Dear Friends,
WOW, talk about everything being in full gear! The President inspired the heck out of us on Tuesday night — Go Joe! We are at a critical point in Richmond, as bills impacting our lives and our future come down to the wire. Your voice is needed RIGHT NOW to focus our representatives on bills that must be passed. Please get loud on the CTAs below as soon as you read this.
ALL IN,
Stair
This week’s Friday Power Lunch will focus on the strength that comes from working together. JOIN US! Learn what is happening in #Virginia! and get loud in all your channels for our fabulous guests. These are people with their shoulders to the grindstone – doing the work that has to be done to turn VA reliably blue. Get to know them and get inspired so we can keep up this fight together.
BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS
Lauren Burke – Journalist, podcaster, crisis communications consultant and founder of Black Virginia News.
MEET OUR MOMENT ORGANIZATION
Join MOM founder Jay Jones, former Delegate AND hear from Sonia Vasquez Luna, Manassas City Council and Rae Cousins, Candidate for HD 79 who have benefited from the training program.
2023 SPOTSYLVANIA CANDIDATES
WORKING TOGETHER TO RISE!
Spotsylvania County has been pretty solid Republican, voting Romney-Trump-Trump from 2012 to 2020. How do we turn it BLUE? With people like this.
– Dr. Rita Daniels, Current Spotsylvania School Board member who is running again.
– Carol Huebner Medawar, Candidate Spotsylvania School Board.
– The Hon. Joshua Cole, Pastor, Preacher, Former Delegate and now candidate for HD 65
– Ben Litchfield Senate Candidate for Senate District 27
Please tag our fabulous guests this week and
Comment on Instagram Post, Retweet 1 & Retweet 2
URGENT Campaign Finance last Action Alert: Deadline: Friday, February 10th.
In the House of Delegates, all House campaign finance bills have been killed. Now four common sense bills are moving from the Senate to the House Privileges & Elections Committee. Let’s show members of this committee that Virginians are watching. Click here and send a message to all members of the House P&E committee that we want them to pass four Senate bills: SB1552, SB854, SB1427, SB1053. If we don’t raise our voices collectively, these bills will also ‘hit the dust”. Contact: nancyruthmorgan@gmail.com
CALL TO ACTION: Mountain Valley Pipeline
The MVP is trying to get their permits back that the 4th Circuit Court has vacated twice! The MVP’s record of polluting SWVA’s water and destroying the habitat of endangered species is unacceptable. PLUS there is no economic need to build out more fracked gas infrastructure. BUT the fossil fuel industry isn’t giving up on new pipeline projects that are popping up all over the country like the so-called Virginia Reliability Pipeline (VRP) in the tidewater area. Go to this Sierra Club MVP update for more information. Please take a moment to use the portals to submit comments and sign the petition below:
- CTA 1: Use West Virginia Rivers Coalition’s easy portal with a comment ready to send to the US Forest Service to reject MVP’s permit to cross the forest. Deadline Feb. 10
- CTA 2: Use West Virginia Rivers Coalition’s easy portal with a comment ready to send to the US Army Corps of Engineers to reject MVP’s permit to cross water bodies. Deadline Feb. 21
- CTA 3: Sign Wild Virginia petition to stop the build out of new pipelines like the MVP and the VRP.
Email your lawmaker and tell them to prioritize #FamiliesOverCorporations. Prioritizing families and kids over corporations would mean protecting our resources to invest in public education, health care, and more and providing direct support to families through improved tax credits or benefit programs such as TANF and SNAP. Personalize your own email in The Commonwealth Institute’s portal. and look over their report – Key Budget Policy Choices:Comparing the governor’s and money committees’ proposed changes to the 2022-2024 budget
Keep RGGI, it’s the law! Enter a comment on this Regulatory Action. RGGI has been the law since 2020 and we oppose the Youngkin administration directing the Air Board to discontinue participation. This is unlawful, and the administration has no proposed plans to meet the reductions necessary to meet our 2050 goal. RGGI is an essential piece in the puzzle to help us meet the goal of 100% renewables by 2050 To date, RGGI: Has brought in almost 1/2 billion dollars in revenue from polluters, is an incentive for polluters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the source of funding for low-income energy efficiency projects, and the source of funding for flood preparedness for communities across the state.
Join the New Virginia Majority and let legislators know that you support more housing vouchers.
Tell DeSantis & the Florida Board of Education to Drop the Black History Ban
Thursday, February 9, 2023 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET
Be a Social Media Queen – How to Influence Online
Ready to defeat right-wing extremism and bring commonsense back to our communities? Sharing information and inspiring people to action is how we bring change — want to widen your reach? Become a Social Media Queen — learn how to be an effective online influencer with your friends and beyond. You’ve got the power — let’s do it with Red, Wine and Blue.
