This quarter has been eventful to say the least, and the roller coaster doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. We’ve had highs, like the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety policy in decades. And we’ve had lows, like the MAGA controlled Supreme Court that turned the clock back 50 years on reproductive freedom and limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate climate pollution from power plants.
We were able to respond to ALL of these current events and many, many more, as well as support the work of our partners on the ground because YOU support US. Thank you.
- Our research team is growing!
We’ve expanded our research team to include an amazing new internet sleuth focused on right-wing extremism and disinformation. As the January 6th Congressional Select Committee continues to hold hearings on the criminal conspiracy to overturn the will of voters in 2020, we put together an overview of how Michigan Republicans are teaming up with MAGA conspiracy theorists to work to undermine future elections.
- We’re working to ensure reproductive justice for all. While Roe v. Wade being overturned is a devastating blow, we’ve been preparing for this moment and are using our capacity—from traditional media to cutting-edge digital ads—to make sure Michiganders have the information they need to both navigate the current landscape and to cast their votes in upcoming elections.
- We’re supporting Michigan’s independent, family farmers. We’ve been busy supporting our partners working on food and farm issues as the summer growing season continues.
Summertime means ice cream, which means milk, and we recently published an OpEd with partner organization Michigan Farmers Union on making the dairy industry more equitable for small farmers.
Speaking of dairy cows, we’ve been working with a coalition of groups to pressure the Michigan Public Service Commission against adopting so-called “renewable natural gas,” (RNG) which basically converts animal and food waste into energy for our homes. RNG is a false solution to deal with the climate and energy crisis, and rural farming communities will be centers of pollution if this technology is allowed to be expanded.
- We launched the Campaign for a Safer Michigan.
This quarter we launched an unprecedented campaign to address gun violence in Michigan, the Campaign for a Safer Michigan, brings together groups that work with victims of domestic violence, suicide prevention, community violence prevention, social workers, educators, and more. The campaign is working toward a Michigan free of gun violence through advocacy and education.
- Stand up for Progress is back! After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, our annual fundraiser returned in June. Roy Wood Jr. headlined the event in Detroit, and it was an evening full of much need laughs and time to reconnect with our partners and supporters in person, many for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
- Our research team is hard at work on this year’s Progressive Voter Guide, so stay tuned!
- We continue to grow our team and are looking for another multimedia designer, a digital organizer, and an operations manager. Check out our available positions here.
- We brought on two new team members this quarter: Corrah VanWingen, our new multimedia designer and Mitchell Kowalski, our new videographer. Both are hard at work creating amazing new content.
- Speaking of amazing new content, as Michigan Republicans headed to Mackinac Island at the beginning of June for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference Republican gubernatorial debate, we greeted them with a mobile billboard and targeted digital ads.
