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Arlington Cemetery is 35,000 wreaths short

12/12/2013 Nativegrl77

VoteVets.org

Every year during the holiday season, volunteers lay wreaths atop the tombstones honoring the fallen heroes laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

They’re traditionally funded by individual donations, but this year they are about 35,000 wreaths short.

VoteVets would like to help them close that shortfall.

Each wreath costs about $15 to make before they’re driven down to Virginia and placed in front of a headstone.

Can you contribute $15 today to pay for a single wreath, and we will write a check to Wreaths Across America from the VoteVets community?

http://action.votevets.org/wreaths

There’s a story of sacrifice and sadness beneath every headstone at Arlington. During this time of year, we’d like to remind the families that their loved ones will never be forgotten.

All the best,

Jon Soltz
@JonSoltz
Iraq War Veteran & Chairman
VoteVets.org

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Yelp and ALEC are partners ?

12/12/2013 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

Yelp! is silencing thousands of its users who oppose its recent decision to join ALEC.

At our new site TELLYELP.NO, submit your own Yelp! “review” and we’ll deliver it directly to Yelp’s CEO.

Friends ,

According to documents ColorOfChange obtained from the highly-secretive American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) last month, user-review site Yelp! joined ALEC — and gave the group at least $10,000 — during the opening week of George Zimmerman‘s murder trial.

More than 50 corporations have pulled their funding from ALEC over its responsibility for deadly so-called “Stand Your Ground” — or “Shoot First” — laws. It’s due to Shoot First that Zimmerman was not only acquitted of all criminal charges for his confessed killing of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin,¹ but will likely be immune to any civil penalty for wrongful death.²

Pressed to explain the company’s bizarre decision to join ALEC now, Yelp!’s Director of Public Policy admitted he “can’t ignore” the damage ALEC has done.³ But the company is suppressing thousands of negative reviews posted to ALEC’s Yelp! page opposing the move, and Yelp!’s CEO has made every effort to sidestep the growing controversy. To cut through Yelp!’s filter and reach company decisionmakers directly, ColorOfChange is launching a new site — TELLYELP.NO — that drives home the harm Yelp! inflicts on our communities by funding ALEC.

Check out TELLYELP.NO now, and urge CEO Jeremy Stoppelman to withdraw Yelp!’s funding from ALEC.

In the wake of Zimmerman’s acquittal, Shoot First — with its legal presumption that subjective, racist fears are justifiable grounds for vigilante homicide — has served to paint a target on the backs of Black youth.⁴ Shoot First endangers millions of people living in more than two dozen states, and there is now eight years of available data on the laws’ racially-biased outcomes.⁵ But ALEC has taken no steps to repeal Shoot First laws in the states where they’re on the books — nor to stop ALEC legislators from continuing to introduce new ones. Ten Shoot First bills have been introduced so far in 2013, and two have passed.⁶

ALEC is a bill mill that thrives on millions in fungible corporate “membership,” “scholarship” and “sponsorship” monies;⁷ this explicit pay-to-play legislation pipeline ensures that ALEC will continue to produce extreme profit-driven laws⁸ that exploit and endanger our communities. By funding it, Yelp! is directly furthering all aspects of the ALEC legislative agenda, and is responsible for the harms caused by the laws that result.

Join us in urging Yelp!’s CEO to withdraw funding from ALEC and TELLYELP.NO now. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Kim, Johnny and the rest of the ColorOfChange team
September 26th, 2013

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

References

1. “Fox News Still Denying Role Of Stand Your Ground In Zimmerman Acquittal,” Media Matters for America, 08-20-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2975?t=10&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

2. “‘Stand your ground’ law may snarl any civil suit vs. George Zimmerman,” Orlando Sentinel, 07-16-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2966?t=12&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

3. “Agree: can’t ignore it,” @lutherlowe (Twitter), 08-15-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2967?t=14&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

4. “Open season on black boys after a verdict like this,” The Guardian, 07-14-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2969?t=16&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

5. “Uneven application, shocking outcomes,” Tampa Bay Times, 07-03-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2970?t=18&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

6. “ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress,” Center for Media and Democracy, 08-08-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2971?t=20&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

7. “How the ALEC corporate bill mill works,” Capital Times, 08-16-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2972?t=22&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

8. “Big Money, ALEC and the Gun Agenda,” Truthout, 12-16-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2098?t=24&akid=3138.1174326.5lrQmV

