The PROGRESSIVE MARYLAND WEEKLY MEMO FOR APRIL 2-9 with canvassing, movement politics, statewide chapter action, allies calendar, links to this week's blog posts and more. This is the full version; the emailed Weekly Memo is trim and easy to scan with links to full accounts. BTW you can sign up for that here.
STATEWIDE ACTION
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
Sign Up to Phone Bank, Canvass, and More with the Movement Politics Team!
Progressive Maryland's Movement Politics Team has plenty of roles for people who want to volunteer with us!
Sign up below or with our Google Form!
 If you are interested in canvassing:
Please make sure to bring something to drink, supportive walking shoes, and a fully charged smart phone with the MiniVAN application downloaded.
The MiniVAN app can be found at the iTunes store or in the Google Play Android Applications.
 If you are interested in phone banking:
You will need a charged WiFi-capable laptop and mobile phone, with charging cords as needed.
Please RSVP to receive the auto-dialer URL link to canvass remotely!
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Canvass? What’s that about? Now that I can spell it, what more is there to know? FIND OUT HERE.
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)
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OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
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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 B. ([email protected])
Economics & Transportation - Belina W. ([email protected]) & John T. ([email protected])
Fair Elections - Charles S. ([email protected])
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Saturday, April 14 Mental Health and the School to Prison Pipeline Listening Session
Hear from the student panel and craft community solutions that we can work on together!
Event co-hosted by School Board member Raaheela Ahmed
Saturday, April 14, 2018Â
9AM-12 PM
Bowie High School
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Thank you to everyone that came to our March From Power to Protest canvass! Stay engaged with PMD Montgomery by signing up for upcoming canvasses in April.Â
Member Orientation Training: New to PMD Montgomery or live in Montgomery and want to learn more about Progressive Maryland? Then you won't want to miss our member orientation training this coming Saturday in Rockville! RSVP today.Â
New blog posts:
- Pipeline Under the Potomac, by Susan Nerlinger
- Pileated Woodpecker and the Value of Green Spaces, by Susan Nerlinger
Take Action Anne Arundel County
Action Report
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Take Action Anne Arundel County is supporting an on-line petition campaign to allow 5 community solar projects to continue in Anne Arundel County. The campaign goal is to collect 500 signatures from residents in the county who support having a clean energy alternative available by April 12. County Executive Steve Schuh has put a moratorium on community solar due to feedback from a few local residents and has asked the Solar Working Group of the AgriTourism Board to make a recommendation on the moratorium at their April 19 meeting.
 These 5 community projects are small in scale (10-15 acres) and will be hosted by local farmers/farm owners. The solar project will be a small part of each overall farm’s acreage. All of the projects will have habitat for pollinators (birds, bees, butterflies) planted under and around the solar panels. The supporting legs for the solar framework and the panels together are about as high off the ground as a stalk of corn.
 The Community Solar Program will give many people who can’t put solar panels on their roof access to clean energy while saving money on their electric bill. There are special provisions in these projects to provide affordable renewable energy to low and moderate income households. If you are a resident of Anne Arundel County, please join Take Action Anne Arundel County and sign the on-line petition here.
 Take Action Anne Arundel County
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Thursday April 19 at 7pm -- Legislation & Elections: The Political Tango at Edgewater Community Library
·        Join Take Action Anne Arundel County in a discussion of the dance between seeking legislative change and having the right legislators in power to make change happen.
·        Discussion topics will include
o   Recap of state legislative session and campaign by SEIU Local 500 to end the choke hold that the Senate President has on bringing legislation to vote in committee
o   Electoral Politics - the endorsement process and canvassing for candidates who share our values and priorities
o   School Board Elections - what issues do you care about as a parent or resident? Take Action Anne Arundel County is putting together a candidate survey for Anne Arundel School Board
·        RSVP here
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Other Events in Anne Arundel County
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On Friday April 6 at 7pm - Climate Stewards of Greater Annapolis is screening Saving Snow. More information here.Â
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On Saturday April 7 at 3:30pm - Activism for Teens - Turning Protest to Policy. More information here.Â
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On Monday April 9 at 3:45pm-5:00pm - On Sine Die, Miller Time is Up - Join SEIU Local 500 for the announcement of plans to bring about the end of Mike Miller's tenure as President of the Senate. More information here.
On Saturday April 7 we will be canvassing in Columbia, MD to register voters. You can sign up for this date, and other dates, here:
Saturday, April 07, FCP Candidate Forum - 4/7/2018 1 p.m., Thurmont Regional Library
Frederick County Progressives will be hosting a candidate forum with State and County candidates who will be running in 2018 primary elections.
