Voter Movement Project
Hi my beloveds!! I entreat you to read this!!
When I get anxious about the upcoming election, discouraged about our two party system and the ability of either party to rise to the moment we are in and effect the change we so desperately need, when I hear about all the disruption and chaos already undermining the vote and frightening voters, I am able to connect to hope, inspiration, and a sense of renewed purpose because of the efforts of a group called "The Movement Voter Project" (link). I want to tell you about them because it’s possible that you too, like me, are in need of something like The Movement Voter Project to fix your hopes on.
It’s odd perhaps to start by telling you what they don’t do, but stay with me because that is part of what I like about them.
They don’t send people like me out to canvas in neighborhoods that are far from my own to try to persuade voters to vote how I want them to vote in national elections. That tactic has always bothered me and, it turns out, it holds no interest for the Movement Voter Project. YES, getting out the vote is essential, but MVP is equally committed to building a larger movement for progressive change, and that can only be done on the ground, neighbor to neighbor. They don’t ask people like me to get on the phone and call out-of-state voters either. Again, out-of-state voters aren’t interested in talking to someone like me who they don’t know and who don’t know them or the issues they care about. Plus, in the battleground states, this kind of phone calling feels (to me at least) like harassment!
Instead the Movement Voter Project (which is based in Northampton and has been going since 2014) works to identify full-time grassroots organizations who are already working in underserved, minority and youth communities, making change happen for the better. They have vetted these groups and they support them with cash to help them keep going. It is so obvious, so simple: activists in communities of color, in youth groups, and in underserved communities are the ones who are most effective at organizing themselves, educating their community on the issues they care about, getting their voters to the poles, and creating long-term supportive relationships that make for enduring change.
Right now, a primary focus of the Movement Voter Project is aimed at supporting the grassroots organizers working in the 5 battleground states that the 2020 election will hinge on: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, and Arizona. That is where my interest lies as well!
I feel like I can enthusiastically give money to the Movement Voter Project because I know it will go to people on the ground who need it for work that is truly necessary and effective….. that the money will actually make a difference.
If anything I have said sparks interest in you, please consider attending a Zoom House Party I am hosting on Monday night September 14 at 7:00 PM. There will be two guest speakers whom I know and who speak very well for the organization. I will be there to welcome you. Plus - LOOK ABOVE- see the names of others you love who might be attending this platform!! (Nan Childs! I invited a bunch of Hilltown Charter School folks. Renee, I invited Victoria, Shino, etc. Hal, please forward to Betsy.) There will be a chance for questions and discussion. The whole meeting will be an hour. Yes, it is a fundraiser for the Movement Voter Project (no contribution too small). But for me the most important thing is that you attend and learn about this wonderful, transformative organization.
Penny
PS- I will email you again shortly with the link to the Invitation. You will click on that link to RSVP if you think you would like to attend. Meanwhile, I am attaching an Op Ed letter written by MVP volunteer Arlene Avakian if you would like to learn more about the organization. Also, see the “handout” that Western Mass MVP volunteers have created.
