Good news! On Monday, Brazil’s president announced the revocation of a notorious decree that unilaterally opened the vast Renca reserve of more than 17,000 square miles of Amazonian forests to industrial mining.

The reversal came after a tremendous outcry from within Brazil and internationally, as well as a judicial order that arose from a citizen’s lawsuit. In other words, people power works!

Of course, President Temer and his corrupt corporate allies won’t give up their scheme to open the Amazon to drilling, mega-dams, and cattle ranching. But we won’t let down our guard, and we will continue to protect the Amazon and stand with its indigenous guardians!

Please make a donation today and help us keep the victories coming.

Leila Salazar-López
Executive Director

Tips for Cleaning Your Home and Yard
Falling ash is a problem while fires continue to rage throughout the County. But after the flames are gone and it stops coming down,
cleaning your house, car, boat and yard will be a problem. Because runoff water filled with ash can clog storm drains and pollute our
waterways, you need to take steps to minimize the impact. There are several things you can do:

• Do not allow children to play in ash.
• Determine if ash and debris can be contained and cleaned up without washing material into the storm water system
• Wash ash and debris into landscaped areas wherever practical

• Use a damp mop to clean up ash and debris from small areas
• Dampen accumulated ash and debris and scrape it up or vacuum it up using an adequate filtering vacuum
• Take your car to a car wash or wash it over a vegetated area such as your lawn
• If washing your roof, redirect downspouts to landscaped areas
• Use a high efficiency HEPA-type vacuum to clean your indoor carpets
• Use a damp cloth to pick up dust from smaller surfaces
• Use a damp mop for non-porous surfaces like tile or vinyl floors
In relation to clean up, residents and volunteers should use caution since the clean-up process involves ashes and other particulates:
People with lung or heart problems should avoid clean-up activities and areas where dust or soot are present. Thoroughly wet dusty and
soot area prior to clean-up. This will help to reduce the amount of particulates becoming air-borne.

Wear an appropriate dust mask during clean-up. If exposure to asbestos or other hazardous materials are suspected, do not disturb the area.

Dust masks do not protect against asbestos.

The State of Georgia is once again targeting people for helping Black voters exercise their freedom to vote. Secretary of State Brian Kemp recommended that Attorney General Christopher Carr charge fourteen canvassers with a felony facing up to ten years in prison and a one-hundred thousand dollar fine, for incorrect voter registration forms.¹ There were just 53 allegedly false voter registration applications out of the more than 86,000 submitted by the New Georgia Project that year — just 0.06% errors.

It is clear that Brian Kemp is using his office to score political points in his quest to become the next Governor of Georgia and attacking his potential opponent, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who founded the New Georgia Project and launched its voter registration efforts in 2014, in the process. This recommendation of charges represents a returning national trend of using the criminal justice system to intimidate Black voters from exercising our political voice and registering to vote. Attorney General Carr is up for election in 2018 and he needs to know that we’ll be watching if he uses his office to prosecute people working to help Black voters get to the polls.

Tell the State of Georgia: Enough is enough. Protect the freedom to vote. Do not charge the canvassers for helping our communities vote!

The New Georgia Project registered 86,000 new voters in 2014 alone. The reason the New Georgia Project has been targeted by Brian Kemp since its inception is because they are expanding the electorate increasing the number of Black voters, young voters and voters from other communities of colors in Georgia.² Kemp is attacking these canvassers for taking on a role his office intentionally fails to do: register new voters. If Kemp’s office were actually interested in expanding the electorate and ensuring Black people, young people and communities of color were registered to vote, there would be no need for the New Georgia Project to run complicated and labor intensive voter registration drives for tens of thousands of new voters each year.

Brian Kemp and Republican support for the Pence-Kobach Commission, voter ID laws, racially biased gerrymandering and the proposal to reduce polling places in Black communities all point to a concerted effort to reduce our electoral power.³ We have seen the results of this national effort in the election of Donald Trump and House Republicans holding a majority despite receiving fewer votes during the election. We must now demand that the State of Georgia honor our freedom to vote and reject Brian Kemp’s recommendation to prosecute canvassers for expanding access to the ballot.

The decision to move forward with charges is now in the hands of Attorney General Christopher Carr. We are calling on Attorney General Carr not to use the courts to suppress our votes and decline to pursue any charges against these canvassers. We must make him know that we will no longer allow our freedom to vote to remain under attack. Will you sign the petition?

Attorney General Carr: Voting is not a crime! Don’t press charges against voter registration canvassers.

The fight for our access to the ballot has been fought since Reconstruction. We have won the fight to outlaw literacy tests and poll taxes but we still have to fight against the use of the law to keep us away from the ballot. Olivia Pearson, a grandmother and Douglas County Commissioner is scheduled to stand trial in Georgia soon for assisting Black voters.⁴ In Indiana, Mike Pence’s home state, canvassers are facing similar charges after State Police raided their headquarters this past fall. Republicans are using prosecution rather than persuasion as their primary tool to win elections.

The people of Georgia have fought long and hard to give everyone access to the ballot and we cannot allow Republicans like Brian Kemp to chip away at that with frivolous charges and racist policy. Instead of using his office to boost his political profile and target Black communities we need Election Officials who are serious about increasing civic participation. Instead of looking to publicize and prosecute canvassers 0.06% rate of applications with problems, Brian Kemp should focus on improving a voter turnout rate that sits at an average of 52.60% of voting age population, near the bottom nationwide.⁵

We have an opportunity to stop the criminalization of Black voting today! We can demand that Attorney General Carr not go along with this plot to target Black voters. We must make our voices heard now to protect our electoral power. Folks who are working to make sure we all have the power to exercise our freedom to vote should be protected. Attorney General Carr must not bring charges against these canvassers.

Until justice is real,

Sign the petition: no criminal charges for helping people vote!

— Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Johnny, Kristen, Chad, and the Color Of Change team

References:

1. “Georgia AG gets 53 forms in fraud probe of Stacey Abrams’ voter registration group,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 09-20-2017

2. “Concern Over New-Voter Registration In Georgia Ahead Of Election,” WABE, 7-14-17

3. “Fulton Voting Precincts Might Close In Black Neighborhoods,” New York Post, 09-16-2017

4. “Racist Voter Suppression Revealed in a Small-Town Voter Fraud Trial,” yes! magazine, 10-13-2017

5. 2016 November General Election Turnout Rates,” United States Election Project,