Minuteman Muster - January 30. 2018
Volume 2, Issue 5      The Newsletter of Minuteman Indivisible Lexington     January 30, 2018
 
Muster (verb) – assemble, especially for inspection or preparation for battle


Dear Members,

As we approach the one year anniversary of Minuteman Indivisible's founding, we're amazed at what we've accomplished together and enthused about what we can do next. This week's MI Happenings section features two exciting upcoming events - a fundraiser for Mikie Sherrill this Thursday with special guest Maura Healey and our birthday celebration next week - and highlights the many activities our members have been involved in over the past week including meeting with Congresswoman Katherine Clark! Next week's deadlines for funding the federal government and reporting certain bills out of committee in Massachusetts create a sense of urgency for many of the items in the Morning Coffee Action section.

This week's Spotlight section outlines the goals and plans that the Minuteman Indivisible Board has been developing and tries to address questions you might have about who the board is and what it  does. Don't forget to check out the Upcoming Events sections and see the Recommended Reading section for a variety of timely articles from our amazing partners on the National Indivisible team.

Your Devoted Muster Editors 
MORNING COFFEE ACTIONS

(Actions you can do while enjoying your morning cup!)

Encourage Secretary of State Galvin to Support Automatic Voter Registration
Even though Secretary of State William Galvin now supports Election Day Registration (EDR), he doesn’t support Automatic Voter Registration (AVR), which would be far more effective at registering everybody who is eligible to vote. Give Secretary of State Galvin a call at 617-727-7030 and tell him that you support AVR and want him to support it too. 



Join the Safe Communities Act Call In Day on January 31st
The Safe Communities Act is the strongest action Massachusetts can take right now to push back against Trump's toxic, xenophobic deportation machine. Rep. Jay Kaufman, Sen. Cindy Friedman, and Sen. Mike Barrett are all cosponsors of this bill; call them on Wednesday, January 31, to thank them, and ask them to do everything in their power to move this bill out of committee by the February 7 deadline! If you have different state legislators, check these links for the Senate and House bills (S.1305, H.3269) to see if your legislators have signed on as co-sponsors ("petitioners") and this link to get their phone numbers. Here is a suggested script: "The Safe Communities Act protects the civil rights, safety and well-being of all residents, and it is essential that this legislation be reported favorably out of committee. As your constituent, I urge you to speak with the Chairmen of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security to assist in moving this legislation forward. It is time to do what is best for Massachusetts' communities."



Ask Governor Baker to #StandUpCharlie and Just Say No to Offshore Drilling
Governor Baker needs to stand up for Massachusetts and strongly oppose Trump's latest offshore oil drilling plan, which would be potentially devastating to fisheries, marine wildlife and environment and tourism. And it's not good enough for him to say he’s previously expressed opposition. All 11 MA MoCs recently requested that Baker stand up and join other Republican and Democratic governors in opposition and we agree. Call Gov. Baker at (617) 725-4005 and tell him that he needs to publicly stand up and do everything he can to oppose this dangerous proposal.



Defend Mueller's Investigation
We need to do everything we can to protect the integrity of Mueller’s investigation. The Senate must pass bipartisan legislation (the Special Counsel Integrity Act, S. 1741, and the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act, S. 1735) that would make sure Mueller is able to carry out his investigation without presidential obstruction. Please call Senator Warren and Senator Markey and say "The American people deserve to know the truth about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Please co-sponsor S. 1735 and S. 1741, the bipartisan legislation that would help prevent President Trump from firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller and interfering with his investigation."



Ask Our MoCs to Continue Fighting for DACA
Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of Senators proposed a deal that would fund the government and protect Dreamers, but Trump and the GOP leadership rejected it, leading to the #TrumpShutdown. Congress then passed a continuing resolution (CR) that keeps the government running until February 8th and funds the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years, but does not deal with DACA. Massachusetts MoCs have been Dream Heroes - fighting for a bill to fund the government that protects Dreamers AND provides long-term funding for CHIP (the entire MA delegation voted against the CR on Jan. 19th; on the 22nd, two congressman - Lynch (CD8) and Keating (CD9) voted in favor). Please call or email your MoCs to let them know they have your support if they voted against these CRs and ask them to continue to fight for the Dreamers.
 
MI HAPPENINGS

Help Raise Funds for Mikie Sherrill
Just yesterday, the news broke that Rodney Frelinghuysen, the incumbent in NJ-11, is the 33rd House Republican to declare that he is not running for re-election in November. This amazing development is most likely owed to the pressure he's been feeling in his district - pressure that our Elections Team has been turning on strong with our opposition research in support of Mikie Sherrill, a Democratic congressional candidate in New Jersey's 11th district.

