August 2022
WE ARE SMALL BUT MIGHTY!
Wondering if your support for Airlift makes a difference? We’re not the biggest donors to the grassroots groups we fund, but our support absolutely matters in more ways than one. Don’t take it from us, take it from our partners:
“One of the best things about our partnership with Airlift is that it makes us feel like our work is really seen and deeply valued by people who understand that we really all have a shared stake across this country. The Airlift community makes us feel celebrated for the work that we do. It makes us feel encouraged to keep going, and it really makes us feel supported. I just can’t express how important that is. This moment really demands the best of us, and you all really make it possible for us to be our best.”
Carrie Santoro, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Stands Up
IN NORTH CAROLINA BRAVE PARENTS FACE
DOWN THE BULLIES
North Carolina schools have some real problems: a shortage of teachers, substitutes, and bus drivers has left some students abandoned in the classroom or by the side of the road. Instead of taking on these problems, extremist right-wingers, taking their cue from former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, have been taking over school board meetings and calling for the banning of books that give an honest portrayal of race, gender, and American history. Fighting back is the main focus of Down Home North Carolina’s Todd Warren. Todd is a former public school teacher, a public school parent, and now DHNC’s statewide strategist for public school education issues. Down Home NC has teamed up with the Education Justice Alliance to form HEAL Together NC (Honest Education Action & Leadership), part of a national school-district-focused initiative.
Todd notes that the situation can be very intimidating: “In Wade County, a friend of mine who was talking about the need for resources to buy culturally sensitive material was called a pervert by somebody in the crowd.” In one instance, members of the racist Proud Boys lined up wearing masks–“And not the good kind,” Todd quips. The right-wing confrontational tactics had begun with their efforts to ban the medical masks that protect teachers and students from Covid.
DHNC started their counter-response by doing what so many of the Airlift partner organizations do first: listen. They held listening sessions for parents called, What Do You Want, What Do You Need? This gave parents the chance to think through the problems of North Carolina public schools so they could show up at school board meetings prepared.
“One of the things we did during school library month, to get away from this talk about book banning, we ran a little campaign called “Schools Need Books,” Todd says. “Parents were talking about how we shouldn’t be taking books off the shelves, we should be putting more books on the shelves!”
Recounting what happened in Wade Country two weeks after his friend was called a pervert, Todd notes, “We went back with thirty or forty people and it just changed the atmosphere of the whole meeting. The bullies were in the minority. They are typical bullies. They want an easy target.”
Todd quotes one parent as saying, “‘Sometimes when it doesn’t feel safe to go, that’s when it’s most important to go. Our kids need to see us stand up and say this is not acceptable.’”
Todd does similar organizing all over the state. He finds that public school parents— Republican, Democratic, and Independent—are all very supportive of their local schools. “We are the majority… and we have to start acting like it.”
Yes, there is voter fraud. However, it’s being perpetrated by the Republican Party. In Georgia, Republicans wrote the voter suppression handbook that has now been replicated in numerous states where Republicans dominate state legislatures. This movie also looks at unbelievable voter suppression and sabotage not only in Georgia, but in Florida, Texas and beyond.
We will watch an excerpt of this memorable movie and then have a lively discussion with grassroots leaders on the frontlines about what it takes for people of color to vote in battleground states today.
Bernice Lauredan, Dream Defenders
Tomas Robles, LUCHA
Claudia Yoli Ferla, MOVE Texas
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
5 pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern
Be sure to check out FIELD NOTES below
to learn more about how our partners fight voter suppression.
THE TIDE IS TURNING - LET’S KEEP THE
MOMENTUM GOING
Hope is in the air. We’ve seen the impact of the January 6 committee hearings, the vast mobilization in response to the overturn of Roe v Wade, renewed hope for the passage of climate, healthcare, and inflation-busting legislation, and the ongoing, on-the-ground success of progressive grassroots organizations as they bring people into the political process. Small-donor funding is down across the GOP, while it’s surging in the Blue universe.
