Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Occupy Black America …The Black Institute


Wal-OWS.jpgBlack celebrities such as Kanye West, Russell Simmons and Danny Glover have publicly supported the Occupy movement, but even with such an endorsement, Black people have had relatively low attendance. Some believe this is in part because when Black people turn on their televisions or search the web, they look out into the crowd and see mostly white faces. This gives Black Americans the sense that the protests are not about them. However, someone must take the first step. If Black people want to see themselves in the movement, Black people have to put themselves in the movement.

In this week’s blog we explore the role of black america in the occupy movement.
Read it and tell us what you think.

Free Tax Credit Webinars: Keep Working Families from Missing Out


National Women's Law Center
Free Tax Credit Webinars: Keep Working Families from Missing Out
                Register today for our online trainings about helping families claim important tax credits.

Many people dread filing their taxes. But for many families, filing a tax return enables them to claim valuable tax credits! Unfortunately, if they don’t have the information they need, eligible families might miss out on potentially thousands of dollars.

Let’s make this tax season different! We need your help to spread the word. And we’re offering two free online trainings to give you the information and tools you need:

Part I – Tax Credits: What Working Families Need to Know
Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (1 hour)

Get the facts about how federal and state tax credits can give working families a leg up, and get access to resources that will help you to get that information to families in your community.

This webinar will cover:

  • The EITC, which is worth up to $5,751 for low- and moderate-income families with children;
  • The Child Tax Credit, which is worth up to $1,000 per child;
  • The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which gives families with child care expenses up to $2,100;
  • Basic tips for sharing information about tax credits with families.

Part II – Tax Credits Outreach: Tips and Tools for Service Providers and Advocates
Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (1 hour)

You can make a big difference by making sure families get the information they need. Learn about simple outreach activities that can have a major impact on working families. This webinar will help you:

  • Get free outreach materials;
  • Connect with local coalitions;
  • Find free tax preparation services in your community; and
  • Learn some successful techniques for spreading the word about tax credits.

Register today! These online sessions are free to participants, but registration is required.

In addition to the webinars, you can also sign up to be one of our community partners. Community partners receive customized resources that make it easy to spread the word about tax credits to families in your community and technical assistance on issues relating to tax credits and outreach activities.

These webinars are part of the National Women’s Law Center‘s Citi Education Series on Family Economic Security and the Tax Credits Outreach Campaign. We hope you can join us!

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center   

P.S. If you’re interested in doing more tax credits outreach in your community, remember to sign up for our community partner program in addition to the webinars!

A climate presentati​on in your hometown …


The Climate Reality Project

We couldn’t be more excited. People from all over the world have told us they want to work in their community to help solve the climate crisis. And we are responding. Today, I invite you to join us and host a climate presentation where you live.

Our Chairman and Founder, former Vice President Al Gore, has personally trained more than 3,000 people to deliver a multimedia presentation based on our worldwide event, 24 Hours of Reality. This is a powerful story about how climate change is affecting us now and what we can do to solve it. People across the globe have asked to bring a Climate Presenter to their communities. Now, you can too.

Join us today. Host a free Climate Reality presentation where you live.

Request a Presentation

Hosting a presentation is easy. Fill out our simple online form, and we’ll contact you shortly to match you with a trained Climate Presenter in your area. You can host a presentation in your workplace, your place of worship, your local school, or another location of your choice.

When you host a presentation, you’ll hear about how climate change is affecting us around the world. You’ll engage your community. You’ll learn about the reality we face. And I think you’ll have some fun in the process.

Take action now. Click here to get started and host a Climate Reality Presentation:

http://forms.climaterealityproject.org/request

Thanks for all you do,

Maggie L. Fox
President and CEO
The Climate Reality Project

P.S. Want to learn more? Visit the Climate Reality blog and read about a few simple steps you can take to host a great presentation where you live.

Bank of America called …Jess Kutch, Change.org


Sign Molly’s petition telling Bank of America to cancel its $5 debit card fee

When Molly Katchpole found out that Bank of America would charge $5 a month to use a debit card, she was upset — so she started a petition on Change.org.

Since then, 225,000 Change.org members have signed her petition. And now Bank of America is under enormous pressure to cancel its new debit card fee. A Bank of America executive even called Molly and told her that while cancelling the fee would be “premature,” the bank was “closely monitoring customer feedback.”

More public pressure could be enough to push the bank to cancel its new $5 debit card fee. Can you sign Molly’s petition asking Bank of America to cancel its new debit card fee? Bank of America is listening to you — and other banks are, too.http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-bank-of-america-no-5-debit-card-fees?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=CHuXxznbBT_bKwoXhePWu

In less than three weeks, Bank of America went from announcing a new $5 monthly debit card fee, to reeling under huge pressure from the media, Congress, and Change.org members. Here’s a quick review of what happened:
September 29: Bank of America announces a new $5 monthly debit card fee.
September 30: Molly creates her petition on Change.org; more than 150,000 people sign in the next 5 days.
October 5: The petition becomes a major national story. ABC News interviews Molly, then tracks down Bank of America’s CEO Brian Moynihan and forces him to respond to it.
October 6: Molly delivers 153,000 petitions to Bank of America and closes her account. She appears on ABC World News again to discuss the petition. Local media in Charlotte (where Bank of America is based) openly speculate that the growing controversy could lead to the firing of Moynihan.
October 9: Molly is featured in a major article in the New York Times as an example of the public’s frustration with big banks.
October 10: Bank of America executive Andrew Pepler calls Molly Katchpole to discuss her petition.
October 13: Molly meets with Congressman Brad Miller to discuss a bill in Congress to make it easier to switch banks. The two later appear on CNN together.
October 18: Molly’s petition reaches 225,000, as Bank of America reports a $6 billion profit. The outrage continues to grow.

Other banks are paying attention to the public reaction to Bank of America’s new debit card fee. Citibank even said its “customers made it abundantly clear” that they wouldn’t like a debit card fee.

What’s next in this campaign to cancel Bank of America’s $5 debit card fees? It’s up to you.

Please sign the petition demanding Bank of America cancel its new $5 monthly debit card fee. Click here to add your name:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-bank-of-america-no-5-debit-card-fees

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Jess and the Change.org team

Tell Senator Murray to Stop giving Big Oil subsidies


Below is an email from Katrina Rosen of Environment Washington, who created a petition at SignOn.org that is getting a lot of attention and may be of interest to people in your area. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.

Dear Washington MoveOn member,

Despite the five biggest oil companies making astounding profits of over $67 billion in just the first half of 2011, oil and gas companies continue to receive $15.6 billion each year in federal tax breaks.
We want Senator Murray to encourage the debt-reduction Super Committee to stop these wasteful subsidies to Big Oil. That’s why I created a petition to The United States Senate on SignOn.org,which says:
Despite being the cause of pollution and oil spills, even the wealthiest oil companies continue to receive billions of dollars in federal tax breaks. Please use your leadership on the debt-reduction Super Committee to protect our environment and our economy by stopping wasteful subsidies to Big Oil.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=265307&id=32104-17809870-eDblPqx&t=2

Thanks!

–Katrina Rosen

The text above was written by Katrina Rosen, not by MoveOn staff, and MoveOn is not responsible for the content. This email was sent through MoveOn’s secure system, and your information has been kept private. Environment Washington did not pay for this—we never sell or rent the MoveOn list.