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Lizbeth Estes

NOVEMBER SWIMail Newsletter

If you are reading this, you may have been in the Grassroots Movement since 2016.

If you’re still in it for the long haul, welcome to what many are calling Grassroots Movement 2.0.  The good news is that we have existing infrastructure. You are battle-tested and savvy, though weary. And we have smart, inspiring leaders willing to continue their leadership even as they hope for reinforcements and new voices.


“The Grassroots Resistance 2.0 is not a replacement of the existing grassroots movement. It is a renewal of the fighting spirit within the existing movement, tempered and honed by the cold reality of a man who sought the presidency only to avoid prison and exact vengeance. Resisting over the next four years will be difficult. The only thing that would be more difficult is not resisting.” Robert B. Hubbell



SWIM AND PARTNERS UPDATES

See SWIM's website here for much more news and events from our many partners!


MEMBER MEETING

Our next Statewide member meeting will be on Tuesday November 26 at 7:00 PM. Stay tuned for more information. You can register here.


WHAT'S UP WITH OUR SENATORS?

We retained Sen. Stabenow's seat!  Our fabulous liaison who has kept us so well informed about Sen. Stabenow's thoughts over the last years will be moving to Senator-elect Slotkin's staff!  Terry Campbell is taking a well-deserved respite, but will be in touch soon with a new schedule to wrap up Sen. Stabenow's tenure, and schedule new meetings on behalf of Senator-elect Slotkin.  Keep an eye out on the SWIM webpage for new meetings, hopefully figured out before the end of the year.

Please send your questions to info@statewideindivisiblemi.com a week in advance of any scheduled meeting so we can forward them to her staff.


Sen. Peters' staff is also working on dates for future meetings.  Stay tuned!



INDIVISIBLE NATIONAL NEWS

INDIVISIBLE GUIDE

The new Indivisible Guide launched on November 13 - this is indispensable to our moving forward!  Read it here - Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink.  50,000 people picked themselves off the floor after an election that ripped our hearts out and registered for the launch call this week with Ezra, Leah, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. It was awesome. You can watch the recording here if you missed it or want to revisit for excellent advice on what to focus on to get our feet back under us! Indivisible National is here to help you grow your group. For those already in a local group, or looking to connect with one, let National know you want to connect with like-minded activists!


Here’s what’s coming next from National:

  • Leah and Ezra will host a live Q&A chat on the new guide on Thursday November 21 at 3pm ET/12pm PT. Sign up and submit questions. They’ll answer pre-submitted and live questions on the call.

  • If you need help starting a new group, they have two onboarding sessions: Wednesday 11/20, at 7pm ET/4pm PT, and Monday 11/25, at 4pm ET/1pm PT.  They’re here to help!


GROUP LEADER MEETING WITH SCOTT

Stayed tuned for additional information on meetings with our Regional Representative Scott Ickes.  Reach out any time at scott@indivisible.org with questions.


IF YOU GET YOUR EVENTS FROM MOBILIZE, FOLLOW SWIM'S MOBILIZE PAGE HERE.



CALLS TO ACTION

WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW!!

IMPROVE GUN VIOLENCE PROTECTION LEGISLATION  

SWIM is part of the End Gun Violence Michigan Coalition (EGVM).  The Coalition will be sponsoring one last Lobby Day to promote legislation geared at ending gun violence. We need to maximize every day between now and the end of the session (sometimes called "Lame Duck") and win as much justice for our communities as possible while we still have the votes.

Please RSVP for our "Last Chance Lobby Day" December 4th. We need as many folks as possible in Lansing to help get a few last priorities across the finish line:

  • A ban on "ghost guns";

  • Ending the gun industry legal impunity

  • Medicaid payments for Community Violence Intervention

  • No open carry in polling places

  • Parental notification of safe storage through the school


Also, MiPASS (Michigan Parent Alliance for Safe Schools) has email templates to send to our reps in support of Safe Homes, Safe Schools bills (HB5450-5451).  Click this LINK to use our easy, editable tool to send a letter to your MI state senator and representative.  ORYou can call your representatives (find them here 

Use their sample message here: "Hi, my name is _______, and I’m a constituent in your district. I’m urging you to vote YES on HB 5450-5451, the Safe Homes, Safe Schools bill. This legislation is crucial for educating parents on secure gun storage to help keep kids safe. Thank you for your time."


You can do them all!  Because EVERY PUSH ON OUR REPRESENTATIVES IS IMPORTANT TO GET GUN SAFETY LAWS PASSED BEFORE WE LOSE THE OPPORTUNITY!


