This is the full version of the Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for March 26-April 2. The emailed memo is shorter but links to this one.
Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for March 26-April 2
Contact – it’s everything. As one writer said: “Only Connect.”
"This is a special thing you're doing. Thank you for doing this," the man stated to me, smiling and closing his door.Â
I had been out canvassing from door to door, and the registered voter who answered was not the young man listed, but instead his father. The young man's father was not the party affiliation of the younger college-aged person I had asked to speak with - who ended up not being home. Instead, my canvass partner and I had a warm and enlightening conversation with his dad, who thanked us and enjoyed speaking with us about the issues and candidates on that ballot. This conversation meant a lot to him and us.
 Will you door knock with us on Saturday, March 31st to make a difference this election year?
I still get teary-eyed thinking about all of people I've spoken to canvassing. Our neighbors and our communities are being targeted so that the massively wealthy get richer - CEOs that make over 330 times what their employees do - while over 50 million Americans struggle to pay hospital bills and experience medical bankruptcy.
Millions of people around the nation marched this past weekend for gun legislation reform at the rallying call of high school students saying "ENOUGH is ENOUGH!" only days after a school shooting right here in Maryland.Â
Will you move #FromProtestToPower with us to rebuild our communities and vote in leaders committed to working families?
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Join us on Saturday, March 31st in:
Montgomery County - Four Corners/Silver Spring * Prince George's County - Brandywine * Prince George's County - Greenbelt * Prince George's County - Seat Pleasant * Frederick County - Worman's Mill * Frederick County - Jefferson St. * Anne Arundel County - Annapolis * Howard County - Columbia
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 Can't make March? Join our WEEKLY Canvasses in April or May, or our DAILY & EARLY VOTING canvasses in June!
Interested in making sure that elected officials both on the campaign trail and in office are held accountable to the issues that matter most to us?Â
Join our Movement Politics Team by clicking here!
Alexis de Tocqueville recognized in the 1830s that radical individualism could threaten a politics of the common good; he argued that making democracy work would require 'knowledge of how to combine.' Civic associations, parties, and churches could be 'great free schools of democracy' in which citizens could learn to transcend their narrow self-interest in favor of the common good, develop the empathy to enable solidaristic action, and acquire the skills of interdependence necessary to self-govern; Tocqueville called these the 'habits of the heart.' This is how individual voices could combine to exercise political power.
Marshall Ganz, The Nation (3/16/18)
In Solidarity,
Beth Landry, BSN, RN
[ She / Her / Hers ]
Statewide Organizing Director
Progressive MarylandÂ
Making our schools, streets and lives safer and containing the toxic gun culture
Young people from Florida, from Connecticut – from Baltimore, from Montgomery and Prince George’s – came to the national capital over the weekend to declare political combat against legislators in the thrall of the National Rifle Association (and some made the case that it’s gun manufacturers who fuel the NRA’s well-funded attempts to close off discussion of gun violence). The Diamondback cites a reliable estimate of 800,000 filling Pennsylvania Avenue between White House and the Capitol.
But that wasn’t the only place that arguments for gun control were deployed. We hear from our regular blogger Hal Ginsberg, traveling with family in Southwest Florida:
 “Joining 13,000 others on the Florida Gulf Coast, my wife Mindy Burke and our son William Ginsberg participated in the Tampa March for Our Lives Saturday morning. From 10-11, brilliant local high school students and one from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas inspired inspired us with speeches, songs, poems, and music. Several politicians also spoke but the hour belonged to the young people. We then marched for about an hour through downtown and the University of Tampa.
“The teenagers repeatedly stressed the importance of replacing politicians who refuse to buck the NRA. Here's hoping this happens.”
--Hal Ginsberg
JOTF Lobby Day Tuesday, March 27
TOMORROW, Tuesday, March 27th, 2018, the Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF), Out for Justice, Inc. (OFJ) and partners will descend on Annapolis for our annual lobby day!  We will march to and rally in front of the Maryland State House to urge support for policies that seek to eliminate educational and employment barriers and increase access to JOBS and JUSTICE for all Marylanders. Attendees can expect to learn more about and meet with legislators around the following topics: Access to Higher Education, Juvenile Justice, Rights for Incarcerated and Formerly Women, Expungement, Pretrial Services, Child Support Reform, and the Hogan-Zirkin Crime Bill. Additionally, attendees will be encouraged to attend afternoon #JusticeDialogues and committee bill hearings on these issues.Â
Breakfast and lunch will be provided!
