Welcome to the July Dispatch!  Thank you for being a part of our growing, powerful Moms Next Door program!

What’s the Moms Next Door Dispatch? Each month, you’ll receive the Moms Next Door Dispatch (Scroll down!)—a monthly toolkit that will arrive in your inbox to provide you and your community with ideas on how to self-organize and take action; as well as to process and make sense of all that’s going on; AND also ways to remain calm, find joy in community, and recharge as we build a brighter future! Sign up now to get these monthly dispatches in your inbox and learn new ways to connect!

ICYMI—Sign up for Moms Next Door Office Hours! Every 2nd Thursday of the month at noon ET (starting in July!), join MomsRising team members Nina and Lauren to share ideas, troubleshoot barriers, and build community with others working to build the resistance in their own communities. Bring ideas, questions, or just good vibes!

Here’s the July Menu of 5 ways for you to engage this month, on your own—or with your small group near you:

1. JULY ORGANIZING ZOOM MEETUP: Our July monthly organizing Zoom is happening this month on Tuesday, July 28th at 7:30 pm EST / 4:30 pm PST with our workshop “Know Your Rights and Creating Communities of Safety in Plain Sight.” With immigration enforcement engaging in human rights abuses and communities under attack, now more than ever do we need to come together because WE protect US. In this training, we’ll ground ourselves in the principles and opportunities of mutual aid as a political act; we’ll go over Know Your Rights basics; and how to create communities of safety in plain sight including taking stock of community resources like bail funds and how to use privilege to protect more vulnerable community members in our everyday lives. *Sign up here to join us and learn more! 

2. ACTION OF THE MONTH: Attend a Good Trouble Lives On action near you! Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the attacks posed on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people. On July 17, the anniversary of Congressman John Lewis’s passing, we’re taking action across the country to defend our democracy and carry forward his legacy of Good Trouble. Join us for a national day of nonviolent action as we rally, march, host teach-ins, press conferences, and vigils to demand that Congress fight back and protect our freedom to vote!   

*Will you join us (and bring your friends)? Find a mass mobilization near you. 

3. FUN, JOY & POWER: 

Get tuned up on your organizing skills with the MomsRising Organizing Platform! Last month at our Moms Next Door Monthly Workshop, we launched and learned about MomsRising’s brand new community building and organizing space the MomsRising Organizing Platform. With the MomsRising Organizing Platform, you can build petitions for your community to sign, organize events, and connect with others locally. You can even engage more with Moms Next Door on the Platform! Sign up and get up to speed and get organized with MomsRising Organizing Platform below: 

• Get Started: Join the MomsRising Organizing Platform

• Find Community: Join Moms Next Door on the MomsRising Organizing Platform

• Get Trained: How to use the MomsRising Organizing Platform

• Create a group on the the MomsRising Organizing Platform

• Start a petition on a new topic!

4. WHAT WE’RE READING THIS MONTH: For people wanting to start book groups for change, or just looking for good books, here’s what’s in our July library: *When you meet up to talk books, take a picture and post it on social media with @MomsRising to show others that they aren’t alone!

• See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur: Love is a revolutionary act of resistance! Learn more about how loving others, ourselves, and our opponents can change the world. 

• The Book of Delights by Ross Gay: Celebrate the ordinary wonders all around us with this book of funny, poetic, and philosophical essays. 

Need some book ideas for the kiddos in your life this month? Here you go: 

• Finally Seen by Kelly Yang (age 8-12): A young girl leaves China to live with her parents and sister, after five years apart, and learns about family, friendship, and the power of being finally seen.

• Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey by Margriet Ruurs (age 4-8): Rama and her family, are forced to flee their once-peaceful village to escape the ravages of the civil war raging ever closer to their home. 

• 5 picture books for families impacted by deportations and detainments

• Picture books in solidarity with immigrant families!

*Want to support your local bookstore? Use the Bookshop finder to locate bookstores near you and women, Black, AAPI, LGBTQIA+, Latine, and Indigenous-owned bookstores online.

5. MUTUAL SUPPORT OPTION: What is mutual aid? Different from charity— where resources usefully flow in one direction from donors to recipients—mutual aid is community-driven and reciprocal, built on community-based solidarity. And many parents and caregivers are already doing this (think: your local PTA, community gardens, or even kids’ birthday parties). In creating communities of love, we also want to turn them into communities of support, protection, and action to prepare for what’s ahead. 

*MUTUAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY OF THE MONTH FOR YOU:  

Mutual aid plays an important role in supporting our immigrant communities, particularly when our traditional institutions can’t be relied on to provide secure resources and safety. Where resources and services fall short, community mutual aid networks stand in the gap. 

• Check out our National Mutual Aid Resource List—a list of local and national mutual aid and immigrant support organizations and resources in both English and Spanish.

• Interested in learning more about how you can support your immigrant neighbors and create communities of safety in plain sight? Read our Community Protection & Mutual Aid Toolkit, where you’ll find quiet strategies for safety, including coded language systems, sanctuary planning, and school observation logs in both English and Spanish. 

MUTUAL AID IN ACTION: 

• We are excited to share a powerful example of mutual aid and community organizing  in action. Read about how MomsRising members in West Virginia have responded to deadly flash floods and helped their friends and neighbors through this crisis.

BONUS KNOWLEDGE:

• Learn more: Defining & Disrupting Hostile Environments: Understand the key features of hostile school climates and practical ways to counter them.

• Watch MomsRising’s recent Virtual Teach-In: Supporting Immigrant Students and Families in Hostile School Environments. 

Thank you for being here. We are looking forward to strengthening connections and community in refreshing, educational, and joyful ways with you in the coming months!

P.S. Missed the June dispatch and looking for more resources? Check it out on our blog.