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Welcome
Welcome to our first edition of the Newsletter by the new Comms team. We are looking forward to making our newsletter as interactive and participatory as possible. Please add your voices so we can become more inclusive, diverse, and community owned.
The 2022 elections provide an opportunity for PAD to recruit new members and engage our current members in actions that will help us win decisive victories in Concord and Washington. Here are some ways you can support PAD :
- Sign up to volunteer
- Like, comment and share our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts
We want to partner with local progressive groups, labor unions, etc. to provide articles about their work and show what we Dems stand for. Do you know of groups around that we should contact ? If so please email me.
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Chair’s Chair
Dear Neighbors, Friends and Secret Admirers,
Happy Spring 2021! I had my second Vaccine on April 27th and though I plan to continue to be safe, I am ready to start thinking about in person meetings this summer! We can meet outdoors, stay safe, and find once again an in – person community!
If you have not signed up to get vaccinated, please do. If you need help signing up, email me: mike@plymouthareademocrats.org
We have a lot going on. Please read this amazing Newsletter to learn all about it.
For this space I want to take a moment to welcome our new Executive Board Members, Gunnar Baldwin and Rita Sebastian. I also want to give a shout out to Bill Nesheim and Kimberly Rawson. Bill will be working with Gunnar on our Database and Technology broadly. Kimberly is working with Rita on Communications and Organizing. Both have already done a ton to help us get rolling.
I want to also make a request. If anyone has suggestions, concerns, praise, questions or if you just want to chat. Email me: mike@plymouthareademocrats.org. Please don’t expect an immediate reply. I have a job and a family. But know that I will reply. I will probably ask to set up a call, I like phone calls way more than emails. I love talking politics.
That is all for now. Please join us on the 4th Wednesday of the Month at 6pm for our Monthly Meeting every month February through October. You can sign up through Mobilize.
Before I leave you, please take a moment to set up a monthly donation to PAD. Every dollar donated will be used to grow PAD and elect local Democrats: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/plymouth-area-democrats-1
Love,
Mike
Mike Machanic
Chair – Plymouth Area Democrats
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From the Executive Desk:
Our Executive Board has a lot going on. We welcome 2 new members while also gearing up for 2021. Lots happening.
In an effort to keep everyone informed; especially during COVID times when we can’t meet in person and have that nice hour before the meeting to eat and chat, we are going to start this section of the Newsletter where we share what it is the Executive Board is up to.
So, first update, Communications! As you may have seen we have doubled our efforts on Social Media. Please follow our Facebook Page AND join our Facebook Group., The Page is where we will post news, information (like Legislation to watch) and events. The Page is public and anyone can see it. The Group is for Democrats only. It is private. You will notice you cannot “share” information from the Group, but can from the Page. If you have something you want to share, for now, please post it to your own page and tell the group to go there to share. BUT soon we will have a place on our website for submitting information for the group.
This brings me to the next update, Technology. We love our Website. As many of you know Sarah Daniels Campbell revolutionized PAD’s Digital presence. We are hoping to take her foundation and grow from there. Gunnar will be adding functionality so that anyone in PAD can submit articles, events, or legislation information to the website easily. That information will be reviewed by the Executive Board and published on the Website and/or on Social Media (wherever appropriate).
Another area we are making changes is right here. The Newsletter. There will be a lot of changes to the Newsletter, but the most relevant is the cadence. Moving forward you should expect a Newsletter once a month, a week before our monthly meeting.
Monthly Meetings will continue to fall on the 4th Wednesday of the month, February through October, but they will begin at 6PM instead of 6:30 PM.
We are also launching a Speaker Series for Monthly Meetings and will be asking each Speaker to give us a reading list of books and/or articles that we will hopefully include in the Newsletter for the month BEFORE that speaker will be speaking.
Also on the Technology front, we are in the process of partnering with the NHDP to significantly bolster PAD’s data. We are hoping to make large improvements in our ability to reach likely Democrat Voters in all 18 PAD towns. The focus for 2021 will be finding those voters and trying to bring them into our community.
Lastly, BYLAWS! We have posted the Bylaws with the proposed amendments. The Board had a couple amendments and Representative Sallie Fellows had a few. They are all here: Please take some time to read them. We will have time to discuss at the meeting next week.
Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Changes to the Website will probably take some time, but we hope to have more to share next month.
Also, please take a moment right now to set up a monthly donation to PAD. Every dollar you donate will be used to grow our group and elect local Democrats:
Become a Monthly Donor
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| Vision / Mission Statement:
[The Vision Statement was passed at the Executive Board and will be voted on at the Monthly Meeting].
Plymouth Area Democrats (PAD) stands for economic, social and environmental justice where all people have the opportunity to vote, engage with their elected leaders and government institutions, and be appropriately represented. We remain committed to helping elect diverse and progressive policymakers, expanding opportunities for democratic action, and empowering grassroots participation in a manner that pays attention to—and shows respect for diversity — gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, geography, and socioeconomic status. Our goal is to build a world that reflects the diversity of its citizens, restores our democratic values, and once again follows the rule of law and justice. We work to manifest that goal and to bring about progressive social change through education, collaboration, mobilization, and empowering grassroots activism. |
| Introducing our speaker series
We will be introducing a speaker series at each of our monthly meetings. It will be an opportunity to educate our members by experts in the field, and support them by amplifying their voice. This is how we win! We stand with the People fighting to build a more ‘Just’ world.
