GETTING INTO THE THICK OF IT
No big article today; there are a couple in the works, but they are not yet finished. In any case, the big news this week is really just how much is going on. No one can do everything! But if any of the events listed below speaks to you, please do follow up and join in. We may not be able to stop the latest insane war this week - but if we each do our little bit, we can train ourselves to defend our city and our planet.
UPCOMING EVENTS
TOMORROW Tuesday, March 10, 5 am-8 pm You can still make the bus for a huge cross-movement action at the New York State Capitol supporting immigrant rights, housing, and climate action. RSVP here if you can help represent Rochester! Free bus transportation and lunch provided.
Wednesday, March 11, 2-5 pm 1199SEIU Informational Picket at Unity Living Center, 89 Genesee Street. We are fighting for a fair contract that includes competitive wages and quality benefits to help retain and recruit nursing home workers to care for residents.
Thursday, March 12, 7-8 pm zoom statewide Campaign for New York Health monthly hub meeting, with information about statewide developments and breakout meetings for local hub groups (ours is the Western NY hub, including Rochester, Buffalo, and the surrounding area). If you can make it, please click the link to register.
Thursday, March 12, 7-8:30 pm Town Hall discussion of healthcare issues and the New York Health Act at the Smith Opera House in Geneva, NY. Click here to sign up for a carpool leaving Rochester at 6 pm.
Sunday, March 15, 12:30-2 pm Metro Justice new member orientation in the Metro Justice office and on zoom. Learn more about how Metro Justice works, and how you can plug in to help!
Monday, March 16, 7-9 pm March Council meeting at the Metro Justice office
Tuesday, March 17, all day Huge healthcare coalition Lobby Day in Albany for the New York Health Act! Please sign up by March 11. Bus or carpool seats will be provided.
Thursday, March 19, 12:30-2 pm Elder Justice organizing meeting, including information on nursing homes' use of sedation to control patients in understaffed facilities. Email [email protected] for the zoom link.
Thursday, March 19, 5 pm rally, 6 pm Speak to Council at City Hall, 30 Church Street. Two different multinational corporations are trying to take over our city streets - Lamar wants to put up enormous digital billboards on Canterbury Street, and Verizon is once again seeking zoning permission to erect a 60-foot cell tower in a residential neighborhood on Portland Ave. Click here for more information.
Saturday, March 21, 9am-4pm at East High School, the Rochester Urban Agriculture Working Group is holding the 2026 Rochester Urban Agriculture Conference, a day of learning and connections featuring interactive workshops, community knowledge sharing, Fruition's Gift of Seed Experience, gardening tables and displays, and more! Click here to register! Please make sure to select what workshops you are interested in attending so we can place them in appropriately sized rooms
Saturday, March 21, 6-9pm Fundraiser concert in Newfield, NY with 100% of proceeds going to legal fees to oppose an AI Data Center on Cayuga Lake.
Monday, March 23, 7-8 pm Our next Healthcare Committee zoom meeting meeting to plan Rochester and Buffalo Healthcare Town Halls. Click here for zoom link.
Saturday, March 28 Three No Kings marches in Rochester area: 12-3 pm at Gateway Park (Mt. Hope & Alexander), 10-11 am by Gates Home Depot, and 9:30-11:30 at Pittsford Village Four Corners
Saturday, May 9, 5-8 pm Metro Justice Annual Dinner, AFSCME Hall, 1956 Lyell Ave (just east of 390 Lyell Ave. exit). Come celebrate and help keep us strong! Watch for an invite in your email this week.
DESKTOP ACTIONS
New! Check out Rochester's new draft food system plan! Click here to check out the draft, provide feedback, and sign up for a virtual public meeting to learn more.
Can’t support immigrant rights by heading to Albany? Tell Governor Hochul to pass NY4All another way with this one-click email tool. And call her office regularly at (518) 474-8390. NY4All would prohibit both formal and informal collusion between local police and ICE/CBP in perpetuity. Hochul has proposed her own legislation which only covers formal collusion for the next 3 years: Hochul’s proposal is weak and irrelevant, New York must pass NY4All into law.
The Campaign for New York Health is doing ongoing work with collaborators to push for passage of the New York Health Act, the best response our state could make to the disastrous healthcare cuts by the Trump administration. Sign our petition to legislative leadership here, and use this tool to email your Senator and Assemblymember. And you can also register for the statewide info and action zoom meeting happening this Thursday.
Governor Hochul wants to roll back critical parts of NY’s climate law. But you can’t change the rules because you’re losing the game. We know that weakening the law will undermine our climate commitments and force New Yorkers to pay higher and higher energy costs. NY Renews has provided a 1-click letter to State Senate and Assembly leadership demanding that they hold firm in protecting the climate law and New York communities!
Do you know where your birth certificate is? Three voter suppression bills (the SAVE Act) in the federal House and Senate would force Americans to present a passport, birth certificate, or other citizenship papers in order to register to vote in federal elections, and are clearly designed to deter millions of people from casting their ballot in our democracy. Click here to send an email to your federal representatives.
LEARN MORE
More ICE stories well worth hearing! Only one of the three stories in this podcast is told by a direct victim of ICE overreach - but all are in some degree harrowing, all are transcribed from testimony given under oath, and all are very illuminating about the abuses inherent in this administration’s anti-immigration policies, and the toll they take on everyone, including each one of us. We also, perhaps, get to hear the cracks forming on the ICE edifice. Hear what Ira Glass published last week in episode 82 of This American Life - “Give a Little Whistle.”