Upcoming events.
ICE Out for Good!
ICE is untrained, armed, and dangerous to every American. Join us in a protest against ICE on the greenway outside Binny’s on Sunday, January 11 at 1 pm.
SHUT THE FLOCK OFF!
If you would like to join the movement to say no to the AI powered techno-fascist mass surveillance state, join us for our second meeting discussing ways to get the cameras shut off.
Know Your Rights Training
Know what your rights are and what ICE can and cannot legally do (although that does not seem to be limiting what they actually do)
Community Defense and ICE Watch
Explore how we can develop rapid response teams to effectively monitor immigration actions and protect our neighbors
Protest Outside Rep LaHood’s Office
Join Uptown Activists Blo/No and Voices of Reason to have your voice heard.
Every Monday 12 - 1 pm
In front of Congressman Darin LaHood’s office - 108 E. Beaufort St, Normal
Bring a sign or borrow one of ours and stand for democracy in a peaceful protest!
Community Defense and ICE Watch Training
ICE has come to our area and they can come back any time so it's up to us to get prepared. Join Bloomington Normal 50501 for a one shot training session led by Dr. Michael Gizzi that incorporates general information, rights clarification, and how to safely engage.
After completion you'll be invited to join the local Rapid Response team and invited right away to get involved in our first call to action to protect our neighbors in a Special Holiday Operation.
No registration or ID required, please bring your friends.
https://events.pol-rev.com/events/bbf5ac78-686a-449b-86a8-c13172c3df3e
SHUT THE FLOCK OFF!
The FLOCK traffic cameras, used in Bloomington-Normal, track every vehicle that passes by, creating massive databases of innocent people’s movements - where you worship, protest, seek healthcare, visit friends.
This isn’t about solving crime, although that is the justification given for these cameras. Over 99% of FLOCK alerts lead nowhere.
This is corporate surveillance for profit.
If you would like to join the movement to say no to the AI powered techno-fascist mass surveillance state, join us for an exploratory meeting.
December 15, 2025, 6:30 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of B/N, 1613 E Emerson St.
Protest Outside Rep LaHood’s Office
Join Uptown Activists Blo/No and Voices of Reason to have your voice heard.
Every Monday 12 - 1 pm
In front of Congressman Darin LaHood’s office - 108 E. Beaufort St, Normal
Bring a sign or borrow one of ours and stand for democracy in a peaceful protest!
Protest Outside Rep LaHood’s Office
Join Uptown Activists Blo/No and Voices of Reason to have your voice heard.
Every Monday 12 - 1 pm
In front of Congressman Darin LaHood’s office - 108 E. Beaufort St, Normal
Bring a sign or borrow one of ours and stand for democracy in a peaceful protest!
Medicare for All Listening Session
Join One People’s Campaign and Illinois People's Action (IPA) for a Medicare for All Listening Session on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 6:00 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal (UUBN) , 1613 E Emerson St. Doors open at 5:30 pm for light refreshments.
This community conversation will focus on sharing experiences with healthcare, setting priorities, and planning next steps toward a people-powered Improved Medicare for All campaign. Everyone is welcome to attend and add their voice!
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (5:30 Refreshments)
Register here: https://tinyurl.com/OPC-M4A or contact Corey Mattson: (309) 533-6566; corey.opc@pm.me
Rapid Response Training from The Immigration Project and 50501
ICE has come to our area. We have had our first confirmed arrest.
We are not powerless to protect our community. Come join a training session on November 20, 6:00 - 7:30 pm hosted virtually and also screened in person at the Unitarian Universalist Church (UUBN),1613 E Emerson St, Bloomington.
Register and join here virtually https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wxfGsRjZQJGUotJQ5Sc29Q or see you at UUBN where we will screen this presentation if that works better for you. You can bring snacks but nothing too loud please.
A part 2 follow-up will be held in person at UUBN hosted by Bloomington-Normal 50501 and The Immigration Project on December 1 at the same time. More info to come.
Find more details on this and 50501 events in town please see our site https://linktr.ee/blono50501
For mor
Save SNAP Rally - Uptown Normal
Cuts to food and health care benefits threaten vulnerable members of our community.
Come out and show your support for maintaining benefit levels and helping our neighbors! Bring non-perishable food to donate to local food pantries.
AT&T Demonstration
AT&T has a lucrative contract with ICE to provide communication services to help them in their abduction and deportation efforts.
To show AT&T, and other companies, that cooperating with an authoritarian regime has consequences, a large coalition is building a campaign of civic resistance, including demonstrations at AT&T offices, publicity efforts through various media channels, and invitations to customers to change their phone/internet to a different provider.
The goal of course is to get AT&T to cancel their contract with ICE, and to not enter into any new ones. But even if that goal is not met, just showing other companies that assisting this regime has negative consequences will be a positive outcome.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, November 16, when demonstrations will take place outside most (if not all) of the AT&T offices in Illinois. In Bloomington, we will be meeting at 1 pm near the AT&T office near the corner of Eastland Drive and Veteran’s Parkway.
Protect Our Water - Call To Action!
