Review of the Rally to Protect our Democracy
Many, many thanks to our primary organizers Eric, Sherry and Patricia for the Rally held January 7, 2023, on the West Brookfield Common. We had a good turnout of 28 people, including State Sen. Anne Gobi and Governor’s Councillor Paul DePalo.
The latest Indivisible Mass Coalition newsletter focused on non-partisanship in local communities. We need to connect with our neighbors and consider what are the bread-and-butter issues. Perhaps we could start by writing our Letters to the Editor – that is a way to introduce ourselves to the community. For example: we could write about our fun activities like the Trees Are Treasures events or the benefits of having social workers in partnership with police. This may be a bridge instead of a wall. Sherry offered to do training on door-to-door canvassing.
In the east, some districts have “Coffee and Conversations” (regular meetings with legislators and constituents). We decided to invite Sen. Gobi to one of our meetings once the legislative agenda for 2023 is set and to form a legislative sub-committee to follow bills introduced and select those of special interest to our group. Dylan, Karen, Janet, Colin, and Jasmin are interested in serving; Karen will convene the sub-committee.
Upcoming events
Items for the Grassroots calendar: the regional DTC meeting tomorrow, Jan. 15th at 1:00 and Sen. Anne Gobi at Holden Senior Center meeting, Jan. 17th at 2:30.
Political Initiatives
The race track in Hardwick was defeated (313 for and 831 against) – 60+% participation!
Postcard projects: Wisconsin judges happening now; past project for Holly Siebel in VA – she won! There is a new project for another VA special election – contact Jeana if you want to participate.
Ways to participate in and/or support the Jan. 30th event in support of an upcoming Prison Moratorium: this bill was vetoed by Baker last session. Legislation will be re-filed. Not only do some want to build a new women’s prison but there is a proposal to build a juvenile detention center too. Would GCM be willing to endorse this legislation to institute a 5 Year Moratorium on the building of any new prisons or jails in Massachusetts? Leadership group is in favor of endorsing this; Jeana will post question to all members of the group to see what they think.
“Can Democrats Succeed in Rural America?” event was held (virtually) Jan. 11 at 3:30PM and looked at effective ways to select viable candidates for rural areas and to communicate effectively with rural voters.
Report on Indivisible Mass Coalition meeting on Jan. 11: Judy from National Indivisible summarized the national plan, which involved finding effective ways to respond to MAGA messaging, building relationships between legislators and various groups, growing our movement, building our numbers, promoting a “radical revival of civic engagement,” developing different plans for red and blue states, and implementing DVC (Direct Voter Contact). There is now recognition that Indivisible has to get more on board with focusing on local issues and reaching out to groups that aren’t yet involved, such as young people. We need to initiate or renew our individual memberships in Indivisible Mass Coalition, so we can vote for the Board again soon. We definitely want to be able to vote for our Grassroots Central Mass members who currently serve on the IMC board.
The concern about Speaker Mariano not seating two Democratic election winners, Kristin Kassner & Margaret Scarsdale, was also discussed. People were urged to call Mariano (617-722-2500) and write him urging him to seat these duly elected representatives. In addition, with respect to elections: there is a petition to Bill Galvin asking him to prevent people who participated in the insurrection from being allowed to run for office in Massachusetts.
Hybrid event tomorrow, Jan 15th for regional DTC chairs and interested voters; discussion will focus on a unified plan to increase Democratic Party participation. It’s 1:00 pm at Ye Olde Tavern in West Brookfield; Zoom link available.
