For the safety of our community, we are conducting our meetings online until conditions permit us to resume assembling in person.
Monday June 20th, 7 PM Reproductive Freedom
Fighting Back, Moving Forward! with Carrie Baker
With the likely fall of Roe, American women will once again be without Constitutional protection to control our own bodies.
And it doesn't stop here.
No, this is part of a larger, systemic effort to make America (more) patriarchal & elitist again. Extremists are stoking fear and hatred to distract us as they try to take away our rights and entrench their greedy grip on power.
If we let them.
We are here - you are reading this - because we will not let them - we will fight. Every phone call, postcard, rally, letter, zoom meeting - is one crucial drop that together we contribute to this oceanic fight.
And in the arena of reproductive rights, we have no better guide to truly understanding the present realities and the most effective and powerful strategies to resist and fight, than Northampton’s own Dr. Carrie Baker.
Join IN-SLWM
Monday, June 6th, 7pm EST
as we welcome back
Dr. Carrie Baker
who will discuss the current status of U.S. women’s reproductive freedom (including the right to an abortion), the resistance strategies people are already using, and what we can do right now to join the fight for women’s equality and freedom!
Dr. Baker is a professor and former Chair in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College, and was a co-founder and former co-director of the Five College Certificate in Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
ACTIONS
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE NOW
Phone
Banking
Illustraton by PA Phone Banker, Nora Brown
PENNSYLVANIA! Phone banks to flip PA
Every Thursday, 6-8pm on Zoom
Join like-minded activists from across the country on Thursday evenings, to help save democracy by expanding the Democratic electorate - and so electing more Pro-Choice, Pro-Democracy Democrats in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania!
Our elected officials can truly represent WE THE PEOPLE, and pass laws to codify our reproductive and civil rights. They can unrig the Supreme Court by passing laws to enact term limits, increase the number of Justices, and enforce ethical standards for SCOTUS.
But only if we elect the politicians who will do just this.
We know that PA is a pivotal state, with an open, flippable U.S. Senate seat, an open governor's race we have to hold (as the governor has provided crucial vetoes on attempts by the GOP dominated legislature to pass terrible voting laws), and new, much fairer districts that make flipping 1 or both state houses a real possibility this year!
Every Thursday evening, 6-8pm, IN continues our partnership with 2 on-the-ground, powerful PA organizations:
New Pennsylvania Project, modeled after Stacy Abrams' New Georgia Project, - where our calls are part of a unique, potentially game changing initiative to not only register new voters, but to make sure they actually get to vote!
Turn PA Blue, where we'll be focusing on statewide races - PA is 4 seats away from flipping the PA House (where every seat is up for election), and 12 seats away from flipping the PA Senate (where half the seats are up)!
Join us in calling PA voters to help expand the Pennsylvania electorate and turn this state BLUE!
We are wrapping up a successful campaign, Liberty and Justice for All, which had a goal of contradicting the right’s lies and fear mongering about Critical Race Theory. Many thanks to Ellen Schwartz for her tireless distribution of hundreds of cards, and to all of you who participated! The image and message was, for many of us, unusual and a bit outside of our comfort zone. I will be sure to report the data, when available, as to the results of this approach.
Our next campaigns will return to urging support for Democratic candidates in PA and WI. To receive the update/ link to sign up, contact Marta at levmartam@gmail.com.
Social Postcarding!
Sundays at 4 pm at
Easthampton River Valley Coop
GETTING OUT THE VOTE is crucial to winning elections, so we're writing postcards to voters in Swing States with a variety of messages, many urging them to make sure to vote this year. Sending postcards to voters--cost effective, eye-catching and personal--has been shown to be effective in motivating their participation in voting.
Ready to get out of the house and take the fight for Democracy outdoors??? Join the Post Corps EVERY SUNDAY, 4:00 PM at the picnic tables outside Easthampton River Valley Coop. to sit outside, schmooze with other Democracy Warriors and write postcards to reach out to swing voters. Contact Deb Friedman jwanddf@juno.com for more information.
JOIN VOTE FORWARD’S LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN TO WIN THE MIDTERMS
Vote Forward’s 2022 letter-writing campaign is well underway and Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left WMA volunteers have already downloaded and prepared over 3,300 letters. As we did in 2020 and 2021, we’re preparing “Please Vote” letters aimed at “helping to increase the participation of historically underrepresented communities in the electorate.” By encouraging infrequent voters to vote in this year’s midterm elections, these letters can close the gap in close races and produce victory for Democrats. A few hundred votes, or even less, could make a crucial difference in determining who controls Congress next year.
This year’s midterms pose a challenge: The “conventional wisdom” is that the president’s party loses congressional seats in the first midterms, but the country can’t afford that. These letters are one tool in the effort to defy the predictions and increase Democrats’ numbers in both the House and the Senate.
If you haven’t prepared these letters before, here’s how it works:
Vote Forward provides pre-printed letters urging the recipients to vote in this fall’s elections. The name and address of the recipient is pre-printed on each letter.
The volunteer fills in the name of the recipient in the salutation, writes one to three sentences saying why they vote, and signs the letter.
The volunteer hand-addresses the envelope, including the return address.,inserts the letter, and seals and stamps the envelope.
Letters are held until Vote Forward’s mailing date, close to Election Day for maximum effectiveness. All letters are mailed on that date.
For a detailed description of how to prepare letters, click here.
And here’s how we run our Vote Forward campaign:
You can get your letters in one of three ways:
I can download them for you and email you a batch of letters once a week. You print out the letters and prepare them. You choose the number of letters you want to receive and the day you want to receive them. You can change either of these or pause or “retire” at any time.
If you don’t have a printer, you can pick up your printed letters each week at one of four locations – Amherst, Leverett, Montague or Northampton – on the day specified by the location host. You take them home and prepare them. Again, you can change your numbers, pause, or retire at any time.
If you already have a Vote Forward account and have experience using it, you can download letters yourself and prepare them. I only ask that you report your numbers to me once a month so I can keep track of our totals.
Once your letters are prepared and in their addressed, sealed and stamped envelopes, you can store them at home until the mailing date or you can drop them off at the same locations used for pickups.
When the mailing date arrives (you’ll get plenty of notice) you take your completed letters to your local post office or to a mailbox and drop them off.
Now is the time to sign up and join in. If you start now, you’ll have plenty of letters to mail at the end of October. Please click here to sign up or copy this link into your browser window: https://forms.gle/k391Nq12mBUQr6pJ8. I’ll confirm your signup and start downloading your letters right away.
BAR INSURRECTIONISTS FROM THE BALLOT
Sign the Petition
Enacted after the Civil War, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment disqualifies from public office any individual who has taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and then engages in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or gives aid or comfort to those who have.
By inciting a violent attack on Congress in an effort to prevent the certification of his own electoral defeat, Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and violated his oath of office. Free Speech For People and Our Revolution have teamed up to urge Secretaries of State and chief election officials across the country to follow the mandate of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and bar insurrectionists from any future ballot.
Sign hereto tell Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin to abide by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and bar Trump from appearing on any future ballot in MA.
Join the Indivisible National Give No Ground Program
We need to go all-in to make sure we defend our democracy from MAGA radicals this November.
Whether it’s blocking gun reforms, gutting Roe v. Wade, or attacking LGBTQ+ kids, or gun safety, Republicans will continue to try to roll us back in time. We need to elect Democrats to lead us into the future.
Sign up with Indivisible National Give No Ground Program to join the team.
JOIN THE IN-SLWM FUNDRAISER FOR KEY RACES & GRASSROOTS GROUPS
Now that IN and Swing Left Western Mass have joined forces, I’m happy to say that the fundraiser started last year by SLWM is now an IN-SLWM fundraiser! We continue to fundraise for candidates and groups that will make the difference between victory and defeat this November. We’ve already raised over $19,000 for three funds – Swing Left’s National Impact Fund and Defend Democracy Fund, and Movement Voter Project’s Black-Led Organizing Fund. Click here to learn more about each of these funds. Our goal is to raise $35,000 before Election Day and we need more donors and donations to get us there.
Think of these as mutual funds. By ourselves, we can’t know where our money can best be used. By donating to these funds, we give resources to candidates and organizations in many states and localities at the same time. Recipients have been carefully vetted to make sure our donations will have the greatest impact. Giving now helps them build their capacity and expertise, so they’re fully equipped when they approach Election Day.
Please consider donating to one, two, or all three of these funds. If you can, become a monthly donor. We’re five months away from a very important election and every contribution, no matter how modest, counts. Use the links below to contribute:
Feminist Activists of MA Team
Turn Texas Blue
Through the Power of Women!
a unique data-driven women’s voter turnout campaign in Texas
led by women campaign professionals since 2016.
This is an incredibly effective, lean, women-led organization! Check out their 2020 results, and help SUA bring these women voters back to the polls in 2022 and beyond!:
2020 Cycle Accomplishments
140,898 SUA targeted women voted
487k women targeted who had not voted in any recent elections or never voted in Texas
85% of SUA targets have been registered to vote since the 2016 General Election registration deadline
Over 25 million digital impressions, 605,086 Video Views, 27k clicks, 950k+ mailpieces
SUA targets outperformed similar control targets by 20%
IMC Statewide IndivisiGather with Ezra Levin
June 26, 12 - 4 PM
Gather with Indivisibles from around Massachusetts at the 1st Annual IMC IndivisiGather event to socialize, get inspired and commit to do that work that it takes to make your vision a reality in November and beyond.
Meet with listen and learn from keynote speaker Ezra Levin, Indivisible Cofounder & Co-Executive Director!
(An indoor - outdoor event & includes Covid precautions.)
CANVASS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE TO SUPPORT
DEMOCRATS & DEMOCRACY!
Do you want Democrats to keep their control of Congress?
