December 2021
THANKFUL, HOPEFUL, JOYFUL
“It is you who are helping to model what we so desperately need in America: a respectful community based in facts, rather than in anger and partisanship, a community that can defend our democracy and carry it into a new era.”
---Heather Cox Richardson, Thanksgiving 2021
We’re coming into winter solstice season, when encroaching darkness yields to greater light. How fitting for another year of political and often personal triumph and hardship. It is also a time of preparation. The season’s wintery change cloaks how much is happening below the surface, where the underground growth necessary for a flourishing new year unfolds. This, too, describes Airlift’s partner groups, all engaged in the work of hiring, training, and getting ready for the vital work of 2022. There is so much richness, so much cause for gratitude, hope, and joy.
Yes, there is much to be grateful for this year. From Airlift’s perspective, the biggest and most obvious source of gratitude is that despite all their infuriating shortcomings (here’s looking at you, Sinema and Manchin!), we DO have a majority of Democrats in Congress. Moreover, this small and unruly majority has delivered on an infrastructure bill that will improve the lives of millions of Americans. There’s still hope for the democracy protection and Build Back Better bills. And let’s not forget that since taking office, the Biden Administration has helped millions to better weather the Covid storm. We are particularly grateful to our donors, whose generosity makes all this and so much more possible.
Pod Save America’s Dan Pfeiffer, featured guest for our January 18th special event, and his co-host Jon Favreau also expressed joy and gratitude on PSA’s Thanksgiving episode. Acknowledging that the hurdles we face as political activists and funders are sometimes daunting, Jon quoted Jason Kandar on the value of joyfulness: “Denying myself joy serves no purpose,” Kandar tweeted during the difficult weeks of US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Indeed, maintaining a sense of joy is necessary in order to remain effective because, as Jon observed, “you can’t motivate people from a position of fear or depression.”
Live from the Frontlines
“Winning Strategies for 2022”
Dan Pfeiffer headlines with grassroots organizing leaders Pablo Rodriguez of California & Eliza Booth of Pennsylvania sharing their perspectives on the challenges ahead in 2022.
January 18, Tuesday
5 pm PT/ 8 pm ET
So, what makes us joyful? By far the greatest source of our collective joy at Airlift is the daily inspiration we get from our partners on the ground. They are reflective of all that is best about young people and the human spirit. This was wonderfully captured at our recent event with Julian Castro and MOVE Texas’s young, indomitable leaders, Claudia Yoli Ferla and Zenen Jaimes Perez. They reframed the shocking voter suppression in Texas as a reflection of and reaction to the success of MOVE and its allies in getting so many young people out to vote in 2020. Asked whether young Texans are outraged by the new laws, Claudia replied,
“We are young, we are pissed, and we are voting!” Zenen added, “We know that we can get even more creative” going forward. And we bet they can too!
One such creative approach they are taking is to sponsor “Party at the Polls'' to ensure that newly registered voters actually cast their ballots. Another is to focus on city and county governments. MOVE works in the 12 most populous of Texas’s 254 counties. Those counties represent 60% of the state’s population; if they work together, they can more effectively challenge the Republican-controlled state legislature. Zenen told us, “We have developed a proactive, pro-democracy agenda that could be adopted at the local level to push officials to create a culture of civic participation.” Another long-term strategy is to encourage the counties to work together on issues that the state will not address, such as paid sick leave.
Statewide victory in Texas won’t come easily or quickly, but as Claudia notes, “Texas is changing in ways that even the most crusty and crappy politicians cannot prevent. Our generation is more diverse than ever… we are the most diverse electorate in history and we are not just the future you all need to invest in, we are the powerful present of organizing.”
That’s a rallying cry we can all get behind! Remember: This holiday season is not just about thankfulness and joy, it’s about generosity. We are so grateful for yours, and we ask that you continue your support of democracy and the young people in battleground states who are working every day to grow and preserve it. Let’s make 2022 a season of light. THANK YOU!
A GREAT TIME FOR GIVING!
“I have decided to keep fighting because other people’s families depend on it even more than I do.”
---Jon Favreau, Pod Save America
Don’t forget to put Airlift on your holiday gift list. The dollars you give today help our partners prepare for the 2022 fight!
Donate by Check. Set up automatic payments with the Bill Pay service at your bank for Airlift or send a check directly to Airlift, PO Box 617, Corte Madera, CA 94976.
Donate Online at ActBlue:
We are grateful for your generosity
WE ASKED THE AIRLIFT TEAM: “WHAT’S GIVING YOU LIGHT?”
“Every time I have the chance to speak with the leaders of the Airlift partner groups, I am inspired and hopeful about the future of our country.”
“Ted Lasso!”
“Celebrating Thanksgiving with our daughters in person rather than over Zoom.”
“Airlift’s donors.”
“Thanks to the vaccines, the return of live music to my life.”
“Being part of a caring community that persists in making a better country.”
Field Notes
Good News from Georgia! And this was before at least seven more seats flipped to Democrats in the November 30 run-offs! Read more.
MOVE Texas director tells it like it is, "Ours is not a movement limited only to those who can vote. Even those of us who are denied the franchise . . . have an important role to play." Read more.
Down Home North Carolina shares its secret sauce that makes rural groups successful Read more.
Airlift Partner in Orange County, OCCETwas instrumental in getting a majority Latino district created. The district includes Asian voter power as well. Read more.
