MVCAN UPCOMING EVENTS
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SHOW UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE WORKSHOP Saturday, Jan 13, 1pm - 3pm Marin Horizon School, Mill Valley |
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MARTIN LUTHER KING CELEBRATION |
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WOMEN’S ANNIVERSARY MARCH - |
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SAVE THE DATE MVCAN MONTHLY MEETING |
FEATURED IN THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER:
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Martin Luther King Celebration
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Womens’ March San Francisco
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Report from Jan 7 MVCAN Monthly Meeting - 2018 Kick-Off
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Show Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Workshop
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MVCAN Actions of the Week
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How Airlift Plays Into MVCAN’s Electoral Strategy
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MVCAN’s Honor Roll
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Swing Left Marin – CD-10 Activist Speakers & Voter Outreach Training
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Screening of The Interrupters and Filmmaker Interview
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Help Keep ICE Within the Law
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Ongoing Day Trips to Tracy and beyond to Canvass CD-10 Voters
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MARTIN LUTHER KING CELEBRATION IN MARIN CITYSunday, Jan 14 – Monday, Jan 15 |
Join the MVCAN Civil Rights /Immigration Team in actively supporting the Marin City community for the 2-day Martin Luther King Birthday Celebration and the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Last year, the dozens of MVCAN members who attended MLK events were treated to an inspiring day!
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Sun, Jan 14 - Gospel Brunch and Drama Presentation
Tickets are $50 per person. See a dramatic reenactment of a MLK Speech. Actors Danny Glover and Felix Justice will portray Martin Luther King and Langston Hughes respectively. THIS EVENT NOW SOLD OUT. -
Monday, Jan 15, - Community-Wide MLK Celebration, All-Day, No Charge
Event: Down-Home Country Breakfast
Time: Jan 15, 8AM
Location: Bayside MLK School, Sausalito, across from Marin City Recreation Center, 630 Drake Ave.
After breakfast, events will be at the Marin City Recreation Center:
Events: Round table discussions, music performances, awards presentations
Time: Jan 15, 9am - All day
Location: Marin City Recreation Center, 630 Drake Avenue .
(Note: there will be no march this year.)
The MVCAN Civil Rights team and our volunteers will be staffing a voter registration table at the MLK celebration throughout the day on Monday.
We highly encourage everyone to attend the events and to support our local community. Thanks to our awesome Civil Rights/Immigration team for this wonderful support for the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.
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Women’s March 2018Sat, Jan 20, 11:30- 3:30 |
Join fellow MVCANers! Carpool or Bus together to the Women’s March!
OPTIONS FOR CARPOOL AND BUSES
If you would like to share carpools to SF:
MVCAN is encouraging members to arrive at Mill Valley Middle School at 10:30am to form informal carpools to SF.
If you would like to bus together to SF:
Rally Only Bus: Bus for people going to the rally only. After the rally is over, this bus will depart from the SF Civic Center to return to Mill Valley.
SEATS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON THIS BUS.
Rally and March Bus: Bus for people attending the rally and the march.
SORRY, THESE BUSES ARE NOW SOLD OUT.
For tickets for the RALLY ONLY bus:
MVCAN Meeting Place at the Civic Center Plaza in SF
- All MVCANers and their friends are encouraged to gather between 11:45 am and noon for the Women’s March and rally.
- We will be meeting on the north side of Civic Center Plaza near the small elevator building for the Civic Center garage,
- This location is just off Macallister - halfway between Larkin and Polk, and right on the Civic Center Plaza.
- Likewise, we will return to that meeting point at 2 pm after the rally so we can march all together!
Rally and March Schedule
Officially, the rally begins at 12:00pm, at Civic Center Plaza in SF. The March is from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. We are waiting for more details about the route of March, For more info, contact Leigh Ann Townsend, the fearless leader of our Women’s Rights Team at Townsendleighann@gmail.com , and check next week’s MVCAN March bulletin.
