Take Action Tuesday

The sun rose yesterday, today, and as the song goes - The Sun will come out tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow! Enjoy spring as it blooms around us! Fighting facism is different. It takes all of us and YOU! We have a plethora of actions to pick from here in our Substack for West MI Indivisible. Please choose an action and DO IT! We’ve got this! One action at a time, day after day! Let’s go!

1. Call - Call your representatives in government to oppose the budget reconciliation bill that funds ICE and Border Patrol without any reforms or accountability! Call your representative {Huizenga (202) 225-4401 or Scholten (202)225-3831}, Senators {Peters (202) 224-6221 and Slotkin (202) 224-4822}, Governor Whitmer (517-373-3400) or use 5calls.org

2. Attend - Postcard and Popcorn Party - Wednesday, May 13, 1:00-3:00, Grandville library. We supply all materials, etc. However, donations are more than welcome! Register here

3. Sign - Go to mopupmichigan.org and help to get money out of politics. We only have a very few days so scroll on the website to find a location where you can sign a petition. There are several locations around the GR area. We only have until May 20 to sign a petition and collect signatures! YOUR help is needed ASAP!

4. Meet the Congressional District 4 Candidates - May 14, 6:30 pm at Hope Church, 77 West 11th Street. Meet Diop Harris, Sean McCann and Phil Tanis. They are all on the primary ballot for the CD-4 Congressional Representative role. CD-4 Democrats will share strategies for the campaign season. Let’s attend! Contact westmiindivisible@gmail.com if you would like to carpool or plan to meet up.

5. Sign - We are so grateful for our public libraries! Sign this petition to take action to support our libraries!

West MI Indivisible May Meeting - Tuesday, May 19, 4:30-6:00 pm, Grandville library. There will be 2 guest speakers. Hope for Neighbors supports people that are detained in Baldwin and their families. Information presented at the meeting will include: letter writing, backpack clothes, visitations, transportation, and more. Second Harvest Food Pantry will inform us about food resources we can access for families affected by ICE. We also will be sharing, networking, and connecting with others. Come and enjoy being around like-minded, friendly people. All are welcome! Register here

Taco Tuesday - Immediately following the meeting, May 19, join us around the corner at Lalo’s. Have fun with your new like-minded friends!

West MI Virtual May Meeting - Thursday, May 21, 8:00 pm

Please let your friends who can’t attend our in person meeting know about this virtual recap. Questions and answers about all Indivisible topics are welcome! Register here

Book Club - Tuesday, May 26, 6:30 - 8:00 for change-making conversation, community, and snacks provided. Grandville library Register here

Coffee and Whine - Tuesday, June 2, 9:30-11:00, Signatures, 6375 Balsam in Hudsonville. Register so we can approximate a reservation.

Resistance Protest - Protest against ICE Every Monday 12:00 noon - 1:00. At SW corner of 28th and East Beltline. Come and join in to help make change. Bring a sign, or if you don’t have one, there are always extras!

Bridge Brigade Take Over Protest - Friday, May 15, 22, 29, 4:30-5:30, at Fuller over I-196. Try something new if you haven’t been here before!

Coalition Corner - For Our Future MI is our coalition partner organization committed to seeing real progressive change in Michigan. Join this free ongoing monthly Zoom series that is focused on our state budget decision making process - MI Legislation 101: Policy, Process, and Power! Register here.

A lot has been happening with our families recently. We had a generous donation of furniture and were able to provide a bed to one family and living room furniture to another family. We also helped a family move last week. We would not have been able to do any of this without our hard-working volunteers who brought trucks and donated their time, strength, and energy to load and unload all the furniture. Our families were extremely grateful!!

We are continuing to support families by delivering food and clothing, providing referrals for legal assistance when needed, and making new connections throughout the community. Raising funds is an ongoing activity, for even though we utilize area food banks, we purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meat, and personal hygiene and household items on a weekly basis. If you are able to make a monetary donation, please see the Venmo information below. Ann is our designated person who has experience in this area, and along with Chris, ensures that all funds are used appropriately to support our families. Thank you to all who have donated and continue to donate on a regular basis! You are helping keep many families in our community fed.

Election Protection - Let’s all sign up to help protect the right to vote before, during and after the 2026 election. You will receive strategic updates via email and text, training opportunities, and critical calls to action during key election protection moments in Michigan. Sign up here Protect Election

Michigan Voter Information Center - Check here for any questions you have about voting in Michigan. Am I registered? How do I register? How do I vote absentee? Where do I vote? And any other question you might have!

