From Capitol Hill to Our Communities: People Power in Action

This month, the answers took us from congressional offices in Washington, D.C., to candidate campaigns in Ohio and Minnesota, community education in Alaska, a public library in Georgia, and local organizing around the issues affecting people's communities.

Different places. Different tactics. One movement.

Longtime Move to Amend volunteer Lawrence Abbott recently traveled to Washington, D.C., and he made sure the We the People Amendment came with him.

While in Washington, Lawrence used the opportunity to visit congressional offices in person, carrying information about H.J.Res. 54 and helping advance one of our biggest legislative priorities: building support for the introduction of a Senate companion to the We the People Amendment.

He visited Senate offices and continued outreach on the House side as well—adding a personal, grassroots presence to the conversations Move to Amend has been building with congressional staff.

And Lawrence didn't stop at the halls of Congress. During his time in Washington, he also had an opportunity to speak publicly and bring the larger message behind this movement into another national space.

There wasn't a recording, but Lawrence shared his remarks with us afterward—and they reflected something at the heart of grassroots organizing: when an opportunity presents itself, use it.

That's what makes Lawrence's trip worth celebrating.

He showed up. He started conversations. He carried the movement with him.

And that's something every one of us can do.

Maybe your opportunity is a congressional office. Maybe it's a town hall, candidate forum, union hall, community meeting—or simply a conversation with someone who has never heard of the We the People Amendment.

Lawrence brought the movement to Washington.

Where will you bring it next?

Ohio: Ask 50 Candidates a Question...

What happens when you ask 50 candidates across 20 races where they stand on the We the People Amendment?

In Miami County, Ohio, Move to Amend organizers decided to find out.

Sixteen candidates responded. Twelve took the Pledge to Amend. Pasted text

That's not all the affiliate has been up to. For Constitution Week, volunteers created a 29-question Constitution quiz and a series of memes to get their neighbors thinking and talking about democracy. Now they're looking beyond social media and working to get the results of their candidate outreach into local newspapers. Pasted text

There's a useful organizing lesson in that progression: educate people, ask candidates where they stand, put their answers on the record—and make sure the community knows about them.

Fifty emails or conversations became twelve public commitments.

Sometimes you don't know what the answer will be until you ask.

Alaska: Turn Up the Radio

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Move to Amend advocates in Alaska have found another microphone.

Literally.

Alaska organizers have been producing radio programs exploring corporate power and its effects on public life. Their latest work has examined corporate influence over media, with additional programs being developed around taxation and corporate influence on science and public information. Pasted text

And their organizing hasn't been confined to the airwaves.

Kevin reported another development during the coalition call: Alaska voters had recently approved a campaign-finance ballot initiative that the local affiliate had worked on for some time. Pasted text

But perhaps our favorite part of Kevin's update came immediately afterward.

Other volunteers started asking: How can we do what you're doing?

That conversation sparked the idea of bringing Kevin's experience into our newly improved Take Action Toolkit, sharing practical tips for approaching radio stations, producing programming, and getting Move to Amend voices onto local airwaves elsewhere in the country. Pasted text

That's how movements grow.

Someone tries something locally. It works. Someone somewhere else asks how they did it. And suddenly one affiliate's idea becomes a tool for everyone.

Georgia: Twelve People in a Library

Not every successful organizing story needs a packed auditorium.

Atlanta Move to Amend recently held a movie night at a public library. About a dozen people came together to watch a documentary about money in American elections and create space for conversation afterward. Pasted text

Twelve people.

It would be easy to look at that number and wish it were 120.

We look at it differently.

That's twelve people who chose to spend part of their day learning about money and political power. Twelve people who can carry that conversation home. Twelve opportunities for another conversation to begin.

And Atlanta organizers haven't been waiting for people to come to them, either. They've also been taking civic engagement onto the Kennesaw State University campus, helping students register to vote. Pasted text

Gather people where you can. Meet people where they are. Start the conversation.

That's organizing.

Minnesota: A Pledge Appeared on the Doorstep

This might be our favorite story from the entire coalition call.

Move to Amend Minnesota has spent years approaching candidates and asking them to take the Pledge to Amend.

Then something started changing.

Candidates began approaching them.

Organizers reported that candidates have contacted Move to Amend Minnesota because they want to sign the Pledge. And recently, one organizer came home to find something waiting for her:

a completed, signed Pledge to Amend form sitting on her doorstep. Pasted text

The candidate had sought them out.

That didn't happen overnight.

Minnesota volunteers kept asking the question. Election after election, they approached candidates, collected pledges, published the results, and made the We the People Amendment part of their political landscape.

Eventually, something flipped.

Instead of organizers always chasing candidates for an answer, candidates began recognizing that this was a question they should answer.

That's what years of grassroots persistence can build.

And if it can happen in Minnesota, imagine what sustained organizing could build in your community.

Sometimes, Don't Start a New Conversation—Join One

Back in Ohio, Deb Stack shared another organizing lesson.

People in her community are already talking about issues affecting their lives—including data centers and homelessness.

So the local affiliate is showing up.

Rather than expecting people to begin with a conversation about constitutional law, they're listening to the conversations their neighbors are already having and looking for opportunities to explain how corporate power and political influence intersect with those local decisions. Pasted text

That's an important distinction.

We don't always need to call the meeting.

Sometimes we need to show up to the meeting that's already happening.

Listen. Learn what people are facing. Stand alongside them. Build relationships. And when the connection is there, help people see how their immediate struggle connects to the larger structures of power we're working to change.

What Will Your Update Be Next Month?

Look back at these stories and you'll notice something:

Nobody organized the same way.

Lawrence walked into congressional offices.

Miami County asked candidates a question.

Alaska turned on a microphone.

Atlanta gathered twelve people in a library and met students on campus.

Minnesota kept organizing until candidates started coming to them.

Ohio advocates showed up for conversations their neighbors were already having.

There's no single formula for building this movement.

So, what makes sense where you live?

Maybe it's hosting a conversation. Attending a community meeting. Asking a candidate to take the Pledge. Writing a letter to the editor. Going on local radio. Tabling at an event. Collecting petition signatures. Visiting a congressional office. Bringing the amendment to your union, civic organization, faith community, classroom, or neighborhood.

You don't have to do everything.

Just find your way to show up.

And when you do, tell us about it.