Needless to say, we're thrilled, and we're looking forward to celebrating the news with Mikie this week. There are still a few seats left at this Thursday's special breakfast fundraiser for Mikie which will be held at the Inn at Hastings Park, 8:30-10:30 am on February 1. She will be joined by guest speaker Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Mikie is running a winnable campaign, and the Elections Team is enthusiastic about supporting her. Fundraisers are so important to candidates at this stage in the race, and a bump in the dollar amount raised this week will send a clear message to the GOP that this district is ready to go blue! Don't miss this amazing chance to spend time with Mikie and Maura! Use this link to register.



It's Our Birthday! Party with Us on February 8th
Back in February 2017, this organization came to life, and we've been growing ever since. Come celebrate one year of resistance and rising at our birthday party next week on Thursday, February 8, 7:00-9:00 pm at artlounge in Arlington Heights. Mingle with other MI members, put a name and a face to team leaders and board members, donate to MI as a birthday gift, and make a wish for our work together as we blow out the candle on our cake! Drinks and small plates will be available for purchase. Look for a personal invitation coming to your email box.




Meeting with Congresswoman Katherine Clark
Last Wednesday, members of Minuteman Indivisible's Board and Elections Team had a lively and informative meeting with Congresswoman Katherine Clark and her staff. We explained the work Minuteman Indivisible is doing and discussed the upcoming 2018 mid-term elections. We hope there will be an opportunity for Rep. Clark to speak to our entire membership at a future date..



Writing Postcards to Voters for Connor Lamb
Earlier this week, our Weekday Warriors team used part of their monthly meeting to send postcards to voters for Conor Lamb, a Marine, a former federal prosecutor, and the Democratic nominee for the March 13th special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Want to write your own postcards? Check out the amazingly effective grassroots campaign "Postcards to Voters" which has taken on Conor's race as their latest postcard campaign. If you have questions or would like to link up with other Minuteman Indivisible members to host a postcard-writing party, email Sarah at elections@minutemanindivisible.org 



Participating in a Focus Group for the Resistance School
Last Saturday, seven Minuteman Indivisible members joined representatives from Indivisible Acton and Indivisible Mystic Valley at a focus group to help the Resistance School, a project developed by students at Harvard University, improve the online training that it offers for progressive activists. Conor Hand and Matt McDole, who are students in the Masters in Public Policy program at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, ran the interesting and engaging session which was held at the Lexington Community Center.



Discussing Daring Democracy
Last Thursday, Minuteman Indivisible participated in the second in a series of discussions on Daring Democracy, a timely new book about the many ways that people and groups are standing up to preserve and reinvigorate our democracy. First Parish Church in Lexington convened an interfaith panel of lay people to share how their faith traditions inform their actions to protect and advance democracy. 


 
SPOTLIGHT ON THE MI BOARD

Who is the Board and What Do They Do?
The Minuteman Indivisible Board currently consists of 11 people, identified in the "Get Involved" section at the end of this Muster, who fulfill one or more of these roles: President, Secretary, Treasurer, National & State Liaison, Programs, Communications, Technology, Membership, and a representative for each team (Climate, Democracy, Elections, Healthcare, Weekday Warriors; and Book Club). The board, which meets every other week to discuss strategy, events, teams, communication and more, provides the infrastructure that our teams rely on and facilitates the communication needed to make the organization run smoothly, efficiently, and effectively in a united, indivisible way. 

Progress on Key Goals
Last summer, the existing 6-member Executive Committee held an all-day “retreat” and identified key goals to focus on. Here’s a brief summary of each goal and the progress that’s been made:
  • Define a new board structure to sustain our growing organization and clarify roles and responsibilities for each board position. We expanded the size of the board and prepared a document that defines each role and its responsibilities.
  • Improve new member outreach. We developed new member signup forms and recruited a Membership chair who will help new members become better acquainted with MI.
  • Improve inter-team communication and knowledge. Given that we are Indivisible, we want to avoid silos. To help achieve this goal, we added team representatives to the board to foster communication among teams and created teams such as the Weekday Warriors and Book Club that span our existing interest areas. 
  • Improve communication across the entire organization. We began holding quarterly membership meetings, providing cross-team social events, and “spotlighting” teams in the Muster so that non-team members can better understand what each of our teams is doing.
  • Explore partnerships in the region and state. We helped organize two conferences for Indivisible groups in Massachusetts and are actively involved in building Indivisible MA, a new state-wide network of Indivisible and other progressive groups.
Future Plans
Last week, the board held another retreat and identified additional priorities to work on:
  • Recruit people to fill the remaining open board positions: secretary and program coordinator
  • Refine our mission statement and identify metrics that can be used to determine if we are meeting our goals.
  • Survey our members to learn what they think the organization is doing right and where we can improve. Please fill out the survey when it arrives in your Inbox.
  • Reach out to new members to learn their interests and help them get involved. 
  • Improve our fundraising efforts. We run on a shoestring budget, but we still have some costs to hold events and keep the website and other technology running.
  • Update and improve our website. 
  • Move towards monthly board meetings that focus more on strategy and problem solving and less on status updates. 

