Building a Debt Collective Chapter in AZ

Working groups Local Organizing
#1

Hi all! My name is Justine and I’m working with a few folks to start a Debt Collective chapter in Arizona! We have our second meeting tonight at 6pm MST, and our next meeting will be on Tues. March 29th at 6pm MST. Send an email to justine_rigby@protonmail.com if you want to get involved! Right now our meetings are being hosted on Zoom for the sake of accessibility :slight_smile:

We’re also planning a watch party for the D.C action on April 4th, and likely a debtor’s assembly to support the kick off of the debt strike on May 1st! Reach out if you want to get involved!

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#2

I’m just going to tag everyone in @Arizona so that they see this too.

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#3

Thank you!

#5

Just a heads up that at our meeting next Tues. March 29th we’ll be creating social media graphics to support the action in D.C. on April 4th. If you have creative skills, we need your help! Keep a lookout in your email for the zoom link for next week’s meeting. We’ll also send the graphics out so everyone can participate in a social media blitz of support for the national movement. Stay tuned too for a possible event on May Day as well!

#6

Just joined the Debt Collective today after hearing about this! Excited to get involved. Thanks, Justine!

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#7

Fantastic Samuel! I’ll post the meeting info here, as well send it out through email. Reach out if you can’t find it for some reason!

#8

Hey all! Our next meeting is tomorrow night, 3/29, from 6pm - 7pm. We’ll be creating some social media graphics for the action in D.C. on the 4th, and start planning our debt assembly for May 1st! Click on this link to join the meeting tomorrow, see you there!

#9

@Arizona please join if you are available!

We’ve got some cool TX/NM/AZ stuff coming up in the near future and it would be great to have some branches in place to help. More soon.

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#10

This is the second time Thomas has dropped some hints about cool stuff happening in the southwest lol. I’m over here like, what is it?!? What is happening?!?!?

#11

Sorry to be so cryptic. We should have a conversation, but after April 4.

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#12

Hello Arizona Debt Resistors!

Today is the day! As you read this email the Debt Collective is setting up for a day full of action in D.C. to demand that President Biden pick up the pen and cancel federal student loan debt through executive order! We can do our part here in Arizona to help as well, and that’s why we teamed up with our local higher education labor union, UCW-AZ, to create some social media that you can use to help spread the word.

Click here to access a Google Drive with graphics you can use for both Instagram (IG) and Facebook (FB). In the Google Drive you will find two sets of graphics, one containing a link people can follow to email Biden the executive order enabling him to cancel our debt, and another with a set of graphics describing why student loan debt is a labor issue, and asking you and your friends to share your stories about how loan cancellation would help you! When posting, make sure to tag the Debt Collective and UCW-AZ, and use the hashtag #pickupthepenjoe (FB for Debt Collective, FB for UCW-AZ)

If you would like to put the link for the executive order in your IG bio or with the FB post, you can use this bitly: https://bit.ly/36ON1gW

Like what we’re doing? What to get involved? Join us at our next meeting on Tues. April 12th from 6pm - 7pm MST. The Zoom link will be sent out Mon. April 11th, so keep a lookout. Our next step is to continue our plans to host a Debt Assembly with UCW-AZ on May 1st, to coincide with international workers day and Debt Collective’s launch of a debt strike! Together we can make big things happen, hope to see you there!

In solidarity,
Justine
justine_rigby@protonmail.com

#13

Direct action gets the goods y’all! While this is a win, it’s not enough until all student debt is canceled. Inspired by this little victory? Join us at our next AZ Debt Collective chapter meeting on Tues. April 12th from 6-7pm MST! The zoom link will be posted here, and if you’re on the mailing list, it will be sent there as well, so keep a lookout!

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/05/white-house-to-extend-the-student-loan-moratorium-once-again-00023072

“The White House plans to once again extend the moratorium on federal student loan payments, with an announcement set to come as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Biden administration officials are considering furthering the policy begun as part of Covid pandemic relief until the end of August, those people said, though they caution that could still change. An August timeframe would be considerably shorter than what many Democrats have been requesting.
…
A range of Democrats in recent weeks have urged the Biden administration to extend the pause on payments through at least the end of 2022, which would be long enough to avoid requiring borrowers to make payments just before the midterm elections.”

#14

Hello Arizona Debt Resistors!

Thank you all for supporting the social media campaign last Monday to help promote and support the successful action in D.C.! As I’m sure you all know, the Biden administration extended the student loan payment pause through Aug. 31st!

While this is a huge win, we also know this is not enough. Pausing the debt crisis does not solve it; the only way to do that is to simply cancel all student loan debt! We are winning, and we are continuing to build our collective power! Join the meeting tomorrow, April 12th at 6pm! Just click this Zoom link to join:

We’re continuing to work with UCW-AZ to organize a Debt Assembly at the University of Arizona in Tucson on Mon. May 2nd.
And finally, on April 26th at 4pm EST, CWA is teaming up with the Student Loan Borrower Protection Center to host a student loan clinic focused on the current state of student loan debt, how to advocate for yourself, and the ongoing developments with Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Free to join and open to all, hope to see you there!
Finally, we’re also using these bi-weekly meetings to connect with each other and build out our debtors community, so come to just say hello, meet fellow debtors, and see where you can plug into this movement!

In solidarity,
Justine
justine_rigby@protonmail.com

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#15

Hello Arizona Debt Resistors!

As you know we are continuing to plan a debt assembly with UCW-AZ on May 2nd, in Tucson, AZ at the University of Arizona. If you’d like to get involved and learn how you can plug in, join us at a joint UCW/Debt Collective planning meeting on Sat. April 16th from 1-2pm MST. UCW is happy to host us, so just follow this Zoom link to join: Launch Meeting - Zoom

We’ll be working on a media strategy as well as planning out how the assembly itself will actually run. So lots of roles to fill, both public and background, so hop on and help us get this student debt canceled

!In solidarity,
Justine
justine_rigby@protonmail.com

#16

Hello AZ Debt Resistors!

Just one final reminder about our chapter meeting tonight, April 26, from 6-7pm! Just click this Zoom link to join!

We’ll be finalizing plans for our Debt Assembly of the University of Arizona on Mon. May 2, from 1-2pm. Please reach out if you can take pictures at this event, or if you’d like to share your debt story! You can RSVP for the assembly here.

Additionally we will be co-hosting a sign making party with UCW-AZ on Sun. May 1st from 12-1pm at Reid Park, ramada #14, in Tucson, AZ. You can RSVP for this event here.

Finally, don’t forget to check out the podcast Matter of Life and Debt and their most recent episode, You Can’t Pause a Crisis, on the student loan payment pause, and for more info about the upcoming debt assembly in Tucson!

In solidarity,
Justine
justine_rigby@protonmail.com

#17

Good morning, I am in Surprise, AZ and I am interested in joining this group. I graduated from Argosy University in 2015 with over $300,000 in student loans, the current balance is now over $400,000.