UPCOMING MVCAN EVENTS
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MVCAN MONTHLY MEETING Sunday, Dec 3, 4 - 5:30pm Mill Valley Community Center |
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PHONE/TEXT BANKING Sausalito Office (for Alabama Senate) |
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RALLY AGAINST TAX SCAM United Nations Plaza, 50 UN Plaza, SF |
COME TO THE NEXT MVCAN MEETING
SOME THINGS WE LEARNED IN VIRGINIA.
(You will learn a lot more if you come to the MVCAN meeting on Dec 3, 4pm, at the Community Center. We will hear from Ben Wessel of NextGen, who was on the ground in Virginia.)
Many results of the Virginia elections were fantastic!
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We learned that a sometimes chaotic amalgam of grassroots groups, many that you’ve never heard of, played a pivotal role in flipping at least 15 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, a feat no one thought was possible.
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When we work together for a common goal, we are powerful! The progressive Democrat, Tom Perriello, who lost to Northam in the primary, worked tirelessly in the general election for Northam. This is supposed to be how it works.
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Through MVCAN, we were part of making a difference in Virginia, not only through the tireless phone/text banking and various other contributions of MVCAN members, but also because one of the groups that played a key role was New Virginia Majority, which is part of the MVCAN Airlift Voter Motor fund. They knocked on 189,000 doors in September and through Election Day, promoting progressive candidates and turning out votes, primarily in Virginia's communities of color. New Virginia Majority endorsed 12 candidates, and they won every race except one, which went to a recount.
Some aspects of the Virginia experience need improvement.
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We learned that the Northam campaign won by approximately the same margin as Hillary, despite a year of horror stories coming out of DC.
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We learned that the Northam campaign, as late as two months before the election, had no strategy for getting people of color to the polls
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Although the Democratic party is learning--the DNC had 40 activists on the ground, they still like to waste your money on consultants and TV. The Northam campaign actually thought it was a good idea to spend $9 million on a TV campaign attacking Gillespie for his role in Enron.
What does it all mean? Our guest speaker Ben Wessel will explain in detail at our Sunday meeting.
Time: Sunday, Dec 3, 4-5:30 pm
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PHONE/TEXT BANKING IN SAUSALITOSat, Dec 2, 10:30am - 12:30pm Sausalito Office |
Please join us to call voters in Alabama to elect Doug Jones to the U.S. Senate and decisively defeat Roy Moore on Election Day 12/12. We'll also be texting red state voters to contact their Members of Congress against the Tax Scam.
Please click here to register and to get details and directions: Register
Please bring your charged cell phone AND your laptop, iPad or tablet.
Come join us and communicate with voters in Alabama. You can help to get Doug Jones elected. Our experienced phone/text bank leaders will be on hand to coach you and train you. Once you are trained on texting, you can even text from home going forward, as phone lists become available.
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STOP THE TAX SCAM
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Join Indivisible East Bay, Indivisible Sonoma County, and Indivisible Sausalito at lunchtime for a RESISTANCE ACTION against this TAX HEIST!
On Monday, Dec 4, we will be at 50 United Nations Plaza in San Francisco to MAKE SOME NOISE! We will be sharing our stories about how this scam will hurt working- and middle-class families, women, students, teachers, seniors, fire victims, homeowners, and people who need healthcare.
Link to event information: https://www.facebook.com/events/486266861753197
OR at http://act.indivisible.org/event/local-actions/search/?source=needtoimpeach
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PROTECT INTERNET FREEDOMSAVE NET NEUTRALITY |
The Internet was developed by the US government and paid for by American taxpayers. But cable companies like Comcast and Verizon are lobbying the FCC and Congress to restrict American freedoms by ending net neutrality. Why? if they win the power to slow sites down, they can bully any site into paying millions to escape the "slow lane." Not only would this amount to an unfair tax on every sector of the American economy, burdening small businesses the most, it would hand the free internet, a crucial public resource, to private corporations.
According to George Lakoff, “These corporations will be able to restrict the flow of information, censor voices of dissent, and charge outrageous prices for access to online services. This is an attack on American freedom, and it should alarm every citizen who cherishes the free flow of information in the digital age.”
Net neutrality is key to a functioning democracy.
The FCC is set to vote to repeal net neutrality in early December.
