5-23-2022 Newsletter

 

"The moral arc of the universe can bend toward injustice if we don’t continually work to direct it ourselves." -- Baratunde Thurston, "The Real Tragedy of Samuel Alito’s Logic," PUCK, May 15, 2022

Lead organizer Erica Berry addresses the crowd at the May 14 rally and march for reproductive rights in Astoria.

BANS OFF OUR BODIES March for Reproductive Rights Saturday, May 28 at 12 noon Outside the courthouse and post office 8th and Commercial, Astoria

HOUSE CANDIDATE NEEDS SIGNATURES Rick Gray, a potential candidate for the Oregon House from District 32, is collecting the 396 signatures required of non-affiliated candidates for that office. He cannot appear as a candidate on the Secretary of State's website until these signatures are turned in - which, by law, cannot take place earlier than June 1.   A former attorney, secretary of state of Virginia, high school teacher, and professional actor, Rick lives in Cannon Beach.  He was the Clatsop County chair for Elizabeth Warren for President. If you would like to sign his candidate petition, contact Rick at deinikes@gmail.com. Also running for State Representative HD-32 are Logan Laity (D), an activist and small business owner from Tillamook, and Cyrus B. Javadi (R), a dentist in Tillamook. INCO has not endorsed any candidate for this position.

WRITE TO SAVE DEMOCRACY These groups encourage voting by providing volunteers with easy-to-follow scripts, directions, and addresses.  For prepped postcards, stamps, or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com. WRITE TO VOTERS • Postcards To Voters:  Handwritten postcards sent to Democrats to get out the vote. PTV provides scripts, and INCO can provide postcards and stamps.  PostcardsToVoters.org or  join@TonyTheDemocrat.org • Vote Forward:  Personalized letters sent to under-represented and/or minority communities to get out the vote. Volunteers print out the letters. INCO can provide envelopes and stamps.  VoteFwd.org • Postcards To Swing States:  Progressive Turnout Project provides the postcards, scripts and addresses to rally Democrats to vote. INCO can provide the postcards and stamps. TurnOutPac.org  • The Big Send:  INCO is delighted to be part of Vote Forward’s The Big Send again to send 10 million letters to voters in key states and congressional districts ahead of the midterms this fall.  We’re writing voter turnout letters now to send to voters in October. If you aren’t writing letters already, get started today by visiting thebigsend.org. INCO can provide supplies and postage, so contact incoregon@gmail.com if you want more details.   WRITE AN LTE Write a Letter to the Editor (LTE) - LTEs in The Astorian can inform voters and promote voting. You don't have to be an expert, just someone who cares about an issue. Write a few sentences or more, up to 250 words. Send to editor@dailyastorian.com, along with your name, address, and phone. WRITE TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS How will your Members of Congress know what you want if you don't tell them? Send a postcard, write an email through their websites. Even better - call and speak to a Congressional staffer, or leave a message. Here's contact information for Senators Wyden and Merkley and Congresswoman Bonamici, and for other elected officials, too.

DOMESTIC TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT OF 2022 "The House also voted today on the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022, which steps up the sharing of information about domestic terrorism among government departments and creates an interagency task force to analyze and combat white supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement agencies. The House passed the bill by a vote of 222 to 203. All the no votes came from Republicans; all the Democrats voted in favor. It now goes on to the Senate." —Heather Cox Richardson, historian, Letters from an American, May 18, 2022

"WE HAVE THE POWER" “For better or worse, your generation has been appointed by history to deal with those problems and to lead America toward a new age. You have the chance never before afforded to any people in any age. You can help build a society where the demands of morality, and the needs of the spirit, can be realized in the life of the Nation. “So, will you join in the battle to give every citizen the full equality which God enjoins and the law requires, whatever his belief, or race, or the color of his skin?” he asked. “Will you join in the battle to give every citizen an escape from the crushing weight of poverty?...” “There are those timid souls who say this battle cannot be won; that we are condemned to a soulless wealth. I do not agree. We have the power to shape the civilization that we want. But we need your will, your labor, your hearts, if we are to build that kind of society.” -- President Lyndon B. Johnson, University of Michigan, May 22, 1964; excerpts from historian Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, May 21, 2022

HAPPENINGS  Thursday, June 9 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Wednesday, June 8 for your Zoom link. Starting in June, this group meets monthly on the second Thursday. Saturday, June 11 - INCO Astoria-North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 am - noon. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com by June 17 to get the Zoom link. Please note the June meeting date is the 2nd Saturday.  INCO Warrenton Community Group Zoom meeting. TBA. Contact incoregon@gmail.com for more information. Every Friday - INCO Write to Voters (WTV), via Zoom, 3-4 pm. Informal chat while we write letters and postcards to voters. If you are new to this event, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. NO WTV on Friday, June 3.

INSIGHTS “Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say, ‘This is my community, and it’s my responsibility to make it better.’”              -- Oregon Governor Tom McCall

Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly. We're on Facebook, too. INCO Weekly Newsletter May 23, 2022