Feel Good Friday - Indivisible

I’ve been thinking about how to turn my disappointment and anger about the presidential election results into action and that led me to a call with Indivisible.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Indivisible began in 2016 when former congressional staffers Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg put together a Google Doc called the Indivisible Guide. In it, they provided advice on how everyday Americans could organize locally to pressure their elected officials to resist Trump’s agenda.

Since then Indivisible has grown into a grassroots movement of millions of activists across every state, organized in thousands of local Indivisible groups. Their mission is to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and fight back against what they’re calling “Trump 2.0”. Last night, over 50,000 people joined a call with the founders and Senator Elizabeth Warren to get motivated for the work ahead and get access to the new Indivisible Guide. It’s full of practical strategies, tactics and tips for actions we can all take. Here’s how it works.

“Indivisible’s national team offers strategic leadership, movement coordination, and support to Indivisible activists, and also directly lobbies congress, builds partnerships, runs media campaigns, and develops advocacy strategies.” 

Individuals can get involved by joining, or creating, an Indivisible group. You'll find resources on how to lead and sustain a group of community activists in the Group Support Hub. Recommendations on how to hold your members of Congress accountable are in the Indivisible Guide. This year, the team has identified three big plays to make it to the 2026 midterms: oppose Project 2025; use Democrats to block, delay and challenge MAGA’s attacks; and work to protect and win elections.

If you’re not ready to join a group, you can search for local events or contact your members of Congress from the comfort of your couch. Click the resources page to send emails to your representatives on a variety of topics. Here’s one I just filled out: Call on the House Ethics Committee to Release the Gaetz Report

Since the first guide was released, organized communities of Indivisible activists “saved the Affordable Care Act in 2017, built the largest midterm margins in the history of the republic in 2018, pushed for Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, [and] defeated him in 2020.” Let’s not stop now.

Here are more ways you can help Indivisible “fight to defeat the rightwing takeover of American government and build an inclusive democracy.” Read, share and use the Indivisible Guide, join an Indivisible group, make a donation, shop for merch and spread the word on social media. Follow Indivisible on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. 

Feel Good Friday - League of Women Voters

With the United States Presidential election less than two weeks away, it’s time to dust off a post from eight years ago and reacquaint everyone with the League of Women Voters.

Headquartered in Washington D.C., the League of Women Voters (LWV) was founded in 1920 by Carrie Champan Catt six months before the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified. You can take a deeper dive into their history and click this link to see photos of LWV through the decades.

As they explain on their website, LWV “is a nonpartisan, grassroots nonprofit dedicated to empowering everyone to fully participate in our democracy” and their mission is "making democracy work”. One of the ways they do that is through protecting voters. This includes ensuring compliance with laws like the Voting Rights act, as well as modernizing voting systems and expanding both early voting and online voter registration.

Speaking of which, "The League is one of the nation's largest and most longstanding community based voter registration groups." Once they've got you registered, they can get you educated. The website Vote411 will populate with detailed information for elections in your area once you input your address.

You can also use this directory to find one of the more than 700 Leagues across the country to get information on issues affecting your city and state. For example the League of Women Voters Oakland, where I live, posts recordings of recent candidate forums as well as publishes an Easy Voter Guide for the California statewide initiatives. I'm very happy to have these resources to review!

There are active leagues in all 50 states and together they engage in advocacy, education, litigation, and organizing to protect every American’s freedom to vote. You can get the complete breakdown of their work here.

If you want to get involved in your community and play an active role in our democracy, consider joining the League of Women Voters as a member. You can also stay informed of their work by reading their blog and amplify their message on social media by following LWV on Facebook and Instagram.

If you haven’t already done so, use the League of Women Voters’ resources to study up on the issues and then get out and vote!

Feel Good Friday - Somos Votantes

We’re in the middle of National Hispanic Heritage Month and you may have heard we have an election coming up in a few weeks. A perfect time to discuss the work of Somos Votantes.