ACTIONS: PROTECT NET NEUTRALITY
Sign this petition to keep net neutrality:: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/do-not-repeal-net-neutrality
Sign an additional petition and call members of Congress:
https://www.battleforthenet.com
Send a message to the FCC:
https://act.freepress.net/letter/internet_fcc_nprm_nn_20 17
Do this now! The crucial vote on net neutrality is set to happen soon.
AIRLIFT SPECIAL BULLETIN:
HELP GRASSROOTS GROUPS IN ALABAMA GET OUT THE VOTE FOR DOUG JONES
AIRLIFT is MVCAN’s first national project. It gives people all over the country a simple, strategic way to donate to grassroots groups working year round in 2018 battleground districts. In addition to AIRLIFT’s 3 funds supporting designated grassroots groups, we will be suggesting additional, timely opportunities to give to savvy grassroots groups that can use our immediate help. This week we are letting you know how you can make a direct donation to help increase black voter turnout in Alabama for the special Senate election on Dec 12.
SMARTEST WAY TO HELP IN ALABAMA: Think Virginia
In the Virginia races, 87% of black voters went for Northam. With your help, there is a good chance we can do it again in Alabama's crazy senate race.
The Movement Voter Project, one of AIRLIFT's partners, is very close to the ground in Alabama and is funding 7 local black grass roots groups to get out the vote for Doug Jones. 30% of registered voters in Alabama are black.
One of these groups is WOKE VOTE, an awesome black-led campus GOTV program led by the amazing DeJuana Thompson. WOKE VOTE launched 2 weeks ago--they are in the process of hiring 150+ organizers and printing 2000+ t-shirts to organize every major campus in the state, including Alabama's 12 historically black colleges and universities.
ACTION: Donate to get out the vote in Alabama:
The Movement Voter Project has a special ActBlue page to support this work:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/gamechanger-networks-1
AND DON’T FORGET THAT YOU CAN DONATE DIRECTLY TO DOUG JONES. Help us elect a democratic senator in Alabama! https://actblue/donate-DougJones
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For more information, see: http://airlift.fund |
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Volunteer to Help With
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The Health Team has been doggedly pursuing our fight to preserve the ACA so that eligible individuals can continue to benefit and receive health care.
Join us in promoting enrollment in Covered California. We’ve already held several highly successful events to help eligible individuals sign up for the ACA. Fortunately open enrollment in Covered California continues through January 31, 2018 (unlike other states where individuals can only enroll up until December 15th).
We need your help for this upcoming event:
Covered California Enrollment at the Marin Food Bank Distribution
We were there on Saturday, Nov 18, and will be there every Saturday morning in to help people find the health care resources they need to enroll.
Training and materials are available. There are Spanish speakers at the Food Bank who will help as interpreters.
Please visit our page on MVCAN.org and contact Elyse Foster if you’d like to volunteer.
HUGO MEJIA COMES HOME TO MARIN !!!
Hugo has been released on bond!
After many months of community persistence and action, Hugo was granted a bond at his hearing on November 21. It was a tough hearing, but ultimately the judge was swayed by the tremendous community support for Hugo and the Mejia family.
The judge specifically cited that the outpouring of supportive citizen letters influenced her decision; MVCAN was responsible for at least 50 of the 80 letters! Go Team! The judge set Hugo's bond at $15,000. Thanks to the generosity of the community, the bond was paid by 3:00 pm and Hugo went home to his family in San Rafael.
Thank you to the MVCAN leaders and members who advocated for and supported Hugo throughout his ordeal. We will continue to track his case and keep you informed if more action or support of Hugo is needed.
Civil Rights/Immigration
NEXT MEETING
Time: Sunday, December 3, 3:15 pm (right before all MVCAN meeting)
Location: Starbucks, on Miller near Safeway,
SAVE THE DATE - MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY - We will be participating in the Marin City celebration and plan to have a voter's registration booth set up. We will be looking for volunteers to assist with this.
MVCAN MEETING WITH DIANNE FEINSTEIN’S STAFF
MVCAN's June, Elyse and Bernard met with Sean Elsbernd, Chief of Staff to Senator Feinstein, on Nov 16 in Mill Valley. We reviewed the status of the senator's environmental and court issues and of our tax, immigration, health care and electoral issues.
Discussion highlights included the importance of focusing on elections to flip the Congress and the recent release of Hugo Mejia. Sean commented that although the news about Hugo was very encouraging, the situation statewide is still dire, and there are many Hugos they are defending.
