46th LD Blog

Please join us this Wednesday, June 17th, for an engaging conversation with Dr. Terryl Ross, Assistant Dean for DEI at the UW College of the Environment. We are also hoping to raise modest funds for an ongoing speaker series; please read on for details.

5:30pm:  Environmental Caucus  (5:30 – 6:30 pm Zoom Meeting - same link)

6:30pm:  Meet, Greet, and get your Zoom on (6:30pm - 7:00pm)

7:00pm: Discussion: Understanding Racism and Supporting BLM, with Dr. Terryl Ross (details and agenda below)

The Zoom link will be the same for both meetings on Wednesday.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/707171978?pwd=SFN1cTd3NythbUsyL0g0aXRDNkxsZz09

Meeting ID: 707 171 978
Password: 061712

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And here is a message from Zoe True, our Chair of Outreach in the 46th LD

Charleena Lyles, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others are gone as a result of senseless violence. They are all in our hearts. 

Oppression against Black Americans has been woven into so many of our systems, institutions, and aspects of American culture that it can be hard for white people to see. We cannot look the other way. We must see, we must learn, we must take action, and we must be accountable. 

For many of us, the first step is to learn, and then learn more. We plan to leverage our general meetings to learn from guests about our local history with racism, how to be a better ally, and policy actions our elected officials are taking throughout the rest of this year (and likely beyond). Learning together will not only help us with our personal journeys towards being anti-racist allies, it will also help us build a grassroots party that has the knowledge and skills to live our values - to celebrate diversity, abolish oppressive policies, and foster equitable systems.

While some guests will be people who we hear from regularly - like elected officials - others may be community leaders who are not being paid by our tax dollars. We believe it is critical to compensate them fairly for their time and expertise. If you share this belief, please consider donating what you can - $5, $15, $25, $50 - to a special fund we are setting up for exactly this purpose. 

Our Executive Board feels so strongly that this is a worthwhile effort, that we are willing to step up and pledge to match donations up to $350 coming from the membership. I hope you will join us in this endeavor, as we look to build a slate of 2-3 more great sessions and learning opportunities.

While fundraising to support this endeavor is important, we are not waiting.Starting this week we’ll have a very distinguished guest Dr. Terryl Ross,UW Environment’s inaugural Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In addition to being the prime sponsor of I-1776, a promising next step at legalizing affirmative action, he also brings 30 years of experience in equity and inclusion work, including responsibility for diversity efforts at universities and colleges throughout the PNW.

Beyond the 46th Dems, there are also many excellent opportunities to learn through townhalls, talks, and podcasts. We encourage you all take charge of your own learning journey and bring what you learn into our meetings, our policy discussions, and bylaws decisions. Thank you all in advance for helping us all become the people and organization we know we can be.

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Meeting Agenda:

1. (7:00p) Welcome, agenda, and minutes
2. (7:05p) Discussion of volunteer opportunities in coming months
3. (7:15p) Discussion with Dr. Terryl Ross
4. (~8:10) Consideration of Resolutions

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Stay safe and healthy,

Marty Ross, Vice Chair

Zoe True, Outreach Chair

Join Our Team!  If you would like to join the district, or renew your membership for 2020, you may do so at this link:

The 46^th Legislative District Democrats convey our solidarity with those who are expressing outrage over the killing of George Floyd and frustration over our failure to eliminate racism, and create a just and equitable world. To quote President Obama:

“It’s natural to wish for life “to just get back to normal” as a pandemic and economic crisis upend everything around us. But we have to remember that for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly “normal” – whether it’s while dealing with the health care system, or interacting with the criminal justice system, or jogging down the street, or just watching birds in a park.”

This is not a distant problem, half a continent away in Minneapolis. Just three years ago, here in the 46th, Charleena Lyles was in the midst of a mental health crisis when she was shot dead by police in front of her young children in their home in Magnuson Park. She was only 30-years old.

So while many of us have marched against injustice, systemic racism, or to show our disgust over all the myriad ways this administration has attacked our basic rights as Americans, in the next five months, we have to commit to purposeful action. It is necessary for us as Democrats to make sure our family members, friends, acquaintances, and like-minded strangers, who are eligible to vote, vote! It was Terrence Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, whom today reminded us of our duty and our power when he said:

"Y’all protest, y’all destroy stuff and [police] don’t move... They not gonna move. So let's do this another way. Let's stop thinking that our votes don't matter and vote. Not just vote for the president but for the preliminaries, vote for everybody. Educate yourself. Don't wait for somebody else to tell you who's who. Educate yourself and know who you are voting for. And that's how we're going to hit them, because there's a lot of us."