Canvass in the Keene, NH area for U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, and local legislators to keep our democracy.
IN-SLWM volunteers are going to New Hampshire every weekend. There are three shifts on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 am, 1 pm and 4 pm. To sign up, click here.
If you want to carpool from Northampton, Amherst, or Greenfield, contact Wendy Berg by calling or texting her at 413-539-1003 (preferable) or email 4134nh2@gmail.com.
If you haven’t done out-of-state canvassing before and aren’t sure about what to expect, contact Wendy at the above address, Jane Mairs (msjanemairs@gmail.com), or Amy Gates (amygates828@gmail.com).
INDIVISIBLE NORTHAMPTON IS NOW
INDIVISIBLE NORTHAMPTON - SWING LEFT WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Message From Beth Lev
Message From Michael Dover
As IN heads into our 6th year, with a robust membership and leadership team, we are excited to announce that we have merged with our sister progressive organization, Swing Left Western MA.
What does this mean for you, our IN community?
Whether you’re an active (or occasional) postcarder, phone banker, Zoom attendee, rally/event participant, and/or newsletter reader, IN will be continuing all our core actions, and even revving these up (with your help!) as we head into the midterms.
The only change will be the addition of the energy, membership and foci of SLWM!
IN’s Steering Committee will remain the same, with the addition of SLWM’s leader, Michael Dover. Along with IN’s current campaigns, we’ll be promoting the electoral work that SLWM is focusing on – conducting letter writing campaigns to infrequent voters through the national group Vote Forward, canvassing in nearby states to support Democratic candidates, and raising money to support congressional and Senate candidates in key races, and grassroots groups around the country that organize around a progressive agenda including voting rights.
if you have any questions or concerns, contact us at info@indivisiblenorthampton.org or use the contact form at Contact Us – Indivisible Northampton
In (even greater) community,
Beth, for Indivisible Northampton - Swing Left Western MA
Swing Left Western Mass is proud to announce than in May 2022 we merged with Indivisible Northampton, adopting the name Indivisible Northampton - Swing Left Western Mass, or IN-SLWM and bringing our combined mailing list to more than 1,000 subscribers. The two groups have collaborated and cooperated for years, so the merger was a logical next step to broaden our base and expand our leadership team. We remain an affiliate of national Swing Left and a chapter of the national progressive grassroots movement, Indivisible.
Our mission is to educate and mobilize voters, elect and hold accountable bold, progressive leaders at the local, state and national levels, and create a community of activists through effective, networked and sustainable action. As a Swing Left affiliate, we work to elect Democrats to offices in key states and districts across the country. By joining Indivisible Northampton - Swing Left Western Mass you will be connected to hundreds of volunteers in the region, sharing resources, trainings and direct actions through every campaign season.
For the 2018 elections, Swing Left Western MA raised funds, wrote letters and postcards, made phone calls, and knocked on doors to help successfully elect Democrats to key congressional seats in nearby districts. In 2019 we worked to to flip Virginia blue. In 2020 we worked to flip the White House, the U.S. Senate and state houses across the country. Our local efforts included participation in Vote Forward's Big Send campaign; more than 100 volunteers prepared and sent more than 25,000 letters to infrequent voters in key states, and a sister organization added another 7,000.
We've been part of a region-wide coalition of progressive groups during the previous two election cycles and continue to collaborate and coordinate in this one.
The Friday Action Group
On Wed evenings at 8 pm or Fri mornings at 9 am, join Paul Spector and activists from across the country to collaborate on helping Democrats win elections. At Paul's meetings, you will...
hear upbeat political news
share questions and comments
learn about new political actions
support fundraisers with special guests -- such as Swing Left, Movement Voter Project, Flip the Senate, New Georgia Project, and Bucks County Democrats
hear inspiring music (mostly from Playing for Change).
Folks find his meetings educational, uplifting, and hopeful, and it's wonderful to see 50-100 other people at each of the two meetings. To check out the meeting, come Wednesday at 8 p.m. or Friday at 9 a.m. EDT, to this Zoom room: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87820043147?pwd=aXZ0K3QrZGtHR2dBUFlCZnk2TU1hQT09
SELECTED READING
This section of our newsletter features one article written by a subscriber and one article selected by our steering committee. Subscribers to the newsletter are welcome to submit writing by email to info@indivisiblenorthampton.org with the subject line "Newsletter Submission".
The opinions expressed in the writings don't necessarily reflect any consensus of Indivisible Northampton.
Leave politics aside for a moment, if you can. What does the word “conservative” mean to you, outside of that cursed arena? To me, it connotes respecting tradition, caution when it comes to change, and hewing to the tried and true. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions; marked by moderation or caution; and marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners.”
When you click the link in your confirmation email, a Zoom page will open in your web browser and the Zoom app will open.
If the Zoom app does not open, here are a few things you can try. You will need to know the meeting id, which is embedded in the address of the Zoom page that opened. On the page that opened in the browser, in the address bar you'll see an address that looks something like this:
