Having things to give thanks for has this imperative -- bring more good things to more people. That's you; that's us.

STATEWIDE ACTION

Progressive Maryland  THREE-DAY MOVEMENT POLITICS TRAINING  -- December 08, 2017  - December 10, 2017

We train volunteers to knock on neighbors’ doors and transform their communities into a force at the polls. We ask candidates tough questions and secure policy commitments. And, crucially, we help leaders in our movement transition from community activists to elected office, transforming our political system. We are looking for people to help with both issue and electoral campaigns to win victories in 2018 and beyond. We will in-depth cover:

How we look not just at one race, but at each race as part of our power-building strategy across the state

How potential candidates and campaign operatives can assess their readiness to run, the needs of their race, and their existing base

How to build strong field operations that connect deeply with voters and that build teams of motivated volunteer leaders

How to effectively raise money through a practical and relational approach to fundraising

WHEN Friday Dec. 8 through Sunday, Dec. 10

Training on Friday, December 8th will be from 5:30 pm-9 pm
Training on  Saturday, December 9th will be from 10 am-6 pm
Training on Sunday, December 10th will be from 10 am-4:30 pm

RSVP TODAY

WHERE: Greenpeace Warehouse, 3133 Pennsy Dr, Hyattsville, MD 20785.

In all of our training, we don't simply provide skills and tools - we also examine the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that get in the way of being successful movement-building electoral organizers. Developing our leadership requires not only knowledge but also self-reflection and transformation. So we use a training style called agitation, which helps shake us out of our established ways of thinking and acting. While this process can feel challenging at times, it is also liberating, as we realize that we have the ability to make tremendous changes in our communities, our organizations, and our society.

Your trainers will be: Alexiss Kurtz, Movement Politics Director, Progressive Maryland and Brandy Brooks, Leadership Development Organizer, Progressive Maryland

Maryland Pre Legislative Session Summit at UMBC Engineering Building, Sun 3 December 2017 - You are invited to join the Maryland Legislative Coalition on Sunday, December 3rd on the UMCP campus from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm for a Summit in preparation for the 2018 Maryland Legislative Session. As a participant, you will learn how to communicate effectively with legislators, with training on lobbying provided by Maryland Working Families. You will then hear about legislative priorities from major Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) across the state and across a spectrum of issues. Participants will also have the opportunity to connect directly with the NGOs to help support their legislative goals. SPONSORED BY MARYLAND NOW. Find out more, including cosponsoring organizations, and sign up.

And on Dec. 4 Maryland Now hosts second event in College Park. “Changemakers, thought leaders, policymakers, and progressive donors will gather in College Park on Monday, December 4, for Our Maryland’s 2017 Politics & Policy Summit.” More here

FROM OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE

Progressive Prince George’s

Thursday, Dec. 7 Fair Elections Town Hall including speakers: Council members Mary Lehman, Obie Patterson, and Mel Franklin followed by Panel Discussion 6-8 p.m. at the Southern Regional Technology Complex 7007 Bock Rd, Fort Washington, MD 20744… find out more about Fair Elections and a Small Donor Program in Prince George’s County, to get big money out of our politics.

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Thursday, November 30, Film for Thought: A movie night and roundtable discussion on food, justice, and the power of community at 6:30 p.m. · 10 rsvps  Seat Pleasant Community Center in Capitol Heights, MD -- The Food Justice Coalition and Progressive Maryland are hosting a movie night! Join us for a documentary on cooperative business and how we can reclaim power in our neighborhoods. After the film, we’ll discuss how to make it a reality for ourselves. Children are welcome, refreshments will be served, and the event is free! A $5 donation is suggested if possible, but not required. rsvp

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Join The Movement!
Progressive Maryland and Progressive Prince George’s have launched a 75-day campaign to start a resident-led and resident-funded collective of people harnessing their own talents and skills to create a Prince George’s truly shaped by residents. Click here to find out more information and join other Prince Georgians dedicated to making a change! For technical and member support, contact Seanniece Bamiro , Prince George’s County Cooperative Fellow -- [email protected] 

PMD Montgomery

Frederick County Progressives

Thursday, November 23 Turkey Drive 2017   Frederick County Progressives and Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick Present Turkey Drive 2017 The Thanksgiving season is one in which we look back over the year to recognize (show all)  at 12:00 PM · Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick in Frederick, MD  rsvp

Progressive HoCo

Take Action Anne Arundel County

Thursday December 7, Take Action AAC will be hosting a chapter meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Edgewater Library in Edgewater, MD. The chapter will meet in the conference room. The discussion topic is base building in 2018. Want to be effective in making change happen on the issues you care about?  Do you know what it means to build power?  Join the conversation with Take Action AAC. RSVP on Facebook.

