Well, the 2014 midterms have come and gone and I don’t think you need me to tell you that radical Conservatives did very well in elections across the country. Here in Virginia, a Republican fixer and former Enron lobbyist almost won election to the United States Senate. It was a bad night alright and it presages a hard two years to come in this country.

As Progressives, we’ve been here before and we’ve fought back and we’ve won before and we will do that again. In 2011 we formed the Alliance for Progressive Values here in Richmond because our values were under attack. Four years later that hasn’t changed. The difference is that now we have a base to work from that we didn’t have before. We have been standing up to the radical agenda of the Tea Party and the modern Corporate/Conservative movement since then and we’re not going away. We have been very busy and we have a lot to show for it. For a group so small and working with so little funding, we sure do get around:

We’ve fought at the local level here in Richmond to bring more transparency to city government and to halt the needless, financially reckless and historically insensitive development of the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood.

We’ve spoken out strongly about the incompetence and corruption that keeps our city and its citizens from achieving the kind of progress it’s capable of.

And we’ve brought educational events, films and our monthly Salons to a Progressive community that has often felt isolated and forgotten. We have not forgotten you!

At the state level, we have marched and organized and lobbied and testified against some of the worst the Conservatives have had to offer, from uranium mining, nuclear expansion and further tax breaks for energy monopolies, to offshore oil drilling, dangerous natural gas pipelines and fracking. Help us do more!

We’ve fought against attacks on women’s reproductive health and we’ve shamed the ignorant and deceitful claims about birth control and abortion spread at the General Assembly and the Board of Health. Help us do more!

We have worked against the continuing threat of voter suppression and to educate the most vulnerable citizens about their rights under the new laws. Help us do more!

APV has stood strong in support of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters and we proudly celebrated the coming of marriage equality to Virginia with them. This year once again we will bring legislation to the General Assembly to end the medically useless and psychologically dangerous practice of Conversion Therapy on LGBTQ minors. Help us do more!

APV has spoken out in favor of sensible gun laws that keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, laws that would also prevent Virginia from becoming an illegal transit point for guns going to other states. Help us do more!

APV and our allies are fighting to change the laws in Virginia governing the use of marijuana, both in regard to decriminalization and medical use. Help us do more!

Federally we’ve successfully lobbied to raise the fines and jail time for those who take minors to illegal animal fights. This was a significant win that took several years to accomplish and we can be proud of it. Help us do more!

We’ve done a lot and we’ve done it on a shoestring budget with a an all-volunteer staff. As they say, we punch way above our weight class. But perhaps the best thing we’ve done is to create a framework for Progressives to stand up and take action here in Virginia, outside of a political party or candidate.

Many of you have been a part of this adventure and I am writing in the aftermath of the midterms and with a hard General Assembly session ahead of us to ask that you stand with us again.

This is our fall membership drive. Our membership rolls are open and old members are invited to rejoin and new members are invited to become a part of our Alliance. We have a lot of work to do and more hands make the job easier. Please consider becoming or renewing your membership or just donating to APV to help us with our work. I have seen what a small group of people can do when working together, and with your help we can do more. We’re up against lots of money, long odds and passionately wrong people who won’t go away or change their minds anytime soon… now is the time to stand up and fight back.

Join us and let the world know who you stand with.

Scott Price
President, Alliance for Progressive Values

Find out more about membership here:

APVonline.org

info@APVonline.org