04.25 Dianne Morales is Our #1
Our #1, Go Ride a Bike, Free Font Download, & Mayoral Media Mentions
Dianne Morales is our #1 choice for Mayor of NYC.
With Y**g receiving almost 5 times the media mentions as Morales, we felt there was a need to throw our full support behind her in the hope that others will do the same. We fear the media is falling into the same trap they did with Trump, by giving the celebrity candidate an outweighed amount of coverage.
Dianne is the candidate who explicitly states she’ll defund the NYPD by at least $3 billion, reduce their headcount, and make sure they are held accountable to the people of NY. She is the only candidate who handed out PPE at protests last summer before formally announcing her run for mayor. She has shown up in solidarity for unions, excluded workers, and in support of those experiencing homelessness. Her platform centers dignity and hits on all points of our criteria. Dianne Morales has a background in education, is an active member of mutual-aid, Bed-Stuy Strong, and truly is the people’s candidate!
Our 2nd choice is Maya Wiley and likely third is Scott Stringer, who both have transformative platforms. Other candidates we’re excited by include Art Chang, Paperboy Prince, and Joycelyn Taylor. All 6 of these candidates have unique experiences in and around our city. We have an architect (Chang), an artist (Prince), a construction contractor (Taylor) a local political animal (Stringer), a lawyer/legal analyst (Wiley), and an educator/nonprofit director (Morales).
Is any candidate perfect? We’ve learned that it’s not wise to stan a politician, but if we want to see change, we’ve got to go all in.
More below, including a happy hour to endorse some rad candidates, demystifying bike lanes and Margaret Walker’s For My People. Wanna put something on our radar? Leave a comment or email us at softpowervote@gmail.com
ON THE RADAR
WATCH / ACTION: Tuesday 04.27 7:30pm: In the Fight BK candidate endorsement happy hour
Watch candidate interviews and join in the vote for the In the Fight endorsement.
7:30p - Brad Lander (Comptroller); 8p-Dianne Morales (Mayor); 8:30p - Chi Osse (D36); 9p - Crystal Hudson (D35) - Sign up!
ACTION: Wednesday 04.28 12pm: NYC Votes Ranked Choice Voting Train the Trainer Seminar
Learn all about Ranked Choice Voting so you can teach your friends! Sign Up!
WATCH: Thursday 04.29 6pm: Demystifying bike lanes
hosted by #NYCBIKEMAYOR @Brownbikegirl in convo with NYC Department of Transportation. Sign up!
ACTION: Thursday 04.29 7pm: Persist Brooklyn Media and Democracy Working Group
Join the “Media and Democracy” working group to better understand and respond to the factors that influence public opinion, voters and democracy. Sign up!
ACTION: Saturday 05.01: two MAY DAY Rallies!
ACTION: Saturday 05.01 2pm: Street Safety for All People: A Dianne Morales Rideraiser
Bike ride and fundraiser with Dianne Morales from Bed-Stuy to City Hall. Sign up!
ACTION / READ: Asian & Pacific Islander New Yorkers Against Andrew Yang
An open letter opposing Andrew Yang’s candidacy for mayor of NYC with specific reasons. Over 700 signatories
DontCallThePolice.com A resource guide for cities across the nation of alternatives to calling the police
CULTURAL WORK
FREE: Download this free typeface made during the recent New Latin Wave festival. The great minds behind W Type Foundry hosted a collective workshop, and over 90 people from 28 different countries designed characters, numbers, and emojis resulting in this unique font family.
For the cramped bewildered years
we went to school to learn
to know the reasons why
and the answers to and the people who
and the places where and the days when,
in memory of the bitter hours
when we discovered
we were black and poor and small and different
and nobody cared and nobody wondered
and nobody understood . . . “–For My People by Margaret Walker
Born in 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama, Margaret Walker is one of the most talented poets to come out of the American South.
To illustrate Margaret Walker’s best‑known poem, For My People, Mexican American sculptor and graphic designer, Elizabeth Catlett, created six multi-colored lithographs.
SOFT POWER VOTE
Mayoral Media Mentions
READ: We are creating a Donald Trump with Andrew Yang
In this article, Eric Adams criticizes media for coverage of mayoral race, although he enjoys a healthy dose of that coverage as compared to the rest of the field. Our girl, Dianne? Dead last. Maybe that’s why you haven’t heard about her! It’s not right.
READ: Here’s What NY’s Mayoral Candidates Would Do About the Police in the NYT—now check out the media mentions per candidate:
Mayoral candidate mentions in the article (incl. photo captions):
Adams - 18
Yang - 17
Stringer - 7
Wiley - 7
McGuire - 2
Morales - 2
Donovan - 1
Garcia - 1
IMPORTANT: Adams wants to bring back “stop-and-frisk” and the disbanded plain-clothes anti-crime unit—both were both deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge—and Yang feels that more police are necessary at times to deter crime that is already at a record low (according to the NYPD). The police are notoriously bad at solving crime.
The candidates who are committed to defunding the police by at least $3B (Morales) and $1B (Stringer, Wiley) while also having comprehensive reforms including giving actual authority to discipline the NYPD to the CCRB + more.
Get to know our #1, Dianne Morales
READ: Dianne Morales, The Tenants’ Candidate
A thoughtful look at Dianne’s housing policy via Curbed / NY Mag
READ: Dianne Morales Believes in NY—Does it Believe in Her?
Her story via Marie Claire
Other Things
How Does Ranked-Choice Voting Work in NY? An extensive explainer via the NYT!
Request your NYC City-Wide Municipal Primary Absentee Ballot. Yeeee it’s live!
Important Dates
05.28 Last Day to Postmark Voter Registration/Last Day To Register In-Person
06.02 Last Day for BOE to Receive Voter Registration Through Mail
06.02 Last Day for BOE to Receive Change of Address
06.15 Last Day to Apply for Absentee/Mail-in Ballot
06.21 Last Day to Apply In-Person for Absentee/Mail-in Ballot
06.22 Last Day to Postmark/Deliver to BOE Absentee/Mail-in Ballot
06.12 - 06.20 Early Voting for Primary
06.22 Primary Election Day
Soft Power Vote SPV Community Folder is still a thing!
Wanna put something on our radar?
yay Dianne!
def worth reading this article on Stringer’s shady ties to real estate: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/08/nyc-mayor-scott-stringer-467731
Thanks for all your work!