Blog Archives

11/20/2017 0 Comments

holiday giving (organizations: the list)

Hello all. Happy Thanksgiving! This week's list is slightly different because we wanted to customize it to celebrate everyone's favorite food-based holiday, Thanksgiving. First of all, like Columbus Day, this holiday is rooted in false histories that gloss over oppression of Native Americans. So if that makes your blood boil, or at the very least simmer, check out our Columbus Day Action list.
First off, as the holiday season begins we wanted to share with you a few organizations to AVOID giving money to this holiday season:

The Red Cross- the Red Cross, despite being known as a quintessential American organization, the Red Cross has proven to be a very faulty organization. An example of this: victims of the Haiti earthquake in 2010 have still not received aid from the Red Cross despite lots of money being donated back in '10. Alternative orgs: International Rescue Commission (rescue.org) is a great organization that deals with rescue and relief of refugees; Hispanic Federation (hispanicfederation.org/unidos) is amazing and trustworthy for Hurricane Maria relief)
The Salvation Army- you've seen the Salvation Army Santa Clauses on many street corners, and admittedly, they have some nice thrift stores. But despite their permanent association with the holiday season, the Salvation Army has frequently denied funds to homeless LGBTQ+ people and made their explicit homophobia very very obvious. Alternative orgs: Goodwill and Housing Goods are both great for buying cute thrifted clothing and doing good in the world and a great alternative to buying from Salvation Army; CAMBA is a great organization that does incredible work with hunger and homelessness (camba.org)

Since this marks the beginning of the holiday giving season, we wanted to share the Teens Resist Organization List- a list of organizations that we consider to be incredibly trustworthy and that do amazing work. We consider them worth supporting, listening to and if you have the means, donating to. We'll be featuring mostly social justice organizations, but we will also cover topics like hunger and homelessness.
Donating to and supporting these organizations is imperative, and if you have the means, they will always appreciate (and do amazing things with) the funds. However, there are many other ways to support these causes, many of which you will find on the websites of these organizations, and on our lovely Teens Resist.
Happy holiday season!

important organizations

The Southern Poverty Law Center: The Southern Poverty Law Center is a fantastic organization that deals with racism and prejudice. It has three main branches. Fighting Hate deals with keeping hate groups across the US under control and releasing information that keeps Americans updated about extremist groups. They offer super informative resources like their Hate Map as well as articles that explain major hate groups, and they also train law enforcement to deal with hate crimes in better ways. Teaching Tolerance, another part of their program, creates curriculum for teachers and schools to use across the country that teach diverse history and important lessons to students who may not be receiving that otherwise. Lastly, through Seeking Justice, the SPLC champions important civil rights law cases. They are a group that does very necessary work.
Website: splcenter.org; How to support them: Donations or publicity in your community (check website for more)

The American Civil Liberties Union: Commonly know as the ACLU, this organization does incredible work to protect the individual and collective civil rights of Americans through community outreach & organizing and providing law work on important civil rights cases. Since Trump's election, they've been at the forefront of the resistance and have been involved in numerous cases to help people affected by discriminatory legislation, as well as trying to stop that legislation itself.
Website: aclu.org; How to support them: Donations or visit aclu.org/action for more incredible ways to speak out.

Planned Parenthood: You saw this coming, didn't you? Now over 101 years old, Planned Parenthood has been a leader of women's health for years. They provide prenatal, pregnancy and sexual healthcare and resources to anyone and everyone. Particularly, they provide these services to low income women healthcare services. They also provide birth control and contraceptive resources, cancer screenings, and yes, abortions in most cases. All while maintaining a welcoming and confidential environment. They are an incredibly important organization in this country, and they're also under fire right now.
Website: plannedparenthood.org; How to support them: Donations, march on their behalf, call Congress to oppose defunding or through plannedparenthood.org/getinvolved

Make the Road NY: This is an incredible community-based organization that works to uplift low-income and Latinx communities through "multi-issue, multi-generational organizing," according to their website. They do legal work in helping make sure that the rights of immigrants are upheld and they also work with adult education, organizing and on-the-ground change making. They also protect students and Dreamers fiercely and are at the forefront of the immigration reform movement.
Website: maketheroadny.org; How to support them: Donations and visit maketheroadny.org/participate.php for more.

