There is a lot of anxiety in our country right now, especially among progressives. It’s almost impossible to watch the news and not become angry or sad. It can be overwhelming. But there are things we can do here in Douglas County to counter these feelings. By becoming actively engaged and helping to amplify progressive messages while also countering misinformation. There are many ways people can become engaged; from writing post cards and attending town hall meetings, to participating in peaceful protests and marches. The Douglas County Democratic Party (DCDP) wants to activate our party members to make this happen.
Introducing the Douglas County Activism Task Force
On March 17, county activists from around the county met to establish the vision and objectives for an Activism Committee. The meeting, led by Party Chair Meg Furlow and 1st Vice-Chair George Jackson, solicited suggestions and recommendations for actions and activities the group could support. Suggestions included:
· creating a coordinated activist calendar,
· hosting town hall meetings, including empty chair events for our House Representative who doesn’t want to have a public town hall meeting.
· launching a recall effort for our House Representative.
· strongly suggesting that our elected democratic representatives be more confrontational,
· encouraging participation in large events held in Denver and elsewhere,
· attend town and county business meetings, and publish bullet point lists of meeting discussion topics and action items,
· encouraging individual activism activities like 5 calls, sending post cards for out of state races, and participating in GOTV phone banks
Taking all these ideas into consideration, and after some thought and discussion, we’ve decided to create a Douglas County Activism Task Force. This group will consist of leaders of the different activist groups: Indivisible Lone Tree, Parker and Larkspur, Red Wine & Blue in Castle Pines, Living Liberally Castle Rock, Douglas County Parents and others. The Task Force will set up a new Facebook private group off the DCDP Facebook group, as well as a BlueSky group. Heidi Bonilla will fill the role of Facilitator. DCDP will host an Activist Events calendar, and the overall expectation for this Task Force would be to facilitate cross promotion and cross participation in events and activities. We wish to encourage participation among all progressive people, including independents.
We will produce a calendar of events and protests that people can participate in, and we will publish a list of things people can do, both individually and with others, to become involved locally in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on our website for updates and additional information.
