DEMOCRATIC VISTAS

​Now more than ever
VOTE! 
HELP REGISTER OTHERS TO VOTE!
Will you be in the USA at all this summer? 
Join the massive voter registration effort.
Contact a grassroots organization near you.
Swing Left 
Indivisible
Rock the Vote
League of Women Voters
They'll show you what to do and put you to work
in places where your efforts
are most needed to boost turnout in November.
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Kathy went to the ACLU of Pittsburgh's picnic and potluck at Schenley Park last Thursday. She met some local members and learned about their work with the Campaign for Smart Justice, a project to reduce the U.S. jail and prison population by 50% and to combat racial disparities in the criminal justice system. 


STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts

Democratic Vistas 
On the road to something else this week, I took an unexpected detour into the political essays of Walt Whitman:
"It is the fashion...to decry the whole formulation of the active politics of America, as beyond redemption and to be carefully kept away from. See you that you do not fall into this error. America, it may be, is doing very well upon the whole, notwithstanding these antics of the parties and their leaders, these half-brain’d nominees, the many ignorant ballots, and many elected failures and blatherers… As for you, I advise you to enter more strongly yet into politics…Always inform yourself; always do the best you can; always vote." (From the long-form essay "Democratic Vistas", 1871.
So far we've found Mark Twain, James Thurber, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and now Whitman, with messages that speak directly to our political moment—and optimistically, at that. 
--Kathy Sherrets

Video:
Grist: How a hot city can keep its cool (3:50 min)
Cities are taking action against the “urban heat island effect”, which disproportionally effects communities of color. Read the accompanying articleon NYC efforts to address the public health threat posed by this dangerous effect of climate change.

Article:
The Hill: Judge allows lawsuit against Trump's census citizenship question to proceed by Lydia Wheeler
There may be evidence that the citizenship question was designed to provoke an undercount of immigrants and minorities, depriving their communities and their states of federal funds, as well as representation in Congress and the Electoral College. 

Quiz:
Pew Research Center: Can you tell the difference between factual and opinion news statements?
In today’s news environment, we have to ask, all the time, “Is what I am reading a fact or an opinion? If it’s presented as a fact, is it accurate? And if it’s an opinion, do I agree with it?”

Podcast:
Slate/If Then: The Shape of Mis- and Disinformation (39 min)
With midterms approaching, Facebook won’t say definitively whether the company has found any efforts by foreign actors to disrupt the elections. How do social media platforms deal with information that is wrong?

Awkward Encounter:
Politico: Robert Mueller and Donald Trump Jr. both waiting for their flights at the 35X gate at DCA. (via Twitter)
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For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or check out the brand new online training platform of Resistance School and sign up to any of the more than 15 free courses they offer on organizing 101, team building, contacting voters, and building movements.
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