Weekly inbk newsletter
With so much going on, it’s hard to know what to do or how to do it. Our weekly newsletters gather as much information as we can find and organize it to make taking action as easy and accessible as possible. You don’t have to do ALL the things, but you should do SOMETHING. Our most current edition is below, and you can sign up to receive future newsletters here.
February 16, 2025
How is everyone holding up? It’s a rough time. When I start to feel hopeless, I’m buoyed by learning about many centuries of effective struggle against oppressive regimes. What these movements have in common is groups of people organizing and standing together in public to advocate for democracy and justice.
That’s what we need to do, and it’s happening. We saw it in the 120 people who turned out for Indivisible Brooklyn’s General Meeting last week, and the hundreds who showed up at multiple actions to demand that Senator Schumer mount a credible opposition. Tomorrow, there’s a chance to gather on Presidents’ Day in Union Square in NYC and in all 50 states to defend the Constitution and the rule of law. As political messaging expert Anat Shenker-Osorio reminds us, protests have power. They can shape public opinion, change the narrative, and change the course of history. Let’s do it together.
Your Top actions for this week
Resist the Dictators March: Monday, February 17 at 12:45pm at Union Square. This Presidents’ Day, join Rise and Resist, Indivisible Brooklyn, Target Majority NYC, New Kings Democrats, Food and Water Watch, 50501 organizers and others (list in formation) for a march from Union Square to Washington Square. It’s one of dozens of actions happening in all 50 states to demand that the oligarchs be removed from government oversight and that Congress assert its power to keep the presidency in check. Bring noisemakers and drums for a big and loud march. RSVP here.
Indivisible Brooklyn’s Monthly Organizing Meeting: Tuesday, February 18 at 7pm on Zoom. Join our Policy Team to plan some good trouble! Together, we’ll identify policy priorities to organize around and develop action plans for resisting authoritarianism and working towards a progressive democratic future. RSVP here.
Jeffries, Resist Trump! Rally: Thursday, February 20 at 12pm at 55 Hanson Place. Join Indivisible Brooklyn, Food and Water Watch, 350Brooklyn and NY Communities for Change in calling on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to resist the Trump-Musk assault on our rights, environment, and democracy! We'll be rallying outside Jeffries' main office in Brooklyn, urging him to defend our communities from Trump's greedy pro-corporate, anti-immigrant, anti-worker agenda. RSVP here.
Tell Governor Hochul to Remove Mayor Eric Adams. With the release of Danielle Sassoon’s damning letter, including revelations about an explicit quid pro quo negotiated between Eric Adams and the Trump Administration, it is clear that Eric Adams is now under the control of Donald Trump. Call Governor Hochul at 518-474-8390/ and tell her to use her power to remove the corrupt mayor who sold out his city from office. Sample Script: Eric Adams no longer represents New Yorkers; he’s corruptly sold us out to Donald Trump. Governor Hochul has the responsibility to restore local democratic governance and the rule of law to the city by removing the corrupt, lawless mayor from office.
Upcoming Events
Dignity Not Detention Phone Zap: Tuesday, February 18 at 1pm on Zoom. The Dignity Not Detention Act would end NY’s support for immigrant detention. Join our coalition partners in pushing constituent phone calls to NYS legislators about the need to pass the bill now so that NY doesn’t run or profit off of the mass detention of our neighbors. RSVP here. You can also use their one-click tool to email your own NYS legislators about this urgent priority.
People’s Budget Campaign Launch: Wednesday, February 19 at 11am at 52 Chambers Street (Manhattan). Mayor Adams wants to pretend that his latest budget proposal is benign, but the cumulative effects of the Mayor’s budgets have taken a toll on city services and New Yorkers. Join The People’s Plan to launch their FY26 budget campaign to fight for restored funding and new investments to help New Yorkers create real public safety, build affordable futures, and provide care across generations. RSVP here.
Save Our Services NYC Rally: Wednesday, February 19 at 5:30pm at Foley Square. Join Indivisible Brooklyn, NYC-DSA, Federal Unionists Network (FUN), federal workers, and a broad coalition of labor unions and community groups to support our federal workers under attack by Elon Musk & DOGE. Part of a national day of action, we’ll be rallying to demand no cuts to vital services, no mass layoffs, and an end to the funding freeze! RSVP here.
Indivisible OneNYS Statewide Call: Wednesday, February 19 at 7pm on Zoom. Calling all Indivisibles in NY! Come to our statewide call for some important conversations about our grassroots work in New York. Trisha from the national policy team will give updates on federal issues. We’ll also hear about data protection in NY and rapid response actions and why Indivisible thinks this is how things will be for a while under the new Administration. Also: updates on the NY-21 race and our outreach to Gov Hochul. RSVP here.
Town Hall with Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez: Wednesday, February 19 at 6pm at Sunnyside Community Services. Rep. Velázquez (NY-7) will be holding an in person town hall at 43-31 39th Street in Queens. Constituents can share their concerns regarding Trump’s executive orders and the Trump-Musk coup and hear from a panel of policy experts about what these changes mean for our communities. RSVP here.
Town Hall with State Senator Jabari Brisport: Thursday, February 20 at 7pm on Zoom. Join the Senator to talk about how to use the State budget to protect New Yorkers, considering the deep funding cuts about to come from the federal government under Trump. RSVP here.
Renewable Heat Now Power Hour: Thursday, February 20 at 7pm on Zoom. Join Renewable Heat Now to learn more about the campaign to pass NY HEAT. This common-sense legislation will stop ratepayer subsidies for dirty gas expansion, begin the transition to clean heating, and cap utility bills at 6% of household income. This month we’ll be joined by a special guest: the new lead sponsor of NY HEAT in the Assembly, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon! RSVP here.
