Americans of Conscience Checklist: Week of July 19, 2020

192 weeks down, 15 weeks to the presidential election.

The AoC Checklist features clear, well-researched actions for Americans who value democracy, equality, voting, and respect. To stay engaged through challenging times, we practice gratitude, self-care, and celebration.

Inspiring message from Jen Hofmann

 

 

 

 

 

I value democracy.

If you believe that every American should be able to cast a ballot easily, securely, and safely this November, here’s where to take action:

AoCC’s July Voting Project Checklist

 

Acts of Gratitude

Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.

Thank Gov. Jared Polis (D–CO) for pushing for a reexamination of Elijah McCain’s death while in police custody. [Share why accountability is important to you.]

Address: State Capitol Building, 200 E. Colfax Ave., Rm. 136, Denver, CO 80203

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Thank Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D–AZ) for expanding early voting opportunities in Hispanic and Latinx, Native American, and rural communities. [Share why accessible voting is important to you.]

Address: Arizona Secretary of State, 1700 W Washington St. Fl 7, Phoenix, AZ 85007

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Thank the Asheville, NC City Council for voting to provide reparations to Black residents and their descendents. [Share why making amends for slavery are important to you.]

Address: P.O. Box 7148, Asheville, NC 28802

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Good news

Decent people everywhere are speaking up and working together. Just look. #GoodNews

National

• As a result of public pushback, the administration rescinds a policy barring international college students from remaining in the U.S. if they enroll exclusively in online courses at U.S. schools.
• SCOTUS rules Manhattan’s chief prosecutor can access the president’s business records and tax returns.
• The Muscogee (Creek) Nation have their sovereignty reaffirmed in SCOTUS ruling regarding criminal proceedings.
• House files an amicus brief in support of Chicago’s challenge to the administration for not providing a special ACA enrollment period in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Federal court rules that a lawsuit over the administration’s discriminatory denial of stimulus checks to certain aspiring American parents of U.S. citizen children can proceed.
• 81 Representatives demand the administration end attacks on asylum system and affirm nation’s moral responsibility to offer refuge to people fleeing violence and persecution.
• Mary W. Jackson, NASA’s first African American female engineer, is honored by NASA, which will rename its headquarters building in D.C. after her.
• Circuit Court restores administrative closure, an immigration judges’ tool ensuring that aspiring Americans in removal proceedings can get fair hearings.
• House caucus adds a diversity rule to encourage members to prioritize diversity and inclusion in hiring practices. 

 

State

• AZ: Secretary of State’s office will expand early voting opportunities in Hispanic and Latinx, Native American, and rural communities.
• CA will release up to 8,000 people from prison in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
• CO Supreme Court unanimously upholds the state’s ban on large-capacity gun magazines.
• CO bans the so-called “panic defense,” prohibiting defendants from blaming their violent actions on victims’ LGBTQ identities.
• GA and TN: Court blocks restrictions on abortion in the two states that had banned the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.
• MA will send all registered voters an application for mail ballots for upcoming fall elections.
• MD: Court suspends a rule requiring in-person visits to doctors’ offices to access medication abortions, finding the requirement imposes a “substantial obstacle” to abortion during a pandemic.
• MT: Court blocks a state law that would have restricted voting access for Native American populations.
• OR includes the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative on the November ballot, aimed to reduce arrests and incarceration.
• RI: Gov. Gina Raimondo signs an executive order removing “and Providence Plantations” from official state documents and websites to eliminate associations with slavery.
• RI residents can now select a gender-neutral designation on IDs and driver’s licenses.
• VA: Gov. Ralph Northam signs extensive gun safety legislation into law.

