Let's Make Some Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble
"Good Trouble Lives On" Rally Thursday
From voter suppression bills like the SAVE Act to the criminalization of protest, the Trump administration is launching a full-scale attack on our civil and human rights. But we know the truth: in America, the power lies with the people, and we’re rising to prove it.
That's why we're making “Good Trouble” on Thursday, July 17th in memory and honor of Rep. John Lewis who died 5 years ago on this day. We will have speakers (Rev. Sharon Baugh and Mrs. Freddie Hamilton!), songs, and chants, and call attention to the power of the people to fight peacefully for civil rights, democracy, and social justice for everyone in this country.
We’ll be on Broad Street in Utica –the site of our usual Thursday protest--just later in the day. It is through these continual protests that a precedent is made in the people: Our willingness to not only fight for liberty, justice and the natural right to live freely and safely in this country, but also to hold on in the face of fear, is a constant in our community. With every protest, fear diminishes while community builds.
Good Trouble Lives On Rally in Utica
Thursday, July 17th, 6-7 pm
10 Broad Street, Utica (Alexander Pirnie Federal Building)
Register HERE: https://www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-actions/event/810011/
IMV Annual Summer Picnic: Everyone's Invited!
Tuesday, July 29th, 5-8 pm,
Sherrill Brook Park (Route 12 in New Hartford).
Bring a picnic dinner for yourself, and a blanket or lawn chair. IMV will provide dessert.
We're going to give an overview of where we are and where we're headed with pro-democracy activism at this time.
We'll hear from our local candidates for 2025 elections.
This is a great time to empower yourself as a citizen to become informed on the platforms of local officials and connect with a community focused on building a better future.
All are welcome at this event! Bring your family!
One Million Trained! Starts July 16th
Sign up for the first session on July 16. Even if you can’t make it that night, you’ll get the recording link and be able to join in the training when it’s convenient for you.
We are all watching MAGA attempt to end the American experiment.
With Senate Republicans passing their bill to eviscerate Medicaid, rip away health insurance from millions of Americans, and fast-track a massive wealth transfer through tax-breaks for the rich, it is clear the GOP has given up on governing for the American people and are all-in on serving their wealthy masters.
Congress will not save us.
The courts will not save us.
We are the only ones who can save us.
But we can’t do it alone. If No Kings Day reminded us of anything, it is the power of collective action. One voice can be ignored. Five million voices are undeniable.
But how do we build that sort of ongoing engagement?
Join Indivisible's next series -- One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism -- to learn how we’ll train one million people to fight back. Join our training series to turn local action into national impact
One day mass mobilizations like No Kings Day are incredible shows of movement energy, but they are, by definition, confined to a single day. To defeat MAGA, we’re going to have to mobilize more people, and we’re going to have to do it on a sustained basis. That’s where One Million Rising comes in.
The success of an authoritarian takeover is dependent upon a population choosing to comply. It only takes a (relatively) small number of people practicing non-cooperation to make implementation of their fascist ideals impossible -- so let’s train one million. If we can motivate, train, and equip this movement in the practice of strategic non-cooperation, we can disrupt, delay, and even, at times, make it impossible for this administration to enact corrupt policy.
We’re breaking this down into three sessions -- join us for all three if you can! (Yes, they’ll be recorded if you can’t.)
One Million Rising Structure
Session 1: The Moment and Your Mission
Wednesday, July 16 at 8pm
Get oriented to making meaning of this moment and the role you can play in coordinated strategic action.
Session 2: How to Make it Happen
Wednesday, July 30 at 8pm
Learn not just our strategy, but how you can train others and get them on board. This train-the-trainer session is how we get to one million.
Session 3: What Now?
Wednesday, August 13 at 8pm
You'll be onboarded to basic campaign design and learn how to implement it locally. We’ll also get you plugged into our next national campaign.
This is the next stage of the Indivisible movement: Indivisible activists moving their friends, family, and acquaintances from doomscrolling to active resistance. It is vital to our ability to slow down, stop, and ultimately defeat Trump’s authoritarian takeover.
