Tag Archives: news

Greetings from Mikaela & I, especially to the 200,000+ who’ve joined our team since our previous email update! At 405,000, we now outnumber our old hometown of Oakland, CA!

For both new and established #WeGotThis members, it’s essential that you join us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/savemikaela), our blog (http://shegotthis.wordpress.com/), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/keithknappjr). We post regular updates and requests for help on these pages, and you’ll miss great shareable content like the #WeGotThis video (http://bit.ly/QMzfPB) if you don’t join us!

You’ll find an update on Mikaela’s health & campaign progress later in this email, but we urgently need your help:

1. Mikaela’s Million — We are working with the change.org folks on planning a day for us to deliver your petitions directly to Merck. Because doing this will require me to leave Mikaela, I want to maximize the impact by having 1,000,000 petitions to hand over. If each of you can get 1-2 of your friends or family to sign the petition, we’ll be able to hit this number easily. Please do it today; Mikaela does not have time to wait.

2. #WeGotThis shirts — Inspired by successful campaigns of the past, we are selling #WeGotThis t-shirts to help fund our campaign. They were designed by Mikaela herself and are available for $15 at http://teespring.com/mikaelaknapp. They are only available until Tuesday (April 8), so buy yours today! The petition URL is on the back of the shirt, so these will be a great way to spread the word with your local community.

3. Social Media Crew: We want to start engaging directly with Merck through their social channels, but we need your help to amplify our noise. If you’re interested in getting involved with this effort, please shoot me an email (keithknappjr@gmail.com) and I’ll add you to our #WeGotThis social media email list. You’ll be prompted to share things like ready-made tweets, so it won’t be a huge time commitment. Before you sign up, please understand that Mikaela & I value the positive tone of the campaign, and will in no way be asking you to attack these companies through their social channels; in fact, we wholeheartedly discourage it.

On to the updates:

First, Mikaela’s health — SHE’S BACK HOME! It always takes her several days to recover from a hospital stay, so she ought to be fully settled by the end of the weekend. We posted a picture of her triumphant return on the #WeGotThis Facebook page, which you should definitely be following for more regular updates than these emails — visit https://www.facebook.com/savemikaela and hit that “LIKE” button right now!

Our fundraiser (http://gfwd.at/1hTL25D) has been a success and we should have our genetic test results within 2 weeks! Thanks to all who donated and those who continue to do so!

Next, an update on our campaign: We’ve had a productive, yet unsuccessful, week of seeking entry into more clinical trials, and we now feel comfortable saying that we have lost all hope on that front. We are shifting the entirety of our efforts to arranging compassionate use with Merck.

Just to be clear, Mikaela’s return home does NOT mean that we have won access to the treatment she needs. Our oncologist had discussions with Merck this week, and they rejected our request for compassionate use. We are not giving up, and our Congressman’s office is working with Merck & the FDA to find ways to assuage their concerns.

Thanks for your continued love and support. Mikaela & I are overcome by the personal level of interest many of you have shown in our cause. Your stories of not giving up and beating cancer fuel our fight, and you’re all playing an essential part in helping us to craft a similar story of our own someday.

With hope for a great week.

#WeGotThis,
Keith

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Pre – order MJ

04/02/2014 Nativegrl77

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/xscape-deluxe/id850697616

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FREE MARISSA NOW !

03/18/2014 Nativegrl77

Florida State Attorney Angela Corey wants to send Marissa Alexander — a domestic violence survivor and Black mother of three — to prison for the rest of her life.

Tell Gov. Rick Scott to suspend Angela Corey and condemn the charges against Marissa:

Florida State Attorney Angela Corey is best known for failing to secure murder convictions for the killers of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis. Now, she intends to send Marissa Alexander to prison for 60 years — for firing a warning shot in self defense to stop her abusive husband.¹

In 2012, Marissa was unjustly sentenced to 20 years in prison, and after immense public outrage by Black folks and our allies around the country, she won her appeal and was set free last September.² Rejecting persistent calls to drop the case once and for all, Corey is ramping up her prosecution. It’s cruel and unacceptable. Now is our time to make it clear to Gov. Scott that national outrage over Marissa’s case is growing and unless he takes action to hold Corey accountable, there will be a political price to pay in his tight re-election campaign for Governor.

Demand that Governor Rick Scott suspend Angela Corey from office, condemn the charges brought against Marissa, and defend the just application of the law. It only takes a moment.

