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. 

You know what?

In a year like 2020, it's good to look back on the wins we've had in our campaign and larger democracy movement.

Because despite all of the chaos and collective trauma, our movement only grew -- unsurprisingly, more and more people are understanding that we need a long game for the kind of deep systemic change that will correct the disastrous course we are on.

Election night was a wild ride, and it's looking like there will be more chaos to come.

As usual, Corporate Rule was the big winner across the board -- with unprecedented sums of money sunk into campaigns for corporate politicians and ballot initiatives that placed corporate profit over workers' and tenants' rights.

But the good news is: our movement to end corporate rule and get money out of politics had some BIG WINS on Election night!

Corporate Rule News:

As if 2020 could not get any worse -- this week Democracy took a huge blow with the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrette to the Supreme Court.

With a 52 - 48 vote, GOP Senators that represent 11 million fewer Americans than their Democratic counterparts, gave the President that lost the popular vote by 3 million votes, his third Supreme Court Justice.

But even more disgusting are all the reasons why Trump and the GOP might’ve rushed the confirmation hearings --  they are trying to consolidate power of the 3 governmental branches- they have the white house, the senate, and now finally a majority uber conservative court. 

This past weekend was momentous. Move to Amend, in coalition with our partners; Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, The Pachamama Alliance, A Radical Guide, and Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution assembled over 130 people for a weekend of learning, visioning, and discussions about a People’s Constitution.

Thank you so much to all of the participants, panelists, presenters, artists, facilitators, and those who took on childcare this weekend so we could gather. 

On October 2020 we held a participatory People's Movement Assembly (PMA) with over a hundred people from across the country who came together to discuss why and how we need to democratize the United States Constitution. 

The 2020 People’s Movement Assembly was a catalyst -- the beginning of something big -- and we invite you to sign up below to stay up to date on all things related to this project!

During the 2020 PMA we collectively identified that:

• We are in a moment of converging crises - Climate collapse, global uprisings against state violence and police brutality, and a global pandemic when most are without access to healthcare.
  
  
• What's happening now is rooted in the values defined in (or missing from) the US Constitution - An undemocratic and ultra-powerful judicial branch, lack of human rights protections, no right to vote, and a whole lot of racist language just to name a few.
  
  
• Bold, systemic change is needed - We have to know our power and be able to think outside of what we’ve been told is possible. It’s going to take courage, audacity, and a whole lot of learning and conversations to make it happen. But the only thing we have to lose is our chains. 
  
  
• We have to have a vision and a plan - We learned that when constitutions around the world are re-imagined (on average other countries rewrite their constitutions every 19 years!) they’re more democratic when the Movement has a clear vision of what they want in their constitution. We have been building this vision for over ten years, and we continued it this weekend. 
  
  
• People want a constitution that protects human rights, not just property rights. We like a lot of what’s in the Bill of Rights, (with some changes and exceptions), but the rights should extend further. People want a right to healthcare, housing, rights of nature, gender equity, a right to vote, and a whole lot more. 
  
  
• We don't have to start from scratch. We can get over American exceptionalism and take inspiration from the constitutions of other countries, the UN Declaration on Human Rights, and the 2nd Bill of Rights proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

We have a lot of political muscle to build to be prepared to democratize the constitution. We’re not proposing Move to Amend are the ones to do it alone, nor that it should be done right now. But there are people who want to restrict rights and create room for more authoritarianism, and they’re planning for a constitutional convention. We need to have a plan too. If we don’t, things aren't going to turn out well.

We’re moving forward on this work, we’re creating a strategy, and if you liked the 2020 PMA, there’s a lot more where that came from. Sign up below to stay up to date on the latest news and future People's Movement Assemblies and our Toward a People's Constitution program.

The truth is this People’s Movement Assembly will be different. We’re used to getting folks together to have big conversations but this is the first time we’ve hosted a *virtual* People’s Movement Assembly.

We want to welcome you to settle in for a weekend-long process and embrace the revolutionary community building in this historical moment. 

Which means, we’ve got a lot to cover! To help maximize our time together, we’ve complied a suggested readings list for you and here’s what you can expect this weekend!

