Thanks to you, and to countless other committed citizen across this country, Abraham Lincoln's memorable words at Gettysburg again hold true: "This government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Over the past four years, you have consistently stood up, spoken up and showed up to protect our democracy and its citizens. You deserve to be very proud of your contributions. As Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said at the Democratic National Convention, "Years from now, this moment will have passed. And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us: Where were you when the stakes were so high? They will ask us, what was it like? And we will tell them. We will tell them, not just how we felt. We will tell them what we did."
With all of the human suffering engendered by Donald Trump and his immoral enablers, there was one monumentally positive outcome. WE, THE PEOPLE, ARE WOKE.
Since that terrible day in November 2016, we have knitted pink hats and marched by the millions, poured into airports to protest the Muslim ban, and into the streets to proclaim that families belong together. Students launched a movement to save their friends from gun violence, and another to save the planet from climate change. Americans of all ages joined Black and Brown organizers in the largest demonstrations this country has ever seen to battle systemic racism and injustice.
We visited the offices of our members of Congress to claim our power as constituents. We called and emailed them again and again to advocate for climate change, racial justice, voting rights, economic security, and many other progressive causes.
In each of the last four years, we supported the work of Democratic candidates in toss-up races. We made calls, sent text messages, wrote postcards and letters. With the final results of so many elections coming down to thousands, or sometimes only hundreds, of votes, our voter outreach efforts impacted dozens of critical races.
When a pandemic struck in March, we retooled, regrouped and quickly learned how to organize virtually. We figured out Zoom, Slack and many other tech tools for mobilizing, organizing and engaging voters in a digital age. It wasn't always easy, or pretty, but we got there:)
Today, we are bigger, stronger and more prepared than ever before. In 2020, IndiMarin welcomed over 1,000 new members to our ranks. We now number over 2,500. Additionally, there are tens of thousands of citizen action groups, like us, who have been activated over these past four years. Together, as a movement, we are powerful, seasoned and ready to go.
The lesson of the last four years is that we must never go back to inaction or complacency. Vigilant and collective action by citizens is the pathway to progressive change.
Now, onto the work in Georgia. Whether or not Democrats take control of the US Senate hinges on two run-off elections there on January 5. The results will greatly impact the opportunity for the Biden Administration to appoint a progressive Cabinet and address fundamental flaws in our current system of governance including the filibuster, electoral college, term limits, and an imbalanced Supreme Court.
Please watch for an email from us tomorrow with a range of specific actions you can take to support Jon Ossof and Reverend Raphael Warnock. Also, sign up for this exciting opportunity tomorrow at 4:30 PM to join a virtual conversation with both Democratic Senate candidates and their teams to meet them, talk strategy, and get our marching orders to help them win.
Then, after Inauguration Day, the exciting work begins - advocating for real progressive change in our country. IndiMarin is in this for the long haul. And we are confident that you are too.