NWSOFA Indivisible July 2020 Progressive Newsletter

 NEWSLETTER and CALENDAR JULY 2020
Centrist Really in the Center?
One of the most toxic elements of our current media culture is the persistent misuse of the word “centrist” to refer to candidates and positions who support unpopular pro-corporate policies.
Public opinion polls consistently show that what the media calls “centrism” can be extreme, unpopular, and far from the “center” of public opinion. Pick a subject: responsible gun legislation, reproductive rights, gay rights, equal rights or even the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The media consistently misleads the public by referring right leaning, pro-corporate candidates and policies as “centrist.”
With hatred and authoritarianism on the rise, voters deserve complete information and accurate interpretation from the media so that we can make the correct decisions about which candidates really represent us, the US citizens.
The media needs to do better.
UPCOMING SCHEDULED EVENTS FOR JULY 2020
  • JULY 9 – Hoffman Estates hosts a Virtual Town Hall meeting 6 PM
  • JULY 9 – League of Women Voters Program Anger to Action 7 PM
  • JULY 9 – NWSOFA Indivisible Restore Our Democracy Team presentation: Money in Politics to the Rotary Club of Chicago O’Hare
  • July 16 – NWSOFA Indivisible Restore Our Democracy Team presentation: Vote by Mail to the Barrington Area Council on Aging (BACOA)
  • JULY 16 – NWSOFA Indivisible Gun Violence prevention Issues Team Planning Meeting 7:00 PM
  • JULY 20 – NWSOFA Indivisible Fiscal Monthly Virtual Meeting 7:00 PM
  • JULY 28 – NWSOFA Indivisible Climate Change Speaker Event: Kelly McGinnis, Executive Director of the Mississippi River Network 7 – 9 PM
  • July 30 – NWSOFA Indivisible ROD presentation Vote by Mail presentation to the League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area
APPLY FOR VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT IN ILLINOIS NOW!
YOU CAN NOW APPLY FOR A BALLOT ON LINE NOW!
Visit your city or county’s website for more information:
“Coffee & Conversation” with NWSOFA every weekday @ 9 AM in JULY
Start your mornings off with Coffee and Conversations with the Northwest Suburbs Organizing for Action – An Indivisible Chapter. Join us, bring your favorite coffee, tea and /or snack and your smile. There will be no agenda so we will use the time to reconnect. Open Mic – all are welcome!
NWSOFA – INDIVISIBLE FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR! JULY 3,10,17,24,31 @ 5:00 PM
JUST FOR FUN, join us every Friday at 5:00 PM for our weekly “Friday Happy Hour”. Join us, bring your favorite beverage and your smile. There will be no agenda so we will use the time to reconnect and refresh.
Get Tested for Covid-19.. It’s Easy, Free, No Appointment Necessary
Considered getting tested for Covid-19? Now is the time.
Open to all regardless of symptoms!
There is no cost!
Testing is the key to controlling the pandemic and Illinois is doing it right. There are well over 100 COVOD-19 testing site locations (and growing) across the state of Illinois. Check out http://www.dph.illinois.gov/testingto see an interactive map.
For the ultimate convenience, the Illinois Department of Public Health, supported by the Illinois National Guard, operates two drive-through testing sites in our area:
  1. Rolling Meadows High School, 2901 Central Road in Rolling Meadows, every day 8am to 4pm.
  2. Premium Outlet Mall, 1650 Premium Outlet Blvd in Aurora, every day from 8:00am – 4:00pm
while daily supplies last
You do not need to have any symptoms, you don’t need an appointment or a doctor’s referral, and there’s no cost. Matt Flamm visited the Rolling Meadows site Saturday and was in and out in 10 minutes. They said the result would be available in 4-7 days, but they called him today with his results. Chris Kious visited the Aurora site and went straight through, no waiting!
Your tax dollars are paying for this, so take advantage of it. You’ll reduce your anxiety level, help make Illinois look better and, besides, President Trump says he wants fewer tests, so let’s ALL get tested!
NWSOFA – INDIVISIBLE
July Calendar
July 9th, Thursday night … It’s a Two-Fer .. on Social Justice Night
Two Events that deal with Important Topics
AT 6:00PM
Hoffman Estates hosts aVirtual Town Hall meeting to openly discuss issues of justice in policing, race, diversity, inclusion and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in our community.
Moderator: Reverend Larry Bullock, MPA, MDiv., senior pastor at Living Faith Cathedral Worship Center in Palatine.
