126 weeks down, 81 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.
I value kindness, fairness, and equality.
With respect and collaboration, we work to create a nation that welcomes all people, expands freedoms, and upholds the Constitution.
▢ Action 1: Engage your elected officials at town hall meetings this week.
Call: Your one House rep and two senators’ local offices on Monday (look up).
Script: Hi. I’m a constituent from [ZIP]. Can you tell me when [NAME] is holding town hall meetings in [TOWN] during recess this week?
— If no meetings planned, add: It’s important for [NAME] to meet with their constituents. Can you let me know when they plan to hold the next town hall?
— If meetings planned: Thank you! I plan to be there.
▢ Action 2: Advocate for children experiencing homelessness. [h/t School House Connect]
Call: Your House rep (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m calling from [ZIP] to express my concern that young people experiencing homelessness are falling through the cracks of HUD’s definitions and data. The bipartisan Homeless Children and Youth Act would address these flaws and make HUD programs more responsive to local conditions. Can I count on name to sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 2001?
▢ Action 3: Advocate with your LGBTQ neighbors for equal protection. [h/t Human Rights Campaign]
Call: Your two senators and one House rep (look up).
Script: Hi. I’m calling from [ZIP] to support the Equality Act. Right now my LGBTQ neighbors are vulnerable to being legally fired, evicted, and denied services without recourse. A coalition of CEOs has endorsed the this legislation which would extend protections to all Americans. Can I count on [NAME] to co-sponsor S. 788/H.R 5?
▢ Action 4: Support the liberty of your disabled neighbors. [h/t ADAPT]
Call: Your one House rep and two senators (look up).
Script: Hi. I’m calling from [ZIP] to support the right of disabled people to receive long-term care services at home rather than an institution. I’m asking [name] to co-sponsor the bipartisan Disability Integration Act (H.R. 555/S.117) so decision-making rests with those needing care. Thank you.
▢ Action 5: Support fairer elections with a comprehensive solution: HB 1.
Call: Your two senators (look up).
Script: Hi. I’m from [ZIP], and I value fair and accessible voting. Stacking districts prevents fair representation in Congress. We must also stop corporate money from deciding elections over the will of the people. Now that H.R. 1 has passed in the House, can I count on [NAME] to support voting fairness?
▢ Action 6: Support fairer elections with ranked-choice voting. [h/t FairVote]
Look up: Does your state have pending legislation on ranked-choice voting (RCV)?
If yes: Write or email your two state legislators (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m a constituent from [ZIP], concerned about how [STATE]’s elections can better represent its residents. Properly implemented, ranked-choice voting guarantees that the winner of an election always gets a majority of the popular vote, instead of merely a plurality. This would make the electoral college system fairer to all constituents. I am asking you to support ranked-choice voting legislation in [STATE]’s elections. Thank you.
If no, donate: Make a tax-deductible donation to FairVote.org.
▢ Action 7: Support equal representation in presidential elections. [h/t Equal Votes]
EqualVotes.us has filed lawsuits to oppose states’ nonrepresentational, winner-take-all method of allocating electoral college votes and will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court.
Donate: To EqualVotes.us
▢ Action 8: End the practice of drawing district lines that alienate voters. [h/t Brennan Center]
Call: If you don’t live in AZ, CA, CO, ID, MI, MO, OH, UT, or WA, write your two state legislators: (look up).
Script: Hi. I’m from [ZIP] and I’m writing about gerrymandering. My concern is that districts drawn by legislatures discourage competition, protect incumbents, and alienate constituents. I want to gerrymandering to end. Can you tell me what you are doing to support independent commissions to oversee redistricting? (NY and CO: Can you tell me what you’re doing to make sure the independent commission’s decision is final and not subject to overrule by the legislature?)
Bonus: If you do live in AZ, CA, CO, ID, MI, MO, OH, UT or WA, write your two state legislators (look up) to thank them for ensuring that your voice is heard by using independent commissions for redistricting.
▢ Action 9: Support religious tolerance and welcome toward new Americans. [h/t ACLU, NILC, Muslim Advocates, NWLC]
Call: Your one House rep and two senators (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m calling from [ZIP] to support religious tolerance and welcome toward new Americans. The NO BAN Act would repeal the president’s Muslim, asylum, and refugee bans—and limit the authority used enact them. This administration’s anti-immigrant agenda is un-American and must be addressed by Congress. Can I count on [NAME] to co-sponsor this new bill (H.R. 810/S. 246).
▢ Action 10: Support greater oversight of ICE. [h/t Latino Rebels]
Call: Your one House rep (look up).
Script: Hi. I’m from [ZIP] and I’m calling to express my support for greater oversight of DHS and ICE. For too long, these agencies have been acting independently to harm communities and violate constitutional rights. I would like [NAME] to support and cosponsor H.R. 2203. Thank you.
