Welcome to SolidarityMail
SolidarityMail is a free webmail service for the labor, progressive, and radical community. In addition to having all the normal features of email, SolidarityMail also provides you with another way to conduct grassroots activism: it allows you to email other users in your area about any of the following issues:
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When you compose a new email, you can send it to people whom you know by using your address book or typing their email address in like normal. Additionally, if it's an email about a political issue that you want to share with like-minded people in your area, you have the option of sending it to other SolidarityMail users based upon the issue(s) your email is about, within a desired mile distance from yourself (from a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 150 miles). Naturally, you will also receive emails from other users about the issues you want to hear about, which you can change in your options page. Think of it like a localized mailing list, but about not just one -- but about most -- of the issues that you are interested in. SolidarityMail is an additional tool that you have to mobilize your community and reach out to those that you might not have known were allies.
For instance, say you are a union member who is currently going through contract negotiations with your company. You can send out an email to other users within 10 miles, asking for community support. An option for doing this appears when you compose a new email. You would select a mile distance of 10 and click the box for the issue "Labor/Unions." Any SolidarityMail users within 10 miles that want to receive emails about Labor/Unions would then get your email, in addition to any other people you want to send it to. Or say a forum about globalization is happening in your area. You can send out an email to others within 100 miles, letting them know about this event. Anti-war protest? Send out the event info. Important city council meeting? Announce it.
In your email account you have access to a local calendar, which allows you to view and post events in your community about the same issues as above. We also have forums where you can talk with other members. Finally, we've gathered some of the finest RSS feeds on our favorite topics and compiled a collection of over 400 links for you to peruse, even if you don't want to sign up for an email account.
The options are wide open - but at the heart of SolidarityMail is the fact that in addition to being a webmail service, it is also a tool for grassroots communication, networking, and organizing.
It is our hope that SolidarityMail will contribute to increased communication amongst unionists, progressives, and radicals and to grassroots organizing efforts. However, as this is a new webmail service, the word is not yet out. If you believe in the concept behind SolidarityMail, please help to inform your community about it (PDF file). The more people who use SolidarityMail, the stronger a tool it will be.