20250401 STAND Newsletter – We have a website!
Dear Friends,
On Friday evening, I attended a vigil on the sidewalk outside of the CDC. Current and former employees, alongside their friends and families showed up holding candles in solidarity with an announcement of 2,400 layoffs looming. The mood was solemn, with many people (presumably current employees) wearing masks, and folks routinely drifting away from the cameras trying to document the show of support. I’ve spoken since to an employee who has been instructed not to protest and expressed worry about AI-based facial recognition at any public event.
A small group of supporters from out of town tried to sing and lift the mood. The effort quickly died.
These folks need our support, and we are mobilizing in turn. Our communications team is currently getting up to speed on federal employee layoff procedure so we can help targeted employees understand their rights to appeal. We are gearing up to turn our newly-trained FOIA pods towards the uncovering of records related to their terminations. We are looking for ways to make use of a newly formed Protest team to extend support to those that continue to stand in solidarity with these civil servants each week.
I’m incredibly proud of the work that we’re beginning to do in this, and other efforts, and I want you to know that whether you are directly involved in these efforts or not, you are helping make this happen. Your willingness to engage has provided the momentum to make these efforts move forward. The energy and commitment you bring just by showing up is infectious, and we will continue to do good work so long as y’all continue to show up with a desire to help. And speaking of showing up…
HANDS-OFF PROTEST – THIS SATURDAY (April 5th)
STAND Protest will launch with its first organized effort by participating in the HANDS-OFF protest in downtown Atlanta on Saturday. The event starts in Piedmont park at 12:30 to walk to the capital, but the STAND Protest team will meet and organize around 11:15. We would love for you to join us and march as a part of STAND, but we need to know you plan to come. Just like our other teams, our approach to Protest will be organized to protect ourselves, the people around us, and deliver a clear message in alignment with our values. Please consider coming by signing up here:
***The march route is roughly 2.5 miles. If you would like to attend the rally at the capital as a part of our group, but skip the march, please let me know. We will have an advance pod or two that we plan to meet at the capital rally***
Next STAND event – April 12th
Our next event is coming up in a little less than 2 weeks. Our next meeting will be held from 3:30pm-5:30pm on the 12th, with cookies, coffee, and light refreshments available beginning at 3pm. Childcare will be available, please just let us know so we can prepare at stand@ndumc.org. We will also dive right into our general meeting this time around so we should have more time for small group discussions and support.
Rebrand and a new website!
So… it turns out that STAND Together is a registered non-profit, which is a problem, but not an insurmountable one. A bigger problem is that that particular non-profit is funded by the Koch brothers, and people noticed that and didn’t attend our last gathering because of that assumed association. To be very, very clear, we are not in any way associated with the Koch brothers. So we are ripping the band-aid off. We are STAND, and can now be found at WhenWeStand.org. Sorry for the whiplash, but check out the cool new logo:
We are all learning this together as we go, and I’m glad to be learning it with you.
STANDing with you,
Matt
