Minuteman Muster                    October 7, 2019 The weather is getting cooler, but action on legislation, elections, and the impeachment inquiry is heating up. This issue of the Muster has lots of ways to support key issues, build another blue wave in 2020, and show that We Are Indivisible! MEET WITH US IN OCTOBER Join us at our monthly Activism Evening next Monday, October 14, our MI Book Club Meeting on October 23, or our Weekday Warriors Meeting on October 25. We're also co-hosting a fundraiser for Organizing Corps 2020 on Thursday, October 24! Monthly Activism Evening Monday October 14, 7-9:00pm First Parish Church, 7 Harrington Rd., Lexington At this month's Activism Evening, you'll be able to take action to support our key legislative priorities and continue discussing our strategy for the 2020 elections. We'll also have copies of the ranked choice voting ballot petition for those who haven't had a change to sign it yet. Bring pens, highlighters and stamps (and/or a small contribution for postage). MI Book Club Meeting  Wednesday October 23, 7:15-8:45pm  Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington  Join us to discuss Evicted, the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Matthew Desmond that focuses on poverty, housing insecurity, and public policy in a large Midwestern city. New members are always welcome and we provide a summary of the book for those who haven't had a chance to read it yet. RSVP here. Organizing Corps 2020 Fundraiser  Thursday October 24, 7-9:00pm  Lexington, RSVP for address Join us at this fundraiser to support Organizing Corps 2020, which plans to train 1,000 organizers in 7 key battleground states to work for the eventual Democratic nominee. Cofounder Meg Ansara will be speaking and the refreshments will feature foods from each of the 7 key states. RSVP here or donate using this link. Weekday Warriors Meeting Friday October 25, 10-11:30am  Roasted Granola Cafe, 1346 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington  Join us to drink coffee and socialize as we write postcards or letters to our legislators or fellow voters. Bring pens, highlighters and stamps (and/or a small contribution for postage). RSVP or sign up for our Google group to get more info here. HELP PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE  TONIGHT MONDAY, OCTOBER 7 FARM SOCIAL FUNDRAISER FOR GUN SAFETY The second annual Boston Chefs for Gun Safety farm social will be held from 6-9:00pm at Wright Locke Farm in Winchester. Join guest chefs from some of Boston's best restaurants for an evening of food, drinks, and music, featuring guest speakers from Moms Demand Action Massachusetts and the Survivors Network. All proceeds go to Everytown for Gun Safety. Get more details and purchase tickets here. MONDAY, OCTOBER 28 GUN VIOLENCE: A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS Temple Isaiah and the Lexington League of Women Voters are co-sponsoring a talk by Dr. David Hemenway based on his book Private Guns, Public Health. Dr. Hemenway, who is a Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will present the case for approaching gun violence as a public health issue - emphasizing prevention over punishment - and propose ways to reduce gun violence. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 and the talk begins at 7:30. See this link for more details. GET STARTED NOW TO TURN MAINE BLUE At last month's Activism Evening, many members expressed an interest in helping flip the Senate seat currently held by Susan Collins in Maine. Several of our fellow Indivisible groups and allies have already begun this effort. Here are a few ways you can get involved now:   THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10 FUNDRAISER FOR THE MAINE DEMOCRATIC PARTY Our friends at Force Multiplier are co-hosting this fundraiser in Newton from 5:30 - 7:00pm to help the Maine Democratic Party hire organizers to lay the groundwork for a challenge to Susan Collins in 2020. Congressman Joe Kennedy will introduce the featured speakers Kathleen Marra, Chair, and Lisa Roberts, Executive Director, of the Maine Democratic Party. Get more details and RSVP here.  SATURDAY OCTOBER 12 CANVASS TO DEFEAT SUSAN COLLINS Our friends at Swing Left Greater Boston will be canvassing in southern Maine on two more Saturdays this fall (10/12 and 11/9) to help flip the Senate. Sign up here to canvass in Kennebunk this Saturday, October 12. You can also sign up to canvas on Saturday November 9  or for a longer canvass that same weekend.   FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 LET'S CAN COLLINS FUNDRAISER  Our friends at Indivisible Outer Cape are co-hosting this fundraiser to help our fellow Indivisible members at Mainers for Accountable Leadership build grassroots capacity and inform Mainers about the bad policy decisions of Senator Susan Collins. Get more details and RSVP here or donate to Mainers for Accountable Leadership here.  GET THE ROE ACT PASSED NOW! Getting the ROE Act passed to protect reproductive rights here in MA just got more urgent! Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Louisiana case that could undermine Roe v. Wade. Please help us get this legislation out of committee now!  Text to ask constituents to contact state legislators. MoveOn is planning to offer a texting campaign in support of the ROE Act this Wednesday, October 9. Contact constituents of MA state representatives who have co-sponsored the ROE Act (H.3320) and ask them to phone their representative to thank them for their continued support of this important legislation. If you have not texted with MoveOn previously, you can sign up here. (h/t Greater Andover Indivisible) Send postcards to legislators and/or fellow MA residents asking them to support the ROE Act. We'll have postcards at our meetings this month or you can email us to get postcards to fill out on your own. You can also send a postcard to your legislators using this link or ask patrons at farmers markets in Arlington, Waltham, or Winchester to send postcards - sign up here. Sign the Parent Petition for the ROE Act. Read the petition and add your name here. Meet with a local group that supports the ROE Act. Join us in Arlington on October 23 from 6:30-8:30pm for Mystic Valley Action for Choice's monthly meeting to discuss actions we can take to support the ROE Act. Light refreshments will be available. RSVP here to get the address.  Join us at State House for the ROE Act Lobby Day on Wednesday, October 30. Details coming soon. Volunteer for other ROE Act Coalition actions such as making calls to MA constituents from home or at phone banks in October. Sign up here. ADVOCATE FOR SECURE  ELECTIONS   We're working hard to elect good candidates, but that work will be undermined if our election systems can be hacked. Contact federal and state legislators and ask them to support adequate funding and measures like hand-marked paper ballots and post-election audits to protect our elections. Call Your U.S. Senators at 833-413-5906 and urge them to support the $600 million in funding and accountability measures contained in the House funding bill for election security in any final budget negotiations. You’ll be given talking points and then be connected to the Capitol switchboard. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on securing America's elections on Sept. 27. Unfortunately, all of the witnesses testifying talked about securing elections in which ballot marking devices (BMDs) are used as the primary voting method. No one mentioned the most secure option - hand-marked paper ballots. Contact the Committee and tell them machine-marked ballots are not secure - see this link for a sample letter. You can watch or read the Committee testimony here.   Support Election Security Bills in MA Massachusetts' voting machines count actual paper ballots, but they are still vulnerable in several ways. One key way to protect our vote is to audit the paper ballots cast to make sure they match up with electronic vote tallies. Four bills (S.388, H.694, H.687, and H.721) that would strengthen post-election audits, including three that would establish risk-limiting audits - a gold-standard reform, were discussed at a State House hearing last week. Call or email your state legislators and urge them to support these bills.   Check out this recent news on election security issues: New York Times- $250 Million to Keep Votes Safe? Experts Say Billions Are Needed WIRED- Some Voting Machines Still Have Decade-Old Vulnerabilities NPR- McConnell changes tune on federal money to shore up election security The Hill- Acting DNI Maguire describes “cyberwar” as greatest threat to the country You can also subscribe to the free Cybersecurity 202 newsletter from the Washington Post. Most issues have news about voting machines. PROTECT IMMIGRANTS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15 JERICHO WALK AT BURLINGTON ICE OFFICE  Join local faith leaders and community members from 1-2:00pm at 1000 District Ave (behind the Burlington Mall) for their monthly Jericho Walk, an act of solidarity to bring down the walls of our unjust immigration system, that is open to people of all or no faiths. If you bring signs, please make them supportive of immigrants, and refrain from signs explicitly endorsing or condemning any political candidate or official. See this link for more details. Support state legislation to protect immigrants:  Safe Communities Act (H.3573, S.1401) Please contact your state legislators and urge them to support this legislation and advocate with leadership and their colleagues to get it passed. (Check here to learn more about the SCA and which legislators are already cosponsors.) Last year, the key provisions of the SCA were passed by the MA Senate as part of their budget bill, but it never came up for a vote in the House. Get updates (e.g., on future lobby days or legislative hearings) by texting SAFEMA to 52886  Work and Family Mobility Act (H.3012, S.2061) Please email or call your state legislators and ask them to help pass this legislation that would enable all qualified state residents to apply for a standard Massachusetts driver’s license, regardless of immigration status. As this editorial in the Boston Globe supporting the legislation notes, many other states already have passed similar bills and a dozen states are currently considering them. Many of our local state legislators support this bill, but at least one has spoken out to oppose it.  Governor Baker opposes both these pieces of legislation. Give the Governor a call at (617) 725-4005 or use this form to send him an email and tell him you support legislation to protect immigrants in our state. GET RANKED CHOICE VOTING ON THE MA BALLOT! Last month, the Attorney General certified the Ranked Choice Voting ballot question. We've got the forms to collect signatures and now we need your help! There are lots of things you can do to make sure that Voter Choice for Massachusetts can collect more than 100,000 signatures in the next few weeks: Collect signatures with us this fall. Sign up here up to collect signatures outside the Lexington Farmers Market on Tuesday afternoons or let us know if you'd like to help us collect signatures at other times and we'll get you everything you need.  Collect signatures in other parts of the state You can also collect signatures by signing up directly with the ballot campaign here. Find locations across the state where volunteers are already planning to collect signatures here.   Bookmark the new Voter Choice for MA website, and follow the ballot campaign on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news. Check out other ways to help: Donate, Host a House Party, or Help with Outreach PROTECT WILDLIFE The Endangered Species Act is responsible for bringing iconic wildlife like gray wolves, grizzly bears, and manatees back from the brink of extinction, but the administration is undermining this landmark law.  The Protect America's Wildlife and Fish in Need Conservation Act of 2019 (PAW and FIN Conservation Act of 2019) could stop the Department of Interior's disastrous rollbacks for good. Contact your MoCs and ask them to co-sponsor H.R.4348 and S.2491.  Please also thank MA Attorney General Maura Healey for leading a coalition of 18 attorneys general and the City of New York who are suing the administration over rules that gut protections provided by the Endangered Species Act.  SAVE THE WHALES     SAVE THE PLANET There are only 400 North Atlantic Right Whales left on the planet and just 100 breeding females. Did you know that whales absorb more carbon than the tropical rain forests and release more oxygen? We need more whales, not fewer. This toolkit contains a wide variety of actions that you can take to protect right whales. If you can do just one, email Senators Warren and Markey to tell them to co-sponsor the SAVE Right Whales Act (S.2453).  Simple actions like sharing information on social media can also help protect right whales. See the toolkit for sample Facebook and Twitter posts. You can also follow @SAVEAct2 on Twitter to stay informed - hearings with lobstermen, actions by environmentalists, and information from scientists, it's all there! DISCUSS A GOOD BOOK WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23 MI BOOK CLUB MEETING Our MI Book Club meetings are back! Join us at the Lexington Community Center at 7:15pm to discuss Evicted, the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Matthew Desmond that focuses on poverty, housing insecurity, and public policy in a large Midwestern city. New members are always welcome and we provide a summary of the book for those who haven't had a chance to read it yet. RSVP here.   TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29 PROTECTING DEMOCRACY BY PROTECTING THE VOTE The Cambridge Public Library Foundation is hosting a special conversation about how voter suppression is impacting democracy. Speakers include Professor Carol Anderson, author of One Person, No Vote, Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School, and Professor Rachel Cobb from Suffolk University, who will moderate the discussion. There's a reception at 6pm, followed by the program at 7. RSVP here for this free event.  . SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3 UNDERSTANDING WHITE FRAGILITY Lexington's Community Coalition invites you to join them at the Lexington Depot from 2-4:00pm to discuss the book White Fragility, and learn how to move past emotional barriers to become actively anti-racist. All are welcome! See this link for more details.   RAISE MONEY TO BUILD THE BLUE WAVE  THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24 ORGANIZING CORPS 2020 FUNDRAISER We're cohosting this fundraiser in Lexington to support Organizing Corps 2020, which plans to train 1,000 organizers in 7 key battleground states to work for the eventual Democratic nominee. Cofounder Meg Ansara will be speaking and the refreshments will feature foods from each of the 7 key states. RSVP here or donate using this link.   FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29 FUNDRAISING TRAINING WEBINAR  Raising money for progressive candidates is one of the most effective things we can do to flip the Senate (and hang onto the House) in 2020. Our friends at Swing Left Greater Boston have invited us to sign up for this fundraising webinar. Learn how to make a personal “pitch” to a friend or colleague from the "pros" at 31st Street Swing Left, a chapter based in the DC/MD/VA area. RSVP here for the call-in details and to preview the 31st Street Swing Left fundraising toolkit. SHOW THAT WE ARE INDIVISIBLE Let people know that We Are Indivisible and help support our efforts at the local, state, and national level. Get your own Indivisible MA T-Shirt  Like those bright blue t-shirts in the photo above? You can have one for your very own! To order ($20 each), use this link to email Indivisible MA and tell them the quantity and size you need (Medium, Large, XLarge or XXLarge). Small sizes are sold out, but with enough requests they’ll order more. Make the Indivisible book a bestseller! We Are Indivisible, the new book by Indivisible co-founders Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, is coming out on November 5. All royalties from the book will go to Indivisible's Save Democracy Fund, which supports Indivisible's work nationwide. You can pre-order the book from an independent bookseller or from Amazon. Support Minuteman Indivisible's work Our expenses are modest, but we do need funds for events, supplies, and communications, including our website and newsletter. You can donate here to help Minuteman Indivisible continue to work for you and for Liberty and Justice for All! Join us at the Indivisible MA Conference on Saturday, December 7. Save the date and make plans to join with fellow Indivisible groups and progressive allies from across the state to get geared up for 2020! More information coming soon. CHECK OUT WHAT WE DID IN SEPT September was another busy month! Here are some of things we did: Learned how to collect signatures for the ranked choice voting ballot question and discussed our strategy for flipping the Senate at our Monthly Activism Evening on September 9. Organized a walk from Boston to Concord (almost 20 miles!) with Concord Indivisible to urge Congress to #DefundHate on September 11 Attended a Debate Watch party organized by Concord Indivisible on September 12. Attended the Benefit Concert to End Gun Violence sponsored by Lexington Says #Enough and Moms Demand Action on September 15. Joined other Indivisible groups with members in CD06 at a meeting with Rep. Moulton’s District staff to discuss Election Security and other key issues on September 17 Participated in the monthly ROE Act Coalition call on September 18  Joined other MA Indivisibles at a Legislative Issues Workshop organized by one of our members on September 19 Supported the Student Climate Strike on September 20 Participated in an Election Security Rally in Portland Maine on September 23 Joined Indivisible Mystic Valley to registered new citizens to vote and meet with Rep. Katherine’s Clark’s district staff on September 24 Picked books to read this fall at the MI Book Club Meeting on September 25  Wrote postcards to help get out the vote for the upcoming state elections in Virginia at our Weekday Warriors meeting on September 27 Recruited volunteers and collected almost 150 signatures for the RCV ballot question. Several of our members also joined many other fellow Indivisibles as delegates at the MA Democratic Party State Convention in Springfield on September 14. The Muster will be coming to your inbox on the first and third Monday of the month this fall. Keep checking the MI Calendar and our homepage for the most current line-up of events and actions. And join our Slack to stay in the loop!  Your input is welcome!