April 14, 2023
Actions on ending corporate personhood, registering environmental voters, learning about school boards, and more!
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
END CORPORATE PERSONHOOD
Rep. Pramila Jaypal has introduced the We the People Amendment (HJR 54), which would end the concept of “corporate personhood” and limit the financial and lobbying roles corporations currently have in politics since the 5-4 Supreme Court in Citizens United in 2010 that gave corporations First Amendment rights. Organizers are now trying to get 100 co-sponsors on board in 2023, so let’s contact our MoCs and ask them to support this important resolution.
SCHOOL BOARDS ARE CRITICAL
We’ve all seen school board elections becoming more and more political and we’ve seen the results when far right community members are elected. These candidates are subsidized with big money. With extremist attacks on our schools, it is more important than ever to understand the power of these elected boards. Red Wine and Blue is inviting us to join them tonight Thursday, April 13th at 7:30 pm ET for their Troublemaker Training: What the Heck Does a School Board Do. Let’s sign up here. Let’s also be on the lookout for the next part in the series next week to learn how to give compelling testimony to our school boards!
REGISTER CLIMATE VOTERS
Next week is Earth Week culminating with Earth Day on Saturday, April 22. There will be many relevant activities all over the country. One organization, Environmental Voter Project, has long-range goals to help convince folks to vote with climate in mind. Let’s join them in helping register new voters: https://www.environmentalvoter.org/get-involved
TIK TOK BAN?
Fight for the Future, a non-profit engaged with freedom of expression and the use of technology, warns us that The US Senate is preparing to vote on a new bill called the RESTRICT Act (S. 686). The bill is being framed to crack down on TikTok because of its ties to China, but it is much broader than that. The RESTRICT Act would give the executive branch of the US government unprecedented authority to ban the use of entire apps or websites just by saying they pose a threat to national security. Computer security experts concur that the ban is problematic for many reasons, both practical and in terms of privacy concerns. Let's contact our MoCs to tell them to oppose the bill and why.
JOIN WALKOUT 2 LEARN
On Friday, April 21, Florida’s high school and college students will “walk out to learn” to protest the state’s authoritarian takeover of the education system there. The students “plan to walk out of their classrooms at noon for 10 minutes of a "banned history" lesson and make an active pledge to local and state representatives about their opposition to the state's education laws.” walkout 2 learn is welcoming everyone everywhere to join in. We can register a walk out or a rally in our town here. We can access a toolkit to help us be part of the action. Let’s support, encourage, and join in this youth-led effort.
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES
The link to the article on repealing war authorizations in April 11’s List was incorrect, and has been updated below. Thanks to our readers for keeping us honest!
HOUSE NEEDS TO VOTE ON BILL TO REPEAL WAR AUTHORIZATIONS
The Senate voted to repeal the war authorizations that justified the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War. The House companion bill, H.R. 932, needs to be passed before it can go to President Biden’s desk. Although it appears that there is bipartisan support, the bill is still sitting in committee. Let’s ask our representatives to approve this bill and get us back on track.
What is an MoC. It is patronizing to assume that everyone knows your acronyms.
I am interested in Constitutional reform, and would dearly love it if you would post the text of Rep. Jayapal's amendment. {Note: you misspelled her name in your 4/14 email.) Thank you!