The MVCANers had a really inspiring and fun time last year. Gather together Stand up to protest ALL the outrages against our democracy and freedom!
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REPORT ON MVCAN MONTHLY MEETING
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What an amazing start to MVCAN’s New Year! More than 120 members- new and old-filled the hall. We are excited to have had such a great kick-off for our 2018 strategy
Danny Altman outlined "what success looks like," a BIG BLUE WAVE from the west coast into the interior Mountain West.
We were inspired by our guest, local Marin County Supervisor, Kate Sears, as we learned about her path to politics and the critical need for our kind of activism.
Susan Bolle, our electoral team lead, gave an excellent primer on the campaign cycle and the strategy and tactics for the Blue Wave in California this year.
We can’t wait to mobilize for action!
Packed House at the MV Community Center!
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SHOW UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (SURJ) WORKSHOPSaturday, Jan 13, 1pm - 3pm |
This workshop is intended to support white people in becoming more effective allies in the multi-racial movement for racial justice.
Join us in a workshop on Saturday, January 13, to learn about SURJ and the important role that you can play in working toward greater racial equity in Marin County. In this workshop, we will explore what it means to show up as a white person at an event that is hosted and led by people of color.
To attend the SURJ workshop: sign up here
Event: Show Up for Racial Justice Workshop
Date: Saturday, Jan 13, 1pm - 3pm
Location: Marin Horizon School, 305 Montford, Mill Valley
(enter via the playground on the side by parking lot).
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MVCAN ACTIONS OF THE WEEK |
Our first action is to call Dianne Feinstein's office and thank her for her bold action on the Trump-Russia Investigation.
She published the Fusion-GPS Transcript that Republicans refused to publish. She stood up to the Republican lies and obstructionism over the Trump-Russia Investigation. She boldly used her status as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to publish the transcript and break with the Republicans who had promised to publish the document but had kept it secret and used it dishonestly to attack the brave whistleblowers who revealed Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors.
By releasing the testimony of Glenn Simpson, one of the owners of GPS fusion, which had been presented before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Feinstein took a important step to counter Republicans’ continuing misinformation and distortion campaign. She struck a major blow against Republicans who have been using rumor and innuendo to discredit and undermine the investigation of the Trump administration. Hurray for Dianne’s bold action to get the truth out!
Remember if we want Dianne Feinstein to continue acting in our interests, we need to reinforce her with our approval.
Action 1: Contact Dianne Feinstein and let her know she has your support.
Dianne Feinstein (D) CA
DC Office---202-224-3841
SF Office---415-393-0707
email:
https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Action 2: Sign up to receive a Rapid Mobilization Alert if Trump fires Mueller.
CODE RED MOBILIZATION ALERT SIGN-UP: Please Sign Up
MVCAN is fully participating in a rapid mobilization plan in the event that Trump fires Mueller (or commits some other outrageous act). We are collaborating with all of the other Marin progressive groups in hosting a Marin-wide rally in a single location.
Rally Location: Court Street Plaza in front of Coldstone Creamery, 4th St, between Lootens and A St., San Rafael.
By signing up you will directly and quickly receive the national text alert from MoveOn.org when Code Red is activated. The MoveOn alert will also trigger a MVCAN alert to our members.
Rallies will begin hours after news breaks of a Mueller firing.
- Mueller is fired before 2 pm local time, events will begin at 5 pm the same day.
- If Mueller is fired after 2 pm local time, events will begin at noon local time the following day.
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HOW AIRLIFT PLAYS INTO MVCAN’S ELECTORAL STRATEGY |
California, Arizona, and Nevada together have enough winnable races in 2018 to get Democrats one-third of the way toward control of Congress.
At our monthly meeting on Sunday, Danny Altman and Susan Bolle presented MVCAN’s electoral plan for 2018 to a jam-packed and excited audience. Our vision: A giant blue wave that sweeps Republicans out of power—and extends the solid wall of democratic states on the West Coast to include Nevada and Arizona.
