Welcome to the August 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 and 4th Thursday of the month at noon ET, 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 August Menu of 5 ways for you to engage this month, on your own—or with your small group near you:

AUGUST ORGANIZING ZOOM MEETUP

Our August monthly organizing Zoom is happening this month on Tuesday, August 19 at 7:30 pm EST / 4:30 pm PST with our workshop Community as the Key to Change: Battling the Shift to Isolationism. Fascism relies on us being isolated and fearful—and we all know that the antidote to isolation is community. We can turn to each other in these hard times and build community that will be the turning point for the change we all need and desire. In this training, we’ll look at the ways in which political rhetoric and policies are forcing us toward isolation and explore ways to call it out, break it down, and find community.

*Sign up here to join us and learn more!

ACTION OF THE MONTH: Back-to-School Letter to the Editor Campaign

Send a Letter to the Editor of your local paper to defend public schools, Medicaid, and SNAP. Cuts to Medicaid and public education are hurting our kids, our schools, our economy, and our future. Slashing health care funding, privatizing schools, rolling back our civil rights, and censoring our books and history are pushing us backwards—and we won’t stay silent. It's critical that we speak out against these harmful attacks on our nation’s children, and a Letter to the Editor is one of the most effective ways to do that. 

We make it easy for you by providing a draft letter, additional talking points, and all the information you need to submit it. 

Write your Letter to the Editor now and make sure your voice is heard! Don’t erase our children’s futures. Stop the cuts, stop the censorship, and protect our schools. 

MAXIMIZE YOUR IMPACT: Gather a small group to write Letters to the Editor together! Together, we are powerful. 

FUN, JOY & POWER

• ICYMI! Watch the MomsRising July Community Meeting: Their Bad Votes Aren’t Our Last Word, where we learned the truth about what’s in the Republican’s Big Betrayal Bill, when the various pieces will go into effect, how you and your family will be impacted, and how you can speak out! Sign up for the next MomsRising Monthly Community Meeting on Thursday, August 28th, 8:30pm–9:45pm EDT

• Take action to protect the Department of Education! Sign our petition to demand that Congress stop the destruction of the department that protects millions of students nationwide. 

• Share your story! Let us know how the Republican budget and tax bill is going to impact you and your family.

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 August library: *When you meet up to talk about books, take a picture and post it on social media with @MomsRising to show others that they aren’t alone!

• Non-fiction: We Will Not Cancel Us by adrienne maree brown — In this quick read, brown explores the conflict and harm our communities can inflict on one another, both intentionally and unintentionally, in the overproliferation of “call out” culture and asks the reader to consider calling one another in instead of calling one another out. 
• Fiction: The Lilac People by Milo Todd — This historical literary fiction explores attacks on trans communities during Nazi WWII occupation with a moving story of a trans man who must give up his freedom to survive first the Nazis and then the Allies while protecting his loved ones. Deeply researched (don’t skip the annotations), this dive into historical attacks on trans communities that are rarely discussed is a must read. 

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

• We Are Better Together by Bill McKibben (Age 4+): A hopeful introduction to activism and climate justice, showing kids how collective action makes change possible.
• Noodlephant by Jacob Kramer (Ages 4-8): A clever tale about standing up to unfair rules with collective action—with a noodle-loving elephant leading the charge for change.
• Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki (Ages 4-8): A joyful celebration of resourcefulness, community care, and food justice through a story of a group of neighbors who come together to prepare a meal for their community.
• Hey, Wall: A Story of Art and Community by Susan Verde (Ages 4-6): A young boy shows his love for his community by transforming a neglected neighborhood wall and creating a community mural.
• You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith (Ages 3-5): Rooted in Indigenous values, this gentle book reminds us that small, intangible actions like simply showing up for someone hold communities together.
• Batcat (Batcat Book 1) by Meggie Ramm (Age 6-11): Batcat is a graphic novel about finding friendship, discovering our place in the world, and accepting yourself and others that celebrates nonbinary identity. 

*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.

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: Back-to-School Mutual Aid

• Supply or clothing drive or swap:
  • Option A: Help kids start the school year strong by donating gently used or new clothes, backpacks, and school supplies to your local mutual aid group, Buy Nothing Group, or school. 
  • Option B: Make it a swap! Families can bring outgrown clothes, extra supplies, or old textbooks—and pick up what they need for the new year. Come build community and share resources.
• Start a back-to-school fund with your neighbors and use it to purchase backpacks or school supplies for local students. 
• Work with your teacher and other parents and caregivers in your child’s class to support supplies and volunteer needs for the whole school year with a shared calendar and need-list.
• Thinking outside the box: What other skills can your community offer up to kids going back to school this year? Tutoring support? Mental health support?

Curious how to get started? Here’s how to create a mutual aid pod in your community!

BONUS BACK-TO-SCHOOL RESOURCES

• If you are a teacher who is pregnant or needs to pump breastmilk while at school—you’ve got (legal) backup! Learn more on our blog. 
• We’re loving this school principal’s ideas and resources! Give @principal_lamb a follow on Instagram.

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 July dispatch and looking for more resources? Check it out on our blog.