Founded by Melissa Morales in 2019 and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, Somos Votantes and it’s political action arm, Somos PAC are the “largest independent Latino civic and voter engagement programs in the country.”

Morales worked in the U.S. Senate while she was in law school and didn’t see many Latinos in government. A desire to see her community represented in politics is what inspired her to create Somos Votantes. This is a Latino-led, Latino-focused organization that runs non-partisan programs designed to increase the participation of Latinos in local and federal elections and to advocate for progressive policies. 

Specific work they do includes sharing information with the Latino community about the resources available to them through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, and non-partisan, mobilization programs to educate voters on the mechanics of voting and maximize Latino participation in elections.

In the last five years, Somos Votantes has knocked on nearly 4 million doors, sent over 10 million pieces of mail, invested over $4 million in Latino-targeted TV, nearly $1 million in Spanish-language radio, and over $4 million on paid digital ads. They held 100+ community organizing events, engaged more than 20,000 small businesses and were the biggest independent contributor of real-time, qualitative data on Latino voters. They’ve been busy!

The best way to stay abreast of Somos Votantes’ education and outreach efforts is to connect with them on social media by following their Facebook and Instagram pages. If you want to help them increase voter participation among Latino communities, you also can support them with a donation. And if you haven’t done so recently, now would be a great time to check your voter registration status!

Feel Good Friday - Common Cause

It’s Feel Good Friday and midterm elections for the U.S. Congress are 109 days away. Is it too soon to talk about voting? Absolutely not. Let’s kick off this conversation with a post about Common Cause.

Founded in 1970 by former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, John Gardner, Common Cause is “a nonpartisan grassroots organization with 1.5 million members & supporters dedicated to building a strong democracy & holding power accountable.”  

As they describe on their website, the work they do “leads and defines the democracy reform movement, promoting solutions already succeeding in some communities to shift power to the people and away from wealthy special interests and partisan ideologues.” Their most notable accomplishment was reforming the 26th Amendment, which legally changed the voting age from 21 to 18, giving more adults the right to vote. Common Cause has also influenced 17 states to adopt automatic voter registrations, including Colorado, Georgia, and Maryland. You can read about more victories and their impact at this link.

 

The campaigns led by Common Cause fall into one of six categories:

• Voting and elections – working to ensure that every eligible citizen has the freedom to vote and that their votes are accurately counted. Specifics include expanding vote-by-mail, modernizing voter registration and mobilizing election protection volunteers to help people cast their votes without obstruction, confusion, or intimidation.

• Gerrymandering and representation – helping the public play an active role in redistricting, fighting felony disenfranchisement, and demanding a fair and accurate Census.

• Ethics and accountability – holding politicians and judges accountable to strong ethical standards, so they serve the people instead of their own self interests.

• Money and influence – demanding transparency and accountability from big corporations and special interest lobbyists, empowering small-dollar donors to make an impact in campaigns and holding elected officials accountable to voters.

• Media and democracy – advocating for broadband access, net neutrality and freedom of the press.

• Constitution, courts and other democracy issues – advocating for the Freedom to Vote Act, petitioning to end the filibuster and demanding representation for the 700,000 people living in Washington D.C. 

If you want to help Common Cause build a democracy that works for everyone, there are many ways to get involved. First, make sure you’re ready to vote! Check your registration, find your polling place or track your mail-in ballot with these voting tools.

 

Next, scroll to the bottom of this page to find a chapter in your state so you can participate at a local level. No matter where you are, you can volunteer to phonebank or write letters to the editor, make a donation, shop for merch, and spread the word far and wide. Follow Common Cause on Facebook, Twitter @CommonCause and Instagram @ourcommoncause.

 

Feel Good Friday - Spread The Vote

There are only 52 days left before the midterm elections in the US, so on this Feel Good Friday we're going to profile Spread The Vote.

As explained on their Facebook page, Spread The Vote "fights voter suppression by helping citizens of states with Voter ID laws get the IDs they need to vote."

You can get a great overview by watching this recent report on CNN or continue reading here.

