Editor’s Note: If the Democrats are serious about taking back Congress and winning back the White House in 2020, it will mean a strong grassroots outreach and this often starts at the local political club level. One club in Brooklyn that is gaining a strong following is the New Kings Democrats. The following story was taken off their excellent website, which is worth a visit if you are a Democratic reader looking to get politically involved.
Thanks to everyone who came out in full force for our NKD kickoff meeting of 2017! For those who couldn’t make it, we heard what all of NKD’s committees have been working on, and discussed next month’s NKD Executive Committee elections—including leadership opportunities that we’ll be developing in order to accommodate all of the exciting new interest in our work.
Here’s what we covered:
Introduction to the 2017 Political Calendar
Andrew, a former president of NKD, prepped us for the upcoming year by walking through the 2017 political calendar. While we all wish it was already 2020, there’s work to do at home this year, and the process is complicated. The next few months are about meeting with citywide and city council candidates (and potential candidates) to figure out who NKD will endorse and work for this summer.
Check out the calendar below (click for PDF):
Click the graphic below is a PDF of Brooklyn’s city council delegation, and when they’re term limited:
Stay tuned for a lot of candidate visits and high-profile stop-bys at our upcoming monthly meetings. This is a great chance to get up close and personal with the people who run our city. And it’s you, NKD’s membership, who gets decides who we endorse.
Membership and Outreach Committee Report
Rodrigo, our Secretary and co-lead of the Membership Committee, gave updates the Membership Committee’s work to grow our movement and build a more inclusive NKD. The Membership Committee is exploring ways of attracting and retaining new members, as well as growing the footprint of our club. If you’re interested in getting involved in the Membership Committee’s work, join Rodrigo and Jasmine at the next Membership Committee meeting by checking the Membership Committee box here.
Organizing Committee Report
Theo, our VP of Organizing says… Do y’all really want a report back or do you want me to write my own environmental version of Bad & Boujee?! (waits for response)
Got to give the people what they want!
Raindrops, drop tops (drop tops)
Earth heating up like hotbox (surely)
Trump killed the EPA cause he cares not, not (Thot)
Fascist in the Whitehouse. That’s not hot! (nope)
Okay, on to our scheduled report-back:
Theo gave an update from the prior organizing committee meeting where they began to craft the process by which NKD engages in organizing efforts. They also planned the successful participation in Women’s March, to which NKD took a busload of members to DC.
At upcoming meetings, we will be reviewing and refining the process for deciding what we get involved in, planning our advocacy efforts and continuing to find ways to #ResistTrump while hopefully maintaining our sanity. If you’re interested in getting involved in the Organizing Committee, join us at the next Organizing Committee meeting. For location information, email NKD at info@newkingsdemocrats.com.
Policy Committee Report
Brandon, our VP of Political Affairs and Policy, gave an introduction to the three subcommittees that are currently working within the Policy Committee.
The Criminal Justice Reform Platform Ad Hoc Subcommittee is working on final edits to its proposal to be made at the next Policy Committee Meeting. (If approved by the Policy Committee, and the Executive Committee, the platform will come to the full membership for consideration.)
The new Emerging Ideas Subcommittee, which sets the agenda for the upcoming months of policy work, announced that they’re developing a structure for maintaining ongoing relationships with the rest of Policy Committee.
The Vision of the Brooklyn Democratic Party Subcommittee has decided to continue their work in close collaboration with the County Committee Reform group.
If you’re interested in getting involved in the Policy Committee, join us at the next Policy Committee meeting. For location information, email Brandon at policy@newkingsdemocrats.com.
RepYourBlock/County Committee Reform Report
Richard, our lead organizer for our efforts to introduce meaningful reforms and modernizations to the Kings County Democratic Party, explained the basics of how the party works (or doesn’t) here in Brooklyn. Read more about that here. He reminded members of the County Committee, and all other members of the public, that there was a biannual meeting of County Committee in Coney Island on Tuesday, January 24. We were hopeful that we’ll be hearing more about whether the reforms we proposed in September would be considered. (ed. note: We didn’t. More on that shortly!)
Interested in running for County Committee in 2018? Sign up on RepYourBlock.com with the address where you’re registered to vote as a Democrat. Not registered as a Democrat? Change that now!
Proposal for New NKD Leadership Structure
Sara, our Chief of Operations, explained that we’re developing new methods to harness all this new energy and plug everyone into meaningful work. In “our movement is strong” news, there were so many people, we also opened an overflow room! She asked for leads on larger spaces to host all of us… and thanks to a heroic and well-connected new member, next month’s meeting will indeed be moving to a room large enough to contain ALL our new progressive strength.
See you then!
