Destroy legacies of hate and Oppose War

Here are new updates and recommended actions from PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange) followed by inspiring reading/watching/listening suggestions from our own Kathy Sherretts (STOP, LOOK, LISTEN) 
 
We welcome your comments below!

In solidarity,
Sage

PAGE Update

Once again, the President of the United States and racist activists are damaging the lives of people of color. The President pardoned former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who called his own jail a “concentration camp” and had been convicted of contempt of court after violating a federal order to stop racially profiling Latinos. The Trump Administration also signalled that they plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (known as DACA), which would put 800,000 people living in the US at risk of deportation. Trump defended his response to white supremacists’ attacks in Charlottesville. And it became clear the US will send more Americans to Afghanistan to kill and be killed.
This week we focus our actions to fight back against this racist agenda

Priority Actions

• Fight for immigrants’ rights. Trump has made attacking immigrants a cornerstone of his agenda. Below, we share some immediate actions you can take to keep fighting back.
• Support the DREAM act. Senators Graham and Durbin have introduced the DREAM act, which would grant legal status and a path to citizenship for DACA participants. Call your representatives to let them know you support this legislation and oppose any action to undermine DACA rights. Five Calls has a helpful script you can use.
• Demand accountability for the pardon of Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is a hateful, violent man. The Phoenix New Times has put together a list of his misdeeds, including marching Latino prisoners into a segregated area surrounded by electric fencing, arresting a reporter for covering him, failing to investigate hundreds of sexual abuse cases against children, and overseeing brutal conditions in his Arizona jails where prisoners died without explanation. It’s too late to reverse the pardon, but we must ask elected officials to condemn Trump for this action.
• Defund hate. The Detention Watch Network has a campaign to shut off funding to the Department of Homeland Security that detain and deport immigrants. Donate to their cause. Sign their petition calling on Congress to Defund Hate. Call or write to your representatives asking them to Defund Hate. And support their campaign on social media.
• Destroy the legacy of the Confederacy. There has been a tremendous positive movement speaking out against the hate of Charlottesville. Tens of thousands of counter-protesters in Boston marched in opposition to a white supremacist rally. A group organizing white supremacist rallies, ACT for America, has cancelled 67 rallies in 36 states.
• Take down Confederate statues. Confederate statues are symbols of racism and oppression; we must take them down. Since Charlottesville many statues have been taken down, including Baltimore removing statues of Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Read Bree Newsome’s op-ed in the Washington Post. Learn about the Take ‘Em Down Nola campaign, which demands that New Orleans remove symbols of white supremacy; read this profile of the Take ‘Em Down Nola campaign. Look up your home state for its Confederate statues and ask that they be removed.
• Give to your local #blacklivesmatter chapter. Much of the work for racial justice happens at a local level, which makes it difficult for activists living abroad to participate. BLM and other groups fighting for justice will use your money to support the local black community. Find your local chapter and support them however you can.
• Empower yourself to speak out against hate. As we saw in Boston, thousands of people speaking out against hate shows communities of color that they have allies, and humiliates white supremacists. Whether it’s going to a rally or calling out your friend’s racism, personal actions can be the most effective. Read the Southern Poverty Law Center’s guide Ten Ways to Fight Hate. And check out PAGE’s anti-oppression guide.
• Oppose endless war. The President made a vague announcement about changing strategies in Afghanistan this week, and it looks likely that more troops will be sent to the country. The war in Afghanistan is now 16 years old. Afghan children have known nothing but war their whole lives.
• Read up on the AUMF. After September 11th, the U.S. Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF). This statute grants the President the authority to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against those he/she determined “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. The Trump Administration is expanding the AUMF even further to allow for increased military action in Syria and other countries. Furthermore, the authority to wage these wars has been turned over by the Trump Administration to the NSA and the Pentagon, which is increasingly dangerous because it lacks congressional limits and restrictions, and leaves the defense department with unchecked powers.
• Get involved with the ANSWER coalition. ANSWER was started immediately after September 11th and has consistently opposed US wars abroad, including organizing major protests prior to the Iraq war.

Continued Actions:

• Start planning your #NotTooFarAwayToCall picture to help get US-Americans Abroad engaged from afar. Action Together Zurich and Americans Resisting Overseas are organizing a social media campaign called #NotTooFarAwayToCall that will launch on Sept. 6. This social media campaign will feature photos of US-Americans abroad calling their Members of Congress from locations around the world. Photos will be shared on social media with a one sentence description of the call, e.g. "Calling Senator Chris Murphy from the Great Wall of China to thank him for supporting increasing the number of overseas refugees resettled in the U.S."
• Share photos between September 6th and September 14th under the hashtag #NotTooFarAwayToCall - but start taking photos now!
• Questions? Get in touch with Alexandra Dufresne at Action Together: Zürich, CH.

STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts

I had to include this from the MTV VMA awards, of all things. The article includes a transcript of remarks by Susan Bro, although I'm sure that a video link will be available soon. 
Kathy Sherretts

Podcast:
Bite: W. Kamau Bell and the Case of the Racist Skittles (36 min)
At a Ku Klux Klan rally in Kentucky, comedian W. Kamau Bell was handed iced tea and Skittles, the snacks Trayvon Martin purchased the night he was killed by George Zimmerman. Bell tells us how he reacted to the overtly racist gesture—and about how certain foods can become cultural symbols.

Article:
WashingtonPost: I was detained for protesting Trump. Here’s what the Secret Service asked me. by Melissa ByrneInstead
Instead of seeing a political dissenter, they saw a national security threat.

Podcast:
Slate Magazine: Trumpcast: The Corruption of Carl Ichan (24min)
How an obscure EPA rule brought down the billionaire Trump adviser.