IN THIS ISSUE
Recent MVCAN News
Upcoming Events
including special ACA phone banks, June 9, 10 and 12, below
Weekly Actions You Can Take NOW
Action Team News
RECENT MVCAN NEWS
130 MVCAN members attended the monthly MVCAN meeting June 4, which featured special guest speaker, Becky Bond. Bond served as a senior advisor on the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and is co-author of the recent highly-lauded book Rules for Revolutionaries - How Big Organizing Can Change Everything. She urged us to keep up the resistance, fight on the local level and also direct some national efforts toward down-ballot races where our actions can have the most impact. This is an important moment for the grassroots. "People are willing to do something big in order to win something big," Bond said. "People who are new to politics tell me, 'I want to do something where I live'. But people can't make a difference if there isn't a structure they can plug into. (MVCAN) is providing that plan, and allowing people to get to work."
Photos: Fabrice Florin
The meeting also featured MVCAN member Fabrice Florin's highly engaging talk about Art and Politics, which highlighted art's unique capacity for changing minds and actions.
In addition Tamra Peters, from the MVCAN's Eco Warriors team, addressed the group about Resilient Neighborhoods, a fun program that anyone can join today to reduce your carbon footprint.
Watch a complete video of the meeting. Watch the video from the beginning of Becky's talk. Watch the video of Fabrice's talk.
Thank you George Eade and Fabrice Florin for producing the video.
Photo: Mort Stein
60 MVCAN MEMBERS MARCHED IN THE MV MEMORIAL DAY PARADE
Float designer and leader Fabrice Florin:
"People loved our political float at the 2017 Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade. The Bamboodu Theater stars Lady Liberty and Mr. Trump: each time he says something wrong, she hits him on the head.
We marched with friends and neighbors from MVCAN and Pataphysical Studios. Thousands of spectators cheered as we passed by, singing along with us: 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …'
Parade judges gave us the Best Community Spirit Award. KGO 7 featured our political art in their Memorial Day coverage. The Marin IJ ran a front-page story about the float. I’m glad that our message resonated with our community and helped promote MVCAN. Join your neighbors to keep democracy alive!"
See more photos of the float here and here.
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June Cooperman and Bernard Catalinotto with State Senator Mike McGuire
Photos: Suz Lipman, Edward Janne, Bill Jansen
MVCAN MEMBERS ATTENDED A RALLY to stop the deportations of Hugo Mejía and Rodrigo Núñez, fathers and community volunteers with deep roots in the Bay Area who have been trapped in detention since May 3. See Action 3, below, for an action to help Mejia and Núñez.
Photos: Larry Litvak
25 MVCAN MEMBERS ADVOCATED TO THE CITY OF MILL VALLEY at two different meetings for support of CA Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act (or Sanctuary State Law), which protects CA and its cities from federal attempts to enact mass deportations, and for Mill Valley to join other Marin cities in going Deep Green by committing to Marin Clean Energy. No actions were taken by the city, as these items were addressed during public open time, and were not on the meetings' agendas. MVCAN will continue to advocate for these issues in an attempt to push Mill Valley to be a progressive beacon.
Civil Rights/Immigration team lead Peter Graumann
Some members of the MVCAN group on the steps of City Hall
Photos: Fabrice Florin, Suz Lipman
MULTIPLE MVCAN MEMBERS MADE OVER 1,000 CALLS for Jon Ossoff in the Georgia 6th Special Election, as well as Archie Parnell in South Carolina's 5th. Ossoff's early vote numbers were as high as the early vote in 2016! For a historically low-interest special election, in a historically red district, this is a great sign. E-Day is June 20, so we want to build on this momentum. See below for more info about phone banking this Sat., June 10.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Next MVCAN Monthly Meeting will take place Sun., Aug. 6, time and location TBA. No monthly meeting in July.
MVCAN teams will continue to meet. Additional events and actions will be added to the MVCAN.org Event Calendar. Please continue to check the calendar.
Featured events and activities:
Fri. June 9 and Mon. June 12 Join MVCAN's Health Care team to phone bank to constituents sympathetic to the ACA in districts of Republican senators.
