6/18/19
NATIONAL
ISSUES
IMMIGRATION--CHILD DETENTION: Children are being held in concentration camp-type conditions in
Homestead, FL. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-homestead-protest-20190616-zjo675uqzfgpxhnrkfx2xky4re-story.html Wecount.org
is one of the key groups working to shut down the child detention center in
Homestead, FL and help immigrants and low-income workers in the community. We
can check out their work and donate here.
IMMIGRATION--CHILD DETENTION: The situation for the children
at Homestead is beyond safe or humane and is gaining public awareness. https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article231628668.html
The Organizers
working to shut down the child detention center in Homestead, FL have asked all
the Democratic candidates for president to take a pledge to visit the center
when they are in Miami for the debates next week. Let’s contact some of
these candidates to ask if they have taken the pledge, and then contact them
again after the debates to make sure they have followed through.
PUBLIC COMMENTS NEEDED: Comments
and actions week ending June 23, 2019 includes LCBTQ health, Redefining how the
government measures things - poverty rates, pollution index. LGBTQ and Trans
rights, RoundUp, HUD targeting undocumented residents, exposing miners to
diesel exhaust, ACA, Election
integrity & voting
systems. Here’s the list we can use: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nEt8uO6afXRawuyPWvnkdw_VWMDPFerz/view
THE MUELLER REPORT: We know we should. Perhaps joining
Politico's Mueller Report book club will make it seem less overwhelming! "We’ll
introduce you to the report and each week suggest a set amount of reading. As
we read the report together, PolitiFact journalists will offer analysis and
take your questions. We’ll compile the most insightful reader conversations and
post them to our website."
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2019/jun/06/introducing-politifacts-mueller-report-book-club/ It's
free, and all we have to do is sign up for their weekly email, here: https://www.politifact.com/signup/
GET OUT THE VOTE! Postcards to Voters volunteers write to Democratic voters year
round to get out the vote for local and special elections. Right now we can help
reach Florida Democrats in Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale area) to encourage
them to sign up for Vote By Mail. Voters who vote by mail vote at a higher rate
than other voters. Let's check out Postcards
to Voters today and sign up. If we are already volunteers,
let's request 5 addresses today.
KELLYANNE CONWAY MUST RESIGN: "Based on CREW complaints, the Office of Special
Counsel has found that Kellyanne Conway’s repeated violations of the Hatch Act
by using her official position for partisan purposes warrant her removal from
federal service. OSC’s determination is unprecedented, but such egregious
violations, and her expressed disdain for the law, make clear that her removal
is necessary to preserve the rule of law." Let's sign CREW's
petition to show we agree: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/kellyanne-conway-must-resign
IMMIGRATION
– WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING: While reading news about what
is happening at the border and with our new influx of immigrants, reading
first-hand accounts from those on the frontline give a needed perspective. A member of Suit Up Maine’s admin team “is volunteering for two weeks in June at Annunciation House in El Paso,
Texas, one of the organizations running respite shelters for people seeking
entry and asylum at the southern border.” https://www.suitupmaine.org/annunciation-house-journal/ Let’s read about her
experiences and consider a donation to Annunciation House or volunteer with
them: https://annunciationhouse.org/
IMMIGRATION
– WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING: In Homestead, FL, a group has
been bearing witness to the existence of largest of the
private federal prisons for migrant teens: Homestead. The group has a Facebook page so we can keep up with them: https://www.facebook.com/groups/339957239906299/ A group of
Massachusetts’ Jewish activists went to Homestead to be part of the
Father’s Day protest and created this blog of their time there: https://jewishactivistsforimmigrationjustice.blog/ Let’s read about their experiences and
consider becoming a witness or donating to the cause: https://www.gofundme.com/f/witness-tornillo-homestead
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN OUR
ELECTIONS: Although he has backtracked, and the head of the Federal Election Commission felt the need to clarify the
point (https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/13/fec-election-foreign-trump-1364598), Trump stated in an interview that he would want to hear info on an
opponent from a foreign entity. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-george-stephanopoulos-exclusive-interview-president/story?id=63749144 The willful ignorance that Trump
consistently displays regarding our Constitution, our laws, and our protocol is
a continued reminder that he is unfit for office. Let’s tell our MoCs to keep moving on the investigations and
possible impeachment and to speak the truth.
