Weekly Check in January 22

[tassosss]

Happy day after the Women's March! I had a picture picked out to share but Photobucket isn't cooperating, so sadly no picture.

Women's March
Did you go to a march? How was it?

I was at the one in DC and it was incredible. If you've seen this picture of attendees (scroll down to second one), I just want to point out that the National Park Service Camera DOES NOT capture the moshpit of people on Independence Avenue that ran from 3rd (near the Capitol) to 15th (just before the Washington monument). It's a road that's hidden by the museums on the right side of the picture and people could literally not get to it because there were so many people. They moved the marching part to the other side of the Mall because nearly the entire march route was a filled with people standing on each others' toes. The estimate the media is reporting is 500,000 people for the march, but I personally think that is incredibly conservative. The Park Service doesn't do estimates, and DC is restricted airspace so aerial photography is difficult to impossible. One of the March marshals we saw said that their estimate was 1.2 million. I don't have anything to back that up, but the sheer masses of people everywhere you looked from Independence Ave, the Mall, then up Constitution Ave where we did march and north for 5 city blocks by 10 city blocks long - I could believe it. Every time you thought you were getting out of the crowds and into some breathing space you just ended up in another crowd.

It was really good to go out a see all the people who are upset and motivated to make the world a better place. I'll do a post write up about it soon. If you want to share your experience on the comm, please do. I think it's an important piece of inspiration.

ETA: saw this via snickfic * link to spreadsheet estimating total Women's March participation (Twitter.) As of now, estimate is between 3.6 and 4.5 MILLION in US.

What's Next
tielan linked us to "So you just got home from your local Women's March. Now what?" and we'll be putting together a post this week to round up sources and try to help folks get organized on that front.

Immediate Action
Organizers Call evening of January 22 - THIS IS TONIGHT! An info and training session run by MoveOn.org, Indivisible, and Working Families about getting organized for making tons of calls on Tuesday Jan 24. If you want to participate there's a sign up on the website. This is something to put on your calendar.
Virtual "call parties"? - Want mutual support to make those calls? Find your people here!

Events that happened
Indivisible Weekly - about Inauguration week
NYC Rally Jan. 19
Huffington Post Nationwide List of Inauguration Protests

Confirmation Hearings
U.S. Senate business meetings to vote on nominations
Secretary of the Treasury: Steven Mnuchin

Last week - you can still call your Senators about these people
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: Governor Nikki R. Haley
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Scott Pruitt
Secretary of the Department of Commerce: Wilbur Ross
Secretary of the Interior: Ryan Zinke
Secretary of Education: Betsy DeVos
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tom Price
Secretary of Defense - James Mattis
Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development: Dr Ben Carson
Secretary of the Department of Transportation: Elaine Chao
Director of CIA - Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State: Rex Tillerson
Confirmation Hearings - Secretary of Energy: Rick Perry

Healthcare
Action: ACA Wavering Republicans

Things to read, places to donate
Effective protest signs
NARAL state-by-state infographic on anti-choice laws
Is it treason yet? - About Russia
US Politics: Discussion: Divestiture Is a Non-Partisan Issue
Effects of any ACA repeal will be huge

Hope Lives - Obama's new website

Resources
Downloadable Posters
Tips for Writing Editorials and Letters to the Editor
Oldie But Goodie: How to Protest Safely and Legally

Inspiration
Inauguration Day - in which our community shares inspiring quotes and songs and actions

Poll #17912 Inauguration week

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23

View Respondents

This week I

View Answers

called my senator
8 (34.8%)

called my other senator
6 (26.1%)

called my representative
7 (30.4%)

called my state representative
2 (8.7%)

called my state senator
1 (4.3%)

called my governor
0 (0.0%)

MARCHED!
20 (87.0%)

took care of myself
10 (43.5%)

went to a local action group
3 (13.0%)

commited to one action in the coming week and put it on my calendar
4 (17.4%)

did something else not listed
6 (26.1%)

I still haven't made badges - are there folks out there who want to help out with that?