Sat. June 10 Seize one of our last opportunities to help win 2 U.S. House seats! Please join the MVCAN Electoral Team phone bank to call voters in GA for Jon Ossoff and SC for Archie Parnell. We will also have the option to call voters in NV to protect the ACA in purple/red states. Info here.
Wed. June 14 Solidarity for Muslims and People of All Faiths. Join Muslims, Jews and others for a festive "break fast" meal during Ramadan. Islamic Center of Mill Valley.
Wed. June 14 Health Care for Everybody Documentary Screening at the Redwoods
Learn about events, activities, meetings, and other ways to get involved on the mvcan.org event page. Bookmark this page so you can always find MVCAN's events.
WEEKLY ACTION ITEMS
Save our National Monuments. Don’t let the Trump administration strip ownership of these precious monuments away from the American people and open them to private development.
Why It’s So Important
Trump recently signed an executive order to allow national monument designations to be reversed or to be reduced in size as his administration pushes to open these precious federal lands to private exploitation by drilling, ranching, and mining interests.
We need to let our California Members of Congress know how we feel about about this shameless attempt to let corporate interests appropriate national monuments that rightly belong to the American public. Letting our members of Congress know how strongly we feel on this issue keeps up the pressure and focus while infusing the political climate with a sense of urgency.
What to Do – Action Item 1
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, SF (415) 393-0707, LA (310) 914-7300, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
- Sen. Kamala Harris: DC (202) 224-3553, Sacramento (916) 448-2787, SF (415) 355-9041, LA (213) 894-5000, SD (619) 239-3884, Fresno (559) 497-5109
- Rep. Jared Huffman DC (202) 225-5161, San Rafael (415) 258-9657
ACTION 2:
Help protect the Bear’s Ears National Monument, which has been specifically attacked by Trump, using an action on the Sierra Club action page.
Why It’s So Important
Bears Ears was created after a long period of consultation with all of the local stakeholders and is a wonderful addition to our country’s treasured legacy of national monuments. We need to protect Bears Ears from Trump’s predatory actions.
What to Do – Action Item 2
ACTION 3: Hugo Mejia, a San Rafael construction worker and father of three, is STILL being held in a general population jail in Elk Grove, CA, and has been since May 2. His lawyer and Congressman Huffman are working relentlessly on his behalf.
Congressman Huffman met with Hugo at the jail and a group of mighty supporters, including a contingent from MVCAN, made our voices heard outside the building. Hugo’s colleague, Rodrigo Núñez, is still being held at a jail in Yuma County. Senator Kamala Harris will start advocating on their behalf as well.
Our message is still the same: That Hugo and his colleague, Rodrigo Núñez, be released immediately from jail and be placed in regular removal proceedings.
What to Do – Action Item 3
Please click here for action to help Hugo Mejia.
ACTION TEAM REPORTS
Announcing a new MVCAN team: Economic Action, How to Make the Biggest Impact on Politics with your Money, headed by Danny Altman. Get in on the ground floor! The first meeting is Monday, June 12, 7pm. Contact Danny for more info.
Much of MVCAN's work is done in one of 10 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. Thank you Diane Goldman for spearheading this team, which is now chaired by Peter Graumann. Read more.
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. Read more.
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! Read more.
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. Read more.
Education will be working on a series of salons to discuss critical education issues with MVCAN members. We anticipate these will begin in the fall. Read more.
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, who 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. Read more. Note: No phone bank this week. The next phone bank is Sat., June 10.
Health Care is focusing on actions being taken to repeal the ACA, and on protecting health care coverage. They participate in advocacy and phone banking in conjunction with OFA Marin. Read more.
Tech supports MVCAN through technology. Read more.
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. Read more.
NEW TO MVCAN?
Visit MVCAN.org to learn about the organization, teams and strategies; read past MVCAN newsletters, and gain helpful Resistance tools.Got a skill, talent and/or time? We need you! Contact Laura Boles and let her know how you might be able to help our growing Resistance group. We especially seek volunteers with web and video skills. In a few hours a week, you can make a huge difference to multiple Resistance members and actions!
Please note: No Wag next week.
Thank you for all you do!
– June, Bernard, Suz, Danny, Eileen, Nitsa, and everyone at MVCAN
