RFS feel-good update (2/7): Can't stop won't stop talking about why this matters
Investing in local politics is how we build sustainable power
Hi all -
Last week, we kept on keeping on, making the case for engaging in local politics to build sustainable power.
In case you missed it, I joined Ezra Klein for a long (but, I hope, interesting!) conversation about what we do, why it matters for people to run for local office, and how this all helps build a lasting democracy.
We talked about local election administrators, state legislators, coroners, and so much more.
Then over the weekend, Ross and I joined Alicia Menendez on MSNBC to talk specifically about the need for good people to run for school boards. We’re not going to shut up about this because it can’t be said enough: This is an absolute crisis and we have to treat it with the urgency and investment it requires.
If you’d rather read this instead of watching it — the news over the last week has reinforced in particular why it matters to elect good people to school and library boards across the country:
From a secluded spot in her high school library, a 17-year-old girl spoke softly into her cellphone, worried that someone might overhear her say the things she’d hidden from her parents for years. They don’t know she’s queer, the student told a reporter, and given their past comments about homosexuality’s being a sin, she’s long feared they would learn her secret if they saw what she reads in the library.
That space, with its endless rows of books about characters from all sorts of backgrounds, has been her “safe haven,” she said — one of the few places where she feels completely free to be herself.
But books, including one of her recent favorites, have been vanishing from the shelves of Katy Independent School District libraries the past few months.
As reporting in Montana shows, folks are running for library board specifically to destroy the library system from within.
Nearly 15,000 have signed up to run for office with us just in the first five weeks of 2022 — we need to grow grow grow that number even bigger to tackle the scale of this crisis. Let’s go!
In RFS community updates:
We’re raising money for Black candidates in honor of Black History Month! Make a donation right now to help support Black leaders running for local office.
Obi Ezeadi made history when he won his seat on the Westminster city council as only the second Black person elected in the community — during and since, Obi’s dealt with an avalanche of hate mail and racist attacks, but he hasn’t let that stop him. Right now he’s prioritizing finding solutions for the city’s water treatment plant.
Similarly: As the first Black sheriff in New Hampshire, Mark Brave knew what he was trying to do in his election was tough. Now that he’s won, he’s done things like bringing on social workers and more peer-to-peer mental health workers for his department.
Indiana Republicans are pushing legislation to restrict students from accessing “harmful materials” at libraries — Sen. J.D. Ford spoke up loudly against it.
Nebraska Sen. Terrell McKinney has introduced legislation to limit the markup that inmates are charged for goods they purchase while incarcerated — right now, the state Dept. of Corrections charges 36% markup on food!
San Antonio City Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez is speaking up against the bigoted ban on gay/bisexual men on donating blood — which is especially dangerous right now when so many cities are struggling with a blood shortage.
WI Rep. Francesca Hong is introducing legislation to require Asian-American history to be taught in schools — Francesca is one of the first AAPI legislators in the state’s history.
Florida Republicans are bringing up bills to ban abortion at either 6 weeks or 15 weeks; Rep. Anna Eskamani is not backing down from the fight.
NY Sen. Jabari Brisport makes the powerful argument for the need for universal childcare programs.
WV Delegate Kayla Young helped pass legislation to repeal the state’s ban on building nuclear power plants — an important first step to starting the conversation on changing energy sources.
CO Sen. Julie Gonzales and Rep. Dylan Roberts are helping shape the debate around how to use $400 million of federal money to respond to the state’s housing shortage.
PA Rep. Emily Kinkead is working with a bipartisan group of legislators to help reform the criminal justice system, noting that “working as a lawyer, I have witnessed the darkest corners of our prison system firsthand. It is common for inmates to be refused proper nutrition, forbidden from social interactions and kept unaware of the rights and resources that are available to them.”
As we keep an eye on the RFS bench:
Big news out of Ohio for RFS alum Taylor Sappington: “Taylor Sappington is many things. A southeast Ohioan, born and raised. A working-class Democrat. A municipal city auditor. An ardent champion of Nelsonville, Ohio. A proud gay man. And most recently? The Democratic candidate running for state auditor against incumbent Republican Keith Faber this fall.”
And in some related reading: The stats are in and millennials & gen-z’ers are still wildly underrepresented in government.
RSVP now! On February 28th, we’re celebrating our fifth anniversary with a big party both in person and online. Get your tickets before they sell out.
We are so fired up about this work and so lucky to be doing it with you. Thanks for being on this team.
- Amanda