▢ Action 11: Advocate for the release of a Somali man with tuberculosis . [h/t BAJI]
Abdikadir Mohamed, who is from Somalia, was detained on arrival in the U.S. in December 2017, and has been separated from his wife and two children (all U.S. citizens) ever since.
Call: Deportation officer Teresa Violano, 908-282-5714.
Script: Hi. I’m a concerned citizen calling for the immediate release of Abdikadir (ab-di-ka-dir) Mohamed. His A-number is 065-868-710. He has been diagnosed with tuberculosis and is not receiving the medical attention he needs. He poses no threat and is not a flight risk.
Bonus: Email info@undocublack.org if you get a response.
Acts of Gratitude
Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.
Thank Oprah Winfrey for donating $2 million to Puerto Rico to aid recovery and cultural revitalization after Hurricane Maria. [Share what supporting Puerto Rico means to you].
Address: Oprah Winfrey Network, 1041 N Formosa Ave, West Hollywood, California 90046
Thank Brian Moynihan, Bank of America CEO, for raising its minimum wage to $17, freezing health care costs for lower-wage workers, and raising minimum wage to $20 in the two years. [Share why this matters to you.]
Address: 100 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28255
Thank Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) for introducing a bill (H.R.2203) that would increase oversight of ICE and DHS. [Share why civil and human rights matter to you.]
Address: 221 N. Kansas Street, Suite 1500, El Paso, TX 79901
Good news
Decent people everywhere are speaking up and working together. Just look. #GoodNews
National
- Ruling: Asylum seekers must receive a bond hearing within seven days of requesting one.
- Ruling: Cities cannot criminalize homelessness.
- Ruling: Court issues a preliminary injunction ending the practice of sending asylum seekers back to Mexico to wait for their case to be heard.
- House votes to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act and close the “boyfriend loophole.”
- Senators urge administration to ease policy on detaining pregnant migrants.
- A new lawsuit spotlights illegal donations to the president’s campaign by GEO Group, the government contractor imprisoning immigrants.
State
- CA: National Guard leader plans to use exceptions and waivers to continue to welcome transgender service members.
- MA joins 15 other states, D.C., and Puerto Rico in banning conversion “therapy” for LGBTQ youth.
Local
- Private companies invest in stability to help Denver break the homelessness-jail cycle.
- Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, and Bergen County, NJ, develop innovative, home-grown solutions to address homelessness.
- After the Washington Post published an article humanizing one couple’s experience with homelessness, the public responded to support them.
- After an audit by LA Police Dept. inspector general, LA Police Chief will discontinue a program that purports to use data to predict which individuals are more likely to commit violent crimes.
Corporate/business
- Bank of America raises minimum wage to $17 effective May 1st, freezes health care costs for lower-wage workers, and raises its minimum wage to $20 in the next two years.
Groups and organizations
- Social change organizations are bringing communities inside writers’ rooms.
- Define American works with Hollywood TV writers to portray more accurate immigrant storylines.
- Rio Bravo Comics released “El Peso Hero: Borderland” the first comic book narrative featuring the realities of unaccompanied children in detention facilities.
- ACLU files a lawsuit in CA asking to block the administration from building border wall using funds obtained through national emergency declaration.
News with heart
- Men on death row create community and work together to end the death penalty.
- Atlanta’s Dignity Museum—the first-ever museum dedicated to homelessness—works to build empathy between its visitors and the homeless community.
- Yo-Yo Ma will perform on the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge, calling attention to how much unites American and Mexican culture.
- American Corbin Kunst and Mexican Jamie Marrufo slack-lined across the border between the U.S. and Mexico to highlight “connection, trust, and … common passion”.
- Dolores Huerta, Mexican-American activist, was honored in CA for her leadership in the farm workers’ movement.
- See more good news at Women in the World, Small Victories, Good Black News, and What Went Right.
Please share the AoC Checklist this week!
Know someone who could use some good news and clear actions? Please share!
Post a tweet: When times are hard, sometimes its enough to simply do “small things with great love.” https://americansofconscience.com/4-14-19/
Post on Facebook: When times are hard, sometimes its enough to simply do “small things with great love.” Here’s one good way to do that: https://americansofconscience.com/4-14-19/
Print: The Americans of Conscience Checklist flyer and share at in-person events.
Housekeeping
- Sign up: Get the weekly Americans of Conscience Checklist here.
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- Gratitude: Big thanks to JEB and the Production Team, our Social Media volunteers, Research Sous Chefs, and Team Captains. Thanks also to the amazing angel patrons whose support makes it all possible.
