UPDATE – Who owns American history? The GOP’s battle against Critical Race Theory and what we can do about it.

We first wrote this action last year. Since then, oppressive legislation has exploded across the country, restricting our children’s freedom to learn – where hatred, racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia hide behind words like “discomfort.” First, commit to showing up at local school boards when censoring accurate history is on the agenda (it’s happening in CA too!), then let’s start with these four actions.

edweek.org/leadership/efforts-to-ban-critical-race-theory-now-restrict-teaching-for-a-third-of-americas-kids/2022/01

Action #1 – Tell your legislators you support H.R.6261 – African American History Act.
Action #2 – Now that we’re putting money into improving history resources, lets make sure schools use it. “YES” on both American History Act bills.
Action #3 – Let’s make getting into college more equitable with the Fair College Admissions for Students Act.
Action #4 – “First, they came for the minds of elementary school students and I did not speak out…” Write to university presidents to ask them to take a stand against states’ repressive anti-CRT laws before it’s too late.

Action #1 – Tell your legislators you support H.R.6261 – African American History Act.

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Emmett Till would have been 79 years old this year – Time for a gold medal, antilynching laws, and accountability.

Action #1 – Tell your House representative to push this through H.R. 2252 – The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021.
Action #2 – If they really wanted to honor Emmett Till, legislators would pass H.R. 55 – Emmett Till Antilynching Act and H.R. 1727 – Emmett Till and Will Brown Justice for Victims of Lynching Act 2021
Action #3 – If they really want to honor Mamie Till-Mobley, her son’s false accuser would be held accountable.

Action #1 – Tell your House representative to push this through H.R. 2252 – The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021.

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Friday 2/26: #FilibusterFriday! Both the $15/hr. wage and H.R. 5 – the Equality Act are in danger in the Senate.

The filibuster means that Mitch McConnell is still in charge.

We have less than 2 years before the next election and we have a lot to fix NOW! The GOP will use the 60-vote minimum of the filibuster to block progressive legislation from advancing in the Senate, keeping that chamber’s reputation as “the most powerful force for structural racism in American life.” (Great filibuster explainer video at the bottom of post.)
Today’s victims:

$15 minimum wage: The Senate Parliamentarian ruled that the $15 minimum wage hike is “extraneous” for budget reconciliation purposes; meaning it has to come out of the H.R. 1319 – American Rescue Plan Act if the Senate wants to use reconciliation to get around a filibuster. Over 60% of Americans support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
- Note: We’re waiting on the script on this issue, as it’s now in flux. It looks like Democrats are drafting new plans to penalize big corporations that pay their employees less than $15 an hour.

HR 5 – The Equality Act: This bill just passed the House and over 70% of Americans support laws like this, including 50% of Trump voters. (What the law includes, here and here.) However, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has announced that he will oppose the Equality Act unless it includes language that would allow Christians to discriminate against LGBTQ people, essentially nullifying any civil rights gains, and the GOP will use the filibuster to stop it from coming to a vote.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to cosponsor and support HR 5 – The Equality Act and if necessary, remove the filibuster for this vote (even with a mini-nuke or carve-out), and for any other legislation that ensures equal civil rights for all Americans. The majority of voters want LGBTQ community members to be accorded the same rights and responsibilities as every other citizen. Allowing a minority to use the filibuster to maintain a legacy of human rights violations and discriminatory practices against a specific group of taxpaying Americans is both anti-democratic and morally wrong.

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Today is #FilibusterFriday! Call your senators!

Tell them WE EXPECT THEM to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enact bold structural reform on every issue we care about.

This is a great filibuster explainer:

We have less than 2 years before the next election and we have a lot to fix NOW! Mitch McConnell isn’t blocking every Democratic-sponsored bill from reaching the Senate floor, so we should be able to make progress, right? No. The GOP will use the 60-vote minimum of the filibuster to block progressive legislation from advancing in the Senate, keeping that chamber’s reputation as “the most powerful force for structural racism in American life.” While both parties have used the filibuster, it has been weaponized to a greater extent than ever before by Republicans in order to kill landmark pieces of legislation that the majority of Americans want, from civil rights bill like voting access, to gun violence prevention, the Dream Act, Medicare-for-all and more.

Washington DC statehood is another victim. The GOP is so fearful that a new minority-majority state would create two Democratic senators, this blatant vestige of systemic racism in the heart of our nation will remain until we get 60 Democratic senators or the filibuster is dropped. (Call scripts for legislators and postcard campaign information here.)

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to remove the filibuster and get on with passing the bills the majority of Americans want. Civil rights bills like H.R.1 – For the People, H.R. 5 – the Equality Act and H.R. 51- Washington DC Admision Act. Commonsense gun legislation. Legislation to address climate change, childcare, immigration and healthcare. Yes, I understand the risks you think we are taking, but we see greater risks to democracy in never getting these bills passed. We will NOT accept [him/her] coming back to us in two years saying there was nothing [he/she] could do to advance issues important to us because of an self-mandated procedural relic of the Jim Crow era. We know better now, and so does [he/she].

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Sat. 4/6: Three activities to share! Recycling for animals! Art contest for EJS! Postcard design contest for Virginia!

Action #1 – Recycle your used mascara wands! Really!

Please do NOT throw away your mascara wands. These little wands are able to be upcycled to clean away oil, larvae, fly eggs, mites, infections, mud and other contaminants from wildlife and they work great for medical care and wound treatment. Instead, clean JUST THE WAND with soap (don’t send the other half!), place them in a ziploc bag, pick your wildlife refuge to mail to, fill out this donation form, and mail from your local post office so it’ll have the right postage:

Appalachian Wild, P.O. Box 1211. Skyland NC 28776 OR
Wildlife Wands, P.O. Box 1586 Southwick, MA 01077

(Please do not purchase new wands – the program is for recycling old ones. Instead, please donate food or supplies from the Wishlist or make a donation.)

They also have a great site for what to do if you find a wild animal (bird, mammal or reptile) that you think might need assistance. Find a wildlife rehabilitator here.