a message from #PeteGallego for Congress

Yet another classic example of Congressman Will Hurd talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Today a column by Rep. Hurd appeared in a D.C. media outlet on the beauty of the Big Bend Region — which is great — we 100% agree.

What we disagree on is Rep. Hurd’s proposed legislation that would devastate Big Bend National Park.

Our local paper in Alpine had this to say about Rep. Hurd’s bill:

“The result is that the Department of Homeland Security can come into Big Bend National Park and bulldoze archaeological sites, endangered wildlife zones and destroy view shed and the dark skies for which this park is internationally famous”

So, if Rep. Hurd remains in office, then you should probably go visit the Big Bend area ASAP — before he militarizes it and destroys the natural beauty.

Or you could help us get Pete back in office and rest assured that we’ll have a congressman who will never stop fighting to preserve and protect the area he grew up in.

Read the Consumer Update to learn more.

by Fatima Goss Graves

After being repeatedly harassed by a boy in her middle school, a 14-year-old girl in Alabama, who asked CNN to call her Jaden, went to school officials for help. What was their “help?” To try to “catch him in the act” — by using Jaden as bait. But when the day of the sting operation came, the boy raped her in a school bathroom before the staff intervened.

Jaden’s life has changed forever. We can’t turn back the clock, but here at the National Women’s Law Center, we’re using our expertise to help Jaden and her family fight back through the court system. Help Us Stand Up for Girls — and Your Gift Will Be Doubled

Your donation of $10 or more will help us fight for justice, work to prevent sexual assault, and support survivors.

Donate Now
Before Jaden was assaulted, she played basketball and earned good grades. After the assault, she transferred to another school, stopped playing sports, failed classes, and struggled with depression. The boy’s life didn’t change much, though. He was suspended for just five days.

We’ve got to keep standing up for students like Jaden — and the many other women and girls whose schools, workplaces, or communities have failed them.

Your gift to NWLC today will be matched, up to a total of $10,000. Please donate to help us keep fighting for women and girls everywhere.

Thank you for everything you do to support women and their families.

Sincerely,
Fatima Goss Graves
Vice President for Education and Employment
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Our expertise in Title IX made it possible for us to reach out to Jaden’s family in this case and offer our help. Your support can make it possible for us to help in more cases like this one — and if you give now, your donation will be doubled.

Congress will vote to expand the government’s domestic surveillance authority, which can and will be used by law enforcement against Black communities.

Last week Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) made clear why we must act to stop this legislation, “reading the FBI file on [the] SCLC & myself, I am more convinced than ever that we cannot allow government surveillance.” He and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus are fighting back against the USA Freedom Act, and all efforts to renew the domestic spying provisions of the Patriot Act.¹

Rep. Lewis and the CBC need our help to block this disastrous domestic spying bill. Will you add your voice to this fight?

Tell Congress: Oppose the USA FREEDOM Act, which would reauthorize the PATRIOT Act.

After the events of 9/11, Congress rushed to pass the Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act), which gave the U.S government far reaching and unconstitutional powers to spy on American citizens. Disguised as a reform bill, the USA Freedom Act — an extension of the PATRIOT Act — grants greater abilities than ever for the government to spy on civil rights organizers, teachers, construction workers, fast food workers, you and me.²

This legislation has not “strengthened and united” our communities, instead it has made us all targets.

Since our inception, ColorOfChange has called for an end to racist practices by our government and corporations. Since 9/11, the PATRIOT Act has been used as an excuse to indiscriminately target, round up and incarcerate our Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters. There has also been a sharp increase in hate crimes against Black and brown folks who fit a certain profile. Let’s be clear — racial profiling in any form by our government is a danger to all of our communities, regardless of whether we ourselves are in the line of fire.

Tell Congress: Oppose the USA FREEDOM Act, which would reauthorize the PATRIOT Act. Click here to send a message to Congress.

