Announcements

A Podcast Called Hope

All of us are growing weary of the time and energy it takes to resist authoritarianism. Unfortunately, as important as the rallies and postcards and phone calls have been, they are not yet enough to force the 47th President and Republicans elected to national office to change their path.

As part of Indivisible, we are working on modifying our strategies and tactics to be more effective (see, for example, the One Million Rising project below). But in the meantime we may need a break from activism. We may need a break from the news cycle. We may need a break from our weekly routine.

And, we may need some hope from those who are tracking the ups and downs of the authoritarian takeover daily. Here are two recent examples of this flavor of hope:

• A 40-minute video from Heather Cox Richardson, taped on August 7th.
• A 10-minute read from Robert Hubbell’s Daily Edition Newsletter of Aug 7th.

Hubbell’s essay is reprinted and a link to Richardson’s video are here.

GVI T-shirts

The first order of our new Genesee Valley Indivisible Logo T-shirts are printed and ready for distribution!

We will bring them to the next weekly community meeting, August 14th, at St. Michael’s Epsicopal Church, in Geneseo from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, to distribute to buyers. If you aren’t able to pick up your shirt on the 14th, we will of course hold it for you. If you need to make other arrangements to receive the shirt you purchased, email info@geneseevalleyindivisible.org.

We will have another Logo T-shirt order later this month or early September!

Please check future editions of this Weekly Newsletter for updates.

Details are available in the Events Calendar.

Look up the following events by date.

New or Notable Events are highlighted.

Next GVI Community Meeting

Weekly – Thursdays – 6:30pm – GVI Community Meeting,

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Geneseo, NY

Rallies

Weekly – Wednesdays – Noon – Constitutional Call Out, Federal Building, Rochester

Weekly – Wednesdays – 4:00pm – Rally at Geneseo Gateway Corner Park

Weekly – Wednesdays – 4:30pm – Hemlock Rising’s “You Pick a Cause” Rally

Beginning August 13th in the Events Calendar.

Weekly – Fridays – 4:00pm – Rally at Geneseo Gateway Corner Park

Weekly – Fridays – 4:00pm – Rally at Twelve Corners, Brighton, NY

23 August – 11am – Resist Tyranny! – Lima Crossroads

30 August – 11am – Workers Over Billionaires – Avon

1 September – Labor Day Parade, Rochester, NY

Elections / Candidates

18 August – 6:00pm – Virtual Meet & Greet with Lt. Gov. Antonia Delgado

Social Activities / Other Events

14 August – 6:30pm – Social Security Town Hall, Waterloo, NY

28 August – GVI Picnic Social Click for Details. Replaces Weekly Community Mtg.

17 September – 7:00pm – GVI Constitution Day Celebration – SAVE THE DATE

21 September – Sun Day & Autumnal Equinox

21 September – LCDC Annual Picnic Fundraiser

24 September – 7:00pm – GVI Constituion Lecture Series – SAVE THE DATE

Training / Resources

Weekly – Thursdays – 3:00pm – Indivisible National “What’s The Plan?” Zoom Call

13 August – 8:00pm – One Million Rising: Strategic Non-violent, Non-cooperation

14 August – Noon – State of the Climate Movement in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region (via Zoom)

16 August – 10:00am – Safety Marshal Training 101, Henrietta, NY

18 August – 7:00pm – Building Partnerships & Coalitions – Zoom Webinar

(Indivisible’s Solidarity in Action Series)

26 August – 6:30pm – The Bill of Obligations – Book Discussion – Perry, NY

RESOURCES

Non-violent Non-cooperation — Moving Past Rallies

Training to learn about new strategies & tactics.

August 13th

One Million Rising: Strategic Non-violent, Non-cooperation

August 18th

Building Partnerships & Coalitions – Solidarity in Action Series

Actions You Can Take to Save Democracy

GVI’s Own Weekly Action List

Postcards, Letters, Phone Banks, Rallies, Outreach

To receive the weekly email, send a message

to Phil Jones, paj12147@gmail.com.

Sample of Action List from 3-August-2025.

Heather’s Corner

Occasional posts of writing or video commentary from Heather.  

See the full list here.

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The Declaration in Action is a new series of activist profiles from Heather Cox Richardson. She describes the project this way:

The revolutionary idea that everyone is created equal inspired Americans who were excluded from voting, economic opportunity, civil rights, or citizenship, to demand that the United States of America turn the principles of the Declaration of Independence into reality.

The current 10 video shorts are profiles of:

Mercy Otis Warren                     Zitkala-Sa

Phillis Wheatley                         Mary Mcleod Bethune

Lucretia Coffin Mott                   Frances Perkins

Mother Jones                            Ella Baker

Mabil Ping-Hua Lee                   Barbara Gittings

A Moral Collapse

Instead of calling it “authoritarian breakthrough” or “authoritarian takeover,” the essay and video below describe what we are living through as a “moral collapse.” They emphasize that a values-based, and possibly faith-based, response will be required to resist authoritarianism and repair our society.

“Political Plunder & the Power of Love” is a Substack.com video by the podcast Our Moral Moment, a collaboration by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Bishop William J. Barber, II. (36 minute view; August 5, 2025)

Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s Substack.com essay, “We Are Living Thorugh Moral Collapse. How Democrats Can Strike Back.” (15 minute read; March 16, 2025)

Climate Change & Political Change

Genesee Valley Indivisible has not been active in the politics of climate change since we started in March 2025. As of August 2025 we are changing that history to include climate change issues in our work. Action items will appear in occasional posts under this heading.

See past posts here.

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The Issue

The EPA is proposing to rescind the 2009 finding that emissions and climate change pose a threat to public health. As climate change is already starting to impact our earth and all of us, fighting the proposed removal of regulations is of the highest importance right now. There is no greater threat than global warming.

A Solution

• Submit comments to the EPA before September 15th. Links, instructions, and a script are here.

• Sign an online petition organized by the non-profit, Common Cause. Links and explanation here.

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State of Climate Movement in NYS – Zoom Webinar

Due to technical problems, this Webinar was rescheduled to August August 14th, Thursday, from Noon to 1:00pm, a Zoom presentation from Indivisible Rochester and the Climate Solutions Accelerator will review the State of Climate Movement in the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region.

Details in the GVI Events Calendar.