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Transportation is available to and from Annapolis. Buses will leave from various locations in Baltimore City, as well as Baltimore County, and Prince George's Counties. If you are interested in leading a bus or need a seat on a bus, please contact Nicole Hanson (OFJ) or Lee Domeika (JOTF) for more information.
The payday loan scammers have paid off their GOP friends and now they are repealing your protections against predatory loan sharking for those facing short-term financial problems.
>>Graham unveils Senate measure to repeal CFPB payday rule. American Banker: "Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has introduced legislation to overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday lending rule. Congress has until early May to overturn the CFPB’s rule to ban high-cost, short-term, small-dollar loans. The rule was finalized in October under former CFPB Director Richard Cordray and went into effect in January, but companies don’t have to comply with most of the provisions until August." (From the Progressive Breakfast site, People’s Action). And more from Progressive Breakfast: “Trump official quietly drops payday loan case, mulls others. Reuters: "The top cop for U.S. consumer finance has decided not to sue a payday loan collector and is weighing whether to drop cases against three payday lenders, said five people with direct knowledge of the matter. The move shows how Mick Mulvaney, named interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by U.S. President Donald Trump, is putting his mark on an agency conceived to stamp out abusive lending.”
BE A FAIR ELECTIONS AMBASSADOR: With your help we can change how campaigns are run in Prince George's County. We need you to become a Fair Elections Ambassador! With your ideas and networks we can ensure a government for and by the people!
Join us Wednesday, March 28th at Clout Workspace:Â Â 9221 Hampton Overlook, Capitol Heights, MD 20743
Please RSVP
If you would like to learn more about CB-04 , The Fair Elections Fund, please view this video from a briefing of the Public Safety and Fiscal Management Committee (coverage starts at 31:00 mark)
STATEWIDE ACTION: Leadership Development
 Across the state of Maryland, community members are rising up to resist policies that divide and dehumanize us and to advance an agenda that puts people and planet first. They are leading and organizing their communities by knocking on doors, making calls, building relationships, leading issue campaigns, and running for office.
Help us support these leaders as they invest in their development this spring and summer!
We are preparing to have 25 statewide member leaders and staff attend the People's Action Transformational Leadership Training, a week of intensive leadership development for organizers across the country. About twenty leaders will be attending the first session of this training right here in Silver Spring, MD this April 15th-21st. An additional group will be attending the training July 15th-21st in Chicago, IL.
The total cost for each attendee is $900-$1200, including room/board, materials and travel. We're inviting you to invest in our leaders, so they can come back and transform Maryland.  Here’s how to donate:
Contribute to the general fund that is helping to support all our training attendees by clicking the links on this page.
Join us in fighting for racial, economic, workplace, gender and sexuality, and environmental justice to make it possible for everyone in our state to live in the world as it should be, and to move from protest to power.
Commit to building progressive power with us in Maryland - make a donation today!
OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
Don't miss your chance to connect with Progressive Maryland and PMD Montgomery this March! Come to one of our upcoming happy hours and our March Canvass.Â
We are back in Takoma Park this coming Wednesday at Republic. Find out how you can get involved with PMD Montgomery in the coming months. We would love to see you there. RSVP now.Â
March 29, 2018, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.Â
World of Beer, Rockville RSVP now.Â
From Protest to Power
Progressive Maryland is hosting mass canvasses around the state to talk to residents about the issues that matter to them. This March we will be doing just that and we hope you can join us on March 31st at 10:00 a.m in Montgomery County. Interested? Sign up now. Rain or shine, we'll be there.Â
PMD Montgomery
http://www.progressivemaryland.org/
Join Us For Door Knocking in PG County on Saturday, March 31st!Â
Berwyn Heights | 12-3 PM |Â RSVP here
Seat Pleasant | 10 AM - 1 PM |Â RSVP here
Southern Upper Marlboro/ Brandywine | 10 AM - 1 PM |Â RSVP here
Listening Session to End Mass Incarceration in PG County
Join us for a listening session in April. The purpose is to come up with a People's Agenda in PG County and craft community solutions that we can work on together!Â
Saturday, April 14 Mental Health and the School to Prison Pipeline Listening Session
Hear from the student panel -- Event co-hosted by School Board member Raaheela Ahmed
9AM-12 PM Bowie High School RSVP here
Saturday April 21 -- Restorative Practices in SchoolÂ
This informational session will provide an overview of Restorative Justice Practices in schools. Learn the elements of Restorative Practices and why it has been implemented in schools. Also, learn the role community stakeholders can play to amplify success and help transform the culture of our school system.