WANT TO FLIP CONGRESS IN 2018?
The most effective way to flip a district is to support grassroots groups on the ground who serve local people and know the local issues. Each district is unique, and grassroots groups know the territory and do an incredible job at motivating voters and getting out the vote!
WHERE TO MAKE A DONATION
There’s something you can do right now to help this vision come true. Airlift —MVCAN’s online platform is like a Consumer Reports that provides considered and objective advice on which grassroots groups to support—they screen and identify groups with outstanding early accomplishments and inspired leaders.
Airlift is currently recommending one of our funds that fits right into MVCAN’s electoral strategy. It’s called West by Southwest .. West by Southwest lets you invest in 5 powerful western groups: one each in Orange County, San Diego, and the Central Valley, plus the strongest front line groups in Nevada and Arizona.
The grassroots group that the West by Southwest fund supports in Arizona, People United for Justice, was behind the campaign that got Sheriff Arpaio to hang up his badge. You can imagine how motivated they are to keep him out of the Senate!
To make a donation you know will be effective, go to airlift.fund
When you go to Airlift you are helping the people on the front lines. They are there now, preparing the ground for Democratic victories in November.
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MVCAN HONOR ROLLAcknowledging Our Members’ Contributions |
Did you ever wonder where the donated space for our phone banks came from?
KUDOS AND THANKS TO OUR HONOREES LARIE AND JIM FLAHERTY for their overwhelming generosity! Larie and Jim have allowed MVCAN/Democracy Action to use their wonderful office in Sausalito as a phone/text bank hub and meeting place for the past year! This enabled MVCAN/Democracy Action to make 120,000+ calls and texts to voters all over the country.
This contribution has been made possible through the generosity of Jim’s firms CMBS.com and Backshop.
Larie Flaherty writes, “It is we who are grateful that there are people like … MVCAN who are doing the work, making the calls and giving us hope that there is light at the end of this long dark tunnel. We couldn't be happier that the space is being used to carry out such great work and supporting truly wonderful causes. Maybe one day it can be used to celebrate the results of all your efforts.”
Larie and Jim Flaherty
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SWING LEFT MARIN –
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Join in two timely and relevant meetings this month hosted by our community partners Marin Swing Left.
MARIN SWING LEFT MONTHLY MEETING:
At this month's meeting a series of guest speakers from CA-10, including the Tracy Go Team, will discuss the state of the district and our combined grassroots efforts to date. They’ll look at the road map to November and what it will take for a progressive candidate to defeat incumbent Republican Jeff Denham in the 2018 midterm election. MVCAN members who attend can get the scoop directly from the local CD10 activists on the ground.
SWING LEFT MARIN – JANUARY ACTION MEETING AND PANEL
Sunday, January 21 at 3 PM - 5 PM
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin (UUCM)
240 Channing Way, San Rafael
To RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1701703326566267/
VOTER OUTREACH TRAINING:
Come to the Marin Swing Left Voter Outreach Training, which will give you the skills you need for effective communication during canvassing and voter registration drives.
The Swing Left Marin training team has developed a program focusing on engagement techniques, active listening skills, and structured communications. This will be similar to the training that we offered in September that got rave reviews!
With insights gained from our experiences in Tracy, we will review practical directions on how to effectively canvass and register voters in District 10. This will be valuable training for those wanting to join one of the Tracy GO Teams or do voter registration.
To sign up for Voter Outreach Training, see:
Voter Outreach Training
Sat, January 27, 2 pm – 5pm
Pickleweed Community Center
50 Canal Street, San Rafael
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Screening of The Interrupters / Interview with FilmmakerThursday evening, January 25th |
Join us for a viewing of the documentary film, The Interrupters (trailer here ), produced in partnership with the director of Hoop Dreams. The Interrupters is an examination of the stubborn persistence of urban violence and tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities.
Following the film, we’ll have an interview with renowned journalist and filmmaker Alex Kotlowitz, who has been described by Ta-Nehisi Coates as "One of our great American journalists."