Esteemed panelists:
Mayor William D. McLeod – US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL 8th Congressional District) – IL Representative Fred Crespo (44th District) – Pastor Freddie Rogers (Destiny Church) – Rabbi Taron Tachman (Beth Tikvah Congregation) – Father Mike Scherschel (St. Hubert Parish) – Police Chief Ted Bos Assistant Police Chief Kathryn Cawley – Fire Chief Pat Fortunato – Dr. Monica Saavedra, PsyD. (Director of Health and Human Services) – Dr. Lauren Nichols, PsyD. (Health and Human Services) – Pearl Henderson (Chair, Cultural Awareness Commission) – Thakar Basati (Sikh Community) – Tim McGowan (Palatine resident, Black Lives Matter activist) – Nazeen Hashmi (Muslim Community) – Maswamba Musikiwamba (African Community)
AT 7:00PM
Anger to Action: Speak Up!Many of us want to do something to effect real change, but are not sure how to start. Join the League of Women Voters Arlington Heights-Buffalo Grove-Mount Prospect for this powerful webinar program to learn more about how to interrupt micro-aggressions within ourselves, our co-workers, our neighbors, our friends, and our families.
NWSOFA – INDIVISIBLE
JULY 16 @ 7:00 pm
There are no words to adequately respond to the tragic death of George Floyd and to the 1000 other individuals who have lost their lives to police violence within the last year.
As a Gun Violence Prevention Issues Team, we stand in solidarity with those peacefully protesting and calling for an end to police violence and calling for comprehensive police reform and an end to systemic racism.
And just like the public health crisis of Covid-19, we know that racism and gun violence are at epidemic levels in the U.S. and all intersect in a space where our individual and collective voices of protest and action can make a difference to bring a change in our laws to ensure that equality, justice and peace is experienced by everyone.
So – because of Newtown in 2012 and Parkland in 2018 – and now because of the worldwide protests to end police violence and dismantle systemic racism, the NWSOFA GVP Issues group, currently in its seventh year, has re-committed itself to become even more relentless advocates of change and action.
We are determined to change the conversation surrounding gun violence in America no matter where it occurs, change the hearts of people we encounter through a spirit of volunteerism and kindness and take action to change the laws to create safer communities for every family in America.
The GVP Issue team educates by having periodic informational meetings, collaborates with coalition non-partisan groups, such as local faith communities and Moms Demand Action and takes action by supporting the efforts of our youth and March for Our Lives and by recruiting legislators to build support for commonsense gun violence prevention legislation.
In addition, our GVP Team celebrates the success that has been achieved in America – because of Parkland – in changing the conversation around gun violence prevention. We also celebrate the fact that Gov. Pritzker signed, in January 2019, the law that requires a certification process for gun dealers in Illinois. We know from the research that this law will definitely help to save lives, including the lives of our police officers everywhere – the majority of whom we acknowledge conduct themselves with a spirit of honor, dedication and service to their communities.
And we continue to work to strengthen background checks and raise community awareness through hosting vigils, using social media, writing letters to the editor and handing out fliers.
Until our days of social distancing are over, we will hold one hour video conference meetings on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Registration is required to receive a link and password to join the meeting since the “seating” on Zoom is limited to 100.
Please join us! We know that by uniting and working together we can make a difference.
As Charlie Beck, the author of the April 15, 2020, Tribune article, “Unite to end gun violence as you have united to slow the coronovirus,” said, we can end “gun violence in the same way…..flatten the curve.” And in the process of doing that, we will be addressing one of the underlying issues of systemic racism and helping to create safer and more equitable communities for all Americans.
Link to event information:
NWSOFA Indivisible Fiscal Monthly Virtual Meeting
JULY 20 @ 7 – 9 PM
While our physical meetings were held in the northwest suburbs of Chicago from 2013 through February 2020, we are now meeting virtually. This will be our 5th virtual meeting. Shorter commuting times for all, but missing the Oreo’s and other snacks at the meetings and the pizzas, tacos, and beers after the meetings.
We continue to live in interesting times as over 130,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 and millions are still filing new unemployment claims each week–over 40 million since March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) June employment report released July 2nd showed a stronger than expected recovery of some of the more than 21 million jobs lost in March and April. We are still down over 13 million jobs versus February 2020.
First quarter real GDP growth has been revised down to an annual rate of negative 5.0%. We anticipate a bigger drop in the 2nd quarter when it is reported at the end of July. If things go well we should should see some growth in the 3rd quarter.
Special guest speakers at this meeting will be State Senator Ann Gillespie and State Representative Mark Walker.
To offset those job losses, federal, state, and local governments have enacted assistance programs–over $2 trillion at the federal level alone. These are designed to assist both people that have lost jobs and companies that have lost customers. We will update what assistance has been enacted and the forecast effect on the economy and the projected fiscal year (FY) 2020 and 2021 budget deficits.
