A full week of progressive action: Important Anne Arundel council hearing today (Monday Oct. 21) with health implications; a vigil Friday, Oct. 25 for another police killing victim in Prince George’s, and PM’s People's Leadership Institute: Movement Politics Training Saturday Oct. 26 in Baltimore -- plus four town halls around the state on school improvement prospects in your community. All that this week. Read on.
Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday October 21 2019
A full week of progressive action: Important Anne Arundel council hearing today (Monday Oct. 21) with health implications; a vigil Friday, Oct. 25 for another police killing victim in Prince George’s, and PM’s People's Leadership Institute: Movement Politics Training Saturday Oct. 26 in Baltimore -- plus four town halls around the state on school improvement prospects in your community. All that this week. Read on.
FIRST, MARYLAND’S LOSS
Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died last week, will lie in state in the national Capitol this week with a congressional ceremony Thursday. Cummings’s funeral in his native city, Baltimore, is Friday. The Maryland Reporter’s daily roundup leads with summaries and links to eleven articles about Cummings’s life and career and what comes after, including Baltimore native and US House Speaker Nancy (D’Alesandro) Pelosi’s tribute.
Movement Politics Training Saturday, October 26 In Baltimore
The leaves are falling, the weather is cooling... Soon, winter will set in and a new year will be upon us. That's right: 2020. It's a big year for electoral politics, from the headlines of the Presidential to knitty gritty of municipal races. Are you ready?Â
In anticipation of the 2020 election cycle, Progressive Maryland is hosting a one-day Movement Politics Training on Saturday, October 26th, from 10 AM to 5 PM at a Baltimore location TBD.
REGISTER FOR THE TRAININGÂ HERE!
This training is for activists interested in running for office, working on a campaign, or volunteering for one. The goal is to empower people with the skills needed to change the political landscape in Maryland. In just one day, participants will learn the tools of the trade from experiences organizers and will leave with the knowledge needed to launch and win electoral campaign.Â
The training will cover...Â
- How to Run a Campaign and Campaign Strategy
- The Process and Rules for Filing to Run for Office
- Fundraising and Budgeting
- Field Operations
- Communications
- and more!
The Movement Politics trainers will also discuss how the political system functions, why it's currently failing Maryland voters, and what trainees can do collectively to change that in preparation for the next election cycle.Â
The training is $25 for participants, and FREE for a small number of training volunteers. We highly encourage leaders from traditionally marginalized groups, including women, people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+, and low and moderate income residents, to register and participate. We need your leadership!Â
REGISTER FOR THE TRAINING HERE!
After you've registered, please click here to pay the registration fee by typing in your one-time $25 contribution, and then click here to fill out a pre-training survey. If you have any questions about the training or our work in Baltimore, please contact our Baltimore organizer Ken at [email protected].Â
Alert for TONIGHT: Electropollution Hazard in Anne Arundel -- Anne Arundel County government will hold a hearing TONIGHT Monday, Oct. 21 on spreading small cell transmitters around neighborhoods. Take Action AA County activist members urge your attendance or contact with councilmembers on this. Details below in Chapters Around the State section.
INSIDE GAME TRAIN IS RUNNING: The resignation of Prince George’s Del. Tawanna Gaines (D-22nd), indicted for wire fraud -- which rocked the county’s Assembly delegation -- means the Prince George’s Democratic Central Committee will vet potential replacements Tuesday, Oct. 29 at the MNCPP headquarters, 6600 Kenilworth Ave. in Riverdale beginning at 7 PM.
Several “potential” candidates were listed in this Maryland Matters article from last week, including at least one current member and one former member of the PG DCC, as well as two other unsuccessful candidates for delegate seats. This tends to be an inside game. Since the article was published, Greenbelt Mayor Emmet Jordan told the Greenbelt News Review he was not planning to be a candidate and would seek re-election to the Greenbelt post. In a new article Monday, that same well-wired political news site said some other potential candidates were stepping aside or actively lining up behind Greenbelt resident and Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt Democratic Club President Nicole Williams, who is about to formally announce she will seek the seat.
One out of every five members of the current General Assembly got the job first through appointment by a local Central Committee (usually, but not always, with a D for Democratic rather than an R for Republican in the acronym). So the insider nature of central committees’ practice has a large influence on the composition of the legislature even though election to central committees – by the electorate at large --usually gets the least attention or consideration from said electorate. Progressive Maryland has argued for more transparency and less insider horse-trading in these matters.
Gov. Larry Hogan (R) would make the appointment to the Assembly but the DCC nominations are usually accepted.
Progressive Maryland’s Power-Building Agenda
Legislators are dependent on the rich and powerful for election help, which endangers the interests of everyday working families in Maryland – for instance in the corporate and neoliberal pushback on the necessary steps to restore our schools to excellence, move to clean energy and end mass incarceration. To achieve those goals we have to build power with movement politics  – winning elections and holding elected officials accountable to the people. (see the People’s Leadership Institute invite above) Find out where our chapters are, below. Dig into our issue agenda and campaigns. And get more information about Progressive Maryland membership, and join us.
Progressive activism around the Free State, both Progressive Maryland’s action and those of our allied organizations and individuals, are in this Weekly Memo early every week (usually Monday unless a holiday intervenes). It’s a clearinghouse for folks who are building power together; and you can be in that environment of collective action. Plus: quick links to our recent blog posts.
You can get the Weekly Memo by email; just sign up here.
