July 2024
Grassroots Keep Going
In the aftermath of an unsettling presidential debate and the US Supreme Court’s outrageous decision to rewrite the Constitution by granting presidents wide immunity, the grassroots movement is more important than ever. As our friends at Movement Voter Project put it:
Regardless of this ruling and no matter who is on the Democratic ticket, the math and the strategy stay the same: Target the swing states, invest in the organizing groups that can mobilize the hardest-to-reach Democratic voters, and do it now while every dollar yields more votes. We need to fund the biggest ground game in history to beat Trump, the worst President in history. Do not despair – double down and invest in the ground game like our democracy depends on it.
When Historian Heather Cox Richardson spoke to us at last month’s Frontlines event, she reminded us of how often Americans have come together in perilous moments to fight for an expansive, diverse democracy against those who want to keep power for a wealthy and privileged elite. “This is one of those moments when ordinary people get to write the future,” Richardson noted. She continued:
As I look around the country at all the people knocking on doors, writing letters, marching, raising money, or the other things people on this call are doing, I think about the fact that we get to be part of this movement that speaks so highly to that long tradition in the United States of trying to expand rights and defend democracy, and I feel we can do it. . . The more we do now, the more we have a voice in the future.
An attendee commented, “There are millions of us out here just doing the work quietly, and the media are not taking into account the impact of the grassroots. But we’re the silent majority.”
Our quiet work is unglamorous, often tedious. But it’s the nitty-gritty stuff that actually works, particularly listening to and talking with people.
The grassroots groups Airlift funds are masters of the nitty-gritty, of listening and talking. In their communities year-round, they know what matters to people, and they spend a lot of time in conversation with folks, engaging multiple times. These trusted messengers know how to persuade disaffected but potential voters that this is about us and the future we want–and how much their vote matters from the bottom to the top of the ticket.
But they can’t do it without our help. As Jessica Craven puts it, we and the groups we support “work to save democracy, one reluctant voter at a time.”
Do not despair. Take action, and hope will follow.
MICHIGAN:
PROTECTING THE
PEOPLE’S VOTE
Jocelyn Benson
A JFK Profile in Courage
July 23, Tuesday
5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET
Republican attempts to suppress the vote through restricting access, intimidation, and misinformation are painfully evident in many battleground states. Thankfully we have Jocelyn Benson as Secretary of State in Michigan. Under her leadership the 2020 and 2022 elections in Michigan not only drew record-breaking turnout, but were determined to be more secure than any prior election in state history, earning her the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and the Presidential Citizens Medal. Come hear Ms. Benson in conversation with Airlift leaders tell us what is being done to protect voters and poll workers, and counteract AI misinformation.
Ms. Benson will be joined by Art Reyes whose vigorous organizing with We the People Action Fund was crucial in flipping the state legislature and turning out the vote in hard-to-reach communities throughout Michigan in 2022. You’ll hear how We the People Action Fund is fighting back now against Michigan’s GOP’s attempts to disenfranchise Black and Brown voters and dominate the election results.
If you can’t attend but want to help We the People Action Fund, click the donate button below:
Mobilizing and Protecting the Vote in Michigan
In 2019 Art Reyes founded and continues to be the Executive Director of We the People (WTP) and its political organizing group, WTP Action Fund. WTP works to build a multi-racial, working-class constituency across Michigan, reaching out to communities where people feel forgotten and shut out by the system. Core to their mission is to make sure every voice and vote matters AND that every vote is counted.
In 2020, WTP was instrumental in protecting the will of Michigan voters. With Donald Trump slinging false narratives about election fraud, WTP anticipated the strategies Republicans would use to create chaos at polling places and election offices. Working closely with election officials, WTP and other grassroots groups created a statewide rapid response network that literally saved democracy in Michigan. When voter-protection attorneys texted on election night that busloads of Republicans were flooding the Detroit tallying center and harassing election workers, Reyes immediately mobilized his network. Within 45 minutes, grassroots organizers arrived, outnumbering the disrupters. They helped protect the vote count, stop the harassment, and calm things down.
The attempt to steal the Michigan election became national news when the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, which oversees Detroit’s ballots, met to certify the election. This usually routine meeting accommodated 100 Zoom attendees. With hundreds more people waiting to be admitted, Reyes persuaded election officials to allow 300. Republican board members initially refused to certify, claiming there were too many discrepancies in the vote count. At one point, they proposed removing Detroit’s ballots. The city tends to vote Democratic and is approximately 80% Black. Local organizers in the audience pointed to similar rates of ballot discrepancy in White communities, and proposed to also remove those votes. The strong, articulate community response led the Board of Canvassers to reject the racist proposal about Detroit and ultimately certify the election in Wayne County.
To maintain the pressure through the final statewide certification, WTP then led a coalition of grassroots groups to organize a car caravan to the state capital in Lansing, where the State Board of Canvassers had convened. Once again, community voices were heard–this time from their pandemic-safe vehicles. WTP’s leadership contributed to the eventual certification of Michigan’s election for Biden, who won the state by about 150,000 votes.
We the People also played an important role in Michigan’s 2022 midterms, when Democrats swept the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State races and the state legislature flipped to secure a Blue trifecta for the first time in 40 years. The state legislature would not have turned Blue without WTP and rural immigrant workers–undocumented and citizen farmworkers together–organizing to flip House District 103 and Senate District 38.
