This post includes a link to The Nation Magazine, which has outed a Trump internal memo outlining plans for a shocking assault on LGBTQ rights, also info on Friday’s solidarity event with our Muslim neighbors, and summaries of progressive bills related to economic justice, children & families, agriculture, healthcare, education and more.
The Nation Magazine Outs Trump Memo About Coming Executive Order About LGBTQ Rights. For 150 years, The Nation Magazine has been perhaps the single most reliable source for honest investigative reporting on issues of justice. Yesterday, they released a report outing a Donald Trump internal memo that details plans to completely undermine the rights of the LGBTQ community. The article also outlines how the Executive Order being considered would also undermine access to abortion. Click here to read the full Nation report and take a look at the quote below, excerpted from the full Nation report. What is most unnerving is that two days ago, Yonatan Zunger laid out a grim scenario detailing how Trump was dismantling all checks and balances and concentrating power with a handful of very scary folks. What I didn’t share was a second article by Zunger, What Things Going Wrong Can Look Like. Admittedly, this is a projection of what could unfold, and so it is largely speculative, but the logic is sound and seems consistent with what has already transpired. Click here to review this frightening projection. One of his assertions was that Trump’s first targets would be Muslims, Latinos, Blacks, and the Trans communities before turning on the media and academia (i.e. any credible opposition).
Well, the memo outed by The Nation clearly expands that list to include the entire LGBTQ community: “Language in the draft document specifically protects the tax-exempt status of any organization that ‘believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.’ ”
Young Poets Sarita Sol Gonzalez & GiGi Bella G Raise Their Voices at the Women’s March.
For me, one of the highlights of the Women’s March in Santa Fe were the two young women poets who read their inspiring work. Just watching their exuberance as they stood on stage being introduced, and the complete confidence with which these 11 and 14 year-old women raised their voices, was both inspiring and promising. Young voices. Our future. Take five minutes to view this video, linked at the end of this blog. The first poet had read her poem at the Library of Congress and, while both poems are worth hearing, the second is nothing less than astonishing. All 2 1/2 hours of the speeches at the Women’s March are available at Retake Our Democracy’s YouTube station. To scroll through a list of 20 speakers and watch any of them, click here.
Update on Roundhouse Lobbying Resources and Information. The number of issues and bills that we are tracking is expanding rapidly and we are encouraging you to track these bills, sign up for action alerts, and also follow us on Facebook as we can post those updates more easily there. Click here to get to our Facebook page, and while there, please “Like” it. Click here to get to the Guide to Citizen Lobbying which contains both info on bills and how to track them:
- Agriculture (Hemp & Pollinators);
- Children & Families (early childhood ed and home visiting);
- Criminal Justice (Gun Control, Rape Kit Backlog, Recreational Marijuana Legalization);
- Economic Justice ($15 minimum wage, pay day loan limits, tax & revenue reform);
- Education (variety of bills endorsed by the National Education Association of NM)
- Election Reform (Ethics Commission, National Election Determined by Popular Vote and more); and
- Environment (wide variety);
More issues will be covered very soon and there will be a bit more detail on each bill in the coming days.
Opportunities and Actions
Fri., Feb, 3, 1pm-2pm. Masjid Al Rahma Mosque, 418 W San Mateo Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505. We are all welcome to join or observe the prayer service this Friday, as Mosque leadership looks forward to having more people from the community understand their faith. We need to arrive at the Mosque by 1 p.m. The service begins promptly at 1:15. It is very common for Santa Feans to arrive late for meetings. It is disrespectful to arrive late for these services and we are guests, so if you find yourself running late DO NOT enter after 1:10. The service will conclude at 2 pm. Click here to RSVP. Many of our supporters are not consistent in RSVPing and just show up for meetings or trainings. This is generally inconsiderate, but here it is disrespectful. Please RSVP and please arrive a bit early to greet our Muslim neighbors as they arrive at their services. Click here for guidelines for dress, physical contact, and other cultural mores that should be respected. The mosque has a large parking lot in the back, so parking should not be a problem even though it’s in a residential neighborhood. After services the mosque board members will meet with anyone who has questions and is interested in learning more. We will be provided with an English translation of the salient points of the service. Again, click here to RSVP.
