For those who are not subscribed to the Indivisible newsletter, I would like to share an important part from Sarah Dohl’s June 20th email:

“Throughout the lead-up to No Kings Day, you’ve heard our coalition refer to the 3.5% rule — the observation by social scientists that few authoritarian governments have withstood 3.5% of their population mobilizing against them in a peak event. 

The 3.5% is a historically important target — but not a magic number. We doubt any readers believe that if we got 11.8 million Americans to take to the streets, Trump would miraculously resign the next day. Or that one massive protest would be sufficient to secure our democracy against the deeply-rooted threats it faces. 

Erica Chenoweth — the scholar who developed the rule — agrees, and in fact has written: ‘Other factors — momentum, organization, strategic leadership, and sustainability — are likely as important as large-scale participation.’

You need large-scale participation. Even bigger than Saturday. But also: Sustainability. Organization. Strategic leadership. 

This work goes beyond one single day of protest or even multiple large-scale demonstrations. It requires a serious commitment to local organizing and grassroots leadership development. It requires bringing those people who participated on Saturday — and those who were moved by the protests — into our movement and providing them with meaningful actions.

It requires using our massive numbers in a sustained way to apply the right leverage on elected officials to blunt Trump’s agenda, to embolden civil society leaders to stand up to his threats, and to build the electoral power we need to vote out the enablers of Trump’s authoritarian agenda and replace them with champions of democracy.”

This movement takes time, commitment, endurance, and a meaningful call to action.

This is where the trifold that I’ve been handing out comes in. After speaking with Rep. Fong’s aid in Bakersfield last month, I was convinced Fong cares more about Trump’s agenda than Ridgecrest.  He voted for the Big Beautiful Bill which cuts Medicaid and threatens our hospital staying open.  His aid defended this by deflecting blame on California by providing healthcare to illegal immigrants.  [Seems like the fair thing to do when they’re building our homes and harvesting our food.] She also brushed off my concerns by saying “we have different politics.” Excuse me? I was talking about my concern that our hospital has been struggling for years and additional cuts could shut it down.

We have a few dedicated writers that are getting responses from Fong’s office.  We need proof readers who will take a red pen to those letters and provide printed sources as evidence of those corrections.  We will present these findings to City Council in Ridgecrest for the public to hear and make a request to City Council for actions they may be able to address.

We also need a daytime point of contact.  I’m unable to organize during core hours as I am a federal employee.  This is why you receive emails from me far too early in the morning or after my shift ends.  Our marketing of events has been word of mouth, social media, and being out there protesting consistently so people see us.  We need someone who can call other organizations, unions, and business to get them to join us.  1% of the town is great, but I know we could do better if we made those contacts.

Join us tomorrow, 6/28 from 9-11am at the NE corner of Ridgecrest & China Lake BLVD, to celebrate liberty, our freedoms, and protest:

• The Big Beautiful Bill for potentially one last time (Trump has urged Republicans that he wants it passed before July 4th)
• ICE raids on migrant workers
• The chaos Trump has caused

Visit the events page for protest resources and parking information.

It’s time to paint the town blue.