Other events in Anne Arundel

On Friday December 1, Free Screening of “13^th” and Panel Discussion in Annapolis at the Maryland Hall for Creative Arts. RSVP for tickets. 

Other events outside of Anne Arundel

On Tuesday, December 12th, there will be a final hearing on the zoning decision for the compressor station Dominion wants to build near Accokeek Maryland on Tuesday December 12th at 7pm. It will be at the Charles County Government Building, 200 Baltimore St., La Plata, Maryland. AMP Creeks Council will finish its presentation against the zoning exemption, Dominion will have a chance for rebuttal, and the appeals board members are expected to deliberate in front of the audience and come to a decision that night. Please come to the hearing to show your support for rejecting this compressor station! The appeals board seems to be responding to what it sees from the audience. See Facebook event for more information. 

Baltimore City –

Tuesday Nov. 21 -- Come join our community listening session on mass incarceration from 6-8:30 p.m. “Mass incarceration and its impact on Baltimore City and its citizens.” -- At Project Success Youthplace, 5005 Park Heights Ave, Baltimore 21215 -- RSVP here. Questions? Contact Anthony White, [email protected] or 443-461-4601.

Talbot Rising

Lower Shore Progressive Caucus 

EVENTS FROM OUR ALLIES

Monday, November 20 Utopia Film Festival comes to Reel & Meal at the New Deal Café, 113 Centerway, Roosevelt Center, Greenbelt –Three documentaries- about immigrants, refugees, and conditions in their Old Country: Remember Everything: to not Forget Anyone -- a poignant three-minute short from Italy about immigrants who drown trying to reach safety in Europe; An American House -- one that welcomes illegal immigrants from Central America to the US and gives them shelter and safety; We are the Nation -- set in a slum in Kenya, it portrays orphaned and traumatized children coming together through music and a remarkable benefactor as a way to build positive lives.

Optional vegan buffet 6:30, free film at 7.  If you expect to come for the buffet at 6:30, we'll appreciate your RSVP via this Facebook event-   Discussion will follow. Come learn what we can do to help support our local immigrant and international community.

Friday December 1, Free Screening of “13^th” and Panel Discussion in Annapolis at the Maryland Hall for Creative Arts. Mass incarceration as modern enslavement.  RSVP for tickets and more information about Ava Duvernay’s Oscar-nominated documentary.

READ.ALL.ABOUT.IT

Some useful reading on issues that matter

Tax deform from the GOP grinder – an analysis by radical Chicago economist Bill Barclay: http://www.dsausa.org/trump_gop_tax_proposal

Michael Feldman, PM’s staff organizer on the Shore, lights up Andy Harris on the letters page at the Delmarva Today site http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/opinion/readers/2017/11/16/andy-harris-republican-tax-reform-bill/863747001/

Baltimore comrades, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

To keep up with progressive events in and around DC consult the invaluable calendar at the Washington Peace Center, http://washingtonpeacecenter.org/alerts

 It all happens for free… right? Not exactly. Organizing for change in our society and our high-maintenance politics requires both people and money. Keep change moving with a quick, secure impulse-buy contribution here.

Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our blogs for the previous week are shown below, but if you want a handy way to keep track – and never miss a blog post – you can sign up to get this Weekly Memo by email. Remember this is your blogspace and your participation is heartily invited. See something going on that you don’t like – or that you do like and hope to see more of? Send us your thoughts; submit to the moderator at [email protected]

We recently posted these blogs:

November 17, 2017 Industrial stormwater runoff endangers the Bay and its communities

The health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries – and the health of Marylanders – is endangered by industrial-sourced stormwater runoff. Attention must be paid, as they say – but the state is not doing so, apparently looking the other way when big corporate polluters fail to report what the law requires, and underfunding the inspections that could keep them honest. Tim Wheeler of Bay Journalhas chapter and verse here.

November 16, 2017 Food insecurity a signal of wider distortions in public policy

Well-intentioned proposals to reduce "food deserts" in Prince George's tiptoe around the wider inequity that brings on the county’s food security issues – residential segregation, not only by race any more but class, exacerbated by high-profit development that steadily erodes affordability of quality housing and isolates those communities further. A UMCP student's op-ed in the student newspaper highlights these effects, even in booming College Park.

November 14, 2017 GOP Tax Plan good for the rich, bad for you -- but Andy Harris likes it

The majority-Republican Congress "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" legislation is barreling down the legislative track. Some have referred to it as the "Job Cuts and Tax Act" because of how horrendous this tax plan will be for the bulk of Maryland residents. 

November 13, 2017 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Nov. 13-20 2017

After a long fight, progressives including our Progressive Maryland stalwarts celebrated the signing of Montgomery County’s $15 minimum wage bill Monday. Progressive MoCo plans a celebration; see below.

Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace from June 2015 through December 2016 are all available with descriptions and links here. You can follow blogs for 2017 starting from here