8:30AM – Noon PGCEA 8008 Marlboro Pike, Forestville, MD
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Contact Us!Â
Chapter Chair - Krystal O. ([email protected])
Social Media - Lola A. ([email protected])
Education - Rob A. [email protected]Â
Mass Liberation - Seanniece ([email protected])
Economics & Transportation - Belina W. ([email protected]) & John T. ([email protected])
Fair Elections - Charles S. ([email protected])
Take Action Anne Arundel County
Saturday, March 31 at 10am - Canvass in Annapolis - From Protest to Power
- Join Take Action Anne Arundel County and other Progressive Maryland chapters across the state in knocking on doors to talk to voters about they issues they care most able and the candidates who will govern for and with our communities.
- Meet at Ceremony Roasters 90 Russell Street in Annapolis ·        RSVP here
 Other Events in Anne Arundel County
 On Friday April 6 at 7pm - Climate Stewards of Greater Annapolis is screening Saving Snow. More information here.Â
 On Saturday April 7 at 3:30pm - Activism for Teens - Turning Protest to Policy. More information here.
 Frederick County Progressives
·        FCP Candidate Forum – Sat April 7
Frederick County Progressives will be hosting a candidate forum with State and County candidates who will be running in 2018 primary elections. Follow link for updates. Saturday, April 07, 2018 at 01:00 PM Thurmont Regional Library rsvp
·        Candidate Forum – Sunday, April 22nd
Frederick County Progressives will be hosting a candidate forum with State and County candidates who will be running in 2018 primary elections. Follow link for updates. Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 01:00 PM · C. Burr Artz Public Library - Downtown rsvp
Lower Shore Progressive Caucus
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. You know you meant to do it last week and now here you are again...
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 published these blog posts:
March 23, 2018 How winning in a deep-Red PA House district may point to change -- or not
In this election cycle, Conor Lamb, Doug Jones, and others have demonstrated that Democrats can win in deep-red districts if they campaign as Sanders-style economic populists, Hal Ginsberg writes. Assuming Democratic candidates in the mid-terms follow this script, the Democrats could take control of the House in November. Even the Senate may not be out of reach although most of the contested seats this year are occupied by Democrats.
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March 22, 2018 Progressive Maryland continues endorsements of state candidates
Progressive Maryland is evaluating candidates for federal, statewide and local government offices and making endorsements based on progressive, pro-people principles and records of progressive public activism and achievement, in office or as private citizens. With our two latest endorsements we have announced our backing for about fifty candidates for offices ranging from the US Congress to local county governments.
March 21, 2018 UE: the US needs industrial policy, not bogus tariffs
We don’t hear much use of the term “industrial policy” in current political crosstalk. It’s a worthy program – a conscious orientation of government activism creating viable, sustainable work and healthier communities by creating positive public or public-private enterprises (often worker controlled). Here, the United Electrical Workers (UE) pushes back against the false promise of Trump tariffs to protect US jobs, and instead in favor of a planned program “based on international cooperation, respect for workers’ rights, and environmental sustainability — one that raises living standards for workers across industries and across borders through investment in infrastructure, jobs and social programs.”
March 19, 2018 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for March 19-26 2018
Did you know there are fewer than 100 days until the Maryland Primary elections, taking place on June 26th?
So far this year, Progressive Maryland has had over 100 member leaders and volunteers knock on 4,000 doors at 14 different locations across the state!Â
Will you door knock with us on March 24th or 31st for our #FromProtestToPower canvasses?
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 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 2017-18 starting from here
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