By Isaiah Harris

On Wednesday evening, Jan. 29, more than 200 energized people from all walks of life from all over our beloved area joined forces to decry the injustice being carried out throughout our country. Cries and chants were heard downtown from over a mile away:

“Who has the power? We have the power!!”

“Immigrants at Pittsburg State, help us make our campus great!!”

“¡Vivan los hispanos, vivan los inmigrantes!”

“Keep families together!!”

Signs screaming “Deport hate!” and “RESIST” completed our wall of El Salvadorean, Mexican and American flags. Our voices were joined by a chorus of rallying and horn-honking from passersby announcing their support as they drove by, many waving flags of their own.

The people of Pittsburg and Crawford County have spoken and will continue to speak. We will not be terrorized by the threat of ICE raids in our town. We will not tolerate hateful opinions that seek to divide us and inflame tensions. We are diverse and seemingly very different, but we are one people. All of us have families and all of us are members of this community. We love, we bleed, we hate, and we cry.

Do not be distracted by the words of division that focus on what we believe or who we are. Do not be distracted by the conversations of who is “documented” or here “legally” – we are here now, and we will not be torn apart.

Republican or Democrat, Socialist or Independent – everyone is facing uncertainty about the future. There are those of us that are terrified for our lives seeing individuals ripped from their homes and businesses on suspicion of not having a few papers proving their existence. There are those of us that worry about benefits being cut, whether that’s food assistance, Medicaid, Social Security or even federal grants for students.

These fears are not unfounded: benefits have already been cut, hundreds of people have been deported, and U.S. citizens have been arrested in this indiscriminate attack on freedom. However, there are also those of us who feel a deep-seated motivation to fight back and do everything in our power to resist.

And then there are those of us who feel like there’s nothing we can do in the face of this crushing momentum. This is not true. We may not be able to change everything overnight. Or perhaps anything overnight. However, what we can do is mobilize. Organize. The success of our movement will not be in the immediate change we see, but instead through showing our community that there are individuals just like us who are terrified, worried, yet motivated to stand up for what we believe is correct.

We must use our rights to fight back against the erosion of our rights and raise our voices. Our right to protest is not one we utilize every day, but it is our most powerful tool to spark change – if there ever was a time to do it, it would be now. We will be protesting again this Sunday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. downtown, Fourth and Broadway to voice these concerns and to reinforce our commitment to what we all believe – that we all are equal and violence against one of us is violence against all of us.

We are again at a crossroads: we can choose to stay home and hope for the best, or we can reach out to those of us who want to make a difference. Many of us have made up our minds, what will you choose?

The next county party meeting will be on Feb. 16 at 1 pm at the Crawford County Democratic Headquarters. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Please let Emily know if you have any items you'd like to see added to the agenda at emily@crawfordcountyksdems.org

We are hoping to see everyone there!

By Harriet Bachner

We begin the third week of Trump’s iniquitous four-year term after experiencing for the first two weeks his predicted “shock and awe” of executive orders. These included ICE raids, deportations and “freezing” or cutting programs that people depend on for food and healthcare and for critical governmental functions, such as science grants, Head Start, Medicaid (Kansas Coalition for Common Sense, 2025).

Some of these cuts are illegal, certainly not awesome, and result in chaos and fear, especially for those most vulnerably affected. Nadine Smith, an activist, director of Equality Florida, and legislative lobbyist, stated to the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) meeting on Jan. 26 that Trump and MAGA is “a criminal enterprise, masquerading as a political movement.”

These “freezes” cut programs that help low- and middle-income Americans to benefit Trump’s billionaire friends through tax cuts (Kansas Coalition for Common Sense, 2025). As unsettling as the past two weeks have been and anticipating the next four years, we can respond with strength and integrity rather than react and be stymied in fear, shutting down our creative energy.

Early in the wake of Trump’s election our initial reactions may have been to fantasize about leaving the country, to escape, to turn off the news or put our head in the sand. Authoritarians depend on despair, apathy and people giving up. Instead, we can find sanctuary and solidarity and express our outrage and anguish within the safety net of connection with others. Rather than giving in to despair we can work to restore our democracy.

Asli Aydintasbas (Dec. 1, 2024), a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C., contends that “Trump will overplay his hand,” and we need to be ready. We have witnessed this happening now with the recent freeze on government funding of critical services and programs, such as Medicaid, Head Start, student loans, Medicaid, possibly FEMA and much more. After one day of this chaos, he rescinded some of these.

