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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. 

As we’ve always said, the best way to combat that awful, sinking feeling you get watching the news is to get involved and start making change. And the organizing for 2025 has already started. 

Read that again: The organizing for 2025 has already started.

As we lingered over the second piece of pie, we reflected on how strange time feels right now. It’s a bit like we are dancing the night away as the iceberg gets nearer and nearer. We know how hard it is to ignore that 2025 and the new administration are coming but we hope you have been able to unplug over the past week and that you will use this holiday time to recharge. If you can engage now, read to the end of the newsletter to get to our Calls To Action and Events section.

Today, however, is Giving Tuesday and we hope you will make a donation to NJ 11th for Change. As noted, 2025 is only weeks away and New Jersey’s gubernatorial race is a national bellwether. History has its eyes on us. NJ 11th for Change has work to do and we need your financial support to get it done.

In the past week, we hope you have taken the time to regroup, process, rage garden, or do what you needed to do to absorb the news that the chaos and trauma of another Trump presidency awaits us. It’s been a hard week plus. 

Aside from  long walks, we have found the greatest comfort in spending time with the NJ 11th for Change community. Thank you so much to everyone who made it out to the post election event last week. There were dozens of soups and breads and new and old friends alike. Somebody left behind a green bag. Email Judy to arrange for a pick up. While yes, everyone is feeling sad/angry/afraid/all of the above, we are also seeing a lot of resolve. We didn’t come this far to quit now! 

Friends, we are still numb. But also, we know we have each other. We hope you will join us for soup and community this Saturday if you feel up for it. We promise friendly faces, delicious food, and hugs if you need them. Hope to see you there, it’s an open house, so drop by for as long as you like. No pressure if you don’t feel up to a big gathering yet, we understand. Watch this space, more to come. For now, we are off to make a big pot of soup… 

Sign up to join us: https://www.mobilize.us/nj11thforchange/event/742317/