Support Texas, DACA and more

My Fellow Resisters,

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).
 
And leave comments!

In solidarity,
Sage

PAGE Update

Our hearts are heavy this week as we read the news about Texas, and about Trump’s plan to end DACA, the program which allows immigrants who arrived in the US as children to legally live in the US. If you’re a Texan far away from home, or someone who will be personally impacted by a DACA repeal, we're sending you our love this week.
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Below, we share some opportunities to support those most impacted by the storm, and to demand that Congress take action to defund xenophobic policies and support immigrant youth. 

Priority Actions

Support Texas The events in Texas this week were devastating. Families lost their homes and loved ones, entire communities are underwater, and now the region will face huge challenges with mold, pollution, and disease. When environmental disasters strike, poor communities and communities of color are disproportionately affected, as they must navigate crises with fewer resources, while experiencing discrimination from government agencies and/or worrying about deportation. As this article from The Root states, in coming weeks, the waters will recede and “reveal the dangerously gaping holes of disparity between white haves and black have-nots.”

• Donate generously and directly to folks in Houston, especially those who will be most impacted and least served. Share your donation on social media to amplify impact.
• This tool from Dr. Roni Dean-Burron, a Houstonian racial justice advocate, allows you to give directly to black women impacted in the storm. 
• This fundraiser is an opportunity to donate directly to undocumented families.
• Colorlines lists local organizations which support people of color, queer people, people living with disabilities, and others who will be disproportionately impacted by this tragedy.
• If you’re US-American, call your Congressional reps and tell them to fund FEMA - and NOT a xenophobic and offensive border wall. 5Calls has a script here.
• Act locally: Floods rocked Houston and Texas this past week, and also India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Niger. Floods have already killed more than 1000 this summer in South Asia, and drought-prone regions are suffering more than ever. As climate change intensifies, we will see more of these tragedies around the world. If you’re living outside the US, this is a powerful time to reach out to local environmental justice groups and see what you and your PAGE group can do to support them.

Defend DACA. Trump is very close to ending DACA, the program which allows immigrants who came to the US as children to lawfully work and live in the country. Ending DACA would have devastating impacts for nearly a million people and rip families apart. This decision would also generate profits for private prison companies, and embolden Trump’s white nationalist base. Read more about DACA in this guide from Indivisible.

• Join Detention Watch Network, United We Dream, and other organizations for a National Day of Action on Wednesday, September 6. On this day, call your representatives and let them know that you don’t want them to fund border walls and deportation forces, and ask them to pass the DREAM act to protect immigrant youth. Call scripts will be updated here depending on events early this week.
• Sample Script: “I’m your constituent from [CITY/TOWN], and I urge you to cut funding for detention, deportation, and border militarization. I don’t want Congress to write Trump a check to deport and detain my community members, and militarize my community. Vote NO on Trump’s deportation funding. I also urge you to stand with all DREAMers in the United States and support a clean passage of S.1615/H.R.3440, the Dream Act of 2017.”
• Sample tweet: “.@[SENATOR/REP] Don’t write Trump a check to deport & detain our community members #DefundHate #NoBanNoWallNoRaids”
• Support United We Dream, a grassroots org on the front lines of fighting for DACA and immigrant rights. Sign up for their mailing list, follow them on Twitter, and donate.

#NotTooFarAwayToCall If you haven’t done so yet, it’s time to take your picture! 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 this week, on Wednesday Sept. 6. The campaign will feature photos of US-Americans abroad calling their Members of Congress from locations around the world.

• To join in, snap a photo of yourself calling your Member of Congress, and share photos between September 6th and September 14th under the hashtag #NotTooFarAwayToCall. Include 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."
• If you like, email your photo to action.together.zurich@gmail.com so they can publicize it. Specify whether you wish your name to be used or not to be used.

STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts

The Negative State:
So far, most of this congress's accomplishments have consisted of using the Congressional Review Act to undo previously approved regulations. Likewise, there is a long list of troubling moves by the White House to dismantle actions by previous administrations. Washington Post: What Trump has undone by Philip Bump.

Congress is back in session this week--now is a good time to write or call and let your legislators know that the citizens expect and deserve better. 
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—Kathy Sherretts

Article:
The New Yorker: Is There Any Point to Protesting? By Nathan Heller
Is protest a productive use of our political attention? Or is it just a bit of social theatre we perform to make ourselves feel virtuous, useful, and in the right?

Podcast:
Center for Investigative Reporting: Reveal: Follow the money: Citizen sleuths investigate (19 min)
By crowdsourcing this project, we will be able to monitor whether any policy changes end up benefiting members of the president’s team. 

Article:
Atlantic: What Trump's Generation Learned About the Civil War by Matt Ford
History textbooks used in New York City during the president’s childhood called the Klan “patriotic,” and downplayed the role of slavery in “the War Between the States.”