Update 5/8/2020 – The Third Man: Thanks to the huge public reaction to the cellphone video of a young black man being murdered-while-jogging, the two men involved have finally been arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. We are waiting on whether the man who filmed the incident, William Bryan, will be charged, as well.
Today, May 7th, millions of people and over 50 national organizations, including Indivisible, will take online action and demand Congress support an Essential Worker Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights would cover nurses, health and home care workers, domestic workers, truckers, janitors, grocery workers, farm workers, warehouse workers child care workers and transit workers. If we’re loud enough, we can help ALL #ProtectEssentialWorkers. Join in!
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞!
Action #1 – Call your House Rep.
Right now, @NationalNurses RNs are leaving empty pairs of shoes in front of the White House to represent each nurse who has died from #COVID19 in an incredibly moving and powerful protest this morning during #NursesWeek. pic.twitter.com/HKuXK8YYzQ
Minimal call scripts to House members: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Rep. [___] to release a bold & comprehensive relief bill that includes an Essential Workers Bill of Rights that includes fair compensation. This would include hazard pay, real job protections, paid sick leave, child care workplace protections, health care, and that these protections be given to all working people, no matter their immigration or contractor status. Continue reading “Thurs 5/7: Join in – Day of Action to support the Essential Workers Bill of Rights!”→
Quote from S. Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Arbery family.
This post has been updated. Please goherefor latest information and actions.
Update 5/8: Thanks to the huge public reaction to the cellphone video of a young black man being murdered-while-jogging, the two men involved have finally been arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. We are waiting on whether William Bryan, the third man who followed Arbery, filmed the incident, will be charged, as well.
We also now know that the former attorney for the Gregory and Travis McMichaels, Alan David Tucker, was the one who released the video on Tuesday.
For all of you who took the time to sign the petition below and make calls and emails to protest this injustice, thank you. We shouldn’t have to ring phones off the desks, but we will.
Action – Sign the petition.
73 days ago, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25 year-old black man, left his mom’s home for his daily jog. He was chased down and killed by well-armed two white men, a retired police office and his son. Because of the lockdown constraints on local protests, Ahmaud’s family and friends worried that his brutal murder would go unnoticed and that no one would be held to account. But we have phones and computers and we, along with many others, have noticed. (Warning – the video below shows an innocent person being murdered. Skip over and go straight to the actions as necessary.)
“The series of events captured in this video confirm what all the evidence indicated prior to its release— Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by three white men that targeted him solely because of his race and murdered him without justification. This is murder.” pic.twitter.com/v4TAs0RjO7
Action #1 – Call your senators and tell them to vote “NO” on Justin Walker and Cory Wilson.
Why worry about judges?:This video came out in Oct. 2019, after Walker’s first successful judicial nomination to a Kentucky District Court. The host makes it clear that those sitting out fighting against his next step, a lifetime appointment on a federal bench, or sitting out voting in the 2020 election because “both the Dems and the GOP are the same,” need to realize that ignoring the GOP takeover of the judicial branch will end up badly for people of color, the LGBTQ community, religious minorities, women’s ability to control their own bodies, public education and anyone who needs clean water or air. Worth the time, even with the commercial breaks.
“McConnell made clear in an interview last week that resuming rapid-fire confirmations of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees will be the Senate’s top priority when it reconvenes Monday, despite the desperate need for additional relief for frontline workers and the unemployed as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause mass layoffs across the nation.” (CommonDreams). Justin Walker and Cory Wilson would be dream candidates for far-right extremists in our country…not so good for the rest of us.
Update: Forty pro-democracy and civil rights groups today joined in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, urging them to halt the process of federal judicial nominations and confirmations at this time, including Indivisible. (League of Conservation Voters letter here, Alliance for Justice letter here.)
Update: The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has called for an inquiry as to whether McConnell committed ethical improprieties in the creating of a conveniently timed opening on the federal bench for his protégé.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to vote “NO” to Justin Walker and Cory Wilson. They are proven enemies of civil rights, women’s rights, unions, public education, the environment and health care.
More script if you want it: Also, please stop voting for any judicial nominations who are members of the far-right Federalist Society. The extremist views of this group – just 4% of the legal community but more than 80% of Trumps’ nominees, do not reflect those of most Americans.
Taking our medical professionals’ lives for granted…
Some of Ventura County’s amazing health care workers took time out last Friday to remind us what’s at stake here. None of the hundreds of protesters raging about “Freedom!” could replace any one of those four doctors on the median in a medical emergency. Across America, over 9,200 health care workers have tested positive for coronavirus and at least 27 have died. Health-care providers are literally risking their lives to save ours. What if they just stopped showing up?
Although the Health Care Foundation for Ventura County has organized an incredible volunteer task force, including the Mask and Gown Brigades, and those who provide meals, temporary shelter and equipment, every one of us has a role in stopping COVID-19 and protecting our medical professionals – simply by following the social distancing and shelter-in-place orders from our county and state public health experts. For the impatient, “Stage 2” of reopening CA businesses starts this coming Friday. Worldwide COVID stats here.
A “thank you” to volunteers, and how you can join in…
Action – Call for a real “People’s Bailout” on May Day!
Yesterday we wrote about the corporate looting taking place under our so-called “rescue” plan – the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. FAIR describes it as a “robbery in progress”.
(Photo of homemade gowns in action! Ventura County has an amazing group of volunteers creating PPE, including masks, face shields and gowns, as well as community members who’ve donated equipment to keep our frontline workers safe. Those workers want you all to know how much they appreciate your efforts! Information below from Amy Towner, CEO – Health Care Foundation for Ventura County from 4/23)
Dear Brigades,
Our nurses, doctors and staff wanted to thank the brigades for their sewn masks so I have been collecting video. I put out a call on Facebook and asked if someone would make them into a video and my friend Hugo Zamora Camilha Contreras put this together as a donation to show the circle of love of our community.
Instead of walking around in the sun, knocking on doors, we can relax at home and call instead!
Join our good friends at Grassroots Democrats for this remote phonebanking event to GOTV(Get Out The Vote) for this Indivisible-endorsed candidate. The special election for CA-25’s congressional seat is coming up fast and they need a lot of help to elect Christy Smith and keep this district BLUE. The event kicks off at 2 p.m. with a Zoom-call “rally” featuring Christy herself. You’ll get all the training you need, and you can make calls for as long as you have the time.
Action update on making your homemade masks more effective.
In the 1940’s, American women took to drawing lines up the back of their legs to mimic the look of nylons, as the real product was rationed to produce nylon parachutes, flak jackets, cords and rope.
Nylons are once again being called to the front, the front of our faces, that is.“Researchers at Northeastern University have found that adding an outer layer made from nylon stockings to a homemade face covering can boost its ability to filter out small particles in the air by creating a tighter seal between the mask and the wearer’s face. In some cases, that extra nylon layer helped homemade cloth masks match or exceed the filtering capability of medical-grade surgical masks.” (npr)
Details:
Create a nylon stocking overlayer made by cutting an 8-10″ tall ring of from one leg on a pair of pantyhose. “Queen-size” stockings recommended as being more comfortable.
Tights should also work, as long as they offer a snug fit, says the researcher, who plans to include tights in future testing.
The wearer puts the ring over their head like a headband, then pulls it down on top of the cloth mask, creating a tight fit to the face. This forces particles that might have otherwise gone around the loose edges of the mask and been inhaled to instead go through the mask, which can filter them out
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 