There’s something in the air. We are all hesitant to call it one thing. But if we had to pin it down to one term it would be MOVEMENT. We are ready for a NEW FUTURE!
The movement, as we imagine it:
This is a “youth-led” movement, both BY young people and also FOR the youth, for their future.
Accountability! We need to be accountable to each other and to our institutions that claim to serve us. We are the constituents, THE PEOPLE, we call in and sometimes, when necessary, call out! Rebuilding trust with each other and with institutions we can trust in our own city. That transparency is the primary goal of local government, and we know we have the right to ask for that.
Love your neighbor! Neighborhoods are the center of our community engagement. Neighborliness is a United States emblematic placeholder of peacetime community wealth and remember the beloved children’s show call to gently ask the question, “Please, won’t you be my neighbor?”
Resource Stewardship. This covers a wide range of functions from food distribution and access, to health facilities, to gas and utilities to where our water comes from and if it's clean or not! How are we accessing the resources provided for us by the government and private enterprise systems, and how are we supplementing the needs of resources internal to our local community? No city should have residents without reasonable access to fulfill their basic hierarchy of needs of shelter, food, clothing, and community.
What’s been happening so far?
The movement local to Johnson City’s recent history has been about AWARENESS of what is considered “politics as usual” around here and tearing down the barriers to civic engagement.
Since July of 2023, a small community of invested citizens have been hosting watch parties of the city commission meetings. Multiple political parties and independently concerned citizens came together to build the Protect the People’s Voice campaign. This awareness led to knocking down all 4 amendments in the August referendum.
Corruption and abuse from a law enforcement officer in a true crime mythical terror has ripped through our community making us feel even less safe from the government department deemed as responsible “To Serve and Protect.” Sean Williams and his independent actions have become a stain on our community and the city’s need to enact justice to protect its citizens. Let’s try and get started with proactive and preventive political care!
At the start of the pandemic and alongside the uprising of the summer of 2020, the Tri-Cities TN/VA Mutual Aid was formed. Four years of mutual aid, food distribution, meeting of basic needs through collective organizing. The theory of mutual aid being that the primary resources of support are always provided first by the people to the people.
What we are doing up until November and beyond.
Learning and Listening. There’s so much to learn about the way our body politic operates. Some of that is about learning the preexisting politics as usual, to find ways to simplify and transform it to be accessible to us all. We don’t claim to know everything about the political system, the practical budget policy needs, or the procedural operations. But we as a movement are committed to learning. Learn with us!
Watch Parties and the Politics of Joy. We want to put the PARTY back in politics. And sometimes that means gathering for watching city commission meetings on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month, and sometimes that means potlucking and socializing and pulling out a guitar or two. Political action can be serious AND fun! We are reinvigorating the notion of what it means to be engaged, since so many are disillusioned from the silencing of their voice. Come hang out with us!
Canvassing and Phone Banking. We’re about getting boots and stilettos on the ground, handshakes and hugs in the hallway, sips of coffee and tea and discourse. You don’t have to be sitting behind the elected officials podium to participate in politics. We’ll be charting the various neighborhoods, dialing down the phone book, asking people about key issues that concern them, and seeing how they align with our campaign's mission statement.
How to join the movement:
You’re already in it! If you’ve read this far, you probably have thoughts about what should be happening in local government and our society. Start there. Political engagement begins with self-inquiry. What “grinds your gears” to turn you into movement?
Come to an event! We’ll be hosting town halls, watch parties, and various political-centered gatherings until the election. Meet folks, bring people you know, talk to other people who are already a part of our campaign. You can dip your toes in, the water's fine. Just check us out.
Pledge to Vote/Sign up for our Newsletter. Sign up for our newsletter and follow all our updates as we continually evolve and design the platform and action plans of this campaign.
Be a Volunteer! Not just GO VOLS! If anything you’ve found on our website or this post resonates deeply with you, we can use the help! We all need help. We got a feisty group of folks kicking off organizing, but the more and more hands and voices and opinions we have, the more representative this campaign can be. We are a PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN.
Donate! Maybe you don’t have the time and energy, but you’ve got a pocketbook. Put your money where your heart is and we’ll use that resource tenderly and efficiently to protect your voice.
Vote for Jacob Luallen on November 5th! Check to make sure your voting registration is up to date. And get to the polls!