Get Involved

We have a snow day today, so you can take some time updating your Activist Calendar. The big event this week is the March for our Lives in Wilmington.

March for Our Lives-Wilmington
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday
Howard High School to Rodney Square

This is a march starting at Howard High School (401 E. 12th St.) to Rodney Square, where there will be a rally to follow. The march will start at 10:00 am and the rally at Rodney Square will begin around 11:00 am and run until around 2:00 pm. The rally will include music, informational vendors educating the public on ways we can prevent gun violence in Delaware, and speakers ranging from the students who helped organize the march to some of the sponsors of current gun legislation.

More at March for Our Lives -Delaware.

Network Delaware‘s Organizing Change Training Program
2 – 5 p.m. Sunday, March 25th
Network Delaware, 719 N. Shipley St., Wilmington, DE 19801

This program will be held again on four other dates after March 25 up until July.

Do you want the skills to unite people around a common goal in your community? Do you want to support those around you in developing their own leadership? Do you want the strategic tools to propel change? Do you want to run a meeting that feels productive, energizing, and action-oriented?

If these are questions you want to be able to answer, then this is the right program for you! Through applied training, this program immerses participants in the fundamental elements of social change organizing in the 21st century. The materials draw heavily from organizing programs all over the world (e.g. Marshall Ganz’s leadership course at Harvard, Rinku Sen’s writings, and various strategic nonviolence resources).

This course shares theory and practice of organizing efforts throughout history to introduce various methods of achieving social change. By analyzing historical and contemporary examples of civilian-led initiatives (e.g. movements for civil rights, economic justice, and political rights), participants will be able to:

– Coordinate collaborative leadership teams
– Translate their values into a public narrative that motivates others to action
– Create detailed action plans, thorough strategies, and a diverse tactical repertoire
– Build motivating relationships that involve others in a common goal
– Challenge dominant cultural narratives and institutions that limit communities
– Prepare for “movement movements”
– Review the key principles of strategic nonviolent conflict
– Identify the vital capacity points needed to sustain lasting social change.

The “heart” of this program is the organizing project which entails each participant to work on an outside initiative (e.g. issue or electoral campaign, advocacy effort, community development program, etc.) that allows each individual to practice the skills they learn in class. Projects can be self-initiated, done in collaboration with other program participants, or part of another organization.

Learn more here.
Complete application here.

Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network‘s Lobby Day
10:30 a.m. March 27th

Click HERE for all of the information you will need for Delaware Citizens’ Cannabis Lobby Day.

Can’t get to Dover? Give your representative a call and ask them to vote YES on HB110! Remind them to request a copy of the Task Force recommendations for implementing cannabis legalization in Delaware. Legislator Phone Directory.

Delaware Common Cause Education Forum on Protecting Our Votes.
March 29th, 11:30 am to 1 p.m.
Dover Public Library

The 2016 Presidential election made us strikingly aware of why we need to protect our voting systems and voter information. Concerns, in Delaware, range from obsolete voting systems to attempts by a hostile foreign country to hack our voter files. We read about attempted hacking, the benefits of paper trails and ballots, and an interest by all States in converting their aging voting systems to modern and secure practices that will last well into the 21st century. You may wonder if anything is being done to protect our votes.
The Panel we are sponsoring will inform and educate the public on what kind of voting system Delaware should adopt and how we as voters can have a say in the process.

Panel Featuring:
– Senator Bryan Townsend (D-11)
– Sentor Anthony Delcollo (R-7)
– Representative Charles Potter (D-1)
– Susannah Goodman – Common Cause Washington, DC
– Jim Stauber – National Association of Letter Carriers, Chief of Staff
– Stan Merriman – Community Activist

For more information about this event or to RSVP please contact Jen Hill at JHill@commoncause.org or Jan Konesey at jkonesey@gmail.com. The event is open to the public and free.