Known as the “killingest prosecutor,” Angela Corey has a long legacy of biased and overly harsh prosecutions when the defendant is Black.³ Over the past 5 years, Corey has sent 21 people to death row — more than any other FL prosecutor — 66% of which have been Black despite the fact that Black people account for only 16% of Corey’s district.⁴ Additionally, Corey’s refusal to acknowledge racial bias in the murder trials of George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn led to accusations of prosecutorial misconduct including withholding evidence, failing to prepare key witnesses, and ultimately derailing the case.⁵

Florida’s constitution gives Governor Scott the power and responsibility to intervene and ensure justice for Marissa and Florida as a whole.⁶ Black women are significantly more likely to be convicted for defending themselves against an abuser, and as long as Corey remains at her post we can expect Florida’s criminal justice system to continue to fail Black survivors of violence.⁷ By demanding that Gov. Scott hold Corey accountable for her actions and increase political pressure to free Marissa, we can take important steps to move forward a national conversation on the ways in which Black people are mistreated in our criminal justice system — and secure systemic change.

Please join us in demanding that Gov. Rick Scott suspend Angela Corey from her position and condemn the charges against Marissa Alexander.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Matt, Arisha, William, Lyla and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team March 17th, 2014

Help support ColorOfChange’s campaign to hold Angela Corey accountable by contributing today.

References

Image art by DignidadRebelde.com

1. “Marissa Alexander’s sentence could triple in ‘warning-shot’ case,” The Florida Times-Union, 03-01-14 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3359?t=9&akid=3336.1174326.lLcS3M

2. See reference 1.

3. “Florida’s killingest prosecutor,” Washington Post, 03-13-14 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3361?t=11&akid=3336.1174326.lLcS3M

4. See reference 4.

5. “Zimmerman Prosecutors Duck the Race Issue,” The New York Times, 07-15-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3366?t=13&akid=3336.1174326.lLcS3M

6. “Constitution of the State of Florida” http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3374?t=15&akid=3336.1174326.lLcS3M

7. “Women’s Experiences of Abuse as a Risk Factor for Incarceration,” VAWNet.org, 12-01-02 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3373?t=17&akid=3336.1174326.lLcS3M

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Overtime pay protections … a great year of ACTION

03/18/2014 Nativegrl77

In this week’s address, President Obama highlighted the action he took this week to reward hard work by strengthening overtime pay protections. As part of this year of action, the President has ordered the Secretary of Labor to modernize our country’s overtime rules to ensure that millions of American workers are paid a fair wage for a hard day’s work.While our economy is moving forward, the middle class and those fighting to get into it are still struggling and too many Americans are working harder than ever just to keep up, let alone get ahead. So, in consultation with workers and business, the Obama administration will update and simplify the rules to reward hard work and responsibility.

Click here to watch this week’s Weekly Address.

Weekly Wrap Up

Between Two Ferns: POTUS EditionIf you’ve been living under a rock, you might not know that President Obama sat down between two ferns to talk health care, Bradley Cooper, basketball, and more with Zach Galifianakis.

The President didn’t hold back in the no-holds-barred interview. If you haven’t already seen the special episode of “Between Two Ferns,” or if you just want to watch it again, check it out on our blog.

On Thursday, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Labor to update and modernize the nation’s overtime pay system.

The new system will ensure that millions of our nation’s salaried workers will have the protections of overtime pay.

Jennifer Lopez walked at eight months, and was climbing out of her crib at a year old. Alicia Keys was “an old soul” who could hear a song once and then play it. Jonah Hill flooded his elementary school. They also all thought they were invincible, like most young people do. How do we know? Their moms told us.

Sharon Feldstein, Patsy Noah, Terria Joseph, and Guadalupe Rodriguez (otherwise known as the moms of Jonah Hill, Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Lopez) recently sat down to share why, as mothers, they think it’s so important that everyone — and especially young people — make sure they’re covered.

President Obama met with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk of Ukraine earlier this week. The two leaders discussed finding a peaceful resolution to Russia’s ongoing military intervention in Crimea that would respect Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.

They also discussed support that the international community can provide to help Ukraine confront its economic challenges, and the importance of uniting Ukraine and working to fulfill the aspirations of the Ukrainian people as they prepare for May presidential elections.

As always, to see even more of this week’s events, watch the latest episode of West Wing Week:

WATCH NOW

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Self-Employed & ACA

03/17/2014 Nativegrl77

Regional Administrator Calvin W. Goings

Self-Employed? Sign Up for Health Care Coverage by March 31st

With only a couple weeks to go during the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period, now is the time for self-employed business owners to sign up for a plan.

With new Health Insurance Marketplaces (also referred to as Exchanges) open, self-employed business owners and other consumers can purchase private insurance coverage from a range of options and depending on income and residency, potentially qualify for additional subsidies like Medicaid or tax credits.

Coming up, there are some important dates self-employed business owners need to know if they want to sign up for coverage for this year.

Open enrollment for 2014 coverage ends March 31, 2014. An exception would include a qualifying life event that provides you with a special enrollment period such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, or loss of a job.

If you don’t have health coverage in 2014, you may have to pay a penalty.

The next Open Enrollment period is proposed to begin on November 15, 2014 for health insurance coverage that begins January 1, 2015.

To browse coverage options, assess potential subsidies, and purchase your plan online through the individual marketplace, simply go to www.healthcare.gov.