COMMUNITY ACTIVISM
House Judiciary Hearings Protest. Markers For Democracy, Downtown Nasty Women Social Group, Team Min, and The Wednesday Group were the best-represented group at the House Judiciary hearings (circus) protest on the morning of April 17, 2023. It is a testament to our ability to mobilize and make our voices heard to push back against MAGA media spin.
24 Hours of Action 2.0. Markers For Democracy, Downtown Nasty Women Social Group, and Team Min hosted 24.5 hours of activism on September 19-20, 2022. Thanks to the almost 1,000 participants and 250 new GOTVers! Check out the full schedule here to see what happened.
WOMEN’S MARCH. On October 2, 2021, Markers For Democracy teamed up with our partner Downtown Nasty Women Social Group at the NYC Women’s March to show our support for reproductive rights. We joined the rally and marched from Foley Square to Washington Square Park to show solidarity for the people of Texas and have our voices heard.
WEST END WALK. In September 2020, Markers For Democracy took part in West End Walk, a community-sponsored event on West End Avenue in Manhattan. We helped community members register to vote, respond to the Census, and sign up to write postcards to voters.
RANKED CHOICE VOTING. Markers For Democracy hosted a Ranked Choice Voting workshop in collaboration with NYC Votes. We learned why RCV gives voters more say in who gets elected, leads to more civility and less negative campaigning, and results in more diverse and representative candidates winning elections. We had our own ranked choice vote to pick our favorite snacks. Popcorn was in the lead in round 1, but with only 27% of the vote. Since a candidate needs at least 51% to win, we went through 7 rounds before fruit came from behind and took the win!
POSTCARD AROUND THE CLOCK. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1920 with the intention of ensuring that no woman be denied the right to vote based on her sex. But in reality, the right to vote was denied to many Black women and other women of color until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Even today, not all United States citizens have the right to vote, and voter suppression is widespread. From 8:00 pm on Monday, August 24, 2020 through 8:00 pm on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, Markers For Democracy commemorated the ratification of the 19th Amendment, grappled with its shortcomings, and engaged in #ActivismAtHome to help get the vote out for the November 2020 elections. Postcards played an important role in the suffrage movement, with both pro-suffrage and anti-suffrage activists using picture postcards to get out their message. One hundred years later, groups like Markers For Democracy, Downtown Nasty Women Social Group, The Wednesday Group, and Team Min are using postcards to get out the vote for Democratic candidates all over the country.
CENSUS 2020. Markers For Democracy members let their fingers do the counting. We helped NYC Census 2020 by textbanking to uncounted New Yorkers and assisted individuals completing census forms at West End Walk. On February 28, 2020, NYC Census 2020 Director Julie Menin was one of our last in-person speakers at Le Pain Quotidien before NYC’s stay-at-home order went into effect.