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General WOW News
Just over a quarter into the year and we're already exhausted. From a continuing pandemic that is talked about in "levels of comfort" instead of the public health crisis it is, a violent insurrection that still hasn't had thousands held accountable, a Sedition Caucus that includes sex traffickers still in their seats in Congress, mass shootings coupled with Texas trying to pass permitless carry, hundreds of voter suppression bills, to the never-ending daily news of police brutality. People of color are exhausted, activists are exhausted, women are exhausted. As we increase relationships, coalitions, volunteers, etc. remember: you are not alone, and you cannot pour from an empty jug. Give yourself grace, give yourself the ability to relieve the weight off each other's shoulders. Men, speak out on behalf of women. White people, speak out on behalf of people of color. Non activists, volunteer for five minutes a day doing lit dropping, text banking, phone banking - anything and everything you feel comfortable doing. The more we can help each other and distribute the weight the more we can each avoid burnout.
Democrats are not a monolith, and we do not have to be; we are Democrats because we watch out for each other, whether or not it personally benefits us or someone we directly know. We are Democrats because we believe in empathy, science, compassion, facts, and that every human deserves to be treated like a person.
In the words of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, namesake of the Parkland school survivors that founded March for our Lives, "Be a nuisance where it counts. Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption, and bad politics. But never give up."
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WOW Committee Updates
Events and Outreach Committee
Join us for an important discussion about the spread of anti-Asian racism and how we can support the AAPI community.
Jan Xie is Founder and President of Asian Culture and Education Society USA and Board Director of Gendercide Awareness Project. She holds the Executive certification in Nonprofit Governance from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Nancy Tiên (she/her) is a Board Member with Act to Change, a policy fellow with Leadership for Educational Equity, and a lead organizer and founding member of Dallas Communities Organizing to Reach Equity (CORE). She is passionate about pursuing equitable outcomes for communities of color and advocating for marginalized and underrepresented identities.
Our service project is Asian Culture And Education Society USA (ACAESUSA), a nonprofit organization focused on helping make the world around us a better place. With the help of a tireless staff, they organize fundraisers, exciting community culture and education-building events, and in-depth training sessions for volunteers. Learn more at https://acaesusa.org/.
The Events & Outreach Committee will be changing its meeting day, to the second Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. If you are interested in joining us, please email eventsoutreach@wowdems.org.
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Candidates Committee
Tomorrow is Election Day in Texas! Municipal, school district, and Collin College Board of Trustees races will be decided tomorrow. WOW Dems does not endorse in these races, but many of our members are passionate volunteers and advocates for the numerous women candidates who share our values and chose to run this year.
Runoffs are June 5. We encourage runoff candidates to attend our May general member meeting; introduce yourselves and let our members know how they can support progressive candidates and get involved in your campaigns.
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Legislative Committee
We've been filled with mixed emotions this month as our country continues to strive toward its ideals.
"The American ideal of equality means that every single person in the United States, no matter what skin color, race or religion are still fully equal. This means that each and every person in this country has a purpose and has the rights to be able to pursue anything."
The Derek Chauvin jury verdict was a watershed moment for sure, but it is a long way from justice. We still have more work to do. That starts with better legislation and better elected officials. Here's what you can do to make things better.
Advocacy: support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy.
We encourage you to join us in our collaborative advocacy efforts by getting involved with these groups:
We also encourage you to contact your elected officials to voice your support for HB3112 - The Texas Redistricting Transparency Act. Here are some resources to help you do that:
Organizing: community building to engage, strategize and address a specific problem.
Email us at Leglislative@wowdems.org if you're interested in participating in future organizing events. We'd love to have you join us in continuing to build this movement.
Voting: In a democracy, it is deciding who will represent your voice, ideas and interests.
Every election matters.
"The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have." --John Lewis, American Congressman
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WOW Dems YouTube Channel
Over the last few years, WOW Dems has grown our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram presence significantly. But did you know we also have a YouTube channel? Our YouTube content includes recordings of WOW Dems meetings and special events, our President's mid-month messages, and series such as "Why I'm a WOW Dem". Make sure you subscribe to the WOW Dems YouTube channel!
"Our Stories" Blog Series
We continue to seek contributions to the "Our Stories" blog series in which people can share their personal stories related to the critical issues of our time such as anti-Asian hate, mass shootings, BLM and bills pertaining to voter suppression and gun regulations. If you are interested in writing an article for the WOW Dems blog, please let us know.
Join the Communications Committee
Are you interested in helping WOW Dems spread our message? We'd love for you to join the Communications Committee! We can always use help in areas such as social media, website maintenance, content curation, graphics and video production and maintaining our Google drive content. To join, submit a Volunteer Form on our website.
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Our current membership count is 165 and 83 of those members are new members. We encourage others to join the WOW Dems so together we can make our democratic process better for the communities we live in. Our next committee meeting will be May 12th at 7:15pm via zoom. If you have any questions or would like to attend, email membership@wowdems.org.
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Not yet a member? Join here.
Interested in some WOW Dems swag? Check it out here.
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WOW Dems | president@wowdems.org | wowdems.org
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