Sunburnt & Stubborn: Arizona's Weekly Activism Roundup | Sep 7-13, 2026

Hey everyone. As you know, our community members are suffering. Our friends and neighbors are afraid to go to the grocery store and school pick-up line due to ICE. Our LGBTQ+ loved ones are being relentlessly attacked, as are women's repro rights. People of color are experiencing a resurgence in suspected lynchings across the southern US. If there was ever a moment to feel like you should do something to help your community, THIS IS THAT MOMENT. Please take some time to connect with groups putting in the work to solve these problems locally, they are out there and we've highlighted them below.

But, as always, please keep in mind you as one person can only do so much. And that is okay! I want you to be able to come back next week and pick another thing so we can build a sustainable movement. Rest, restore, and then rage.

If you only do one thing this week

Protect LGBTQ+ Children with Just Schools · September 13 · Virtual
Just Schools is organizing against the elimination of Gay Straight Alliance clubs in districts around Arizona, and September 13 is one of its volunteer onboarding days. The 3:00 to 4:00 PM slots are one-on-one interviews on Zoom rather than a group meeting; sign up through the form and the Zoom link is sent to you. Anywhere in Arizona with an internet connection works. Virtual, statewide, one hour, sitting down.

Five minutes or less

• Request your early ballot and check your registration. Attorney General Kris Mayes has a court order blocking the USPS rule on vote-by-mail registration, so mail voting is running on schedule. A meme telling voters to stamp their mail-in ballot is going around and it is false; ballots already move as first class mail. Check your record and request a ballot at my.arizona.vote by October 23.
• Sign the letter on Medicare Part D premiums. A July 28 CMS memo ends the Part D premium stabilization program after 2026. Roughly 25 million enrollees rely on it, and an administration official acknowledged that ending it raises premiums for about half of them. Sign here.
• Call Sens. Gallego and Kelly about the CLARITY Act. The bill hands crypto companies a friendlier regulator and strips the ethics rules that stop officials from profiting off the industry they oversee. A procedural vote is set for September 15, and Sen. Gallego already voted to advance it in committee. Call Gallego at 480-697-3600 or 202-224-4521 and Kelly at 602-671-7901 or 202-224-2235, or send the email.

Civic Engagement & Democracy

Rallies and visibility

Pop-Up Protest with AJGC Indivisible and The Lighthouse Group · September 10 · Apache Junction
Rep. Eli Crane is headlining a Republican rally inside Avalon School with Jeff Serdy and Sheriff Teeple, and the Apache Junction Indivisible group gathers across the street from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Organizers say they need about ten people to hold a line of signs they had made. Outdoors, evening, two hours.

MAGA Shave Roadside Sign Protest · September 10 · Oro Valley
Indivisible Tucson Action Alliance runs morning-commute sign protests aimed at Rep. Juan Ciscomani, this one from 7:30 to 8:45 AM at Lambert and La Cañada, with several more a week through November. Outdoors, morning.

Also this week: Mesa Valley Indivisible rallies at Alma School and Main from 9:00 AM to noon September 12 over ICE raids and the Epstein files; Pinal County Democrats walk the Fiesta Patrias parade in Eloy with lineup at 8:15 AM September 12.

Canvasses and phone banks

Door Knock with Copper State Victory · September 12 · Prescott
The coordinated campaign knocks doors from 9:00 AM to noon in Prescott, with others in Scottsdale September 11 and Flagstaff September 13. The meeting spot goes out after you RSVP. The full list is on the calendar. Outdoors, morning.

Phonebank with Copper State Victory · September 11 · Flagstaff
Calls run 3:00 to 6:00 PM, with the same shift in Cave Creek September 10 and in Yuma September 9. Location is sent after you RSVP. Indoors, sitting down.

Also this week: Swing Left knocks doors in AZ-01 from 3:00 to 4:30 PM September 12 in Phoenix; Rural Arizona Engagement tables at Fiestas Patrias in Eloy and Oktoberfest in Sierra Vista September 11; Desert Democracy writes postcards to CD-01 voters from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM September 9 in Phoenix.

Meetings and trainings

Stand Indivisible AZ September Community Meeting · September 9 · Scottsdale
The group's first community meeting of the season runs 6:00 to 8:00 PM and lays out its plan for getting out the vote and protecting the count. Indoors, evening, two hours.

Mule Mountain Democratic Club Monthly Meeting · September 12 · Bisbee
The Cochise County club meets 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM monthly, and this month's program is a canvassing training plus a presentation on the county party's medical debt relief fundraising. Annual dues are $15. Indoors, training provided.

Also this week: Queen Creek San Tan Valley Indivisible holds "Common Ground" coffee from 9:00 to 10:30 AM September 12; Working Families Power hosts Working Class Wednesdays in Tucson from 6:00 to 7:30 PM September 9.

LGBTQ+ & Equal Rights

My heart goes out to all of our LGBTQ+ community members and allies. The attack in Tucson this weekend was heartbreaking. For thoughtful and respectful coverage of the event, I recommend Lookout News.

Queer Freedom School: The Hidden History of LGBTQ+ Youth · September 9 · Tempe
Professor David Boyles teaches an open-access class at Brick Road Coffee from 5:30 to 7:00 PM on why the existence of LGBTQ+ young people has been treated as controversial, and why opponents so often frame their position as protecting children. Part of a series running through October 21. Indoors, evening, or watch online.

Standing Together: A Forum on Anti-LGBTQIA2S+ Legislation · September 12 · Phoenix
The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona hosts a community forum from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on the anti-trans legislation state lawmakers are pushing, what it would mean for trans Arizonans, and concrete ways to engage. Indoors, two hours.

Education

With the Protect Education Act off the November ballot, the fight over Arizona's $1 billion voucher program has moved to legislative races and to school board meetings.

