Local faith leaders plan "get out the vote" rally on Monday

Live TV, folks, live streaming, and this is Allison Dunn-Almagro of the Washington Interfaith Network, who just joined us here in Bethesda. Good to see you tonight. Good to see you, too, Jim. We appreciate you coming in here. The reason I brought you in and we invited your organization on is election day is nine days away. Obviously, getting out the vote has been a big focus for so many organizations, and your group, the Washington Interfaith Network, is going to be doing an event tomorrow. Talk about it. So our event tomorrow is actually a rally and a press conference. tomorrow, as you know, is the first day of early voting. So we are trying to remind folks to get out and vote and make sure that they're voting in this midterm election. We understand that in D.C. a lot of times people think, oh, it's already done. We did the primaries. Right. And that is not the case. So we are making sure that we're coming out in full force and particularly asking our people of faith. And as well as in the congregation or an organization of churches, mosques, synagogues, unions and nonprofits. And what we're coming together tomorrow to say Is it is also a moral reason that we are saying that we need to represent and stand up and defend our elections to make sure that nothing happens in D.C. Except for what people want. You know, elections are so it's a personal choice for so many people. So is so is faith. And there are people who are we know people of faith, people who do not subscribe to faith. But what's interesting is just the fact that it is this cross section of all different faiths. It is not just it's not just you. And originally, when we talked about this, your organization said we wanted to have two different people come on. And unfortunately, timing is what it is sometimes. But in terms of how many people make up WIN? So that's a great question. And normally I don't always speak on behalf of WIN by myself. I'm glad I could make it in this evening. But we represent 45 different institutions. So we have member institutions, again, churches, mosques, synagogues, unions and nonprofits and also tenant groups. So it is something that is, we say, rooted in faith, but also what we focus on are values, values of a practice of democracy, a practice of faith. And we believe faith is not something that is just in our minds or in our hearts, but that we pray with our feet, like Rabbi Abraham Heschel said, right? Our organizing is our act of faith. How, you know, again, back to the idea of religion and politics for some people, it's almost like a third rail. You don't talk about those two things. And in this case, you were not necessarily saying vote for these candidates. You're just saying vote. Absolutely. So we are a nonpartisan organization. So that's a really important point. We're nonpartisan. We are not asking people to vote for any particular person or candidate. What we are saying is to exercise your right to vote. Make sure that you get out to the polls early and make sure that you are voting in person or by mail as soon as you can. And again, not endorsing a candidate. We want to make sure we vote. and secondly, we want to make sure that we are claiming and naming very publicly that no matter who's in office federally, what matters is that D.C. gets the right to choose our own elected officials. In terms of D.C. itself, just how unique is it? I mean, when you're organizing different organizations, different groups of faith in a place like D.C., how difficult is it compared to maybe other parts, if you're familiar with any of your counterparts, similar organizations across the country that's a really interesting question we have lots of counterparts um and gratefully one thing that's different is there are a lot of organizations in the district of columbia a lot of organizing a lot of movement and that's a great thing to have um that means we're able to reinforce each other around the same messages um so here in dc um one thing we do know is we don't have statehood um and not having statehood not having the ability to be able to push through some of the things that we organize around is a difficulty um and it's something that we have to and fight for and stand up for every single day so one o'clock tomorrow at the mlk library what will people see people will see actually clergy starting at 12 30 walking from freedom plaza and walking together to one o'clock to mlk junior library to make sure that we are having statements from different clergy of different faith traditions and all different wards so what when also represents is people from all wards of the district um and we will be there and actually after our statements and after our prayers and after our song we're going to walk in and actually vote for those who have not voted yet uh we have clergy who are ready to go and cast their ballots and remind our people of faith i mean in terms of organizing and and just getting an event like this together do you feel like there is is there is there a lot of motivation Is there a lot of passion this time, more so compared to other elections? Absolutely. There is a lot of motivation, a lot of passion, because no matter what faith institution we represent or what group that is non-faith, but that is value based, people are really, really ready because of, again, the remarks that we're hearing from the federal administration around both nationally and locally. But again, we're local around what might happen in D.C. if a particular candidate is elected. That's what worries folks. Not only that there might be election changes based upon who wins in D.C., because also, quite frankly, we're the ones who face a lot of the brunt of it. So many of our clergy are caring for folks who have been removed from certain spaces, who are unhoused. People who are in Ward 7 and 8 are really protecting a lot of our youth when we're seeing upticks in federal guards around and occupation. And that's something that is not just a theory. It's something that our communities of faith actually feel and impacts D.C. If people want more information on what you do at WIN, where should they go? To our website. So www.windc.org. That's pretty easy there. It is pretty easy. Tomorrow, 1 o'clock, MLK Library. People getting there a little bit earlier as well. Allison Dunn, it's great to meet you. Thank you so much for coming. We really appreciate it. Good luck with everything. All right. We're going to hang out and we will get ready to bring you more. Come up here at halftime.