It's hard to believe. But eleven years ago today, twelve organizers and activists were sitting together in a living room, discussing what should be done in response to the terrifying Citizens United vs. FEC case that was being heard by the Supreme Court, expecting that it would pass.

These organizers weren't new to the problem of corporate constitutional rights. But what brought them all together -- from all corners of the country -- into that living room was the understanding that this case was getting the kind of national attention that could finally kick off the kind of movement would be required if we were to ever solve the problem of corporate personhood.

And on that day, Move to Amend was born.

The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett started last week, and its result will have long-lasting consequences.

For a long, long time, Republicans have been trying to privatize everything, from Social Security to our Nation's public school system--and they know that a hard-right conservative majority on the Court could make that happen. That's why they are so eager to rush these confirmation hearings!

Move to Amend honors Indigenous Peoples Day, which recognizes Native people as the first inhabitants of the Americas -- including the lands that later became the United States of America.

To date, 14 states— Alabama, Alaska, Hawai'i, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin—and the District of Columbia, more than 130 cities, and a growing numbers of school districts celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of Columbus Day. We love to see it!

Indigenous people -- like Black people, women and poor people -- were not who the founders had in mind when they wrote "We the People." Our Declaration of Independence -- that we are taught to believe is a fundamentally good instrument -- refers to Indigenous people as "savages." The racism is baked right into our foundation.

In case you missed it, you can watch the recording of The Immorality of the Climate Crisis and Corporate Rule here. 

Presenters - Shannon Biggs, Co-founder of Movement Rights. - Rev. Dr. Colin Bossen, Senior Minister, First UU Church of Houston. - Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Director, Move to Amend. - Casey Camp Horinek, Environmental Ambassador, Ponca Nation of Oklahoma Moderated by Greg Coleridge, Outreach Director, Move to Amend.

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: September 30, 2020

Contacts: John Fioretta, [email protected] or Jan Rein, [email protected] 

Climate Crisis-Related Fires Fueled by Corporate Constitutional Rights

As we've mentioned in before, Move to Amend has really been hit hard by the economic downturn. Being a 501(c)4, we were not eligible for any relief from the CARES Act. 

Unlike the majority of 501(c)4 nonprofits, however, we are almost entirely grassroots funded -- that means we rely on small donations from regular people. And because regular people fuel this movement, our financial support has taken a hit as well, because so many of us have had to tighten up our giving. As a result our staff laid itself off in April, and has been doing this work on a 100% volunteer basis.

It's time to start bringing our hardworking staff back onto the payroll - beginning with staff who are living in states that are making it hardest for workers to survive. Please help us by becoming a Move to Amend sustainer today!

Here's a not-so-fun fact:The wildfire season in California hasn't yet begun.

Join us on October 1st -- it's time to analyze and strategize together for the future of our livable planet.

“These are unprecedented times” is a phrase we hear often lately. But to us, that only means one thing -- we must meet these unprecedented times with unprecedented solutions. And the harsh reality is, folks: we’re not going to be able to vote our way out of this situation. We’ve got to have bigger ideas. 

On August 30, thousands of people from all walks of life gathered to discuss the state of the nation and forming a major new party in America! And our National Director, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap was one of the speakers at the People's Convention 2020! Watch the her speech above, and watch the full People's Convention here. 

Also, check out these great clips we think you might find interesting. 

As if we hadn't been through enough -- the climate crisis season of 2020 is fully upon us now.

We are now seeing record breaking fire activity across the west -- with rare lightning storms, coupled with a heat wave and 20 year mega-drought, leading to over 1.3 million acres destroyed, at least 7 deaths, evacuations ,and extremely unhealthy air quality (at times the worst air quality in the world). Add to that the new normal of rolling blackouts imposed by Pacific Gas & Electric during fire season, as a result of decades of grid neglect. And the new twist: COVID-19 has so severely devastated our incarcerated population that the prison labor these states previously relied upon to fight these fires is now too sick to help, making it much more difficult to contain the fires.

The Trump administration is opening up retirement funds to private equity — at workers’ expense