NILC: The National Immigration Law Center does excellent work upholding immigrants' rights and protecting vulnerable people from deportation. They also have trainings and resources for people to understand their rights.
Website: nilc.org; How to support them: Donations, attending trainings and events- for more, see nilc.org/get-involved

EMILY's List: EMILY's List is an organization that supports and encourages Democratic, pro-choice women to run for office. They (and we) believe that for government to do its best for America, it needs to represent our population and that if more women are elected to office, real change can be made. They fundraise for women candidates and train women to run for office, something we really do need. (Oh, and what does that acronym stand for? "Early Money Is Like Yeast"- it makes the dough rise.)
Website: emilyslist.org; How to support them: donate, attend trainings, sign their petitions and encourage others to run for office (or do so yourself!). For more, see emilyslist.org/pages/get-involved

NAACP's Law Defense Fund: The LDF works on important civil rights cases and does pro-bono law work for people whose rights are being violated in situations where they are in a lesser position of power.
Website: www.naacpldf.org; How to support them: donate or take action (petitions!, etc.) through na acpldf.org/take-action.

Earthjustice: Earthjustice does work as "a lawyer for the planet." They fight legally for people's rights to a safe and protected environment and bring immense awareness to issues like climate change and they work in the courts to stop violations of our Earth from occurring.
Website: earthjustice.org; How to support them: donate, look at petitions and updates on earthjustice.org/action

The 350: One of the best climate change organizations out there, the 350 does amazing work to support activist efforts and avoid detrimental legislation that destroys our planet and creates a desolate future for future generations.
Website: 350.org; How to support them: donate or find opportunities both digital and near you through 350.org/get-involved/

Everytown: Everytown is an organization that fights for gun control and the safety of Americans. They fight to change legislation and propose new bills in order to remember previous horrors of gun violence and prevent future carnage. They've also been very successful many times. They have resources for how to act on issues and learn more about this issue.
Website: everytown.org; How to support them: donate or complete at least one of their 7 Actions You Can Take to Prevent Gun Violencd at everytown.org/act.

CODEPINK: CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots effort to end American wars and militarism and help our planet through green jobs and economy. They do lots of amazing legislative and grassroots work to take control of issues they care about.
Website: codepink.org; How to support them: donate, but there are numerous other ways to support their work (and we mean a lot) through going to their website and looking at "Act Now."

International Rescue Commission: The IRC responds to humanitarian crises to help people who are in danger or peril. They helped 26 million people in 2016. Not only that, but they work to make sure America is a welcoming place for these refugees, and to ensure they can come here at all.
Website: rescue.org; How to support them: donations are incredibly helpful, though they do have a few other ways to help at rescue.org/how-to-help.

Hispanic Federation: The Hispanic Federation is an extremely trustworthy organization that is currently doing work to help victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico through aid and relief.
Website: hispanicfederation.org/unidos; How to support them: donations and buy Almost Like Praying on iTunes!

CAMBA: CAMBA is a food bank and organization that works to aid the homeless in New York City.
Website: camba.org; How to support them: donate to them or to their food drives at camba.org/support.

Human Rights Campaign: HRC is the largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in the country and fights against hate crimes and discriminatory legislation.
Website: hrc.org; How to support them: donations or community outreach

UNICEF: The United Nations Children's Fund fights for the rights of children across the globe, particularly in places where their well-being or education is being threatened.
Website: unicef.org; How to support them: donate or take action by volunteering. More at unicef.org/take-action

The Malala Fund: Founded by Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot for daring to go to school, the Malala Fund builds schools for girls in countries where their educational opportunities are limited, both by resources and their gender. They also build schools in refugee camps for Syrian refugee girls.
Website: malala.org; How to support them: donate or start your own event (like Girls Read for Girls!).

Center for Constitutional Rights: CCRJ uses constitutional law to win civil rights cases, a tactic that will help defeat constitutionalist conservatives in the Supreme Court and Congress.
Website: ccrjustice.org; How to support: donate, get involved in their programs and attend events. More at ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved

Campaign Zero: Built on the basis of stopping police brutality, Campaign Zero uses a set of values and changes to stop police brutality once and for all.
Website: joincampaignzero.org; How to support: donate and look at their resources and information.

Close Rikers: Close Rikers is a New York City grassroots effort to close Rikers Island. Rikers Island is a prison in New York City that has been the culprit of horrifying treatment for a long time. Detaining one person at Rikers costs NYC taxpayers 247,000 per year. 89% of the Rikers population are Black and Latinx. In many of these cases, these prisoners are at Rikers for tiny "broken windows" crimes or their inability to pay bail. In many cases, they have not committed the crimes. Rikers is a system that contributes to the problem of mass incarceration in this country and Close Rikers is trying to shut it down.
Website: closerikers.org; How to support them: donate, join the campaign, tweet @NYCMayor and attend events. More at closerikers.org/take-action.

Arab American Association of NY: The Arab American Association of NY works to uplift Arab American and Arab immigrant communities and advocate against hatred and discrimination in the city.
Website: arabamericanny.org; How to support them: donate or see more opportunities on the website.