Candidates include:
Jennifer Dougherty - Candidate for State Senator, District 3,
Sabrina Massett - Candidate for State Senator, District 4
Mark Long - Candidate for County Council at Large
Susan Jesse Reeder - Candidate for County Council at Large
Deborah Carter - Candidate for Frederick County Democratic Central Committee.
Sunday, April 22 Candidate Forum  1 p.m. C. Burr Artz Public Library - Downtown
Frederick County Progressives will be hosting a candidate forum with State and County candidates who will be running in 2018 primary elections. More information, including candidates, will be posted soon.
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Lower Shore Progressive Caucus
EVENTS FROM OUR ALLIES
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TONIGHT -- Monday April 2nd at 8 p.m., the Old Greenbelt Theater will show the last film in the How To Resist series, called WHAT CAN I DO? Invisible Greenbelt will co-sponsor and provide post-film discussion context.
It’s a practical film from 1975 about responsible, personal, political, and social action. It shows how the average citizen can make his/her voice heard, his/her influence felt, his/her vote count, and to bring about change by becoming involved and participating in our system of government.
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The Old Greenbelt Theater is in Roosevelt Center.
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Wed, April 4 -- VIDEO: "Just Eat It: A Food Waste Movie"
Greenbelt Climate Action Network
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Greenbelt Community Center, Room 114
Sunday, April 8 Progressive Neighbors -- Join other activists for a secular politically-themed gathering–a ‘Progressive Seder’–featuring Progressive candidates from the Governor’s race down to county and state offices on this June’s Democratic Primary ballot!
 12 to 3 p.m., at Rockville Executive Office Building, (Cafeteria) 101 Monroe Street Rockville, MD 20850 Cost: Free, but suggested donation is $10
OUR REVOLUTION Maryland -- Attend our Progressive Organizing Summit, on April 22nd from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM at the Silver Spring Civic Building. Â Come join us for a pivotal event to discuss the future of our movement and develop a plan for victory in 2018.
At this meeting, you'll:
- Hear from Ben Jealous and national Our Revolution Leaders.
- Participate in workshops on our top legislative issues.
- Meet with endorsed candidates from across the state of Maryland.
- Discuss our plans to reform the Maryland Democratic Party.
- Mobilize to elect Ben Jealous as Maryland's next Governor!
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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:
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Bernie's spotty endorsement record: bypassing economic justice champs
Posted by woody woodruff · March 30, 2018 1:37 PM
Sen. Bernie Sanders has a spotty endorsement record, with clear instances where he has overlooked solid pro-union, economic justice candidates like Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania but picked a number of people who checked all the progressive boxes but didn't get across the finish line.
Successful candidates, Hal Ginsberg argues, will champion unions and job protection, and forswear corporate contributions.
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Can public-private partnerships really handle stormwater runoff?
Posted by woody woodruff · March 29, 2018 3:54 PM
MoCo executive Ike Leggett proposes to have stormwater runoff managed through public-private partnerships. Do these have the juice to make the Bay cleaner?
March 28, 2018 Marching for our lives -- and our communities
Posted by woody woodruff · 1:46 PM
Anne Arundel activist Claire Miller observes "As a very smart 12-year-old said to a journalist recently, on my own I may not be able to change anything but with all of these people, we can definitely make change happen." Solidarity is changing the political terrain, significantly.
March 27, 2018 Today! -- tell the MD Assembly to dump a bad criminal justice bill
Progressive Maryland and many other progressive organizations are strongly opposed to SB122, a bill being heard in committee TODAY, March 27. SB122 gives prosecutors excessive tools to lock up defendants and increases prison time in a racially biased way, including the creation of mandatory minimum sentences focused on the kind of drug offenses that are disproportionately charged against minorities. Defendants under SB122 would have far fewer rights in their defense. There are no protections against police misconduct.
You can fight back against this unjust proposal. Sign our petition at  http://www.progressivemaryland.org/stop_passage_of_sb_122 and follow it by sharing on social media. On Twitter, use HashTag  #MDAgainstSB122.
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March 26, 2018 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for March 26-April 2, 2018
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.
REMEMBER – these blog posts are expressions of political opinion from our wide-ranging membership and circle of allies. They are not expressions of opinion by Progressive Maryland. Don’t be surprised if they sometimes vary in their political content. You might even disagree with them – a good reason to contribute a blog of your own. Send it to the moderator, Woody Woodruff, at [email protected].
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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