“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth's treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal... To hope is to give yourself to the future - and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.” ― Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” -- Angela Davis

Indivisible Nation BK (INBK) is a not for profit organization in Brooklyn dedicated to promoting civic participation and engagement in the fight for justice, sustainability, and equality.  We use the Indivisible Guide's five strategies—calls/letter campaigns, town halls, meetings, public events, and elections—to push our local, state, and federal representatives to resist authoritarianism, corruption, and intolerance; protect democracy; and stand up for our communities.

Learn more at www.indivisiblenationbk.org 

Passover is a holiday about a people who are “strangers in a strange land,” fighting for freedom from an oppressive, cruel autocrat. Sound familiar?

Seder, which means "order," is a ritual meal that involves storytelling, questioning, and discussion about oppression, migration, slavery, justice, and freedom. It focuses on the retelling of the Exodus story, where the Hebrews, led by Moses, escaped from slavery under an oppressive Pharaoh. The Old Testament emphasizes the importance of retelling this story every year to remember what it means to struggle for freedom. For many, the themes of this holiday resonate most strongly this year. In that spirit, we invite you to draw from this “Indivisible Haggadah”’ and host or participate in an “Indivisible” seder to bring people together in resistance and action.

You do not need to be Jewish to host or participate in this type of event—everyone is welcome at this seder. If you typically celebrate Passover, feel free to incorporate all or just some of its elements into your regular seder!

Written by former congressional staffers, the Indivisible Guide is all about direct political action: calling and meeting with your senators, your members of Congress all the way down to your city council member.

Find all of your representatives' names and complete your own calling card. Then use it to call your representatives and push them on issues that you care about.

Find all of your elected officials here: http://act.commoncause.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sunlight_advocacy_li...

Here's the Indivisible Guide. Read it, learn it, use it!  RESIST.  https://www.indivisibleguide.com/

At a traditional seder, vegetables like parsley or celery are included as an appetizer to symbolize the coming of spring. This spring, Congress will be on recess from March 24 through April 8th. That means members of Congress will be back in their home districts, hosting (or avoiding) town halls, meeting with constituents and attending events. Take this moment to announce any upcoming town halls, marches, or organizing events you're a part of that are coming up during the recess and recruit guests to join you.

Wine plays a central role in the Passover seder...and in these tumultuous times we all deserve to indulge in our favorite libations. Take a moment to raise your glass (four of them are traditional!) and toast your friends, your family, and everyone who gives you strength, makes you laugh, and supports you through thick and thin!

Think of four questions to send to your representatives in the House and in the Senate. Use the template below or one of your choosing. You can answer them yourselves or leave them unanswered. When you’re done, take a picture of your questions and you can tweet it at your representatives, post it, or email it to their email accounts. Use the hashtag #indivisibleseder. You can also tweet your picture to @bkindivisible or @indivisibleteam.

Some examples :

Why is this president different from all other presidents? because he lies?

What are you, my political representative, going to do about ____________?

1._____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

2._____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

3._____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

4._____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

In the four children section of a typical haggadah there is a story about how parents pass on their values to four different children. But if we want to really help future generations of kids, we need more than good storytelling. State governments can make a difference for kids today -- if they get enough calls and think their reelection depends on it. Find your state senator, your assemblymember and/or your governor's phone number and leave them a voicemail. Remember, always include your zip code and full name. You can also do some research to make these more specific to your state.

If there are children at your seder, ask for their input! What issues do they care most about?

1. I'm calling to ask that the governor support the efforts of cities and towns across the state to provide sanctuary for undocumented immigrants so that children are not separated from their families.

2. I'm calling to ask that the governor stand up for children by fully funding public schools throughout the state, regulating the expansion of charter schools, and rejecting any efforts by the federal government to eliminate Title 1 funding or introduce a federally-funded school voucher program.

3. I'm calling because I am very concerned about effects of climate change on our state. I ask that the governor support any efforts to expand renewable energy production in the state and limit the use of fossil fuels.

4. I'm calling to ask the governor to support any efforts to ensure that all children have access to free, high quality healthcare.

“Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:19). In this moment, we seek to know the heart and feelings of those who are treated as “the other” today and dwell on what it means to love them.

Take a moment to think about what it means to have to leave your home and family behind, what it means to escape violence only to be turned away from our borders, what it means to be suddenly detained and separated from your family. Ask a few people to share real stories of immigration, exile, deportation or seeking refuge. These can be personal, or from a text.

Then pose these questions:

What can we do?

What can we ask of our elected officials?

What are the real moment-to-moment ways we can help?

Close the discussion with a moment of silence. Remember the victims of violence and hatred in Syria and closer to home.

The Ten Plagues: In the passover story God inflicted ten plagues on the Egyptians to punish them for enslaving the Hebrew people. At the seder, it is traditional to recite the plagues and remember the pain this caused the Egyptians. What are our ten plagues? How do we bring empathy into political activism?  What 10 plagues would you inflict on Donald Trump and co?

The plague of _____________________________________
The plague of _____________________________________
The plague of _____________________________________
The plague of _____________________________________
The plague of _____________________________________
The plague of _____________________________________
The plague of _____________________________________
The plague of ______________________________________
The plague of ______________________________________
The plague of ______________________________________

Dayenu means enough. In the traditional seder, it's a way to sing about how just one of the things that led to our freedom had happened, it would have been enough. Create your own version of Dayenu about our current administration.

If he had only lied about climate change… it would have been enough

If he had only appointed racists and conspiracy theorists...it would have been enough

If he had only _______________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only _______________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only _______________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only ________________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only ________________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

f he had only _______________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only ________________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only ________________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

f he had only _______________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only ________________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

If he had only ________________________________________________________
...it would have been enough

Then call your representatives and leave a message telling them we’ve had enough, and demand impeachment.
(You can also leave them a singing message!)

Every Senator's phone number here

Find your representative at: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Script: Hi, my name is… and I’m a constituent from… I am alarmed by the dishonesty, corruption, and disregard for the law coming from the White House. The president has still not fully divested from his business empire at home and abroad, his daughter and son-in law continue to profit from their businesses despite numerous conflicts of interest, and all evidence suggests that Trump and his cronies are inextricably linked to the attempts of Russian oligarchs to undermine the 2016 election. I’ve had enough. It is time to call for his impeachment. I ask that Rep./Sen. ___________ call for his impeachment immediately.

In a traditional Jewish seder, the afikomen is a piece of matzah (unleavened bread) that is wrapped in a napkin and then hidden somewhere in the house. Children are often invited to hunt for the afikomen. Once it is found, the meal ends and the seder draws to a close. For your Indivisible Seder, consider conducting a search for Trump’s tax returns. Think about hiding a fake tax return and inviting people to find it.

In this spirit, consider symbolically setting aside a table setting or opening the door to the 60 million refugees and displaced people around the world still waiting to be free — for all those who deserve to be welcomed in not as strangers but as fellow human beings.

Choose one of the current letters from our website or draft your own. Ask people to sign the letters, including their zip code, and for a personal touch, an explanation of why they are signing. Collect the letters and hand-deliver them to the offices of your representatives, fax them, or stick them in the mail.  Short on time? You can also use ResistBot to turn texts into letters!  Go to https://resistbot.io/ to see how it works.

Find letters here: https://indivisiblenationbk.org/letters/