HRI General Meeting (Biden-Eve) on Jan 19, 2021
Herndon-Reston Indivisible celebrated 4 years of activism, the night before the Inaguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Pictoral Link: HRI over Last Four Years.pptx
You Tube Link: HRI over Last Four Years
Heidi Zollo and Carrie Bruns, Co-founders and Steering Committee members of HRI, gave the opening remarks:
Heidi Zollo:
This is the beginning of HRI’s 5th year. We came together after the 2016 presidential election to resist the trump administration and elect democrats. Here we are four years later and he is a one term president. Less than 24 hours from now, Joe Biden will be sworn-in as our new president. Everyone on this zoom meeting play a part in resisting trump and helping to elect Joe Biden. You deserve a round of applause for your perseverance, commitment, hardwork and leadership to our shared-future.
We know that election matters, none of our policy goals can be achieved without democrats in the majority. We’re learning that not all democrats hold our progressive values — democrats come in all shapes and sizes. We also learned that state and local representation matters as much as national representation.
As you know, Virginia has an election every year — both a blessing and a curse. 2021’s focus will be to keep democrats in state-wide seats: governor, lt. governor and attorney general. House of Delegates will also be on the ballot, but redistricting is complicating new district lines and primary date. Stay posted for updates.
Thanks to everyone for your your help, dedication and engagement in our democracy.
Carrie Bruns:
Good to see everyone.
We’ve made it through 4 yrs and we beat trump, not a Democratic landslide, but something happened that we only hoped for: we took back the senate! And by way of GA!
After the election, when I first heard there were 2 senate seats in GA that could flip the senate, it seemed an impossible feat. But we organized, wrote postcards, made phone calls, sent money and helped win those two seats! And so won the Senate.
What an enormous difference this will make, between bills piled up on Mitch McConnell’s desk and bills passed.
Going forward: Jan 6th was horrible and shocking, but somehow, even after this difficult and stressful year, I find I want to do more, not less to move forward.
Going Forward – What’s Important
You Tube Link: Going Forward
D Smith: ” Going Forward after 4 years of destruction and hate, we must not stop our fight for progress. For the promises of our Constitution, our destiny must finally be equality for all.”
S Canner: “Going forward we must build on our eleciton gains to benefit more of us & protect our democracy.”
G Reed: : “Going forward we must nominate & elect officials who demonstrate an ability to up hold our laws and act ethically.”
J Grieshaber: “Going forward we must break the deadlock in the Senate & get things done for the American people.”
S Misencik: “Going forward we must all work with elected officials to provide fully funded public education.”
B. Jaffe: “Going forward we must fight white supremacy everywhere, including Virginia.”
J. Poje: “Going forward, as COVID-19 has laid bare the shame of our systemic inequalities, may we truly lead our nation to ensure life, liberty and justice for all.”
A/C Moore: “Going forward we need to educate adults and children in civics and the Constitution.”
K. Daly: “Going forward, reverse all the bad Dept of Education policies instituted over the last four years, and even longer.”
J. Stern: “Going forward we must continue to work to ensure equal justice, safe housing, adequate nutrition, healthcare and education, and a clean environment for all.”
C. Stevens: “Going forward I look forward to the Dept of Justice defending civil rights and voting rights vs. protecting and pushing Trump and Barr’s racist / nationalist policy initiatives.
K. White: “Going forward we must pass immigration reform, secure and protect immigrant and asylum seekers right, reunite children, reform criminal justice and for profit prisons, immediately address all imprisoned that are awaiting legal address.”
D. Palmintera: “Going forward the most important effort is one to fight disinformation on media, social networks, etc. Not sure what the effort looks like, but we need to give this some serious thought.”
E. Minarik: “Going forward, we must make changes to our approach to public education by recognizing that one size does not fit all, that the understanding of our rights and responsibilities as US citizens must be a requirement for graduation.