Dear Patriots,
It’s been a rapid-fire 11 months since Jan. 20, 2025, when the 47th President of the United States did not put his hand on the Bible,[1] yet still swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. The same Constitution he promptly began shredding that afternoon.
On day one, he issued orders to end diversity, equity, and inclusion funding, to crack down on border crossings, and ease regulations on oil and natural gas production. He quickly named Elon Musk head of the Department of Government Efficiency and it didn’t take long before Musk and his team, including a 19-year-old known as “Big Balls,” was gutting our government. Remember all the good work the U.S. Agency of International Development did?
It all seems so long ago. It's been a chaotic and cruel ride – and we’re not even one year into this hellscape known as the Trump Administration.
I remember those early days of Trump 2.0. I could not believe this man was our president again! Nor could I believe that people, who experienced his first four years in office, who watched his leadership (or lack thereof) during Covid, who witnessed the Insurrection, who listened to his lying, foul language during the campaign leading up to the election, would vote for this man again.
But they did, and like so many of you, I could not sit idly by. I heard about a group called Indivisible while watching The Rachel Maddow Show. She kept mentioning Indivisible: Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink [2]I found it on their website and after reading it I knew it was the way I wanted to be involved. I would go on to ask many folks about the group Indivisible and that is when I learned there had been a local group that began back in 2017, during Trump’s first presidency but had lost momentum at some point. (Note: It’s important to remember that during Trump’s first presidency, he was surrounded by folks that held his desire to become a dictator/Putin somewhat in check and he was new to the ways of Washington – now, he could care less about norms.)
After talking with several people who showed interest, we decided to hold our first meeting at Patrick Beaver Memorial Library on March 3, 2025. It was standing room only! At that meeting we announced our first On Tyranny book discussion and our planned participation in our first major national demonstration: Hands Off. At that meeting, several folks stepped up to take leadership roles.
Hands Off was set for April 5. We had one month to secure a permit, establish a route, coordinate with law enforcement, coordinate volunteers, lining up speakers, and all the logistics that come with planning such an event.
Friends, over 500 people showed up that day. As I stood at the traffic circle, watching hundreds of people carrying signs, peacefully protesting…well, that’s when I knew we had something special. Something that would carry us through the next nine months.
Something that would motivate three members of our group to run for office in 2026! Something that would carry us forward to keep up the fight, the resistance, and the hard work to reclaim our democracy,
Please take the time to read every single word, every accomplishment outlined below: Remember, you did all that!
I trust that you have had time to rest and be with your loved ones over the holidays. While I am not much for New Year’s resolutions, I am asking each and every one of you to resolve to be involved in our work in 2026. There is still much to do.
As 2025 draws to a close, the ICCV Leadership Team would like to take this opportunity to share our many accomplishments. It’s been a busy year as we worked to protect and defend our democracy.
ICCV Public Events
Feb 17 Participated in protest outside Sen. Tillis’s Greensboro office
Mar 15 Empty Chair Town Hall outside Cong. Harrigan’s Hickory office
Apr 5 Hands Off March in downtown Hickory, 575 attended
Apr 19 Empty Chair Town Hall outside Cong. Harrigan’s office
May 1 International Workers Day, small groups outside Post Offices in Conover, Hickory, and Newton
June 14 No Kings, Catawba County Justice Center, about 1,000 people attended
July 4 Independence Day “March Against Fear,” downtown Hickory
July 17 “Good Trouble Lives On” rally, Morning Star 1st Baptist Church, Hickory
Aug 6 ICCV at the Crawdads (rained out, rescheduled to Sept 2)
Sep 1 Labor Day protest, Highway 70 near CVCC, about 200 people
Sep 16 Voter Registration Day, volunteers at Plaza Latina, Newton
Sep 17 Constitution Day protest/event outside Cong. Harrigan’s office
Sep 21 Booth at Centro Latino’s festival, downtown Hickory
Oct 5 Participated in Hunger Walk, downtown Newton
Oct 18 No Kings 2, Catawba County Justice Center, about 1,250 people attended
Nov 2 Day of the Dead gathering, Unifour Church
Nov 20 Friendsgiving, we gathered to relax and celebrate and make donations
Nov 22 Protest in Support of Immigrants, in partnership with our immigrant neighbors, Highway 70, Hickory
Dec 14 Vigil for Peace, downtown Hickory, in partnership with 26 other entities
Dec 21 Prayer Vigil, Congressman Pat Harrigan’s office, in partnership with Repairers of the Breach
In addition to these public events, ICCV hosted three viewings of the film “Bad Faith” and three book discussions of Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, facilitated by Dr. Rand Brandes.
