Dear friends,
There’s a lot of electoral news to absorb, and I’m not sure I have the bandwidth for all of it. Clearly, there is organizing to do in order to avert future electoral losses. It was hard not to be disappointed by the failure of the voter access ballot measures in New York.
I’m going to let the pundits do their thing, and move to issues requiring urgent attention. But first, I’m going to make you read an upsetting headline:
At least seven Jan. 6 rallygoers won public office on Election Day
Yesterday, Senate Republicans again blocked a vote on the Freedom to Vote Act, which was only possible because of the filibuster.
There was never any serious prospect of the bill passing – only one Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, supported it.
But Wednesday’s vote was targeted towards Senator Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who supports the filibuster, showing him that passing voting rights legislation is not possible while the filibuster remains in place.
Use some of those postcards you have. Write to Joe Manchin. Addresses and a sample message are provided.
If you live or work with young people, please encourage them to sign and circulate this petition in support of the Freedom to Vote Act.
This is budget season in NYS and there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes action in the state legislature. If you’re feeling left out because you’re not in Glasgow for COP26, you can push for meaningful climate action right here, from home! NY Renews has organized legislative calls — virtual lobbying — to help get the Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA) passed.
The CCIA (S.4264A/A6967) is a critical piece of legislation designed to make corporations pay for their greenhouse gas emissions — at $55 per ton of greenhouse gas emissions, it will raise about $15 billion annually over the first 10 years. We will be able to use those funds to invest in infrastructure to protect frontline communities, facilitate green transportation and manufacturing, and provide retraining for folks who will lose their jobs in the sectors of the economy that must be scaled back.
Join a legislative call to a state senator or assembly member. Let’s get this legislation passed!
I’m late to this next issue, but it’s a great DIY climate action. Although I haven’t yet broached this with the person who does most of my food shopping, I can’t ignore the serious issue of avocados any longer. A few years ago, I got schooled about almond farming, which caused me to sharply limit my almond consumption (the switch to hazelnut milk was totally painless).
Avocados are giant water hogs; growing a single one uses about 84 gallons of water.
[T]he fruit's soaring popularity in the past two decades has led to intensive and unsustainable production methods. Avocado farming is increasingly linked to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water shortages.
In Mexico, avocado farming has also been linked to cartel violence. The resource-intensive farms have been subject to extortion and even competition from gangs who seize land, cut down trees, and cultivate their own “green gold” in order to more easily manipulate and exploit the avocado market.
Try cutting your avocado consumption in half. If that sounds difficult, then you, like me, are eating too many avocados.
People detained at Rikers Island filed a new class action lawsuit seeking monetary damages for everyone held at Rikers on or after April 1. If you’ve been following the story with me, the horrific conditions sound all too familiar — people in real danger, without food, access to toilets, showers, and medical care.
Write to the city’s DAs and ask them to take immediate action to call for the release people from Rikers and reduce bail. A sample message is included.
Disturbingly, our mayor-elect, agreed with De Blasio’s decision to lift a ban on solitary confinement at Rikers. This is a misguided attempt to shore up safety at facilities that are wildly out of control.
Alice Fontier, managing director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem [points out], “Solitary confinement will do nothing to make Rikers safer. To the contrary, it will take a further toll on the mental health of our neighbors held on Rikers, who are held in conditions so hideous that six people decided to take their own life rather than continue to suffer.”
Write to Mayor-elect Adams at his current email to congratulate him on his win and tell him that we’re hoping for new leadership. There’s a ready-made message.
The criminalization of poverty, addiction, and mental illness make the conditions all the more tragic. It’s time to pass the Treatment Not Jails Act.
The Legal Aid Society has come out in support of the bill, calling it:
a pragmatic shift towards a more holistic and harm-reduction-oriented understanding of recovery and community safety.
What we want is to make sure that people in need of treatment have access to services. This is how we build safe, resilient communities.
Contact your state senator to ask for their support for the Treatment Not Jails Act. A sample message is provided.
I was on an organizing call with the Caring Majority last night and we were discussing the reconciliation bill. Even after the massive cuts to the investment in child care, home care, and paid family leave, if the bill passes as it is now, it will include a $150 billion investment in what is broadly known as the care agenda. This will be the nation’s largest investment in community-based care ever.
Contact your congressional delegation about the importance of the care agenda.
And finally, a story about work and debt and activism that I have been meaning to discuss: after a hunger strike of two weeks and many more months of campaigning, the Taxi Workers Alliance has won a major concession from Marblegate Asset Management, the largest holder of taxi medallion loans, and the city.
Under the agreement, Marblegate will reduce the amount that each cabdriver owes to $170,000, from an average of about $500,000 per driver. It agreed to terms that will lower each driver’s payments to a maximum of $1,122 per month.
In return, the city will give the lender a cash payment of $30,000 for each driver and also guarantee every loan, agreeing to repay if the driver ever defaults.
Debt is a diabolical trap, and this agreement offers hope to medallion holders who have been in serious economic and psychological jeopardy. The city had previously offered a more modest bailout, which did not include a loan guarantee or broad action by lenders to reduce the amount they would collect.
We have to celebrate the victories as they come.
Have a great weekend!
with love,
L