Whether you’re an experienced group leader or joining one of our trainings for the first time, One Million Rising will bring you critical insights into how we move forward as a movement in the face of a Trump regime that does not care about rules, laws, or the courts. Fear and division are two of the primary weapons that dictators use against the people; community, connection and a willingness to educate oneself are the primary tools most effective against such weapons. We hope that through these events and courses, we can add pressure to the hose that douses the fire, instead of letting it all burn. Join us for One Million Rising beginning Wednesday, July 16.
Sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953/
IMV Community Circles
Community is central to the mission of Indivisible Mohawk Valley; a foundation of our organization is highlighting the connection between activism in daily life and community. Activism is mostly recognized in mainstream media in the way an activist serves causes and others, but there is an unspoken facet of how the activist serves oneself by engaging with the community. Connecting to a community is self care, but that idea can be dampened when communities can feel restrictive, non-inclusive and isolating.
IMV community circles aim to eradicate this problem, by creating a community that aligns with the values of inclusivity, respect and reception. It is a place meant to build friendship between neighbors, a place where voices can be heard.
Here are the details for the next few IMV Community Circles:
Tuesday, July 15
4 -5 pm
Basloe Library
245 North Main Street, Herkimer
Saturday, July 19
12-2 pm
Kirkland Town Library
55 1/2 College Street, Clinton
Monday, July 21
6-7:30 pm
New Hartford Library, Corasanti Room upstairs.
2 Library Lane, New Hartford
One Call or Email for the Climate
The NYS legislature this year passed one environmental bill, A.8888/S.8417, a bill that ends the 100 foot gas line extension subsidy. To become law, the Governor needs to sign it.
This law will save New Yorkers at least $200 million a year and will encourage the adoption of clean energy technologies in homes. Governor Hochul has supported this provision in the past.
Call or email Governor Hochul here and ask her to sign the bill immediately.
Letters to the Editor: Our Writers Are Rocking The Daily Sentinel!
Congratulations to our many amazing letter writers in the past weeks. We've also seen an uptick in the number of people writing letters against MAGA Republicans and Trump who are not even affiliated with IMV (to our knowledge). That means that public opinion is turning, and the circle of dissenters and resistors is growing. Thank you Dawn Michelle Laguerre, Barbara Gold, Lauren Waszkiewicz,, Kathy Wojciechowski, Tom Olin, and Maria Dardano for your excellent letters about everything from No Kings to the Big Bad Bill.
We want to make sure you see those letters even if you are not a reader of The Daily Sentinel, so here is the document that contains the links and full text of those letters.
Sum Up & Inspiration
It has been a tough couple of weeks. We felt so powerful at No Kings in mid-June and since then every day of Trump MAGA headlines seems worse than the next. Where do we go from here?
Someone who has some ideas is Erica Chenoweth, one of the researchers credited with the 3.5% theory of fighting authoritarianism and author of Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know.. Researching hundreds of resistance and liberation movements over a 100 year period, they found that every campaign that got active, sustained participation from at least 3.5 percent of the population succeeded and all the campaigns that achieved that threshold were nonviolent.
Non-violent campaigns start with protests but also use tools like boycotts, general strikes, non-participation and defection, and they rely on a wide and inclusive movement that starts to reach ever broader social networks across communities -family, work, church, business, school, etc.
If you want the big picture of what we are facing right now, but also the practical steps to fight it effectively, it’s always good to catch an interview with Chenoweth. Recently the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast team sat down with Chenoweth in the midst of the Bad Budget Bill catastrophe, with the goal of learning everything they could about how to fight back. Listen for some inspiration! Here’s the Apple link and here’s the Spotify link to the episode.
Then join in the training on July 16th as Indivisible begins to prepare a million people to step out of their comfort zone and lead this movement.
We CAN do hard things and we WILL do hard things if we want to save this country from authoritarianism.
Part of that “work” is actually fun. That’s where we lift up a vision of community and people power, freedom and justice like the one John Lewis fought for his whole life. We’ll be doing that on Thursday at our Good Trouble Lives On Rally. We’ll have speakers, music, and lots of people power energy! Register, make a sign about civil rights, and join us.
"You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way...to get in the way." --John Lewis
Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble." --John Lewis
Website: indivisiblemv.org
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