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Thanks for doing this and reminding us that small acts count. (We sometimes feel so impotent). I wrote emails to my two state legislators this morning about ranked voting and made a donation to Equal Votes.
Thanks for the weekly reminder
Thank you so much for letting us know you took action, Danielle! I sometimes share the feeling that the effort is a drop in the bucket, but then I remember just how many drops we all represent–and that’s no small thing! Remember to take good care of yourself and get hugged. You’re not alone!
I so appreciate what you do. So don’t get me wrong. But when I started getting your emails – it was saying – simple action of the week or something like that. And I figured I could handle one or two simple things. But instead it seems like it’s always a whole lift of things and it just feels so overwhelming and then I end up not taking any action at all.
I so hear you. We wish we didn’t have an administration doing so much to violate basic freedoms. If you’re looking for a simpler (tho solidly blue) list of actions, I (Jen) recommend checking out Wall of Us.
Thank you so much for your work every week. I have been doing as much of the Checklist as I possibly can for many months (have my representatives on speed dial) and I especially love the work of Acts of Gratitude. This is what has kept me grounded and grateful since 2016. Thank you, thank you!
At times when I’m feeling weary and my motivation is flagging a bit, here comes this marvelous checklist that moves me to act even when the action is small. Plus it has motivated me to get on board with some efforts afoot in my state in the next two weeks. This week, I can do almost all of the numbered actions (but want read more about a couple of issues first), send some thank you notes, and donate to Resistbot, my go-to for reaching out to my elected officials in DC. I love Sunday afternoons with this list! Thank you for all your efforts.
Thank you for being a life raft in this sea of political anxiety. I am a patron and have I increased my contribution amount twice. For my niece’s first birthday I contributed a voter ID in her honor instead of sending a gift. Her mother was thrilled. I write the thank you postcards every week. I make as many calls as possible and as a Florida voter it’s a difficult process. Thank you from my place of deepest gratitude for the clear directions on how to contribute. I am almost 70. Please continue to help me fight for your future.
I completed all the action items, except for action 1. When I called Teresa in action 11, no-one answered (probably because I called on Sunday). Her voicemail said I was unable to leave a message because her mailbox was full (I’m taking this as a good sign). Can try calling another day or if we know the mailing address, would be happy to send a letter by mail. Thanks so much for the incredible effort and teamwork putting together this checklist. Sincerely, Jacob
I got the mailbox full message too and couldn’t find a mailing address. But when I googled Teresa’s name I did find a petition I could sign – you might want to try that if you haven’t seen it already.
Susan, thanks very much for letting me know. I just signed the petition re: action 11. Here is the link to the petition for anyone else who wants to sign to help free Abdikadir Mohamed: https://iam.colorofchange.org/petitions/bring-abdi-home-freeabdi
Thank you so much for putting out this list. It helps to know that I am doing a little something to fight the awful things that the president is doing. I sent emails to my representatives to ask them to support the Homeless Children and Youth Act, the Equality Act, the NO BAN Act and H.R. 2203 ( bill for greater oversight of DHS and ICE). Thanks again for all of your efforts. They are appreciated.
Dear Staff,
You said it yourself in today’s intro:”we would be most helpful to this administration if we simply shut down and shut up. The truth is the story (and its outcome) are still unfolding. It is premature to decide that small steps are futile. We must give history a chance to be written through us. ”
What you do is genius: I copy stuff into a document, print it, and follow it through the week. I cannot do everything, but I choose the actions I care about the most. I save the “acts of gratitude” for last, like dessert. I have taken to cutting up my watercolor studies, and making them into “Thank-you!” or “Listen Up!”cards: a 35-cent stamp is all I need to send it off, and surely, someone sees that unusual post card and reads it, and maybe sends it on to its addressee. Your research gives me the backbone to be an American of conscience and your careful documentation gives me heart. I only have to provide the muscle to do what you inspire (I realize this is a very simple organism I’ve described, but it’s sturdy and self-generating). Keep on keeping’ on!!
AoC:)
I just read a biography of Fred Rogers and what he advised, in dark times, was to “look for the helpers. There are always helpers.” All of you who work on this checklist are the helpers for so many of the rest of us who are looking for hope and for ways we too can help. How many actions I can take on any given week varies (I’m an old woman), but I always manage to at least do SOMEthing, sometimes many things on the list. Without you, I would find it much harder to know what to do and I would lose the precious sense of how many of us are trying to shine small lights in the darkness – not much one at a time, but together quite a blaze. Thank you for all you do!
Thank you so much, I just did all the actions except #1. The work you do here is really empowering and a powerful way for me to connect. I was feeling so overwhelmed and like I can’t do enough to make a difference last night and this morning, so getting this message meant the world to me, and helped me take these actions to engage. Thank you thank you thank you. I am sharing the checklist on social media too. <3
I live in MN, so I also called Rep. Collin Peterson to call him out for putting the NRA over the lives of women and being the only democracy to vote against the Violence Against Women Act… appalling. I'm not in his district, but I hope it at least makes an impact on the staffer who hears the message.
