12
April, 2023
Wednesday
PWM Book Club
7:30 pm
“We commit to making deliberate efforts to ensure LWV is a place where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard, and every individual feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. We know that by creating a vibrant climate of inclusiveness, we can more effectively leverage our resources to advance our collective capabilities.”
LWVUS, Defining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
LWVPWM applied for a $500 grant to partner on voter outreach with this organization to cover printing expenses for voter/election information. The fliers, in Spanish, contain a QR Code for access to online information were posted all over Glen Cove. The initial flyer had a heading (in Spanish) is “Your Voice Has Power: Use It.” Subsequent flyers had detailed information on voting.
Our candidate events are held in accessible spaces. We also now try to post recordings of all our candidate events on our LWVofPWM YouTube channel — allowing voters who prefer watching at home to do do so — and providing closed captioning for those who prefer not to depend just on listening and those who prefer a language other than English.
For federal and state candidate forums for the 2022 general election, we partnered with DRNY to provide ESL interpretation and manually improved closed captioning/transcript. It was a pilot project that may be continued for forums with a virtual recording component.
Join us monthly to read and discuss texts that offer perspectives on the experiences of marginalized groups or individuals or histories of social (in)justice. We read both fiction and non-fiction, selected by our members, sparked by issues in our LWV Impact on Issues documents. Our discussions take place the first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 pm.
Advance registration is required. We welcome all PWM League members; non-members are welcome if space permits. Free.
At our board meetings, we often present a “query” or thought exercise intended to challenge first assumptions, generate curiosity, and sometimes adjust our perspectives. Sometimes discussion is lively, sometimes reflective, and sometimes members pose questions for future discussion at a subsequent meeting. Most queries have a short reading (distributed with the meeting invitation) chosen to offer a provocative viewpoint or some historical background to stimulate ideas. Monthly meetings are open to members and prospective members. Check the calendar for upcoming meetings.
Making Democracy Work is a group effort. We reach out to communities around us and to local organizations that serve those who may be marginalized by race, ethnicity, language, religion, culture or economic struggle, as well as to neighbors who are disengaged from the work democracy, such as voting and advocating for what their areas need. We register and educate voters, have conversations about the importance of local governments and voting in local elections, and seek to learn what about issues they most care about.
Recent projects include:
A robust democracy requires everyone, however they identify socially, culturally, personally, or politically, to engage in the political process. As individuals we seek to educate ourselves and each other about different perspectives and experiences. As an organization we strive to bring the full spectrum of our community members’ interests and needs to our programming, planning, and decision making. We welcome and encourage people of every “stripe” to join us in building a better democracy.
Many of our sister Leagues in NYS regularly run programs with a DEI focus.
Check a selection of their websites here:
Additionally the US League hosts events, archives training videos, and offers tools:
Monthly Webinars during 2021
DEI Educational Modules for Local Leagues
Resources Selected by LWVUS DEI Committee
2018 Convention Checklist of Goals and Tactics
We would love to hear your perspectives, experiences, and ideas — as you join us to engage our friends, neighbors, and friends-we-have-yet-to-meet in the important challenge of making democracy work for everyone.