70 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 2: Convert a school bus to deliver food justice to rural Georgia.
- Action 1: Prevent 4,500 people from being forcibly returned to prison in July.
- Call your senators
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: Prevent 4,500 people from being forcibly returned to prison in July.
- Action 2: Convert a school bus to deliver food justice to rural Georgia.
- Action 3: Advocate with Indigenous peoples to respect treaties and tribal sovereignty.
- Action 4: Support people unemployed during the ongoing pandemic.
- 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
Check the box that you called–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Calling your senators’ staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you. They don’t mind, but be sure to call both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
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 about several issues. I’d like Sen. [NAME] to:
- Support an increase in SNAP benefits before pandemic aid expires in October to ensure millions of participants can afford a healthy diet. [Source: Center on Budget]
- Support funding for affordable housing in the upcoming infrastructure package and encourage other senators to do the same. [Source: National Alliance to End Homelessness]
- Support and pass the American Jobs Act to drive equitable infrastructure recovery with new jobs and climate action. [Source: NRDC]
- Urge President Biden to welcome aspiring Americans and refugees with dignity, and end Title 42 expulsions and other barriers to protection. [Source: Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project]
- Pass the House-approved NO BAN Act (S. 1891) to limit the ability of future presidents to issue sweeping bans on immigration based on national origin or religion. [Source: SAALT]
- Pass the Equality Act (S. 788) to ensure federal LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections. [Source: One Click Politics]
- Support the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act (S. 312) to expand compassionate release opportunities, including consideration for COVID-19 vulnerability, for imprisoned elderly or terminally ill individuals. [Source: The Sentencing Project]
- Support the First Step Implementation Act (S. 1014) to reduce needlessly long prison sentences. [Source: The Sentencing Project]
- Co-sponsor the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act (S. 2052) to protect privacy and constitutional rights. [Source: Brennan Center]
Call your House representative
Check the box that you called–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Calling your representative’s staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you. They don’t mind, but be sure to call both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
Look up your House representative here.
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 about several issues. I’d like Rep. [NAME] to:
- Support an increase in SNAP benefits before pandemic aid expires in October to ensure millions of participants can afford a healthy diet. [Source: Center on Budget]
- Support funding for affordable housing in the upcoming infrastructure package and encourage other representatives to do the same. [Source: National Alliance to End Homelessness]
- Support and pass the American Jobs Act to drive equitable infrastructure recovery with new jobs and climate action. [Source: NRDC]
- Urge President Biden to welcome aspiring Americans and refugees with dignity, and end Title 42 expulsions and other barriers to protection. [Source: Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project]
- Co-sponsor the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act (H.R. 3907) to protect privacy and constitutional rights. [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: Prevent 4,500 people from being forcibly returned to prison in July.
Source: FAMM
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Call: the DOJ hotline: 888-998-4769.
Script: Hi, I’m calling from [ZIP] to join bipartisan members of Congress in urging the Attorney General to rescind the previous administration’s Office of Legal Counsel memo that will return thousands of people on CARES Act home confinement to prison when the Covid emergency ends. The memo is wrong, and forcing people to return to prison will endanger them and destabilize families that rely on having their loved ones home. Please ensure that people on home confinement can safely complete their sentences at home. Thank you.
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 2: Convert a school bus to deliver food justice to rural Georgia.
Sources: A Better Way Grocers & AoCC
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
We are honored and excited to announce a new collaboration with our friends in southwest Georgia. A Better Way Grocers has an ambitious campaign to convert a bigger school bus into a “one-aisle grocery store” to deliver fresh food and food justice to people in rural SW GA. A generous angel is matching every dollar we donate up to $10,000. Will you chip in?
Donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/driving-food-justice-into-swga
Action 3: Advocate with Indigenous peoples to respect treaties and tribal sovereignty.
Sources: Indigenous Environmental Network, 350.org, Climate Justice Alliance
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write or Call: President Biden at whitehouse.gov/contact or via the White House comment line: (202) 456-1111.
Script: Hello, I’m contacting you from [STATE] to oppose the harmful Line 3 pipeline. The construction of this pipeline, like the Keystone XL pipeline and the Formosa Plastics plant, would be both environmentally damaging and in direct conflict with existing treaties. I’m asking President Biden to prioritize environmental justice by stopping construction on this and other fossil fuel-based projects, and instead investing in fossil-free energy.
Donate: To the Red Lake Treaty Camp Legal Fund via Venmo or PayPal to support those advocating for environmental justice. [Source: IEN]
Action 4: Support people unemployed during the ongoing pandemic.
Source: MomsRising
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Call: Your governor (look up). Check here to see if your governor is withholding additional $300 in monthly unemployment benefits.
Script: Hi. I’m from [ZIP] and I’m calling to urge you to continue to issue $300 in monthly federal unemployment benefits as the pandemic continues. These benefits especially support women of color and their families, many of whom were pushed out of the workforce during the pandemic due to a lack of child care, and removing this benefit will only harm these struggling families. Please reinstate (or continue paying) the $300 payments. Thank you.
Acts of Gratitude
Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.
Tell Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley why you are grateful to him for speaking out in favor of the study of critical race theory in the U.S. military.
Address: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 9999 Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, DC 20318
Tell Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco why you are grateful to her for starting a task force to address threats against election officials and for directing U.S. Attorneys and the FBI to prioritize those threats.
