-Submitted by Judy Sullivan, USH Social Justice Chair

Americans of Conscience Checklist, Week of December 16, 2018

By Jen Hofmann

109 weeks down, 98 weeks to the presidential election.

The AoC Checklist features clear, well-researched actions for Americans who value democracy, equality, voting, and decency. We practice gratitude, self-care, and celebration to stay engaged.

This week: Our Checklist actions focus on supporting our allies and our neighbors during this season of light. Take special note of the actions in the immigration section.

Note: The AoC Checklist will take a break over the next two Sundays. We’ll be back on January 6, 2019. Breathe deeply and rest.

I value democracy.

With respect and collaboration, we create a government for the people, by the people.

▢ Action 1: View our Spread the Light Holiday Checklist.

Click: To view the wish list of our justice allies.

I value equality.

Stand with your rainbow of neighbors from every religion, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, age, and ability. Out of many, we are one.

▢ Action 1: Give people behind bars opportunities for self-improvement.

Donate: Cash or donate requested books to the Prison Book Program. (We’ve already purchased over 80 books this December!)

▢ Action 2: Support the education of a literacy justice advocate.

We featured Jamarria Hall in Good News for his efforts to sue Detroit Schools for the right to literacy. Jen had the honor of meeting him at the YCBA 100 Summit in San Francisco. Let’s support his next semester’s fees in college.
Donate: https://www.gofundme.com/jamarria-hall039s-funding-for-school

 

I value showing hospitality to all people, no matter where they were born.

People who immigrate are fellow human beings whom we treat with respect and decency. We oppose inhumane treatment and vilification of people who immigrate and the government bodies that perpetuate it.

▢ Action 1: Give direct aid to people deported by the US.

Recently-deported people are vulnerable and are left with nothing. 
Donate: 
To Kino Border Initiative here. https://www.kinoborderinitiative.org/humanitarian-aid/

 

▢ Action 2: Provide legal representation for vulnerable, unaccompanied children.

With a legal representative, people seeking asylum have statistically higher chance of their claims succeeding.
Donate: To Raices’ LEAF fund here.

▢ Action 3: Support reuniting moms and their kids.

Give 360 support: legal, bond payment, emergency housing, clothing, food and more to reunite families.
Donate: To Immigrant Families Together here.

 

Acts of Gratitude

Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.

 

Thank Sens Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for longstanding pursuit of reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. [Share why trauma-informed screening and community-based alternatives to detention for at-risk youth matter to you.] Addresses:

• CG: 120 Federal Building, 320 6th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101
• SW: 170 Westminster St., Ste. 200, Providence, RI 02903

 

Thank the American Friends Service Committee for organizing an interfaith protest at the San Diego/Tijuana border this week. [Share why you appreciation interfaith action against inhumane immigration policy.]
Address: 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

 

Thank Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) for your bipartisan effort to grant Temporary Protected Status for eligible Venezuelans. [Share why bipartisan immigration efforts matter to you.] Addresses:

• BM: One Gateway Center, Suite 1100, Newark, New Jersey 07102
• MR: 1650 Prudential Drive, Suite 220, Jacksonville, FL 32207
• DD: 230 S. Dearborn Street, Suite 3892, Chicago, IL 60604
• PL: 199 Main Street, 4th Floor, Burlington, VT 05401

 

Thank Reps. Charlie Crist (D-FL), Francis Rooney (R-FL), Ted Deutch (R-FL), Dave Trott (R-MI), John Delany (D-MD), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) for demonstrating bipartisanship is possible through co-sponsorship of a bill addressing climate change. [Share why you appreciate bipartisan efforts to solve complex problems facing our nation.] Addresses:

• DT: 625 East Big Beaver Road, Suite 204, Troy, MI 48083
• CC: 696 1st Avenue North, Suite 203, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
• FR: 3299 Tamiami Trail East, Suite 105, Naples, FL 34112
• TD: 7900 Glades Road, Ste. 250, Boca Raton, FL  33434
• JD: 9801 Washingtonian Boulevard, Suite 330, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
• BF: 1717 Langhorne Newtown Rd. Suite 400, Langhorne, PA 19047

Good news

Decent people everywhere are doing kind and just things. #GoodNews

National

• S. withdraws 2,200 troopsfrom the Administration’s border mission.
• In 2018, “How to vote” was the most searched “how-to” question.
• New surveys show that black votersand Latinx voters participated more in 2018 midterm elections and measurably influenced outcomes.
• A new study shows that one in six S. health care workers are foreign born, a number that has remained stable for a decade.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will pay her interns at least $15/hr, departing from norm.

News with heart

• 97-year-old civil-rights pioneer Rosanell Eaton was honored this week after her passing. She successfully challenged North Carolina voting restrictions all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her life is an inspiration.
• Mary Golda Ross, the country’s first Native American female engineer, will be featuredon the new $1 coin.
• Hundreds of faith leaders gather at the U.S.-Mexico border fenceto advocate for the rights of migrants.
• December 6th marked the 153rd birthday of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
• Religious leaders gathered in San Diegoin support of migrants’ rights to enter the U.S. with a press conference and march to border.