Special guest speakers at this meeting will be State Senator Ann Gillespie and State Representative Mark Walker. They will be discussing the Illinois budget for fiscal year 2021 which began July 1, including how potential additional federal funding and the proposed Flat Tax amendment could affect Illinois’ budget. They may also discuss other new laws in Illinois, including how Illinois is trying to control and test for Covid-19, and how Covid-19 affects Illinois’ budget.
We will also be discussing other economic releases and forecasts. We note that all forecasts are educated guesses and are dependent on the actions being taken by the various levels of government to reduce the harm of the virus and how the virus behaves. It looks like the number of new infections and deaths have started to level out and deaths have actually declined. Hopefully the lifting of restrictions won’t lead to another increase in infections and deaths as this would likely lead to a reinstatement of restrictions.
A draft of last month’s PowerPoint presentation can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cH01PJ6l41SKBGVjQ3StGKnSdx9mpBp5/view?usp=sharing
Come join us online and contribute to these discussions.
NWSOFA posts copies of past meetings on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nwsofa
Videos of the June meeting are now available at this site.
We appreciate those who have donated in the past to help sustain our NWSOFA organization (and pay for the snacks). We can’t pass the hat in a video meeting, but if you would like to help us please make a donation at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/indivisiblenwsofa606065512#
NWSOFA Inivisible Climate Change Speaker Event: Kelly McGinnis, Executive Director of the Mississippi River Network
JULY 28 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Kelly McGinnis, Executive Director of the Mississippi River Network will present information on current Mississippi River issues and possible effects of climate change and other environmental concerns.
The Mississippi River Network is a network of 57 organizations in the Mississippi Basin, working together to protect the land, water, wildlife, and people of the United States’ greatest River. The three areas where the MRN is providing education is on reducing nutrient pollution, protecting floodplains and wetlands, and promoting farm bill conservation programs. Read more about the MRN at on their website at About Us | 1 Mississippi .
Kelly works directly with network members in the ten-state Mississippi River region, building the coalition with the goal to protect and restore the River through policy and outreach work.
Kelly comes from a diverse professional background, starting her career as a fisheries biologist and freshwater ecologist in Washington State before moving back to the Midwest where her focus shifted to sustainability in both environment and coalition building. She brings passion and enthusiasm for protecting the environment and water to her role. When she is not busy defending water, you can find Kelly playing outside in a number of ways whether it is trail running, mountain biking, kayaking, growing a garden or playing with her two dogs. Kelly holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Freshwater Ecology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Maria Pike’s campaign helps street vendors and survivor mothers who are unemployed.
Her “Wear Orange” “We are all in this together” and “Vote 2020” masks are in high demand.
Over 2,800 quality masks have been hand made and donated to grassroots groups, members of the Chicago Police Department, survivor families, cart vendors, etc. Her ultimate goal is to donate 10,000 high quality Masks to those in need.
NWSOFA – INDIVISIBLE REMINDER!
THE CENSUS CONTINUES! Fill out your 2020 Questionair:
  • The count has been delayed but we can catch up.
  • It’s quick, safe, secure, and confidential.
  • Help us collect the federal funds our schools, roads, and public need & Save our Congressional seats.
Revisit and Review past meeting videos of NWSOFA programs on our youtube.com Channel
at:
What’s a flipping Flipboard Magazine?
NWSOFA’s “on-line” Flipboard Magazines are available on a number of topics: social justice, bigotry, gun violence prevention, climate change, healthcare, immigration, gerrymandering, fiscal & economics, social justice reform, stand with women and more.
Check it out! Follow me (Bill Davis) on Flipboard.
or
We now have an ACT BLUE account
So you can quickly and easily DONATE to NWSOFA-Indivisible
IN THE BOOKS-RECENT EVENTS
  • JUNE 5, 6, 7 – NWSOFA Indivisible Partner Event: #wearorange Weekend
  • JUNE 5, 12, 19 & 26 – NWSOFA Indivisible HAPPY HOUR 5 PM
  • JUNE 6 – NWSOFA Indivisible Partner Event: Peaceful Protest for Racial Justice
  • JUNE 7 – NWSOFA Indivisible Partner Event: We are in the BG Pride Drive 2020
  • JUNE 16 – NWSOFA Indivisible Fiscal Monthly Virtual Meeting 7 – 9 PM
  • JUNE 17 – NWSOFA Indivisible Restore Our Democracy (ROD) Team Meeting 7 – 9 PM
  • JUNE 18 – NWSOFA Indivisible Gun Violence prevention Issues Team Planning Meeting 7:00 PM
  • JUNE 23 – NWSOFA Indivisible Climate Change June Meeting 7 – 9 PM
Notice: These are public meeting(s) / event(s)
NWSOFA is a 501(c)4,  non-partisan organization.
All opinions are solely those of NWSOFA
NWSOFA ORGANIZATION CHART NWSOFA Issue Leads 2019