Weekend Recap!
And some action items.
Thank you so much for joining us this weekend at our meeting Friday, our rally Saturday, or for supporting us virtually. We’re so impressed by the passion and interest so far, and we look forward to growing with you!
Housekeeping:
If your email was on the sign up sheet, you were added to this mailing list. While we are on social media and working on our presence there, this email list is our primary means of communication. We promise not to flood your inbox.
If you don’t want to be on the mailing list for any reason, you can unsubscribe at the bottom of this email, or just reply to let us know and we’ll remove you.
If you know someone was at the Friday meeting or Saturday action, and they didn’t receive this email (and it’s not in spam) — please let us know. It’s possible they either didn’t sign the sheet, or we mistyped it. We’ll get it fixed!
Our website is hosted on Substack. We’ll use the terms “Substack” and “Website” interchangeably, because they are the same thing right now. YorkCoRising.com
On our website, you’ll find a list of resources for daily or regular actions you can take. These are not necessarily local actions, but they are things we can do to fight back. This is an evolving list and we’ll be adding to it regularly.
Upcoming actions are listed on our calendar. We will update this as we plan actions, and as we learn of actions from other groups. We are finalizing details for our next meeting. We will send an email with that update as soon as it’s confirmed.
We added a Suggestion Box to our website. You can also find that here.
Please take our survey to help guide decision-making!
Weekend Recap
More than 50 of you showed up Friday night, and the news estimates more than 90 folks were at Saturday’s rally during its peak — this is incredible! (We hear some folks didn’t even realize it was happening but saw us when they drove by, parked, and joined in. Love that.) Our prior protest two weeks ago had 30 people, which was fantastic, and we’re thrilled to see the group growing.
Friday Meeting Recap
York County Rising is a progressive group of neighbors who come together to take action. We gathered Friday with a group of our neighbors who are also concerned about the fascist takeover of our government and the wellbeing of our community.
Discussion Topic: Group Norms
There’s no room for ego — there’s too much work to do.
We are a collaborative group. Brian, Eric, and Jess are organizers and facilitators, not bosses.
Trust: Ourselves and each other. Trust is earned but it is also given. Some of the building blocks of trust include: Assume good intent of each other. Do our best not to make assumptions about someone’s tone, idea, what we think they think, etc. Listen to understand (not respond), ask questions when we’re unclear or don’t know something, check our internal biases and assumptions. Remain open to feedback.
Discretion: We can gossip about Nancy Mace or the billionaire clown car up at the White House, but not each other. Gossip undermines community and starts drama and dysfunction. Drama and dysfunction get in the way of the work. If there’s a problem, we solve it. We can ask for feedback, we can talk about things that bother us, we can seek resolution when we’re frustrated. Tip to know if it’s gossip: Is it seeking a resolution or just telling spin-cycling a story?
Zero tolerance for abuse, assault, harassment, or putting each others in situations that could cause non consensual harm. We understand every action carries an inherent risk of harm, and we understand some actions will carry more risk. We take measures to mitigate the risks, and we don’t put others in harm’s way. (The example we discussed: No one is getting dragged from a town hall meeting — or anywhere else — without attempts at intervention and protection.)
We are going to have personality differences and conflict. Unless in cases of abuse or harm that cannot be repaired, we as a group aren’t going to kick people out or leave people out just because we disagree. Focus on repair, not punishment.
Other ideas for norms? Please email info@YorkCoRising.com so we can add them to the agenda for the next meeting.
Discussion Topic: Group Goals
We know the clown car in DC wants us to think we don’t have any power. We don’t buy that lie. Half the country didn’t vote. The remaining half split almost evenly between Trump and Kamala. He does not have a mandate. He doesn’t even have half the country. We know public turnout is a show of power, and it scares the hell out of the right.
In states like ours, a lot of folks are progressives-in-hiding. The Trump supporters are loud, and we’ve all been propagandized to believe progressives are a minority in so-called red states, so progressives tend to be quieter. Let’s change that. Let’s get loud.
Our goals include bringing more of our neighbors into conversation, building community with each other, and taking action to build power from the ground up.
Discussion Topic: How we achieve those goals
Relational and community-based organizing: We have to start talking to each other and taking action together. A not insignificant part of organizing is making human connections, following up, and tending relationships. This is something our increasingly fast-paced lives has made harder, so for a lot of us, this takes effort. (We got a little stuck on the example of talking to folks at the grocery store, but it was just one example.)
Ally with local groups to apply pressure.
The boycott example: If 1 person boycotts A, 2 people boycott B, and 3 people boycott C, the effect is muffled and the impact is minimal. If all 6 of those people band together and focus their efforts, that’s where movement happens. Apply that at scale, and you’ve got collective power that moves the needle.
Similarly, if there are 50 different groups working separately toward the same goal, the efforts are less effective than if those groups build a coalition and work together.
Build community
Not just for public actions and political change, but because there is joy and healing and love and so.much.goodness to be found in community.
The only way forward is together.
Discussion Topic: Issues and actions
On issues and actions, we got a little in the weeds talking about mission statements, committees, and why we’re addressing issues before committees. The short answer: All of the issues are interconnected, and we need movement. We’re not a political party or nonprofit, we’re grassroots organizers, so we’ll build as we go. Please take the survey to add your thoughts to issues and actions!
Discussion Topic: Allying with local groups
We have a list of local groups and organizations we’re either in discussions with or are in the process of reaching out to make connections. We know there are many more groups and organizations we aren’t aware of, and we would love your input so we can make sure our outreach is comprehensive. You can add any that you are aware of to the survey.
Internal learnings:
Brian, Jess, and Eric met after the meeting and we discussed a few things we’d like to do going forward to help keep things streamlined and moving. These include:
Based on feedback and our own observations, we’re adding a norm about crosstalk. That is, when one person is talking, they should be the only person talking. It is very distracting for the person speaking and for everyone who is trying to listen when a small group clusters and starts having a different conversation.
We will have the agenda visible at all times going forward instead of just doing the overview in the beginning. This will help everyone to know where we are on the agenda, regardless of when they arrived or if they needed to leave for a few minutes, or if they simply miss the overview in the beginning.
Do you have any other feedback for us? Please let us know in the survey.
We’ll be in touch soon with info about the next meeting!