NARAL Pro-Choice America: NARAL is an organization that fights for reproductive freedom in the form of birth control and abortion access, paid family leave and the rights of pregnant people. They work on important legislation and community outreach.
Website: prochoiceamerica.org; How to support them: donate or take action using their website.

FWD.us: FWD.us is a bipartisan organization dedicated to keeping America competitive in the global economy by fixing our issues and make progressive change. Currently, they're working hard on immigration reform.
Website: fwd.us; How to support them: use their tools to speak out!

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11/13/2017 0 Comments

victory and viciousness: Nov. 6th- nov. 14th

Hi Teen Resisters! We wanted to start out this week by congratulating you all on the incredible event that was November 7th's election day. Democrats swept the country and we saw the roots of a revolution bud. Especially in Virginia- a state we focused on in recent lists, the elections turnout was amazing. We were particularly excited about our two featured candidates, Danica Roem and Jennifer Carroll Foy getting elected. Danica was the first transgender legislator ever elected, and Jennifer, who was one of the first women to graduate from Virginia Military Institute, gave birth to twins soon after the election. More amazing candidates swept the country, and this was only a local election year. We are so excited for 2018 midterm elections! Before we hop in, we wanted to share a beautiful piece of art portraying some of the amazing new female legislators who were elected (especially because this week's list unfortunately features lots of corrupted, sexist, white male politicians).

Art by Jane Beaird

What went down:

URGENT: Join the ACLU in calling Congress for a clean DREAM Act (super fast and easy): https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/tell-congress-protect-dreamers-and-pass-clean-dream-act-now?emsrc=Nat_Appeal_AutologinEnabled&emissue=immigrantrights&emtype=clicktocall&ms=eml_171114_immigrantrights_DREAMAct&__af=

The New Tax Plan: We know this isn't the most interesting topic ever, but hear us out. Two weeks ago, on November 2nd, Paul Ryan unveiled the Republican tax plan for the House of Representatives. Known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it outlines a new tax system that would be greatly damaging to the economic fabric of our nation. It utilizes a form of taxation known as “Trickle-down Economics,” which greatly lessens the tax rates on corporations and the upper class, rather than those most in need. Working on the principle that money flows from top to bottom, it assumes that as the rich are taxed less, they will invest more in the economy. In turn, they assume that this boost to the economy will translate to gains for the middle and lower classes. This was tried in both the Reagan and Bush presidencies; none of the effects promised have taken place- it has no grounding in the real world. As corporations increase their profit, rather than investing, they give larger bonuses to executives and higher dividends to investors, while the rich simply keep their money. Not only does it not have any proven benefits to lower-class and struggling citizens, it has failed time and again to support them, only serving to make the rich richer.
Despite trickle-down economics having been disproven time and time again, Republicans in the House of Reps continue to push it as legislation. This is a direct result of not only economic misunderstanding, but also the greed of their conservative constituents. Many corporations know that if trickle-down economic legislation is passed, they will benefit from it; thus, they leverage their donorship with Congresspeople to oblige them to vote for this bill. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would not only fail to support lower class citizens, but would take 1.5 trillion dollars away from the government over a decade. Considering that this bill serves only to seize money from the government and gives it to the rich without any benefit to those less privileged, we must wholeheartedly oppose this destructive legislation.
What you can do: Call your reps and demand they try to block it!
Script: Hi, my name is ______ and I'm calling from _______. I'm calling to ask that you stop the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at all cost. Time and time again, it's been proven that trickle down economics doesn't work, and right now we need to be implementing legislation that directly helps the lower and middle classes. Please do your best to stop this heinous act.
Number: 202-224-3121 (when they ask whether you want senator or rep, say representative)

Art by Lindsay Foyle

CNN

Roy Moore: It's been a pretty overwhelming month-or-so in terms of the outpouring of sexual assault allegations, particularly against men in Hollywood. These men include Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, Roy Price, Dustin Hoffman and James Toback, among many others (including last year's Oscar winner and previously known sexual predator Casey Affleck). It's been disheartening and angering reading the news, and to top it all off, one of the most notable cases of sexual assault this week has been on Roy Moore, a candidate in a special election in Alabama to fill Jeff Session's seat. Last week, the Washington Post reported that when he was in his 30s, Moore pursued sexual relationships with teenagers (the youngest being 14). The article was based on over 30 interviews, including allegations of sexual assault from women who, at the time of the assault, were 14, 16 and 18. Moore denied these allegations profusely, calling the Washington Post "fake news." However, Republicans and Democrats alike are urging Moore to step out of the race and majority leader Mitch McConnell said "I believe the women."
What you can do: Luckily, many in the government have been speaking out against Moore, and there are signs he will step out of the race. However, the same was being said about Donald Trump after the Billy Bush Access Hollywood tapes were released, so we definitely need to be advocating for Moore's opponent, Doug Jones, a lawyer and politician and the Democratic candidate in Alabama (he's recently up in the polls).
Volunteer for Doug Jones (call voters) here.

