STOP THE CUTS! Rally Tomorrow in Utica (July 3)
Urgent STOP THE CUTS Rally Tomorrow
Thanks to everyone who came out for the special Thursday rally last week focused on how the Trump admninstation is disappearing people. Great crowd and speakers and we had local earned media coverage so our message got out to the public.
This week: Our focus is the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad budget bill passed by Senate Republicans and now sent on to the House. Again, we want the public to realize just how bad this bill is for them--for us--whether we rely on the ACA exchange for health insurance, have family members on Medicaid, use SNAP, or need to access health care in rural communitiies.
Stop the Cuts Rally
Thursday, July 3rd 4:00-5:30 pm
10 Broad Street, Utica
Alexander Pirnie Federal Building
We’ve extended the rally to 5:30pm this week to give you time to get there from work. Want ideas for messaging and signs? Want to fill in your peeps on what this bill means for Herkimer and Oneida counties and congressional districts (NY21 and NY22)? Use this toolkit.
Please register here so we know you’re coming.
What Else You Can Do Today & Tomorrow Before the House Vote
Email your representative to say you won’t stand for cutting SNAP and Medicaid to fund billionaires’ tax breaks. When the reconciliation passed the Senate it was sent to the House. Trump wants it passed by July 4th. So there is no time to lose in calling your Rep. in the House.
Volunteer for a phonebank this week to mobilize working people against this reconciliation bill. Pass or fail, the reconciliation fight doesn’t end with the upcoming vote. Our work to reach people in key districts is going to continue, and there is another phonebank tonight where your time calling Medicaid recipients in key districts can make a big difference.
Join our “What’s the Plan?” call this Thursday to hear Leah and Ezra break down the latest on the MAGA agenda. Every Thursday at 3pm ET, our co-founders jump online to discuss the news of the week, highlight our work, and answer your questions directly! Come be part of a free-flowing, interactive chat about resisting this megabill and the rest of Trump’s agenda.
Good Trouble Lives On Mass Action
Good Trouble Lives On Rally in Utica
Thursday, July 17th, 6-7 pm
10 Broad Street, Utica (Alexander Pirnie Federal Building)
This is the next Indivisible mass mobilization date. We’re making “Good Trouble” in memory and honor of Rep. John Lewis who died 5 years ago on this day. We will have speakers, 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. But we are asking for a huge crowd to turnout. More details and a mobilize link coming soon.
IMV's Annual Summer Picnic: New Date
IMV Summer Picnic
Tuesday, July 29th, 5-8 pm,
Sherillbrook Park (Route 12 in New Hartford).
Bring a picnic dinner for yourself, and a blanket or lawn chair. We’ll have dessert.
We're going to give an overview of where we are and where we're headed with pro-democracy activism in this time.
We'll hear from our local candidates for 2025 elections.
What's Next After No Kings Rallies
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?
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. Join us for One Million Rising beginning Wednesday, July 16.
Sum Up and Inspiration
Yes, things are bad. Angus King (I-ME) was right when he shouted out on the floor after the Senate vote on Tuesday, "Shame on you guys. That was the most disgusting vote I've ever seen in my life."
But we are not without hope. The slashing of Medicaid and other critical services is deeply unpopular among most Americans. So is Trump's approach to arresting working people and disappearing them. So is his announcement that he will not pay $7B to schools to help children learn --money that was already budget and is owed to those schools. Our job as people who are awake and alert to what is happening is to talk with family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors about our values, how we and people we love are impacted, and why Trump is doing such a terrible job in office.
That last message is the one that has proven over and over again to be most successful in bringing down leaders like Trump in other countries--not that they are powerful dictator wannabes, but that they are failing to deliver, failing in their jobs, and failing to make our lives better the way they promised.
As Trump gets crazier by the day, Republicans in Congress pass worse and worse bills, and SCOTUS panders more and more to Trump's agenda, we need to stilck together. Here's how:
Join us for our Thursday rallies. Tomorrow is Stop the Cuts. July 17 is Good Trouble Lives On. But we're there at 10 Broad Street in Utica every week. Bring a sign & stop by.
Get to know IMV and other IMVers by popping into CAFE Fridays Zooms or joining one of our many upcoming Community Circles (See calendar--we have them scheduled on July 15, 19 and 21 with more being planned)
Mark your calendar for our fun IMV Annual Picnic on Tuesday, July 29th at Sherrillbrook (New Hartford Town Park). Building community is how we fight them.
Join the Parade! Many IMVers will walk with the Oneida County Democratic Women's Club and local candidates in the Utica Fourth of July parade Friday. Details in the calendar.
Commit to building your skills to resist and fight. Be part of the One Million Rising training starting Wednesday, July 16th.
Whatever you can attend or participate in--bring a friend. As Helen Sperling (Holocaust survivor and Utica resident) often taught. "Thou shalt not be a bystander." To that we add, "riends don't let friends be bystanders."
Editor's note: Your weekly newsletter came early so we could let you know about the urgent rally tomorrow to stop the cuts to Medicaid. No newsletter Friday because of the 4th of July holiday. Enjoy your weekend.
Democracy is not a spectator sport.
"No one let go of anyone's hand." (democracy activists in Brazil under Bolsanaro)
Get in good trouble, necessary trouble. (John Lewis)
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