January 25 Meeting Coming Up Have You Registered?
Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan will be A4D’s guest at our January meeting, taking place at 5:00pm via Zoom next Tuesday, January 25. Please register here. Issues Commissioner Ryan will address include houseless-ness, police reform and accountability, progress of the charter commission, and other items in his portfolio. Bring your questions for Commissioner Ryan! Tomorrow Is Indivisible Tuesday with Senator Merkley’s Staff Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 18, from 11:30am-12:30pm, is the first meeting of the year with Senator Merkley’s staff. On the heels of Senators Manchin and Sinema’s refusal to modify the filibuster, it provides an opportune time to discuss what’s next for voting rights legislation, which Senator Merkley has been so tirelessly working to pass. Register here for the Zoom meeting. Closed captioning is now available during Indivisible Tuesday Zoom events. Indivisible National Joins A4D in Endorsing Jamie McLeod Skinner for Representative When Indivisible National makes an endorsement, they poll Indivisibles across a district about candidates to endorse. If a supermajority votes in favor a particular candidate, they offer extra resources and support to help elect the endorsed candidate. Want to know why everyone is so excited about Jamie running in District 5? Here’s a quick overview: Jamie is taking on Representative Kurt Schrader, who has blocked progress and watered down popular parts of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. Schrader blocked a measure to lower prescription drug prices while, at the same time, receiving money from Big Pharma, raking in over half a million dollars from the pharmaceutical industry over his career. Jamie has never taken money from Big Pharma, fossil fuel polluters, or other corporate PACs plus she would make history as Oregon’s first out LGBTQ member of Congress. Jamie is a true problem solver who shows up, listens, and finds the resources to meet peoples’ needs. She would be a welcomed progressive voice in Congress. You can get involved in Jamie’s campaign now by visiting her website. Activism + COIN Squad Make a Difference! If you’re like most Indivisible members, you are already making phone calls, writing postcards or letters, and spending time on social media promoting progressive issues. Add keeping a record of your activities on top of that and you’ll find that doing so is not only gratifying, it inspires others and helps group leaders to plan better for future campaigns. Why not pull together a few friends, name yourselves, and form your own COIN Squad? A COIN Squad is like a regular call squad, but with letter writing, emailing, texting, phone banking, letters to the editor (LTEs), and social media engagement added in. See A4D’s steering committee COIN Squad numbers here and the combined results of Indivisible activists from across Oregon here. These graphs will be updated at the end of the month and refreshed on a weekly basis thereafter. The three ways to record your activism are:
individuals record activist work here
form a COIN Squad, name your squad, and fill out member activity here
COIN Squad captains enter the group’s activities here
Recording activity demonstrates that together we accomplish a lot and enables Indivisible to leverage its impact and take it to new levels.
A4D Members Support Local Afghan Refugees
To date, A4D members have donated $650 in cash and $1,300 in gift cards for Afghan refugees arriving in Portland. You can make a donation here.
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Dr. Martin Luther King: “…the tragedy is that we have a Congress with a Senate that has a minority of misguided senators who will use the filibuster to keep the majority of people from even voting.”