Help us send hundreds of postcards on Monday, June 30th from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Cahaba Brewing Company (4500 5th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35222) to lawmakers while they are debating and voting on the Republican budget megabill. This is the bill that slashes essential taxpayer services — ACA affordable premiums, healthcare protections, Medicaid, SNAP nutrition benefits, clean energy supports, etc. — to finance tax cuts that disproportionately favor the rich. We provide postcards and stamps. You bring the passion for democracy and honest feeback for lawmakers. Click here for more info.

Join us on Tuesday, May 13th from 12-1 p.m. for our annual Legislative Review Zoom featuring the good and the bad of the 2025 Alabama Legislative Session. Hear from amazing advocacy groups including: 

• Action Coalition for Transit in Alabama
• Alabama Appleseed
• Alabama Arise
• Alabama Rivers Alliance
• League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham
• Moms Demand Action
• Read Freely Alabama

Please click here to register for this Zoom.

Join us on Thursday, April 10th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Alabama Peanut Company (2016 Morris Ave, Birmingham, AL 35203) as we finish an important postcarding effort to protect free speech at Alabama libraries — and, incredibly, keep our favorite librarians out of jail! We have everything you need — postcards, addresses, stamps, etc. And this venue is pure fun!  Click here for more info.

YES & NO BILLS IN MONTGOMERY

Below a list of some of the bills we are following. Reach out to us at hivealabama@gmail.com if you are following a bill that we should know about. To check a bill’s status — and legislators’ contact info, committees, schedules – go to the state’s Alison website. Also, sign up for emails from leading non-profits who are lobbying, tracking bills, and sending out alerts, including: Action Coalition for Transit, ACLU of Alabama, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Alabama Appleseed, Alabama Arise, Alabama Rivers Alliance, League of Women Voters of Alabama, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in Alabama, and Read Freely Alabama.

Or, if you want a more dedicated Daily Action calling effort (similar to 5 Calls nationally), click here!

Getting Ready to Call

1) Add state lawmaker contacts to your phone. Get the names/contact info of your lawmakers by entering your address at this link . *Tip from our friend/calling guru Rebecca Rothman: Save all politicians in your phone as “Politician (first name) (last name)” so you can search them easily.

2) Add state leadership numbers. Governor Kay Ivey at 334-242-7100. Attorney General Steve Marshall at 334-242-7300. Secretary of State Wes Allen at 334-242-7200. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Steve Livingston (R-DeKalb-Jackson-Madison) at 334-261-0858, Senate Leaders & Members | Alabama Legislature . Senate Minority Leader Sen. Bobby D. Singleton (D-Choctaw, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter, Tuscaloosa) at 334-261-0335. House Speaker Rep. Nathanial Ledbetter (R-DeKalb) at 334-261-0505, House Leaders & Members | Alabama Legislature . House Minority Leader Rep. Anthony Daniels (D-Madison) at 334-261-0522, District phone: 256-539-5441 

3) Determine who to call. If the bill is in the House, call your Representative. If it’s in the Senate, call your Senator. Also, you may also want to call House or Senate leadership and the bill’s sponsor(s), especially if your legislator is a sponsor. Sponsors are listed in at the top of the bill (enter the number on the Alison website, Bills Current Session.)

VOTE YES

• Ban Possession of a Pistol with Alterations like Glock Switches: HB26
• Replace 1-Day-Voting with Early, Multiple-Day, In-Person Voting : HB59/HB71
• Allow Voters w/Disabilities a Designee to Deliver Absentee Ballot/Application: HB77 
• Support AL Maternal Health Care Act to Cut Red Tape for Pregnancy Care: HB89/SB102
• Quit Throwing Out Ballots! Allow Absentee Voters to Fix Errors: HB97 
• Penalize Parent of Child who Brings Unsecured Firearm to School: HB103
• Exempt Sales Taxes on Diapers, Baby Supplies, Hygiene Products HB152/SB159
• Pass the Alabama Voting Rights Act & Allow All Eligible Citizens to Vote: SB7
• Fund Alabama Public Transportation for Just $5 a Year on Car Tag: SB11
• Affirm Right to Engage in, Dispense, & Inform about Contraception: SB19 
• Remove Tax Incentives from Violators of Child Labor Laws: SB 22
• Cut Paperwork & Restore Voting Rights to Incarcerated Upon Release: SB153
• Vote YES to Give Non-Violent Offenders with Life Sentences a Second Chance: SB156

