Building Power Together
This past week was quite a week, with Legislative committees hearing testimony on priority bills around divisive concepts, school vouchers, housing justice, and abortion bans. Thank you to everyone who came out to make their voices heard. We are still waiting on the committees to issue vote recommendations.
This week, two more bills related to divisive concepts will be heard; we are asking people to register their opposition online or go in person to testify.
January is a special month at Rights & Democracy, one full of assessment and preparation. In each state, we’re at a moment of opportunity.
January is a special month at Rights & Democracy, one full of assessment and preparation. In each state, we’re at a moment of opportunity.
Following the start of the New Hampshire legislative session, this is our first weekly legislative update of 2022. With last year’s assaults on public education, reproductive rights, racial justice and more, we are preparing for some challenging fights ahead, and we can’t do it without you!
All of our Vermont youth deserve culturally responsive and fact-based curricula, equitable access to educational resources, and a safe and supportive school environment.
Calling all members – new and old – the Membership Assembly is on the horizon! Every year, our members come together to reflect upon and celebrate our work, deepen our relationships, renew our commitment to this movement, and strategize for the year ahead.
Calling all members – new and old – the Membership Assembly is on the horizon! Every year, our members come together to reflect upon and celebrate our work, deepen our relationships, renew our commitment to this movement, and strategize for the year ahead.
What a night for the Granite State! Yesterday’s elections were electric – out of RAD’s 23 endorsed candidates in municipal elections across the state, 17 won their races!
Over the past month, hundreds of our members across New Hampshire were able to vote in our second round of member endorsements. We’re thrilled to introduce you to more of our leading candidates across the state!
We are all feeling deeply how much is at stake right now, and have been showing up in so many ways to shift the political landscape. So please: be gentle with yourself, and let’s take inspiration from all the powerful work we did together this past month.
I hope you are taking a moment this week to slow down and enjoy the view; we are all feeling deeply how much is at stake right now, and have been showing up in so many ways to shift the political landscape. Be gentle with yourself, and let’s take inspiration from all the powerful work we did together in September.
Please sign on to this letter calling for the task force in charge to correct the pupil weighting formula used to distribute education funds to rural and low-income school districts in Vermont, rather than adopting categorical aid!
The Vermont Climate Council is gearing up to develop a plan that will serve as a roadmap for how our state addresses the climate crisis. Now is our chance to speak up for a Climate Action Plan that rapidly transitions us off of fossil fuels while centering justice, equity, and most-impacted Vermonters to ensure we all can thrive!
I hope the final days summer have given all of you a chance to recharge. As one RAD staff member put it, August “has been like Friday afternoon for a whole month.” So rested and restored, we shake off summer and step into September, gearing up for a busy fall.
I hope the final days summer have given all of you a chance to recharge. As one RAD staff member put it, August “has been like Friday afternoon for a whole month.” So, rested and restored, we shake off summer and step into September, gearing up for a busy fall.
Over the past month, RAD really stepped into the heart of our work. The through line of our movement is ever present, and we really felt it this month as we continued our blend of in person organizing and our remote operations.
This July marks a quiet shift for Rights & Democracy. With high vaccination rates across both Vermont and New Hampshire and the boundless opportunities for outdoor events presented by summer weather, there is a feeling of awakening.
Six years ago, I brought together some of the best organizers and leaders I knew to found Rights & Democracy (RAD). Working across Vermont and New Hampshire, RAD was a new kind of people’s movement organization focused on changing what is politically possible by using all the tools in the changing-making tool box.
It’s hard to believe we are nearly halfway through the year! Although the legislative session is winding down, RAD’s work is not. We have been processing, planning, adapting, and responding to the ever-shifting political landscape to build the people powered movement we need. At this point, we’ve gotten pretty good at it.
As the Boards of Directors of Rights & Democracy and Rights & Democracy Institute, we celebrate all that we have accomplished over nearly six years of James Haslam’s leadership.
Rights & Democracy joins national solidarity statement calling on Biden Administration to condemn Israeli government plans to forcibly displace Palestinians in Occupied East Jerusalem.