Aydinatasbas reminds us of the following six significant factors and actions in order to avoid panic:

1. “Autocracy takes time” and we have state and local government and local legislators. We can “engage legal battles, congressional pushback, and market forces.”

2. Stay connected, as we have as evidenced by our groups within Crawford County Democrats (CCD), for example: the Liberal Ladies, the Young Democrats, the CCD book group, the Outreach Committee, the monthly CCD meetings, the calling of emergency CCD meetings, and reaching out to other District 2 counties. This involvement motivates and supports us to get involved in projects and to move things forward. Being involved helps us develop trust through productive conversations. This requires listening to understand, to feel empathy by validating emotiojn and to explore shared values and diverse perspectives. Sharing accurate information from reputable sources and describing our own experiences will facilitate our disengagement from unproductive energy and time-wasting conversation.

3. Become comfortable with disagreement and allow this to provoke the necessary changes, especially the needs of various segments of our population.          

4. Find leaders who can “connect with voters and channel their aspirations” with authenticity.

5. Expand opposition to be ... “strategic and broad-based” ... with “a clear and relatable economic message.” Protests might inspire and activate folks, and more committed action needs to grow from these.

6. Most of all, we need to maintain hope that our resiliency will lead to our tradition of free speech, rule of law, and our democratic freedoms. Trump makes plenty of mistakes and we can emphasize these in many ways. We can interact with other voters and register prospective voters and local organizations to create resistance. We can tell our stories about reasons action is necessary, such as: clean air and water, good schools, liveable wage, equitable and affordable health care. In addition, we need to emphasize the importance of assisting those who are most vulnerable from the extreme measures that this administration is enacting.

What else can we do now? We can educate ourselves and inform others of our rights, meet regularly with our groups and contact legislators daily if possible. The strategy here is to let legislators know that we are watching and tracking what they are doing, and how they are voting. As advocates for critical issues, we need to deliver that information to others in our daily encounters. They may not vote the way we want them to, but they will hear our concerns, opinions, and demands.

Researchers have found that cuts to programs that benefit low- and middle-income people are very unpopular: “81% of Americans oppose cuts to Medicaid, 72% oppose cuts to SNAP, 71% oppose cuts to Head Start and childcare funding, 69% oppose cuts to housing assistance” (Kansas Coalition for Common Sense, 2025). Thus, we need to focus our conversations about how these cuts (that serve the goal of providing tax cuts to billionaires)  affect average Americans.

To preserve our energy, use an escape plan to disengage from energy zapping unproductive conversations. Stay informed, and when possible, correct misinformation using listening, attending, and empathy skills. Welcome those who may have second thoughts about their previous voting decisions and the misinformation they had that contributed to their views.

As a mental health professional, I learned that the focus on self care is critical to being a competent health professional. As activists and resources for invigorating our democracy, we too must practice healthy lifestyle behaviors: eat healthy foods, get sufficient sleep, appreciate nature, take walks, exercise, confide in others, laugh and enjoy comic relief, love, appreciate and use your talents, help others, show gratitude and choose your path forward.

By Alana Cloutier, Isaiah Harris and Sally Harryman

The delegates to the Second Congressional District met for the district reorganization meeting on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Topeka. This meeting happens every two years, and the district delegates vote to elect new district officers, as well as delegates to the state committee.

Dr. Emily Walters, Jordan Metcalf, Jack Bertoncino, Isaiah Harris, Hadrien Zurek and Sally Harryman took off on Friday night on a straight shot toward Topeka. We arrived a little after 8 p.m., to check in at the Cyrus Hotel, one block east of the Capitol building, and crossed the street for a late dinner at The Pennant.

Saturday 10 a.m., 10 degrees. At the very end of Gage Boulevard, between the river and the railroad tracks, is the IBEW Local 304 hall, a space the union kindly provided for the Kansas Second District Reorganization Meeting.

Emily and Jack immediately got to work talking and answering questions. Isaiah and Sally, who were both suffering from imposter syndrome, were busy being introduced to all kinds of Democrats from all over the state.

Overwhelmed, Sally was happy to see Harriet Bachner, Jim Orwig and David Su, who arrived earlier, as well as maple long johns with bacon sprinkled on top. The agenda was then distributed and the meeting called to order by CD2 Chairwoman Alana Cloutier of Wilson County, who has also recently been recognized for resurrecting Humboldt.

