5.2 million 🤯✊
And next steps.
What a weekend!Â
5.2 MILLION people showed up around the nation Saturday to say HANDS OFF!
And here in Rock Hill, we definitely added our voices to the chorus. Roughly 500 of you joined us on Dave Lyle in downtown Rock Hill Saturday to say Hands Off! We heard from several community members throughout the event, we chanted, we cheered, and we enjoyed an incredible show of support from folks driving by!
Based on some of the feedback via Mobilize, it also sounds like some folks accidentally ended up in Fountain Park instead of Dave Lyle, not realizing there were two events — and that’s great too! We hear they had 350-400 folks over there as well, which means close to 1000 people in downtown Rock Hill at the same time, with the same message. Incredible!
Whether you showed up in person or supported online, whether you came to Dave Lyle or Fountain Park (or both!), we are so grateful.
FAQ
A lot of new folks are receiving this newsletter, so a brief primer on who we are:
Who is York County Rising? We’re a group of concerned neighbors united in the fight against fascism and oligarchy. We are unaffiliated but we partner with national organizations like 50501, Working Families, MoveOn, and dozens more. We also partner with local organizations as we work toward building a local coalition of organizations supporting each other and rowing in the same direction.Â
What does York County Rising do? We put on regular, bi-weekly days of action (every other Saturday on Dave Lyle) as well as other days of action as we’re able. We also host a monthly Community Meeting where we meet in person to discuss upcoming issues, actions, and where we want to direct our time. And we host a Community Calendar with events from various organizations.Â
Why am I receiving this newsletter now? You either signed up at the event Saturday or through Mobilize
How often will you email me? We aim for one newsletter a week. On weeks with an action, you may receive one or two extras with quick reminders.
Are you going to ask me for money? Nope. We don’t handle money other than cash donations when folks offer to contribute to water, sign materials, etc.Â
I don’t want this newsletter. No problem! You can unsubscribe at the bottom.Â
We also invite you to learn more about us through our About page and our Archive.
Mark Your Calendars
The next national day of action is scheduled for April 19, in coordination with 50501. We’ll have more info coming out on this later in the week and will send out updates. You don’t have to register to attend, but it does help us know how many waters to buy and volunteers to have staffing the event.
Our April Community Meeting will be via Zoom on April 25th at 6:30 p.m. We’ll send more details at that gets closer.
There’s also an upcoming Empty Chair Town Hall. We’ll update you on that as soon as we have more information!
Community Meeting Update from 3/28
At our Community Meeting on March 28, we talked about several issues, including:Â
The upcoming Congressional Recess (Apr 12-27)
Filling empty seats on the Election Board
How we can show up for our immigrant neighbors and folks who are at high risk of being profiled for deportation. We’re working to build up more resources. Right now, we know the Carolina Immigrant Alliance offers a legal clinic locally. You can also download this Know Your Rights PDF for immigrants and allies, print it off, and pass it around. We also have Red Cards on our Resources page. If you know of additional local resources or organizations we can support, please let us know!
How we can support public land — there’s an idea to have a group that supports the rangers by volunteering to help with basic maintenance (cleaning trails, bathrooms, garbage). If this is something you are interested in, please let us know!Â
We also discussed VA cuts and the impact of AI, both ethically and on livelihoods. These are ongoing discussions.Â
From this and other discussions, we are creating a few more teams:Â
Our Comms Team is currently closed as we get folks trained and integrated. We anticipate opening it back up for more volunteers this summer.
Our Event Volunteer Team needs a few more volunteers we can call on for larger events. Volunteers attend a training Zoom in the days leading up to the action, arrive an hour early to set up, and stay to help with clean up. During the action, volunteers help distribute water and information, answer questions, lead chants, and more.Â
Our Outreach Team could use a few more folks working with Brian to build relationships with other local organizations and community members.Â
[NEW] Rapid Intervention Teams: These teams will work with Eric to respond to state legislative, school board, county and city council meetings, and more.Â
[NEW] LGBTQIA+ Alliance: All three of us behind York County Rising are queer. It’s clear to all of us that LGBTQIA+ rights are in a very delicate situation. If you are affected by dangerous policies — or simply have a passion for supporting the queer community — join our alliance! There are a variety of ways we can celebrate and defend our rights, from planning actions to volunteering at Pride to creating fun community events.Â
If you are interested in joining any of these teams, please email Organizers@YorkCoRising.com.
The Week Ahead:
Daily actions you can take are listed on our Resources page.
Noah, one of our volunteers, created this quick reference guide for how to apply pressure with phone calls. Thanks Noah!
As always, you can find our Community Calendar here and you can email us info@YorkCoRising.com with any questions!