 

Local

• Asheville, NC, acknowledging its historic role in slavery and discrimination, approves reparations for Black residents and their descendents, with plans for investments in areas where Black residents face disparities.
• Boston bans the use of face surveillance technology by the city government.
• Dallas County declares racism a public health crisis.
• Denver pilots a program in which 911 dispatchers send mental health professionals and paramedics to callers in mental health-related distress of a police officer.
• Johnson County, IA will send all voters absentee ballot requests for the November election.
• Lake County, FL recruits enough election workers to operate a safe August primary election amid COVID-19.
• On July 11, NYC reports its first day without a coronavirus-related death since March 11.
• Providence, RI removes Christopher Columbus statue, citing the violence he committed against Native Americans.
• 65% of people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco move into hotels or other safe sleeping sites.
• Washington, D.C. residents incarcerated with felony convictions regain their right to vote with the passage of the Restore the Vote Amendment.
• Washington, D.C. passes a measure to gradually raise tipped workers’ minimum wage to match that of non-tipped workers.

 

Corporate/business

• Facebook prohibits hate speech in its advertisements.
• Walmart turns 160 of its parking lots into drive-in theaters for pandemic-safe moviegoing.
• Netflix commits to move $100 million of its assets to lenders that serve Black communities.
• Netflix C.E.O. Reed Hastings donates millions to historically Black colleges.
• Due to the pandemic, seven Ivy League schools drop SAT and ACT scores from admission requirements for the 2020-2021 school year.
• CVS, Kohl’s, Kroger, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart require customers and staff to wear masks at stores nationwide to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

 

Groups and organizations

• Disability Inclusion Fund awards $210,000 in pandemic response grants to 15 organizations working to support the needs of people with disabilities.
• The World Health Organization supports the UN’s declaration of the need for universal health coverage.
• Immigration judges union sues the DOJ over restrictions on judges’ free speech regarding speaking or writing about their work in a personal capacity.
• New York’s Gender and Family Project supports thriving trans and non-binary children by providing guidance and resources to kids and their families.
• The Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) facilitates conversations about community and restorative justice within diverse communities of color.
• Permanent resident applicants, their sponsors, and immigration and civil rights groups sue the administration over arbitrary “public charge” regulations.
• Mutual aid network Los Angeles Community Fridges assists in setting up community-run fridges for those in need to access food.

 

News with heart

• Jonathan Irons, with assistance from athlete Maya Moore, gains his freedom after a judge overturned his conviction from 22 years ago.
• An unaccompanied youth is released from detention into the care of a sponsor family, rather than being transferred to an adult ICE facility upon turning 18.
• Photographer Dario Calmese shoots a Vanity Fair cover featuring Viola Davis, becoming the first Black photographer to shoot a cover for the magazine.
• Valentina Sampaio models for Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, becoming the first trans model to be included in the magazine’s photography.
• Billy Porter features on the cover of Essence, becoming the magazine’s first openly gay cover star. 
• Athlete Kyrie Irving produces “#SAYHERNAME: Breonna Taylor,” a TV special examining police brutality as it relates to Black women.
• Douglass Washington Morris II, Isidore Dharma Douglass Skinner, Zoë Douglass Skinner, Alexa Anne Watson, and Haley Rose Watson, all descendants of Frederick Douglass, deliver his “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech.
• The highest percentage of Americans in Gallup polling history support increased immigration to the U.S.
• The number of incarcerated individuals in the U.S. decreases by 8% amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• Local musicians Carly Prentis Jones and Shana Tucker play music in downtown Raleigh while the city removes the remains of a statue of a Confederate soldier.
• Henry Sowells, 16, donates the proceeds from selling his hand-made wooden furniture to a local nonprofit aiding people experiencing homelessness.
• Nancy Connor brightens her neighborhood by building a stuffed animal zoo in her front yard.
• Comedian Kristina Wong’s Auntie Sewing Squad sews and donates 60,000 masks to vulnerable populations (among other neighborly good deeds).
• Women in Switzerland organize a mass scream during a nationwide protest against domestic violence and gender inequality.

See more good news at Women in the World, Small Victories, Good Black News, and What Went Right.

 

Housekeeping

• Sign up: Get the weekly Americans of Conscience Checklist here.
• Get inspired: Complete the Self-Care Worksheet.
• Stay focused: Complete the Action Worksheet (or Kelly Wooten’s artistic version). 
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• Gratitude: Big thanks to JEB and the Production Team, Social Media volunteers, Research teams, and to the amazing angel patrons who make it possible.

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