National purpose with local action
Next meeting: May 11, 2026 at 7:00pm – with guest speaker 🗣️ Paul Joye
Christ Lutheran Church
1701 Arroyo Chamiso Road, Santa Fe
It's a busy summer ahead 🎈🌞💡The discussion at the meeting last night turned to all the activities we have line of sight to this summer: Juneteenth (June 19); Pride, of course (June 27), July 4th, John Lewis Day of Trouble (July 17-19). Then it'll be on to Labor Day (September 7) and Elections (November 3)! And there was some good energy around a Joy as Resistance Picnic, possibly in July 🚀
These are all things we want to keep on our radar. As I said at the meeting, we can walk and chew gum at the same time! Find the thing that you're passionate about and either lead it or help out. Many hands make light work 💙 and together we can accomplish so much.
And: Happy Cinco de Mayo! 🎉 Gary shares thoughts he wrote in 2019 about the holiday:
Gary Kowalski
Protests, Rallies, and Events
Showing up with the Body Politic
May 7: Indivisible National endorsed candidate Peggy Flanagan
Peggy Flanagan will be here with Senator Heinrich to fundraise for her Minnesota Senate race. She is one of only two Senate candidates Indivisible National has endorsed this cycle 🥳
Donovan Kolbly
(my earlier email alert notwithstanding, ISF is not actually sponsoring the fundraiser; merely passing along information to group of like-minded folks 🙇 ... Paul said in the meeting on Monday who is actually sponsoring it, but I failed to make a note)
June 4: The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane
Mark your calendars now: June 4th will be a showing at CCA of a new documentary film about an amazing activist, good-trouble maker, and sensational singer – Barbara Dane. Our kind of hero!
Guest post
Regular protests
- May 9 Banner drop at Cuyamungue 10-11 (Stop Iran War and No Vote=No Voice)
- 👀 there are going to be a lot of voting related banner drops as we head up to the primaries 🗳️
Guest post
Donovan Kolbly
In the News
What folks are saying, of interest around here and elsewhere
May 1 ✊Day of Action
May 1 (and 2) were, respectively, cold ❄️ and springly 🌞– but we showed up in force at both Somos's May Day event and the May 2 Picnic
Guest post
The Somos march was cold and a bit rainy, but fun and had a lot of energy to it. The rally included a host of speakers, including Majority Floor Leader Reena Szczepanski and Mayor Michael Garcia.
André Salkin asalkinsfnewmexican.com
🎤 Indivisible Santa Fe Radio
We got a chance to interview our own Bruce Berlin for the podcast. His posts are listed here not infrequently. His book and research on the influence of big money in politics felt very topical to the 47th presidency! Find it on most podcast platforms by name or click on "Listen on..." from the rss.com entry.
Also, our episode with Amanda Diaz from a few weeks ago got a shout-out in the Faith Roots newsletter 😎
Alternative Response Unit
Echos of the 2020 George Floyd rethinking how to achieve public safety – as distinct from our militarized policing function – came Monday as we heard from Ramos and Andres, retired SFFD folks who built up an Alternative Response Unit (ARU) and supporting Mobile Integrated Health Office (MIHO) and are now watching with dismay as it torn down.
This is a good opportunity to remember that we have the greatest voice when we speak and act locally – the City Council is considering this in the budget over the next few weeks; it would help to let your councilor and mayor know that this is the right way to think about public safety and needs to be fully funded.
Working structure fire calls account for less than 0.1% of the total. Overwhelmingly, department personnel are front-line responders not to fires or rescues but to complex physical, mental, legal, social and logistical problems.
-- Andres J Mercado
This is the op-ed that Andres wrote about it:
Andres J. Mercado
WEconomic Boycott
The boycott is shaping up! Peter shares an overview and national call to action reflecting the direction from the discussion last week.
From the desk of Indivisible Santa Fe
Bobi Den Hartog
Gary Kowalski
Elections!
Primaries, Midterms, and Voting, oh my!
Semi-Open Primaries!
Surprise! 🤯 Semi-open primaries means more people are Declining to State their party affiliation. This year is New Mexico's first use of primaries where independents can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.
Dan Boyd
Young voters
This actually came up at Monday's meeting... here are some tools to help onboard young voters!
Laura W. Brill
Supporting Candidates Nationally
If you missed the buzz about Blue Boosters... here's an effort to help us New Mexicans identify candidates across the US that we can help in flipping the House and Senate. Paul and his election-wise colleagues have narrowed down the field to a small set of candidates we can focus on helping. Sign up for the updates to keep informed of the fast-moving field!
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
After last week’s Supreme Court ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act, I’m looking for inspiration and hope, so I’m reading John Lewis’s words. The hero of Selma, the champion of the Voting Rights Act, and the Conscience of the Congress wrote to all of us in his posthumously published op-ed nearly six years ago.
He urged us to learn from our history. “You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time.”
Remember this history.
In 1965, a 25-year-old John Lewis faced off against the authoritarians in Selma. Together with generations of civil rights organizers, they won us a real representative democracy. The showdown in Selma was 190 years after the Declaration of Independence proclaimed “all men are created equal;” 95 years after the 15th Amendment said “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged;” 75 years after southern segregationists filibustered to death the first federal legislation to protect voting rights in the South; 17 years after anti-voting rights Dixiecrats walked out of the Democratic National Convention; and 10 years after the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was a long road from rejecting King George to the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
The road didn’t end there, and it didn’t end last week with the VRA's anti-gerrymandering protections rendered “all but a dead letter,” in the words of Justice Kagan.
