Submitted Action Proposals:

for Discussion and Vote at Nov 8th
Our Power Conference

Submit new proposals by midnight on Thursday, November 6th to have them printed and included in the program. Submissions completed after Nov 6th will be accepted but you will need to bring your own printed copies to present to the conference.

Action Proposal #1

Presented by: CT Civil Liberties Defense Committee

Action proposal for movement-building strategies that build defense campaigns, an organized presence at larger actions, including May Day events in 2026, and which help to recruit and train a growing core of new movement activists and leaders.
We resolve that the CT Civil Liberties Defense Committee will:

1. Organize monthly statewide meetings opened by political talks and discussions, featuring guest speakers when possible

2. Organize monthly local (metro-area) meetings that allow for more discussion and training of new activists

3. Continue to build defense campaigns (such as the campaign to stop the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the campaign to reinstate Tom Alter, and the successful campaigns to defend Alejandro Orellana and Catalina Xotchitl Santiago)

4. Continue to organize rush-hour pickets for defense campaigns

5. Build civil liberties defense-oriented contingents for major demonstrations that we attend

6. Support the building of one or more May Day Demonstrations in 2026 and organize civil liberties defense contingents for these demonstrations.

7. And that, in the service building the above activities organize regular weekly door-knocking outings in the metro areas where we and associated organizations have a presence (currently 4-5 metro-areas)

Motivation: In the last nine months, millions in the U.S. have come out into the streets to defend their rights in large actions and small. These demonstrations have pushed back against encroaching fear and demoralization, exposed the deep unpopularity of the authoritarian offensive, and even forced certain concessions from a government bent on crushing the rights of working people.

This wave creates openings for organizing the kind of movement needed in this historic moment. To make use of these opportunities, it is necessary to recognize what tasks still lie ahead. 

Despite the large number of people who have stepped into the streets, the level of actual organization is far behind the level of mobilization. We need to meet the people who are ready to organize, bring them into our organizing spaces and give them abundant experiences to learn, train and find their way into building a movement.

Furthermore, the growth of mobilization has developed unevenly across a variety of communities. To build a truly representative movement with the power necessary, we need to go beyond the demonstrations and find people.

The approach outlined above means we will create a routine of outreach that builds the movement and trains a core of new activists.

The regular door-knocking will build both short-term events (like statewide meetings with guest speakers and rush-hour sidewalk pickets) and a long-term event: May Day, 2026.

The more immediate events will help us bring new people in who we meet on the doors, and the long-term event will give us a goal that will help us to measure and express the cumulative impact of our organizing.

The door-knocking itself will not only be a means of meeting new people, but a means of training them. 

If we can develop a routine where even a handful of us in each metro-region knock doors in our neighborhoods each week, we will meet with thousands of people by May Day, 2026, and we will reach tens of thousands with literature. And more than that, we could find ourselves training dozens of new organizers and leaders in the run up to the day of action.