PROTECTION FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

Immigrant families create so much of what makes our state beautiful, and a place where people want to live. But Trump’s commitment to mass deportations, if carried out, will divide our communities, normalize racism and state violence, and do irreparable harm to our families. In Michigan, we have a small window of opportunity to protect Michigan families from random acts of deportation during the upcoming Trump administration – by simply making sure they have access to a driver's license. The bills are already in the legislature. We can push our Democratic leaders to pass them now. 

More here from Drive Michigan Forward: https://www.drivemichiganforward.com/ 

Call your democratic leaders (Governor Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, and Speaker of the House Joe Tate) and ask them to put the driver's licenses bill up for a vote ASAP, and for the Governor's support.

Gov. Whitmer: 517-335-7858 and email here.

Leader Winnie Brinks: 517-373-1801 and email here.

Speaker Joe Tate: 517- 373-0857 and email here. 

  

Suggested script: 

"Hello, my name is (blank) and I live in (blank) and I am asking that you move the driver's license Drive SAFE bills (HB 4410, 4411, 4412 and SB 265, 266, 267) for a vote during the lame duck session. These bills would go a long way to protect Michigan families from deportation during the upcoming Trump administration. Thank you."



TELL OUR SENATORS TO FILL EVERY JUDICIAL VACANCY NOW!

Our advocacy is crucial right now to push actions like this through before it's too late!  Tell our Senators that they must use this final session to confirm judges who will uphold our constitution and defund our rights.  We might not be able to block every element of Project 2025 via the courts. But we can use the judiciary to delay the implementation of as many attacks on our rights and communities as possible. 

Cases do not make their way to the MAGA-dominated Supreme Court quickly, most of the time. So victories in lower courts will be a vital element of our strategy to delay, delay, delay. 

There is a time for emails, but calls are much more effective at getting their attention and time is of the essence!  

Use this handy callback form from Indivisible National.  Don't delay, call today!


EMAIL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON HR9495

After failing to pass it earlier this week, on Monday Nov 18 the House is scheduled to vote yet again on H.R. 9495, a bill that would grant the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury the unilateral authority to suspend the tax-exempt status of organizations deemed “terrorist supporting” without providing meaningful due process or requiring any evidence - much less evidentiary standard - to support such a designation.  

Under President-elect Donald Trump, this legislation would enable his administration unfettered power to stamp out any groups opposed to his agenda. It must be stopped. Congress must take every step possible to curtail excess Executive power, and not expand it. Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin voted for this bill the first time - let's make sure she hears us loud and clear that she needs to change her vote this time!  Call her office at (517) 993-0510 or (202) 225-4872.


IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY IN MICHIGAN GOVERNMENT

SWIM has partnered with Michiganders for Fair and Transparent Elections (MiFTE). They will be working hard to promote the passage of the Brite Bills during the lame duck session. MiFTE supports the enactment of the 7 bills in the BRITE ACT package (info on these bills is attached) and asks your support to pass them out of committee and on to the floor for final passage. While MiFTE has been, and continues to seek stronger campaign finance disclosure legislation, we believe that the BRITE ACT is real, needed progress and should be approved by the House Ethics and Oversight Committee and the full 102nd Legislature. I urge you to express your support NOW to all of your legislative partners and the members of the House Ethics and Oversight Committee and exhort them to pass this important legislation. Motivating your colleagues and/or members to do the same would be most appreciated. You can access an overview of the bills here.Contact info for Leaders of the Ethics & Oversight Committee is below:


UPDATE MICHIGAN'S BUILDING ENERGY CODES 

To "make it" here in Michigan we need homes and buildings that reduce energy burden and lower energy bills.  Updating Michigan’s building energy codes to the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code will do just that. Adopting the 2021 IECC is cost-effective and is expected to save people more than $4,500 over 30 years and reduce annual energy costs by over $325 per year.

The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) is a bipartisan legislative committee that can act right now to pass the 2021 codes and bring Michigan into compliance. Tell them to take action before it's too late


NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE

Call your State Senator and State Representative today to tell them you support the National Popular Vote Compact (SBs 126 & 295, and HBs 4156 & 4440).We only have a few weeks left to pass several pieces of pro-voter legislation that we’ve been advocating for over the past 2 years. That means we need you to tell your lawmaker which issues you want to see prioritized in the limited time remaining.

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact legislation guarantees that the Presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes in all 50 states and DC wins the Electoral College. This is how we're going to fix the Electoral College and make one person, one vote a reality in Presidential elections.  

Bills that would enter Michigan into the NPVIC have been introduced in both chambers. In the House, the bills have been reported out of committee, and in the Senate they have not been put on the Senate Elections Committee agenda. We need to see movement in both chambers before December!

To take action click here https://lwvmi.org/take-action/#/21. The letter can be edited.



SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGES


SWIM, like millions of others, has officially dumped Twitter/X into the trash heap of history where it belongs.  We are not, along with lots and lots of activists and media, on the independent BlueSky.  Join us!  Escape the nanny state and negativity tantrums on Twitter and establish your presence on friendly BlueSky, then follow us:   @mi-swim.bsky.social  and Indivisible National is here:   @indivisibleguide.bsky.social .   See y'all on the sunny side!


There are serious concerns we should all have about government monitoring of activists going forward.  Check out the Digital Drumbeat Substack blog from DemCast for suggestions on how to keep you and your group safe online.  The Substack can be found here: The Digital Drumbeat by DemCast | DemCast USA | Substack



Here is a little reward for reaching the end of the newsletter.

Sometimes humor is our best defense.


PERSIST AND RESIST!



RESOURCES TO AMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGING

PARTNER TOOL KITS 


FROM THE GRASSROOTS CONNECTOR

TrackTrump.com distills truths about Trump into a one-page handout. Issue by issue, lie by lie, Tracktrump.com catalogs the wild beast’s offenses. But why does America need a Trump tracker?

“Because the lies out there are so vast,” said Laurie Grossman, a teacher who started Tracktrump with her sister, Jane.  “This information is absolutely crucial when the firehose of lies is so ginormous.  Our idea is to just show people what they’re voting for and when you do that, you often see them reconsidering.”

A great one-pager to have in your arsenal!


IDEAS FOR MESSAGING OUR VALUES

Check out this Guide to Messaging Our Freedoms from We Make The Future and ASO Communications (Anat Shenkar-Osorio).  They provide sample messages for a wide range of issues from our freedom to vote to our freedom to be our true selves.

Here is a link to Anat's latest toolkit: From the Indictments to the Courts: Freedom Over Fascism Toolkit!


JOIN THE GRASSROOTS COLLABORATION PROJECT DIRECTORY

Work smarter, not harder.  Collaboration is the key to getting many efforts off the ground and building capacity and effectiveness in what we do.  Networking helps us achieve that.  Sign on to the Grassroots Directory here and find other activists willing to help your project!  We start building for 2026 now!



USING THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO AMPLIFY GOOD NEWS 

Use these terrific resources to pick up memes to spiff up your messages, use great gifs in your newsletters and social media posts, and gather talking points for your discussions:  

  • Into Action Labs allows you to download and add your own message(s). 

  • MI Right to Read offers a toolkit of graphics.  

  • DemCast Michigan has a wealth of rich, sharable content.  

  • Field Team 6 takes the fear out of posting on social media with this fun video explaining simple step-by-step simple instructions to social storming - at whatever level you want to dive into!  FT6 also has a Field Team 6 Current Storm page with prepared posts that can be one-click shared across many platforms.

  • Indivisible's Trainings-to-Go include materials such as slides, handouts, or discussion questions, as well as facilitation notes/directions for the person leading the space. Start with a pilot batch of 3 Trainings-to-Go: Recruitment 101Indivisible 101, and Tools for Building Inclusive Groups - and more are coming! These are located in the Support Hub along with a lot more!  Questions or suggestions can be sent to training@indivisible.org.



STAY CURRENT ON SWIM ACTIVITIES AND PARTNERS' EVENTS

Here are some ways to share them with your network


Bookmark the Website: www.statewideindivisiblemi.com. New events from SWIM and our partners are posted regularly! The website is designed to be a central repository of the resources and network partners that SWIM  has amassed since 2016.  

Members: Send us your announcements, events, photos or writings by using the "Comment" link at the top of the homepage or click here! We need to share our successes.


Follow us on Facebook:  SWIM private group is open to all interested members. Simply answer a few simple questions on the page and you are in! This is a great way to keep current on events and issues in between newsletters. This is the sole Facebook page for SWIM so join the group today-our past public page has been archived.


Follow SWIM on Bluesky @mi-swim.bsky.social and Instagram at Statewide indivisible Michigan:

We are always looking for members with experience on alternative social media platforms, so if you are familiar with Threads, Mastodon, WhatsApp, TikTok, Tribel, Post, etc. please contact our SWIM social media maven Vickie Gutowski at info@statewideindivisiblemi.com


STAY IN CONTACT WITH YOUR REPRESENTATIVES!

Contact Michigan House of Representatives:  https://www.house.mi.gov/AllRepresentatives

Contact Michigan State Senate: https://senate.michigan.gov/FindYOurSenator/


Contact the Governor:

Phone: 517-335-7858

Mail: PO Box 30013; Lansing, MI 48909


Contact the Attorney General: 

Phone: 517-335-7622

Mail: 525 W. Ottawa St. PO Box 30212; Lansing, MI 48909


Contact Members of Congress:

Phone: 202-224-3121


Using Fax Zero (a free faxing service):

Contact White House or Other Federal Agencies: usa.gov/federal-agencies


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