Racial and Social Justice Committee
Report on our ongoing meetings: we talked about our own biases and emphasized good listening (example: consider what it means to be a co-conspirator vs an ally); next meeting, Feb. 5 at 10:30 AM
Updates on projects we support. “Reimagining policing”: we should continue with our support of this action. Care4EduEquity: Jasmin spoke about the BIPOC educators panel coming up on Jan. 24th – she will try to attend; Jasmin is also looking for another intern and organizing a new group in Southbridge to provide opportunities for youth to learn about governance in Southbridge and to bring their perspectives forward with respect to local issues. Jasmin also spoke to Jim McGovern’s aide about a Catch-22 situation involving Massachusetts residents from Puerto Rico trying to obtain or renew their driver’s license. An applicant writes to Puerto Rico and requests a birth certificate, but Puerto Rico requires an ID in order to fulfill this request, but the certificate is being requested because the person doesn’t have an ID! How can we help people around this roadblock? There is a real concern that many of the documents being required and problems such as this one will also affect undocumented immigrants when they begin to request driver’s licenses and this will completely undermine the intent of Question 4 – Driver’s Licenses for All – which passed as a Ballot Question in November.
Members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America worked very hard to get a bill for preventing gun violence passed in the last legislative session (it never made it to the floor for a vote). They would like to have supporters meet with Sen. Anne Gobi during her office hours in Holden to request her support for this common sense gun legislation. The focus at this time is on (1) stopping ghost guns (created on 3-D printers without serial numbers) and (2) law enforcement sharing information about guns that have been used in crimes. There is also an event, sponsored by Moms Demand Action, honoring survivors of gun violence on Feb. 4, 1:00-2:00 PM, UU Church in Worcester.
Update on the Commission to redesign the state flag and shield: David Detmold said that this racist symbol is everywhere in the Commonwealth; a Special Commission was formed and they have issued some important findings, including the need to redesign the flag and seal, but their mandate ran out on Jan 3rd; before they had time to review art work for a new flag and seal design. They are asking for 3 more months to complete their work. David has continued to work to line up more support for changing the state seal and flag (56 towns on board). David has been going door-to-door talking about this with Massachusetts citizens and he also works with towns to get the question about re-designing the flag and seal on town meeting warrants. It only takes 10 signatures to get this issue on the warrant. Perhaps some of the towns represented in GCM might want to take this question to their town meetings. David also mentioned that Leonard Peltier, Native American activist, has been in prison for decades; anniversary is coming up on Feb. 6th and he would like support for actions to release him. Jeana indicated our support for these initiatives and asked David to provide us with sample letters to sign onto and specific actions for us to take.
Committee was supportive of the effort to return Wounded Knee artifacts; a very moving ceremony was held in South Dakota on the anniversary of the Massacre. Returning sacred objects (ordered by NAGPRA) is a nation-wide issue, even with mainstream, well-funded institutions like Harvard-Peabody and UC-Berkeley have not returned large numbers of sacred objects, including human remains.
Climate Concerns
Report from the Climate Committee: The “Library Book Project” was one of our most visible and positive actions. Additional ways to publicize this work include Letters to the Editors and posting photos and a write-up on our website.
Planning for the upcoming Trees Are Treasure event has begun. The committee is checking with Wells State Park as a venue. Sat Apr 22, the real Earth Day, is the tentative date. Nancy is ordering trees, as she has in years past. They need to find trees that are resilient and hardy and able to survive in our warming climate. They would like to have business cards available at the event.
Janet is working with 350.org and keeping us posted on important legislative actions happening in Massachusetts. She mentioned that Bill McKibben is stepping down from the organization and creating a new one focused on engaging older activists called Third Act.
Update on Chase Bank standouts: These will start up again; next standout is on Fri Jan 20, 3 pm, weather permitting, on Gold Star Boulevard in Worcester. Janet will send list of dates for standouts. Another date to put on your calendar: March 21 is National Discredit/Bad Banks Day.
Governor Healey created a new climate cabinet position and appointed Melissa Hoffer to head the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience, which is very good news. We want Gov. Healey to continue to fulfill her campaign promises, such as a moratorium on commercial logging on public lands. Caring for trees is no longer under local tree wardens; instead the State Highway Department often cuts trees indiscriminately.
Next Meeting: Sat Feb 4 2023, 9:30 am.
