Hi friends,
The organizer Mariame Kaba has talked about the idea of hope as a discipline. As a person to whom discipline comes quite naturally, I have latched onto this idea:
“What people often get wrong about hope as a discipline is that. . . it isn’t about sitting & wishing that things will be different tomorrow. It’s about believing in the power of yourself, your people, your crew, your communities, and never backing down.”
Kaba’s words were in an email I got from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ). It also included an invitation to join this Thursday’s lobby effort to meet with city council members about investing in robust community-based programs to prevent violence. We need to build community power and not police power to address hate violence and bias incidents.
Sign up to lobby city council members in person with JFREJ this week.
You are my people and I believe in our collective power. The state legislative session ends this week and we have to finish some work.
Congress may not be able to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, but NYS can get its version done this week with a push.
This ready-made action calling for voting rights legislation can go out to both of your legislators. Or, you can pick up the phone.
A Bloomberg-era gun control initiative is getting fresh attention in the state legislature this week.
New York could become the second state in the U.S. to begin the process of mandating microstamping capability in newly manufactured handguns sold in New York. The push comes despite significant opposition from the firearms industry. Gun-control activists say they’re hopeful the Democratic-controlled state Legislature will approve a measure advancing the initiative before lawmakers end their annual legislative session on Thursday.
Call your state senator and demand action on S4116A to require licensed gun dealers to sell only those semiautomatic pistols capable of microstamping ammunition.
The Extended Producer Responsibility Act is a NYS bill
which would place the responsibility on producers, rather than overwhelmed municipalities, for recycling or otherwise responsibly disposing of packaging waste at the end of its lifetime.
The overarching goal is to get producers to reduce packaging waste.
Tell your legislators to Pass the Extended Producer Responsibility Act. This 15-second action is from the NY League of Conservation Voters.
The folks at WE Act for Environmental Justice have been working on legislative efforts to reduce our exposure to the toxic chemicals known as PFAS. The chemicals are in many manufactured goods, including carpets, non-stick pans, and raincoats. They are linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and reproductive health problems.
Two years ago, the group was instrumental in the passage of a New York State law banning the use of PFAS in food wrappers.
A new bill to ban PFAS from clothing passed both houses of the NYS legislature.
Tell the Governor to sign the bill to ban toxic PFAS from clothing.
Monique Chandler-Waterman, an educator, health care worker, and community organizer, got 80 percent of the vote in last week’s special election for the vacant NYS Assembly District in East Flatbush (AD 58). She defeated the guy that Mayor Adams endorsed (who ran as an independent); Chandler-Waterman ran on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines.
These women are part of our crew, and it’s important to remember that while it’s possible to win against big-name endorsements and even deep pockets, it is not possible to win without money.
Maya Handa, lead organizer for Mondaire Jones’s successful campaign for Congress in 2020, examined the races in which candidates were
endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Justice Democrats over the past six years. With very few exceptions, notably Ocasio-Cortez's ground-shaking upset victory in 2018, progressives can overcome about a two-to-one ratio of opposition spending, but not much more. In many cases, progressives have actually outspent their opponents to win.
Handa’s point is that organizing without money is unsuccessful.
Support the Working Families Party’s organizing and be sure to shell out for progressive women of color!
Michiganders are not giving up on reproductive justice without a fight. Because the state’s Republican party is in the clutches of extremists, a coalition of pro-choice voters, including moderate Republicans, are pursuing a ballot initiative to secure abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
The coalition, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Black women-led Michigan Voices, want voters to support a constitutional amendment to protect an expansion of reproductive rights, including but not limited to abortion.
Support Michigan Voices and their organizing for voting rights and democracy reform, social equity, reproductive justice, and environmental justice.
E-bikes are helping the Ukrainian war effort. Because they can move quickly and quietly, e-bikes are important for reconnaissance efforts and delivering medical supplies. A Ukrainian e-bike company, Eleek, which donated some bikes to the military at the outset of the war, is now mass-producing them.
From a bomb shelter, Eleek workers started producing a power bank from lithium-ion battery cells they still had left in stock — ultimately turning to electronic cigarettes when the batteries ran out.
Environment ministers from G7 nations — the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK — agreed to phase out coal-power-without-carbon-capture by 2035. The agreement is an improvement on the terms settled at COP 26.
Analysts estimate that the agreement could shift $33 billion annually from fossil fuels to clean energy sources,
Laurie van der Burg, a campaign co-manager at the green group Oil Change International, said: “The G7 committing to end public finance for fossil fuels and shift it to clean [energy] is a massive win. This is a timely reconfirmation [amid the Ukraine war] that the most viable pathway to energy security is prioritising public finance for clean energy. These promises should now urgently be turned into action.”
We’re still commenting on the NYS Climate Action Plan draft. Here’s a new comment:
Use this tool from NY Renews to call for the decommissioning of waste incinerators in NY and an end to contracts for out-of-state incineration.
Stay cool and have a great day!
with love,
L