Despite the bitterly cold morning, we more than made quorum -- per the KDP bylaws, this is 25 percent of county delegates, about 138 this cycle -- with 51 percent of delegates attending the meeting. Impressive!

We also got a peek at the delegates to the state committee that we all voted on at the meeting, and it is a really good group. Their next job is electing state party officers at the state committee meeting during Washington Days in Topeka on March 1.

The new officers for 2025/2026 are:

Chair - Emily Walters (Crawford County)

Vice Chair - Ty Dragoo (Shawnee County)

Secretary - Matt Kleinmann (Wyandotte County)

Treasurer - Kelly Azevedo (Wilson County)

Matt is returning for a second cycle as secretary and will continue to be super helpful with district work in Wyandotte County which, besides the election, in 2024, was the main project we worked on. Wyandotte is similar to Crawford in a lot of ways with a lot of voters who will vote for Democrats, but the challenge is to get them to the polls.

Matt seems to know everyone in WyCo, and they know him, which will be super helpful as 2025 has some big local elections that could really impact KCK.

Ty has been vice chair since before Alana took over as district chair in ’21, and is the district’s eyes and ears in the Legislature as he is there every day during the session with his work for SMART (the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation). He has all the good scuttlebutt.

Kelly is next door from Alana in Wilson County and passed the hat at the meeting to raise $500 in small dollar donations, so we know she will be a great treasurer. Alana is also very happy to pass the rural officer torch to her, as everyone else is from a larger county.

Emily was Alana’s pick for CD2 chair, and we know she will knock this out of the park. The job of district chair is in part that of county party therapist and part organizer, but mainly the bridge between the state party and the county parties.

Alana says: “As the Crawford County chair for the last two years (Along with all of the fantastic volunteers! Thanks for your hard work last year!) she has done great work, and her advice about what all of you have been doing will be helpful to the new chairs we’ve picked up this cycle. CD2 is in good hands.

“It’s going to be a weird two years, and my advice to everyone is to focus on Kansas. Work as hard as the GOP does to flip local elections, and let’s get going early on the ’26 legislative and Congressional races.

“The midterms are our chance, and if we have a 2010 (but in our favor!) midterms, we can pause some of the rot from D.C. until we can fix this for good in ’28. 2026 may sounds like a date from a science fiction movie, but it’s just next year, and it’ll come sooner than you think.”

Isaiah says: "My impression of the District 2 meeting was that there is real and concerted enthusiasm in the Democratic Party on the local level – at least in our neck of the woods –to push the party toward those whose interests aren't represented in halls of power.

“This is long-overdue and I'd echo Bernie's criticisms of the national party having lost touch of its most important base, the working class – the class that transcends race, gender, and all other social constructs we allow ourselves to be defined by.

“However, I don't think this is the case at all levels. This meeting took place at IBEW 304, an electricians’ union hall, and this had more than just symbolic significance. Throughout the meeting I found myself speaking with teachers, former counselors, and workers and retirees of all walks.

“These individuals remain united and motivated to push forward through tremendous headwinds and controversy to chart a path based around a basic vision of America that I think we all agree on; I don't think it should be controversial to say that healthcare shouldn't involve debt and owning a home shouldn't be a luxury.

“There was a metric ton of energy and optimism that both invigorated me and reminded me that this isn't about capital “P” politics. It's about trying to do better and make positive changes in our communities.”

And Sally says: “New business included much encouragement for the months ahead. We recognized the importance of working to fill traditionally non-partisan positions on local school boards and city or county commissions. Crawford County elected Jack and Harriet to serve as delegates to the state committee, with Isaiah and (myself) as alternates.

“I finally figured out exactly what caucus means: a meeting at which local members of a political party register their preference among candidates running for office or select delegates to attend a convention. Jim was pressed to head the Progressive Caucus, he accepted.

The Crawford County group also stopped in Lawrence on the way home for more food, Greek this time.

“In my opinion, the trip was the most educational and important thing I’d participated in for at least a decade,” adds Sally. “Thank you all for helping me to be a part of it.”

