Community Rights: Working Together for Real People
National Community Rights Network's (NCRN) presentation and discussion with Greg Coleridge, Move To Amend's (MTA) Outreach Director, 2/24/21

We're doing it, folks!

We now have 33 co-sponsors committed for the reintroduction of the #WeThePeopleAmendment as House Joint Resolution 48.  

The Move the 117th Congress to Amend campaign goal is to secure 100 co-sponsorships for the #WethePeopleAmendment by March 31, 2021.

If you aren't able to sign up for this campaign, please make a donation to help us start STRONG in the new Congress!

Perhaps the most destructive lasting impact of the previous administration's legacy is just how far the bar has been lowered -- and how any criticism of our current government can now be met with "hey, at least it's not Trump!"

The past four years were not a fluke, nor an aberration. A fascistic faux-populist rising to power is but one of the consequences of a government that has lost the trust of those they represent -- a government that systematically puts profits over people, fueling the deep inequalities that are indefensible anywhere but especially in a nation as wealthy as the United States.

And right now, the deep suffering of the American people is being ignored, in the middle of an economic and public health crisis that has NOT ended with the transfer of power. We are concerned that this cycle will continue if the Biden administration does not step it up, and quickly.

WHAT WE NEED IS AN F.D.R. MOMENT...

On this day, we celebrate the chosen birthday of great orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery, Douglass never knew his actual birthdate or age -- but he remembered his mother affectionately called him "Lil Valentine" -- and after escaping slavery, Douglass chose February 14th to observe his birthday as a free man. 

Great news!

We have already secured 25 co-sponsors for the reintroduction of the #WethePeopleAmendment as House Joint Resolution 48.  The Move the 117thCongress to Amend Campaign is in full swing!

As leaders and constituents organize around the country, now is the time for YOU to plug-in. Our campaign goal is to secure 100 co-sponsorships for the #WethePeopleAmendment by March 31, 2021.

We are pleased with the initial number of Congressional members that have already committed, considering all that is happening in Congress!

However, we are aiming much higher. For that, we need YOU!

Last week marked the 151st anniversary of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declares “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

While the 15th Amendment was objectively good and greatly expanded and protected voting for Black men and other previously excluded groups, there is a common misconception that it grants a universal right to vote.

It does not. There is no universal right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. 

Reformist legislation like H.R.1. are good in that they mitigate corruption and protect and expand voting access in the short term. But it's still playing defense. We need a long game too -- that is why it's critical that we continue to push hard for HJR48, the #WeThePeopleAmendment, in order to have genuine DEMOCRATIC POWER FOR THE PEOPLE.

Forty-five years ago today, the Supreme Court ruled in Buckley v. Valeo (1976) that restrictions on campaign spending were a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

They really said that MONEY, which is PROPERTY, is the same as FREE SPEECH.

Most of us learned about the absurd Supreme Court doctrines of "money = speech" and "corporations are people" in 2010, when the Citizens United ruling came down.

But the Buckley v. Valeo (1976) case that set the "money = speech" precedent was not about corporations -- it was about one individual's belief that campaign finance laws were a violation of his first amendment rights to express himself.

It's important to understand that these two ridiculous doctrines existed long before Citizens United.

Citizens United is a symptom -- it is not the disease.

Our campaign goal is to secure 125 co-sponsorships for the #WeThePeopleAmendment (House Joint Resolution 48) before the end of 2022.

To achieve this goal we have identified 135 priority targets based on the previous co-sponsorship of the amendment, Pledge to Amend signers, caucus membership, location (districts, where Move to Amend, has passed initiatives), and voting record/time in Congress.

If your Representative is not on the list below you can definitely still target them, but we suggest starting with the closest Rep to you and recruiting constituents in that District to hold a meeting with their target Representative (or their legislative staff). 

Here's what you'll need to do:

1. Choose which Representative you're focusing on (see below for the target list, or if your Rep isn't on the campaign target list you can elect to lobby them instead)
2. Recruit 3-5 constituents to join you for the meeting
3. Schedule the meeting (a Move to Amend national organizer will join you for this meeting)
4. Organize a prep call to prepare
5. Hold the meeting and ask your Representative to co-sponsor HJR48
6. Follow up
7. If they don't sign on, time to escalate your tactics! We will help you plan an appropriate action from bombarding their office with phone calls, to organizing a letter-writing campaign to dropping in at their house with Move to Amend petitions! We will work together to decide on any appropriate escalation. 

We have provided you with all the tools and resources needed as well as organizing support. You will find the easy step-by-step instructions linked at the bottom of the page.  Expect that this effort will take 2-5 hours a week. 

Sign up below, then get started!

Kickoff Call

TAKE ACTION WEBINAR: Pledge to Amend

Campaign Targets

--> View targets on a spreadsheet (Google doc, opens in new window)

Sign up below to get started!

Campaign Resources

***Click on each task for related templates and instructions.

STEP 1 -- SIGN UP FIRST!

• Sign up to organize or participate in a lobby meeting on our website.

