Tag: #CivilRights

Thurs 11/14: GOP, OBEY YOUR MASTERS! Stop playing chicken with our economy by putting Dreamers at risk.

Action  – Call your senators! Push through the S.874 Dream Act to the president’s desk without another one of his poisonous deals.

We’re not going to talk about Judeo-Christian concepts of welcoming strangers. We’re not going to talk about the inherent cruelty of throwing people out of the only country they’ve ever known. Trump’s base remains immune to these arguments. Instead, we’re going to talk in language the GOP claims, against all evidence, to be proficient in, i.e.- the economy. While McConnell is distracted installing as many extremist judges in lifetime positions as he can, a factor of our future economy’s success is standing before a hostile SCOTUS.

The GOP’s donor class, major companies and conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute, are alarmed. Their pet legislators seems to have forgotten that rescinding DACA protections for almost 800,000 U.S.-educated, hardworking adults, will cause serious economic harm to America, including a loss of $460.3 billion from the nation GDP over the next decade. The 10 states that put DACA in court – Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, and West Virginia—stand to suffer a self-inflicted loss of more than $8 billion annually in state GDP. More immediate concerns for businesses are 1.1 million jobs already going begging, from high tech to unskilled labor. This number is going to get larger as boomers age out of the labor pool. A harsh retirement is in store if there are not enough workers to diagnose their illnesses, fix their cars or change out sheets in their future nursing homes. Continue reading “Thurs 11/14: GOP, OBEY YOUR MASTERS! Stop playing chicken with our economy by putting Dreamers at risk.” →

Mon. 7/22: Mark your calendars – You can’t phone this in. On July 29th – come out and show your support for SV Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos

On Mon. July 29th – Stand Indivisible with Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos! 

(alert from Indivisible Conejo)” Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos  – shown here (on the right) at last week’s Lights for Liberty protest — is under vicious attack from Trump Trolls in Simi after she posted an “explainer” video about immigration policy to her Facebook page last week.

Ruth is the first Latina to serve on the SV Council, an award-winning educator who mentors other teachers, and a volunteer for both the Girl and Boy Scouts as well as for at-risk youth. She is a terrific person and colleague in our activism, and the rare progressive to hold elective office in Simi Valley (which alone is reason enough to go to the barricades on her behalf!). But these extremists are demanding a recall election (or her arrest) and have even threatened her life … all based on pure “send her back” racism and their misunderstanding of the basic facts Ruth noted in her video.”

What does “law and order” really mean?: “Even as demographics in Simi have shifted, “(Luevanos) is going to find out pretty quickly that they haven’t changed that much. It’s still a law-and-order city,” fellow Council member Mike Judge said, representing those in a city who don’t want to follow SB 54, an actual California law. “Law-and-order” fans in Simi apparently also feel free to threaten their elected officials lives. (FYI: In CA, threats of death or physical harm that cause “sustained fear” can be prosecuted under Penal Code 422 PC, even if the threatener says they were just “letting off steam”.)

Continue reading “Mon. 7/22: Mark your calendars – You can’t phone this in. On July 29th – come out and show your support for SV Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos” →

Mon – 7/8: In this land of casual cruelty, the Department of Housing works to make American kids homeless. Your comment due tomorrow, 7/9.

Action – Write a comment telling HUD Sec. Ben Carson what you think of his plans. Deadline Tueday night (7/9) tomorrow at 11:59 EST.

The Trump Administration is doing what it does best… Just like the debacle of their health insurance reveal, the GOP is bankrupt of any good ideas to solve America’s affordable housing crisis. So they’re using their go-to distraction plan…inflaming the racists and xenophobes amongst us and pitting the poorest against each other, while stealing the homes and security from 55,000 American kids. All the trauma without making anything better for anybody.

Comment by Tuesday, July 9th, at 11:59 pm EST here!

