A year ago, Indivisible Chester County did not exist.
Today, we are almost 2,800 strong.
A year ago, many of our members were angry, frightened, weaning off a month of Xanax, unsure what to do, unsure of how….
And now we have close to a year of successes.
As the incredibly reluctant chair of ICC, I am very proud of all of you, and all you’ve done. So let’s take a look back, and then look at what we can do next year.
How it all began…
First, a shout out to Phil, without whom, none of us would be here. He was the first to realize that Chester County would need an Indivisible Chapter, and he formed a Facebook Group, and started looking at who was posting, who seemed to be engaged, and formed the nucleus of the original leadership team, which has changed over the year. Everyday, Phil posts the Action Items for the day. From feedback, we know that a lot of our members depend on this: they want to do something to help stave off the destruction that is the current administration, and this gives them a place to start on a daily basis.
A shout out to Shannon, chair of Social Media, who put together this website, launched our Twitter and Instagram feeds, and basically helps all the rest of us with the technical issues.
There were many others who helped with the launch who have moved on to others things, and we are grateful for their participation.
Current Leadership Team
In addition to Phil and Shannon, shout outs to our current Leadership Team (in alphabetical order by first name):
Greg – Finance Chair. We are working towards being a more formal organization, and if that happens, Greg will lead our initiatives in that area. Until then, he has been working tirelessly related to our candidate forums, meetings and charitable work.
Janine – Outreach Chair. As we move into 2018, Janine will be leading our training and outreach programs on the civic side: helping people know everything they need to know to be engaged in the process.
Kent – Research Chair. Kent has led the research team. If you’ve never looked at the “Resources” tab on the ICC website, take a look and see what they’ve accomplished!
Laura – Membership Chair. Not only does Laura work with new members, but she edits and publishes our AWESOME bi-weekly newsletter.
Rich – The Data Guy. In the background, we do things with data. For example, if there is something coming up in a local area that affects just a single township, we contact those individuals in that area. And when I say “we”, I mean Rich.
So what have we accomplished?
ICC has accomplished so much that the list is certainly incomplete. Probably the most important thing that we did this year was to set up our Mission Statement, and then we lived it, and created opportunities around it.
Indivisible Chester County makes our voices known to our elected representatives,
supports candidates with progressive positions,
and takes part in non-violent exercise of our First Amendment rights.
Making our voices known? Letter writing campaigns, post card parties, daily Calls to Action that involve phone calls, faxes and more written comments. It mattered, and it made a difference. You might not see it yet, but large movements start somewhere!
Supporting candidates with progressive positions? DID YOU SEE THE CHESTER COUNTY VOTE TOTALS IN NOVEMBER? Incredible success. And that didn’t come out of the blue. We held voter registration drives, our members canvassed as block captains, for the local committees, and for individual candidates. ICC sent out almost 200 sample ballots for the primary, and had a lot of help with sample ballots for the general. We gave all the Chester County candidates the opportunity to provide statements, and we published them to our website, in searchable format, and we also published a Voter Guide. Not to mention how many of our members ran for office, from Inspectors and Judges of Elections through county office and everywhere in between.
Non-violent exercise of our First Amendment rights?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
WE DID IT ALL! We assembled – both in support of freedom, as well as to learn. Everything from training classes involving voter registration, canvassing, political events, political activism and civics, through protests, a Die-In, and showing up at the offices of elected officials. We publish and email a newsletter to our members every two weeks with ideas, and plans and events. Many people wrote to newspapers and other publications, and many gave money to the ACLU and other groups that petition the government.
And there’s more! ICC provided a place for people to be heard, to contribute ideas, to participate, and to find out what they could do, after that initial shock, depression and feelings of loss back last November. We are so much stronger together: there is strength in numbers. And as I write this, we are close to 2,800 people strong. Many of ICC’s members didn’t know anything about politics, or civic engagement prior to last November’s election.
We held candidate forums for both 2017 candidates, and 2018 candidates.
We ran a successful fundraiser for the Chester County Food Bank.
We coordinated with other Indivisible Groups in the Southeast Pennsylvania area, as well as other local and national groups to put on events, share information and work towards common goals. We’ve become such an on-going thorn in Ryan Costello’s side that even when we had no involvement in an event, or a published letter, he blames us!
What could we have done better?
Meetings. We had precious few member meetings.
And you can help.
We REALLY need an Events Chair.
An Events Chair, or dare I dream? an Events Committee would be SO HELPFUL in ICC being able to hold meetings.
What ARE we planning for 2018?
A lot of the same in terms of engagement, training, and giving voice. But there’s more. Over the past year, we’ve been asked A LOT about what makes ICC different from any other group in Chester County? We soul searched on this. When we interacted with other groups in Southeastern Pennsylvania, we looked at what they did, and how they did what they did. We sent out a survey to our members, and we held a member meeting to listen to feedback from members about where they wanted the organization to go.
So here it is: we plan to be the fulcrum for political action in Chester County. What does that mean?
- Many people feel that they want to know MORE about how a bill becomes a law, what one needs to do to run for office, how to evaluate whether what the Trump administration is doing is legal per the Constitution. We will be providing ongoing training on these and other topics.
- Many people want to participate in the political process in Chester County, and we aspire to serve as a clearinghouse for ICC members. Here are some examples:
- Some people are strictly issue-oriented, they have their one issue and that’s what they want to work on. We will either connect them with an organization in their issue field, or help them set up a team within ICC to work on it.
- Some people want to work with the established party organization at the local or county level, but don’t feel that they know enough to do so. We’ll provide training and hook them up.
- Some people want to run for office. We’ll hold seminars to help people determine whether they really do want to run for office, and if so, for which office, and we’ll explain what needs to happen to run a successful campaign.
- Some people want to work with a campaign. We have connections to many of the campaigns that have already launched, and will certainly have more. We will be able to help slot people with the campaigns.
We plan to build on our existing foundation of helping our members get and stay engaged as “good citizens” who undertake civic action, and work towards returning the United States to the democracy it was until 20 January 2017. We welcome your comments, your suggestions, and above all your participation (ESPECIALLY if you want to work on Events!).
THANK YOU for being a part of ICC in 2017 – we look forward to 2018.
The Leadership Team of ICC wishes you a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanza or Festivus for the Rest of Us.
(As a personal aside, I will celebrate any holiday involving cookies).
May your season be bright, and fun.
Get some rest, ICC, 2018 is going to be a hit-the-ground-running year.
One final note: I wrote in the beginning of this missive that I was the “incredibly reluctant chair of ICC” and that’s true. I had promised my husband that I would be taking this year off from politics. I had planned on going to Harry Potter Land at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and riding the Hogwart’s Express. Instead, here I am. I have interacted with many of you, both online, on the phone and in real life. I have endeavored to provide you with answers to your questions, to instill knowledge about political activism and civics, and to provide just a little bit of leadership in these dark times. I am thrilled with your engagement, your dedication, and your willingness to work towards saving democracy. Without democracy, we lose everything. THANK YOU for all you have done, and all you will continue to do.
On behalf of Kent, Phil, Greg, Shannon, Laura, Richard and Janine
The Indivisible Chester County Leadership Team
Warmest Regards,
Jessica, DC WP
Chair, Indivisible Chester County