Additionally, Sean emphasized the importance of delaying the Republicans every step of the way during the tax bill proceeding, along with possible alliances with other agencies–such as UCSF–-to fight onerous provisions of the tax bill.
Lastly, to further expand our communication with our elected officials, Sean offered to assist us in connecting to his counterpart in Senator Kamala Harris's office.
REPORT FROM MARIN LEADERS NETWORK MEETING
Susan Bolle, Bill Jansen and their leadership team welcomed the representatives of 16 progressive resistance groups on Nov 16 to the Marin Leader Network (MLN) meeting.
First, A HUGE CHEER went up for the work of all the groups on the previous week’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Washington!
At the meeting the members reiterated the mission and goals of the Marin Leader Network (MLN) to not only support the electoral efforts for the 2018 mid-term elections, but also to support the various efforts of the MLN member organizations in all arenas resisting the Trump agenda and defending our democracy.
In a Round Robin reporting session, each group leader shared their organization's recent successes, events, and initiatives.
Some highlights from Marin group leaders:
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Marin Moms will hold an annual Demand Action Sandy Hook Vigil.
Dec 17, 10am, Piper Park, Larkspur -
People Power/ACLU's will sponsor a voter registration drive.
Dec 11-15 with a focus on high school students. -
OFA's Firestorm Climate Action Forum gave a report of the meeting of climate leaders from Sonoma and Marin. OFA Leader, Belle Cole, talked about what they learned at the forum from experts who outlined the causes of the recent firestorms in our communities. They discussed their aggressive climate change policies and how to communicate these results to the leaders at the Bonn International Climate Negotiations.
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The "Break The Glass" team’ will work to coordinate rapid response to crisis situations (e.g. protests against Trump firing Mueller or a nuclear threat). They will be working with national groups such as MoveOn, Credo, and Indivisible.
In addition, at the MLN meeting, Bill Jansen addressed the group on the need to re-energize our volunteer base in January after the holidays when the 2018 election cycle begins in earnest, and when other MLN initiatives will also be re-launching their programs. A significant event for that focus could be the January 20th second Women’s March and our own MVCAN January meeting.
Finally, the group focused on the formation of potential subgroups, one of which has already been formed: the Electoral Coalition who will focus on the 2018 Elections.
Bottom line – the Marin Leaders Network is positioned to be the coordination group for all Marin progressive and resistance groups in 2018.
LEARN ABOUT FORCED MIGRATION
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HEAR POET JAVIER ZAMORA Mon, Dec. 4, 7:00 pm |
JAVIER ZAMORA, author of Unaccompanied. chronicles his migration from El Salvador to the U.S. as a child, and tells his story of the loss and violence that accompanies forced migration. Event details here .
If you’re interested in participating in a campaign to get Javier’s books in the hands of U.S. Congresspeople, contact Suz Lipman
WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE - FROM THE MVCAN-DO REVUE
Thanks to everyone who attended and helped host the MVCAN-DO REVUE, our anniversary fundraiser!
This celebration brought our community together in more ways than one: it lifted our spirits, it recognized what we accomplished together, it invited others to join our fight, and it raised a good amount of money for our cause!
We have now posted a full video of the event for your viewing pleasure (and for folks who missed it).
Also, check out more event videos in this album, where we will add individual performances in coming days. Many thanks to David Donnenfield, Ed Ellsworth and George Eade for shooting these videos, and to Fabrice Florin for editing them! You can learn more and see our favorite photos on our anniversary page .
What did you think of the MVCAN-Do Revue? Please take this short survey , to share your feedback and help plan future events for MVCAN.
If you’re interested in helping produce more events like this in 2018, please email the event team leads at events-lead@mvcan.org. Thank you!
KUDOS TO OUR WEEKLY WAG editorial team for making it happen: Annie Cooperman Associate Editor, Danny Altman, Tom Keefe, June Cooperman, and Wag Founder Suz Lipman.
CONTACT OUR ACTION TEAMS
CHECK THEM OUT! : Much of MVCAN's work is done in one of our awesome 9 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.
Health Care is forging ahead after their successful fight over the repeal/replace of ACA.
Tech supports MVCAN through technology.
Women's Rights fundraises and canvasses for NARAL and Planned Parenthood; supports women in public office(s); and engages in local, state and federal legislation for women's protection and rights.
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