Corporations advocating the false, green washing climate “solution” of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) want to dump their CO2 waste under the Mahomet aquifer. This would put nearly one million Illinoisians’ sole source of fresh, clean water at serious risk of contamination. Join Illinois People's Action (IPA) this Thursday (11/13/2025) at 5:30pm to tell the McClean County Board that we need a local zoning ordinance to protect the Mahomet aquifer from CO2 dumping.
WHAT: McClean County Board Meeting
WHEN: Thursday 11/13 at 5:30PM
WHERE: McClean County Government Center (115 E Washington St, Bloomington, IL 61701)
We will be meeting at the McClean County Government Center at 5:15PM, the board meeting begins at 5:30PM with public comment, during which IPA leader(s) will be sharing why they want to County Board to protect the Mahomet aquifer, with the support of all of you! The action should be over by 6PM, although you can of course stay for the rest of the meeting if you would like.
For more information please contact Michele at michele.illinoispeoplesaction@gmail.com or (309) 907-8263.
50501 Book Club: How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley
Join us for the monthly meeting of the Bloomington Normal 50501 Resistance Readers Book Club on Wednesday November 5 at Bloomington Public Library community room, where we will discuss Jason Stanley's book How Fascism Works
Bloomington Public Library, 205 East Olive Street, Bloomington
No Kings Follow Up
Keep the energy going from the great No Kings protest movement. Bring canned or non-perishable food donations and let our lawmakers know how you feel about our neighbors experiencing food insecurity.
U.S. Rep. LaHood PROTEST VIGIL
At LaHood’s Peoria District Office 100 N. E Monroe, Peoria
Purpose-We are dedicated to a monthly presence to protest the current administration policies against democracy and human rights. Initiated by the Marshall County Peacemakers non-affiliated faith-based group of concerned citizens.
Contact: respectothers2020@gmail.com or facebook.com/MarshallCountyPeacemakers
No Kings Rally - Peoria
In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings. In Peoria, we stand up to fascism and fight back!
We are protesting and rallying for democracy! Meet us on the public sidewalks along War Memorial Drive (between Knoxville Ave and New York Ave). Stay on public sidewalks, park in public or street parking. Bring your signs, your voices, your costumes, your noise makers, and your energy!
The event is listed on Mobilize/No Kings at the following link:
No Kings Rally - Champaign/Urbana
No Kings Rally at the Champaign County Courthouse, 101 E. Main Street, Urbana IL, 61801
Our peaceful movement is only getting bigger and stronger! To register to attend the rally, or for more information, search Indivisible at mobilize.us
No Kings Rally - Bloomington
Meet downtown Bloomington in front of the BCPA - bring signs!
The Political Emerson: Essential Writings on Politics and Social Reform
Announcing new series: Seeking Wisdom in Books (SWB), Some New, Some UU: SWB#1: The Political Emerson: Essential Writings on Politics and Social Reform, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ed. David M. Robinson, Beacon Press, 2004. Read in parts. Sessions TBD by participants. Register by October 15.
Email Tom at tomclemenstomten66@gmail.com or text/call 309-287-1547 to join the Zoom discussion as participant or listener. You will receive the Zoom link the day before the session.
Messaging, Media, and Digital Engagement Training
Offered through Indivisible / Tuesday, October 14, 7 - 8 pm CDT
Join us for a training on how to talk about your local No Kings movement, both to the reporters and on your social media channels.
For more information: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/843351/
50501 Training Series: Non-Violence and De-Escalation of Conflict
With tensions rising and violence from the regime increasing, join us for an important training session on both techniques you can use to de-escalate conflict and also explore what non-violent resistance means.
Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal, 1613 East Emerson Street, Bloomington, IL 61701, United States of America
1613 East Emerson Street, 61701, Bloomington
50501 Chalks: Cheezy Chalkin'
50501 goes chalking again to advertise for NO KINGS Oct 18 and to spread messages of hope. And cheese!
Meet in front of Red Raccoon Games, 301 North Main Street, Bloomington
Town of Normal Council Meeting
People who support sustainability are asked to attend a part of the Town of Normal Council Meeting on Monday, October 6, at 6:45 P.M. to visibly show support for a proposal on the Town's Sustainability Plan, which includes the Bike-Pedestrian Master Plan. You will not need to speak or march, just show up to demonstrate public support for moving the town forward on sustainability thinking. Around that time, the Town will be presented a designation as a "Bird City" from a representative of the Audubon Council of Illinois.
If the room overflows with people, all the better.
The meeting is on the Fourth Floor of Uptown Station (11 Uptown Circle). Parking is free after 5 P.M. in the attached parking garage accessed off West Beaufort.
The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
Feeling tangled up in the news? Headlines causing confusion or anxiety?
Join us for a monthly Book Club for community support and exchange of ideas.
Each month we will do a deep dive into a contemporary author's take on the history, policy, and politics that got us here — and how to effectively communicate with those of varying viewpoints as we engage in personal and community actions while we work to build a better, fairer, brighter future.
This month, we’re reading The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
It's like a therapeutic Poly Sci class without having to write a paper!
We will gather the first Sunday of each month. McLean County Democrats headquarters, 422 N Main, Bloomington
B/N 50501 Book Club
Join us for the monthly meeting of the Bloomington Normal 50501 Book Club on October 1 at the Bloomington Public Library
We will discuss Democracy: A User’s Guide, by Joss Sheldon.