September: Organize to Change the World
SEPTEMBER
Take Action! Back to School!
Climate! A Caring Economy! Pathway to Citizenship!
Back to school!
House passes the $3.5T Reconciliation bill
Presidential Update.
Create Good Jobs. Lower Costs. Make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.
We’re able to move forward because PEOPLE are organizing!
And to win in these decisive battles ahead, we need to keep organizing.
Take Action.
BUDGET RECONCILIATION UPDATE
The House has passed the $3.5T reconciliation bill with the intention of passing the bipartisan Build Back Better Infrastructure bill. The Senate needs to take up and pass the budget resolution for the Build Back Better reconciliation package to invest in jobs, care, climate, and a path to citizenship.
Now is the time to make your voices heard to pass the Build Back Better agenda.
We must demand action to deliver for the American people.
AFGHANISTAN UPDATE
White House Statement: Friends – our hearts are heavy following the terrible events outside the Kabul airport last week, during which 13 U.S. service members and more than 180 people lost their lives (President Biden’s remarks on the situation here).
For those interested in supporting refugee resettlement efforts, the State Department has set up this website with information about how the public can help at-risk individuals arriving from Afghanistan.
The lesson is to stop launching wars of dubious legality and unclear moral purpose that we do not know how to win. The people who own the American exit from the Afghanistan war are the people who advocated launching that war and the people – who never learned and never stopped advocating for continuing that war.
HURRICANE IDA DEMANDS CLIMATE ACTION
On the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf South experienced another climate disaster in Hurricane Ida. Hurricane Ida is yet another sobering reminder that the climate crisis is already upon us. The most recent IPCC report finally acknowledged what we have known for the last 16 years: severe weather and devastating storms are a direct result of our changing climate.
White House Statement: We are saddened by the devastating impact of Hurricane Ida, which has caused life-threatening damage on the Gulf Coast and elsewhere. We extend our condolences and sympathies to all impacted by the tragic circumstances. Below is collection of resources that provide opportunities to support hurricane relief efforts and more.
We encourage interested stakeholders to visit www.fema.gov/hurricane-ida for the latest information including:
VOTE NO ON THE CALIFORNIA RECALL!
Three in Four Voters Support Build Back Better Reconciliation Package Poll by The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and Climate Power
  • Large majorities say the plan’s climate, clean energy, and environmental justice components are essential
  • 66% of voters, including 78% of Independents, say taking action to deal with climate change this year is an important priority for the President and Congress.
  • Focusing on the plan’s climate benefits can motivate the Democratic base.
  • Detailing the economic benefits to working families and middle-class Americans can motivate swing voters.
VOTING RIGHTS UPDATE
On Saturday, August 28th, tens of thousands – nationwide – joined together to March On For Voting Rights & demand voting rights legislation.
“If we fail to act in this moment we are on a path by which democracy dies in darkness. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to achieve the long-held promise of a permanent, multiracial democracy.” – Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY-17)
We celebrate the House passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Senate Democrats, now it’s your turn!
Featured Reading.
Donald Cohen’s new book – co-authored with Allen Mikaelian – is called The Privatization of Everything, and it comes out on November 2nd. You can pre-order it here or request it from your local bookstore. The Privatization of Everything connects the dots across a broad spectrum of issues and raises larger questions about who controls the public things we all rely on, exposing the hidden crisis of privatization that has been slowly unfolding over the last fifty years and giving us a road map for taking our country back.
Upcoming Events!
Key Dates:
Now-Sept 12/Sept 19 – August Recess
Sept 6 – Labor Day
Sept 6 – UI Expires – Est 7+ million set to lose unemployment insurance
Sept 6-7 Rosh Hashanah *Jewish Holiday*
Sept 10 – Ganesh Chaturthi *Hindu Holiday*
Sept 11 – Rastafaria *Ethiopian New Year*
Sept 13 – Yom Kippur *Jewish Holiday*
Sept 13 – Senate Returns to DC
Sept 14 – California Election! VOTE NO on Recall!
Sept 15 – Deadline for Committee’s Drafting #BuildBackBetter
Sept 20 – House Returns to DC
Sept 30 – Gov’t Funding Deadline and Surface Transport Auth Expires
Oct 3 – Eviction Moratorium Set to Expire
Richard Trumka: Remember & Carry on His Work. Rest in Power
Note from Heather: His whole life he fought to improve the lives of working families.
And he built the broader movement. He raised the issue of race and how it has been used to divide our people. He engaged the immigration reform movement, fighting for a pathway to citizenship. We won health care reform (Affordable Care Act) and financial reform (Dood/Frank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) only because we had the support of the Labor Movement and others. He was part of the team that broke with Cold War politics to join again with those who had been in the movements of the 1960s, bringing new vitality to labor, its politics and organizing.
When I was Director of the Midwest Academy, he spoke at a Midwest Academy Retreat with about 2,000 organizers from around the country, and asked if others would join them in support of the Pittston strike. I stood and volunteered, taking the first non-mineworker delegation to join them in civil disobedience.
When we organize, we can change the world.
We are so glad to be your partner in this movement for democracy and justice for all.

– Heather Booth, Lilly Rivlin, and the Film Team
Newsletter Designed by Cara Freibaum