On Friday I was on a conference call with Rev Barber where he unveiled plans for a Week of Solidarity. This blog reports on: the Reverend’s plan for solidarity and civil disobedience; the UNM protest of Milo’s speech; and a handful of actions and opportunities..

Reverend Barber’s Plan for a Week of Solidarity.  In a conference call with 1000 activist leaders from across the country on Friday afternoon, Rev. William Barber called for a Week of Solidarity. Unfortunately, the call was marred by technical difficulties (an inability to mute someone washing the dishes that persisted through half the call) and so I was unable to hear clearly a plan that will be emerging over the next few days for people across the country to participate in civil disobedience.  Click here to get a far more detailed summary of the Week of Solidarity and to sign the pledge. Retake Our Democracy would like to develop a specific plan for Santa Fe and the rest of NM to participate. If there is a volunteer out there who would like to dive into this and help us make concrete plans to do so, please write me at paul@retakeourdemocracy.org. There are actions called for like, participating in Muslim services on Friday Feb 3 where we need to contact a mosque, ask permission and find out if our presence would be welcomed. For civil disobedience, we will need someone tracking the Reverend’s plans and identify an action target in New Mexico that is consistent with those plans. The structure of the Week of Solidarity is summarized below.

• Step 1: Pledge to support civil disobedience as moral resistance
• Step 2: Commit to a week of solidarity.
• Step 3: Call your elected officials.
• Step 4: Show support on social media using sample tweets and facebook posts.
• Step 5: Write an op-ed — tips and talking points included
• Step 6: Review additional resources for long-term engagement

For other resources and information on Reverend Barber and his Repairer of the Breach initiative, click here.

Photo from Albuquerque Journal of Friday Protest

UNM Students Protest Hate Speech. On Friday, 250 UNM students peacefully protested, the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos at the University. While a very few protesters were detained (it is not clear if charges were filed) the protest was largely peaceful with the most disruptive actions being students banging on the doors of the hall where Yiannopoulos spoke.  “Illegal people aren’t a race; they’re people who don’t belong in your country,” Yiannopoulos said at one point during the speech. While the University’s position was that they had to protect free speech and allow this kind of promotion of hate, there are also constitutional protections for assembling and raising your voice in protest. For a complete report from the Albuquerque Journal including video from the scene, click here

Local Events & Opportunities

Saturday, Jan 28, Stand and Rock, a Benefit for Standing Rock. Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm, Skylight, 139 W. San Francisco, Santa Fe.  FREE, although the hat will be passed! One week after “the march” comes “the show,” “the dance,”  “the cause.” On Dec 23, Brian Hardgroove assembled a smokin’ house band that played brilliantly behind a series of tremendous musicians. Roxanne and I went and never sat down. The dance floor was packed and donations collected that night went to help pay the legal and medical costs for the brothers and sisters of the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. You don’t want to miss this: click here for details.

Mon, Jan 30, 4-7pm. Our First Open House Activism Event! At the home of Esther Kovari, 810 West Manhattan St. Santa Fe (near the Railyard). Keep the momentum going – take action now! On Saturday, we marched, we showed our strength in record numbers. Now we need to work together on the issues that count: Introducing Open House Activism. Every few weeks we’ll meet at someone’s home to take on an important and timely issue. Choose the issues you care about most. RSVP here on Facebook. The focus for this Open House will be Fighting Fracking in the Greater Chaco Canyon area. First, you’ll learn why this is such a serious environmental issue. Then we’ll take action with calls to our representatives and letters to government and elected officials to stop the fossil fuel industry from imperiling the environment and ancient cultures of this unique area. Drop by for ½ an hour, an hour, or however long works for you. Bring your kids. Get them involved. Show up and see what a difference coming together can make to our environment. Click here to RSVP on Facebook.

Social Media Training. Tues., Jan 31, 5:30-7pm, Ctr for Progress & Justice, 1420 Cerrillos. Ken Baumann will be providing training in the effective use of social media, focusing first on Facebook and Twitter, and then for those interested, Instagram. To participate, you MUST RSVP as space is limited. Click here to RSVP. We ask that you also bring your laptop and smart phone as this will help you learn by doing. If you do not have FB and Twitter accounts, please create them and take a look at the platforms before coming. This training is almost full, so if you plan to attend, sign up today.

Outreach Action Team Planning, Tue. Feb 7, 5:30-7pm. Ctr for Progress & Justice 1420 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe. Join us to plan the launch for our Community Conversations Canvassing campaign, and to discuss: organizing panels and trainings, expanding alliances with other organizations, developing an outreach and organizing strategy in other NM communities, finalizing a plan for our Moral Monday event on Feb 20, and organizing a range of other events and outreach activities.

Town Hall Meeting, Sat. Feb 11, 3:30-5:30pm. Ctr for Progress & Justice 1420 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe. Join us for presentations, breakout discussions, and action planning. Details soon.

We Need A Moral Roundhouse that Stands for Justice

Retake Our Democracy Moral Monday-The New Mexico Progressive Coalition Peoples Rally, Monday, Feb 20 10am-4pm.  A full day is being planned including targeted lobbying in the Roundhouse in the morning, a noon Retake Our Democracy Moral Monday rally with a full slate of speakers and performers at noon. There will be more lobbying in the afternoon and culminating with the New Mexico Progressive Coalition Peoples Rally at 2:30-4pm with more speakers. More details on speakers and performers coming soon, but get this in your calendar, as we want a MAJOR presence at the Roundhouse all day.

In solidarity, Paul & Roxanne

Categories: Civil Disobedience, Civil Rights, Justice

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