Just last week a federal court ruled that the government’s domestic phone-spying program— known as Section 215³— under the PATRIOT Act is illegal.⁴

Now Congress is trying to pass a bill — the deceptively named USA Freedom Act — to create new legal loopholes to allow government agencies to continue their mass surveillance programs, while appearing on the surface to be a surveillance reform bill. Don’t be fooled. This bill is designed to appease the public while cementing the government’s surveillance authority for years to come.

We need to oppose this bill and all other methods by which Congress might extend Section 215.

Fortunately, we have a real chance to make sure that Section 215 is never again used to spy on innocent Americans. If we block the USA Freedom Act from passing in the Senate this week, this dangerous provision of the Patriot Act will expire on June 1st. Our community can make this happen. The bill only has the slimmest of majorities supporting final passage.⁵ If we all raise our voices and call on Congress we can stop it.

Tell Congress: Oppose the USA FREEDOM Act today.

Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have already proven with the existing law that they will exploit every loophole they can find to spy on hundreds of millions of people who are suspected of no wrongdoing. This new law will create even more loopholes that will allow them to spy not just on our phone call data but our Skype, Google Hangout and Snapchat data. Pretty much all data related to our smartphone activity will be fair game to be spied on.⁶

Stopping this dragnet mass surveillance is not just about protecting our privacy from the government, but it’s a crucial racial justice issue.

To protect the civil liberties of Black and brown communities throughout the country, we need to tell Congress that we know that this bill is nothing more than a Trojan horse.

SEND CONGRESS A MESSAGE: We do not stand for mass surveillance in our communities.

Thanks and Peace,

–Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Dallas, Evan and the rest of the ColorOfChange team.
May 21, 2015

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. “Critics blast NSA phone records bill as ‘fake reform’,” Computerworld, 5-15-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4813?t=9&akid=4382.1174326.LMEC_c

2. “Here’s What’s Wrong With the USA Freedom Act,” The Nation, 5-6-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4814?t=11&akid=4382.1174326.LMEC_c

3. “Verizon forced to hand over telephone data – full court ruling,” The Guardian, 6-5-2013
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4815?t=13&akid=4382.1174326.LMEC_c

4. “N.S.A. Collection of Bulk Call Data Is Ruled Illegal,” The New York Times, 5-8-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4816?t=15&akid=4382.1174326.LMEC_c

5. “Patriot Act on life support,” The Hill, 5-17-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4817?t=17&akid=4382.1174326.LMEC_c

6. “Congress’s Orwellian spying “reforms”: Why the government wants to outsource its surveillance to your Internet provider,” Salon, 4-30-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4818?t=19&akid=4382.1174326.LMEC_c

We all know Bill O’Reilly has built a career by making false claims about parental violence and neglect, and it’s impact on Black families.

Yet, according to multiple reports, Bill should probably be worrying about his own family. Details of his incredibly nasty divorce from ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy, have gone very public, including a bitter custody battle and allegations of physical abuse in front of his children. ¹

The situation is particularly appalling considering O’Reilly’s track record of viciously attacking Black families. Even if the domestic violence allegations are proven false, O’Reilly’s divorce saga still reflects that O’Reilly is hypocritical in his analysis of unmarried Black families. In the past year alone, he has accused Black communities of allowing 9-year olds to do drugs² and embracing pathological patterns of violence, and even claimed that “the reason there is so much violence and chaos in the Black precincts is the disintegration of the African-American family.”³

With such an influential platform, O’Reilly’s relentless attacks, biases, and harmful mistruths about Black families cannot be tolerated. Over the coming weeks we will be talking to advertisers about their continued sponsorship of The O’Reilly Factor; if they don’t respond, we will begin naming those advertisers publicly. We need to know you’ll stand with us.

Click here to let us know you’ll stand with us and demand advertisers drop O’Reilly once and for all.

Check out our original email below.

Thanks,

Rashad