Weekend of Action: Oct 7-9 - find an event!
We're so excited about our upcoming Weekend of Action (Oct7-9)! Join us to remind people that Reproductive Freedom is on the ballot this November. Join us to Get Out the Vote for Pro-Choice candidates in the Midterms. It’s going to take all of us!
Attend an event hosted by Women’s March MN:
10/8
- Doorknock with WMM to help Flip the MN Senate Join us at the Day of 2,000 Doors for Judy Seeberger (SD41) 1:30-4pm. Cottage Grove. Register here
- Postcard Party to help Flip the Senate Join us in an important part of our #FlipTheMNSenate effort as we write postcards to support pro-choice candidates. 3-5 pm Bear Cave Brewing, Hopkins. Register here
10/9
- Pro-Choice Sign Brigade 10am-noon. Join friends from Women's March Minnesota, Edina Indivisible and Indivisible St. Paul for a "bridge brigade" to encourage drivers with our pro-choice voting messages. We will be standing on three bridges strategically in the path of drivers heading toward downtown Minneapolis for the Vikings game. Register here
- Island of Deserted Women Get Out the Vote table Visit Women’s March MN at the Island of Discarded Women show at the Minneapolis Women’s Club, 410 OakGrove St., Minneapolis. We’ll be in the lobby before and after the show helping people get registered and/or hearing more about the upcoming midterm elections. Show is at 5.30-8.30pm and tickets are available online.
10/7 - 10/9
Adopt a Clinic Join us all weekend as we support a women’s clinic in Duluth and help them reach their goal of providing sexual and reproductive health care for all. Donate directly or purchase items on their We Health Amazon wish list.
Other Weekend of Action Events NOT hosted by Women’s March MN:
Two weeks ago, we put out the call for you to host Weekend of Action events. You responded. Here are the events that we know of so far. Let us know if you’ve heard of more. Please find one near you and support it.
10/8
- Rally in Lindstrom for Women’s Rights 9am-12noon. Oberstar Plaza, 12650 Lake Blvd, Lindstrom, MN, 55045
.- Doorknock for Jen Schultz and Kate Malchow 10am and 1pm. Central ParkPavilion, 6250 Main Street, North Branch.
- Sign Holding in Coon Rapids 11am-1pm. Join Sign Holding event in high traffic area - Highway 10 overpass on Main Street in Coon Rapids. 3045 Main Street, Coon Rapids, MN.
- Women’s Wave MN 12 noon, MN State Capitol, St Paul. Register here.
10/9
Doorknock for Jen Schultz and Katie Malchow. 11am. Goodview Park Pavilion, Goodview Ave South of 262nd St., Wyoming, MN.
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Weekend of Action: Donate to Women’s Clinic in Duluth
Join us in supporting the Women’s Health Clinic in Duluth. Abortion Clinics are under attack and we need to support them, especially since they provide services to individuals who can’t access care in their own state. Please consider donating to them directly or through their wish list on Amazon. You can also consider sending them gift cards to Duluth area restaurants to provide meals for staff.
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EVENT Oct 9: Island of Discarded Women
Visit Women’s March MN at the Island of Discarded Women. We’ll be in the lobby before and after the show helping people get registered and/or get informed about the upcoming Mid Term Elections.
It’s a special night of a live broadcast of a podcast that lifts of women. Sue Scott and her guests share powerful stories, original music and inspiring conversation! + Food & drink!
The special guest is Marcie Rendon. Marcie is a member of the White Earth Nation and an author, playwright, poet and community arts activist. She is an award-winning author of a fresh new murder mystery series and will share with us excerpts from a new powerful play she is writing that shines a light on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Musical guest will be Jaspar Lepak, with new music that is sure to inspire action.
Tickets for the show: $20
Doors open at 5:30 to purchase Food + Drink at your table (service continues during show!)
Show time: 7:00 to 8:30pm
At the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis!
410 Oak Grove St. Minneapolis, MN 55403
https://www.islandofdiscardedwomen.com/
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MN Senate Candidates - #FlipTheMNSenate
For an immediate list for supported House candidates, Women Winning has a list of Senate and House candidates that have been vetted and written up.
