Get Out the Vote! Phonebanking continues...

Hey, I'm back! How's phonebanking going? It's a real force for change, I'm telling ya (and Teen Vogue agrees). 

Let's start with the most exciting news... JAMAAL BOWMAN WON!!! Wow, I am just so, so happy for NY-16 and that I got to play a small role in helping to make that happen. Everyone who made even a few calls to voters, donated a few dollars, cast their votes for Jamaal, and more really made a difference.

June 22 and 23, the day before and the day of Jamaal and Charles' primaries, were full of phonebanking for us at the Sunrise Movement. It was busy, exhausting, and rewarding-- all part of what we call "GOTV mode": Get Out the Vote. I must have done something like six or seven phonebank shifts in two days. (Phonebanking: make calls to voters and convince them to vote for a candidate you like)

Sunrise is part of the movement for climate justice, which means we fight for candidates who tackle climate change as a priority issue, and we stand with other movements for change. They're all connected (environmental racism is definitely worth a Google search if you're not familiar with that term).

My friend Zahra (@climateaction__) and I did a takeover of Sunrise's national Instagram account on June 22. Thank you to Zahra for being so inspirational-- and patient with me, as I learned how to do Instagram stories!


Quotes from various phonebank group chats:
  • We're past 5000 dials! WOOOOOOOOOO
  • why am I so nervous. I did this so much in 2016.
  • Ooh, my first name butchering of the night!
  • it took me 50 calls to get anyone and then I got 3 in a row!!
  • I just helped a really lovely woman submit absentee ballot requests for herself and her folks!!
  • Convinced a voter to vote for Jamaal! :)

Charles Booker didn't win his primary, but came so, so close and helped change the conversation about the Green New Deal and racial justice in Kentucky-- and our nation as a whole. He inspired me, for sure, and I don't live anywhere near KY. His advocacy continues as a state Rep and as the founder of a new organization, Hood to the Holler.

Kentucky is a great example of how the election results weren't the only thing that mattered. We spread the message about Charles' vision to hundreds of thousands of people and empowered new, young leaders. In a couple phone calls that I made, I got to tell voters about the Green New Deal when they asked for Booker's stance on climate change, and they hadn't really heard about the Green New Deal before! This race, with the phone calls we made, built momentum for a long-term movement towards ending poverty, healing communities, and protecting our environment. 

In this way, election work can totally be advocacy! (Plus, if you interact with candidates before they take office, your job as a volunteer lobbyist gets much easier because they already know you when they arrive in DC.)



We've also phonebanked for Mike Siegel, Arati Kreibich, and Andrew Romanoff. Now, if you look at smvmt.org/phonebank, you'll see that we've added shifts for even more candidates coming up!


Quite the busy bees we are, here at Sunrise.


Claire, Laís, and Zach helped me explain phonebanking in my first post about this topic. Why write about it again?


I'm thinking about electoral organizing a lot. How the two-party system, voter suppression, and winner-take-all elections make a profoundly flawed system (especially since I watched this episode of Patriot Act). It makes me wonder if anything I'm doing will actually help change things and save lives. But the energy in a Sunrise Zoom room is enough to help me reach this conclusion:


Electoral organizing won't fix everything. Lobby meetings won't fix everything. Protests won't fix everything. None of these tactics are a complete, winning strategy by themselves.


But inaction doesn't fix anything. 


A combination of approaches is needed. Changing the outcome of elections up and down the ballot is an important part of that. 


And now, we're headed towards another round of GOTV for the August 4 primaries, with our eyes on candidates Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush. I'm gearing up to make more calls, and I'm even finishing up my get-out-the-vote playlist. 


We need you. Will you join us?





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