Founded in 2017 by Kat Calvin, Spread The Vote operates in 5 states with strict voter ID laws: Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and Florida. This link shows what the requirements are in all 50 states.

The problem Spread The Vote is solving is that 21 million eligible voters in the US do not have photo ID. On average IDs cost $40 and take 3-4 weeks to obtain. 57% of these voters also need to obtain a birth certificate for an additional $60.

Spread The Vote helps people obtain IDs by following a 5-step process:

1. Create community chapters and train volunteers to become ID experts.
2. Partner with local service organizations like shelters, food banks and free clinics.
3. Connect volunteers with eligible voters in partner communities who need IDs.
4. The voter-volunteer pairs work together to get all information needed to obtain an ID. Spread The Vote covers all the costs.
5. Voters use their IDs to help find jobs, housing and of course, vote!

As elections near, Spread The Vote provides voter education and rides to the polls on election day. Volunteers across 30 chapters have obtained over 100 IDs with 200 more in the pipeline. You can click this link to see short videos of the impact getting IDs has on new voters.

If you need help getting an ID, you can fill out this short form and someone from Spread the Vote will contact you to get the process started. If you're in one of the states with an active program you can volunteer. No matter where you are, you can donate, shop and spread the word on social media by liking the Facebook page and following them on Twitter @SpreadTheVoteUS.

This is what democracy look like!

Feel Good Friday - EMILY's List

How do you celebrate Feel Good Friday when it's been a disheartening week in the world of US politics? EMILY's List, that's how.

EMILY's List has a very simple mission - "We elect pro-choice Democratic women to office." Boom. The vision is to balance the voice of power by having the government more accurately represent the people it serves and to "elect leaders who ignite change".

As explained in the history section of the website, "the name "EMILY's List" was an acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast" (i.e., it makes the dough rise)." Since it's founding in 1985 by Ellen Malcolm, EMILY's List has become the largest national resource for women in politics and has helped elect "over 100 pro-choice Democratic women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 to governors' seats, and hundreds of women to state and local office." You can check this list to find representatives in your state.

So exactly how does EMILY's List get women elected? They have a program called "Run to Win" that recruits and trains women how to, yep, run for office and win. This video shows you what you can do when marching in the streets isn't enough. EMILY's List supports women's campaigns with money, research and strategic assistance and they mobilize women to vote!

If you'd like to get involved you can take the usual steps like donating to recommended candidates, liking the Facebook page and following them on Twitter @emilyslist. The most impactful way to get involved? Run! Since election day, more than 14,000 people have signed up to run for office, why not you? Check the schedule for upcoming training sessions in your area. If you're reading this blog, you've got my vote.

Feel Good Friday - League of Women Voters

It may be hard to believe but this Feel Good Friday we're going to talk about something both election-related and positive: the League of Women Voters.

As explained on their website, "The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy."

The League was founded in 1920 by Carrie Champan Catt, six months before the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote, was ratified. You can take a deeper dive into their history and click this link to see photos through the decades.

The mission of the League is "making democracy work". One of the ways they do that is through protecting voters. This includes ensuring compliance with laws like the Voting Rights act, as well as modernizing voting systems and expanding both early voting and online voter registration.

Speaking of which, "The League is one of the nation's largest and most longstanding community based voter registration groups." Once they've got you registered, they can get you educated. The website http://www.vote411.org/ will populate with detailed information for your area once you input your address.

You can also use this directory find a local league to get information on issues affecting your city and state. For example the League of Women Voters San Francisco hosts candidate forums as well as publishes both an Easy Voter Guide for the California statewide initiatives and a pro/con guide for San Francisco measures. I'm very happy to have found these resources!

Finally, the League directs additional efforts into reforming money in politics, defending the environment, advocating gun safety and more. You can get the complete breakdown of their work here.

The most current information can be found on their blog or by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @LWV and @VOTE411 for election info.

While I certainly have an opinion of who you should vote for on November 8th, what will give me the biggest Feel Good Friday feeling is knowing that people are engaged and participating so please, get out there and vote!