  • The repetitive proposed rule is here.
    • Ben wants all non-eligible family members out. That includes DACA kids, work permit and U visa holders as well. Or the whole family.
    • He want to change the rule so that non-eligible adult can no longer be leaseholders for citizen minor children. The rule specifically says that the sole eligible member can be a minor.
    • We would like Ben to go back to buying overpriced dining tables and leave us alone. No one in the video wanted to go to the dark place of forcing ol’ Ben to explain why some kids are more American than others.
  • If you need inspiration, cruise the comment section here. However, NOTE! DO NOT COPY VERBATIM anybody else’s comment. COPIES AREN’T COUNTED.

We have two “Background” sections for you today. One is for Ben Carson’s cynical meat-toss to the administration’s base and one is why we haven’t cracked the affordable housing issue yet and a very good idea by the People’s Policy Project. Continue reading “Mon – 7/8: In this land of casual cruelty, the Department of Housing works to make American kids homeless. Your comment due tomorrow, 7/9.” →

Tues 6/4: H.R. 1/S.949 – “For the People Act” is a litmus test for corruption. Ask your senators to stand up and fight for a country to be proud of.

Video and top graphic from equalcitizens.us 

Today’s action on protecting our right to vote is to ask our Senators to push through H.R.1/ S.949,  historic bills to strengthen democracy. H.R.1 passed the House on March 8th, on a 234-193 vote. Now the Senate version – S.949, is in the Senate and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a shamelessly partisan operative, has vowed to stop it, calling it “radical” and “socialist“. This would be a surprise to the non-partisan League of Women Voters, who’ve endorsed H.R.1 as “an important step forward in repairing our broken political system and our destructive campaign finance system.”

These bills will:

  • Change the way campaigns get funded
  • End partisan gerrymandering
  • Establish automatic voter registration
  • Restore the Voting Rights Act
  • Impose strong new ethics rules on members of Congress.

Action – Call your senator and remind them that we want this brought to the Senate floor now.

All the Democratic senators have already signed on. Get your family and friends in red states to pick up their phones too. We need GOP senators to get this done.

Minimal Script for Democratic Senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Sen. [___]  for [his/her] support of S.949 and to tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that his constituents aren’t accepting corruption-as-usual nonsense anymore and to bring S.949 – “For the People Act” to the floor for a vote.

Continue reading “Tues 6/4: H.R. 1/S.949 – “For the People Act” is a litmus test for corruption. Ask your senators to stand up and fight for a country to be proud of.” →

Fri 5/17: Thank our legislators for supporting H.R.5 – the Equality Act. They do George proud!

Action #1 – Thank our legislators for supporting HR. 5 – the Equality Act!

We are so lucky! Please take a moment to thank all of our elected officials (Brownly, Carbajal, Feinstein and Harris) for being cosponsors of the Equality Act [H.R. 5/S. 788], a bill that would clarify existing civil rights legislation to specifically ban discrimination against our LGBTQ citizens in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs, adoption programs and credit. It would also provide additional protection for women and POC from common forms of discrimination. This measure has unprecedented support from nearly 70 percent of Americans, more than 280 members of Congress, 165 major businesses and 288 statewide and national organizations. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has made passing the Equality Act a top priority for the new Congress, and it’s in the House today.

Minimal email script: I want to thank you for standing up for our LGBTQ friends, family and neighbors and supporting  [Rep. =  H.R. 5/Sen. = S. 788] the Equality Act.

Contact Information

Rep. Julia Brownley: email
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: email.
Senator Feinstein: email, 
and Senator Harris: email,
Who’s my representative/senator?: https://whoismyrepresentative.com

Action #2 – Petition for all people of faith to endorse equality for all.

Sign the Faith in Public Life “We are all Equal” Petition here. Continue reading “Fri 5/17: Thank our legislators for supporting H.R.5 – the Equality Act. They do George proud!” →

Fri-5/10: Stand Indivisible with the Mashpee Wampanoag. Support their reservation reaffirmation legislation.

(Update on our action from 11/26/18. Thought this would be an easy one…) 

Action  – Call your legislators to support H.R. 312 /H.R. 375 – the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act.

Short course: “This tribe held the first Thanksgiving,” – Rep. William Keating (D-MA)

 “I am asking people of good will and all those concerned with justice for the indigenous people of this land — the first Americans — to stand with us in calling on Congress to protect our reservation and ensure we are don’t become the first Tribe since the dark days of the Termination Era to lose its land.” – Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell.

