1. A Happy Thanksgiving to all and Thanksgiving thread for #TheResistance. Please take a moment to reflect and be thankful for your brothers and sisters who work shoulder to shoulder with you daily advocating for a better nation for all, despite their own life struggles.
2. Recognize that the battle ahead will get harder and more demanding. It exists on many fronts. We must #resist the tide of divisiveness and authoritarianism, educate against propaganda, defend against the destruction of policy and reject unjust agendas.
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1. 🧵I let the dust settle to avoid getting lost in the onslaught of knee-jerk hot takes and the inevitable circular firing squad, but now I'd like to share my thoughts on the election. This will be a lengthy thread, please stay with me.
2. If you don't know me, I run a grassroots pac, @DemsWork4USA. We are comprised of grassroots activists who use their knowledge of their communities to develop and implement strategic actions to win seats.
3. This involves district and candidate assessment, strategic endorsements, building coalitions, community education, year round voter outreach and targeted support. Why? Because the people on the ground have the conversations and see the gaps in the campaigns.
1. Some people are saying that #Juneteenth is just a symbol - low hanging fruit that doesn't address the very real problems on the table like police reform, voting rights, wealth inequality, etc. They are right, of course, but symbols aren't irrelevant to social change.
2. Systemic racism is reflected in generations of accepted thinking in this country - and while we fight for change and the fruits seem sometimes insignificant, there will be differences in the accepted social norms for the next generation, and so on. That matters.
3. The Confederate Flag is a symbol with a message that has been tacitly allowed for the sake of 'white history', as are the statues, as was even the racially debasing language I heard regularly growing up. We're seeing these social shifts play out.
🧵1. There are a lot of political organizations out there and a lot of candidate endorsements. I co-founded @DemsWork4USA with @sumoh7 in 2017. We take a strategic approach to grassroots activism. We believe we need more money on the ground, not more money in ads.
2. Make no mistake - there is a grassroots army, and they are uniquely positioned to assess candidates and address gaps in the party infrastructure. Our goal is to provide a framework to leverage and maximize the power of on the ground activists - and translate it into wins.
3. We utilize a "grassroots up", multi-state, multi-cycle and longitudinal strategy to channel grassroots support toward candidates that will result in winning seats, retaining seats and building the bench. This is all critical to passing policy at the state and federal level.
My 5th great-grandfather was Chief Kiyo’kaga Keokuk of the Sauk, then Sauk/Fox tribe. He tried to be a diplomat. He sided against the British in the War of 1812. He entered into the Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien, resulting in war with with Chief Blackhawk of the Fox tribe. 1/
He moved his people to Kansas, as it was agreed. After his death, my 4th great uncle, Moses Keokuk became Chief and moved his people again to the Oklahoma Territory - which, @TedCruz thinks was somehow stolen today. 2/
The sense of the decisions made by my family members in their leadership roles can be debated. But, I can only imagine how horrifying the betrayal was to witness. Today was some semblance (and I mean semblance) of justice. @tedcruz needs to apologize and sit down.