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Protest ICE Job Fair in JAX This Week! The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be attempting to recruit from our community next week, on Tuesday, June 16, and Wednesday, June 17. We refuse to let them normalize family separations, community sweeps, and deportation quotas on our watch. Join BAM, area Indivisible groups, and other advocates at the Prime Osbourne Convention Center,1000 Water Street, at 8:45 a.m. to peacefully protest DHS's recruitment effort and make it c

This Weekend! Beaches Library Protest & Rise Up, Sing Out Concert Live-Stream Trump is hosting a UFC cage fight on June 14 to celebrate his birthday and the country's 250th anniversary. We are not having it! ENOUGH! Join us this weekend as we counter-protest and mount joyful resistance to this obscene spectacle and the continued assaults on our democracy! SATURDAY! Join the crowd at the Beaches Library Saturday from 10 - 11:30 a.m. Let's give Trump a special present for his

Ballot Measure Shenanigans Threaten Local Funding The FL Legislature last week approved a hastily introduced ballot measure that --- if approved by voters in November --- would dramatically cut property taxes in the state --- hamstringing local governments and special taxing districts, and centralizing responsibility for fiscal decisions at the state level. ​The plan, crafted by the Governor and enacted in a two-day special session, would increase the homestead tax exemption

Protest Proposed USPS Vote-by-Mail Rules Following a federal court decision, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will publish proposed rules this week, radically changing requirements for participating in vote-by-mail. The new rules --- prompted by a Trump executive order --- would require state election officials to send USPS a list of voters who have requested a ballot with unique barcodes at least 30 days before ballots are sent out under state law. USPS would use the informati

"I am an American. Fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense." - U.S. Military Code of Conduct, Article 1 Memorial Day: More Than the First Day of Summer Over America's 250-year history, tens of millions of men and women have answered the country's call to arms. Some died in battle, some in captivity or from their wounds; more than a million never came home. People of patriotism and goodwill can debate

"We should not have to march in 2026 to protect voting rights for all Americans. We are at a moral low as a nation when people are stripped of their right to vote because of the color of their skin. But if we have to fight that same fight again, we will. And no one will turn us around." -- Joyce Vance Our Long but Winnable Voting Rights Fight Following last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act, we've had another week of hard news - as southern stat

"...Our giving up is the one thing that can enable Republicans to win. Not the gerrymandering. Not ICE at the polls. Not Trump threatening to federalize the elections. Yes, all of that can make our fight harder. But we are the X factor, the one thing they can’t overcome if we decide not to be overcome." Jess Craven, Chop Wood, Carry Water No Gloom: We Can Win This! There was lots of handwringing by pundits and pols last week after the VA court struck down a DEM-friendly redis

FL Legislature, SCOTUS Gut Voting Rights FL lawmakers and the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) left little doubt about their commitment to upholding constitutional guarantees for fair representation and voting rights last week as they further gerrymandered the state and gutted a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act. The state legislature rubber-stamped a new map drawn by the Governor, despite overwhelming opposition from constituents who came in busloads from around the

“Every few months, Americans are asked to resume their banquet and pretend a shooting didn’t just happen,” one commentator on Bluesky wrote after the correspondents' dinner. Another account responded: “Well, in fairness, that’s what we ask of school kids.” Rachel Leingang, The Guardian. May Day Strong: No Work, No School, No Shopping On Friday, May 1st, BAM is joining with the North Florida Central Labor Council, area Indivisible groups, 50501, the Duval DEMS, and other allie

. . .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