Do you have an issue that energizes you?  Are you angry and want substantive change?  Do you want to make your voice be heard regarding police violence against people of color? We have a once in a generation opportunity for real change or we could lose it if we don’t ORGANIZE NOW!

The first class will be June 16 at 7PM and we will organize from there. We want to help you develop your activism so that you constructively and safely get exactly what you want. We want your voice to be heard louder and go further.  We will connect you with activists who care about what you do throughout the state. The class will go over

• Your rights as protesters
• How to plan various highly impactful methods of civil disobedience
• Social media and how to organize
• How to register voters and  work in a campaign.

The final project will be a county wide event, organized and planned by the students, with the support of the organized activist community to make sure that their message is heard. Indivisible DuPage pictured above at the 2018 Women’s March has been on the forefront of political activism locally since it began in January 2017 to fight Trump’s agenda.  We were angrily denounced by Jeannie Ives and the Illinois Tea Party because they believe that we are one of the most effective methods of change locally.

and you’ll be sent information for the first Zoom class.

The Lisle Township Democratic Organization (LTDO) believes that BLACK LIVES MATTER!  We are deeply disturbed at the cruel display of violence by Minneapolis police officers who took the life of Mr. George Floyd. The brutal treatment of African-Americans in our country must stop and police must be held accountable.

The right of Americans to protest and express their rage nonviolently is guaranteed under the First Amendment of our Constitution and we support these nonviolent protests.

We denounce the looting and property damage for it has no place in advancing the cause of justice and civil liberty.

In addition, LTDO believes that

• The voices of the oppressed in our society must be amplified to bring about action items for change within our police departments across the country.
• There must be better criteria for use of force by police instilled in their practices and policies.
• There must be better reporting and improved strategies for acts of police brutality.
• Better strategies to quickly identify police officers with a propensity for abuse.
• Improved discipline for police officers.
• Better relations between the police and the community.

To help bring about the systemic change our country requires, LTDO wants to support candidates who will promote legislation to:

• Create greater economic sustainability for minority communities.
• Improve educational opportunities and promote policies to end the “school to prison pipeline”.
• Strengthen healthcare.
• Eliminate disparities in our criminal justice system.
• Expand voting rights and political representation.
• Provide programs for youth and young adults.
• End excessive prosecution of people of color as in Ferguson, MO.
• DuPage County needs bail reform.
• Candidates need to support well researched and effective policies to reduce police violence like Campaign Zero.

The 2021 & 2022 election cycle will be pivotal and we must start now to prepare for it! You have 3 choices for training:

1. There is a training class you can start anytime and go at your own pace online, the National Democratic Training Committee. Go to the website and sign up to get started at your own time and pace.
2. You can also take a class paired with the ILDCC on 5/18 & 5/19 from 5:30-8:30 and sign up at the website.
3. If you want to go to an online class integrating training from a lot of great sources, with time to grow and work with a group virtually then . This will be taught by the Chair of LTDO – Diane 630-776-2324.

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I know everyone is being impacted by this virus and I hope this email finds you as well as possible in these terrible times. I want to thank Gerry Galloway for being a fabulous chair, mentor and friend. He really helped our organization evolve. I wanted to thank you for promoting me to chair. I do not often talk about what I do. You all elected someone that wears 3 different political hats that LTDO should utilize. I wear the hats I wear because I care very deeply about getting Democrats elected. I developed a professional political consulting company, Progressive Action, that helps take local Democratic candidates to the next level with training, strategy, digital field work, communications, and data analysis. LTDO has utilized some of the developed processes from this small company. I am an activist leader who works on state and regional issues. Currently I am the president of Indivisible DuPage and the colead of a state coalition task force from Indivisible Illinois. Our goal is to increase voter turnout for 2020 in IL. We are focused on Vote by mail being expanded in Illinois so you all will see a lot of information on that topic.

As the chair of LTDO I promise you all my time, my focus, and work output to elect Democrats locally. Those are the most valuable things I can give. I am passionate, brutally honest, and imperfect but I will do my best to get Democrats elected in Lisle Twp. I am very much looking forward to doing the work this election cycle to get Democrats elected in 2020. As a natural non-communicator introvert, one of my personal goals is to help enhance the internal and external communication abilities of our organization.

• We want to know what you think. Can you take this 5 minute survey to help us as we improve?
• I will have a virtual office hour on Zoom everyday at 9am except Monday’s which will be at 7:30. I will put the next day’s link into the Slack channel events. Feel free to pop in for a conversation or question or a friendly face.
  • Wednesday 4/29 though Sunday 5/3 at 9AM: register here
  • Monday 5/4 at 7:30AM: register here
  • Tuesday 5/5 through Sunday 5/10 at 9AM register here
• Slack was restarted for 2020. Slack is our internal communication system. We need a method of sharing documents in virtual meetings quickly. Slack offers the most secure, organized, searchable communication platform that can be on your phone and computer, and is free to all. Emails and text messages are hard to organize, are not searchable or inherently organized. It allows for the sharing of information when the only other alternatives are phone calls and in person connections that are few and far between now. It will only work if we do it as an organization. If you have already been invited in and want to put it on your computer/phone or tablet then follow this link. If you have not been invited in to Slack but wish to be, then please send your request to Lisletownshipdems@gmail.com or stop in at a virtual office hour and I will add you if you are a local Democrat. You can see all the channels by clicking the “+” next to “Channels” and then choosing “Browse channels”; if you wish to be added to a locked Channel let me know. If you need any help please ask me or Mark Spieglan at mjspieglan@gmail.com That way in the future all of your LTDO information will be organized and curated into one place. All topics that may interest you, you can get ahold of others, you can easily see everything going on without searching through tons of emails, having tons of conversations and texts. It is the most efficient method of organizing our digital communications. Here is a good tutorial I have enjoyed https://slack.com/resources/slack-101. We will constantly gently be redirecting people to join Slack.
• I am updating the Google digital PC and general membership library titled “DuPage Tsunami 2018”. It needed reorganization and to be more user friendly. I am very open to suggestions. Any political content that would be helpful to share with others is being sought and appreciated. Please send it my way via the Slack channel for the #library. The PCs and paid members will be added immediately. If you want access to the digital library please email  Lisletownshipdems@gmail.com. Access is restricted to paid or active members.

I look forward to serving the Lisle Township Democratic Organization Community. Thank you!!

— Diane