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NMAAHC

12/12/2013 Nativegrl77

2013 has been an exciting year for us!
Since our ground breaking in February 2012, the Museum has been taking shape at our construction site on the National Mall, located at the corner of 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC.
Just before Thanksgiving, we installed by crane two signature objects — a Southern Railway railroad car (segregated) and a 1930s guard tower from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola — too massive to be installed after the Museum is built. These will be a part of our inaugural exhibition on segregation.
As construction continues, the beams and pillars are beginning to rise. When finished, the Museum will be nearly 400,000 square feet, crowned by a 3-tiered bronze colored corona, but we still need additional funds to reach the finish line.
Can I count on your help? Please consider making a special, year-end tax-deductible gift to the Museum.
Your support is vital to preserving and promoting the cultural legacy of African Americans. Imagine seeing firsthand a PT-13 Stearman Bi-plane actually used to train Tuskegee pilots, viewing the lace shawl Queen Victoria gifted to Harriet Tubman, or enjoying a presentation of jazz music from the Harlem Renaissance!
With artifacts like these and more, the Museum will be a place that becomes a lens into a story that unites as all. To make this possible, Carmen, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today and ensure we stay on schedule to open the Museum’s doors in just a few short years.
Thank you for all you’ve done to support the Museum so far!

Sincerely,
Signature

Lonnie G. Bunch
Director

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Please Support the Black Institute

12/12/2013 Nativegrl77

Since 2010, The Black Institute has been the premiere “action tank” mobilizing the immigration reform movement from a Black perspective. We have advocated for low wage fast food workers, a Walmart Free NYC, Caribbean DREAMERS, comprehensive immigration reform, the rights of immigrants, environmental justice, and the deprivatization of public education. The latest TBI initiative is The G Project. The G Project aims to impact Comprehensive Immigration Reform by shifting the perception of immigrants in this country to include Black immigrants. This is achieved by identifying blacks and black immigrants as “G’s.”

We need you to support our initiatives and help us fight back! Our opponents are well funded by big corporations and wealthy donors. You can make a big difference and give us a fighting chance. Make your end of the year tax-deductible donation RIGHT NOW!!!!!
Please take Action today with a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or $250 today by clicking here!!

Sincerely,

Bertha Lewis

The Black Institute http://www.theblackinstitute.org/

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a message from Gov.Jay Inslee

12/12/2013 Nativegrl77

This year, we saw the JayInslee.com community play a critical role in some of our biggest successes.

As the year winds down, my team and I are gearing up. The next legislative session is a little more than a month away, so we don’t have much down time as we prepare for another round of budget negotiations and fight for our key priorities: good jobs, excellent schools, and quality health care.

And that means we need you to gear up, too.

This Friday at midnight, we have to close down fundraising for our ongoing political operations — the same operations that helped us fight and win our key budget priorities this year — until the legislative session ends next spring.

So I’m asking for your help to raise the additional $25,000 we need to keep going strong and send the message that we’re ready for anything as we head into the legislative session.

Will you contribute $5 now to help us raise an urgent $25,000 before Friday’s midnight deadline?

This year, we saw just how difficult our job can be. But we also saw the JayInslee.com community play a critical role in some of our biggest successes.

With your help, we made an unprecedented investment in the future of our education system. We protected vital services for our seniors. We expanded Medicaid and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians. We put in place Results Washington, a data-driven effort to measure and constantly improve the performance of state government every day. And our work getting the Washington Health Plan Finder up, running, and helping Washingtonians find excellent health care coverage has been the envy of the nation.

I’m proud that we’ve had such success in just our first year. But none of that came easy, and our work will only get tougher as we strive to protect what we’ve accomplished while continuing to move Washington forward.

That’s why your support now is so important. Just like when I ran for governor — just like when we fought for the successes of this last year — the grassroots community we’ve built is a powerful force that can carry us forward and help build a working Washington.

We need your help today — before our early end-of-year deadline — to keep our community strong and make sure we can keep working together for the future we all want for the state of Washington.

Will you contribute $5 now to reach our $25,000 goal and help support our work throughout the legislative session?

I can’t tell you how helpful it is to know that, when I’m working hard in Olympia, I have you and tens of thousands of activists like you standing with me across the state.

We’ve already accomplished so much. With your support today, we can keep our momentum going and build a working Washington.

Let’s go get ’em!

Jay Inslee. Governor