Thoughts from our Chair
November 24
Dear Mathews Dems,
Happy Thanksgiving week!
1. The regular NO TYRANTS TUESDAY rally will be held on TUESDAY, November 15, on the sidewalk in front of Liberty Square starting at 4:15 pm. Please note the new time, which will give 15 more minutes of daylight, as the days are getting shorter.
For those who attended last week, it got dark quicker than usual as the street lights in that area were out. I contacted the county about it and got a return call from Tim Tillage, Facilities Manager, reporting that the problem had been solved and the lights were back on. Thanks to Tim for his timely response.
2. Our partners at Indivisible are calling for a nationwide boycott of three major national retail companies over the Thanksgiving holiday, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The three companies are Amazon, Target, and Home Depot. Further, we are urged to only spend money at local independent businesses, including restaurants. Here are more details from Indivisable:
"Donald Trump is wildly grasping for power that doesn’t belong to him -- and greedy corporations seem more than happy to give it up. They’re donating millions to curry Trump's favor, standing aside as his regime attacks workers and shoppers, and meekly caving to even the weakest, most dubious threats.
Our cowardly corporate leaders need a reminder that real power belongs to the people. And next week, during the biggest shopping weekend of the year, we’re sending them a message.
From Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, we’re asking you not to shop from three major corporations enabling Trump’s fascist agenda.
Our Targets:
HOME DEPOT enables ICE terrorism by allowing Trump’s jackboots to violently detain and kidnap workers on its properties.
TARGET caved to MAGA backlash by pulling Pride merch off the shelves, and canceled DEI programs that support Black workers and businesses.
AMAZON provides technology to power ICE deportations while Jeff Bezos spends a fortune kissing up to Trump -- funding both his MAGA agenda and vanity projects like his ballroom.
These aren’t the only companies complicit in Trump's attacks on democracy -- far from it! -- but economic pressure is most effective when it’s concentrated and easy to join in on. We’re focusing our fire on three ubiquitous brands that are among the biggest corporations trying to profit by enabling Trump.
By withholding our support during one of the most important weekends of their year, we’ll make it clear that there’s a price to pay for enabling authoritarianism.
How to take action
To send a strong message, we need not just you, but your family, friends, and community, to commit to supporting mutual aid or small businesses instead of Home Depot, Target, and Amazon next weekend.
Here are three steps to take right now:
Learn more: Make a plan to join the economic blackout from November 27 – December 1. Understand what we’re asking, why we’re doing this, and how to spend your dollars where they’ll do good.
Let us know you’re with us: Pledge to pause shopping at Home Depot, Target, and Amazon. Don’t give any money to the companies undermining democracy. Support local businesses or mutual aid efforts instead.
Spread the word: Use our graphics and customizable social posts to get others involved. Try to triple your impact by getting three other people to join the blackout.
This holiday season, let’s make our dollars count. Join us to tell Home Depot, Target, Amazon, and the whole corporate world: When you support Trump, we don’t support you."
Have a wonderful time, however and wherever you spend the Thanksgiving holiday!
Thank you,
Sheila
Bud Ward with President Obama
Bud Ward worked at Anheuser Busch in Williamsburg starting in 1982. He was a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Bud was active in the Mathews Democratic Committee for many years and became chair in 2012. He also became vice chair for the Southeast Region of the Virginia Democratic Party in 2012.
Under Bud’s leadership, our annual Crab Steam grew to be one of the most successful fundraisers of rural Democratic Committees in the state. He was well known among Democratic leaders across the state and was close friends with former Governor Ralph Northam. He completed his tenure as chair of the Mathews committee in 2020, but continued to be active in local and state Democratic affairs.
In recent years, Bud became an integral part of the effort to tell the story of the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island. He helped form the association of the descendants of Black people who were enslaved by Gwynn’s Island white families and who lived and worked on Gwynn’s Island after emancipation. The first reunions of the descendants were held on Bud’s property on the Piankatank River. He was so determined that the historic marker commemorating the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island be located on the island that he offered his property as the place for it to be installed. It is a fitting tribute to Bud that this historic marker will be erected in front of his house on Old Ferry Road.
Bud was an unapologetic champion of all principles and priorities of the Democratic Party in a place where not too many people agreed with him. He loved Mathews County nonetheless.
Bud was active in the Mathews Democratic Committee for many years and became chair in 2012. He also became vice chair for the Southeast Region of the Virginia Democratic Party in 2012.
Under Bud’s leadership, our annual Crab Steam grew to be one of the most successful fundraisers of rural Democratic Committees in the state. He was well known among Democratic leaders across the state and was close friends with former Governor Ralph Northam. He completed his tenure as chair of the Mathews committee in 2020, but continued to be active in local and state Democratic affairs.
In recent years, Bud became an integral part of the effort to tell the story of the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island. He helped form the association of the descendants of Black people who were enslaved by Gwynn’s Island white families and who lived and worked on Gwynn’s Island after emancipation. The first reunions of the descendants were held on Bud’s property on the Piankatank River. He was so determined that the historic marker commemorating the Black Exodus from Gwynn’s Island be located on the island that he offered his property as the place for it to be installed. It is a fitting tribute to Bud that this historic marker will be erected in front of his house on Old Ferry Road.
Bud was an unapologetic champion of all principles and priorities of the Democratic Party in a place where not too many people agreed with him. He loved Mathews County nonetheless.
But What Can We DO?
Posted by Inequality Media, Robert Reich, professor, author, lawyer, and political commentator, tells us the 5 things we can do to protect our democracy.
Reich served in the Ford, Carter, Clinton, and Obama administrations.
Reich served in the Ford, Carter, Clinton, and Obama administrations.