Americans of Conscience Checklist: Week of April 4, 2021

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

Look up your senators here.

Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Sen. [NAME] to:

Look up your House representative here.

Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Rep. [NAME] to:

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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

• Jen’s message: Read this week’s Inspiring Message.
• Gratitude: Big thanks to our editor Jennifer Brunton, to our team of writers and researchers, and to our happy gnome farm of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram volunteers. Thanks also to our amazing patrons and donors who make creating the Checklist sustainable.
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