Minuteman Indivisible exists to help give people a voice in the democratic process – to support things that we agree with and to resist those that we disagree with. During India’s freedom movement, Gandhi told the Indian people they must “never let them rest,” referring to the British. He urged them to keep protesting daily and weekly, in a variety of ways. Our role as a board is to make it easy for members to keep showing up, protesting daily or weekly, never letting the forces that we oppose rest. Huzzah!
 
UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS

Automatic Voter Registration Lobby Day
Wednesday, January 31st
9:30AM-Noon
State House Room 428, 24 Beacon St., Boston
Members of the Constitutional Democracy team are gearing up for AVR Lobby Day. If you're interested in joining other MI members at the event, sign up here and email us to let us know you'll be there. You can learn more about AVR using this link.

Breakfast Fundraiser for Mikie Sherrill
Thursday, February 1st
8:30-10:30 AM
The Inn at Hastings Park, 2027 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington
We hope you'll join us at a breakfast fundraiser for congressional candidate Mikie Sherrill (NJ 11) at the Inn at Hastings Park with special guest Maura Healey. Space is limited so please use this link to RSVP if you would like to attend.  

Minuteman Indivisible Birthday Celebration
Thursday, February 8th
7:00-9:00 PM
artlounge, 1346 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington
Please join us to celebrate our birthday! Minuteman Indivisible held its first meeting in February 2017 and we've been growing ever since. Check your email inbox for a special party invitation with more details.

Democracy Team Meeting
Tuesday, February 13th
7:00-8:45 PM
Lexington Community Center, Room 230
New members welcome!

MI Book Club Meeting
Tuesday, February 13th
7:15-8:45 PM
Lexington Community Center, Room 242
Join us to discuss This Fight is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren. RSVP or let us know you'd like to join us for a future meeting using this link. New members welcome!
 
RECOMMENDED READING

Great Resources from the National Indivisible Team
Week after week, the national Indivisible team produces concise and informative articles that explain key policy issues, provide scripts for contacting MoCs, and outline how we can use our power as citizens to resist the Trump agenda, hold MoCs accountable for their votes, and move our government in the right direction. Below is a small sampling of some recent or timely articles:


 
 
GET INVOLVED
 
Learn More about MI Teams
Are you new to Minuteman Indivisible? While it is not required, one of the best ways to get involved is to join one or more of our teams! (See our website for more information on the teams.) If you'd like to contact one of our team leaders, their contact emails are below. (Although many teams have more than one team leader, for simplicity's sake, we list just one contact point.)

Climate & Environment
Dave Pollack: climate@minutemanindivisible.org
Constitutional Democracy (Conflicts of Interest/Human Rights/Voting Rights) 
Marci Cemenska: democracy@minutemanindivisible.org
Elections
Sarah Higginbotham: elections@minutemanindivisible.org
Healthcare 
Grant Carrow: healthcare@minutemanindivisible.org
MI Book Club
Lisa Baci: communications@minutemanindivisible.org
Weekday Warriors
Amy Garbis: weekdaywarriors@minutemanindivisible.org

If you haven't had a chance to sign up for a team and would like to get more involved, just fill out this form: TEAM SIGN-UPS


Send Us Your Photos and Follow Us on Social Media
We know our members are working hard on a wide variety of issues and spending time at town halls, protests, MI working meetings, and other events. We'd love to feature your photos in our newsletter, on our website, and on social media - just email them to communications@minutemanindivisible.org.


Minuteman Indivisible Board
President Marci Cemenska: president@minutemanindivisible.org
Treasurer Steve Boxer: treasurer@minutemanindivisible.org
Membership Jean Milburn info@minutemanindivisible.org
National & State Liaison Michelle Olson: global@minutemanindivisible.org
Communications Lisa Baci: communications@minutemanindivisible.org
Technology John Santamaria: technology@minutemanindivisible.org
Team Representatives:
Climate & Environment: open
Constitutional Democracy: Kim Wright
Elections: Sarah Higginbotham
Healthcare: Pete Tasker
Weekday Warriors: Amy Garbis
MI Book Club: Lisa Baci
Our Mission:

We the people of Minuteman Indivisible unite to uphold the rights and dignity of all people. Our mission is to exercise and defend our Constitutional rights and democratic institutions. Our principles are informed by our humanitarian values and respect for well-established scientific knowledge and governance expertise.