Tag Archives: Congress

To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email.

If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.

We can’t afford to stop fighting. Sustain racial justice organizing with a $3 monthly pledge to ColorOfChange.

To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email. With Republicans now in control of the Senate, we will see a change in Congress that signals deep challenges for our families and communities.

Over the coming weeks and months, analysts will have much to say about the role that Black voters played in this election. Already we know that across the country, Black voters defied expectations and turned out at rates higher than in 2010 despite continued attempts by the right wing to suppress our votes.

And, unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t enough for Kay Hagan (D-NC) who lost a must-win Senate seat to Thom Tillis (R-NC) by a razor thin margin — while our communities faced the most aggressive voter suppression laws passed in the country since the Voting Rights Act. It wasn’t enough in Georgia, either, as we watched Michelle Nunn (D-GA) concede while thousands of voter registration forms remained unprocessed. And it certainly wasn’t enough in Kentucky where Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Democratic challenger wouldn’t even admit to voting for President Obama.

As a movement, we’ve got a lot to figure out; a lot more work to do to hold the people in power accountable.

I know this much: an America in which candidates are afraid or unwilling to speak directly to Black voters about the issues that matter to us is an unacceptable, insufferable status quo; an America where politicians ignore police violence and support a broken criminal justice system, prioritize corporate interests over community values and fight to make it harder for us to vote is intolerable.

If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.

Will you help sustain this movement with a $3 monthly contribution?

Obscured by the larger national picture, yesterday had some meaningful victories which demonstrate the strength of our movement. Californians passed Proposition 47 which will force the state to change course from four-decades of misguided, incarceration-only policies which have destabilized Black families and drained resources from Black communities.

Massachusetts passed a bill providing for earned sick time that will relieve working folks of having to choose between their job and the health of their families. Additionally, voters in South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Alaska passing ballot measures to increase the minimum wage shows that there is a groundswell of popular support for issues of economic equality but candidates must exhibit political courage to move this agenda forward.

And despite the Republican takeover, the 114th Congress will have more Black members than at any time in history.

With announcements coming soon about the indictments of the officers responsible for murdering Mike Brown and Eric Garner our movement has never been more important. We can’t afford to stop fighting.

Yes — I will make a $3 monthly pledge to stand with ColorOfChange and continue holding politicians accountable.

Thanks and peace,

Rashad

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

¡Amazonia Viva! Art and Action at COP20

12/12/2014 Nativegrl77

¡Amazonia Viva! Art and Action at COP20

Yesterday hundreds of indigenouspeoples from communities across the Amazon joined together on a beach in Lima, Peru to create a massive “human banner” image to promote awareness about territorial rights for indigenouspeoples in the global climate conversation. Beneath the heat of the sun and to the sound of beating drums, indigenouspeoples and allies danced and rallied around a united message. Representatives from many Amazonian communities participatedin the creation of the banner includingShipibo,Asháninka,Achuar,Awajún,Munduruku,Guajajara,Kichwa andKampupiyawi.”Together we created a beautiful image of what we want to see in the world. We want our rights and territories respected here in Peru, across the Amazon and around the world,” said Juan Agustín Fernandez, leader of the Shipibo community of Cantagallo who participated in the creation of yesterday’s banner.

The artwork coincided with the UN COP20 climate summit. Indigenous peoples and allies worked together to form a design with their bodies displaying the words “Pueblos + Derechos = Bosques Vivos” (Peoples + Rights = Living Forests). Participants aim to send a message about the importance of territorial rights to decision-makers and world leaders.

READ THE REST ON EYE ON THE AMAZON

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Lonnie G. Bunch at The NMAAHC … Look at what we’ve already accomplished together

12/12/2014 Nativegrl77

Your generous support as a friend of the Museum helped to make 2014 a truly amazing year for the National Museum of African American History and Culture…

… as our beautiful building on the National Mall began to take shape … our collection of historical and cultural artifacts increased to more than 29,900 objects … and excitement grew nationwide for our 2016 Grand Opening.

please help keep our momentum growing in the year ahead by making a donation for 2014 today.

When the Museum opens its doors, it will be a beacon of learning, inspiration and reconciliation. It will tell the stories and celebrate the achievements of the African Americans who shaped our nation’s history — from well-known figures like civil rights icon Rosa Parks and Chuck Berry who donated his 1973 Cadillac to not-so-famous heroes like Henry Ossian Flipper, a former slave who became the first African American to graduate from West Point. It will bring the African American experience to life and enrich the cultural heritage of every American.

