Tag - politics

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Families Belong Together – Philadelphia
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My Resist Kit
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Safe, loved, and warm in 2018

Families Belong Together – Philadelphia

Jul 03 2018
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Kimberly All posts from Kimberly
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zippi

Love your post and your coverage of the Philly marches. Our paper actually reported the Hundreds of Thousands that…

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When in the course of human events, you realize that current, government-sanctioned practices fly SQUARELY in the face of your idea that everyone should be Safe, Loved, and Warm, you get off your ass and go hollering.

Which is how I found myself in Philadelphia on Saturday for the Philadelphia Families Belong Together rally. Because I can’t be in this only for myself.

I took the train in. It was full of people of all ages, with crafty signs and optimistic smiles. It was one of the better commutes I had!

I met SMD from Life According to Steph, her husband MFD, and their friend Debbie. Local bloggers rule.

The crowd was impressive, given:
> Many locals leave the Philadelphia area the week of July 4th
> And many tourists arrive in the city the week of July 4th
> It was 95 degrees. Not it *felt* 95 degrees. It was a literal 95 degrees.

The speakers really shone. The organizers selected speakers of all ages and backgrounds, and they all spoke passionately about their experiences being immigrants, and of being incarcerated and having their loved ones incarcerated. There was laughter, tears, cursing, poetry, and songs.

Of course, the signs were amazing.

Instead of making a sign, I downloaded mine from the ACLU’s resource page, and printed 4 out at FedEx Office. Four 11×17, color, double-sided posters cost $23. I gave three away. Money well spent, IMO.

I stayed until the end of the rally and then headed home. Hot, tired, but pleased that I lent my (very horse) voice to the public outcry.

Other Safe, Loved, and Warm updates:

Postcards: After a few weeks off (I needed more stamps) I’m back into the postcard game. I plan on spending part of my July 4th writing them out.

Town Hall Meeting: I haven’t gone yet. I’m afraid I’ll be the only spectator there, which is silly. I’ll get there.

Resistbot: I’m in it about once a week now, down from every day. If you’re looking for a very easy entry into making your voice heard, try this!

My Resist Kit

Mar 27 2018
Browse archives for March 27, 2018
Kimberly All posts from Kimberly
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zippianna

I so WANT one of these things! It's perfect! It would be even more perfect if it had…

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I mentioned before the steps that I am taking to become more involved. Two of those actions were phone calls and writing postcards. Here’s where I’m at…

I’m still using the Action Checklist for Americans of Conscience to guide my actions. I can’t recommend this list enough. Not only does it have action items without the usual screaming sky-is-falling hype you see on Twitter, it contains a multitude of links to the stories behind the issues, which I appreciate. It comes out on Sundays. I love it so much I toss her money on Patreon monthly.

I received this cloth portolio and the peace pin from the lovely Kristen when I was her bridesmaid. The pins are from Seattle.


Mondays I usually work from home, so that’s when I make my phone calls so I don’t bother my cubicle neighbors. I HAAAAATE phone calls. Once I aged out of the on-the-phone-for-five-hours days of my youth, I moved immediately into being fine never speaking on the phone again. Unfortunately, I live in a world where voice matters, so phone calls it is. If I’m contacting my reps about more than one issue a week, I make a phone call and use Resistbot.

On Fridays we drink fancy coffee and write postcards!


I was writing postcards wherever and whenever, which resulted in postcards scattered around the house, misplaced stamps, and cards not getting mailed. For the last FOUR YEARS holy crap time is whizzing by I go to a fancy coffee place on Friday mornings for breakfast before work. Turns out, it’s the perfect place to crank out the postcards! It’s not hard to get through at least 6 of them in a sitting. Plus, my office building has mail drop in the lobby so that’s less to carry home.

I received this cloth portfolio as a bridesmaid gift from Kristen WAYYYY back in 2011. It fits everything I need — postcards, pen, action list, and postcard stamps. The pins from Seattle give it a bit of an edge. Now I can toss my supplies in my bag without worrying about stamps peeling loose and self-adhering to my wallet. (It happened.)

My Resist Kit!


I still need to hit up a city council meeting because someday I feel like I’ll need/want to speak at one, and I want to know what they’re like before that happens.

Safe, loved, and warm in 2018

Jan 22 2018
Browse archives for January 22, 2018
Kimberly All posts from Kimberly
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smd

Involved is where we all need to be! I detest the closed primary system - we have…

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I promised myself on my birthday that I would do more to make sure my neighbors (here in NJ and in the USA) can be safe, loved and warm. Here’s how I’m trying to do that in 2018.

1. I have switched my political affiliation, again. Again-again? I really didn’t want to, because I belonged to a third party and I believe we really need some more third parties involved. However, in New Jersey you cannot vote in primaries unless you are one of the Big Two, so I filled out a form and picked a side. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Axe-murderer handwriting


We can’t do this online in NJ because the state requires an actual signature.

2. I am continuing to use Resistbot to contact my representatives. Here in NJ, I am represented by two Democratic senators — the vocal Cory Booker and the … problematic … Bob Menendez. We’re usually on the same side of things. My representative is Don Norcross, whom I didn’t vote for (he was a complete lock so I tossed my vote toward a third-party candidate), but who is doing a bang-up job. I make sure my notes to them are thankful but not fawning.

I love Resistbot because I can craft faxes to my reps while on the shuttle to/from work every day. It’s a good use of time that I’d spend gazing out the window. AND, I bought a stack of postcards (with a patriotic theme, because I still do love this country) and some postcard stamps so I can go old-school.

My canine helper.


3. I subscribed to the Action Checklist for Americans of Conscience. It’s a weekly email by Jennifer Hoffman, and it gives a concise summary of actions that can be taken against legislative efforts that (usually) are against my safe, loved, and warm platform. What’s best is what’s NOT in the checklist:

  • No partisan b.s., name-calling, or insults.
  • No exclamation marks or yelling.
  • No vilifying.
  • No conspiracy theories.
  • No scary hype.

Because after a year of watching sane people scream for 400+ days straight without catching a breath, I welcome the levelheadedness of this list.

4. I want to attend some city council meetings this year. I haven’t yet, but I think if I’m going to be louder about my opinions, I should at least know how my local government works. Knowing who my councilpeople are and how they behave will make me a more informed voter. I’ll let you know how this goes.

In light of the above, I didn’t go to the Philadelphia Women’s March on Saturday. I had a great time last year, but honestly? I didn’t feel like going alone, and I didn’t have the energy to either organize my own group of people or try to invite myself into other groups. I’m proud of and thankful for everyone who did go out there.

Last year’s march taught me that I needed to become involved. This year I AM more involved.

Safe, loved, and warm!

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