Blog
Looking for something specific?
We pledge to Protect Our Vote!
Free and fair elections are the bedrock of this country, but that foundation is on shaky ground. Attempts to undermine free and democratic midterm elections are well underway. In order to reverse democratic backsliding, we must take a stand to protect free and democratic elections in the United States proactively. That’s why Mass 50501 launched our Protect Our Vote campaign.
Ever wonder about being a poll worker?
When you voted in the primaries, you may have noticed the many workers who made it possible for you to cast your vote in a safe, efficient environment. So who are these mysterious facilitators of democracy? They are local poll volunteers and workers! We asked one of our own Mass 50501 volunteers who has been a poll worker a few questions that may shine a light on the election process, and encourage you to reach out to your City or Town Clerk to find out how you can get involved in your own community.
Protect Our Vote: Voting Rights Heroes
Mass 50501 is committed to protecting the integrity of our elections and uplifting the voices of the people. Check out our Protect our Vote campaign to get involved, find voting resources, and learn about actionable steps you can take to protect our vote. Free and fair elections are the bedrock of this country, but that foundation is on shaky ground. We must be informed and prepared. Today, we hear from Carlos Ramirez, member of Ballot Integrity Alliance - Cincinnati, a small pro-democracy grassroots organization based in Ohio.
A Reluctant Activist
In recent weeks, you have heard from conservatives explaining why they became involved in our movement. Another author has chronicled their history with left-wing activism. This week, I want to tell you my story of becoming politically active, coming from the 91% of Americans whose political engagement stops at reading the news and voting once a year.
Get to Know Your Candidates: Massachusetts 5th Congressional District
At Mass 50501, we believe that empowered citizens power a stronger democracy. We reached out to all four candidates for the Massachusetts 5th Congressional District seat to hear their thoughts on impeachment, ICE, Flock, AI, and more.
De Historia Criminis Mimematis (On the History of the Memecrime)
The memecrime: God's (1) perfect fever dream. Eight feet of malice meets ten feet of irreverence to create eighty square feet of unreality. To look upon it is to know both great joy and great revulsion, simultaneous and interwoven. To gaze into its lidless, vacant eyes is to know instinctively the fear struck into the heart of every couch in the nation. How could a mere mortal mind conceive of such a thing? Allow me to explain:
Rally on 8/20 against Trahan (MA-3) and Big AI
Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D, MA-3) is teaming up with Republicans to pass Trump and the AI industry’s #1 policy priority: A federal BAN on state-level AI laws. Policy insiders say the congresswoman is likely doing this to raise money from OpenAI and Palantir’s $140 million super PAC, Leading the Future. Mass 50501, QuitGPT, the College Dems of MA, Voters of Tomorrow Boston, and more are calling on Lori Trahan to 1. Stop the Ban and 2. Disavow the AI super PAC. Join us for a rally in front of her Lowell office on THURSDAY, AUGUST 20TH.
The Granola Bar Trial Needs Your Support
Last September, Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor, Nathan Phillips, and Eleanor Reid chose to do just that by attempting to deliver food to one of the worst ICE holding facilities in the region in Burlington, MA. Instead of recognizing this action for what it was—an act of care and community—ICE agents had all three activists arrested, and now Nastasia and Nathan are going to trial on August 26th, 2026.
A Cycle Considered
I grew up in a conservative household. I enrolled as a Republican as soon as I turned 18, and voted for George W. Bush that year. Then 9/11 happened, and the way our country’s leadership responded set off red flags in my mind. I had long been slow to trust authority figures, and I found myself drifting further and further apart ideologically from my family, church, and party. I watched as the GOP sold itself out, eagerly, to a rightward drift; a movement adding more and more authoritarianism, I would dare even say fascism, into the party. It took until I had some distance, when I was out of the party and looking over it with a wider lens, to learn that the process I’d seen happening up close had begun years before I had my voter registration, maybe even before I was born.
Same S***, Different Day
Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard about the outbreak of cyclosporiasis currently running rampant through the U.S., causing a spate of gastrointestinal illness across the nation. The FDA thought they had found the source after Taylor Farms lettuce tested positive for the parasite. Unfortunately for wastewater management employees everywhere, they were sadly mistaken.
On the “Right” Side of History
The Overton window is a funny thing. In American discourse, we tend to imagine the Overton window as a range of politically acceptable ideas for the mainstream population sliding up and down a one-dimensional line stretching from the Left to the Right. There was a time when I was confident that I knew what “Left” and “Right” meant and where I sat on that line. As the foundation of political discourse shifted around me, the foundation of my political identity shifted out from under my feet as well.
Good Trouble in 2026
Over the weekend of July 17-19, Mass 50501 participated in Good Trouble’s national weekend of action honoring the late congressman John Lewis. Throughout his life, Lewis worked tirelessly for civil rights and particularly for equal access to voting rights. Our country’s history of voting rights is messy, complex, at times painful, and—importantly—still being written.
Celebrating America’s 250th Independence Day in D.C.
The Freedom250 celebration in D.C. was marred by a barricaded National Mall, ominous National Guard presence, and prolonged military aircraft flyovers. These shows of force were antithetical to celebrating democracy and independence; An outsider looking in saw it for what it was: a prop the regime is using to normalize military presence and build oppression.
Seven Days in D.C.
In the week leading up to the United States Semiquincentennial, thousands of people participated in Seven Days in DC, a weeklong series of civic engagement activities, public demonstrations, and cultural events designed to encourage direct participation in the democratic process. This was a massive undertaking organized by dozens of organizations and individuals and Mass 50501 was proud to head to D.C. and spend the holiday week fighting for our country.
Music can’t change the world. But it can help people believe the world can be changed
Music can’t change the world, as Bragg likes to say. But it can help people believe the world can be changed. That’s the idea behind the monthly concert series that I’ve been hosting for the past year. It’s called Which Side?: A Protest Music Teach-Out. We’ve had songs addressing the distressing attacks of the past decade on community, mutual aid, science, common sense, and common decency. And on July 21st we will be celebrating our one-year anniversary with a special event at the Boston Lyric Opera’s beautiful, brand-new space in Fort Point.
Our Declaration
250 years ago, our predecessors submitted a list of grievances towards a tyrannical ruler, and declared their independence. What would our declaration look like today?
The Story of Sonny V.
Under this Trump administration through March 10, 2026, ICE has arrested 7,030 people in Massachusetts. Of those arrested, 46 percent had no pending charges or convictions, 35 percent had pending criminal charges, and 19 percent had criminal convictions according to a WBUR analysis of data from the Deportation Data Project. There were 685 people convicted of serious crimes, classified by ICE as Case Threat Level 1, under 10% of the total. When asked whether people who have committed violent crimes should be deported, 87 percent of Americans say yes. I hope today’s story will convince you that the answer to that question should always be, “It depends.”
Level Up Your Resistance: Throw a Block Party
Particularly in our steely New Englander culture where we’re encouraged to mind our own business, community connections won’t happen naturally if you don’t do the work of fostering them. So, how do you actually do it?
Pride Recap
Pride is a protest, and never has that been more clear to me than in the last two years. Our rights as queer people are being stripped away and the validity of our very existence denied as an entire governmental system tries to force us all back into the closet. But we will not go quietly. Never have I felt more empowered to fight back…
Get to Know Your Candidates: The Race for the Senate
To help voters decide who to support in the upcoming election for Massachusetts’s second U.S. Senate seat, we reached out to all seven of the candidates who are running. The questions we asked them and the answers we received are below.