IEB NEWSLETTER 4/7/20
Georgia on our mind: Ahmaud Arbery, born Mother’s Day 1994, killed February 2020 by a father and son who decided a Black man out for a run could be a criminal they’d better chase with guns. On May 8, which would have been his 26th birthday, people all over the country will #RunForMaud to honor him – and to protest that a DA is only now calling for a grand jury and no arrests have been made. Justice doesn’t mean lynching the men who killed Arbery. It means they face the consequences of chasing and killing an unarmed man in what many are calling a “modern lynching.” And government on all levels needs to pay for doing nothing while vigilantes kill men for running while Black and communities of color suffer and die from COVID-19.
Home is Where the Polling Place Is
Deadline: NOW – 2020 elections, just six months to go! Dr. Anthony Fauci says it’s “in the realm of possibility” to have a COVID vaccine by January 2021 – fingers crossed the Clorox-injector-in-chief is history by then! – but we won’t have a vaccine by Election Day. So to the pile of coronavirus problems, add safe voting in November. One solution: Voting at home and mailing or dropping off ballots. But that’ll take huge infrastructure changes to work nationwide, and those don’t come cheap. Without this funding for elections, many Americans will be forced to make a terrible choice: risk getting COVID or don’t vote. There’s much you need to do NOW to support funding for voting at home, plus oversight of the funding. Here’s a call script & contact info. Check out our article for more info and things you can do.
What to say:
My name is _, my zip code is , and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. I want Congress to authorize $4 billion dollars for all Americans to be able to vote at home in the November election. And the money needs to come with public oversight to make sure it gets spent properly. Do not allow CARES 2 to pass without this funding. It’s un-American to force us to choose between our health and the right to vote.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (email)
(415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841 Sen. Kamala Harris (email)
(415) 981-9369 • DC: (202) 224-3553
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (email); (510) 620-1000 DC: (202) 225-2095
Rep. Barbara Lee (email); (510) 763-0370 DC: (202) 225-2661
Rep. Eric Swalwell (email); (510) 370-3322 DC: (202) 225-5065
In the Zoom Where it Happened
We’re fired up from our April virtual All Members Meeting! Special guest Scott Forman gave us the scoop on Vote Forward’s new partnership with Indy National and what The Big Send (10 million letters!) can mean for November. IEB’s voting issues expert Ion laid out the complexities lying ahead for states to vote by mail. Watch Scott’s presentation here, and watch Ion’s here. We also had breakouts on Congressional Hardball, Vote by Mail, and whether IEB should endorse Biden. It was so much fun, we’re getting ready for the next meeting on May 31! RSVP here and we’ll email you the Zoom link. Questions or comments? Ask info@indivisibleeb.org
What We’ve Been Doing
Great news! CA-11 Rep. Mark DeSaulnier returned home from the hospital on May 4; he’ll continue to recover in DC until he can fly to California. See our article on how to send him well wishes!
Your donations to IEB support our actions against the Evil Empire but do not go to candidate-related events.
Activities & Events!
2020 Voter Outreach Events
No in-person events for now. Please fill out this form, we’ll let you know about our virtual & remote options. And see our article for a list of great groups we partner with, they’ve got many more!
Phone &Text Bank/Postcard & Letter:
- Phone Bank to Wisconsin & Arizona 5/9
- Phone Bank to AZ 5/16
- Text Bank to Win in 2020 5/17
- Phone Bank to AZ 5/23
- Postcard Hangout with Kristen 5/26
- Phone Bank to AZ 5/30
- Remote Text Bank to Win in 2020 5/30
- Can you help reach out to Spanish-speaking voters in AZ & beyond? If so, please add your name to our list.
- Want to write postcards from home? Email us for complete instructions, scripts & addresses.
- May 13: Write postcards to ensure a complete 2020 Census count in Oakland. Info & sign up at this link. And if you haven’t yet filled out them census, do it NOW! See our article.
Other Activities & Events
- See our article Come Zoom With Us about how to join us online or by phone, using the Zoom call app.
- May 31, 1-3 PM: Virtual IEB All Members Meeting. RSVP & info here.
We Could Not Make This Up
Wait a minute, Mr. Postman! You don’t need to buy a stamp to vote by mail in California, but if you spend a few million $$ on Trump and GOP like Louis DeJoy did, then signed, sealed, delivered, you might just get to be Postmaster General! DeJoy’s connection with the Postal Service appears to be that he used to own a company that fixed equipment including mail bags. Anyway, yeah … We’d like to write a letter to the president to say, Return to Sender.
Want to do more? Contact Us!
- Volunteer with IEB or find out how we work: andrea@indivisibleeb.org
- Questions/comments about IEB: info@indivisibleeb.org
- Don’t miss an issue: subscribe to this newsletter!
- Questions/comments on the newsletter: newsletter@indivisibleeb.org
- Join us on the chat platform Slack to talk about important issues, plan events, & more! Ask for an invite at info@indivisibleeb.org
- Donate – keep the momentum going!