LET’S CELEBRATE THE
HUCKABEE-SANDERS RESIGNATION: by
supporting democracy-enhancing journalism! Let’s subscribe or donate (if we’re
able), and let’s follow and share their work on social media. Some suggestions:
1) Our local
newspapers (know what’s going on in our communities AND help these incubators
of emerging journalists), 2) Our regional newspapers-of-record, 3) The New York
Times https://www.nytimes.com/, 4) The Washington
Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/,
5) Pro Publica https://www.propublica.org/, 6) Reveal
News https://www.revealnews.org/
HELP POTENTIAL IMMIGRANTS
UNDERSTAND THEIR RIGHTS: Al Otro
Aldo’s Border Rights Project in Tijuana is in desperate need of
immigration lawyers and translators to help with upcoming workshops. If we
are immigration attorneys with asylum + removal defense experience or French,
Haitian Creole + Russian speakers who can help out with the Know Your
Rights workshops in Tijuana this June or July, we can click here to
find out more and then sign up if we decide to help out: https://airtable.com/shrfjopGqQWHj402G
STRATEGIES TO WIN THE WAR OF
IDEAS: With the
rise of Fox News, Republicans have long had a chillingly effective way to
indoctrinate voters, while Democrats have had little or no strategies to combat
this. What if we had, or started to systematically build support for
Democratic Values, using a long term Persuasion Machine? When
we read this article on how Democrats can build a long term Persuasion
Machine, we’ll find lots of specific tactics and readily available tools
, check some of them out and then share this information with our friends:
CRAFTIVIST OPPORTUNITY: “The Tiny Pricks Project began as a one-off artwork,
with Weymar hastily stitching “I am a very stable genius,” on an old piece of
embroidery made by her grandmother, after Trump issued the bizarre declaration
in January 2018. She then decided it would be a worthwhile exercise to continue
documenting the president’s more outlandish statements on antique
textiles.” https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/tiny-pricks-project-lingua-franca-1572865 Let’s learn more and see how we can use
our needlework talents: http://tinypricksproject.com/
STATE SPECIFIC ISSUES
CA: NATIONAL NETWORK ASSEMBLY
RECEPTION/FUNDRAISER: The planners of this summer’s National Network Assembly
will be hosting a reception on Saturday June
29th in San Francisco where we can learn more. Here’s
the link to RSVP. Please feel free
to share with others who want to make an impact. And if you can’t make it
but still want to help, please make a contribution here.
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS
MARCH FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE: It has been one year since we gathered for Families Belong Together
rallies across the country. The horrors continue. Thousands more children were
separated before zero tolerance was announced that were never reunited. Over
13,000 children remain in detention for months on end in for profit facilities
with no child welfare oversight or access to legal aid. We welcome children and
families escaping traumatic violence into this country by keeping them in caged
in, overcrowded ice boxes for prolonged periods or sometimes exposed to the
elements left to sleep on the dirt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pcc8ygK0z4&app=desktop
This is NOT who we are. Join Immigrant Justice Now as we
take to the streets again in cities everywhere June 29. We can find events here or how to host one
as well: https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/march-for-immigrant-justice
NATIONAL NETWORK
ASSEMBLY: The first National Network Assembly, made up
of hundreds of local grassroots leaders organizers from around the country is
happening in Des Moines, IA, August 22 to 25. There will be workshops, sessions, and meetings in which
participants will strategize, plan, and learn skills to take home to their
groups. The 2019 National Network Assembly will strengthen the connective tissue between
grassroots groups by bridging multiple networks and organizations that
represent over 1,000 leaders across all 50 states. We can find more information, register to attend, and donate to
the scholarship fund here: https://www.nationalnetworkassembly.org/
We can use this document to invite others to attend: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oKWdGLESqQYFVIa3JXQrtsXO9zrZv7ihCdGfnmSZ0-M/edit
POSTCARDING
ISSUES: For a ready-made
list of issues for our postcarding groups, we can take a look at this and
consider using it: https://www.whatifknits.com/
TO READ
The 2020
Candidates on Climate Change - https://politicalcharge.org/2019/06/14/the-2020-candidates-on-climate-change/
Yesterday, Rev. William Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign held a
Presidential Forum on poverty with all 2020 presidential candidates who
responded to the invitation. Several
Democratic candidates were in attendance and answered questions. Since poverty was not mentioned in any of
the debates during the last presidential campaign season, this is essential to
hear and keep centered this time around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQAOIZiK0Vg
How to Talk to a Climate
Skeptic: Responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming - https://grist.org/series/skeptics/
‘At Least During the
Internment …’ Are Words I Thought I’d Never Utter - https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/19/at-least-during-the-internment-are-words-i-thought-id-never-utter-family-separation-children-border/
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We can stay up-to-date on
Congress by checking out their schedules. a) The House publishes a
weekly schedule at The Weekly Leader (published and dated Friday)
as well as daily schedules at The Daily Leader. b) The Senate updates
their schedule daily at the Senate Floor Schedule