 CAMPAIGNS ON THE MOVE <> School Improvement
The Push For More Support For Community Schools is at the heart of the Kirwan Commission proposals to improve Maryland’s schools. A new poll shows that about three out of four Marylanders want more money spent on public schools but have low information on what’s being proposed. Here is the excellent recent summary from the Maryland Reporter’s state roundup; it has links to full coverage in several outlets: Luke Broadwater of the Sun reports that in the survey conducted Sept. 13-18, 74% of Marylanders said they support personally paying more in taxes to improve public education, while only 26% were opposed. But only about 22% of those polled said they were aware of the work of the Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, which has rolled out a decade-long reform plan that could cost about $3.8 billion more each year once fully implemented, Danielle Gaines reports for Maryland Matters.
Progressive Maryland activists and your communities can find out more about the Kirwan proposals: The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” coalition, including Progressive Maryland and teachers’ organizations statewide, has set 23 information sessions from the mountains to the Shore – this very full week in Anne Arundel County Tuesday Oct. 22, Prince George’s Wednesday, Oct. 23 and Baltimore County and Baltimore City, both on Thursday, Oct. 24. The town halls go well into November -- see them all here.
OUR CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE
PPG’s steady focus on criminal justice reform in the county continues. We note there will be a vigil for Leonard Shand, who died in an encounter with police, on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 PM at the location of his death, the corner of Belcrest and Toledo Roads, Hyattsville, Md. (Kaiser Permanente across the street from the Mall at Prince George’s) to show support for the Shand family and demand an independent investigation into Leonard Shand's tragic death at the hands of police. Last week Hyattsville city officials met with the community to discuss the incident.
PMD Montgomery -- Progressive Montgomery Upcoming Events
Take Action Anne Arundel County
ELECTROPOLLUTION HAZARD IN ANNE ARUNDEL -- Anne Arundel County government will hold a hearing TONIGHT Monday, Oct. 21 7 PM at County Council Chambers, 44 Calvert Street, Annapolis, MD 21401  on spreading small cell transmitters around neighborhoods. Activists contend that there should be a moratorium on this enabling legislation until health and safety effects are fully understood. County residents can testify at the hearing; signups are at 6:30 but may begin as early as 6 PM. Take Action AA County activist members urge either a moratorium or amendments to mitigate safety and health concerns and restore tree cover lost to the installation.  You may e-mail testimony to Administrative Officer JoAnne Gray at [email protected]. More on the two bills being heard at https://docs.google.com/document/d/16mH8zkXqV1LG0Xg6PoHETvQK9112LmGlT-0qhONyT2Q/edit?pli=1
Lower Shore Progressive Caucus
SAT October 26 Progressive Maryland People's Leadership Institute: Movement Politics Training Organizing Meeting 10 AM - 5 PM ET ATU 1300, 126 W 25th St, Baltimore, MD 21218 This training is for activists interested in running for office, working on a campaign, or volunteering on one. The goal is to empower people with the skills and tools needed to change the political landscape in Maryland. In just one day, participants will learn the tools of the trade from experienced organizers and will leave with the knowledge needed to launch and win electoral campaigns. The training will cover: - How to Run a Campaign and Campaign Strategy - The Process and Rules of Filing to Run For Office - Fundraising and Budgeting - Field operations - Communications   Sign Up Now
EVENTS FROM OUR PROGRESSIVE ALLIES
Monday, October 21 “Reel & Meal at the New Deal” features The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons, a documentary on 2017’s 120-nation UN Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons.  The free show begins at 7 pm at the New Deal Café, 113 Centerway in Roosevelt Center. An optional vegan buffet at $14 will be served from 6:30 pm. The discussion – possible action to bring the US “Back From the Brink” – will be led by Gwen DuBois, president of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility and co-founder of Prevent Nuclear War Maryland.
THU, Nov 7 Progressive Cheverly Community Choice Energy Forum,  7 PM at Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School multipurpose room (3324 64thAvenue -- Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-20) and Lily Hawkins from Food & Water Watch discuss community choice energy, a powerful tool that lets local governments bargain for cleaner, more affordable energy on behalf of residents and businesses. Maryland should join other states (including Virginia), in adopting legislation authorizing community choice energy, the speakers argue.
Baltimore progressives, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful activist calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
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:
October 18, 2019 A passing, and a tool to shape the future
 Past and future – one story came to an end yesterday, a story of great achievement that nevertheless ends, as it must, in grieving.
The larger history, for better and worse, goes on.
We have news and views on both.
October 17, 2019 Elijah Cummings: Champion and dear friend
This morning all of Maryland is mourning the loss of our champion and dear friend Rep. Elijah Cummings. Congressman Cummings was an amazing visionary leader who spoke truth to power and fought for the powerless. The City of Baltimore, our state, and country were truly blessed to have him. Our condolences to all his friends, family, and loved ones.
October 16, 2019 Offshore wind is the wave of the Eastern Shore's economic future
At a recent statewide Sierra Club conference, speakers sounded the alarm that Maryland, once a pioneer in developing renewable offshore wind power, was being overtaken by New Jersey and Massachusetts while our political establishment dragged their feet. Eastern Shore activists and officials recently tried to move the needle on the project by addressing one of its chief opponents.
October 15, 2019 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Tuesday, October 15, 2019
In our latest blogs: two on school improvement, one on improved election access and one on criminal justice reform efforts. Plus: the inside game of unelected Assembly members; campaigns on the move (Medicare for All, school improvement; hazardous cell transmitters); events in our chapters; calendar of events from our progressive allies; and more.
>>REMEMBER – these blog posts are frequently 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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