Saturday, Feb 11, 1pm-3:00pm ET
And following Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays
National Guided Phone Bank: Virginia and Wisconsin
Join the Center for Common Ground and call Black Voters for the Wisconsin and Virginia special elections.
Virtual Virginia Grassroots Coalition Meeting
Join 50+ grassroots groups as we plan for the remainder of 2023 Virginia legislative session and special election on February 21st.
The Origins and Importance of Individual Rights
Individualism is the basis of human and civil rights. The individual is the primary social unit in Liberal thought. In this era of tribalism, recognizing individual rights may be exactly what we need.
Deep Dive: How RCV works in multi-winner elections
Join Deb Otis, Director of Research at FairVote, for an overview of how ranked choice voting works in elections with more than one winner and an in-depth look at how that would look in some Virginia localities. Can’t make it? You can still submit a question ahead of time – we’ll do our best to get that question answered. The event will be recorded and made available to the public.
Monday, February 13 12:30 PM -1:30 PM
Join Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) and coalition partners to make sure we pass bills to support climate justice and clean energy while blocking attempts to take Virginia backwards!
Money Fake Grassroots. Real Dark Money
Understand the impact of dark money on education, how it affects your schools, and what we can do to fight back.
Phone voters for Wisconsin Supreme Court Election
Sign up here for WI Supreme Court phone banking every Tuesday evening
Tuesday, February 14 (and weekly) at 6 pm
Wednesday, February 15, 5:30pm
Virginia Redress Network’s Monthly Meeting
Learn what progress Virginians are making on restitution and the many issues relating to racial and social justice.
Wed, Feb 15, 7:00pm–8:30pm EST
Better Democratic Framing & Messaging
Zoom workshops aimed at the practice of framing better Democratic messages. Sponsored by the Fairfax County Democratic Committee.
Wednesday February 15, 7:00 PM
Reflections on 2022: Insights, Gratitude, & the Work Ahead
Join Rural Ground Game for a conversation with 2022 Democratic Nominees for US Congress Herb Jones, Taysha DeVaughan, and Josh Throneburg. As we gear up for yet another election this year in Virginia, let’s take a moment to hear some insights, stories, and thoughts about both the short and long term work for Democrats in rural and small town communities. We will have time for a brief Q&A with the audience at the end and will share more upcoming virtual and in person events for 2023.
Wednesday February 15, 7:00 PM
Charlottesville NOW hosts Mali Lucas-Green, who will talk about her enslaved ancestor’s escape to freedom across the Rappahannock River in 1862 and his journey back into Confederate territory to free his family. Moses Lucas and his wife Mildred, Lucas-Green’s great, great, great, grandparents, were among the enslaved who emancipated themselves during the Civil War—helping force the emancipation question by crossing into Union territory. Lucas-Green’s presentation draws on two decades of research into her family history, after discovering in her great-grandfather’s library the first-person account of the escape, dictated by Moses Lucas.
Represent US Zoom Meeting US Supreme Court Case (Moore v. Harper)
You are invited to RepresentUs New Jersey Zoom Sat 2/18 11 am. Learn about the Supreme Court Case on the “Independent Legislature Theory”.
Truth Brigade Workshop and Orientation
Tuesday, February 28, 2023 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET
Sweep Salon: Breaking Through the Misinformation Around Sex Ed
When it comes to sex and relationships education, there’s so much misinformation out there that it’s hard to know what’s actually being taught. Join Jaclyn Friedman, founder and ED of EducateUS, to learn about the National Sex Education Standards, what’s taught in each grade and why, and how you can help fight back against lies and fear by sharing this simple information with people you know.
Thursday, March 2, 2023 06:30 PM
Post-Legislative Session Briefing
Join Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia as they break down all the important updates on reproductive rights from the 2023 Legislative Session and discuss what’s up next for protecting abortion access in Virginia in 2023 and beyond!
Banned Book Club – The Bluest Eye
Join Red, Wine and Blue for the March Meeting of Banned Book Book Club- where we will be discussing Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye with Dr. Derek Adams, Professor of English Literature at Ithaca College.
Register Democrats Summit 2023
Join a movement-wide coalition focused on registering Democrats across the country. The summit brings together the best and brightest minds, from elected officials to tech leaders to grassroots organizers and so much more. Confirmed speakers include:
- Katie Porter (CA-47)
- Abigail Spanberger (VA-07)
- Brian Tyler Cohen, progressive superpodcaster
- Simon Rosenberg, Founder, New Democrat Network
- Santiago Mayer, Founder, Voters of Tomorrow
- Ben Wikler, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party
- Joe Vogel, MD State Rep
- Lavanna Martinez NJ political consultant, formerly w/Run for Something
- Tonya James, VA Dem Party Exec Committee Member
- Mischa Smith, former CO State House candidate