Sun – 4/21: Your Monday call to oppose SB-230 can save a life.

Image used by permission of Darrin Bell, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. The death of Trayvon Martin was one of driving motivations behind his amazing work.

Action – Tell your state senator to oppose  SB 230 – which perpetuates our police-execution machine.

Despite our liberal reputation, CA leads the nation in police-involved killings at a rate 37% higher than the national average, due to extremely loose regulations on when police can use lethal force.  Between 2005 and 2016, our police officers killed over 1,200 people. In 2017, they killed 162 people, half of whom did not have guns. A recent LAPD report found that one in three instances of use of force by its officers involved someone with mental illness. Shootings also disproportionately impact communities of color, as CA police kill unarmed young black and Latino men at significantly higher rates than they do white men.

This action is actually the tale of two competing CA bills –

  • AB-392 “Peace officers: deadly force“, backed by the ACLU, civil-liberties groups, labor unions, and families, CHANGES the standards about when police are allowed to use deadly force from “reasonable” to “necessary“. (APPROVE!)
  • SB-230“Law enforcement: use of deadly force” backed by police unions and management, concentrates on improving internal department policies and training, all of which they could do without creating this unnecessary law. (OPPOSE)

Here’s a clip from a officer training video from Kern County in 2006. Although Sheriff Youngblood stated his words were taken out of context, it’s not surprising that Kern County is currently the leader in officer-involved killings. (Sheriff Youngblood retained his seat.)

SB-230“Law enforcement” is on the 4/23 agenda in the Senate Committee on Public Safety, (Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson is a member, along with Sen. Nancy Skinner (Chair), Sen. Moorlach (Vice Chair), Sen. Bradford, Sen. Mitchell, Sen. Morrell, and Sen. Wiener.)

They’ll be meeting at 9:30 Tuesday, so get your calls in on Monday! (If you’re not sure who your senator is, check here.) (AB-392 has been re-referred to the Rules Committee and isn’t on the agenda yet.)

Continue reading “Sun – 4/21: Your Monday call to oppose SB-230 can save a life.” →

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!

image.pngPlease 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.

Action #2 – The Equal Justice Society is hosting the “Remembering 1619 – 400 years of Slavery” art competition. All CA art makers welcome. Deadline July 25th.

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

Thurs – 3/7: Dear Senator McConnell… America is waiting for H.R.l. (Call your senators!)

Action – Call your senator and tell them that we don’t accept McConnell’s edict.

Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that your constituents aren’t accepting corruption-as-usual nonsense anymore and to bring H.R. 1 to the floor for a vote.

Come on, Senator McConnell…

We’ve written some of the big points so a 5th grader could explain them to you. Tell us why you won’t bring the anti-corruption bill that America is waiting for to a vote.
If you want more “grownup” references, here’s a quick overview of H.R.1, an easy-to-read section-by-section breakdown and the bill’s full text.
Link to McConnell’s statements here.

(Here are its supporters in the House. If your rep. isn’t listed, call them along with your senators. Contact information for legislators at the bottom. Thank Carbajal and Brownley for being cosponsors!)

Part 1start

Continue reading “Thurs – 3/7: Dear Senator McConnell… America is waiting for H.R.l. (Call your senators!)” →

Tues – 11/27: It’s a busy day! Here’s your action prescription.

Here’s the synopsis of today’s actions. Do as much as you can. (More details below.)

  1. First thing – Call your legislators on horrible judge pick Thomas Farr
  2. Go to the Fairgrounds to protest gun shows
  3. Sign a petition against gun shows
  4. Email the Country Fair Board
  5. Go to the Oxnard City Council meeting tonight. Police Chief Whitney is presenting  a temporary moratorium on new firearms and ammunition retailers.

#1 – Morning Coffee Action – Make this call – “NO” on Thomas Farr for US District Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

image.png

Continue reading “Tues – 11/27: It’s a busy day! Here’s your action prescription.” →