Address: U.S. Dept. of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20530
Tell the MI Senate Oversight Committee why you are grateful to them for affirming the security and legitimacy of the 2020 election.
Address: ℅ Committee Chair Sen. Ed McBroom, P.O. Box 30036, Lansing, MI 48909
Good News
Decent people everywhere are speaking up and working together. Just look. #GoodNews
National
- Senate approves a bipartisan bill to help farmers, ranchers, and foresters institute eco-friendly practices.
- In a bipartisan vote, the House votes to repeal the 2002 Iraq War Powers Resolution, which granted authority to President Bush to invade Iraq without Congress’s approval.
- SCOTUS upholds the Affordable Care Act for the third time.
- SCOTUS declines to hear an appeal of Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, thus upholding the lower court’s ruling that transgender students’ right to use the bathroom aligning with their gender is protected under Title IX.
- SCOTUS upholds a lower court’s decision that the NCAA violated antitrust laws by limiting education-related aid for student athletes.
- Aspiring Americans deported for missing their asylum court dates while forced to remain in Mexico under “MPP” will have a second chance to claim asylum.
- DOJ restores asylum eligibility to domestic violence victims and families targeted by violent gangs.
- DOJ files challenges against trans-discriminating policies in athletics and healthcare in WV and AR, respectively.
- DOJ sues the state of GA over newly-passed voting restrictions.
- Dept. of Ed. includes students’ gender identity and sexual orientation under Title IX protections.
- Due to the ongoing pandemic, the CDC extends its eviction moratorium through July 2021.
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau restricts mortgage servicers from foreclosing on homeowners behind on their payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Dept. of the Interior launches an investigation into 19th- and 20th-century boarding schools that violently forced Native American children to assimilate to white European-American culture.
- DEA allows providers to operate mobile methadone clinics to better reach underserved areas.
- EPA devotes $50 million in funding to help low-income and communities of color most impacted by climate change, pollution, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Pulse Nightclub is designated a national memorial.
State
- CA will pay off all past-due rent accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- CT residents on parole regain their voting rights under a new bill.
- IL bans privately operated immigration detention centers and stops local police from participating in federal immigration enforcement.
- IL passes legislation increasing curbside voting, establishing permanent vote-by-mail registries, strengthening cybersecurity standards, and establishing polling locations at local county jails, among other measures.
- MI: The results of an investigation led by the state’s GOP affirm that the 2020 election was conducted fairly and legitimately.
- MN: Incarcerated people who are pregnant or give birth during their sentences have the option to receive pre- and post-natal care in community-based prison alternatives.
- NV passes bills mandating lactation rooms at courthouses; providing free menstrual products provided by public schools; and allowing pharmacies to dispense birth control without a doctor’s prescription.
- NV: Native leaders work with the NV legislature to pass bills granting fee waivers for Native students at certain NV higher education institutions; banning offensive and discriminatory language and imagery in schools; providing federal and state protection for sacred sites; and more.
- NY: The former president’s personal attorney is suspended from practicing law in New York due to his false statements about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
- WI Supreme Court rejects an attempt to ban absentee ballot drop boxes.
- WI: Gov. Tony Evers signs an executive order to include gender-neutral language options for parents on birth certificates.
- WV: Court grants a temporary restraining order against enforcement of a state bill banning drug harm reduction programs.
Local
- New York City renames 16 parks in honor of Black American luminaries, including Lena Horne, Gwen Ifil, Kwame Ture, and Malcolm X.
Corporate/business
- AP will no longer name suspects in stories about minor crimes in order to minimize harm on suspects’ futures.
Groups and organizations
- CAHOOTS, a mental health crisis service in Eugene, OR, sends a crisis worker and an EMT (rather than police) to people in mental health distress.
- Change Today, Change Tomorrow, a nonprofit assisting Black and marginalized communities in KY, receives a six figure donation from an anonymous donor.
- Southern Poverty Law Center and law firm Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore sue the GA Dept. of Labor over unpaid unemployment benefits and unprocessed claims.
News with heart
- María and her daughter Adelaida reunite four years after being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Ben Jacobs (Osage Nation) and Matt Chandra open Tocabe Indigenous Marketplace, bridging the gap between Indigenous food suppliers and local communities.
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks out in favor of the study of critical race theory in the U.S. military.
- The Council of Europe adopts a resolution condemning anti-LGBTI hate speech and discrimination in Poland while recommending European governments develop national action plans to uphold human rights.
- German soccer stadiums light up in rainbow colors during a Germany-Hungary match in solidarity with Hungary’s LGBTQ community.
- While coming out himself, professional football player Carl Nassib donates $100K (matched by the NFL) to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth.
- Sesame Street introduces Dave and Frank, the series’s first gay married couple, and their daughter Mia.
- One of the original Pride flags designed by Gilbert Baker, thought to be lost for decades, reemerges among the designer’s belongings and is put on display at the GLBT Historical Society.
- The documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution wins a Peabody Award.
- Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to qualify for the games.
- Ons Jabeur wins a Women’s Tennis Association title, becoming the first Arab woman to do so.
- College student Maya Nepos provides care packages to in-need community members with her unused meal plan money.
- Principal Jeff Reaves writes 459 personalized notes to graduating seniors.
To Support the Checklist
The AoC Checklist helps you speak up to create a better democracy for all and is always ad-free and no-cost. Share the Checklist with like-hearted friends and consider becoming a patron.