With the state budget nearing finalization, our team gathered yesterday for an emergency rally at our favorite location, 721 Broadway, to remind Senator Amedore about the 4.3 billion dollars legally owed to New York’s public schools. While we were there, we also urged him to #RaiseTheAge, lest we fall behind 48 states (with North Carolina recently emerging as a potential 49th) when it comes to implementing policies that ensure children are treated as children, even (and especially!) those who find themselves in the criminal justice system.
Looking Ahead
Our lead organizer, Callie, accurately describes the past several months as “the moment of the whirlwind.” Meeting hundreds thousands of new faces since November has provided us with plenty of excitement as well as some much-needed hope, and we are grateful that this group shares such a diverse background in terms of both professional knowledge and life experience. For that reason, we have formed several smaller committees to focus exclusively on some of our biggest goals. Read below to see what they’re up to and when, and consider making a habit of attending the meeting(s) that most appeals to you!
Newcomers
Welcome! Before getting involved with any of the projects below, please introduce yourself at one of our Action Nights. We meet every Tuesday at 5:30 in our Kingston office at 7 Grand Street.
Dinner is provided by our food team (which is always recruiting new members)!
Outreach Team
A community organization cannot thrive if we don’t have people to spread the word! There are four recurring outreach opportunities:
-Our office is open for phonebanking on Mondays and Tuesdays, beginning at 5:30 p.m. All you need to bring is your phone!
-Community Canvassing happens on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m. Stop by the office first to pick up materials and learn about our talking points.
Federal Fight Back!
When health care is under attack, what do we do?
We lobby our local representatives to make our needs known as they vote on policies that could impact the entire U.S.
Stop by on Mondays at 6 p.m. and help us to preserve the human right that is affordable, accessible, quality healthcare for all.
Criminal Justice Reform
Beginning tonight, The Criminal Justice Reform Committee will meet every other Monday at
6 p.m. to discuss how we can begin to heal the problems of injustice and bias throughout the criminal justice system, as well as keep an eye on problematic policies as they are introduced, and find constructive ways to oppose them at every opportunity.
Education
On Wednesdays at 6 p.m., one of our oldest committees meets to discuss improvements and repairs that can be made in our local schools’ policies, as well as advocating for increased state support of the public school system.
Climate Justice
This is our newest committee, and it’s still putting down roots, so we only have one meeting scheduled right now. Stop by this Friday, 4/7 at 5:30 p.m. to learn about current threats to
New York State’s stunning ecosystem and what must be done to protect it.
Faso Friday!
Faso Friday is not a meeting, but a movement. Our congressman has repeatedly declined to schedule a meeting with his constituents, so every Friday at noon, we pay a visit to his office and make sure he knows we’re right outside if he’d ever like to chat. Bring your favorite sign (Any topic — We’ve got a lot of catching up to do with this man.) and join us outside of 721 Broadway for an hour of sunshine and solidarity.
Subcribe to our
Google Calendar to keep track of these meetings and more!
No time for another meeting right now? Here are five ways to help in five minutes or less:
1) Become a monthly sustaining member of Citizen Action
2) Call Sen. George Amedore a.s.a.p. and let him know you expect him to push for public schools to receive no less than 1.47 billion dollars this year. (If George Amedore is not your senator, find out who is by checking here.)
3) Despite vocal opposition (which may have involved costumes, props, and a makeshift emergency room outside of his office about a week ago) to John Faso’s support of the A.H.C.A, and his apparent eagerness to repeal the A.C.A., the congressman still claims to be voting in favor of his constituents’ wishes.
Call him at any of the numbers below (or Tweet him!) and let him know that he is mistaken:
Kingston: (845) 514-2322 DC: (202) 225-5614 Delhi: (607) 746-9537 Kinderhook: (518) 610-8133https://twitter.com/RepJohnFaso and tag @hv_cany
4) Follow us on Facebook and invite your friends to do the same. This is where we post live videos, event reminders, policy updates, and even the occasional pep-talk 🙂
5) Massive movements call for countless tiny tasks. Email Callie at [email protected] or Shelley Friedman at [email protected] to see if we need packets stapled, recycling collected… Sometimes the revolution fits right into your daily errands!