test

Defending Democracy in Ukraine

In this moment, we’re so glad to have a president who actually opposes Vladimir Putin and has rallied worldwide punishment of his regime.  He has not praised Putin as a man with “lots of gifts” who “knows how to use power.” He understands Putin’s challenge to democracy. What can we do? This war is hell for Ukrainian civilians. Refugees are on the move. Let’s help organizations like the International Rescue Committee, which is marshalling help for the people whose lives are being shattered by this cynical war. https://www.rescue.org/article/how-can-i-help-ukraine. Here are more: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/25/1082992947/ukraine-support-help. And let’s speak up here at home in favor of democracy and protection of the weak against the strong.

The Nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court

On February 25, Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the next justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson would be the first woman of color ever to serve on the court. It’s about time! But this isn’t just about historic firsts. Judge Jackson is almost universally respected as a fair judge with a commitment to equal justice. Won’t it be grand to have a justice who has been a public defender and seen with her own eyes what it means to be ground up by the wheels of justice? A justice who has the courage to protect the right of workers to organize against overweening corporations? A justice who is on the side of human rights, democracy, the rule of law? Yes, but it won’t happen automatically. What can we do? First off, let the Judiciary Committee know the joy we feel in this historic nomination. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members. And let’s keep it up. Let our legislators know how important this is and that we won’t quit until the Senate proudly confirms Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Over 100 Democrats in Arlington held a virtual caucus February 12 to elect 40 delegates and 7 alternates to the 2022 Massachusetts Democratic Convention. Before the caucus began, each of the Democratic candidates for statewide office addressed the attendees briefly, along with our Congresswoman Katherine Clark. Arlington elects one of the largest delegate slates in the state.

Elected as delegates were Carole Allen, Lynn Bishop, Shane Blundell, Eric Bourassa, Francis Callahan, Christine Carney, Sonya Coleman, Aimee Coolidge, Maureen Crewe, Sue Doctrow, Catherine Farrell, Peggy Gardiner, Bill Gardiner, Gary Goldsmith, Amy Goldstein, Irwin Grossman, Kim Haase, Patrick Hanlon, Bill Hayner, Eric Helmuth, John Hurd, Alan Jones, Sonya Khan, Bill Logan, Linda Magram, Jane Morgan, Patti Muldoon, Scott Mullen, John Page, Judson Pierce, Jennifer Roderick, Paul Schlichtman, Ed Schwartz, Paulette Schwartz, Amy L. Slutzky, Susan Stamps, Dave Swanson, Rieko Tanaka, Michael Watson, and Steven Wofsy. Alternates elected were Robin Bergman, Guillermo Hamlin, Christa Kelleher, Colleen Kirby, Jennifer Litowski, Jordan Weinstein, and Ed Witham.

Co-Chair Stephanie Swanson will serve as an ex officio delegate. Other Arlingtonians serving as ex officio delegates are James DiTullio and Marlene Silva, who serve on the Democratic State Committee, as well as State Representative Sean Garballey and State Senator Cindy Friedman.

The 2022 Convention will be a hybrid convention, with in-person proceedings taking place alongside virtual participation options on June 3 and 4 at the DCU Center in Worcester. Delegates will convene to endorse candidates for statewide office ahead of the September Democratic Primary. The Massachusetts Democratic Party is closely monitoring changes in public health guidance and will update plans accordingly.

For more information on the Arlington Democratic Town Committee or any of our meetings, please contact Aimee Coolidge at 781-775-5343 or Stephanie Swanson at 716-435-4153. For general information on the Convention, please contact the Massachusetts Democratic Party at 617-939-0800 or go to https://massdems.org/.

Arlington Democrats are invited to attend a virtual caucus on Saturday, February 12, at 10 a.m. to elect 40 delegates and 7 alternates to the 2022 Massachusetts Democratic Convention.

At this year’s state convention, planned for Saturday, June 4th at the DCU Center in Worcester, thousands of Democrats from across the state will come together to endorse candidates for statewide office and unite to elect Democrats down the ballot in November of 2022. The convention is planned to be a hybrid convention; delegates will be able to attend in person, or virtually by Zoom.

The caucus is open to all registered and pre-registered Democrats in Arlington. Pre-registered Democrats who will be 16 by February 4, 2022, will be welcome to participate and run as a delegate or alternate.

To participate in the virtual caucus, please use the Zoom registration form at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMud-CuqTgtGt2CPMj5KraEHwHcX1GdpRu7. You will receive a personalized link and passcode to the Zoom caucus in an email, which you’ll need to keep. Our virtual doors will open at 9:30 a.m., and we encourage registrants to arrive early. Everyone who is in the waiting room by 10:15 a.m. will be admitted.

Youth, minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals who are not elected as a delegate or alternate may apply to be an add-on delegate at the caucus or at www.massdems.org.

Delegates and alternates will be divided equally between men and women, except that candidates whose gender identity is non-binary can run for delegate without needing to classify themselves as male or female. Candidates must be present at the caucus to be elected (except those serving in the Armed Forces, who must notify the chair of their candidacy before the caucus).

For more information on the caucus or the Arlington Democratic Town Committee, please contact Co-Chair Stephanie Swanson at 716-435-4153 or Co-Chair Aimee Coolidge at 781-775-5343, explore this website, or visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/adtcma. For general information on the Convention or the Democratic Party, please call 617-939-0800 or email contact@massdems.org. Details on the caucus rules can be found at https://massdems.org/.

If you wish to change your registration to Democratic before the caucus, visit Online Voter Application (state.ma.us).