The galvanizing issue? To win back access to driver’s licenses, which the GOP-controlled legislature had stripped away from undocumented workers in 2008, resulting in hundreds of deportations and family separations. WTP and other groups had formed a coalition in both 2019 and 2021 to get a “Drive SAFE” package of legislation for consideration. But Republican majorities in both chambers never even scheduled a hearing or allowed the bills to be voted out of committee. As the 2022 midterms approached, a new strategy developed to organize and mobilize Spanish-speaking immigrant communities in ways that only undocumented people knew how to do.
We the People developed the Migrant Leader School to train people already seen as natural leaders in their communities to form local organizing teams across the state. One participant was an undocumented woman named Blanca, who devoted herself to flipping House District 103, the seat held by the Republican politician most responsible for blocking Drive SAFE. As Convergence Magazine describes it:
In the parking lot where she sets up shop to distribute her pan dulce orders, Blanca filled each bag with information in Spanish about how to register to vote, find polling locations, or request a ride on Election Day. Between four jobs, English classes, church, and her endless responsibilities as a single mother, she made countless calls to ensure people had rides to the polls or were checking in on their citizen relatives to make sure they had a voting plan.
Organizers held meetings in people’s homes, working with mixed-status families to involve everyone: undocumented people compiled lists to urge those who were eligible to vote, and to spread the word. When it was time to vote, undocumented folks covered shifts so immigrant citizens could cast their ballots. The Democratic candidate won by 765 votes.
Something similar happened in Senate District 38, where Paty, another Migrant Leader School participant, organized her community to support the Democratic candidate, who pledged to fight for restoring access to driver’s licenses. He won by 1,505 votes.
Drive SAFE legislation has now been formally introduced in the state legislature.
We the People continues to organize around issues that matter to ordinary people throughout Michigan. As they work on the ground ensuring that every voice and vote matters, they also continue to be vigilant against election shenanigans designed to squelch those voices and votes. WTP’s savvy strategies and effective mobilization are absolutely critical in keeping Michigan–and the country–Blue and moving forward in 2024.
Double Down for Democracy
We either value our democracy enough to save it, or we do not. We will either do the necessary work or we will not.
-- Robert Hubbell, Today’s Edition, 7/2/24
Our work as donors is to fund the grassroots organizations that will make the difference in November’s high-stakes election. Let’s do it now while every dollar yields more votes. We need to fund the biggest ground game in history to beat Trump–the worst President in history–preserve the Senate, flip the House, and win crucial down-ballot races. Choose action over despair – double down and invest in the ground game like our democracy depends on it.
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, and click again to Make it Monthly!
Make it Monthly–Your Own Anxiety Relief Program! Becoming a monthly donor means our partners can count on having resources right through to the election. Besides, you’ll feel better.
For Tax-Deductible Giving. Although non-tax-deductible 501c4 gifts allow our partners the most flexibility for political action, tax-deductible 501c3 donations are welcome too. Email Ruth Jaeger at ruth@airlift.fund.
Spread the word! Tell your friends and family about Airlift and our events. Host an in-person or online House Party (contact lizzy@airlift.fund). Share this newsletter and our website.
Thanks for your support!
Feed Your Creativity and the Grassroots!
Back by popular demand, Airlift Volunteer David Ford and Charlie Varon–both accomplished writers and directors who bring storytelling to life at the Marsh Theater–are excited to offer you a chance to work on your creative efforts while doing something to help support positive change in America!
They’ve organized a fundraiser on August 3 & 4. You make a donation of at least $100 to Airlift in exchange for a session of work on whatever project you want. It’s a great way to get a new project started or keep an old one going–all while supporting grassroots organizers who will help us win in November!
The fundraiser will be in-person at the home of Irma Herrera: 5701 Barrett Ave., El Cerrito, corner of Barrett and Sonoma Street. It’s a 25-minute walk from El Cerrito del Norte BART. Charlie will be available for 40 min. slots from 10-noon and David will be doing the same from noon-4. Sign up here.
FIELD NOTES
On NPR: Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) plans to knock on one million doors and register 20,000 new voters as part of their strategy to fight back against Prop. 314, 2024’s version of the notorious “Show Us Your Papers” 2010 law. Listen/read here. Plus, LUCHA takes to Tik-Tok to explain the dangers of Project 2025.
Big Win for education funding thanks to We the People’s Fresh Start Team in Benton Harbor: “After holding a press conference and packing a budget meeting last week, the legislature approved $4 million for addressing racial disparities in our public school system.”
Down Home North Carolina scores a big housing victory in Cabarrus County after activists launched a months-long campaign for “One New Fund, Many New Homes.” County commissioners agreed to set aside millions for affordable housing. Read more.
Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT) is rockin’ it this summer! At Milwaukee Public School’s budget hearing, they prevented cuts to the College & Career Department. LIT is rockin’ the vote, too: “We are officially surpassing our 2024 goal of knocking 250,000 doors in Milwaukee. We are working year round to not only increase voter turnout but to ensure that young, Black and Brown voters have the information, resources, and support to exercise their fundamental right to vote. We will be knocking an additional 250,000 doors in Milwaukee by the November elections.”
The Drop is taking August off. See you in September,
refreshed and ready to go for the home stretch!