VOTE NO

• Don’t Jail librarians For Doing their Jobs at Community Libraries: HB4
• Don’t Display “Ten Commandments” in Taxpayer-funded K-12 & Higher Ed: HB 178 / SB166
• Don’t Let Government “Chaplains” in K-12 Schools with Minors of Multiple Faiths: HB179 
• Don’t Require Government Prayer in K-12 with Minors of Multiple Faiths: HB231
• Don’t Prohibit Public Funds from being Used to Promote Vaccines: HB367 
• Don’t Give Local Control of Town Police to Politicians in Montgomery: SB3
• Don’t Politicize Local Library Boards or Restrict Community Speech: SB6
• Don’t Criminalize Helping Immigrants Who May Be Undocumented: SB53
• Don’t Invalidate Out-of-state Driver’s Licenses without Residency Proof: SB55
• Don’t Require Law Enforcement to Fingerprint/DNA Test Undocumented: SB63 
• Don’t Tax International Wire Transfers to Fund Immigrant Arrests: SB77
• Don’t Take Right to Access Counseling Away from AL High School Students:  SB101

Join us for our postcarding event for Read Freely Alabama and League of Women Voters of Alabama this Monday, February 17th from 4-6 p.m. at Cahaba Brewing Company (500 5th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35222) We encourage each participant to write and send a set of 10 postcards. If possible, please bring stamps to cover your postcards. For those who may need assistance, we’ll have extra stamps available.

If you’re unable to attend but would like to support our cause, donations of stamps are greatly appreciated. You can Venmo Kristin at @Kristin-Rezek-1. THANK YOU!!

Stay informed. Hear from an array of amazing advocates at HIVE/MAD’s Legislative Preview Tuesday, January 28th from 12-1 p.m.! Speakers include:

• Action Coalition for Transit in Alabama’s Marva Douglas
• Alabama Appleseed‘s Elaine Burdeshaw and Elliot Spillers
• Alabama Arise’s Jennifer Harris
• Alabama River Alliance’s Cindy Lowry
• League of Women Voters of Alabama’s Kathy Jones
• Mom’s Demand Action for Gun Sense’s Paula Wilson
• Read Freely Alabama’s Jessica Hayes

Advance registration required to receive a Zoom link. Register today! 

Birmingham will be hosting a rally in partnership with the People’s March in Washington DC. The Birmingham event will be held at the Robert Vance Federal Courthouse on Saturday, January 18, 2025, from 11 am to 1 pm. Click here for the Facebook event link.

We all show up for different reasons, but we stand for the same cause: to defend our rights and our future.

If you believe that decisions about your body should remain yours, that books belong in libraries, not on bonfires, that healthcare is a right, not a privilege for the wealthy; if you believe in the power of free speech and protest to sustain democracy; or if you want an economy that works for the people who power it—then this rally is for you.

The People’s March is about one thing: our power.

It’s a bold demonstration of the resilience of resistance:

-We rally to unite the people who’ve been the backbone of resistance for generations—and to welcome even more -We rally to remind civil servants they answer to us
-We rally to inspire, energize, and drive change long after the day is done.

This is our moment to remind Washington elites — and Americans everywhere — where the power truly lives: with the people.

Let’s make it count.

Please note this is a peaceful event, there will be a police presence.

If you are with an organization that would like to participate in this event please message one of the co-hosts. Approved organizations are welcome to set up a table free of charge.

Fam,

It’s been a heartbreaking and defeating week in all the ways. We’re still not sure what the path forward is but we know that we find hope in the goodness of you, your love, your advocacy efforts, and your support. 

We’re going to gather to hold space for one another this Sunday, November 17th at 4 p.m. at Sims Garden in Homewood (located at 908 Highland Rd, Birmingham, AL 35209). Please let us know if you’re coming here by Thursday, 11/14 (we may have to change locations if our group grows beyond a certain number).

Please bring a chair if you have one and perhaps a beverage to share of your liking.

AND

We all could use a piece of comfort, joy, or compassion to take home with us and place in our home or hold in our pockets. So please consider bringing a small gift to share with someone at the gathering. Something meaningful to you in some small way that you think might bring some joy or peace to someone else. Something you have around the house, no need to buy anything. Ideas include, something from your garden, a colorful scrap of cloth, beads, a rock… something small.

So looking forward to being in community with y’all.