You are a part of that surge. Donations to Airlift are vital to our partner groups working for voters’ rights, healthcare and abortion access, equity, and justice. Help them to keep pushing for victory in November and beyond. Here’s how:
Donate by Check. Set up automatic payments to Airlift with the Bill Pay service at your bank, or send a check directly to: Airlift, PO Box 617, Corte Madera, CA 94976
Donate Online at ActBlue. Just click the button:
For Tax Deductible Giving. Email Ruth Jaeger at ruth@airlift.fund.
Host an Airlift@Home Party on Zoom or in your home! For more information, contact Alison Whittaker at alison@airlift.fund.
Spread the word! Tell your friends and family about Airlift and our events. Share this newsletter and the link to our website.
HANDS-ON HELP
From time to time, Airlift supporters ask if there’s more they can do besides donate to help our partner groups. YES! Check out and share these volunteer opportunities:
Carolina Federation Phone Banks: This cycle, North Carolina has some of the most strategically important races in the country. Cheri Beasley is one of our best bets to flip a Republican-held Senate seat, and would be the first black woman ever to represent NC in the US Senate. Carla Catalán Day is our movement candidate for NC House, recruited by grassroots members of our chapter, running for a red-to-blue district. Her race could determine whether millions of women can get an abortion a year from now–not only in NC, but in at least 10 nearby states. Sign Up!
Thanks!
FIELD NOTES
Our partner groups fight voter suppression:
The New Georgia Project (NGP) has initiated the “Georgia Peanut Gallery,” which actively supports Georgia’s voters in maintaining their registration status.
The vital creativity of NGP also shines through in “This is Not a Game,” a gaming app that takes the player through various scenarios of voter disenfranchisement to learn how to fight for and preserve the right to vote.
Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) has initiated “Arizonans for Fair Elections,” a ballot measure that enhances voters’ access to the ballot box. It will allow voters to register at polling locations, during early voting, and on Election Day. The measure will also make online voter registration accessible to communities who have historically been excluded, such as Native voters, and will prevent the legislature from overturning presidential election results. LUCHA regularly monitors and targets voter suppression bills in the state legislature.
Michigan Liberation was a central force in the coalition of grassroots organizations that sent 300 organizers to the Detroit Board of Canvassers meeting in 2020 to demand that they verify the Democratic win in Detroit. The same coalition worked to assure that the State Board of Canvassers also voted to certify the election. ML succeeded in having voting rights legislation incorporated into the state constitution, including automatic registration when you get a drivers’ license, no-excuse mail ballots, and same-day voter registration.
In Florida, Dream Defenders helped win Amendment 4 to the state constitution, restoring voting rights to more than 1 million Floridians. Dream Defenders continuously educates Florida voters on how to protect and exercise their rights.
Fighting the good fight in Arizona: LUCHA partners with Way to Win (one of Airlift’s mentors): Read more.
Pennsylvania Stands Up scores a big win for Whole Home Repairs, which provides $50,000 grants for homeowners and loans to small landlords with affordability restrictions so they can make habitability repairs and upgrades for energy efficiency. PASU’s advocacy resulted in $125 million for this program in the recently passed state budget.
Down Home NC’s tireless efforts mean that North Carolina has never been closer to passing Medicaid expansion. “We've worked really hard to get here. The NC Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to do it. Legislators who used to oppose it are now using our talking points about why Medicaid expansion is important. Unfortunately, Instead of passing Medicaid expansion, the NC House passed yet another study bill to assess the situation. This kicks the can down the road, past the elections in November.” Down Home NC won’t quit pushing. Read more.
Friend of Airlift Dan Pfeiffer gives us a shout-out on his book tour for Battling the Big Lie at Book Passage. Dan also writes that trusted messengers are the key to why the January 6 Committee hearings are damaging Trump (trusted messengers are key to the Airlift model, too!). Read more.