Democracy Out Loud 428.1:Crunch time

In whatever way we can, we must keep organizing and mobilizing the opposition.

Some of us just spent two days packing the gallery at the NC General Assembly, where two anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion bills are moving through the state legislature. The legislation and its defenders are helping us understand white supremacy on a whole new level. The brutality of these bills was brought home to me by the Black woman sitting next to me who wept throughout the discussion and vote on NC SB 558.

For years we have been packing the gallery when especially egregious bills come up, but I have never seen us manage to pack the gallery completely for two straight days like we did this week. Can we keep it up? NC HB 171 was not voted on either of those days, and when it appears on the calendar again we need to show up. Looks like it will be Wednesday, April 16.

If you would like to join our Legislative Response team tracking and opposing bad bills at the NCGA, email Mark at DemocracyOutLoud@gmail.com.

So many bills being proposed now will cause so much suffering. Republicans on both the state and federal level are determined to keep cutting taxes for corporations and billionaires at the expense of the most vulnerable people among us. For example, NC HB 491/NC SB 403 “Medicaid work requirements,” will require people on Medicaid to work even though other states which have implemented similar bills have found that they do not result in increased employment or in cost savings to the states. This bill if enacted will put the health insurance of 1.4 million North Carolinians at risk.

Karen B. sent this article with the details about Jefferson Griffin’s challenge of Alison Rigg’s win in the NC Supreme Court election.

Join Progress NC for a rally to “Protect our votes with Allison Riggs” on Monday April 14 at 10 am at Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh. You can get more information and sign up at this link.

If you have not already done so, check here to see if your vote was challenged by Griffin. If you find your name, contact your county Board of Elections. In any case sign up to help Common Cause NC and other pro-democracy organizations win these court cases and get the election certified.

Robert Hubbell offers a great summary of the major disturbing things just passed by the Republican House of Representatives: the SAVE act and the budget framework. What we have to do now is pressure Senators to vote against the SAVE act, which Democracy Docket calls “the most extraordinary attack on voting rights in American history.” You can do this with the ACLU at this link, and 5 calls has good talking points for calling Senators.

We have to continue protesting and spreading the word that for the sake of massive tax cuts for the rich (not to mention more money for the Pentagon and construction of for-profit prisons for immigrants, AKA concentration camps), Republicans are willing to cut health care and food for the poorest Americans, all while raising the deficit. See Indivisible’s plan regarding the budget. It involves town halls. If you are working on a town hall, email us so we can join you.

A lot of us in Democracy Out Loud are really tired of Senator Tillis, but happy that there are some movements to pressure him and decrease his chances in 2026. There are opportunities to knock on doors in Durham and participate in a social media campaign.

Someone asked on Tuesday about the rumor that Trump will invoke the insurrection act. We wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Read “What to do if the insurrection act is invoked,” from Waging Nonviolence, or “Could Trump invoke the insurrection act? What to know and how to prepare” from Indivisible.

One of the men who was not a member of the Venezuelan gang but was sent to the brutal prison in El Salvador without due process by Trump is from North Carolina. It is becoming more clear that this was a kind of reality show made by ICE for the purpose of terrorizing everyone, and they didn’t care who was caught up in this sweep. If you were male, Venezuelan, and had a tattoo, you were cast in the movie and thrown into hell with no way back.

In the same vein, foreign students who protested the genocide in Gaza have lost their visas, including at least twelve in North Carolina.

The NC AFL-CIO is hosting a public hearing in Asheville (4/17), Durham (below), and Charlotte (4/23). Click on each of these cities for the RSVPs.

Mehdi Hasan offers a succinct summary of the tariffs: “An authoritarian and self-serving president who has transformed his Grand Old Party into a personality cult, and brought elite universities, major media corporations, and big law firms to their knees within weeks of returning to the Oval Office, is now seeking to use the tariff-imposing powers granted to the commander-in-chief under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to reward his corporate friends and punish his corporate adversaries.”

Republicans in the House and Senate are nervous about the tariffs, and they should be. This is a place to pressure our Senators when we call them, because the strategy is to not only to build our opposition to the coup but also to help exacerbate divisions among its supporters.

On Sunday, April 13 from 1 pm to 3:30 pm ET, Congresswoman Primila Jayapal is offering a “Resistance Lab: Virtual Organizing Training 101” on zoom. You can find out more and sign up at this link.

On Wednesday, April 16 from 8 to 9 pm ET, SURJ (Standing Up for Racial Justice) is sponsoring a webinar on “Solidarity Not Scapegoats: Strategies for Organizing the White Working Class.” You can get more information and register at this link.

Important from the NC Poor People’s Campaign: Donations are needed to replenish the money spent on the April 5 rally in Raleigh. (You can watch the whole recording here, or clips of NCPPC speakers here.) The stage and sound system cost thousands of dollars; please donate so that they can continue to do their important work.

April 5 is being followed by a Nationwide Day of Action on April 19. The People’s Town Hall for Liberty in Raleigh is sponsored by Red Wine and Blue; sign up at this link. Protests are planned in Raleigh and Durham but I don’t have details yet. I do know that we need peacekeepers for Raleigh. Otherwise known as marshals in some circles, we wear reflective vests and, a bit like church ushers, we welcome people and help ensure their safety and comfort. There were not enough of us on April 5, and it is a fun and easy thing to do. Please email me at democracyoutloud@gmail.com if you can step up.

May Day will be an important moment for action all over the country. There will be a “Stop the Billionaire Agenda” protest at Halifax Mall on Thursday May 1 at 4 pm.

Everyone is welcome to join us for our Tuesday zoom calls from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm (“doors open” at 10:45 am; come early if you are new) and our guided meditation at 10 am on Thursday. Email Jewel at DemocracyOutLoud@gmail.com and tell her just a bit about yourself and she will send you the zoom link.

We are all in danger now. Action, especially with others, is the antidote to fear and paralysis. May we all find our particular work in this perilous moment, and do it as best we can.

love, Karen

“Change has never come from Washington, it often comes to spite Washington and it comes to Washington by American people who are saying ‘I am not satisfied with what's going on and I'm gonna join a larger movement because it's a moral moment.’” - Senator Corey Booker on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

“It’s hard to imagine the worst or the best when it takes all you have to put one foot in front of the other. And yet, to prevent the worst, we have to be able to imagine not only ways to resist Trump but a future for this country that makes this resistance necessary.” - M. Gessen, New York Times (gift article), April 4, 2025

“You don’t protect yourself by what you say or don’t say because you become an anonymous mass from the point of view of fascist. So it’s this kind of narcissistic fear that if you tell the truth, they’re going to spot you and they’re going to come after you. They’re coming after all of us. So you might as well tell the truth.” - Sarah Shulman, New York Times (gift article), April 10, 2025