The franchise, abortion rights, and the prospect for meaningful climate action all under increasing threat, grassroots progressives from Arizona and West Virginia are planning to hold a day nonviolent direct action to pressure Democratic Senators later in the month. Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema must end their support of the legislative filibuster.
“On May 23rd, Arizonans and West Virginians will come together in our states to say, ‘No more!’” reads a statement released by the event’s organizers, a diverse alliance that includes the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign, the Arizona Coalition to End the Filibuster, and the West Virginia Working Families Party.
“We will join in peaceful protest and nonviolent direct action,” the statement continues, “to demand that Sinema and Manchin stop their corrupt obstruction and end the filibuster so the majority can finally pass legislation to deal with the urgent crises that plague our nation.”
For months, Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sinema (D-Ariz.) have been the Senate Democratic caucus’ foremost supporters of the 60-vote legislative filibuster, a rule that — in a closely divided upper chamber — effectively gives the minority party veto power over most legislation.
Over the past year, Senate Republicans have embraced that power. tank legislation It was created to protect the franchise against state-level voter suppression and to enshrine it. right to abortion care into federal law. Manchin was elected the president in February. only Democrat to join Senate Republicans in filibustering the Women’s Health Protection Act.
“Senator Manchin’s obstructionism and support of fossil fuels are perilous to preserving our democracy, as well as our planet, and we cannot be silent about it. We must confront it,” said Sharon Helman, president of the Eastern Panhandle Green Coalition and coordinating committee member of the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign.
Following the explosive leak of conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion Manchin and Sinema were involved in a high profile case concerning abortion rights. openly defended The legislative filibuster is a key tool to preserve democracy.
But organizers of the upcoming “Sit-In for the Soul of America” — which is set to take place at Manchin and Sinema’s offices in Charleston and Tucson — expressed the opposite view, describing the filibuster as an anti-democratic relic of the Jim Crow era This is hindering progress towards a broadly popular and needed legislation.
“Arizonans and West Virginians are coming together to take on our obstructionist senators,” Karina Ruiz, executive director of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, said in a statement. “And we have to bring together people from all of our different movements that are being blocked by the filibuster to fight as one — that’s how we can bring down this Jim Crow barrier that’s hurting all of us.”
Kai Newkirk, an Arizona-based activist who grew up in West Virginia, added that “there is far too much at stake for our nation and planet not to draw on the nonviolent civil resistance lessons of victorious movements worldwide and put our bodies on the line together to try to make the political costs for Sinema, Manchin, and all who continue to block the will of the American majority unbearable.”
Sinema and Manchin really believe that ending the minority veto filibuster is so bad, they should push the legislatures in the states they represent for it to be adopted.
But WV and AZ––and almost every state in the union––are doing just fine passing laws by majority vote. It works.
— Kai Newkirk (@kai_newkirk) May 8, 2022
Just 50 votes plus a tie-breaker from the vice president are needed to weaken or abolish the filibuster, but Senate Democrats’ attempt earlier this year to create a filibuster carveout for voting rights fell short, with Manchin and Sinema joining Every Republican in opposition
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats are expected to attempt another vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would codify the right to abortion care into federal law. But it is not an easy task. doomed to fail As long as the filibuster is intact.
“To break the Manchin-Sinema blockade on progress, we believe that people across our country will need to take bold action. But they’re our senators, so we are going to lead the charge and re-ignite this existential fight,” said the organizers of the May 23 march and sit-in, during which some participants will risk arrest.
“Too much is at stake for our democracy, our planet, and working families to give up or back down now — we must escalate instead,” they continued. “We must bring together all of the movements that are being blocked by the filibuster… Not only the voting rights and democracy movement but labor, climate, immigrant rights, the fight for $15, pro-choice, LGBTQ rights, public education, gun violence prevention, criminal justice reform, healthcare, and more. And together we must use mass nonviolent action to create a political crisis that forces change.”
Read the organizers’ full statement:
We are at an important crossroads in both the history of the United States and the world. Our climate is in chaos; democracy is under attack at home, and abroad; fundamental rights are at stake; and working families of all colors and creeds whose sacrifices carried our nation through the pandemic fight still have to make sacrifices while the fortunes and wealth of the few explode.
To solve these crises, the majority of American voters chose a Democratic President and House. But the senior Senators of our states, Arizona and West Virginia — just two members of a 50-seat majority — are standing with the party of January 6th to block the change we so desperately need. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin are protecting an abused, outdated Senate rule — the filibuster — and the profits of their corporate donors over our people, our democracy, and our planet.
On May 23rd, Arizonans and West Virginians will come together in our states to say, “No more!” We will join in peaceful protest and nonviolent direct action to demand that Sinema and Manchin stop their corrupt obstruction and end the filibuster so the majority can finally pass legislation to deal with the urgent crises that plague our nation.
Majorities elect legislatures which pass laws by majority vote. That’s democracy. That’s how it works in our state legislatures in Arizona and West Virginia. That’s how it works in almost every state in the union and nearly every democratic republic on the planet. It’s time for the U.S. Senate to work the same so it can deliver for the people.
We cannot wait. Sinema and Manchin, along with their filibuster, are blocking the change that we need. We will now block business as usual to demand it. In the great American tradition of Dr. King, John Lewis, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, the suffragettes, the sit-down strikers, and other freedom struggles, we will use the tool of nonviolent direct action — the most powerful means of political action available to everyday people every day — to dramatize this emergency and make it impossible to ignore.
We will take action in West Virginia’s capital city, Charleston, where Manchin hides in the state lottery building. We will be taking action in Arizona, where Sinema was raised. There is a Senate office that has never been open to the public or staffed. These actions will include a family-friendly march and rally before the nonviolent direct act. Even if you can’t risk arrest at this time, we need you with us to rally and march and be counted! This is an opportunity for all those who believe in our just request to stand together.
We believe that bold action is necessary to break the Manchin-Sinema blockade of progress. But they’re our senators, so we are going to lead the charge and re-ignite this existential fight.
Too much is at stake for our democracy, our planet, and working families to give up or back down now — we must escalate instead. We must unite all movements that are being impeded by the filibuster in order to overcome the common barrier that prevents us from achieving our goals. It is not just the voting rights and democracy movement, but also labor, climate and immigrant rights. The fight for $15, pro–choice, LGBTQ rights. Gun violence prevention. Public education. Criminal justice reform. Healthcare. To create a political crisis that causes change, we must use mass nonviolent actions.
We are a coalition of leaders in the Grand Canyon State and Mountain State movement movements and we invite our Arizonan friends to join us in Charleston on the 23rd. We appeal to all Americans who believe in freedom, democracy and justice and want to see change in their states in the coming weeks. It’s time to Sit In to Save America! We must now take the baton of liberty and rise to the occasion, just like the generations of Americans who rose up to face the challenges of our time.
Forward together for liberty and justice for everyone
