83 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:
- Call your senators about four pieces of legislation.
- Action 2: Advocate for fair congressional redistricting on April 29.
- Action 4: Call for an end to unconstitutional border practices.
In this edition of the AoC Checklist:
- Senate actions: What we’re calling our senators about.
- House actions: What we’re calling our House reps about.
- Action 1: Urge Home Depot CEO to oppose voter suppression.
- Action 2: Advocate for fair congressional redistricting on April 29.
- Action 3: Encourage high school students to learn about voting.
- Action 4: Call for an end to unconstitutional border practices.
- Action 5: Support a path to citizenship for our community members.
- Action 6: Advocate for an ill man’s immediate release from ICE detention.
- Action 7: Show solidarity with our Asian American community.
- Say Thanks: Acts of Gratitude
- Check out Good News from around the nation
- How you can support and share the AoC Checklist
Call your senators
Calling our senators makes a difference, whether they are progressive or conservative. Regular communication with our elected officials reminds them of their duty to represent all of their constituents.
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Sen. [NAME] to:
- Pass S. 1, the For the People Act, which enjoys broad bipartisan support, will limit dangerous voter suppression efforts and establish sensible national standards for reforms like enfranchising returning citizens and election-day registration. [Source: When We All Vote]
- Support a pathway to citizenship, specifically through passing the Dream Act, SECURE Act, and Farm Workforce Modernization Act to provide dignity and critical COVID-19 relief for the many hardworking families in our community.
- Support equal protection from discrimination through the Equality Act (H.R. 5) passed by the House to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. [Source: National Women’s Law Center]
- Support all women, especially women of color, who do the same work as men but make less in the same jobs. Co-sponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7) to close the gender pay gap and hold employers accountable. [Source: AoCC]
Call your House representative
Calling our House reps makes a difference, whether they are progressive or conservative. Regular communication with our elected officials reminds them of their duty to represent all of their constituents.
Look up your House representative here.
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Rep. [NAME] to:
- Support equal access to permanent Medicaid funding healthcare for all U.S. territories by cosponsoring H.R. 1722. [Source: Center on Budget]
- Support equity in women’s health care specifically the Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women’s Health Act of 2021 to increase access to lifesaving screenings and preventive care. Women of color have long faced systemic barriers to health care that create higher death rates from cancer. [Source: Black Women’s Health Imperative]
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: Urge Home Depot CEO to oppose voter suppression.
Source: AoCC
Script: I know that [COMPANY] supports social justice, yet you have been silent on the injustice of voter suppression. In solidarity with the voters of Georgia, I’m asking you to speak out against the injustice of lawmakers suppressing the vote. Thank you.
Write: Craig Menear, Home Depot, 2455 Paces Ferry Road Atlanta, GA 30339
Action 2: Advocate for fair congressional redistricting on April 29.
Source: League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters April 29th National Day of Action as part of its People Powered Fair Maps program will promote fair and transparent redistricting. Every 10 years, congressional districts are redrawn based on census data but delays in processing 2020 census data may affect the redistricting timeline.
Get involved: Midterms are coming! Look up your local LWV chapters to participate in virtual events like phone banking, letter writing campaigns, educational webinars, and more.
Action 3: Encourage high school students to learn about voting.
Source: The Civics Center
Contact: Your local school district and school board.
Script: Hi, I’m calling to inquire about what our school district is doing to encourage high school students to register to vote. Research shows that students who learn about voting in high school are more likely to participate in democracy. The Civics Center has resources for schools and students, including workshops on April 7 and 12 for students interested in planning voter registration drives. Thank you for educating our next generation of informed voters.
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: Call for an end to unconstitutional border practices.
Source: Human Rights First, Interfaith Immigration Coalition
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 [CALLING/WRITING] from [ZIP] in opposition to Title 42, which allows border agents to bypass normal immigration laws and rapidly expel many aspiring Americans at the southern border without due process. This policy disregards our constitutional duty to provide asylum to those seeking refuge in our country, and sends vulnerable individuals and families to await their hearings in dangerous border towns. I am asking Secretary Mayorkas to end the use of Title 42 and protect those who seek refuge in our nation.
Action 5: Support a path to citizenship for our community members.
Source: United We Dream
Sign: The UWD petition before April 30.
Action 6: Advocate for an ill man’s immediate release from ICE detention.
Source: Detention Watch (DWN)
Contact: New Orleans ICE Field Director Diane Witte at diane.l.witte@ice.dhs.gov and Deputy Field Office Director John Hartnett at 225-892-4013 and 318-992-1594.
Script: Hello, I’m [WRITING/CALLING] from [ZIP] to urge the release of Karim Golding from ICE’s Etowah County Detention Center. Mr. Golding, who has been living in the U.S. for over 20 years, now faces deportation back to Jamaica. After over four years of inhumane ICE detention, he caught COVID-19 multiple times and was sent to solitary confinement for exhibiting symptoms. I am joining human rights organizations in urging Karim’s immediate release from ICE detention, and allow him to return to his U.S. family and community.
Bonus: Use this guide to amplify this action on social media.
Action 7: Show solidarity with our Asian American community.
Source: Define American
Together, it is our responsibility to condemn hate and create lasting social change. Violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) is unacceptable.
Donate: To Support the AAPI Community Fund through GoFundMe.
Sign: This community-centered statement from Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta and the Georgia NAACP.
Acts of Gratitude
Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.
Tell TPS holders why you are grateful to them for launching a national hunger strike to demand that the Senate pass the American Dream and Promise Act.
Address: National TPS Alliance, 2845 W. 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005
Tell CEOs why you are grateful for their public statements opposing Georgia’s new voter suppression law.