STEP 2 -- Recruit 3-5 Constituents to Commit to Join a Meeting with the Representative

• Send an email blast to the Move to Amend list asking people to sign up for the meeting
• Recruit your friends and neighbors through social media, email or text messaging
• Phonebank or text bank the Move to Amend list to ask people to commit to joining the meeting

STEP 3 -- Schedule the Meeting

• Contact your Representative's office and ask for a Zoom meeting

STEP 4 -- Prepare for the Meeting

• Post the meeting date and time to the Move to Amend website to help promote
• Review background information about the #WeThePeopleAmendment
• Line up a Move to Amend national organizer to join you for the meeting
• Hold a prep call to review meeting roles and make sure you are each clear on what you'll say and how to make sure to get to the ask
• Send a blast to constituents on the Move to Amend list a few days in advance to ensure the office gets calls to put the #WeThePeopleAmendment on their radar before your meeting

STEP 5 -- Hold the Meeting

• Follow an agenda because you'll only have 20-30 minutes
• Take good notes, keep track of any questions you get that you can't answer on the spot and commit to following up with the answer(s)
• Enter the details and notes to the Move to Amend national database
• Make a clear ask: Will you co-sponsor the #WeThePeopleAmendment (HJR48)?

STEP 6 -- Follow up!

• Send a thank-you email with any info requests to the staffer(s) and mail a thank you note to the Representative
• Send email blasts to constituents on the Move to Amend list asking them to call each week to keep the pressure up
• In 2 weeks send an email and/or call the office and ask for a response. Be persistent! Keep trying every 2-3 days until you get a response

STEP 7 -- Celebrate or Escalate!

• Often this is all it takes, especially for Representatives who agree with our goals. But if you don't have a commitment yet it is time to escalate your tactics. We will work with you to determine how to escalate appropriately, from stepping up the phone calls, to organizing a letter-writing campaign, to car parades around their office, to delivering Move to Amend petitions to their home, and more!

Ready to Sign Up?

Despite all of the chaos, we haven't forgotten that it is a brand new Congress!

As we watch the events unfold in the wake of the January 6th riots at the Capitol, we also remain laser-focused on our immediate goal for the first quarter of 2021:

• 100 HOUSE COSPONSORS for the #WeThePeople Amendment
  
  

And we have a solid plan to get it done.

If the Senate fails to convict Donald Trump for spreading falsehoods and inciting the deadly January 6th riots at the Capitol, we won't be surprised. 

We have unfortunately grown accustomed to them not doing their jobs.

But that doesn't change the fact that it is critical that they convict him. Tell your Senators to act swiftly to convict Donald Trump before he leaves office.

From the bottom of our hearts -- thank you so much.

We are blown away at how you all came through for us. After a year like 2020 -- which was terrifying on every level, not excluding the uncertainty that our 100% grassroots-funded organization could survive the economic downturn -- we are so excited to announce that you made sure we met our fundraising goal of $25,000 and then some!!!

Which means we are 100% READY to come out swinging in this new year, to advance the #WeThePeopleAmendment in a new Congress. 

WHAT'S NEXT: Join us for two trainings we are offering in January...

We are ready to go because the fight is more important than it's ever been -- and the time is right. We recognize that this is a unique moment in history -- amid all of the confusion and suffering, movements are rising up everywhere, and coalescing around a larger set of demands for social, economic, and environmental justice. 2020 saw more people in the streets than at any other time in U.S. history. These are the moments where anything is possible, if we all rise up together. 

Investing in Move to Amend is like a light in the wilderness -- a sure fire way to lift your spirits! 

Our POCLAD friends are worried we aren't going to make our goal for the end of the year so they have pledged to match all contributions to Move to Amend between now and December 31, up to $10,000.

Click here to double the amount of your contribution.

Check out the last Live Report of 2020! 

Get the #CorporateRule news that we're tracking, learn about what we've been working on, get the latest updates from our grassroots chapters across the country, and find out what's ahead in 2021! 

Move to Amend is a coalition of hundreds of thousands of folks including you -- whose passion and commitment to democracy is unmeasurable.

Volunteer affiliate leaders, monthly sustainer members, single-time donors, advocates, and the national team, form this amazing constellation of people -- working tirelessly to end corporate rule through systemic change, regardless of the hurdles standing in our way. 

One of our immediate hurdles is to meet our end of the year fundraising goal of $25,000.

As a small nonprofit, we typically raise one-third of our annual budget during our year-end fundraising. This year especially, we have a lot of ground to cover to meet our fundraising needs. Please help us meet our End of Year goal of $25,000 so we can go into 2021 in the black.

On this anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, we are VERY excited to announce that Toward a People's Constitution is officially a campaign!

What. A. Year.

While we never could have predicted the absolute wrench a global pandemic would throw into the mix of consolidating corporate rule over our basic human rights, we aren't surprised at all that things are at a tipping point -- socially, economically, and ecologically. We've always known this moment would arrive.

And these moments, as brutal and terrifying as they are, are also moments of opportunity to educate, agitate and organize toward the world we want and deserve.

And Move to Amend stayed on course, through temporary staff layoffs and general uncertainty as a purely grassroots-funded organization (the hardest hit in this crisis).

We are proud to announce our 2020 accomplishments that your support made possible -- from the national to the grassroots level!

Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Find your Senators here. 

Message: Pass a bold stimulus bill NOW to address the immediate needs of people, but not corporations.