Hi Friend, As COVID-19 cases surge - we hope that you are healthy and safe at home. If you're like us, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed with all the work we've gotta do before the election to make sure that voters get the info and support they need to vote safely and ensure our votes are counted. (See below for a lot of resources you can share). At the same time as we all work to support our communities' participation at the ballot box, we don't want to forget that not all of our community members will have a voice in this year's election. It's important to talk about why folks cannot turn out to vote & the systemic issues that inhibit the participation of disenfranchised communities in our elections.
This is the 6th educational panel in our series with Walk The Talk Santa Fe.
Sign up HERE. Or you can watch when we go live on our Facebook page.
The NM Public Regulation Commission just issued an order to extend the utility-shutoff moratorium today after a powerful public hearing yesterday. Thanks to New Energy Economy and our fellow advocates: Working Families Party, Retake Our Democracy, Olé, Prosperity Works, Earth Care's Mutual Aid Network, and Interfaith Power and Light for showing up to give voice to just how important the right to electricity is for ALL community members during the pandemic. We called not only for a moratorium on shutoffs and late fees (which was granted) but for future rule-making for utility debt forgiveness.
YUCCA'S ELECTION GUIDE ZINE IS OUT!
Our 17-page Bilingual English/Spanish Zine is hot off the presses - find it at local parks, bus stops, housing complexes, and local businesses throughout town.
Big thanks to everyone who came and got a stack and is helping to distribute these throughout the community. This awesome zine made by youth leaders of YUCCA has beautiful original art, poetry, and info including:
Absentee Voting Information
Early Voting Information
Know Your Rights Information
Interviews on the election with youth
Information about YUCCA - our endorsed candidates, demands, &how to get involved. CHECK IT OUT HERE
....Arte Romero y Carver [from YUCCA] seemed optimistic about the local elections this year.
“I have a lot of hope for the people we’ve endorsed and the people who are coming in as a kind of new guard, especially to the state [level],” he said. “In this election, there are candidates who are more than corporate surrogates, and their election will be necessary to secure a livable future for all peoples.”
Meanwhile, there are communities in New Mexico who are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change that have already occurred, Seneca Johnson [from YUCCA] said.
“Many people have been feeling the effects for years now, and especially in marginalized communities,” she said. “They know it’s only going to get worse, it’s only going to bring more destruction, not only to our lives, but to our wildlife and our cultures and our environment. There’s not really any way to tone it down.”
“I heard a really good metaphor the other day. Instead of, ‘we’re all in the same boat,’ it’s more like we’re all in the same storm,” Johnson added. “Some people have rowboats and other people might have yachts.”
FIND OUR ENDORSEMENTS, VOTERS GUIDES, & MORE ON OUR WEBSITE
Comments