SteadyBlogging on Twitter (SteadyTweets?)

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Indyvoter: "Wait!!! Don't move to MEXICO!!!"

In a previous post, I mentioned the post-election e-mails I've been getting from progressive groups with interesting subject headings.

Another one just arrived from the good people at indyvoter.org.
Subject line: "Wait!!! Don't move to MEXICO!!!"

Unfortunately I can't find the letter published on their website. I'll paste the text into a comment, in case you're interested in reading it. Click on "Comments" below.

2 comments:

Suman said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Suman said...

From: updates at action.indyvoter.org
Subject: Wait!!! Don't move to MEXICO!!!
Date: November 4, 2004 8:20:20 PM PST
To: suman_ganguli at yahoo.com

League Familia,

The past three days have been hard.

We all have so many stories to tell. Feelings to get off our chest. Bright ideas. The League has created a special 2004 Election Story Gallery on www.indyvoter.org and we want to invite you to add your story. Here’s a brief note from Hallie, Billy and Adrienne to get your wheels turning. Post your story on www.indyvoter.org so we can read it too, ok?

--

We stayed up all night November 2 calling everyone, writing press
releases, planning actions. We were all ready to hit the streets on
November 3. Local organizers were rallying in Columbus to demand that
every vote be counted, every violation be challenged.

Then Kerry conceded. We watched the TV, sick to our stomachs. We didn’t
think democracy was Kerry’s to concede but, you know, he ain’t ask us.
To us, counting all of the votes that people cast is not just question of
process. It is our only hope of survival in a nation divided. We
continue to stand with the organizers in Ohio (and the 31 cities who protested
November 3+4) to demand that all complaints of voting irregularities
are documented, broadcast, investigated, and counted.

Meanwhile, the League family has a lot to be proud of. In the coming
days, we will post our results, reveal our victories, and acknowledge the
thousands of people who came together to create this miracle.

And the same goes for our partner organizations. We all came together
in one big gay marriage and worked to make sure that progressive young
voters came out in a major way!! According to the new CIRCLE report (posted on
www.indyvoter.org), voter turnout among 18-29 year olds went up 9.3%
from 2000. In the top 10 swing states, it was up 13% - and much higher in
the districts WE targeted!!! And young people were the most progressive
voting group - favoring Kerry over Bush 54% to 44%.

Shoooooooooot, we DID our part.

Two years ago, pissed off young people were like "fuck electoral
politics." Now we're taking it over, slowly but surely, precinct by
ward by county by state, with local victories across the nation!

So please don’t move to Mexico!

Canada either.

I know y’all didn’t think the League was a cute gimmick organization
that would make a one-time appearance for this election only and then jet.
We’ve been saying from the beginning: WE HAVE A 30 YEAR PLAN!

That plan includes crying, healing our wounds, taking care of each
other, strategizing with local organizers and partners, hustling resources,
fighting imperialism, making big plans and getting excited all over
again. While campaign and 527 offices across the country shut their doors, the
League office up in Harlem is more alive than ever! And our warriors
across the country are gearing up for the long-term battle we have to
fight.

The 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 elections begin today. The world isn’t
ready for our voter blocs, shock lobbying and hood representatives. Don’t
know what that means yet? You will.

How?

The Election 2004 Story Gallery!!

Get excited. This is the perfect time to be documenting the magical
grassroots organizing roller coaster you’ve just lived through. Write
it now while your head is still spinning. NO STORY IS TOO SHORT OR TOO
LONG. Break It Down. Give us the juicy stuff. The nitty-gritty of how it
all went down at precinct 13 in Waco, Texas. BE HONEST. We want your
lessons, your conversations, your frustrations and your brilliant ideas (warts
and all). We had 140 guides, we want 1400 stories. We plan to launch with
50 stories by Monday morning. Are there organizers in your community who
aren’t online? Interview them and post their stories! The Story Gallery
will become a permanent living document on www.Indyvoter.org.

So don’t move to Canada, Mexico, or anywhere else! Stay right where you
are. Plant yourself in your community. Put down roots. That’s how we’re
gonna change this country. Your story is a seed. Plant it in our garden. Let’s water it and nurture it. Devour it and spread it. And it will grow and grow and grow and grow and grow…

Yours in faith that we will NEVER concede!

League gardeners,
Billy, Adrienne, Hallie and the hoes of change!

PS. OUT OF WORK AFTER THE ELECTION???
Our partner organization ACORN is doing free all-expenses paid weekend
trainings across the country to hire new organizers who’re out of
work!!! If you know someone who’d be interested, call them right away.
1-866-772-5402

(we will be posting other job listings at www.indyvoter.org for out of
work organizers so if you have a job to be done let us know :)

PPS. From Martin Luther King JR.

"Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with
an audacious faith in the future. When our days become dreary with
low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than
a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in
this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power
that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays
into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is
long, but it bends toward justice."