National purpose with local action
Next meeting: Monday August 11th, 2025 @7pm
Christ Lutheran Church
1701 Arroyo Chamiso Road, Santa Fe
Upcoming Events
At our next meeting on Monday, August 11th, our featured speaker will be Cindy Weehler, co-chair of the 285 Alliance that monitors issues for the neighborhoods along US Hwy 285. Her presentation is "Fire On The Mountain and What You Can Do About It" (www.fireonthemountain.xyz). The threat is nuclear weapons' waste at LANL that sits in canvas tents in the forest in a major wildfire zone. Wildfire has almost reached these drums. This situation can be prevented if the public puts enough pressure on the Governor to enforce the permit. Let's get this solved, have fun doing it, and get on with our lives!
The next episode of One Million Rising is Wednesday, August 13th. Register here, even if you're already going to one of the watch parties:
ISF Leadership
Indivisible Santa Fe will be the lead sponsor and planner of a Labor Day Protest in Santa Fe at the Roundhouse. Details will be forthcoming. Just as with "No Kings" we are looking for volunteers to serve as Ambassadors, with a special role in a collective action that will be part of the protest. Contact communications@indivisiblesantafe.org to volunteer or get more information.
Scott Romans
Mark your calendars now for our Santa Fe Mayoral Candidate Forum on Monday, September 15th.
Scott Romans
Regular Protests
Donovan Kolbly
Donovan Kolbly
In the News
What folks are saying, of interest around here and elsewhere
Debra Efroymson
Guest post
Gary Kowalski
Check out the web calendar of grass-roots events from around New Mexico. Filter by Santa Fe or your area of interest!
Legislature Interim Committees
Going to keep this visible this week because it's hard to beat local action. The NM legislative committees are meeting in the interim between sessions. Pick your favorite topic and join a zoom call to listen in - I did, it's pretty fascinating actually.
ISF Leadership
Stay in touch with us
Check out our resources page with lots of links to useful information, constantly being updated as we find new web resources to help fight for democracy and the rule of law.
You can help our effort to expand our digital presence, including social media on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram by following us and liking and re-posting our messages, or sharing our website with people who might be interested – they, too, can sign up and get this newsletter! 🎉 Help us get the word out!
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Indivisible National
(published August 4th, 2025)
This week, Ezra breaks down Texas Dems' bold move and previews a new call to action for blue state Democrats. Then, you can take action to even the midterm playing field, end forced starvation in Gaza, and join some powerful upcoming calls. |
Call me a biased Texan, but I just have to kick off this week’s newsletter with the GOP gerrymandering power-grab in my home state, Texas Dems’ bold response, and what all this means for the authoritarian moment we’re muddling through together. Let’s get to it.
You launch a power-grab when you fear your voters. Last month, Trump signed into law the most regressive and least popular bill in modern American history which, among other things, cut emergency response services nationwide. That same day, a massive flood hit central Texas, and both the local warning system and the state/federal response were so horrifically inadequate that more than 130 Texans -- including 37 children -- died.
(Before you click that link, a warning: I don’t often shed tears writing these newsletter intros, but I had to pause to collect myself after reading the obituaries of far too many 8- and 9-year-olds from that camp).
Republicans braced for backlash. If you’re the GOP, one reasonable response to voter anger at your right-wing agenda and incompetent governance would be moderation and contrition. An alternative response is to cynically rig the rules ahead of the next election to prevent too many losses. Trump and the Texas Republicans did not choose moderation or contrition.
Instead, Trump told the Texas GOP to take an already-gerrymandered state and gerrymander it more. Texas Republicans heard the order loud and clear, and now they’re expediting a norm-busting mid-decade redistricting scheme that all but guarantees Republicans five more House seats next November. In a state that Trump won with 56% of the vote, Republicans under this map would safely control 80% of the state’s congressional seats.
Texas Dems are fighting back, with some help from friends. Right-wing Republicans have run the Texas state legislature for a quarter century. So, in a moment like this, Texas Dems could throw up their hands and plead, “Well, what the hell do you expect us to do?” But instead, they’re fighting back. They’re responding to historic anti-democratic norm-breaking with historic opposition.
Their specific maneuver sounds boring, but it’s badass. It’s called breaking quorum. It works like this: If more than ⅓ of Texas legislators refuse to show up for votes, they freeze all legislative activity.
In all of Texas' history, legislators have deployed this strategy only four times. This weekend, more than 50 Texas Dems deployed it again. They left the state, and many joined Governor Pritzker in Chicago. No quorum means no new map as long as they hold out.