Tax and Budget Fight 2025 Phonebank: Thursday, February 20 and Friday, February 21 on Zoom. President Musk and Congressional leadership are pushing through a massive tax giveaway to billionaires and corporations — while slashing healthcare, housing, and climate investments that working people rely on. We’re not letting it slide. Join Seed the Vote to talk to voters in key congressional districts about how these tax breaks for the wealthy hurt our communities. Together, we’ll take action to pressure Congress to stop these cuts and ensure the rich pay their fair share. Sign up here.
Petitioning for our endorsed candidates Shahana Hanif and Crystal Hudson: Tuesday, February 25 and Saturday, March 1. In order to appear on the ballot in the June NYC primaries, candidates must collect signatures from eligible voters. Petitioning for our endorsed candidates is a great way of showing support and doing early voter outreach for the campaigns. Shahana is running virtual trainings on petitioning and outreach on February 20 and 22; sign up here. And Indivisible Brooklyn will be joining her when petitioning begins on February 25; sign up here. Then, on Saturday, March 1, Indivisible Brooklyn will be petitioning for Crystal; RSVP here.
more ways to resist this week
Call Minority Leaders Schumer and Jeffries every day! Our Democratic leaders need to stop surrendering and start fighting! Schumer needs to channel his inner Mitch McConnell and block Trump’s cruel, dangerous, and often unconstitutional schemes. Instead, he’s cutting deals to let senators fast-track vile nominees in exchange for three-day weekends. Jeffries should be leading the charge to whip votes against any funding bill that lets Trump hijack the budget, strip protections from working families, or sneak in extremist poison pills. Instead, he’s signaling weakness when Democrats have real leverage to demand a funding deal that actually protects the public. Call Schumer at 202-224-6542 and tell him to whip his caucus into an effective opposition party instead of giving bipartisan cover to authoritarian power-grabs. Then call Jeffries at 202-225-5936 and tell him “no budget deal until the criminal conduct stops.” You can also use Indivisible national’s tools to call or email your senators and MoC and to call Jeffries to tell him to use every tool to push back against the right-wing GOP agenda! Sign up for Indivisible Manhattan East Side’s phone relay to make calls all week.
Tell your MoC to vote No on the next round of MAGA messaging bills. When House Democrats failed to fight back against the Laken Riley Act, it set off a panic that led to passage with bipartisan support. House Republicans are now preparing to advance their next round of fast-tracked MAGA messaging bills. Use Common Cause’s one-click tool to tell your MoC to keep Democrats united against the SAVE Act (H.R. 22), which would disenfranchise millions of U.S. citizens and prohibit them from voting without ID they don’t have. And use the ACLU’s one-click tool to tell your MoC to keep Democrats unites against the “No Bailouts for Sanctuary Cities Act” (AKA the Defund Our Communities Act) (H.R. 32), which would cut off federal funding for NYC’s hospitals, schools, shelters, etc. If we can keep House Democrats united against these bills, they will be dead-on-arrival in the Senate.
Tell Gov. Hochul to Safeguard our Health Information. A couple weeks ago, the NYS legislature passed the NY Health Information Privacy Act, a bill to ensure that New Yorkers — not bad actors or government entities — have control over our intimate health info. Now Governor Hochul is threatening a veto! Call Hochul at 518-474-8390 to prevent Trump and his extremist allies from using personal health data to punish New Yorkers who provide, seek, or support abortion or gender-affirming care. You can also use NYCLU’s tool to send her an email.
Sample Script: Hi, my name is… and I’m a constituent living in Brooklyn. I am calling to urge Governor Hochul to sign the New York Health Information Privacy Act, S.929/A.2141, which will give New Yorkers control over their electronic health information. Now more than ever, New Yorkers must be able to get the care they need without fear. They should also be able to search for information about their health, and use apps and devices to track and maintain their health without fearing that their private data could fall into the wrong hands. {This is important to me because....} Thank you.
Tell your Council Members to protect our First Amendment rights by passing the CURB Act. For years, the NYPD has been deploying the Strategic Response Group (SRG) – a counter-terrorism unit – to police protests. The CURB Act (Intro 1176) would prohibit the SRG from being deployed for crowd control purposes. It would also ban the NYPD from using the SRG’s most harmful tactics in protest settings, including kettling, pepper spray and tear gas, and other militarized tactics. Find your Council Member here and tell them to sign on now to protect our civil liberties.
Sample Script: Hi, my name is… and I’m a constituent living in [your neighborhood]. I’m calling to ask the Council Member to sign on to the CURB Act (Intro 1176). The bill protects the safety and First Amendment rights of protesters by removing the SRG from crowd control and banning their most harmful tactics. With so many New Yorkers showing up to protests to support our communities who are under attack right now, protecting the right to protest freely and safely should be a top priority. Will the Council Member sign on to Intro 1176 and help advance the bill in the City Council?
Call Your MOCs: Protect Medicaid and more! Tell your Senators and MoC to reject Medicaid cuts and protect services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Use ANCOR’s tool to call or email your reps.
Join South Brooklyn Mutual Aid’s Community Defense Team. With the threat of increased ICE raids coming to NYC, South Brooklyn Mutual Aid is launching a Community Defense Team to help neighbors identify, report, and respond to ICE activity. U.S. citizens – who have the strongest protections – are strongly encouraged to join for a know-your-rights training and help organize to protect our community. Sign up here.
In solidarity,
The INBK crew