Back In The Saddle!
Welcome to Organizer’s Corner — a (free) newsletter from your friends at Get Pod Local! Because we can help you stay inform — but then what?
Enter in your weekly Call To Actions (CTA!) from our Resident Precinct Chair, Joey Cade!
I’m glad to be back, y’all.
I’ve been on hiatus to find my joy again.
The constant barrage of bad news, attacks on our democracy, and the daily grind of fighting authoritarianism takes a toll. I know I’m not the only one feeling it.
And I’m happy to report that I did locate my joy and I’m feeling hopeful for the months ahead between now and the Midterm election.
I spent a glorious week in New York City. By pure luck, my teens and I got to be there during what felt like the happiest week imaginable.
The Knicks WON and we celebrated all night long with the entire city.
Pride celebrations filled the streets.
Puerto Rican Day festivities brought entire neighborhoods together.
The World Cup had fans from around the globe pouring into the city.
And the excitement surrounding Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s leadership was palpable. The city is humming, efficient, and joyful.
It filled my cup to be reminded what competent government and strong communities can feel like. Millions of people moving through a city that works. Public spaces full of life. Neighbors celebrating together. A sense that government exists to improve people’s lives rather than make them harder.
It was inspiring to experience the possibility of a more hopeful future.
And it reminded me why we do community organizing work.
Not because we enjoy fighting.
Because we believe a better future is possible.
Now I’m recharged and ready to get back to grassroots organizing in my neighborhood, across Dallas County, and throughout Texas.
And my timing couldn’t be better because this week I’m headed to Corpus Christi for the Texas Democratic Party Convention.
The convention runs June 25–27 and is the exciting biannual gathering of Democrats from all across our state. Delegates, activists, candidates, organizers, elected officials, and volunteers will come together to debate ideas, elect party leaders, agree to our party’s platform (our issues-based priorities), build relationships, and prepare for the work of the Midterms together.
I’ll be attending as a delegate and I’m also honored to be running for Recording Secretary of the Texas Environmental Democrats Caucus (TED) as part of a full leadership slate focused on growing the caucus and strengthening environmental advocacy across Texas.
I’ve published my full endorsement list for convention races, including leadership positions within the Texas Democratic Party, State Democratic Executive Committee races, and Caucus races.
Check out my Endorsement List here. It will remain in flux as voting unfolds. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSfrkadDaYFPNtvEIIaPWvVOrEEKcDdYkEyOv7Dvg26sF25rzpqZabjHYIlR_m-Dunad-mSkqgvIg3k/pubhtml
While I hope you will refer to my full endorsement list, I have a few races I’d like to call out that are important to me, which are Kendall Scudder for Texas Dem Party Chairman, Bonnie Mathias for Party Secretary, and the Texas Environmental Dems Caucus races.
Chairman Kendall Scudder has been doing heroic work in his first year of leadership. He’s dug the party out of $600k in debt and is running the most ambitious coordinated campaign in Texas history. We have a $30 million campaign (and that’s not considering candidate spend, just the party ops). The last TDP statewide coordinated campaign budget was $2 mil....
I’m lucky to have organized with Kendall for a decade here in East Dallas as he was one of the founding members of my organizing club the Funky East Dallas Democrats. While I’m old enough to be his mom, I‘ve learned so much from Kendall about politics & grassroots organizing.
He is the fighter we need leading our party through the battles ahead to take back our government. He is an unstoppable force for good who works harder than anyone I know. He has proven himself to be antiracist, feminist, pro-worker, and the strongest voice we’ve had representing the Texas Democratic Party in decades. He’s all over TV and is giving my precinct residents hope. Please join me in supporting Kendall for Texas Dem Party Chairman.
There are a lot of great people running for the TX Dem Party Secretary, but the choice is easy for me. The Secretary seat has historically been the seat tied to Labor, because ensuring that working families are always represented in leadership is important Texas Dems. Bonnie Mathias has been a organizer and Labor leader in our state for decades. I trust her and hope you will join me in voting for her.
