Daily Archives: 01/13/2017

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Active, vigilant, and strong: Our future depends on us.


We wrote to you in November about the uncertain future. In the coming weeks, we will witness that future begin to unfold.  Although it is easy to feel helpless in the face of such tremendous change, we know that we must stay active, vigilant, and strong in defense of all the progress we have achieved.  Our future depends on us. 
On January 21, ABB staff will be marching with tens of thousands of men and women in Washington, DC, New York City, Philadelphia, and Nashville, Tennessee, for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families.  We hope many of you will join us to send a strong message to our national leaders of unity and diversity in support of human rights.

We are also voicing our concern about cabinet nominees picked to lead federal agencies tasked with enforcing key protections for millions of working Americans. We are extremely troubled about the nomination of Andrew Puzder as U.S. Secretary of Labor. Mr. Puzder has opposed efforts to achieve equal pay, argued against raising the minimum wage and guaranteeing paid sick days and paid family and medical leave. His opposition to the programs that benefit workers, especially women and families like the ones we serve every day, is an affront to the position for which he is nominated.

A Better Balance
Active, vigilant, and strong: Our future depends on us.
We are also deeply alarmed about the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions to lead the U.S. Department of Justice.
He has consistently opposed legislation designed to help women succeed in the workplace, including the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, and has shown disdain for civil rights, describing the Voting Rights Act as a “piece of intrusive legislation.”
A Better Balance is speaking out about these appointments as an organization and we urge those of you who share our concerns to call your Senators to make your voices heard as well.
Call your Senators
We will continue to forge ahead to expand support for workers and their families at the state and local level, where enthusiasm remains as vibrant as ever.  And we will continue to defend the rights of workers, particularly low-wage workers, who need allies to stand up for them when the federal government will not.
Thank you for standing with us.  Onward.
In solidarity,
Dina and Sherry
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Companies sourcing Conflict (Palm Oil) – Ashley Schaeffer Yildiz, Rainforest Action Network


RAN
Dear Friends

Do you know the origin of the ingredients in your favorite chips? How about your favorite instant noodles or candy bar? Chances are fairly likely that one of the ingredients is coming from rainforest destruction: Conflict Palm Oil. Companies sourcing Conflict Palm Oil, like PepsiCo, are decimating Indonesian rainforests in order to make these cheap snacks.

And this corporate greed is pushing the sun bear to extinction in the process.

Donate now to help us end the destruction and exploitation.

Donate Now!

Sun bears are the smallest species of bear on the planet, and very few people have ever heard of this little bear. Known for their love of honey and sweet fruits (perhaps you can relate), they are recognizable by the white patch of fur on their chests. Unfortunately, while you may have never heard of a sun bear before this email, it’s likely you’ve eaten many products produced by destroying their home.

Donate to fight the companies driving critically endangered animals to extinction.

The sun bear’s habitat is quickly disappearing. RAN has been incredibly successful in shifting the policies and purchasing practices of major industries — but if sun bears hope to have a future in the wild, we urgently need your support today. On one end of the supply chain, we have successfully moved snack food giants into ethical sourcing policies and practices. And on the other end, we’ve also convinced giant corporations to stop buying from suppliers that destroy rainforests for their products. But we need your help to continue this work and ensure corporate promises are kept.

Today, you can make a difference for the sun bear’s future (and constant search for honey) by making a generous tax-deductible donation.

Never give up on the sun bear,

Ashley

AshleyAshley Schaeffer Yildiz
Senior Responsible Food Campaigner
Rainforest Action Network
http://www.ran.org/
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Justice for Jasmine Darwin – Act To Fire Officer De Los Santos Now!


Demand Justice for Jasmine Darwin

Fire NC Officer Who Slammed 15 yr old

Act To Fire Officer De Los Santos Now!

TAKE ACTION!

 

Last week, 15-year-old Jasmine Darwin was was recorded being body slammed by a police officer who works at Rolesville High School in Rolesville, North Carolina.1 The video captures Officer Ruben De Los Santos picking Jasmine up over his head and throwing her body to the ground. Jasmine is suffering from a concussion and Officer De Los Santos has been put on paid administrative leave, meaning he still has a job and will come back and continue working with children. That is unacceptable, Officer De Los Santos has to go!

Demand that Ruben De Los Santos be terminated as an officer at Rolesville High School.

This comes just over a year after the Spring Valley High incident where another young Black girl was body slammed by a school police officer in South Carolina.2     These two situations are disturbingly similar young Black girls are literally being thrown to the ground by adult men who, ironically, are being paid to provide safety in the classroom. These officers must be held accountable in order to set a precedent that Black children deserve to be treated with dignity. Over 100,000 of you signed our petition to get the officer fired in SC and we won. We can make that happen at #RolesvilleHigh with your help.

Officer De Los Santos is not fit to work with young people. Demand that he get fired as “resource officer”.

The Rolesville Police Department’s failure to immediately fire Officer De Los Santos perpetuates the harmful narrative that Black children deserve to be harshly reprimanded by execution of physically violence. The presence of law enforcement in schools and neighborhoods normalizes the criminalization and patrolling of Black children in areas are supposed to be “safe zones”.3

Instead of school staff working with young people to address behavioral issues, police criminalize and abuse them –doing everything but being a resource of safety.

Tell Wake County Police department to get rid of Ruben De Los Santos at Rolesville High School.

Sincerely,

Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Malaya, Enchanta, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References:

  1. “Disturbing video shows NC police officer slaming high school to teh gorund,” the root, 01.03.2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7227?t=7&akid=6692.1174326.Ku1Nr9

  2. “Video Shows Cop Body Slamming High School girl in SC,” nbc, 10.27.2017http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7229?t=9&akid=6692.1174326.Ku1Nr9

  3. “DO cops in schools do more harm than good,” time, 10.29.2015 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7230?t=11&akid=6692.1174326.Ku1Nr9

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Working Washington … Washington State V Matt Manweller?


We are Working Washington

Did you have about the WA State Representative who recently wrote that the minimum wage should be $0 and that eliminating zero as a minimum wage was one of the “mistakes” of the Civil War? (Seriously.) He owes us all an explanation of his remarks — but he hasn’t offered one yet. In two clicks you can add your name to our letter asking him to tell us what exactly he was talking about when he wrote this email. >>>

"Add that to the list of mistakes that were made during the Civil War then"