Thursday evening, January 25, San Rafael Theater,
5:30 - Drinks and hors d'oeuvres with the filmmaker for VIP ticket holders
6:00 - Showing of The Interrupters, documentary film on African American poverty, violence and health
8:00 - Discussion with Alex Kotlowitz, renowned journalist and filmmaker
For information and to get tickets go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-interrupters-film-and-discussion-on-poverty-and-racism-tickets-41834698710
This event is sponsored by the Marin City Health and Wellness Center.
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HELP KEEP ICE
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The Marin Rapid Response Network is offering training to become a Legal Observer to help monitor ICE activity. When ICE activity is reported, trained Legal Observers will be deployed to a specific area within Marin County to "document" the situation. You do not need to have a legal background or be bilingual to become a Legal Observer.
Come help us keep the ICE honest and within the law!
Training Dates for Legal Observer Volunteers:
February 7 and 21, Wednesdays 6:00-7:30 pm
March 7 and 21, Wednesdays 6:00-7:30 pm
April 4 and 18, Wednesdays 6:00-7:30 pm
Training Location:
First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael, Canoles Hall
510 Fifth Ave, San Rafael
For more information contact Olivia Beltran at Obeltran@cwcenter.org
(415) 526 - 2486, x 303.
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Ongoing Day Trips to CD-10 to Register and Canvass Voters |
Throughout the next 10 months (through the 2018 elections), MVCAN volunteers will have varied opportunities to participate in CD-10. We will keep you up to date as these opportunities arise.
For our first effort, we are lucky to be working under the auspices of Swing Left Marin and the Tracy Go Team within a Tracy-based grassroots program. Volunteers will be laying the groundwork for unseating Jeff Denham (R)-CD10 in Nov 2018, by visiting Democratic voters in Tracy and neighboring cities as part of a locally-based effort to activate them prior to the election.
Volunteers will receive canvassing training offered by the Tracy Go Team before venturing out into the field, so newcomers without canvassing experience are welcome!
Our first foray to Tracy this Saturday, Jan. 13, is now full. Thanks to Swing Left Marin and all who signed up and are going to Tracy this weekend! Stay tuned for more collaborations!
KUDOS to our WEEKLY WAG editorial team for setting a record in readership last week; an amazing total of 530 readers! Thanks Annie, June, Suz, Tom and Danny!
CONTACT OUR ACTION TEAMS
CHECK THEM OUT! : Much of MVCAN's work is done in one of our 10 awesome action teams. Click the team name to read their latest news and find their next meeting.
Civil Rights/Immigration battles for justice and fair treatment of women, immigrants, working people and followers of all faiths.
Communications works on strategy, branding, messaging and program development for MVCAN. They are looking for bright ideas and people who want to make them happen.
Dump Trump 's 25 active team members work on ways to remove Trump from power, with special focus on Russia collusion. This topic is hot!
Eco Warriors are engaged in change at the local, state and national levels, to impact the CA carbon tax, climate change, and community outreach and action.
The Economic Action team has launched AIRLIFT, our first national project. AIRLIFT funnels money to grassroots groups in winnable 2018 districts. These are seriously vetted groups that work all year round in their communities-- they get tangible results without blowing through millions of dollars. Read about it in the Huffington Post .
Electoral works to elect candidates for the 2017 state house and governor races, and other targeted races from now through the mid-term elections, following the recommendations of the flippable.org team, which are analyzing and selecting winnable races. The Electoral team uses phone banks and travel to targeted districts to talk with voters through phone calls and door-to-door canvassing, voter registration, and campaign volunteering.
The Events team creates special events to engage our friends and neighbors to take political action with MVCAN.
NEW TO MVCAN?
Visit MVCAN.org to learn about the organization and strategies, join a team, read past MVCAN newsletters, and gain helpful Resistance tools.
Thank you for all you do!
– June, Bernard, Suz, Danny, Eileen, and everyone at MVCAN