We don’t know how this will play out. The last two times Dems deployed this tactic, it went on for more than a month before the coalition fractured, a few Dems returned, and the Republicans moved forward with their plans. If these Texas Dems are going to be more successful, they’ll have to hold out longer, stick together, and rally both state and national public opinion to their side.
It’s time to fight back. The fight for justice and democracy against an authoritarian force often starts this way. The options are few. The odds are long. It looks dicey. In moments like this, you need leaders with intense strategic clarity. You need someone like a Texas State Representative James Talarico to say: "We are not fighting for the Democratic Party. We are fighting for the democratic process, and the stakes could not be higher. We have to take a stand."
When Talarico says “It’s time to fight back,” he’s not just describing the strategic logic of his own actions. He’s calling out those on the sidelines to join this righteous fight.
And now some elected Dems are cheering on the Texas Dem legislators and proposing blue state Dems use their power to pass their own new maps. Fight fire with fire! This is what “courage is contagious” looks like in real life.
I’m with Talarico, the Lone Star Indivisible Team, the local Indivisible groups, and the rest of the fight-back faction of the Party. I think the only real path forward is the courageous path. And I think we need more leaders who understand what this moment demands of us.
If you’re there with me, I hope you get into the fight with this week’s action items.
In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible
Your weekly to-dos
- Blue State Indivisibles: Call on state Democrats to fight fire with fire by readying new congressional maps. If red state Republicans rig the midterms by redrawing their maps to steal seats, blue state Dems must even the playing field by responding in kind. Use our tools to demand that Democratic governors and legislators act now.
- Join the One Million Rising training on August 13 to start planning a strategic non-cooperation campaign. In the final session of our One Million Rising series, we’ll walk you through the process of designing and executing a non-cooperation campaign with friends, neighbors, colleagues, or other connections.
- Email your Members of Congress to call for an end to Netanyahu’s intentional starvation of Gaza. Trump acknowledges widespread starvation in Gaza but hasn’t acted to address it. Members of Congress from both parties must force the issue, with demands to lift aid restrictions and allow trusted third parties to distribute food. See more from Indivisible here >>
- Use our Epstein cover-up toolkit to call out Trump and MAGA Republicans for trying to bury Epstein evidence. Congressional Republicans fled DC early to avoid voting on the Epstein files, but we’re keeping pressure on during August recess. Our toolkit includes call scripts, pressure tactics, and social media tools to demand a vote as soon as Congress returns.
P.S. Fundraising often slows down a lot in the summer, but we can’t say the same about our work! We’re in the midst of training ONE MILLION people to combat fascism, preparing for a big government funding fight, and so much more. The summer slowdown is a big reason why recurring donations are so important to keeping us going -- so please consider starting a monthly gift OR chip in a one-time donation here.
One Million Rising: Turning local action to national impact
We’re chipping away at the civic pillars Trump needs to cement and uphold his power -- media, business leaders, civic organizations, and beyond -- by training one million Americans to lead strategic non-cooperation campaigns in their communities. Together, we can force our institutions off the sidelines to disrupt and defy Trump’s power-grab!
The August 13 session of One Million Rising will teach you basic campaign design and how to implement it locally. We’ll also provide action items to help you plug into the next phase of our work to save democracy.
This is the final installment of our One Million Rising series, and you’re welcome to attend even if you missed previous sessions! You can watch a recording of the kickoff call here and catch up on the most recent session here. Watching the two previous sessions is encouraged, but not required, to make the most of the final One Million Rising call on August 13. |
An expert's approach to building coalitions
Our Solidarity in Action speaker series is all about effective strategies to support, uplift, and stand in solidarity with the communities most endangered by authoritarianism. At our next session on August 18, immigrant rights activist and author Cristina Jiménez will share her strategies for building effective community support programs.
You’ll leave equipped with best practices for forming, managing, and sustaining effective coalitions to amplify community support and advocacy efforts.
Cristina’s book Dreaming of Home is on Solidarity in Action’s recommended reading list! Attendees do NOT need to read the book before joining this call, but doing so may make the session even more powerful and informative. |
IndivisiWIN of the week
When three Wisconsin Indivisible groups heard their GOP representative, Tom Tiffany, was using sprinklers to disperse peaceful protestors outside his office, they knew they had to respond creatively. Just like that, the Tom Tiffany Beach Bash was born!
At their next protest outside Tiffany’s office, dozens of Indivisibles showed up in street clothes like normal -- until the sprinklers came back on. Rather than run from the petty waterworks, the Indivisibles stripped down to their bathing suits, broke out their floaties, and kept on protesting! Their creativity made their protest even more noticeable and earned applause in one of the nation’s most-read political blogs.
Follow Indivisible national on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to our text messaging program, where we send rapid response actions a few times a month.
