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. . .Partisan gerrymandering does have one ultimate weakness—a foe that doesn’t always win, but whose victories are especially satisfying. That foe is gerrymandering itself."  David Graham, The Revenge of the Dummymander . Special Session Rescheduled, Vaccines & AI Added The special session on redistricting --- originally scheduled to start today --- will now take place on Tuesday, April 28th, with two controversial additions to its agenda: vaccines and AI. FL Governor Ron De

They're Baaaack: State Pushes Gerrymandering, Congress Maneuvers War Powers & ICE Funding The Florida Legislature heads back to Tallahassee for a special session aimed at further gerrymandering the state's congressional districts on Monday, April 20th, and voting rights advocates will be there to greet them.  Join the  No Partisan Maps Coalition   for a mass mobilization to the Florida State Capitol to rally and then attend committee hearings.  Bus seats from Jacksonville are

"It's a new world. It's the same Constitution." John Roberts, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court,  replying last week  to oral arguments by the Solicitor General defending Trump's order banning birthright citizenship. What's on the Minds of Voters? Find Out on Thursday! Join us for the April BAM meeting on Thursday, April 9th as we debrief about No Kings 3 and turn our attention to winning the midterms! Our engaging and knowledgeable guest speaker, Dr. Sean Freeder, dir

You Marched. You Rallied. Now Stay Involved! Photo credit: Corey Perrine, Florida Times-Union. Despite gusting winds and drizzling rain, nearly 6,000 Jacksonville area residents gathered downtown for the No Kings 3 march and rally last Saturday afternoon to demand an end to the tyranny of the Trump administration and the restoration of our democracy. The diverse crowd heard from speakers decrying war, attacks on voting and civil rights, and cruel mass deportation efforts. Mo

On Saturday, We Say❌👑! On Saturday, March 28th, Jacksonville will join 3,000+ communities across the country in a nonviolent day of action and mass mobilization to oppose the Trump administration's growing authoritarian actions and affirm that this nation belongs to its people, not to any would-be king(s).  Whether you're outraged by the illegal and costly war, attacks by federal agents on everyday civilians, continued threats to civil and voting rights, skyrocketing costs,

2026 FL Legislature: Another Clown Show For the second consecutive year, the GOP-controlled FL Legislature ended its regular session last week without passing a state budget --- its sole required task for the 60-day assembly. Members will return to Tallahassee for two, maybe three, additional special sessions next month --- at a cost of $50,000+ a day --- to figure out the budget, further gerrymander the state's Congressional districts, and, if the Governor has his way, knee

Tell Congress: No Funding for War 272 members of Congress --- 53 senators and 219 representatives, including Rep. Rutherford and Sens. Scott and Moody --- chose complicity and more violence last week by rejecting a bipartisan war powers resolution to stop Trump’s illegal war on Iran — an unjustified war of choice that has killed over a thousand people, including six U.S. servicemembers. This vote defies the anti-war majority of their constituents and is a failure of Congress

Stop the War: It's Illegal, Unconstitutional & Criminal Congress will vote this week on a War Powers Resolution ( H Cong Res 38 / SJ Res 59 ) directing the President to remove the U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities against Iran. The vote is in response to r eckless, illegal, and unconstitutional action taken this weekend by the Trump administration, aided by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, based on false and unproven claims. To date, retaliatory attacks have

State of the Union: What Would Nancy Do? Trump will give the first State of the Union address of his second term on Tuesday, February 24th at 9 p.m. It will be carried live by all of the major broadcast outlets. While we would normally consider it our civic duty to watch, we're feeling a little Pelosi. You will recall that during his first term, then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stood on the dias behind Trump and, following his speech in 2020, ripped up her copy in a bur

Push Back on Partisan Redistricting Tuesday Join us tomorrow (Tuesday, February 17) as we participate in a day of action with the No Partisan Maps Coalition opposing plans to redraw the state's congressional districts to further advantage the GOP. The peaceful protest will be held from 4 - 6 p.m. at 6006 Beach Boulevard (in front of Walgreens) in Jacksonville. Organized by Indivisible Mandarin, Beaches Activists Movement, other NEF Indivisible groups, and community partners

In Our Backyard: Eyes on ICE  As Congress grapples this week with guardrails for ICE in the face of another looming government shutdown, BAM is turning its attention to immigration enforcement activities in our own backyard. Join us on Thursday night (February 12th) as we hear from Andrea Reyes, Esq, local immigration attorney and co-founder of the NEF Immigration Resource Alliance. Since opening her legal practice in 2014, Reyes has dedicated her career to family-based imm

"The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.          . . .Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned. . ." Federal District Court Judge Fred Biery in his opinion orderin

What More Will It Take? Stop ICE Now In the wake of the approval of additional ICE funding by the U.S. House --- aided by the votes of the seven cowardly Democrats who joined nearly all of the GOP reps--- we witnessed yet another senseless killing of a U.S. citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis. We saw photos of a five-year-old boy being carted off with his father to a detention facility across the country. We viewed an occupied American city. We heard the President and

The Dream Lives Now In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we are sharing an excerpt from a powerful commentary  by our sister organization, Unified Nassau: . . . (Today), we honor one of the greatest moral leaders in American history; a man whose name is synonymous with courage, community, and the unshakeable belief that justice is possible. Dr. King did not merely deliver words; he led actions that called a nation to account for its promises and its failures. He stoo

ICE Out for Good Despite thousands of protests across the country  --- including here at the Beach --- following the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis, the Trump administration is doubling down, offering a false narrative , blocking investigations, and continuing its aggressive enforcement efforts aimed at immigrants and their supporters. Since the beginning of the year, there have been at least 16 shooting incidents by federal immigration officials re

Not In Our Name! As The Contrarian's   Jennifer Rubin put it, "The U.S. President this weekend attacked a sovereign nation, killed its citizens, and kidnapped its leader." While the New York Times editorial board took more time and words to examine events, they flatly state that "Without congressional approval, his [Trump's] actions violate U.S. law." With detail still emerging, this image from Robert Hubble's  Substack shows it is not too soon for public protest. As we've

2026: From Resistance to Action As 2025 limps toward its end, NYT columnist Michelle Goldberg reminds us , there are reasons to be hopeful. "That's because millions of people throughout the country have refused to surrender to this administration's bullying."  Despite the extraordinary damage to the democratic norms of the country, Trump's consolidation of power, notes Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg, has been staved off not because of the actions of "pretty much anyone

Finding Joy in Resistance As we gather with family and friends for the holidays, let's take a moment to celebrate our success in building a resistance movement against efforts to dismantle democracy. Across the country, in states and communities, we organized, collaborated, and inspired one another. We held elected officials accountable and demanded action. Even in the darkest days of this challenging year, we called, emailed, signed petitions, and attended meetings. We were

Loss of ACA Subsidies Looms With the Senate's  failure to pass bills to extend --- or provide an alternative to --- Obamacare subsidies, the House is poised to vote on its own plan this week. An effort by GOP moderates and Democrats to add an amendment extending the subsidies is expected to fail, making it likely that the tax credits that make insurance affordable for 22 million Americans will lapse by the end of the year.  As a result, premiums could more than double, forc

Mingle & Jingle With Us Thursday! It's been a rough year. Trump 2.0 has been everything we expected --- only worse. We've rallied. We've marched. We've pushed back. Now it's time for an evening of joyful resistance!  Join us on Thursday, December 11th, 7 pm at Adele Grage Community Center for the annual BAM Holiday Party. We'll gather with friends and fellow activists, share festive treats and libations, enjoy live music, and join in a lively rendition of our much-anticipat