Roy Moore (courtesy of the Associated Press)

Trump's New Nominee: Trump nominated Alex Azar as the new Secretary of Health and Human services. Trump has recently criticized the high costs of meds in the country and pharmaceutical companies "getting away with murder," before nominating Azar, who has served in high positions in many pharmaceutical companies. Azar is also a longtime conservative and served as a clerk to the late Judge Antonin Scalia. What does that mean? Likely, higher costs for meds and not much progress on healthcare.
What you can do: Call your reps and tell them to block the nomination.
Script: Hi, I’m _____, and I’m calling you from ______ with a very important request. I want Senator _____ to oppose the confirmation of Alex Azar as Secretary of Health and Human Services. I am deeply concerned that Azar's ins with pharmaceutical companies and longtime conservatism will do no good for the health of Americans. Particularly, I am concerned about healthcare and women's health. I expect Senator _____ to protect health all over the country and vote against Azar's confirmation.

Alex Azar (Image courtesy of the Associated Press)

Puppy Vid of the Week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJniMF9pUoQ&t=18s
much love to you all :)

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11/6/2017 0 Comments

turn back the tide: oct. 31st- nov. 7th

Hello Teen Resisters (and Resisters in general). What a week it has been. We're here to fill you in with everything you need to know and do.
Firstly, on November 8th, it will have been a full year since Trump was elected to office. We want to congratulate all of you on getting through this tough year and say that we are so proud of the RESISTANCE that has occurred this year. This is no easy time-- and the passion and fight that have emerged from it are inspiring. So with healing, love and power, we begin.

What went down:

Election Day: We want to start off this week's list by reminding you all that tomorrow (Tuesday, November 7th), is Election Day! Democracy in action! How exciting. We know that a lot of our readers, including ourselves, cannot yet vote (and part of our mission is to help teens make a difference in ways other than voting), but to those who can: we ask that you please vote. And if you know anyone who can vote-- please, please encourage them to vote as well. This year's elections are SUPER important (check out last week's list for more information and ways to act on that in Virginia) and so it's important to vote in ALL your local and state-wide elections. Federal elections aren't all that matter.
Want more info? Check out this great article by Highly Indy Staff Writer Lily Seltz entitled. "Why You Should Care About Local Elections".

Terrorist Attack in Texas: On Sunday, November 5th, during morning church services at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a Texas town near San Antonio, a gunman opened fire. The gunman, Devin Patrick Kelley, killed at least 26 people, including a pregnant woman, several children and the pastor's 14-year-old daughter. According to the New York Times, at least 20 more have been wounded in the attack. Kelley has a history of crime, having been charged with assaulting his wife and child. Kelley crashed his car in a nearby town and was found dead with seemingly self-inflicted gunshot wounds. It is still unknown what the motive was and how the man obtained his firearms. This is shooting is only a little more than a month after the one in Las Vegas, the worst shooting in modern US history, on October 1st, which killed 58 people and left 546 injured. The need for gun control is dire.
What you can do: Sign this petition. Have more time? Call your reps.
Script: Hi, my name is ________ and I'm calling from ________. I'm calling to ask you to vote NO on Senate Bill 446. I’m not OK with the fact that those living in the U.S. are 25 times more likely to die as a result of gun violence than people living in other developed countries. The recent events in Texas are even more proof that we need gun control and we need it now. Please fight to stop concealed gun laws and create more thorough background checks. Please keep the safety of Americans as your top priority. Thank you.
Number: 202-223-3121; Republican senators (use Google)
Resources: everytown.org

Russia Investigation: Two Trump campaign officials, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, were indicted (formally accused of committing a crime) this week due to 12 charges, including money laundering and illegal collusion with Russian officials during the 2016 elections. These accusations are part of the larger Russia Investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The two officials were particularly close the campaign. Their trial is set for May 7th, 2018. Manafort served for five months as Trump's campaign chair, while Gates is his former deputy. In addition, another aide, George Papadopoulos has admitted to lying to FBI officials about his contacts with Russia. These acts are utterly corrupt-- not only are they illegal, put Americans in danger and connect with a government filled with corruption and hate (see: concentration camps in Chechnya), but these officials lied about it to the FBI. Let that sink in.
What you can do: We're very lucky that this issue is being agressively handled and Mueller and the Counsel have been working hard. What you can do is educate people around you about what's going on and continue to resist Trump-- fascism and corruption has no home here.