Overwhelmed? Yup. We know the feeling. Rather than add to the noise, this newsletter is going to be short, quick, and best of all ACTIONABLE. So here are three quick things you can do today. Best of all, they really really matter. 

Number 1 — CALL YOUR REPS! 

Outraged? You better believe we’re outraged! Kilmar Abrego Garcia was illegally snatched from his life and family in Maryland and deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador last month. Despite a Supreme Court ruling, the current administration isn’t bringing him back. In fact, now they say maybe “homegrown” criminals should be shipped off too. 

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has led the charge demanding that Garcia be returned. We are thrilled to see Senator Booker continuing to stand up and speak out, saying he will be heading to El Salvador himself. Senator Kim has condemned these actions and called the Trump administration wrong. Give our senators a call and say thank you! They need to hear it!

Got all your plans set for Saturday? 

Working on your signs? Make sure you have some rain gear, though the forecast is improving. Keep your figures crossed! 

NJ 11th for Change members will be everywhere! We are hearing that 1000+ folks have signed up for each of the “Hands Off!” rallies in Montclair, in Morristown, AND in Bridgewater! 

And lots of you will be in NYC! All the details about how to meet up at the end of this newsletter. But first, we must TALK ABOUT CORY.

CORY BOOKER: “DISRUPTING BUSINESS AS USUAL”

After 72 days of enduring the chaos and malice of Trump’s second administration, causing a disruption was New Jersey senator Cory Booker’s plan on Monday evening when he walked onto the Senate floor.

And disrupt it he did. For 25 glorious hours, and 5 minutes.

Senator Booker delivered the longest speech ever on the Senate floor, beating Strom Thurmond’s 1957 record (a filibuster against the Civil Rights Act) by almost a full hour. 

Thank you to everyone who made it out for our NJ 11th for Change Volunteer Meeting on Thursday! It was so great to be together. Help us plan the next one and DONATE today! We can’t do this work without your support!

Was the room packed for the volunteer meeting? Yeah. It was. Did we have to extend the room for another hour because folks had a lot to say? Yeah. Yeah we did. We are so grateful to Bill Solomon for recording the event so we could share it with those of you who couldn’t make it. More events to come (gotta point out that donate link again!).

Purple has always been our color. We’ve been thinking that you probably need some fresh purple NJ 11th for Change swag for all the upcoming rallies and marches you’ve got on your calendar? 

Of course you do (and we know where you can get some!)

Come to our next volunteer meeting this Thursday, March 27th at 6:30! 

We need to hear from you! What kind of work should we focus on between now and November? More importantly, what do YOU want to do? As you all know, we’re a sneakers-on-the-ground group. What we want everyone ready to discuss on 3/27 is less “what our side needs to accomplish as a sweeping national movement” and more “what should WE as NJ 11th for Change do, in terms of issue-focus and action plans”. What can WE do; not the DNC, not legislators, but US. 

Talk to us!

Last week was frantic and in the end, beyond frustrating. Enraging, that’s the word we were looking for. Enraging. But we go on. 

We've been in planning meetings with various partners all weekend and have events to share! National call to action April 5! The next NJ 11th for Change meetup! Not to mention the Governing New Jersey discussion with Attorney General Matt Platkin this Tuesday. You did sign up, right? If not, go do that now! Sign up here.

Might need to print this photo of Representative Al Green of Texas and put in on the fridge as a reminder: 

STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT

It’s the last day of February. Time to BUY NOTHING and DO SOMETHING!

We know the past few weeks have been hard. We all want to do something NOW! 

Here’s your chance.

Please join our friends at BlueWave to phone voters in New Jersey’s Republican House districts and urge them to tell their reps: Hands off Medicaid! 

WHAT: Emergency phone bank instruction session
WHEN: 12:00 noon, Tuesday, Feb. 25* 
WHERE: Virtual — make calls from anywhere at any time! 
WHY: To urge NJ’s red-district voters to call their GOP reps and insist on protecting Medicaid
REGISTER: Click here to register

Listen, we will always love you. Those people in D.C. hellbent on destroying everything they touch? We don’t love them, not one tiny bit. 

What we hear from everyone we talk to: WHAT DO WE DO NOW? Well, last week well over 100 of us showed up to let Senator Booker know that we need him to stand up for us! And another 40 did the same in Jersey CIty at Senator Kim’s office. We loved the incredible Fridays with Frelinghuysen vibes at both events, and were thrilled that so many FwF vets showed up, as well as many new faces!

We are responding to Indivisible's Call to Action and are organizing to meet in front of both Senator Booker's Newark office and Senator Kim's Jersey City office TOMORROW Wednesday, February 5th, from 12-1 pm. Fridays with Frelinghuysen veterans, you know the drill

Bring signs, and letters to present to our senators' staffers. The number of folks that will be able to go up to the offices will be limited, but we will collect all letters to deliver to the staff. 

Booker rally: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/753019/

Kim rally: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/753028/

If you have a personal story you want to share on how this affects you, your family or community, those letters are extremely powerful. Feel free to use our suggested form letter and add to it, or write your own.

Use this link to download poster/sign graphics from Indivisible (National)

The fear and dread and rage have been a lot to deal with this week. The tsunami of terrible has many of us feeling like we are drowning. We are terrified for our friends, neighbors, and family members who are the targets of some of the worst of the executive orders pouring out of Washington. 

We have to acknowledge the feelings. And then we need to act. Right now when it feels like everything is crumbling, this advice resonates with us:

How do we move from fear and rage to action? Focus on 1 or 2 things. Think about the concrete actions you can take to impact those ONE or TWO things. 

Just emerging from the holidays and feeling overwhelmed by the *$&%# of news? Yeah us too. 

This year is going to be a LOT. We are going to need each other, and we are going to need to support everyone in our communities. Monday, January 20th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and yes, we know, Inauguration Day. We won’t be spending time watching the news or doomscrolling social media. 

Instead, we will be helping our neighbors by collecting high demand supplies for both the Human Needs Food Pantry and Toni’s Kitchen.