April 28th: Moms Demand Action
Our first speaker is Elizabeth Allen from Moms Demand Action. New Hampshire’s gun laws are among the weakest in the country. Granite State law does not require background checks on all gun sales, or limit access to firearms by people in crisis. Come listen to our first speaker as part of our ongoing speaker series at our next monthly PAD meeting, April 28, 2021. Moms Demand Action is the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with more than six million supporters. See how you can help change NH gun laws and keep our children safe!
May 26th: Legal Justice Policy Change, A New Paradigm
Our second speaker will be Thea Sebastian. Thea is a civil rights attorney and activist who is currently the Policy Director for Civil Rights Corps, a non-profit organization that has been spearheading impact litigation and policy advocacy nationwide to end criminal-legal injustice and build a new, non-carceral paradigm for public safety.
Thea will speak about why criminal-legal policy change is so essential, as well as some key projects like support for the Breathe Act (dubbed the “Civil Rights Act of the 21st century”) and the Vision for Justice campaign that she co-leads with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Recommended Readings and Books follow.
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| RECOMMENDED READINGS |
Reading recommendations from Thea Sebastian, Policy Director for Civil Rights Corps, “Legal Justice Policy Change, to end criminal-legal injustice and build a new, non-carceral paradigm for public safety”, Presentation, May 26th, 2021
Bail / Pretrial Justice
Criminalization of Poverty
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| MESSAGING WORKSHOP |
| Do you want to get involved in helping win the election for Dems?
Messaging is a critical tool to winning. George Lakoff’s book, “Don’t Think of an Elephant!”, talks about how conservatives frame their political messages more effectively than Democrats do. So let’s change that! We have a group on slack. Let us know if you are interested in joining it.
Recommended reading list:
Books by George Lakoff – The Political Mind and Don’t Think of An Elephant.
Workshop: Wednesday, April 21, 6:30 – 8pm EDT, reading group discussion of Lakoff’s books. Lakoff is A Cognitive Scientist who developed The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic and framing the debate. (past time frame of newsletter coming out, but will post if there is a video).
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| Legislative Call to Action
HB 544, relative to the propagation of divisive concepts.
Over the past five years there has been no reduction in the racial disparity in fatal police shooting victims despite increased use of body cameras and closer media scrutiny Another Black man, Daunte Wright, 20 years old, was fatally shot during a traffic stop. This took place at the same time, 10 miles south, in Minneapolis, that the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who faces murder charges in Floyd’s death is taking place. Given these incidents of police violence, now more than ever we cannot afford NOT to focus on the systemic issues underlying these and other tragedies. For this reason, we need your help to ensure that HB544- a bill that would prohibit schools, universities, and any businesses or other entities doing work for the State from teaching concepts that point to systemic racism—doesn’t become law.
HB 544 is tabled now. To help ensure that HB 544 doesn’t become law in our state, we must speak up. OPPOSE HB 544 in the budget. We’re asking you to take action today to help stop the language in HB 544 from progressing!
Diversity training belongs in NH. Contact your state senator today and urge them to remove the language from HB 544 from the budget.
Notes from the Campton conservation commission’s desk
Coming soon!
This column will feature regional conservation topics, projects, issues, or legislation of interest to voters.
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Action Alert
From the Local Leadership Network
Join the Facebook Group |
| The Local Leadership Network’s Statewide Visibility actions are scheduled for Thursday, Friday or Saturday (April 22-24).
There are two main purposes to this action: (1) to hold Republicans in the Legislature accountable for their unacceptable behavior and proposals this session; and (2) to help you recruit members for your Committees.
The idea is:
You choose the day, time and place because no one knows your town like you The visibility can last from 30 to 90 minutes
Minimum # of sign holders required = 1
Progressives will drive by and wonder who you are. Some will join you next time and more the time after
Nothing is easier than holding signs – it’s fun and a great recruiting tool!
Here are some sample messages:
- The NH Disadvantage = NH GOP Property Tax Hikes
- The NH GOP Local Taxes = The NH Disadvantage
- NH Republicans: Raising Your Property Taxes, Again!
- Here We Go Again! NH Republicans = Higher Taxes
- Believe your Tax Bill, Not Republican Lies!
- NH GOP = Higher Property Taxes, Again!
- Keep NH GOP Hands Off: Our Public Schools
- Keep NH GOP Hands Off: My Body
- Keep NH GOP Hands Off: My 1st Amendment Rights
- Keep NH GOP Hands Off: My Tax $
- Keep NH GOP Hands Off: My Ballot
Plymouth Area Democrats
info@plymouthareademocrats.org
www.plymouthareademocrats.org
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