Members and leaders have also participated in activities with National Indivisible, including weekly Zoom calls to keep up to date on plans and activities of the larger organization. We have also collaborated with other pro-democracy groups locally, statewide, and nationally.
Pop-up demonstrations have been held in multiple high-traffic high-visibility locations. These tell people that the resistance movement is alive and well in Catawba Valley.
Most recently, we have provided considerable support to Centro Latino with food collection, sorting, and delivery, as well as doing patrols to monitor ICE activity on major (and minor) thoroughfares and at workplaces. A number of members completed Siembra NC ICE Watch trainings. And one of our members who was the keynote speaker at the “March Against Fear” led trainings.
Did I mention our fashion line? We have a line of gray and white t-shirts – in two styles – and we have John Lewis “Good Trouble” shirts as well as English-Spanish “We are a nation of immigrants” shirts. We are well branded and VISIBLE. And, we’ve raised money needed to fund our activities.
Communication and Legislation
With our member’s graphics background and editorial contributors, we produced multiple newsletters with information about activities, meetings, and legislation, including the implementation of Project 2025.
We routinely issues news releases about ICCV events were to local, regional and national news organizations. It’s important to let people know what we’re doing – we got great coverage of our No Kings protests; this helps us recruit more members.
In August, we formed a legislative committee with three members focused on N.C. legislation. In September, that group combined with Project 2025 team and broadened their focus to include federal, state, and local legislation. We areproud to say the group has grown to a committee of nine and welcomes more participation.
What have we done? We have:
• learned more than we ever thought we needed to know about the legislative process at all levels.
• shared multiple action items, with a goal of educating and encouraging members.
• published newsletter articles on the progress and implications of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 plan, which has been extended to a new Project 2026 plan.
• started weekly Take Action Tuesday notices to help clarify and provide additional resources about what our elected leaders are doing (or not doing).
Mutual Aid
Here’s the report from the committee chairperson who stepped up to lead our Mutual Aid efforts. The ICCV Mutual Aid Committee will continue collection efforts as part of our resolve to support our community. Thanks to all who have taken part by giving and together we are making a difference.
July 4
March down the City Walk- "March Against Fear”
Food Collection benefiting The Hickory Soup Kitchen
It was a good show of support for our first effort.
Aug 6
National Night Out Event at the Crawdad's Game-Sponsored by HPD
"Thanks to our Local Heroes"- Policemen, Firemen, EMTs, Teachers, Postal Workers, etc.
Teacher Supplies Collection- at the game and again at a drop off event on Aug 16 @ Brookford Community Center parking lot.
A successful effort that benefitted teachers at FIVE schools!
Oct 18 "No Kings II" at The Justice Center in Newton
SOCK HOP" Sock Collection
The 'most requested and least donated item' was collected in A BIG WAY! Our Indivisible Community really stepped up by donating enough new socks that we were able to provide warmer feet to the beneficiaries of FOUR organizations!
Nov 20 Friendsgiving Gathering at Green Park Dentistry Community Room
As we gathered for friendship and feasting, we collected much needed food items to donate to The Corner Table in Newton.
Dec 14 Vigil for Peace at Union Square in Hickory.
Collection jugs were on hand to accept cash and QR code donations to benefit the Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministries Medical Clinic. We collected $600
In Conclusion
This has been a harder year than any of us could have imagined and, unfortunately, there is still much to be done. But through all the hard work, we leave you with the following images that have brought a bit of light into a dark world:
• The 96-year-old woman who attended her first-ever protest.
• The mom who expressed her thankfulness that her children arrived at school safely.
• A hug from a little one thankful you helped her family.
• A child’s face lighting up when he/she opened a Christmas present.
• Employees smiling, waving, and giving a thumbs up at 6:00 in the morning to patrol volunteers who made sure they were able to enter their workplace safely
We hope to see you at our next regular membership meeting on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 6:00 pm. We will meet at Taste Full Beans at the Hickory Furniture Mart.
In the meantime, let us hear from you - what events gave you hope, joy, inspiration, a feeling of community. What events would you like to see in 2026?
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-stirs-curiosity-online-after-not-placing-hand-bible-during-oath-2025-01-20/
[2] https://indivisible.org/statements/indivisible-publishes-new-guide-indivisible-practical-guide-democracy-brink30000-people
[3] https://www.wfdd.org/2025-02-17/anti-trump-protests-continue-outside-of-senator-tillis-greensboro-office