I wrote earlier about the meetup I hosted at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, NC.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Here is the letter that I have sent to them. The point is to suggest where we go from here. I hope others will be able to capitalize on some of my suggestions.
Wow! You people are great. Last night was the start of making Greensboro a Bernie city.
Who would have thought that so many enthusiastic people would turn out to see an old white-haired guy show a video of another old white-haired guy?
For me the most moving part of the evening was when you all turned to talk with each other about what in your life brought you to the meeting. The din was overwhelming, and I didn’t want to end your conversations when it came time for Bernie’s to speak.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we can do it.
Folksinger Carrie Newcomer sings about the Montessori motto: “You can do this hard thing”. https://www.youtube.com/... I say that we, together, can do this hard thing. We can put Bernie Sanders in the White House.
We, and the world, are in the midst of a mass upsurge, a popular refusal to “take it any more” from the billionaire class. Occupy didn’t fail, despite what the pundits say. Because of Occupy, we now know who the enemy is, the 1%, and we know who we must defeat to return decency to our lives.
That is what Bernie Sanders’ campaign is about. It is not about him. It is about you and me. If we do what we have to do, we will stop the billionaires’ global looting operation in its tracks. We will return wages and salaries to living levels; we will make health care a right for every single person from cradle to grave. We will take back our schools from the privatizers. And, that’s just the beginning.
But we have a hard fight, but a joyful, fun-filled fight ahead of us.
Let’s start with the easy stuff:
1) Send a thank you message to Scuppernong Books. https://www.facebook.com/...
2) If you didn’t do it last night, sign up as a volunteer for Bernie. https://berniesanders.com/ or text WORK to 82623.
3) Donate money to the campaign https://berniesanders.com/ . You can’t miss the big red “CONTRIBUTE” button.
4) Like Triad for Bernie 2016 on Facebook. This is the easiest way to stay up to date with future activities. https://www.facebook.com/...
5) Wear your buttons and T-shirts; put your stickers on your cars. Doing this will start conversations and you will recruit more volunteers and voters.
6) Be prepared to summarize Bernie’s platform. Here’s a good place to start http://www.sanders.senate.gov/... read this, then memorize it and swallow it. Check out these video clips. https://www.youtube.com/... Please don’t try to swallow them.
OK. I know. We are short of swag. We need a lot more, because this thing is exploding.
To those of you with contacts in the Democratic Party Office: We are having trouble getting access to a button maker. The party has them. We have tried in Winston-Salem, but so far no luck getting to the right people to get the job done. Please see what you can do to get the Guilford County office opened to us.
Now for the stuff that requires some effort:
1) Look for places to use for neighborhood meetings. Somebody contacted me today to see about starting neighborhood organizing in Lindley Park. Look for coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, Democratic Party offices. Be imaginative. Sanders addressed us last night from a woman’s apartment in Washington, DC. Now that’s grassroots!
2) Look for opportunities to start conversations among Africa-Americans, Latinos, veterans, libertarians, students … again, use your imagination. For example, the VFW gave Sanders an award for his work in Congress on behalf of veterans. Out of this came a meetup in a VFW hall in Chattanooga, TN. Who are the veterans among us?
3) Plan and carry out your own meetup. Invite your friends and neighbors. We can give you some backup, advertising on the internet, swag, if the good Lord’s willing.
4) Ask everyone if they are registered to vote. Some things to know:
a. If you have moved since the last time you voted, you have to update your registration.
b. You can vote for “guess who” in the Democratic primary if you are a registered Democrat or an independent. You will find more and more people who will need to change their registration from Republican to “enlightened.” Remember, we are in the midst of a political revolution and the old rules don’t apply anymore.
c. If you are 17, but will be 18 in time to vote in the general election (November 2016) YOU CAN VOTE IN THE PRIMARY. I don’t know whether this applies nationally, but it works in NC.
d. Get registration forms from the Board of elections: http://www.myguilford.com/... . My sister, who is a League of Women Voters type, says that people there are very helpful. You can help them be helpful if you make sure that your registration forms are
i. Signed.
ii. Have a legible phone number on them so they can follow up if necessary.
e. Here’s the FAQ: http://www.myguilford.com/...
5) As was suggested last night, look for organizations that already have developed networks. We don’t have to start from scratch. Some examples: Beloved Community, NC Association of Educators, Org2020, Black Lives Matter, Renaissance Community Coop. If you know people in these organizations, talk with them. There are others. Just open doors; invite them, as individuals to your meetups. Many organizations are bound by their tax exempt status to stay out of politics, but their members aren’t.
6) Campus organizing. School starts soon. In some cases it already has (thanks for the heads up, Josh). If you are a student, or if you know a student who would be willing to organize on campus for Bernie Sanders, get started now. Check in with the campus Democratic club, if there is one. Set up an information table. Sign up students who are ready to organize. Set up a meetup, and we will try to supply a speaker. Remember that “we” is about four or five people. Don’t worry, though, this stuff is easy, since everybody wants in on it. Soon there will be more than 4-5 people.
7) Local community organizing. The next First Friday in Greensboro is on August 7. Elm St. will become a pedestrian walkway from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. We signed up 30 volunteers at the last First Friday. It was a slow night because July 4th was the next day. Grab a card table, make a sign, take some signup sheets, some copies of the “Agenda for America,” some voter registration forms, some swag (I know, I know) and help make the political revolution.
8) Other community events. Find them and do them.
9) Farmers’ market. See me if you want to do the Greensboro Farmers’ Market. I’ve made a deal with them. Seek out others like Sandy Ridge, Jamestown, etc. that I haven’t contacted.
10) Sign up: Triad for Bernie 2016 has one mission: Build a network of people who want to help Bernie Sanders get elected. Once the campaign comes to NC, we plan to hand over our network and fold into the campaign. In that spirit, we want a two-fold signup from people. 1) Directly to the Sanders campaign (point 2 of the easy stuff above) and 2) A signup to the local organization (see attached signup sheet). The second signup is to help grow the network before we hand it over to the campaign. The one centralizing demand that we ask of anybody who signs up volunteers is that they send a copy of the signup sheet to us. I have a great capacity for doing tedious, boring data entry.
We are in the midst of a great political revolution. There is probably no more joyful a public event known to mankind. Let’s live it to the fullest.
To return to Carrie Newcomer, “If not now tell me when. We may never see this moment, place and time again”. https://www.youtube.com/...
Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for joining with us in this historic effort.