Become a Poll Worker-Have you ever thought about working at the polls? Many areas of our counties are in need of poll workers (also known as election inspectors). All the information on signing up, getting the necessary training, and getting your questions answered can be found here. If you are interested in becoming an election challenger or a poll watcher, click on the same link for information.

Neighbor 2 Neighbor - Hard to know which neighbors are like-minded near where you live? Do you think everyone in your area is MAGA? No problem! AND you just might be surprised! Sign in to Neighbor to Neighbor and you will be provided with a list of ten neighbors near your home who have voted blue in the recent elections. Introduce yourself or put a flyer in their newspaper box (not mailbox) about our events so they can join us! It’s a great way to get to know more like-minded people in your neighborhood or near where you live. It will be great to have this network of neighbors for the midterm elections. Registration for Neighbor to Neighbor and more information here. Any questions, contact westmiindivisible@gmail.com

Local school boards - We are currently starting text groups for our area school boards. Please let us know if you are willing to gather the information and organize it according to school districts. We have already begun a group in Jenison. Let us know if you would like to be included in the group.

Area school board meeting dates: Grandville Schools, Byron Center Schools, Jenison Schools,Hudsonville Schools Please send any notes of interest to westmiindivisible@gmail.com

Bill Huizenga Accountability Protest: It’s been announced that Bill Huizenga will be the keynote speaker at the Van Buren County Republicans’ Lincoln Day Dinner - a hobnobbing and fundraising event for West Michigan Republicans. But, Bill Huizenga has been failing Michiganders for years, and that message should be as loud as whatever he has to say in his speech.

So, a coalition of grassroots and community organizations – led by Paw Paw Indivisible and For Our Future MI – are coming together to protest Bill’s MIS-representation of us and our interests and to draw negative accountability attention to Bill Huizenga during his visit to the Decatur VFW as keynote speaker for their Lincoln Day Event.

We’d love to have you join us - whether it’s attending yourself, recruiting some members of your group to protest, or helping to organize the event. We’re so excited about this opportunity. More information about the event will be shared as the end of the month gets closer.

Bill “HIDEzenga” Accountability Protest

WHAT

A peaceful protest put on by a coalition of grassroots and community organizations to hold Bill Huizenga accountable (in person and in the press) to the MISrepresentation of his district, MI-4. Right now the organizing is being led by For Our Future MI and Indivisible Paw Paw.

Saturday, May 30 | 5:00 to 7:00

WHY

Bill Huizenga hides from his constituents, but we know he’ll be at this speaking engagement. So, we’re going to seize the opportunity and show up with the messages he needs to hear about accountability and the effects of his voting record on the people he is meant to represent. We want to try to keep the word of our protest from getting back to Bill ahead of time, so please don’t share the event on social media.

Let’s be clear…this is not a protest against the VFW. It’s a Republican fundraising event. They’ve rented the VFW hall. The event actually has nothing to do with veterans. In fact, we’ll have some veterans present at the protest, raising their voices in opposition to Bill Huizenga for the way he votes on many things affecting both veterans and our current armed forces.

And again, please don’t post this on any social media platforms. Feel free to text or email within your network and share by word of mouth. Bill has not been responsive to his constituents, and if ultimately he doesn’t show up, that’ll be a story in and of itself, but we hope he does come. We want to keep our organizing for accountability a little bit quiet until we loudly show up and he then cannot ignore us anymore.

Questions? If you have questions, contact Megan Sloterbeek at msloterbeek@forourfuturefund.org

• We are hoping to start a Whine and Dine monthly event. Our Coffee and Whine is very popular and people in our group have expressed interest in starting an event that is similar in format but in the evening. Please contact Jennie, Ann or westmiindivisible@gmail.com if you are interested in helping plan the group.

• We are looking to possibly have a Picnic in July for our monthly meeting. Please contact the leadership team if you can help organize the fun event.

• We are considering having a garage sale or other event for a fundraiser. Let us know if you are interested in helping lead this effort.

• Would you like to organize a town hall for candidates for CD 4 or one of our school boards? Let us know!

• Can you help us gather information from our members and organize it according to school districts? We want to be organized for the midterm elections! Contact us at westmiindivisible@gmail.com

• West MI Indivisible always welcomes volunteers! Big or small, your efforts make a difference. E-mail us at westmiindivisible@gmail.com to get involved or ask any questions.

Our Democracy needs us!

“By actively engaging in peaceful protests, raising awareness, and exercising our democratic rights, we can create meaningful change and ensure that oppressive forces do not thrive.”

- from BookKey, 30 Best On Tyranny quotes.

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