In the aftermath of this democratic wreckage, I’d encourage you, again, to read John Lewis.
John Lewis advised us. “Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.”
He encouraged us. “Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.”
He challenged us. “I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.”
By coincidence, I was out in Atlanta days after the court's ruling. Local Indivisible groups had endorsed Dr. Jasmine Clark for the GA-13 primary, and I was down to canvass for her and meet with the Indivisible groups. In the communities that John Lewis organized for decades, I met with Indivisibles who were planning for voter registration, GOTV, and creative protest ideas. Undeterred, they are taking their turn to let freedom ring.
I don’t know what the future holds for our democracy, but I do know we follow in the footsteps of patriotic Americans who also did not know what the future held, and yet they organized anyway. It’s our turn now.
In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible
Your weekly to-dos
- Tell your Republican Members of Congress you don’t want more of your taxpayer dollars going to ICE and Border Patrol: Use our tools to call your Republican senator(s) and Republican representative. The GOP is working on a reconciliation bill that could give ICE and Border Patrol up to $140 BILLION more to fund concentration camps and militarized deployments to US cities. It’s vital they hear from constituents now. Calls are most important, but after hours, you can use our email tool, too.
- Tell your Democratic Members of Congress to fiercely oppose the new GOP effort to shovel billions more dollars to ICE and Border Patrol. The GOP is using the budget reconciliation process to attempt to force Congress to shower even more taxpayer funding on these unaccountable agencies. We need every Democrat loudly united against this legislation.
- Tell your Members of Congress to end the illegal war on Iran. The Trump regime breezed through the 60-day deadline for getting congressional authorization for the attack on Iran, compounding the illegality of this disastrous war. Trump is brazenly defying congressional authority, and it’s time for Congress to take their power back, uphold their constitutional duty, and use the War Powers Resolution to end this war.
- Help us measure the impact of May Day by filling out a quick survey about your participation. It’s easier to count crowd sizes, but the overall impact of a nationwide day of economic disruption is a bit more difficult to gauge. Please fill out the survey so we can get a better sense of how the movement participated, and continue growing our capacity to wield our economic power for future activations.
- Speaking of May Day, if you’re new to Indivisible after Friday’s mass mobilization and want to continue organizing with your community, find a local Indivisible group near you. There are thousands of local groups across the US fighting against authoritarianism and building local power day in and day out.
P.S. No Kings Day, the Communities Not Cages day of action, and May Day were all hugely successful (thanks to you!) -- but what does Indivisible do, when not preparing for nationwide mass action? So much! We run national campaigns against ICE and voter suppression; support local Indivisibles organizing around local issues; produce resources for activists and organizers -- and so much more. If you can, please chip in to help fuel our ongoing fight against authoritarianism.
ICE/Border Patrol Funding Update
Republicans caved last week. After months of keeping the Department of Homeland Security shut down, they finally agreed to pass a bipartisan bill that funds every DHS agency except ICE and Border Patrol. For months, Republicans refused to work with Democrats, hoping they would eventually cave as the shutdown became the longest in US history. But Dems didn’t.
Thanks to grassroots pressure, Democrats held the line and refused to give ICE and Border Patrol another penny. This is a significant win -- but the fight isn’t over just yet.
Republicans are now trying to shovel $140 billion to ICE and Border Patrol through reconciliation -- a legislative process that bypasses the filibuster, and thus would allow them to do this without any Democratic votes.
While Americans struggle to afford healthcare, food, and gas, Republicans want to pad the slush funds of these violent, unaccountable agencies. But we’re not accepting this as a done deal. We’re going to organize even harder to toxify and block this bill.
Whether you live in a red or blue district, we have actions you can take to fight back. Check out our resource page to learn more about this fight and how you can get involved »
IndivisiWIN of the Week
On Friday, Indivisibles joined May Day Strong, labor groups, and allies for a day of nationwide economic disruption at thousands of rallies, protests, and marches -- our movement’s largest mass mobilization since No Kings.
Educators, students, and families marched in Raleigh to protest funding cuts and demand that North Carolina prioritize students and invest in education. Nurses at University Medical Center in New Orleans launched a five day strike. Chicago Public Schools made May 1 a “day of civic action” and provided buses and bag lunches for students to attend a May Day rally. And in communities all across the country, workers, students, and consumers embraced the call of No Work, No School, No Shopping.
Resisting authoritarianism and fighting corruption is a long-haul fight, and rejecting business as usual makes a real impact – whether you do so by withholding your labor, walking out of school, or not spending any money. We all have a part to play in building the foundation for continued nonviolent resistance and economic disruption.
Upcoming events for you
These nationwide events, calls, and training sessions are coming up soon. For even more Indivisible happenings, check our national calendar and get in touch with Indivisible groups near you!
| Happening this Week |
Thursday: “What’s the Plan?” with Leah + Ezra (3pm ET/noon PT) |
Follow Indivisible national on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to their text messaging program, where they send rapid response actions a few times a month.