Address:
James Quincey, Coca-Cola, 1 Coca-Cola Plaza. Atlanta GA 30313
Edward Bastian, Delta Air Lines Inc., P.O. Box 20706, Atlanta, GA 30320
Jamie Daimon, JP Morgan Chase, 270 Park Avenue, Manhattan, NY 10017
Tell Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D–NY) why you are grateful to her for introducing a bill to guarantee access to counsel for children and other vulnerable people during immigration removal proceedings.
Address: 478 Russell SOB, Washington, DC 20510
Tell Sen. Ben Cardin (D–MD) why you are grateful to him for introducing legislation to restore voting rights to returning citizens upon release from prison.
Address: 509 Hart SOB, Washington, DC 20510
Tell Govs. David Ige (D–HI), Laura Kelly (D–KS), Dan McKee (D–RI), Janet Mills (D–ME), Phil Murphy (D–NJ), and Phil Scott (R–VT), as well as Mayor Muriel Bowser (D–DC), why you are grateful to them for instituting travel restrictions to safeguard state residents from COVID-19.
Address
DI: Executive Chambers, State Capitol, Honolulu, HI 96813
LK: 300 S.W. 10th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66612
DM: 82 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02903
JM: 1 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
PM: PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625
PS: 109 State Street, Pavilion, Montpelier, VT 05609
MB: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004
Good News
Decent people everywhere are speaking up and working together. Just look. #GoodNews
National
- Temporary solutions to support unaccompanied minors at the border are improving.
- Dept. of Health and Human Services invests billions to expand access to vaccines and otherwise better serve communities of color, rural areas, low-income populations, and other underserved communities in the pandemic response.
- Families with mixed immigration statuses can access pandemic stimulus checks under a provision of the American Rescue Plan.
- The federal government extends the ACA enrollment period for the second time.
- Despite policy changes, 93.8% of election mail was delivered on time under the USPS’s service standard for first class mail.
- The Klamath Tribes, the Oneida Nation, and the Yurok Tribe buy back their rightful land.
- San Carlos Apache successfully convince the U.S. government to revoke approval for a proposed copper mine at Chich’il Bildagoteel (Oak Flat), a particularly sacred portion of their land.
- The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation retain jurisdiction over a portion of the Missouri River after the Interior Dept. reverses a determination by the previous administration.
- Dept. of Education releases a previously held-up $912 million for schools in Puerto Rico.
- The Treasury and State Departments re-implement sanctions on a businessman and his associates for corrupt mining and oil deals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- The Army eases regulations for how women members can wear their hair.
- The Biden administration doubles their original COVID-19 vaccination goal from 100 million to 200 million doses administered in the president’s first 100 days in office.Navajo Nation reports zero new COVID-19 cases for the first time in six months.
State
- VA abolishes the death penalty.
- VA: Gov. Ralph Northam signs a bill enabling voters to cast early in-person ballots on Sundays leading up to elections.
Local
- Evanston, IL offers reparations to Black residents for past discrimination and the enduring effects of slavery.
- Kim Janey is sworn in as acting mayor of Boston, becoming the first Black person and the first woman to serve as Boston’s mayor.
Corporate/business
- Rutgers University divests from fossil fuels.
Groups and organizations
- A local Black Lives Matter chapter provides financial COVID-19 relief to African-American trans women and Black families impacted by police misconduct or incarceration.
- Interfaith Immigration Coalition creates an action toolkit to raise awareness about issues facing aspiring Americans and to take action in support of them.
- The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance creates a resource document with actions individuals can take to address the recent anti-Asian violence and uplift AAPI communities.
- “Immigration is a Black Issue,” a short film by director Joyce Louis-Jean in collaboration with RAICES, is nominated for a Shorty Award.
- The Brennan Center for Justice seeks transparency about police departments’ use of social media monitoring and files public records requests in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, and Baltimore.
- Voting rights groups in GA launch a billboard campaign asking corporations like Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and Home Depot to oppose state legislation that restricts voting rights
News with heart
- Calvin and Tina Carter pledge $15 million in student financial aid to Morgan State University, a record setting gift for HBCUs.
- Andrew Yazzie, Navajo and NASA engineer, names Mars’s landmarks in the Navajo language.
- Edward Alonso Castillo is released from ICE detention after nearly two months.
- National Women’s Soccer League player Megan Rapinoe writes an op-ed in support of transgender students’ right to play school sports on the team that affirms their gender.
- Nintendo games Splatoon 3 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons utilize gender inclusive characters.
- Tom Ammiano, 79, finally receives the varsity letter he earned at 16 and was denied due to his identity.
- Frank Rothwell, 70, rows solo across the Atlantic, becoming the oldest person to accomplish the feat and raising more than £640K for Alzheimer’s Research UK in the process.
- Maia Chaka is named an NFL referee, becoming the first Black woman and only the second woman ever to officiate for the league.
- The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announces that Korean War Medal of Honor recipient Army Chaplain (Capt.) Emil Joseph Kapaun has been accounted for.
- Yo-Yo Ma plays an impromptu performance at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
- Stacey Abrams is awarded The Social Justice Impact Award by BET Networks for her work expanding voting access.
- Restaurant owner Steve Chu travels six hours to visit a terminally ill customer and make her a fresh batch of her favorite broccoli tempura.
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Housekeeping
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I love the new format!
thank you for consolidating responses to our representatives! thank you all for this site. I was also wondering if you could help us stay informed about how we can be effective with our state issues or direct me to the best method
Love the new format!
Love the new format.
Thanks for making everything so easy for us.
Keep up the good work.
Am mailing a small check as a thank you for your great efforts.