LD13 School Bus: CUSD Board Meeting · September 9 · Chandler
LD13 Democrats organize turnout for Chandler Unified board meetings, which run 6:30 to 8:30 PM, and ask people to consider speaking in support of schools and educators. The meeting also streams on the district board's YouTube channel. Indoors, evening, or watch online.

Cheers and Chat North Phoenix · September 11 · Phoenix
Save Our Schools Arizona's West Valley and North Phoenix action team gathers at a restaurant from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Appetizers are covered and the address goes out after sign-up. Indoors, evening, refreshments.

North Phoenix Community Canvass in LD2 · September 12 · Phoenix
Save Our Schools knocks doors 9:00 to 11:30 AM out of Serafina Coffee Roasters to talk about its Public School Proud candidates. Drivers and canvassers are both needed, canvassing is always done with a partner, and first timers are welcome. Outdoors, morning, first-timer friendly.

Voting Rights

No Kings: Vote Early Kickoff Call · September 10 · Virtual
The No Kings coalition lays out its early-vote and election protection plan on a national call at 5:00 PM Arizona time, including how a local groups can help. October 17, the date of the next No Kings action, is also the first day of early voting in Arizona. Virtual, statewide, sitting down.

Power Back: A Movement School for Election Defense · September 12–13 · Multiple cities
Generation Vote brings its national election defense training tour to Pima Community College in Tucson September 12 and to Phoenix September 13, both 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. The address is sent after registration. Indoors, training provided.

In Conversation: Jared Keenan · September 10 · Virtual
Civic Engagement Beyond Voting talks with Jared Keenan, executive director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM about using litigation to protect voting rights and civil liberties in Arizona. Virtual, one hour, sitting down.

Healthcare

Calling Voters to Hold Rep. Eli Crane Accountable · September 10 · Flagstaff
We The Fighters calls voters across CD-2 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM about what the cuts have meant locally. Evening, two hours, sitting down.

Flagstaff Deep Canvass on Rep. Eli Crane · September 12 · Flagstaff
The same group knocks doors 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM using deep canvassing, a longer listening-first conversation rather than a quick script. Training and materials are provided. Outdoors, morning, training provided, longer conversations.

Also this week: Common Defense holds a webinar on Section 219 of the defense bill at 4:00 PM Arizona time September 9; Vets and Neighbors hosts a town hall on Tucson's data center rules at 5:30 PM September 10.

Women's Rights

Reproductive rights work in Arizona is split between explaining the legal landscape and getting to voters before the midterms.

Abortion Rights and Christian Nationalism · September 9 · Virtual
Jews for a Secular Democracy hosts law professor Greer Donley and attorney Susan J. Frietsche at 4:00 PM Arizona time on how attacks on reproductive freedom connect to broader efforts to write one set of religious beliefs into public policy. The case material centers on Pennsylvania. Virtual, one hour, sitting down.

Knock Doors with #Fight4HER Tucson · September 12 · Tucson
Population Connection Action Fund canvasses from 9:00 to 10:00 AM about reproductive rights ahead of the midterms. The group says no canvassing experience is necessary and provides everything you need. Outdoors, morning, one hour, first-timer friendly.

Every week in Arizona

These run on repeat!

• Rush-Hour Resistance Rallies, weekday morning and evening rush hour rallies at several Phoenix metro locations. Great for beginners! Full list at RhRR.us.
• Caffeinate & Activate, weekly 9:30 to 11:00 AM (September 9 this week), Phoenix, coffee with Desert Democracy, drop in anytime. Details.
• Freedom Rings Indivisible Discussion Group, weekly 6:00 to 8:00 PM (September 10 this week), Tempe. Details.
• White Mountains Weekly Rally, weekly at 4:00 PM (September 11 this week), Show Low, thirty minutes on the corner. Details.
• Local First Arizona food pantry shifts, standing two-hour slots at partner pantries around metro Phoenix, including Glendale September 9. Sign up.

Action Alerts

Sign up for Neighbor2Neighbor canvassing in CD-2 (Flagstaff, Sedona, NE AZ). Indivisible Northern AZ has relaunched Neighbor2Neighbor as its main push to flip Arizona's 2nd Congressional District before November 3. The group's pitch is that door-knocking works but knocking on a stranger's door is what stops people, so the program hands you your own neighbors instead.

• What to do: Sign up for a list of 10 progressive-leaning neighbors, a short script, door-knocking best practices, an optional leave-behind flyer, and a personalized landing page emailed to you. No fixed schedule, no app, no training session.

Adopt a legislative district to flip the Arizona Legislature. On August 20 the Arizona Supreme Court kicked the Protect Education Act off the November ballot, upholding rulings that threw out roughly 40,000 citizen signatures on technicalities pressed by voucher-lobby lawsuits. Arizona's $1 billion ESA voucher program stays unregulated, and Save Our Schools Arizona has moved its effort into flipping the legislature.

• What to do: Sign up to adopt one district among LD2, LD4, LD9, LD13, LD16, LD17, LD23, and LD27, and commit to canvassing, driving canvassers, or phone banking there through the election. Find your LD here.

Volunteer for the Arizona Election Defense Corps. More than 57 Indivisible groups across Arizona are organizing to protect the general election, and the Voting Rights Lab flags Arizona as one of the most at-risk states in the country for election disruption.

• What to do: Sign up with the Election Defense Corps, run by Civic Engagement Beyond Voting. Roles include monitoring county Boards of Supervisors meetings, watching drop boxes and polling locations, reporting voter suppression, and rapid response.

Thanks for being here and I'll see you next week, patriots!

Arizona Advocacy Hub is a grassroots operation run by June, a concerned Arizonan. If this roundup is useful to you, consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help keep it going.