SOMA Action’s Democracy Action Committee

What made you want to start this committee?

Left to right: Allison Posner, Mary Barber, Amy Higer

We all spent the last four years trying to defeat Donald Trump. We did (thankful every day for that!) but the election results were far too close. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, we had to immediately pivot to another election, and pour our energies winning the two Georgia Senate seats. (Allison Posner and Jessica James were superpower local leaders in this effort.) The joy of winning those seats of course was overtaken by the Trump-led insurrection. Obviously, the fight for a better country is not over—far from it.  While we have a lot to do here in New Jersey, we know we can’t ignore what’s happening in places like Georgia, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Washington, D.C. To stop the right-wing assaults on our democracy we feel an urgent need to join with others around the country who are also engaged in this fight. We see our new committee as a way to connect SOMA Action members with national campaigns and grassroots movements trying to save our democracy. 

What does the committee hope to achieve?

Our committee hopes to sustain local activism by connecting passionate, committed progressive people in our community to larger pro-democracy movements around the country. We see ourselves as a small part of the massive national mobilization of groups who are fighting back. By organizing locally, and being a bridge to these larger movements, we are also excited to keep building and strengthening our friendships and solidarity at home, which is really what democracy is all about. 

What are some of the biggest obstacles in sustaining this committee’s efforts?

There are always obstacles in trying to sustain political activism. All of us have full lives and busy schedules, so making time to plan events and actions is a challenge. But more than this: it’s easy to feel that what we do here in SOMA is not going to make a difference to what is happening “out there” in places far away. It takes a certain kind of faith to believe that if you keep at it—that if you stay engaged, you participate in actions, you meet and discuss and try new strategies and tactics—it will somehow matter. But after 4 years of working hard, and getting through some really dark times, we learned that it actually does matter. You just have to do it and keep doing it. And you have to have some fun doing it too.

What are some of the biggest obstacles in seeing your committee’s goals achieved?

The biggest obstacle currently is that we have a razor thin margin in the Senate and much of the Biden agenda is going to be subject to failure if we do not see real filibuster reform. Many important pieces of much needed and immensely popular legislation will not be able to be passed with the general 51 votes when Vice President Harris is often the tie breaking vote. With such a divided and partisan Senate, the likelihood of achieving 60 votes in the current form is non-existent. We need to also apply pressure to Democrats like Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) who have indicated that they do not support filibuster reform and let them know that Democrats and indeed, many Republicans, support filibuster reform as it is an antiquated and racist holdover that needs to go. 

What sorts of things do you imagine committee members will spend their time doing?

We hope to provide committee members with many different kinds of actions, with most being offered remotely, such as phone banking and text banking. For new callers, we plan on offering an action hour (TBA) where folks can join a zoom call to learn about the day’s focused action and then for hesitant callers they will be able see a whole crew on gallery view making calls at the same time. It’s a fantastic way to make an impact in a short amount of time. We also expect to have monthly brainstorming meetings to see what our members are most excited about supporting and learning where we can make the most difference in these national campaigns. 

What should people do if they want to get involved?
Interested parties should email co-chair Allison Posner at allisonposner@gmail.com to be added to our email list to hear about upcoming actions and events. Our first event was scheduled for May 8, where we planned to join thousands of activists around the country to show support for The National John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Action Day. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we were rained out! Please join us next Saturday, May 15, 12:30-2:00 p.m. at the Maplewood Open Retail Market on the corner of Springfield and Yale. We have actions everyone in SOMA can take to preserve and expand Americans’ sacred right to vote, to defeat voter suppression and to support DC Statehood. Please let us know and we’ll send you the to-do action list!” (Rain Date—because we've learned!—Saturday, May 22!)