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Once people got over the shock of the November election, tens of thousands in Maryland joined groups under such banners as "indivisible" or "resistance" or "progressive." I'll refer to them all as "progressive" here.

Until recently these groups did not know how to effectively collaborate on issues they shared. But this is about to change.

A new player has emerged that will work to bring these movements together and dramatically change the 2018 legislative session and elections. The Maryland Progressive Caucus will be working with all these groups to develop clear communications, hammer out priorities given limited resources and encourage attendance at public events.

The group's first formal meeting was in June in Howard County, with about 95 leaders representing organizations from as far as Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore discussing strategy.

Progressives had already worked together and had some success moving toward shared goals during the 2017 General Assembly session. The fracking ban was a fantastic lesson on the power of broad coalitions to bring about change.

Chase Cook

Angered by President Trump, new groups are forming to resist his agenda

Angered by President Trump, new groups are forming to resist his agenda (Chase Cook)

Kathleen Matthews, the current Maryland Democratic Party chairwoman, created an executive committee position for a progressive representative after meeting with the group in May.

An early goal for the new group is to concentrate progressive power while strengthening connections with public-interest groups like the Sierra Club, faith-based organizations like interfaithchesapeake.org and established groups like the Democrats, the Republicans and the NAACP.

To a certain extent, groups in the Annapolis area have already been doing this informally, Action Annapolis agreed to concentrate on city elections, while Anne Arundel Indivisible focuses more on county and state issues and Annapolis Indivisible works on how to combine our efforts with other groups. WISE Women of Severna Park have shown they can hold effective town halls and focus on garnering more bipartisan support for county, state and national issues.

Our local groups are now more seasoned when it comes to working with the legislature and the political process.

All groups agreed at the June meeting that the most important initial task is to develop and support candidates at all levels of government to change the current nature of politics in the state and, ultimately, the nation. The problem is how to maintain an objective presence without necessarily endorsing candidates. Methods are being developed to do just this.

Another key element will be to build diversity among progressive leadership and to make more connections with different groups. The Maryland Progressive Caucus will be reaching out to bring in new leaders and to share resources, aiming to increase not just racial and ethnic but also political and social diversity. Everyone is needed for the work to come!

As a local indivisible group leader, I have to admit I was skeptical when I first heard of this "all state" meeting. But the beauty of the indivisible movement is that people just step up and say, "Let's do it."

I believe this group will unify progressive and indivisible coalitions into a statewide force both parties will need to reckon with in the future. Among the extremely bright and enthusiastic participants at that meeting, I saw lots of intense interaction between young and old, experienced and new.

"The first meeting was all about making connections, establishing trust and discussing ideas and issues at a high level," said Sheila Ruth, one of the new group's leaders. "The next step is to make concrete plans for how we can work effectively together, while still respecting each group's autonomy."

Based on what I've seen so far, I think this is going to happen. Yes, it is going to take leadership and determination, but these seem to be in abundance these days among these determined new political participants.

J. Nelson Wells and his wife co-founded the Annapolis Traditional Dance Society. Contact him at jnw.wells@gmail.com.

Read more:
J. Nelson Wells: Progressives, indivisibles begin to unite - CapitalGazette.com