This week, the Supreme Court finally killed off the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I've spent the past decade studying the VRA and the attacks on it, so I thought I would offer some historical perspective, and where I think we're headed. This will be a long thread; buckle up.

Evergreen!

FULL STORY: The significant increase in the number of times Chicago police officers have used force against members of the public since 2022 merits a “full-scale review,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office told a federal judge. @wttw.bsky.social

the Illinois Senate will have their first hearing about BUILD on Thursday and I'm looking for a few good Illinoisans to submit their first "witness slip" in the next 36 hours Open this page and follow the instructions in this thread: bit.ly/BUILDWitness...

Just shameful that CPD effectively vetoed the participation of independent immigration and legal experts. Those experts were specifically requested by the more than 2,000 Chicagoans who petitioned for this meeting.

These are bad bills, @govpritzker.illinois.gov As your constituent, I urge you to reconsider your support. The EFF says it plainly:

This is Harold Washington Library State and Van Buren

Chicagoooo 🚫👑

Simultaneously, they mock & degrade women athletes for not being athletic enough, and then when a few of us are that athletic, they say we must not be real women. The end state of this reasoning is a world where “real” women don’t — and then can’t — play sports. Policing gender hurts women athletes.

See you there, Chicago

IL peeps, operating system age verification bills are quietly moving through Springfield. These are bad bills for privacy and free speech. Please see downthread for instructions on how to file a witness slip to voice your opposition. Takes 5 mins or less.

Uhhh holy crap y’all someone is trying to backdoor get age verification for computers though the ILGA. This is a bad bill. It cannot be allowed to pass. www.reddit.com/r/illinois/s...

This is an obvious overreach & bad logic, but bigger picture: this was only possible because we lack privacy protections and every scrap of data about us is collected, packaged, and sold every single day.

RCV is the long term solution. In the meantime, kudos to @evanstonroundtable.bsky.social for commissioning not just one, but two IL-09 polls to help inform their readers. (and releasing the details and cross tabs)

Lawyer: You don't regret that people might have lost income? Cavanaugh (DOGE): No, I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit from two trillion dollars to close to zero. Lawyer: Did you reduce the federal deficit? Cavanaugh: No, we didn't.

This Friday! Rally with Senator Elizabeth Warren and her future colleague Juliana Stratton! RSVP link below #TeamStratton

📢 Illinois neighbors! Rally with Senator Warren for Juliana Stratton! Election Day is days away. Hear directly from Sen. Warren and Juliana at this historic event! Fri., Mar. 13th Northside Chicago, IL Address available upon RSVP RSVP required for entry act.julianastratton.com/signup/march...

Let this serve as a warning to Dems who abandon trans folks and vote for anti trans bills. You will be primaried, and you will lose.

THIIIIIIIIIS. And not just here. All over the place. Like, I’d love a future Dem President to say “I’ve scoured the Constitution and can’t find a ‘major question’ rule anywhere in it. So I’m just going to ignore that effort to arrogate power to yourself. That imbalance? Checked.”

Saw Natchez on Sunday at the Siskel Center. Definitely recommend the film. It was a thoughtful presentation of history vs mythology and the impacts of avoiding a reckoning between the two. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRGf...

Raja’s “record places him firmly in the camp of corporate-aligned, MAGA-lite politics. The kind of broken politics that smiles for the camera while quietly empowering state surveillance, billionaire deregulation, and authoritarian allies. Illinois deserves better.”

“We can’t support it because the costs of the lawsuits will be too high” buddy wait until you hear about the police department

#TeamStratton Link to the source: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

the party that wants to require ID to vote abruptly invalidating a thousand people’s IDs overnight seems like a pretty giant flashing red light

Indivisible Downtown Chicago endorses @julianastratton.bsky.social for U.S. Senate

😢 What a shame for all the talented folks at Columbian Model & Exhibit Works

The kids are alright

For IL-07 peeps, Indivisible Downtown Chicago is hosting virtual forums with a number of Dem candidates over the next couple of weeks. Check them out.

We will be hosting a series of one-on-one virtual forums with our top 6 candidates in the Illinois 7th Congressional District Democratic Primary. Be sure to register with the link below to hear what these candidates have to say: www.mobilize.us/indivisibled...

Every poll that's come out recently has shown Kelly in a distant third. Time to rally round Stratton.

/6 ICE is a monument to totalitarianism, lawlessness, and bigotry. It should be ripped out and woodchippered root and branch and replaced with something focused on the concept that you can’t defend the rule of law by burning it down.

A good thread on what people mean by the “abolish ICE” shorthand and why it must be accomplished.

Elected officials have to stop posting like bystanders who have no power.

Are you curious about the ins and outs of canvassing for candidates this election season? Indivisible Downtown Chicago @indivisible-dt-chi.bsky.social is hosting a canvassing training this Thursday in Printers Row. Spaces still available. RSVP via mobilize: www.mobilize.us/indivisiblec...

Impeachment. Now.

Trump just started an illegal war with Venezuela If you wanna make some calls 👉 5calls.org/issue/trump-... www.cbsnews.com/live-updates...

Business rent is way too high on Mag (not Miracle) Mile so companies are just shuffling around. H&M moved two blocks down the road to save cash. He's blaming "murder and crime" in one of the safest parts of the city because the real problem is "landlords." Almost like that's the whole gambit.

I keep seeing regular Americans taking more risks every day to fight tyranny, want, and cynicism than I see from the opposition party, and I imagine many of those regular Americans are asking themselves what the value proposition of such an opposition party is, really

we have less than 24 hours to advocate for these housing legalization bills. Wednesday (3/19) is the only housing committee scheduled this week and they have to be approved by Friday (3/21)!