Happy Tuesday, Activists!
111 DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION
This week we have good news and hopeful news. First the hopeful news. You'll see below the results of protesters' demands on the City to make real change in policing. Right now we can have an influence on the next steps toward progress.
And we have good news on the next phase of our big postcard Vote By Mail project. You'll see how you can take action and make a difference on both these fronts and more. Yay you!
MOVIE NIGHT – JULY 15, 7:00 PM
TOMORROW – Join us to watch Ava Duvernay’s stunning documentary 13th, which examines the direct connections between slavery and modern-day mass incarceration. Sign up here.
We’ll be watching “together” using Netflix Party, allowing us to sync up the experience and "chat" during the movie. It's easy! You'll just need to install Netflix Party in your Chrome browser on your laptop or desktop (sorry, tablets and phones won't work).
Sign up and we'll send you the simple instructions to get set up!
POST-MOVIE DISCUSSION – TUESDAY, JULY 21, 7:00 PM
Several days after we watch the movie we’ll meet to discuss the issues it raises. We’ll have an esteemed professor, John Roman, PhD, of NORC at the University of Chicago. John’s research focuses on innovative crime control policies and justice programs, including in juvenile and adult justice systems focusing on prisoner reentry, diversion, and alternative sentencing.
Then, you’ll meet our new Indivisible PA/DE Coordinator, Becca Litt. Fresh off the Elizabeth Warren campaign, Becca will tell us about Indivisible’s plans for winning in November.
When: Tuesday, July 21, 7:00 PM
Where: on Zoom
CALL TO ACTION See our previous calls to action on our website here.
Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. office 202-224-6324; email link
Sen. Toomey – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. office 202-224-4254; email link
1. Demand Senators pass the Heroes Act without watering it down.
Unemployment insurance benefits from the CARES Act are set to run out on July 31. We must extend and expand coronavirus relief legislation -- vulnerable people across the country are depending on it. Read here about the Heroes Act and its protections and call our Senators to demand they pass it.
2. Tell our Philadelphia elected officials to defund the police department and invest those funds in resources people need in Black communities and communities of color.
Here's the hopeful part. Right now we have a special opportunity to help influence our city government. You may have seen that Mayor Kenney’s #2, Managing Director Brian Abernathy, is resigning. This is happening after Abernathy came under fire from protestors for his handling of the Black Lives Matter protests and the violent police actions. We need to call and insist his replacement be more open to not just police “reform” but to Defunding The Police and making real changes.
Tell them the City’s budget must shift more money from the police budget and into Black community-led education, health, and safety programs that fund schools and youth homelessness services, solutions to the opioid crisis, among others. See more about what #DefundThePolice means in our previous newsletter here.
POSTCARDS
We have great news about our postcard project!! The folks already writing cards heard about this over the weekend. We are announcing the next phase of this project.
We’ve been fortunate to partner with several artists in Brooklyn who have generously created original works of art for our postcards! We’ll have two different original postcards and we are announcing the first one today!
Created by Jennifer Maravillas, it embraces the idea of the importance of voting by mail and the impact of our voting now on our future generations. August is marks the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote and we want to celebrate this milestone as well.
We will be sending this postcard through the end of August or so, and then we’ll introduce the second postcard. Read all about these fantastic artists here.
Here it is!
Here’s how it works:
1. We will provide these postcards to you for free. You will need to only purchase 35-cent postcard stamps at this link or your post office. Once you finish with your current set of USPS postcards you can start sending these beautiful cards, or start now and save your USPS cards for another time.
We do not have the postcards in hand yet but we’re likely to get them this week.
We will deliver the new postcards to you when you ask for new addresses and labels.
2. The script includes a pre-printed label and we will deliver those to you with the postcards.
3. We will email you the instructions for writing the postcards, the script, and the addresses.
4. Join a Zoom postcard party or write cards at home on your own. It all helps! You can also Zoom office hours to say hi and answer questions, and some other fun stuff along the way. See below.
Click this link to sign up.
Progress Update –We have over 380 writers and we’ve sent nearly 38,000 addresses out to our writers so far!
Virtual Postcard Events
For easy access, all of our events are at this link.
Every Wednesday Virtual Cards & Coffee – See you tomorrow!
Sign up for any Wednesday – Pick the date you want when you sign up, 11 am-1 pm (stay for as long as you want). Sign up here.
Every Thursday Virtual Cards & Cocktails
Sign up for any Thursday – Pick the date you want when you sign up. 6-8 pm (stay for as long as you want). Sign up here.
Every Sunday Brunch Office Hours – Every Sunday, 12-2 pm. Sign up here.
Every Sunday at noon we’ll meet on Zoom to chat at our “Office Hours." Drop in just to say hi, or write postcards, ask some questions, shoot the breeze, or have brunch with us, whatever. And if you haven’t signed up yet you can stop by and ask what it’s all about. We’ll be there!
MAIL-IN VOTING – EARLY ACTION WINS
The graphic below tells the story of what happens if you apply for mail-in voting too close to the election. The election boards simply won't be able to handle the volume.
If you haven’t signed up to vote by mail we strongly urge you to do it now. Today. Sign up here if you haven’t already. You can also download a printed application at that site and mail it in. Or call to have an application mailed to you at 877-VOTESPA.
If you’re worried about whether you signed up already for a mail-in ballot for the November election, you can check that at the ballot tracker page here.
You can see all the reasons to vote by mail in a recent newsletter here. Tell your friends and family to do it how!
MORE BUCKS COUNTY PHONE BANKING
Turn PA Blue has two phone banking opportunities for Bucks County candidates.
Thursday, July 16, 6-8 pm: Phone Banking Party for Gary Spillane, who is running to flip HD 144 in Bucks. Sign up here!
Sunday, July 19, 1-3 pm: Phone Banking Party for Ann Marie Mitchell, who is running to flip HD 178 in Bucks County. Sign up here!
Phone banking has become the best way to convince voters to cast their ballots now that we can’t go door to door. So sign up to make the difference you want to see!
Have a good week. Be safe. Wear a mask. Be kind.
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