Bay State Organizing for Bernie & Beyond!
BRAINTREE, MA — Our Revolution, the activist group inspired by Bernie Sanders, held an Organize to Win 2020 Summit last week drawing progressive activists from around Massachusetts.
Led by local groups representing 30,000 progressive Massachusetts voters, Our Revolution is mobilizing activists to press progressive legislation and to elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot. The local organizations involved include Our Revolution Massachusetts, Our Revolution Cambridge, Our Revolution Somerville, Our Revolution Metrowest, Our Revolution Medford, Our Revolution Newton, Our Revolution Weymouth, MA4Bernie2020. They plan to build on previous local success and expand their efforts going into 2020.
“We’re building local political powerhouses to elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot and to fight for Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and Good Jobs for All,” said executive director Joseph Geevarghese.
Our Revolution has over 600 nationwide groups working to elect progressive candidates at every level of government. One notable success story highlighted at the summit is Our Revolution Medford, where last year a group of concerned citizens organized to elect progressives to school committee and city council seats. Out of a slate of seven candidates, five prevailed.
“Our first priority has always been to help our local affiliates elect great local candidates — to change the political landscape for working people block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, community by community,” said Nichole Mossalam, former co-chair of Our Revolution Massachusetts and candidate for state representative.
Attendees listened to local speakers give personal accounts of how issues such as medical costs and student debt are impacting their lives.
Rebecca Wood,whose daughter has developmental disabilities, spoke about the cost of care and the need for Medicare for All. “Co-pays, deductibles, automatic denials, and exclusions drained our savings and financially devastated us over time. And I must make impossible choices: do I pay for her therapy or my overpriced asthma medication?”
83-year-old Bob Burke added that Medicare for All is critical for seniors. “In the wealthiest nation in the world, nearly a quarter of all seniors with prescriptions can’t afford their medication. The worst thing you can do right now is take Medicare for All off the table.”
Joshua Chason, 30, told how he and his girlfriend have had to defer marriage because it would move them into a higher tax bracket and trigger an increase in their student loan payments to a level they can’t afford. “How sad is that?” he asked.
Elected officials and candidates for state house and other state and local offices also spoke. Our Revolution is organizing additional summits over the next few months in cities and towns across the country. Members will unite to support progressive issues and back progressive pro-people candidates from school board aspirants to presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders.
