The Last Weekend

Folks, if you can do one thing to help us take back the house and stop the ongoing slow motion nightmare that is the Trump regime, it is this (the link is over on the right side of this page!):

Why? Because canvassing, i.e. old school knocking on doors, is the most effective way to get people to vote. You won't have to talk to Trump supporters (I promise!). You'll be just reminding friendly democrats in a swing district near you to get their asses to the polls. Our country makes voting difficult! People have to go to work. Some states have onerous registration and ID requirements. So we need to use people power to remind people that it is worth it.

Plan right now to volunteer the weekend of November 3rd and 4th and this thing will be in the bag. We can all wake up November 7th knowing that proper checks and balances are a thing again in our federal government!

Day 99 Recap

Sunday was Day 99. I made a quasi impromptu decision to sign up to canvass in Malden with Freedom for All MA, aka YES ON 3.

Because even here in true blue Massachusetts, the rights of our transgender neighbors are threatened by the religious right. Uggggggh.

In an unbelievably outrageous and retrograde move, a group called, "Keep MA Safe," (your move, George Orwell) is trying to repeal the law that the Commonwealth passed in 2016 to protect the rights of transgender people to use the bathroom that is appropriate for their identity.

So a vote of YES on 3 will keep our law the same, and protect transgender individuals.

A lot of people don't even know this is on the ballot, so please get the word out!

Day 99 also involved a bit of phone banking at Activist Afternoons with Indivisible Somerville for the Jared Golden campaign in Maine! I am hoping to make the Golden campaign the main focus of my next 98 days and will be talking a lot, with many people, about why he will make such a great congressman for my parents and grandparents and the rest of northern Maine.

All Boston area folks, please consider dropping by Activist Afternoons any Sunday at WeWork Central Sq from 4 - 6! This is a great way to get involved with Indivisible Somerville, Voter Choice MA, Justice Democrats, Cambridge Area Stronger Together, and other progressive groups. It is one stop shopping to do the work necessary to get our country back working for the people, not the powerful. Come by, meet some people, and jump in! Consider *this* to be your written invitation.

Day 100 recap

Day 100 I spent canvassing in disgusting humid heat for Ayanna Pressley's US Congress campaign to reprsent MA-07. Ayanna showed up to kick off the canvassing, delivering a passionate case for her campaign. She will be a powerful voice for marginalized communities in Boston. Do yourself a favor...find a video of her stump speech or seek her our in person. She is powerful.

My turf was up and down Shawmut Street in the South End. It was interesting to note that this street starts in the Villa Victoria housing development (populated by many people from Puerto Rico), then continues through one of the highest income parts of Boston (including our flagship dog bakery, yes, a bakery for dogs, when you are looking for the most radical expression of privilege possible and don't know where to go...and yes, of course I have shopped there), and then the apts again become more modest or even a bit run-down after you pass Coppa (a small plates restaurant with squid ink pasta, obviously) and head east. I felt like I saw one of MA-07's biggest problems, which is income inequality, on this one street.

100 days 'til the midterms

Yesterday was my last full-time day at my job in the Architecture / Interior design studio at Sasaki! I'll be staying on part time for two weeks to finish up a couple of projects.

I am, not of course, intending to run for any office any time soon, but have decided to dedicate as much time as I can over the next 100 days to working on electing democrats in the midterms.

Call it activism, call it radical self-care, call it penance for doing too little in 2016 because I thought everything would work out okay and our country wouldn't elect a serial sexual assailant, con artist, and white supremacist.

My wonderful, energetic, talented coworkers sent me on my way with this beautiful cake today and expressed a desire to keep up with what I'm doing. And I also want to hold myself accountable for being an active volunteer, organizer, and rabble rouser for the next 100 days. So this is where I'll do that!

What I'm doing TODAY:

Joining other Justice Democrats volunteers in Boston's South End to canvass for Ayanna Pressley, who is running for the US House of Representatives in MA-07, which is much of Boston, Somerville, parts of Cambridge, and Chelsea. Ayanna is challenging incumbent Democrat Mike Capuano in the primary on September 4th. Although this is a blue-on-blue race, not a swing district, I firmly believe it is worth my time. To build a lasting Democratic majority, we must have a party that aligns firmly with progressive values. Capuano's comments last year on "welcoming pro-life" politicians into the Democratic party were completely unacceptable to me. My bodily autonomy must be supported by my party. Full stop.

This is what will get me knocking on doors today.