC statehood done –
“Like a mirror held up before the country, King was honest about America’s plagues – the white-supremacist violence, the racial segregation, the institutionalized discrimination and disenfranchisement -- and for being honest, he was assassinated. In his ‘Letters From Birmingham Jail’ King expressed that freedom is never given voluntarily -- it must be demanded.
We can never forget that when demanding more power, when making the institutions that exploit us uncomfortable and quake, there will be a struggle. America was founded on the oppression of Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples, and our democracy was rigged from the start. If we hope to make our democracy as inclusive and representative as possible, we’re going to have to demand change, and expect a backlash from those who are in power.
We’ll leave you with King’s words from ‘Letters from Birmingham Jail’:
For years now I have heard the word ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never.’ We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied.’
We’re tired of waiting – and we hope you’ll make calls or send emails this week demanding D.C. statehood.”
NEW – Indivisible National Focus Groups
Interested in being part of Indivisible’s working groups to make progress on the issues you care about? Check out the first two groups and their initial meetings. Sign up to be part of the conversation.
1. Democracy Reform Working Group Kick-Off
Join National Indivisible's Democracy Reform working group for our inaugural kick-off call! This working group will bring together Indivisibles from across the country to coordinate advocacy efforts around court reform, filibuster reform, and DC statehood. Please reach out to aftyn@indivisible.org for any additional questions!
Time – January 21, 8:00 pm
2. Climate Working Group Kick-Off
Join National Indivisible's Climate working group for our inaugural kick-off call! This working group will bring together Indivisibles from across the country to coordinate federal advocacy efforts around climate justice issues. Please reach out to aftyn@indivisible.org for any additional questions!
Time – January 25, 8:00 pm
Hope to see you tomorrow for the Inauguration! In the meantime . . . .
Stay safe. Keep a distance. Wear a mask. Be kind.