Retake Our Democracy Radio Show Launches Sat., Feb 4, 11am. Listen in as I interview Allegra Love and Marcela Diaz about how the Santa Fe Dreamers Project and Somos Un Pueblo Unido are working to protect our immigrant neighbors, what the new expanded Sanctuary resolution is and how it can improve our City’s capacity to protect our immigrant neighbors. The show will be weekly and available via podcast. I will post podcast links regularly.
The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, Sat., Feb 4, 10am. Committee will hear 4 bills beginning at 10 am in the order below. How about a bunch of us plan to be at the Roundhouse at 10am and track these bills? Bring a few friends, go out for breakfast or coffee and then have a Roundhouse experience.
- HB 37 Born Alive Infant Protection
- HB 50 Background Checks on Gun Transfers
- HB 72 Reinstate Death Penalty [Dropped from this Committee Hearing, so only 3 on Sat.]
- HB 89 Cannabis Revenue & Freedom Act
For more info on these bills, click here to go to the Roundhouse website where you can search for bills and their descriptions with searches available by bill number, key word, subject or sponsor. Again, by clicking here you can find a guide to how to lobby effectively, how to follow bills yourself, and links to specific bills in a number of areas.
Early Childhood Education Expansion. I was the chief consultant and evaluator for Oakland Unified School District’s Early Childhood Education programs for four years. I am passionate about the need for expanding early childhood education and would like to see this occur in Santa Fe. But I am conflicted by the current verbiage to the proposed Soda Tax. Since I haven’t had the time to do my due diligence and really explore the initiative and possible alternatives that might strengthen it and make it more equitable, I hesitate to form a strong opinion. But I encourage each of you to attend the meetings below and ask questions: What guarantees are there that low-income communities and families will access the new slots? What kinds of provisions will help struggling early childhood centers serving low-income communities build higher quality programs and expand their capacity? My guess is that South Side families will pay a disproportionate share of the Soda Tax, so South Side should derive a disproportionate share of the benefits. I would like someone to step forward as a researcher who could work with me to fully vet this initiative so that we can either strongly endorse it or work with the City to find ways to amend it. This is an urgent need, so if you have a few hours, write to me at paul@retakeourdemocracy.org.
Upcoming Town Halls and City Council Meetings related to Early Childhood Education Expansion:
- Sat., Feb 4, 10am | Early Childhood Education Town Hall, Genoveva Chavez Community Center |
- Weds., Feb 8, 7pm | City Council Meeting, City Hall | (get there early!)
- Weds., Mar 8, 7pm | City Council Meeting, City Hall – PUBLIC HEARING & VOTE (get there early!)
Tues. Feb 7, 5:30-7pm, Outreach Action Team Planning Mtg., 1420 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe. Join us to plan the launch of our Community Conversations Canvassing campaign and to discuss organizing panels and trainings, expanding alliances with other organizations, developing an outreach and organizing strategy in other NM communities, finalizing a plan for our Moral Monday event on Feb 20, and organizing a range of other events and outreach activities.
Thurs., Feb 9, 6pm-7:30pm. Showing Up Racial Justice (SURJ) Call-in Training in Creating Powerful Advocacy Research. This call will dig into concrete tools to research targets for actions and organizing campaigns. Join the Public Accountability Initiative to learn how you can deepen your chapters research capacity to develop powerful campaigns, and learn more about the launch of SURJ’s research working group. This call will build on the research call in January, but it’s not required that you participated in the first call to join this one. This is a tremendous national organization. Retake Our Democracy is forming an alliance with the Northern NM Chapter. I recommend this call-in to all members of our Research Action Team and to others who want to better understand how to use information to move people. Click here to RSVP and for more details. To request closed captioning, email meredith@showup4rj.org.
Sat. Feb 11, 3:30-5:30pm, Retake Our Democracy Town Hall Meeting,1420 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe. Join us for presentations, breakout discussions, and action planning. Details coming soon.
Categories: Civil Disobedience, Civil Rights, Immigrant Rights, Muslim, Roundhouse Lobbying
Regarding the Muslim Solidarity gathering on Friday: While the number of RSVP’s is wonderful, and the Mosque can handle our current numbers, the parking lot might not. The Mosque is in a residential neighborhood, so it would be best if everyone could park in the lot behind the building. To ensure this works out: PLEASE CARPOOL if at all possible. PLEASE try to limit the number of SINGLE CARS. Thanks….