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Help WMM to #FlipTheMNSenate
Minnesota is the only state in the country with a split Legislature - the House is controlled by one party (DFL) and the Senate by another (GOP). This makes it very difficult to get bills passed in both chambers and very hard to get progressive legislation passed into law. So, this election we’re focusing our efforts on flipping the MN Senate.
We’ve identified races that we believe will help #FlipTheMNSenate and we’re actively working to support the following candidates in these MN Senate races
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Help Pro-Choice candidates get elected
We are determined to finally elect a pro-choice majority in both the MN House and the MN Senate. This is the only way to protect and expand the right of all Minnesotans to abortion and reproductive healthcare.
There are many ways to help pro-choice candidates get elected, whether you live in their district or not.
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#BeAVoter and encourage others to #BeAVoter
Join us to build the 2022 Blue wave, just like 2018 and 2020!
#BeAVoter
Encourage others to #BeAVoter
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OPPORTUNITY September 10: Volunteer with Women's March at Open Streets West Broadway
Come visit us and/or volunteer at the WMM booth on West Broadway at Open Streets on September 10!
Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for volunteers to help us at the WMM booth. If you've been looking for an easy fun way to get involved - this is it! Shifts will be:
· 10:00am-12:30pm
· 12:00pm-2:30pm
· 2:30pm-5:00pm
You can work one shift or more. Any necessary training will be provided. Please contact us at admin@womensmarchmn.com if you are interested and let us know which shift works best for you. Thank you!
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July 17: Our Future: March for Abortion Access
Join us to demand that Minnesota be a leader in securing reproductive freedom with a day of action on Sunday, July 17 starting at 11:00 am at St. Paul College with a march to the Capitol at noon.
Our Future: March for Abortion Access is an action for everyone to show our leaders and our country what Minnesotans really stand for in this historic moment. Join us!
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Protecting Reproductive Rights event with Sen. Tina Smith!! 6/15. Join us!!
The US Supreme Court is poised to undo 50 years of formal federal protections for access to abortion care in America! How will this ideological attack on reproductive rights and reproductive health care affect us? What could happen next? What can we do to protect and expand Abortion Access, Reproductive Freedom and Reproductive Justice? What are the options at the federal level, including the path toward Supreme Court Reform/Expansion in America? How secure is legal abortion here in MN and what needs to happen to safeguard and expand reproductive rights in our state?
We’re co-hosting a lunch hour event on the subject with Sen. Tina Smith - Protecting Reproductive Freedom in MN - June 15th, 11.30-12.30. Join us!
We'll hear from... U.S. Senator Tina Smith, 11:30-11:45am Meagan Hatcher Mays, Indivisible National, 11:45-12:05 * Maggie Meyer, Pro-Choice Minnesota, 12:05-12:25
Sign up here.
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Fire Prison Guard Who Sexually Assaulted Inmate and End Pattern of Abuse at Shakopee
Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee have shared a Call to Action…
This April 13th, 2022, Department of Corrections officer Christopher Wendover sexually assaulted Angela Jackson, in solitary confinement, groping her breasts and vaginal area while she was in handcuffs, and threatening her with violence not to tell. Another male guard was present, and while he didn’t directly intervene he did press the panic button, which ended the assault. Angela Jackson reported the information to the people at Shakopee prison and the police. The entire incident should be captured on prison video.
The Department of Corrections has closed this investigation without firing the officer, and until another incarcerated person complained, had officer Wendover staring at Mrs. Jackson every day in the cafeteria. Shakopee Prison has a history of sexual and other abuse, particularly after adding male staff in 1992, including lack of accountability for white officers. Just a few years ago, Sergeant Boegeman was fired from Shakopee for similar misconduct but was rehired in arbitration, so he continues to work at the facility, as well as others implicated.
These are also Department of Corrections wide issues, from failing to stop sexual assault or violence, to holding the mentally ill to solitary confinement, to policy 301.083 which allows the use of segregation for “overflow”, to holding people who are suicidal or a 'threat' naked in "wet cells". Shakopee prison also has bought but refuses to use an airport style body scanner to prevent the regular strip searching of incarcerated people, a procedure many consider sexual assault. Note that a majority of incarcerated women are survivors of sexual violence.
