43 weeks to Midterm Elections
The AoC Checklist features clear, well-researched actions for Americans who value democracy, equality, voting, and decency. We are a big tent for all people who want a kinder, flourishing nation.
If you only have 10 minutes, take our top three suggested actions:
- Action 1: Keep election administration in your state from being usurped.
- Action 3: Help eligible incarcerated people vote.
- Action 5: Demand protections for child farmworkers.
In this edition of the AoC Checklist:
- Senate actions: What we’re contacting our senators about.
- Action 1: Keep election administration in your state from being usurped.
- Action 2: Call on President Biden to support voting rights legislation.
- Action 3: Help eligible incarcerated people vote.
- Action 4: Encourage your employer to prioritize workplace equity.
- Action 5: Demand protections for child farmworkers.
- Action 6: Denounce government-led human rights violations.
- Say Thanks: Acts of Gratitude
- Check out Good News from around the nation
- How you can support and share the AoC Checklist
Contact your senators
Check the box if you made contact–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action.
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing again to ask Sen. [NAME] to:
- Passing the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) to create a more equitable system for working moms [Source: blk women’s health] and keep millions of children out of poverty. [Source: Mi Familia Vota]
- Extend the Child Tax Credit [Source: Mi Familia Vota]
- Strengthen legal protections against discriminatory voting practices and policies by passing the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (S. 4). [Source: Brennan Center]
I value democracy
With respect and collaboration, we work to create a nation that welcomes all people, expands freedoms, and upholds the Constitution. Each citizen must be able to freely and fairly elect those who represent their values.
Action 1: Keep election administration in your state from being usurped.
Source: Voting Rights Lab
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
If you live in AK, AZ, GA, IA, KY, MI, MO, NH, PA, SC, or WI: Contact your state legislators (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m calling from [ZIP] because I’m concerned about pending legislation that interferes with local election administration. I urge you to vote NO on [BILL NUMBER FROM SPREADSHEET*] to keep [STATE]’s elections free of partisan tampering. Thank you.
* See columns titled “Interference with Local Election Administrators” and “Usurping the Role of State Election Officials”, both in the 2022 Legislation tab.
If you live in any other state: Donate to the Voting Rights Lab to fund their work to protect voting rights in all 50 states.
Action 2: Call on President Biden to support voting rights legislation.
Source: League of Women Voters
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: President Biden, via the White House comment line or email contact form.
Script: Hi, I’m a resident of [ZIP] and I’m asking President Biden to publicly support the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (S. 4), even if changes to Senate rules are necessary. His public encouragement could get these crucial voting rights bills passed, protecting the freedom of all Americans to vote according to their consciences. Thank you.
Action 3: Help eligible incarcerated people vote.
Source: Spread the Vote
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Vote By Mail In Jail. This partnership between Vote.org and Spread the Vote works to connect eligible incarcerated voters with citizen outreach teams who can help them exercise their rights to register and vote. Free training sessions are held monthly, and donations to fund this work are also gratefully accepted.
I value equality
Support the dignity of your rainbow of neighbors from every religion, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, age, and ability.
Action 4: Encourage your employer to prioritize workplace equity.
Source: blkwomenshealth
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Your employer.
Script: I would like to encourage [COMPANY NAME] to participate in the Black Women’s Health Imperative Workplace Equity Initiative. As an employee, I want to actively support the well-being, inclusion, and positive workplace experiences of Black women. I’m asking [COMPANY NAME] to join the first cohort of companies to pilot the BWHI Equity Index and Fairness Training.
Note: Each person’s employment situation is different. Feel free to customize this script accordingly.
Action 5: Demand protections for child farmworkers.
Source: Americans of Conscience
A recent report on U.S. child labor laws highlighted the lack of regulatory protections for child farmworkers that has resulted in exploitation and dangerous working conditions. It is long past time to end these child labor abuses and bring our nation’s labor laws to humane standards.
Add your name: To our letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh before Jan 21, 22.
Action 6: Denounce government-led human rights violations.
Source: Freedom for Immigrants
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Alejandro Mayorkas at (202) 282-8495 (DHS comment line) or
Alejandro Mayorkas
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Ln. SW
Washington, DC 20528
Script: Hello, I’m reaching out from [STATE] because I am deeply disturbed by the ongoing human rights abuses carried out within New Orleans ICE Field Office jurisdiction. Detained aspiring Americans have long complained of torture, racism, and food deprivation at the hands of NOLA ICE officials. I’m joining human rights organizations in demanding you:
- immediately and permanently close NOLA ICE facilities;
- end all related contracts and release those inside to their communities;
- undertake a comprehensive, impartial investigation of the NOLA ICE Field Office; and
- share the results publicly.
Acts of Gratitude
Signatures to the forms below will be printed with a letter of thanks from Americans of Conscience, and mailed to the recipient 2 weeks after the Checklist publication date. Your information will not be stored after that date.