Check out the weekly radio show Bonnie has co-hosted for 2 decades called “Workers Beat”. It’s a really great program but on top she’s a leader in the AFL-CIO, is a respected organizer in Dallas County, and a mentor to me. I’m proud to endorse Bonnie for TDP Secretary!
For the Texas Environmental Democrats Caucus, I have served on the caucus before and am pleased to be collaborating with a group of badasses looking to fill the seats as a slate, so we build an active, effective caucus to fight data centers, protect Texas water, lead the green revolution, and so much more. Please join me in voting for:
Daniel Ayala, President
Katy Schmader, Vice President
Elaine Campbell, Corresponding Secretary
Joey Cade, Recording Secretary
Carrington Sneed, Treasurer
On top of the convention excitement, I’m excited that at Get Pod Local we’ve launched a new weekly podcast. Our first episode dropped Monday, and I’m incredibly proud of it.
We cover politics, organizing, current events, missed stories not being covered enough, and the work happening in communities across Texas. Our inaugural guest was Jermaca Brown, who is running for State Democratic Executive Committee member in Congressional District 33 and is part of my endorsement slate.
If you haven’t listened yet, I’d love for you to check it out:
WATCH on Youtube!
LISTEN on Spotify!
LISTEN on Apple!
Even if you aren’t attending convention, you can still be part of the action.
The convention’s open sessions will stream live on YouTube.
Friday’s General Session runs from 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM and features an incredible lineup, including Senator Cory Booker, Tennessee Representative Justin J. Pearson, and our statewide Democratic nominees, including James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa, Vikki Goodwin, and the rest of our phenomenal slate of candidates on all our statewide ballots.
Saturday’s General Session runs from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and includes debate, voting, party business, and remarks from Senator Bernie Sanders.
Texas Democrats heading to our convention marks the start of the election season.
It is time to start paying attention.
Not in a doom-scrolling, anxiety-inducing way.
In a hopeful way.
A joyful way.
An intentional way.
Remember, authoritarian movements want us isolated, exhausted, cynical, and disconnected from one another.
Our response has to be the opposite.
We build community.
We make friends.
We organize.
We laugh.
We celebrate.
We do meaningful work together.
As we always focus on at Get Pod Local, JOY is not a distraction from the movement.
Joy is fuel for the movement.
And it is through that shared work, shared joy, and shared community that we will build the Texas we deserve.
Let’s get to work.
With hope and determination,
Joey
This newsletter is free, but if you’d like, please buy us some coffee. xoxo
Organizer’s Corner is a Newsletter brought to you by our very own, Joey Cade. Lots of folks have ideas of what can help / what you should do — and while no one has all the answers, we (specifically Joey) do have some. Okay, a lot. Joey is not just a co-host of Get Pod Local …she’s also the Precinct Chair for Dallas’ Precinct 1052.
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Get Pod Local: The Podcast (Season 2!) with Joey and Jalon
Joey and Jalon sit down with Politicians, Community Leaders, and movers and shakers making a difference. And almost every episode, the Dallas Mayor catches a stray. He deserves it. It’s fine. New episodes every Thursday!
GPL Presents: New Newsletter with Jalon Nichols
Every week, Jalon catches you up on what is going on out here, who is doing it, how does that impact your everyday life, and what everyone is saying about. We are based in Texas, so we have a lot of Texas news, but we cover the whole wide world. There is a LOT of stuff going on everyday, and no one can keep up with it all, but we attempt to….for you. (Clap for us).
GPL Presents: Organizers Corner w/ Joey Cade
Every Sunday night, Joey Cade, our Resident Precinct Chair, lays out our Call To Actions for the week. Because knowing what’s going on is one thing. But doing something about it is another. Let’s do both!
GPL Presents: Water Cooler with Jalon and Joey
Every morning, Jalon D’na and Joey Cade check in and talk about something we read or saw on slack. Videos drop on some Thursdays!
GPL Presents: Daily Briefs with Jalon Nichols
Everyday, Jalon reads you the headlines of the day — just to keep you in the know. Think NPR at the top of each hour, with a lot of shade some jokes.