Thank you to our donors!
The Budget and Finance Committee is delighted to announce that our matching campaign was a success! We thank the donors whose gifts will trigger another $500 award from National Indivisible. These gifts are an investment that will not only allow us to do more but also inspire us with the confidence you have expressed in our work by choosing to give to NI among the many requests we receive every day. So please keep the funds coming. Scroll to the end of this page for details on how to donate.
Quote of the Week
“In a world of Donald Trump, be a Dolly Parton.”
Action of the Week: Vote today!
TODAY is primary election day. Please vote in the primary – great preparation for voting in the midterms, which are 64 days away! Check your voter registration status here. Your ballot is also available at that link. Voting is the foundation of our democracy.
Members Meeting: Midterm Election Action Plan
Have you decided yet how you will take action to protect voting and preserve democracy? Be sure to mark your calendar for the Newton Indivisible all-member meeting on September 13th from 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, 02459, where the Elections Action Team will give a presentation on “Mapping Your Voter Protection Plan for the Midterms.”
At this meeting, the Elections Action Team will:
- review the status of threats to and protections for free & fair elections
- present concrete ways that individuals can protect voting in the midterms
- describe ways to engage with voters and the election process
There will be time during the meeting for participants to begin formulating a personal midterm action plan along with other attendees.
Elections Action Team: Election Defense Corps
Do you have friends or relatives in MI, OH, AK, TX, IA, NC, or GA?
Let them know that Indivisible National is launching the Election Defense Corps, a grassroots network of volunteers in those threatened states, dedicated to protecting the right to vote before, during, and after the 2026 election. Encourage your friends and relatives in these threatened states to sign the pledge to protect the 2026 elections! By signing the pledge they will receive strategic updates, training opportunities, and critical calls to action during key election protection moments.
Head on over to our webpage for a plethora of other ways to take action.
We the People Should Have Final Say on What the US Constitution Means
Have we been hoodwinked by propaganda about the US Constitution?
Listen to the “By the People” podcast on Who Owns the Constitution? Professor Larry Kramer, author of The People Themselves: Popular Constitutionalism and Judicial Review, explains that the founders understood that the people would enforce the popular understanding of the US Constitution.
After all, the Constitution was the law made by the people to regulate the government. For example, as jurors, the people would not enforce unconstitutional laws. Kramer describes how and why people, on both the left and the right, began to accept judicial supremacy in 1986. Kramer further explains that we the people can retake our power through an ideological shift—enforced through public outcry and the legislative and executive branches of the government.
No Kings: Vote Early Rally
On Saturday, October 17, 2026, we will join the next No Kings nation-wide event by rallying in Newton Centre to alert people to vote early and to protect our elections. Let’s all show up for free and fair elections and demonstrate our growing people power!
Early voting in Massachusetts begins Monday, October 19th, 2026.
Rallies Action Team
Join us this Saturday, September 5th, from noon to 1:00 p.m., at our 78th RESIST standout in Newton Centre Green at the intersection of Beacon and Center Streets. Bring your own signs. Check out The Big List of Protest Signs for ideas. Contact rallies@newton-indivisible.org for more information.
Bridge Brigade Action Team
Please, join us!
Thursday morning 7:30-9:00 a.m. On the Kendrick St bridge over I-95. Park on Hunting Rd. Our message will be:“Tired of chaos -Vote!” We will be out on Lewis Terrace, Newton over the Mass Pike: Thursday afternoon, September 3, 2026, 4:00 – 5:30 PM. And on Savin Hill Avenue, Dorchester over I-93: Friday morning, September 4, 2026, 8:30 – 10:00 AM. Other Visibilities around town are here.
Webmaster WANTED
We are looking for someone with the technical skills to manage our online presence. Please contact Pat Burdick at patburdick@aol.com
if you can help with our domain management, website, and other technical online issues.
Laughtivism Action Team
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, Sept. 9th, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at our usual meeting place in Newton Centre. We will respond to some writing prompts about humor and make plans for the future of Laughtivism. Please bring cartoons, articles, quotes, and actions that are inspiring and funny related to the elections. For more information and location, contact laughtivism@newton-indivisible.org.
People Power Primer: US Constitution 101
The US Constitution starts with three articles that create the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches of the federal government, respectively.
Article I, Section 1. “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” In other words, the US Congress has all the power to make federal law. Congress is made up of the House and Senate.
Article II, Section 1: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” In other words, the President has the power to execute the law. The President does not have any power to make law because the Constitution gives Congress all the law-making power. For example, any executive orders issued by a president are not law.
Article III, Section 1: “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Thus, the Congress has some power to create lower courts in the federal court system. But as Alexander Hamilton put it in The Federalist No. 78, judicial independence “is the best expedient which can be devised in any government to secure a steady, upright, and impartial administration of the laws.”
Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” In other words, the federal government at most has the powers that the Constitution delegates to it. The states and the people retain their own powers. For example, state courts generally decide questions of state law.
Donate to Newton Indivisible
You can donate to Newton Indivisible to help defray our operating expenses. To donate via credit/debit card, click here. To donate via Venmo, pay @newton-indivisible. To donate via check (minimum $50), make a check out to “The Indivisible Project” with “Newton Indivisible” in the memo line and mail it to:
Newton Indivisible
c/o Larry Denenberg, Treasurer
31 Ripley Street
Newton, MA 02459-2209
Donations to Newton Indivisible are not tax-deductible.
More Opportunities to Take Action
Please visit our Opportunities to Take Action page for a listing of important ongoing initiatives. The list is updated weekly along with our newsletter.
Contribute Newsletter Items
To submit items for inclusion in our Newsletter, please send them to newsletter@newton-indivisible.org and include an image if possible. Submissions will be edited for brevity and clarity. The submission deadline is Monday at 8:00 a.m., and the newsletter goes live on the website and is sent to our mailing list on Tuesday mornings.
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