Thank rapper Logic for saving lives by including the National Suicide Prevention Hotline phone number in a song.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: Visionary Music Group LLC, 102 Tullamore Rd., Garden City, NY 11530
Thank Gov. Tony Evers (D–WI) for vetoing a slate of bills that would have restricted access to abortion.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: P.O. Box 7863, Madison, WI 53707
Good News
As Americans of Conscience, we celebrate!
Progress on issues featured in the AoC Checklist
- DOJ affirms that people serving on CARES Act home confinement will not be forced to return to prison en masse at the end of the pandemic. (7/21 Checklist)
- Biden administration ends the practice of holding families in ICE detention; there are no families being held as of mid-Dec. 2021. (10/18 Checklist)
Tribal
- The Sicangu Lakota Oyate regain control of 525 acres of their land.
- Canada will provide $31.5 billion (USD) in compensation to First Nations children who were removed from their families and placed into the welfare system.
National
- Of the 725 people arrested for involvement in the January 6 insurrection, 165 have pleaded guilty.
- The Biden administration takes measures to address the surge in COVID-19 cases, including distributing free at-home tests and opening new federal testing and vaccination sites.
- The Biden administration extends the moratorium on student loan repayment for an additional 90 days due to the ongoing pandemic.
- FDA authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds.
- FDA permanently lifts dispensing restrictions on mifepristone, allowing pharmacies to prescribe it and increasing access to medication abortion pills by mail.
- EEOC determines that workers who contract COVID-19 can be protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- The National Defense Authorization Act removes the authority of military commanders to prosecute sex offenders, instead tasking independent military lawyers with investigating sexual assault cases.
- The NDAA makes sexual harassment a crime in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
- Federal court overturns the settlement that gave Purdue Pharma and its owners protection against civil litigation for their role in the opioid epidemic.
- House passes a bill imposing economic sanctions on China for goods sold to the U.S. from the forced labor of Muslim Uyghurs.
State
- MN: A former police officer is found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.
- NY: Serial sex trafficker is found guilty on five counts.
- OH: The former police officer who fatally shot Casey Goodson Jr. is charged with murder.
- RI launches the state’s first Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner program that will provide equitable access to medical and forensic care for survivors of sexual assault.
- RI: Sec. of State Nellie Gorbea launches a new Open Government Center with resources to facilitate civic participation, including tips on testifying at the State House and explanations on how to read legislation.
- WI: Gov. Tony Evers vetos a slate of bills that would have restricted access to abortion.
Local
- Adrienne Adams is elected New York City Council speaker, becoming the first Black woman to hold the second-most powerful government post in NYC.
- A San Diego law requires grocery stores and food suppliers to donate all edible food waste to food rescue organizations or food banks.
- Chicago supports public health amid the ongoing pandemic by requiring proof of vaccination for anyone over five entering indoor venues.
- Denver city council votes to ban untraceable “ghost guns.”
Corporate/business
- Hy-Vee supermarkets make online COVID-19 vaccine registration accessible for people with disabilities.
- Burgerville becomes the first fast food company to establish a union to represent employees.
Groups and organizations
- Disability rights activist Alice Wong encourages donations towards disability-related organizations and collectives in honor of the International Day of People with Disabilities.
- Baskin Robbins employees continue striking for appropriate working hours, pay, and benefits.
- A group of people from Haiti seeking asylum in the U.S. sue the Biden administration for committing human rights violations in the asylum system.
- Physicians for Reproductive Health publish a resource guide to help journalists reporting on abortion do so with medical accuracy and compassion.
- Voting rights advocates go on hunger strike to push for passage of federal voting rights legislation.
- After striking for nearly 10 months, St. Vincent Hospital nurses ratify a new contract that will increase staff and improve patient care.
- The World Health Organization launches Go Give One, which allows people to purchase vaccinations for lower income countries around the world.
News with heart
- Matt Riggs strung Christmas lights across the street to support his neighbor, Kim Morton. The whole neighborhood followed suit.
- Three women from El Salvador who were unjustly convicted for obstetric emergencies under the nation’s strict anti-abortion laws regain their freedom.
- Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine’s COVID-19 vaccine secures emergency use authorization in India, with authorization from other under-vaccinated countries to follow.
- On his 18th birthday, Mateo is released from immigration detention to live with his family.
- Canada met its 2021 target of granting 401,000 foreign people permanent residency.
- Medical student and aspiring pediatric neurosurgeon Chidiebere Ibe creates anatomical illustrations featuring Black bodies.
With Midterms fast approaching
The AOCC team is committed as ever to providing you with clear actions that expand voting participation and strengthen democracy. However, the Americans of Conscience Checklist cannot accomplish these goals without financial support. We have modest but real expenses required to operate. If you believe in the value of the AoC Checklist, view support options here and help us persevere together this year. Thank you!
Thank you to the whole team for the amazing work you do to help generate this list and inspire us to take action on important issues. This is really a remarkable resource that helps me feel engaged and empowered to help create positive change. Thank you!