Come Write with Us: October 11 & 24
This month we’re focusing our attention on the vote for reproductive rights in Ohio, and we’re still writing to Virginia voters in advance of their General Assembly elections. Won’t you join us to write more letters this month? (Sign up.)
Our next letter party dates:
- Wednesday, October 11th (this week!)
- Tuesday, October 24th
From 6:00-8:00 pm on each of the above evenings, we’ll meet at the Nile, 1162 E. 55th. If you’re writing Vote Forward letters on your own, bring them along, but not necessary — our letter leader Steve Kagan will bring letters for all. (Sign up.)
At our gatherings, we encourage you to order your own food to support the Nile, which has been such a friendly host (note: the Nile is BYOB). If you can, bring postage stamps to donate — we also welcome stamp donations from folks not able to attend. But the most important thing is to bring yourself! Sign up for October 11th, October 24th, or both dates.*
Sign up here!
*NOTE: We are now using a sign-up form (instead of requesting registration by email). If you have previously signed up for one of our dates by email, you’re already set and don’t need to sign up again.
Phone Ohio Voters – Protect Our Rights
What happens in one state affects all of us in the United States. As 2024 nears, let’s step up the work! One state to act for: OHIO.
Hardworking Ohio volunteers are canvassing door to door to encourage people to vote YES in November for the NEW Issue 1, which would enshrine reproductive rights in the Ohio state constitution.
You may not be able to join them on foot, but you CAN phone voters – in phone banks hosted by the Indivisible Chicago Alliance. Sign up.
Ohioans canvassing for reproductive rights on the ballot – from Ohio Dems FB page
Here are lots of opportunities to phone voters with Indivisible Chicago Alliance OR with the Ohio Dems. SIGN UP:
- Phone Ohio voters with Indivisible Chicago Alliance on Wednesday evenings, October 11, 18, and 25 from 5:00-7:00 pm. Get info/Sign up
- Phone Ohio voters with the Democratic Party of Ohio – choose your dates and times between now and November 7th (times listed are ET) Get info/Sign up
What’s phone banking all about?
Maybe you’ve never phoned voters before, or you tried it back in the day before the technology made it easy. You don’t need experience – just the desire to protect our country and democracy by helping get out the vote in the states.
Via Zoom, you get training and support from friendly folks like Sarah Lincoln, IC-SS co-leader and Indivisible Chicago phone bank host extraordinaire. At the end of every session, you get to share experiences with other folks fighting for our rights and our democracy on the phones.
What do you need in order to phone bank from home? A laptop, a phone, and a comfy place to sit. Add in a mug of your favorite hot beverage and you’re all set.
Ohio AND Wisconsin
n addition to all the Ohio opportunities listed with Indivisible Chicago and Ohio Dems, you can also phone bank with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Volunteers with WisDems are asking voters to call their state reps and senators and warn them off the far right’s extreme scheme to impeach duly elected Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz.
Oct 17: The Case for Ranked Choice Voting
What’s Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), and should it come to Illinois? On October 17th, come hear the executive director of Fair Vote Illinois make the case.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17th, our sister group Indivisible Downtown Chicago will hold an in-person informational event on Ranked Choice Voting. The guest speaker will be Andrew Szilva, executive director at Fair Vote Illinois.
WHAT: Ranked Choice Voting info session
WHEN: Tuesday, October 17th, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn
DETAILS: This event, hosted by Indivisible Downtown Chicago, will feature a presentation by Fair Vote Illinois, with time for Q & A. The info session will be followed by IDC’s regular member meeting and social time.
RSVP: Register here
See Fair Vote Illinois’s explainer for a quick intro to Ranked Choice Voting.
Organizations and Opportunities
Indivisible Chicago-South Side shares information and actions from other organizations on issues important in our country, state, city, and communities
South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance
At last week’s 5th ward town hall in Hyde Park, Ald. Desmon Yancy emphasized his commitment to the South Shore Preservation Ordinance, for which organizations like Not Me We have advocated for years.
Not Me We organizers speak on the ordinance at the 5th ward town hall
Ald. Yancy introduced the ordinance in the City Council on October 4th. This ordinance would help keep South Shore residents – both renters and condo owners – in their homes amid the Obama Presidential Center’s construction. See these stories in Block Club Chicago and the Hyde Park Herald.
Help Asylum Seekers
People from Venezuela and other countries continue to arrive in the United States as asylum seekers and are then bused to Chicago and other cities by Texas Gov. Abbott. (See the City of Chicago’s Welcoming City website.)
Although Chicago has opened more shelters, these sites can’t house all the new arrivals, and people continue to sleep in police stations, including in police districts 2 and 3. Many Chicago residents, including South Siders and members of IC-SS, are volunteering their time or donating funds and needed supplies. Here are some ways you can help:
Hyde Park and Local Police Districts 2 & 3
- Donate needed items via Lab Refugee Support‘s Walmart wishlist: Refugee Support | Walmart.com
- Support or volunteer with Hyde Park Refugee Project: Home – Hyde Park Refugee Project and Volunteer – Hyde Park Refugee Project
- Volunteer with Districts 2 & 3 – Meal Delivery: Info/Sign-up
Citywide
- Donate funds to Chicago Police Station Response Team via Open Collective
- Donate funds or requested items to organizations officially recommended by the City of Chicago
Webinar on Solitary Confinement: Tues, Oct 10
From Death Penalty Focus: As of 2020, twelve states automatically housed death-sentenced people in indefinite solitary confinement, in violation of the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules. The rules “restrict the use of solitary confinement as a measure of last resort, to be used only in exceptional circumstances.”
DPF hopes you will join them for what promises to be a thought-provoking and lively discussion on yet another example of how cruel, barbaric, and unjust capital punishment is.
The panelists, including DPF President Mike Farrell, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez, and ACLU lawyer Rachel Meeropol, have worked on abolishing the inhumane practice of placing people in solitary confinement for many years.
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, October 10th, 2:00 pm CT (12:00 pm PT)
REGISTER: More info/Sign up
EVENT ORGANIZER: Death Penalty Focus
Indivisible Chicago-South Side
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Co-Leaders: Sarah Lincoln, Esther Peters,
Betsy Rubin, Teri Watkins
About: Group & Co-Leader Statements
