Stand up for Democratic Values
Where do we go from here?
Living in Santa Cruz County (where 70-80% of the vote went to Democratic candidates) and in California (where we elected a majority of Democrats to both houses of the legislature), 2016 was a difficult election for most of our community.
Fortunately, people are motivated to take action. Together, citizens around the country and right here in Santa Cruz County were determined to make a difference.
Forty seats were flipped from Republican to Democratic control in the 2018 midterm election. This is a BIG DEAL. But we can't stop now - there's lots of work to continue to do until the 2020 Presidential Election.
Besides participating by voting, contacting your representatives or joining a Democratic Club, here are some other ways that you can get involved in groups and actions that stand up for our shared values.
Swingleft Santa Cruz https://swingleftsantacruz.org
In 2018, we took back the House—in 2020, we’ll take back ALL THE HOUSES. We’re bringing our “campaigns-in-waiting” model to swing Senate seats, the House, the state-level races needed to ensure fair maps in the 2021 redistricting, and, of course, the Presidency. We can’t wait to get started with you. Join Us!
Santa Cruz Indivisible https://www.santacruzindivisible.org
Santa Cruz Indivisible is a group of 4000 people who are engaged as active citizens in the political process at the local, state, national and international arenas and focus on a progressive political agenda. We are a chapter of the Indivisible National movement and use the Indivisible Guide as part of our tactics.
Former progressive Congressional staffers have written a practical guide for resisting the Trump agenda and reveal the best ways for making Congress listen.
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Santa Cruz Chapter https://www.aclunc.org/about/chapters/santa-cruz-county-chapter
WE THE PEOPLE DARE TO CREATE A MORE PERFECT UNION.
Know Your Rights: individual sections for immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ, protestors, journalists, victims of sexual assault, police interaction, reproductive care needs, persons with a disability: https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-feel-youre-risk
Planned Parenthood https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-mar-monte
Health center escorts are needed to ensure that clients and staff can safely and calmly enter and exit from health centers when anti-choice protesters are present. See more at: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-mar-monte/volunteer-with-ppmm#sthash.qCb74tnV.dpuf
Santa Cruz County Queer Youth Task Force http://qytf.org/
Live-Scanned active teachers, nurses and therapists needed to chaperone one to three events a year via the Adult Ally Project:
http://qytf.org/projects/adult-allies/
Volunteers always appreciated at the Queer Youth Leadership Awards ceremony: Contact: volunteer@gyla.org or sign-up at http://qyla.org/volunteer/
Santa Cruz County Diversity Center http://www.diversitycenter.org/
Paid, intern, and volunteer opportunities in communications, fundraising, IT support, and frontline hosts:
https://diversitycenter.squarespace.com/open-positions
The Santa Cruz Volunteer Center https://scvolunteercenter.org
Volunteers needed for a variety of community organizations call 831-427-5070 or see list of opportunities on their website.
Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/
Reports and publications on the effects of the Trump election:
https://www.splcenter.org/resources?f%5B0%5D=splc_resource_types%3APublication
Fact Checking and Reliable Media
PolitiFact California (Sacramento-based):
http://www.politifact.com/california/
Snopes (online rumor fact-checker):
The Reporters Lab at Duke University, worldwide fact-checking sites:
http://reporterslab.org/fact-checking/