Action Alerts – Week of October 8th – CNY Solidarity Coalition

CNY Solidarity members and supporters:
Please find below the weekly ACTION ALERTS from Indivisible NY24 and our legislative action teams.

For many of us, the past week has felt like November 2016 all over again. After using a systematically unfair electoral process to put a man facing multiple credible accusations of sexual assault in the White House, Republicans have now used a systematically unfair confirmation process to put a man facing multiple credible accusations of sexual assault on the Supreme Court. If the week’s events have been triggering for you, please reach out to friends and family for help. If it’s helpful to be around other folks who are equally enraged, I hope some of the events below will be valuable.

With the Court now likely to lurch rightward on a wide range of issues, it’s all the more important for us to wrest one or both houses of Congress from Republican control, and also to elect state and local leaders who will push back against the Trump agenda. The good news is that we have prime opportunities to help on these fronts right here in Central New York. We hosted a canvass for Dana, Rachel, and other progressive candidates on Saturday in Syracuse. More than 40 canvassers showed up (including many first-timers!), so we’re making it a weekly event—every Saturday until the election. (More details below.) If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the time.

The election is in just 29 days. Mark your calendars for Nov. 6, confirm your voter registration, and make sure your friends and family are all registered too. The registration deadline is THIS FRIDAY (Oct. 12). New York’s voter registration rules and regulations are available here, and the online voter registration form is available here.

Today (Oct 8)

Indigenous People’s Day in Syracuse, and multiple events with Dana Balter in Auburn

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, not Columbus Day

We gather to celebrate the many and varied contributions of the world’s Indigenous Peoples. We gather at the statue of Columbus because it is a clear reminder of his legacy of attempted genocide and land theft. We gather here during a teachable moment to discuss the ongoing impacts of that legacy and to commit ourselves to reversing them. 4:30-6pm at Columbus Circle in Syracuse. Organized by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation. Rain location is nearby Plymouth Church (232 E. Onondaga St.). More details here.

Auburn Meet & Greet, then Rally and Canvass with Dana

Dana Balter will be in Auburn for a meet & greet at Prison City Pub and Brewery at 4pm, then a pre-canvassing rally at the campaign’s Cayuga County office at 5pm. Meet & greet is at 28 State St. 13021. Rally is at 75 Owasco St. 13021. More details here and here.

Tuesday (Oct 9)

Register a voter today

Do you know someone who has never voted? Or not in so long that their registration may have lapsed? Or who recently moved to the area and hasn’t gotten around to registering yet? Today, please message these friends—or better yet, stop by in person—and walk them through the process of registering to vote. New York’s voter registration rules and regulations are available here, and the online voter registration form is available here.

In addition, Dana’s campaign is looking for volunteers both today and tomorrow to help register voters at OCC. Click here to sign up for a shift.

Wednesday (Oct 10)

Wednesday Potluck Phonebank

Every Wednesday from 4-8pm, the Balter for Congress campaign hosts a potluck phonebank. Bring a dish to pass, a charged cellphone, and a laptop if you have one, and they’ll train you on their phonebanking system. Click here for details. If Wednesdays don’t work for you, click here for a comprehensive list of canvassing and phone-banking opportunities, in all corners of the district, on every day of the week.

Teach-in on the Rule of Law in the U.S.

Speakers include Tom Keck, David Driesen, and Yusuf Abdul Qadir. 6:30-8:30pm at University United Methodist, 1085 E. Genesee St. in Syracuse.

Thursday (Oct 11)

State Senate SD-50 Town Hall with John Mannion and Robert Antonacci

5:30-6:30pm at Baldwinsville Public Library, 33 E. Genesee St. 13027.

Reception for Dana Balter at Sweet Praxis

Please join hosts Larry Bousquet, Janet Moon, and Tony Malavenda for a reception with Dana Balter. 7-9pm at Sweet Praxis, 203 E. Water Street 13202. More details here.