Today my sweetie and I celebrated our anniversary, and part of our celebration was doing some of the action items on the list! We emailed our state legislators to support fairer elections with ranked-choice voting and end the practice of drawing district lines that alienate voters. We also wrote gratitude postcards, all three of them.
Thank you to Jen and all the volunteers for the list!
Our small but mighty postcard group has been meeting once a week since the last presidential election. We meet to write, drink and share a meal each and every week for almost two years now. We all use your checklist knowing the research and validation done by you and your indomitable team of volunteers is top shelf. By the end of our evening, everything has been checked off and some completed by many of us. You give us the inspiration to keep going week after week. Thank you!
I use the checklist not only to do my own actions, but also as a jumping-off point for a list I create of national, state, and local issues with actions for a local group of senior citizens to use to make phone calls and write post cards and letters. Last week alone, your list was the impetus for over 50 postcards and letters and about 18 phone calls. Your work matters!
Susan, your organization of a network of seniors is inspiring to me.
Thank you so much for your inspiring words in your April 14th post. It was exactly what I needed to hear to help me muster the energy to continue engaging. It is hard to stay focused and hard to remain vocal when so many different issues are crashing down around us. I shared links to your post and check list on FB (and will soon share with my five Twitter followers ; ). I have set my alarm to leave my desk in an hour to participate in a rally at my Senator’s office. This morning I donated to a cause outside of my normal donation network. I am thinking about ways I can more directly help refugees and people who are homeless in my community. As soon as I hit send on this comment, I will communicate with a community volunteer to sign up to be a door knocker for our May elections. These are all things I’ve been “meaning to do,” but have not actually done until reading your post on Sunday and being reminded that each of these small actions matters. I continue to reflect on your words, “Let history be written through us.” Thank you for this. I will use your checklist as a guide for further actions I can take in the coming week.
Can’t leave a message for Action 11 because the users inbox was full. Please let us know if there is another way to contact her. Thanks!
Sarah, in regards to action item 11, Susan Katz found a petition to help free Abdikadir Mohamed. Here is the link: https://iam.colorofchange.org/petitions/bring-abdi-home-freeabdi
I just signed this petition to free Abikadir Mohamed. They are only 18 signatures shy of their goal of 2000 names!
I completed 5 actions on my lunch break today and am so thankful for all of your hard work in putting this compilation together each week! It makes it so much easier to stay engaged, encouraged, and active in our democracy and I look forward to completing more actions this week!
Thank you AOCC for the big things you do with great love! I used Resistbot to do actions 2-9. 10 & 11 are pending…
I wrote letters this morning to my two state legislatures regarding gerrymandering. And I received a personal email from one of them immediately after writing.
Sincerely,
Deborah
I wrote to my senators and representative regarding the No Ban Act. As a daughter of two hardworking immigrant Americans, issues of immigration really hit close to my heart. I am trying to be a better human and a better American by implementing at least one of the items on the checklist each week. I know I can do better, and right now I’m working on consistency with at least 1. Working my way from there, so I appreciate what you and your team do to make people like me more conscious of what we can do for our country. So thank you.
Some weeks I can do several actions, some weeks none, some weeks one or two. But I am always grateful the the list, and to the hard work that goes into it. Today I have called my Representative to support H.R.2203, and first tried calling for action 11, then signed the petition linked in these responses. I also just finished a Thank You postcard for Oprah. I’m hoping to finish others before the week is through.
Thanks so much for continuing to raise up all the social justice needs and corresponding actions we can take. I did things that fit into several of your categories. One area that is not mentioned that I spent considerable time and money on this week is climate change. It is such an overriding issue. If we do not seriously address it starting quickly and significantly over the next 10 years, we are facing a catastrophic future.
We agree. We’re thankful that so many incredible organizations are (and have been) covering actions that address this pressing issue.
Thanks for all your good work! I contacted my rep about HR 2001. 🙂
I too signed the petition for Abdi, and took action on #s 2-6, 8, and 9. I am an inconsistent responder, but without the AoC I would be doing zero. I so appreciate everyone’s hard work month after month, and Jen’s encouraging yet realistic messages. Including the Acts of Gratitude and Good News sections is a genius idea — I always look forward to them. Thanks to you all!
This week I completed actions 6, 8, and 9. I so appreciate the work that you and your team does so that all of us can make a difference. Thank you.
Hi. This week I did 2-5 and wrote letters to all the gratitude people. Thank you so much for doing this each week!!!