You can take pride in our progress toward making the National Museum of African American History and Culture a reality. Please help us continue that progress in 2015 by making a special year-end gift of $50, $100 or more.

Thank you again for your vision and leadership as a friend of the Museum.

All the best,

Lonnie G. Bunch
Founding Director

P.S. Don’t miss the December 31st deadline to support the Museum with a donation for 2014. Make your year-end gift today!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Wal-Mart 10 Years Later

12/11/2014 Nativegrl77

Ten years ago we released Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price to shine a light on the then-shocking business practices of one of the world’s largest and most profitable retailers.

We have made progress, but there is a lot more to be done. End corporate welfare!

Watch the full documentary film here!

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Due to demand we re-released the entire movie on YouTube. Share and subscribe here!

Help keep this fight alive.Thanks for all that you do.Robert Greenwald, President
Brave New Films

P.S. Still looking for the perfect gift for a special someone? Stay away from Wal-Mart and give the gift of media that makes an impact! Donate $100 or more today and get the Brave New Films 10th Anniversary Activist Collection.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Torture Report

12/10/2014 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Senate Releases Damning Report On CIA’s Use Of Torture After 9/11

The Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Senator Dianne Feinstein, today released a summary of a 6,000 page report investigating the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The report contains dozens of disgraceful facts about the CIA’s practices during the Bush era, including gruesome details of how detainees were tortured. Ultimately, the report demonstrates two fundamental truths: torture is always wrong, and torture doesn’t work.

Here are a few key findings from the report:

1. Torture didn’t stop a single terrorist attack. “At no time did the CIA’s coercive interrogation techniques lead to the collection of imminent threat intelligence, such as the hypothetical ‘ticking time bomb’ information that many believe was the justification for the use of these techniques.”

2. Torture did not lead the CIA to the courier who ultimately helped capture Osama bin Laden. The best information about the courier who ultimately led to the discovery of the compound where Osama bin Laden was hiding “was provided by a CIA detainee who had not yet been subjected to the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques.” The detainees who were subjected to torture “withheld and fabricated information” about the courier.

3. The torture methods were far more brutal than originally reported. They included forcing detainees to stay awake for up to 180 hours while “standing or in painful stress positions,” waterboarding detainees to the point of serious physical harm and “near drowning,” and rectally force-feeding detainees.

4. Not everyone approved of the torture policy. “Internally, CIA officers regularly called into question the effectiveness of the CIA’s interrogation techniques, noting how the techniques failed to elicit detainee cooperation or produce accurate intelligence.” But still nothing was done to stop it.

5. The CIA lied about the success of torture in obtaining intelligence. CIA reports that torture was successfully giving them information “were inaccurate and contradicted by the CIA’s own records.” The agency continues to stand by these discredited claims.

President Obama denounced the interrogation tactics in a statement after the report’s release, saying that “these harsh methods were not only inconsistent with our values as nation, they did not serve our broader counterterrorism efforts or our national security interests.” Obama went on to say that these torture practices “did significant damage to America’s standing in the world.”

But Senator John McCain delivered perhaps the most forceful and eloquent condemnation of the CIA’s torture methods during the Bush era: “The truth is sometimes a hard pill to swallow. It sometimes causes us difficulties at home and abroad. It is sometimes used by our enemies in attempts to hurt us. But the American people are entitled to it, nonetheless.” McCain continued, “Our enemies act without conscience. We must not. This executive summary of the Committee’s report makes clear that acting without conscience isn’t necessary, it isn’t even helpful, in winning this strange and long war we’re fighting. We should be grateful to have that truth affirmed.”

Despite the horrifying facts contained in the report, however, the reaction has not been the universal condemnation of torture. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, for one, continues to defend the practices as “absolutely, totally justified.” Senator Marco Rubio, disregarding McCain’s speech, called it “one sided” and “partisan.”

BOTTOM LINE: The Senate report reveals in horrifying detail the abusive interrogation practices of Bush-era CIA officials in the wake of 9/11. It confirms that torture is wrong, and that torture doesn’t work. There’s no doubt that this dark episode undermined our values as a nation, but the Senate’s efforts to be transparent and show the American people the facts will help us move past it and never repeat it.