Angela Jackson needs your help via phone call and email --
Call the Scott County Attorney 952-496-8240 and tell them you believe it's important that they prosecute officer Christopher Wendover, Police Case Number 22007875.
Call or email the Commissioner of Corrections paul.schnell@state.mn.us 651-361-7226 and tell him to fire officer Wendover and ensure Angela Jackson is not retaliated against in her job, treatment, and work release placement. Also:
Ask him what he will do to end this pattern of abuse against vulnerable adults in his care
Tell him to start using the body scanner at Shakopee Prison to prevent strip searches which many consider to be sexual assaults, and to invest in them at all facilities
Tell him to medically release the mentally ill instead of sending them to solitary confinement
Finally, call the Attorney General’s office and ask them to investigate the pattern of abuse of in the Department of Corrections and Shakopee Prison in particular: 651-296-3353 -- they can contact us at tc.iwoc@gmail.com.
Sign the petition
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Take Time to Act to Protect Reproductive Rights and Access to Healthcare, and pass the ERA.
Thanks to those who joined us for Time to Act Monday night (May 9). It was a great crowd.
In less than an hour we were able to make a difference. We share our notes for those who can take a minute join the effort after the fact using the instruction sheets below to make it easy for you to know who to contact and what to say. If you can personalize the message, even better, but the following will get your started:
· Patients' Right to Know
· Women's Health Protection Act
· Equal Rights Amendment
Thank you for your activism on these important issues
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Reflections from the Polish-Ukrainian Border with Bernadine Joselyn
Join us on Wednesday, May 18th at 6:30 p.m. CT
Register now!
We are excited to hear from Bernadine Joselyn who just spent three weeks at the Polish-Ukrainian border welcoming and processing evacuees fleeing Russia’s war with Ukraine. Bernadine, who is director of Public Policy and Engagement at Blandin Foundation, lived and worked in Russia 20 years ago with the U.S. Foreign Service and other international development organizations, and now lives in Grand Rapids, MN with her Ukrainian husband.
Bernadine heard about the opportunity to help and quickly found herself in the evacuee center at Korcwoza, about 20 kilometers from the actual border
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Take A Break for Legislative Action: Elections and climate
Now is a good time to tell our legislators what we want. Here are Actions from the MN-Leg Action team to make a difference. Click on an Action to get to the full instruction sheet on how to take the action - the background to the bill and issue, who to contact and what to say. If you can personalize the message, even better.
Thank you for your activism!
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Time to Act - Join Us April 19 - 6pm
The Minnesota Legislature returns from spring break this week. It’s a good time to help them focus on what we want to see happen. So we will be meeting online Tuesday evening to go through actions and scripts to contact legislators on several bills. Please join us, especially if contacting legislators is new to you.
Calls for Tuesday:
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“Expecting Better” - roundtable on Black maternal mortality and morbidity disparities in MN with Black Maternal Health Caucus.
Last week was Black Maternal Health Week. In its honor, the MN State House Black Maternal Health Caucus hosted the “Expecting Better” roundtable. MN legislators and health advocates addressed Black maternal mortality and morbidity disparities in MN. The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among wealthy nations. In the U.S., the rates are higher for people of color, due to structural racism and lack of access to healthcare. In MN, Black people are more than twice as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white people. The participants in the roundtable gave powerful accounts of how racism in healthcare had impacted them personally, as well as other people in their lives.
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Women’s March MN night at Island of Discarded Women
A contingency from Women’s March Minnesota (WMM) had a night out with the Island of Discarded Women. The Island is a podcast that is recorded live at the Women’s Club in Minneapolis. The show is hosted by Sue Scott, whose work with the Prairie Home Companion is well known. It features storytelling, music and a conversation with accomplished women who working to make the world better, often by lifting up other women or others in need of lift.
On April 10, Sue was joined by Dr. Artika Tyner, is the director of the Center on Race, Leadership and Social Justice at the University of St. Thomas and the founder of Planting People Growing Justice and musical guest, powerhouse singer/songwriter Rachel Kurtz.
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