One Civic Act

Today, I took the afternoon off from work and watched the Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th president of the United States. It was the capstone that completed my journey to commit one civic act per day for four years. It’s something that I’ll never forget, just like Amanda Gorman at the ceremony today.

Back in 2018, I saw Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu speak at a Green Energy Consumers Alliance event . It was a moving and dynamic speech. Last summer, she announced her plan for a Boston Green New Deal and Just Recovery . Today, I made a donation to Michelle Wu’s campaign for Mayor.

Today, I made a donation to a City Councilor’s re-election campaign for 2021. The election is along ways off, but that’s how the election cycle works around here.

Today, I joined a webinar on “How To Join The Biden-Harris Administration Or A Key Commission.” It was held by RespectAbility, a partner of www.InclusiveAmerica.org . Actually, I have no intention of seeking a federal government position but it was interesting to learn about the process.

Today, I wrote letters to voters in Georgia, to remind Georgians who requested a mail ballot in the general election to request their absentee ballots for the Georgia Senate runoff election in January.

Today, I signed up with, and got approved by, Vote Forward . I’ll be working on getting out the vote in Georgia for the upcoming runoffs for the Senatorial election.

There will be two monumentally important Senate race runoff elections on January 5. Today, I made a donation to the Movement Voter Project’s Georgia Fund . This fund supports local organizing efforts, with local partners getting ready to keep registering voters and get out the vote.

The election on Tuesday has taken a long time to get right, but the media has to come to consensus that the results are clear. Today, I took time to bask in an election that was four years in the making, celebrating a little (but just a little, to keep social distancing). There are still some bureaucratic steps to take, but a new president is sure to take office in January.

The presidential election results are still not conclusive, which isn’t a surprise to anyone. Still, even when the results are known, there’s a good likelihood that there will be legal challenges. Today, I made a donation the Movement Voter Project’s Defend the Election Fund , which is a rapid response fund that will support local groups in critical states should election emergencies arise.

We have an election next week and signs point toward…chaos. With record levels of mail-in voting, it’s possible or even likely that we won’t know the results of the election next Tuesday. And the president has hinted that we might not go quietly should the election go against him. Today, I attended a webinar called, “How to Beat an Election-Related Coup,” held by Choose Democracy . Interesting learning on the difference between a typical protest movement and an anti-coup protest. I also signed the Choose Democracy pledge: We will vote. We will refuse to accept election results until all the votes are counted. We will nonviolently take to the streets if a coup is attempted. If we need to, we will shut down this country to protect the integrity of the democratic process.

Today, I joined a call with my State Representative elect to introduce her to the We the People Massachusetts effort to push for a constitutional amendment for democracy reform. We didn’t really have to convince her, as she’s a staunch advocate of democracy reform. But it was valuable to get her up to date on what we’re working on.

I’ve supported the Movement Voter Project in the past, because it has such a powerful theory of change: Fund local organizing not only to get out the vote among marginalized populations in battleground states, but also build the power of local organizers to gain influence in their communities and states. Today, I made another donation to the Movement Voter Project.

The Wide Awakes is a network of artists and cultural workers driven to activism on urgent social and political issues. Like, you know, the election. They’re “organizing communities, sharing knowledge, building art, agitating for change, and getting out the vote.” Today, I made a donation to the Wide Awakes on Kickstarter .

Today, I watched a screening of The Response , a short film about the success of mutual aid societies after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. After that, a panel pulled together by Climable talked about how distributed power grids are emerging, on a small scale, out of those same efforts. Today, I also joined a call for the We the People Massachusetts team, still pushing for democracy reform.

Today, I setup a meeting with (in a couple of weeks) my new state rep to talk about our We the People Massachusetts work. She’ll be an advocate, so it’s mostly just to introduce ourselves and thank her for support.

Today, I joined webinar hosted by the New Buildings Institute . They covered Codes and Policies to Advance Zero Goals: Policies for Retrofits and New Construction, with speakers from Vancouver, New York state, Denver and right here in Metro Boston. Today, I also joined a catch-up call with We the People Massachusetts to get caught up on how advocacy for the We the People amendment is coming along.

Today, I made donations to two candidates for state representative, for two different districts in Somerville. (One of them is my district.)

Today, I joined an info session and fundraiser for the Movement Voter Project . Movement Voter is looking at the presidential and senate races this November, but it focuses its theory of change on helping local organizations that are already operating within key districts and states. Great turnout for a Zoom call, with about 100 people on the line, including several Somerville City Councilors.

Yesterday, I joined a meeting with one candidate for state rep to talk about the We the People Massachusetts theory of change for democracy reform . Today, I had an exchange by email with the second candidate for that seat, to further garner support for the bill.

Today, I joined a call with We the People Massachusetts, to introduce ourselves to one of the candidates for state representative where I live. Today, I also joined a governance committee board call for the Charles River Watershed Association.