Non-violence is the Answer
A big thank you to all the folks who came out for our “Community not Cages” rally, march, and protest on Saturday. It is another great reminder that when we come together, peacefully, working with, not against each other, we can achieve great things.
As details emerge about what happened at the White House Correspondents’ dinner Saturday night, we are grateful to hear that no one was killed. While we have no reason to believe the person or persons involved were part of our movement, we want to affirm that Indivisible National and our local grassroots Indivisible-WA 8 chapter remain committed to nonviolent action as the most effective and sustainable path to the country we want to live in, and violence will not help us achieve our goals.
Thank you for being part of this community. Here are some actions you can take this week to continue the fight, peacefully.
Fight Government Surveillance
Keep Telling Issaquah:
FLOCK Cameras are Not Welcome Here!
We put out the call last week, and Indivisibles and others showed up! At last week’s Issaquah City Council meeting, there was about 30 minutes of public comment against installing FLOCK cameras. If you weren’t there, please click on the link and watch democracy in action! Ordinary citizens, some confident speakers, some reading nervously from their cell phones, spoke passionately about how FLOCK cameras reduce, rather than enhance, community safety.
The fight is not over. Please keep emailing the Issaquah City Council (citycouncil@issaquahwa.gov) to voice your opposition. Mayor Mullet has been trying to push the vote to later this summer – maybe August – in hopes that the opposition will die down.
This explainer summarizes the issue well, and additional links are available in last week’s newsletter.
Don’t be silent! Keep speaking out until they officially vote “no!” The city council will discuss FLOCK again at the May 11th meeting. Make your voice heard and stay tuned for further updates.
Keep Telling Congress:
No Warrantless AI Surveillance (FISA)
Votes expected soon!
Please call our Senators and Representative to fight for reforms to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which despite the name, has actually been used by the government to spy on Americans with little oversight.
This is going to be a difficult, close vote: Democrats don’t like voting against national security, but they also don’t want to be seen giving Trump even broader powers. The contents of the final bill will matter greatly to our freedom and democracy. Sources from both parties were quoted in Wired with multiple concerns about the current version.
Indivisible has a great summary of the reforms to ask for, and an email tool to make it easy. Don’t let them rush a bad bill through on the basis of an arbitrary April 30th deadline!
Say No to AI Mass Surveillance
Solidarity in Action: Centering Immigrant Voices in Movement Spaces
April 27th, 4-5:30 PM PST
Virtual Call
This panel discussion will feature speakers from United We Dream, Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), and Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM). Highlight the history, resilience, and leadership of immigrant communities in the U.S. Examine systemic challenges that immigrants face, including barriers to civic participation and social equity, and explore strategies for practicing accountable allyship and supporting immigrant-led initiatives.
Seattle Indivisible FIFA message
We are sharing this important message from our friends at Seattle Indivisible:
We, Seattle Indivisible, are highly concerned that FIFA preparation, and “practice actions” will be used as cover for a “quiet surge”, where disappearances of our neighbors will increase significantly.
ICE and DHS tactics have changed, even though quotas have not. Increased detentions have been expected for a while, and are already occurring more in our communities, but without all of the strong arm tactics we saw in Minneapolis.
Because of this increased risk, we are alerting all of our members and No Kings participants to be vigilant.
- Get training in being a Constitutional Observer (coming soon!) and know how to observe, document and report abductions.
- Sign up with NDLON’s Adopt-a-Corner or Adopt-a-School and be ready to monitor public spaces, schools, work places, and even parking lots and other areas where vehicles assemble.
- Form a neighborhood group
Get to know who in your community is vulnerable, and build local, quiet, and independent support systems for food, medicine, school transport and more. Focus on getting to know your people, who you can trust, building trust and setting up secure communications. - Increase awareness in your neighborhood about “know your rights”, Sage Puget Sound has a great ICE Free Zone toolkit
- Encourage business to establish good policies to protect employees and patrons (WAND is a great resource)
Here are some additional resources for action on the Eastside:
- Our friends at East King RISE have another resource list available here
- The King County Office of Law Enforcement Oversight wants to know about your experiences with immigration policies and procedures to see if the Sheriff’s Office should update policies and practices. Take the survey here. Survey closes April 30th.
Summer Indivisigather
We the People Picnic
July 11th, 11:00am – 2:00pm
Lake Sammamish State Park
250 years of independence – Celebrating who we are!
Fun for the whole family!
- Live entertainment
- Lawn games and prizes
- Bicycle parade
- We will serve hot dogs and lemonade.
- Bring a summer dish to share.
More info to come.
Calendar
Important this week!
Friday, May 1 – May Day Strong – Workers over Billionaires
- Sign wave and resistance singing at Issaquah Public Library at 12:30 with Concerned Voters
- No work. No school. No shopping.
- Sounds like a lot? Read the participation guide to learn how and why, and see how to participate as much as you are able.
