Celebrate some. Mourn some. Keep organizing.
Two years ago, about this time, I wrote you an e-mail quoting labor organizer Joe Hill, bravely facing execution on trumped-up charges a century ago: “Don’t (just) mourn. Organize.”
Wow, did you organize. A week later, we gathered thousands-strong at Congregation Beth Elohim, where #GetOrganizedBK (and its incredible set of working groups) was born. What we’ve done together over the past two years is extraordinary -- we held down our part of a national movement to build power and solidarity, to fight back against bigotry & corruption & white nationalism, and to insist that the values of equality & inclusion & compassion & justice are the only ways forward for our country.
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My recommendations for Election Day
We’ve canvassed together, knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors, made phone calls, sent texts, recruited friends and families, and, ok, even chewed our fingernails bloody in our efforts to take back the House, win the New York State Senate, defeat some real villains, elect some real heroes … and get our democracy on a far better track.
Here are my recommendations for tomorrow, for state & federal races in Brooklyn, judges, the NYC ballot propositions, and even where to watch results together tomorrow night:
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For An On-Ramp to Democracy: Vote YES on All 3 NYC Ballot Questions
Next week at the polls, New York City residents have a genuine opportunity to strengthen our local democracy. The three ballot questions proposed by the NYC Charter Revision Commission, which will appear on the back of the ballot on Tuesday November 6th, will give us a chance to reduce the corrupting influence of big money in politics, to breathe new life in our democracy through expanded participatory budgeting and civic engagement, and to make NYC’s community boards more representative.
I’m supporting all three proposals. In this op-ed in the New York Daily News with New York Immigration Coalition Executive Director Steven Choi, I give the positive reasons for each proposal.
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The most immediate place to rebuke white supremacy: at the polls
I’ll be honest: I’m still shattered and heartbroken. At too many moments, I find myself full of rage.
But I’m also fiercely determined -- to channel my sorrow and shock and anger into focused work over the next seven days. I hope you’ll join me.
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Six Years After Sandy
Six years ago (on a blustery Saturday like today), Hurricane Sandy hit NYC. What New Yorkers did together in the days afterward — in the Rockaways & Red Hook, in the shelters at John Jay HS & the Park Slope Armory — remains the most extraordinary example that I’ve ever seen of our ability to come together, across lines of difference, to take action in support of each other … of the radical potential of organized compassion.
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Don’t (just) mourn, organize. Kavanaugh/Columbus Day 2018 edition
On the night of the 2016 election, I quoted the words of Joe Hill, a labor organizer and songwriter, who was falsely charged with murder and executed in Utah in 1915, in a telegraph to a Bill Haywood: “Don’t waste any time mourning. Organize!”
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To a new school year, and a powerful possibility
We never should have had to fight this battle. It’s still hard to believe that the New York State Senate GOP cares so little about the lives of our kids that they allowed the school-zone speed camera program to expire -- despite overwhelming evidence that they reduce crashes and save lives.
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#CancelKavanaugh
With New York State primary elections just a few days away, I’ve been pretty focused this month on politics close to home (more or that below). And I’m hoping that, like me (we’re in Nova Scotia), some of you are getting much-needed time this week with your families before school & a very busy fall start back up in earnest.
But hearings on the horrifying nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court begin next week -- and the disastrous impact of his appointment to the Court will last much longer than a week, a month, a year, or even a decade. So it’s worth some of our time right now to join the fight to #CancelKavanaugh.
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Getting the balance right on Uber and Lyft
The City Council is voting today on a package of legislation regulating app-based ride hailing companies in NYC.
It’s a big topic, with a lot of competing interests. Uber and Lyft have been projecting doomsday scenarios (which the Daily News rightly calls “bunk”). I understand how important these services are, particularly in the outer boroughs. For many families, including people of color who have faced decades of discrimination, these app-based companies have been a real game-changer and have improved service where both public transit and traditional yellow-taxi service have failed to serve all New Yorkers.
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Low voter turnout. Low civic trust. An idea for change.
The way it looks to me, we’re facing a crisis in our democracy. And I don’t just mean Donald Trump, the partisan divide, or gaping inequality (as serious as those are). Collectively, in NYC and far beyond, we aren’t taking good care of our democracy.
We’ve got embarrassingly low voter turnout (last September, just 15% of voters showed up for the NYC primary elections that selected citywide leaders). Steep declines in civic trust, especially in government. Here in NYC, according to the census, we’ve even got some of the lowest levels of volunteerism. A crisis of civic participation.
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