A new committee is being formed to help identify and recruit good candidates for open positions for election to city councils, commissions, and school boards in Crawford County in 2025 local election held this November.  This group will also help potential candidates understand the requirements of running for these positions.  If you know someone who is interested in running for one of these positions or if you are interested in helping with this group, please contact Don Pyle via email at dlpyle1976@outlook.com .  Our cities and schools function better when there are people on their governing boards who make wise and informed decisions that meet the needs of the community and residents.

Thank you,

Don Pyle, Treasurer Crawford County Democrats

By Susy Hammons

Lillian brought a news article about how to deal with the election losses. I will email a copy to all members.

Harriet suggested we pick out one elected official and contact them about what they support. Google their voting record.  Some good information sites were offered: Loud Light, Kansas Reflector, Be the Bear (formerly Kansas Women for Kamala Harris).

Jean Hurlbert asked if we were going to have a March on the 18th. All our officers will be in Topeka that day. If it happens it's up to us.

There was a lot of other good discussions but my notes are too sketchy to repeat them. Thanks to all who attended to help make us a community.

We met again 1/15 to plan our march. Delma, Betty, NancyT, Janice, KathyD, Marcia, Jean and Susy. Someone figured out that we had women from 4 decades. Our goal was for our March to be fun and positive.

1/18. The march. Turns out it wasn't a Women's March but the People's March! We could have invited men! The same women who were planners came to the march.  We sang along with an amplified John Lennon's song "Imagine" in front of HQ.  We then turned "left" and marched 2 blocks, turned "left again and marched back to HQ for hot chocolate and brownies, cookies and other delicious things.  We carried signs on our walk with positive words on them:  TRUTH, HEALTHCARE, TRUST, DEMOCRACY, HOPE. and more.

We sang "I Am Woman" and "Wise Women," written  by member Joy Leeper especially for this group. Delma Thompson read one of her rhymes from her recently published booklet: Political Rhymes and Rants of an Unapologetic "Woke" Nonagenarian. A great effort by a great group of "woke" women.

LLWL met again on 1/22. 18 women! The biggest bunch ever. I asked the group about changing to just Liberal Ladies and leaving off the Who Lunch since we never do. They were OK with it. Emily was there so she filled us in on what happened in Topeka and about her taking on the job of chairwoman for the 2nd District, 27 counties. My notes again were sketchy so I'm not positive I'm saying this right. Emily wants to be sure she has Jackson available to help her with all that both jobs will require.

Jean is not watching TV.  We were encouraged to watch comedians.  Emily and Jordan have reserved a table at Washington Days (2/28 to 3/1). Dem Fest will be in August.

By Harriet Bachner

On January 22 we gathered at the Democratic Headquarters to enjoy a potluck dinner and to discuss the selected book for this month, James, by Percival Everett. This novel is a reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

In addition to each of us sharing our personal perspective and opinions about the characters and story line we identified some consistent themes, such as: ways and with whom Jim spoke either the “slave language” vs. the “white language” and what that revealed; the ability to read and reading as a subversive action; a core question of what’s in a name and the power of one’s name in defining who we are, i.e. characters had more than one name; and the symbolism of the pencil – creator of information vs. consumer of information. Some of our group members listened to the audio book version and expressed the power of experiencing the emotions of the characters and visualizing the unsettling events and the characters’ experiences.  

We enjoyed having two new group members attend and seeing some folks who have been absent for awhile. Out next book group gathering is on Feb. 19 at 6:30pm at the Democratic Headquarters. 

The February book selection, The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is nonfiction that is described by Associated Press as “part memoir, part travelogue, and part writing primer” which reflects his visits to conflict sites: Dakar, Senegal, Chapin, SC, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem..

New folks are welcome,to share in conversation, book discussion, tasty food, and enjoy good humor and comic relief.

Article submissions are needed from Crawford County Democrats and friends about issues and topics we should all be thinking about. Let us publish your thoughts in this Revue, for distribution to county Democrats and others across the state. Back issues of thr newsletter are also on the website at https://www.crawfordcountyksdems.org/newsletter.

Please email your thoughts or those of your caucuses and interest groups for publication in the county party’s newsletter to news@crawfordcountyksdems.org. Accompanying photographs or other ideas for illustrating your articles are also welcome. Feel free to ask questions by text or phone of newsletter crew Harriet at 620-704-8566 or Phil at 708-466-0659. Also please include your phone number with your message in case we have questions for you.

We look forward to hearing from you!