In coalition with the Democratic Committees of Barre, Bedford, Belmont, Boxborough, Brewster, Cambridge Ward 6, Hanson, Lenox, Lincoln, Malden, Maynard, Monson, Newton, Pelham, Rockland, Salem, Scituate, Wellfleet, Weston, and Weymouth, the Arlington Democratic Committee invites you to an important virtual event on January 20th at 7pm focused on S.2030/H.1905, An Act Establishing A [5-year] Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium.

Register at https://bit.ly/nonewwomensprison.

We’ll be joined by Sen. Jo Comerford and Rep. Chynah Tyler to learn more about this critical legislation co-sponsored by over 40 state legislators (including our own Arlington State Representatives and State Senator), endorsed by over 130 organizations across the state, and recently enshrined in our state’s Democratic Party Platform. 
 
We’ll also hear from Andrea James, Founder and Executive Director of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of The United American Indians of New England.

The members of the Arlington Democratic Town Committee, at their October meeting, passed a resolution urging our State Representatives to support S. 459 and H.805 – An Act fostering voter opportunities, trust, equity, and security (the “VOTES Act”) sponsored by Senator Cynthia Stone Creem and Representative John Lawn. The Senate has already passed its version of the bill. See https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H805/.

Both Arlington Representatives, Sean Garballey and David Rogers, are co-sponsors of the House bill. ADTC members hope they will fight hard for all its provisions, including no-excuse mail voting, in-person early voting, and voting rights for incarcerated persons, and hope that the House bill will include same-day registration, which twenty other states now have. These provisions align with the Democratic Party platform passed by the State Convention in September.

Democrats in Arlington held a virtual caucus June 30 to elect delegates to the 2021 Massachusetts Democratic Convention.

Elected as delegates were Jane Arsham, Adam Badik, Robin Bergman, Elinore Charlton, Aimee Coolidge, Colby Cunningham, Joseph Curro, Silvia Dominguez, Peter Gast, Camilla Haase, Jennifer Litowski, Linda Magram, Hannah Markelz, Christine O’Connell, June Rowe, Paul Schlichtman, Amy Slutzky, David Swanson, Noah Sweder, Michael Watson, and Edward Witham.

Co-Chair Stephanie Swanson will serve as an ex officio delegate. Other Arlingtonians serving as ex officio delegates are James DiTullio and Marlene Silva, who serve on the Democratic State Committee, as well as State Representative Sean Garballey and State Senator Cindy Friedman.

The Convention will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2021, at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. Democrats from across the state will come together to adopt a party platform. For information on the Convention, please contact the Massachusetts Democratic Party at 617-939-0800 or go to https://massdems.org/.

Arlington Democrats are invited to attend a virtual caucus on Wednesday, June 30, at 7 p.m. to elect 37 delegates and 6 alternates to the 2021 Massachusetts Democratic Convention.

At this year’s state convention, to be held Saturday, September 25 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, thousands of Democrats from across the state will come together to adopt a party platform.

The caucus is open to all registered and pre-registered Democrats in Arlington. Pre-registered Democrats who will be 16 by June 15, 2021, will be welcome to participate and run as a delegate or alternate.

To participate in the virtual caucus, please use this Zoom registration form. You will receive a personalized link and passcode to the Zoom caucus in an email, which you’ll need to keep.

Youth, minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ individuals who are not elected as a delegate or alternate may apply to be an add-on delegate at the caucus or at www.massdems.org.

Delegates and alternates will be divided equally between men and women, except that candidates whose gender identity is non-binary can run for delegate without needing to classify themselves as male or female. Candidates must be present at the caucus to be elected (except those serving in the Armed Forces, who must notify the chair of their candidacy before the caucus).

For more information on the caucus or the Arlington Democratic Town Committee, please contact Co-Chair Stephanie Swanson at 716-435-4153 or Co-Chair Aimee Coolidge at 781-775-5343. For general information on the Convention or the Democratic Party, please call 617-939-0800 or email contact@massdems.org. Details on the caucus rules can be found at https://massdems.org/.

The Arlington Democratic Town Committee is appalled at the leadership role President Trump played in the violent attack on the Capitol and Congress on January 6. We strongly condemn President Donald Trump for inciting his supporters to “fight like hell” in support of the lie that the November election results were invalid.

Equally we condemn the 139 Republican Congresspersons and 8 Republican Senators who supported this lie and voted to invalidate the election results from two states. We condemn the actions of these individuals, which have resulted in lives lost and threaten our democratic institutions.

We condemn the racist assumption behind this lie and these actions: that votes from majority-Black and majority-Latinx cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Phoenix should not be counted.

We are thankful for the safety of our Representative Katherine Clark and our Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and support their efforts to impeach and convict President Trump for his egregious attack on the democratic process. Truth and justice are the only road to healing.

Register by Saturday, October 24

Vote absentee, by mail or drop box

OR Vote early in person Oct. 17-31

OR Vote on Election Day, November 3

Details here:

Here’s a running list of Black-owned businesses to support in Greater
Boston:

https://www.boston.com/culture/business/2020/06/08/black-owned-businesses-to-support-in-greater-boston

A list of 50+ Black-owned Boston restaurants to support:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/01/lifestyle/support-bostons-black-owned-restaurants/

18 Black-Owned Restaurants in Boston Open for Takeout or Delivery:

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/black-owned-restaurants-boston/

How to Support Boston’s Black-Owned Restaurants (with a crowdsourced
spreadsheet with details on over 150 Boston-area black-owned restaurants,
as well as other resources):

https://boston.eater.com/2020/6/8/21284086/boston-black-owned-restaurants-support-resources

List of Black-owned companies in the Boston area:

https://blackboston.com/list-of-black-owned-companies-in-the-boston-area-who-requested-referrals-from-aboutblackboston-online-buyblack/