Friday (Oct 12)

Voter Registration Deadline Today

If you’ve registered any voters using paper forms, please turn those forms in by close of business hours today. The Onondaga County Board of Elections is at 1000 Erie Blvd W. 13204.

Reform NYS Election Law

From our state legislative action team (SLAT): Today, please call (or use contact pages for) the candidates for our area’s Senate districts. Ask them: What is your plan for reforming New York State’s restrictive and archaic voting laws? Ask whoever answers to send a response to your email address. Then send the information to CNY Solidarity at https://www.cnysolidarity.org/contact/. If you live in SD-50, the candidates are John Mannion, (315) 840-0940 and Robert Antonacci, (315) 657-0739. If you live in SD-53, they are Rachel May, https://www.rachelmay.org/contact, and Janet Burman, m.me/JanetBurmanStateSenate.

Saturday (Oct 13)

A big training event at 9:00am, and a big canvassing event at 1:00pm

Making Change: Community Organizing Basics Workshop

Participatory workshop will provide hands-on introduction to skills needed to organize effectively for social change on campus and in the community. The session, which will include roleplaying and other interactive learning exercises, will be valuable for newcomers and those already engaged in social action. Facilitated by Andy Mager and Jessica Maxwell of RiseUp Social Action Training and Education, who bring over 60 years of combined organizing experience in Central New York. They have worked with many social movements, including those for peace, clean energy, immigrant and worker justice, racial justice, economic justice, environmental protection and food justice. FREE and open to all but registration is required. To register, please send an email to cmc@maxwell.syr.edu. Let us know what academic department or community organization you are with, if you have any dietary restrictions, and/or require special accommodations. 9am-12:30pm, 204 Maxwell Hall, Syracuse University. Breakfast will be served!

Syracuse Canvass for Dana and Rachel

With less than a month to go, top priority from now through Nov. 6 is doors and phones, doors and phones, doors and phones. We had more than 40 people turn out for our Syracuse canvass last weekend (including many first-timers!), so we’re making it a weekly event. Today, we’ll meet at 1:00 pm on Maryland Ave. in the Westcott neighborhood (RSVP for exact address). Stop by for turfs and literature (and a brief training if you’re new), then we’ll head out to knock as many doors as we can. More details here.

Sunday (Oct 14)

CNY Solidarity Meeting

Main topic will be a hands-on training on active listening, as we follow up on trainings and discussions about privilege and related topics done over the last few months. 3-5pm, location TBD.

Save the date for these upcoming events

Mon., Oct 15: Candidate Forum on Disability Issues, hosted by Disabled in Action, AccessCNY, ARISE, Aurora of CNY, and Self-Advocacy CNY. 1-4pm at CNY Community Foundation, 431 E. Fayette St. (Assembly candidates 1-2pm; State Senate candidates 2-3pm; NY-24 House candidates 3-4pm). More details here.

Mon, Oct 15: State Senate town hall with John Mannion and Robert Antonacci. 5:30pm at DeWitt Community Room, E. Syracuse Fire Dept., 148 Sanders Creek Pkwy. More details here.

Thu, Oct 18: Candidate Forum sponsored by Black Leadership Coalition of CNY. 5:30-7pm at Eat to Live Food Coop, 2323 S. Salina St. 13205. More details here.

Thu, Oct 18: Community discussion about poverty. 7-9pm, Palace Theater. More details here.

Oct. 24: Syracuse.com is hosting a NY-24 congressional debate which will be livestreamed on Facebook.

Sun, Oct. 28: No CNY Solidarity meeting this weekend. We encourage you to devote the time to GOTV efforts.

Oct. 30: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for general election.

Tue., Nov. 6: Election day (general election for all offices).

Sun., Nov. 11: CNY Solidarity meeting. 3-5pm, location TBD.

Sun, Dec. 2: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting. 3-5pm, location TBA

Sun, Dec.16: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting. 3-5pm, location TBA

Today and every day, be sure to follow us online and on social media.

Check out our website: www.cnysolidarity.org

Check us out on Flickr and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Volunteers needed: