The Amp

April is Second Chance Month when the Prison Fellowship and its partners recognize the dignity and potential of 70 million Americans with criminal records who have repaid their debt to society. Join the campaign and discuss the issue using the values of Redemption and Mobility.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Criminal Justice Reform Phrase Guide and Foster Successful Reintegration; Prison Fellowship's petition and social media toolkit;
• Hashtags: #SecondChanceMonth; #SecondChances; and #WeBelieveInSecondChances

April is Medicaid Awareness Month. The coronavirus crisis has made the need for equitable and affordable access to healthcare clear. A handful of states have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, despite research confirming that Medicaid expansion increases access to care, improves financial security, and leads to better health outcomes. Medicaid expansion has also played a vital role in reducing racial disparities in health care access. When talking about Medicaid, cite the values of Economic Security and Community.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Talking about Economic Justice; Protect Our Care's Medicaid Awareness Resources; Center for American Progress' Who Receives Medicaid? A State-by-State Breakdown; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' Medicaid Briefs: Who is Harmed by Work Requirements?
• Hashtag: #MedicaidMatters

On this day in 2016, the Sacred Stone Camp was founded in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The resistance to the DAPL thrust the U.S. government's historic injustices and ongoing failure to respect tribal sovereignty into the national spotlight. Today, Indigenous-led organizing continues to shut down DAPL and stop the completion and operation of the Line 3 project through northern Minnesota. Cite the values of voice and equity.

Messaging and Communication Tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Celebrating Indigenous Resilience, Resistance, and Creativity; NDN Collective's Faulty Infrastructure and the Impacts of the Dakota Access Pipeline; and the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture's #HonorNativeLand: A Guide and Call for Acknowledgement.

Hashtags: #StopLine3; #ShutDownDAPL; and #BuildBackFossilFree

March Madness comes to an end this weekend, with the Final Four teams in both men's and women's college basketball playing on April 3 and 4 for their respective national championships. This year is the first time the NCAA intentionally extended "March Madness" branding to the women's tournament, after Oregon basketball star Sabrina Ionescu sparked conversation regarding inequities in accommodations provided for the men and women's tournament in 2021. It's also the first March Madness tournament since the NCAA adopted an interim policy to allow collegiate athletes to be financially compensated for their name, image, and likeness. Cite the values of voice and equity when supporting student-athletes. 

• Messaging and communications tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Talking About Justice and Equity Through Sports and Talking About Black Women in Sports.
• Hashtags: #MarchMadness

This day marks the anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Use this occasion to talk about the accomplishments of Dr. King, the urgency of reckoning honestly with our nation's history of systemic racism, and how Dr. King's legacy continues through organizing such as the Poor People's Campaign. Cite the values of Equity, Voice, and Community.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Talking About the Attacks on Critical Race Theory, Opportunity for Black Men and Boys: Public Opinion, Narrative Shift: From The War on Poverty to "Ending Welfare as We Know It" and episode 2 of the Shifting the Narrative podcast; The Kairos Center's Quotes from Rev. Dr. King’s Last Years: “A Revolution of Values”; The MLK Center's MLK50Forward.org; and the Poor People's Campaign's June 18th Mobilization Tour – Mass Meetings in Raleigh, NC and Madison, WI.
• Hashtags: #IHaveADream, #PoorPeoplesCampaign

On this day in 1931, the first Scottsboro Trial started. Despite lack of evidence, nine African-American teenage boys were falsely accused and eight were convicted of rape by an all-white jury. Their case gained national attention and sparked outcry from civil rights groups who organized legal defense to clear their names. Use this anniversary to discuss the continued need for criminal justice reform, especially as it affects people of color living in poverty. Cite the values of equity and voice. 

• Messaging tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s When They See Us: Thirty Years Since the Central Park Five Case; 10 Lessons for Talking About Criminal Justice Issues, Beyond Policing,Transforming the System: Criminal Justice Policy Solutions, and Talking About the Attacks on Critical Race Theory; and ACLU History: The Tragedy of the Scottsboro Boys.
• Hashtags: #scottsboroboys; #criminaljusticereform

The 25th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival kicks off today and runs through April 10. The full festival will take place virtually this year, with both full festival passes and single film tickets available to stream at home. The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of nonfiction cinema. For more information on the festival's programming and how to participate, visit their official website.

• Messaging and communications tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Power of Pop: The Case of the Cultural Influencers: Colin Kaepernick, Jimmy Kimmel, and #MeToo and Power of Pop: What TV Gets Wrong About Getting By.
• Hashtags: #FullFrame2022

Today is the birthday of labor organizer and activist Dolores Huerta (1930). Use this anniversary to discuss the concerns of immigrant workers in the U.S. today. Cite the values of Equality, Voice, and Economic Opportunity. 

• Messaging tools: Independent Lens’ "Dolores" (Documentary) and The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking about the Importance of Unions and Economic Security
• Hashtag: #doloreshuerta and Twitter handles: @DoloresHuerta and @Dolores_Movie

Seven days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also referred to as the Fair Housing Act. Cite the values of Voice and Economic Security when discussing this anniversary.

• Messaging tool: The Opportunity Agenda's Why Fair Housing, Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity and Reforming HUD’s Regulations to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing.
• Hashtags: #FairHousing

On this day in 1935, the worst dust storm in American history caused immense economic and agricultural damage across several states in what came to be known as “Black Sunday.” Combined with an eight-year drought, multiple dust storms caused crops and businesses to fail and forced many residents to flee in search of work in other states (as chronicled in books like John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath). It’s important to commemorate how government intervention helped alleviate the crisis in the 1930s and how vital federal aid today can help Americans weather environmental catastrophes due to climate change. Cite the values of Economic Security and Community when talking about this anniversary. 

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking about Economic Justice, Narrative Shift: From The War on Poverty to "Ending Welfare as We Know It", and Talking About Poverty & Economic Opportunity Today: Three Core Pillars; Gulf Coast Rising’s Final Report; Movement Generation’s Propagate Pollinate Practice; and Peoples Climate Movement’s Resources
• Hashtag: #DustBowl; #ClimateStrike; #ClimateEmergency

On this day in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous open letter from Birmingham Jail. King was incarcerated for disobeying an injunction against public protest in Birmingham. The letter outlined King’s belief in nonviolent civil disobedience in the struggle for civil rights. He wrote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". This anniversary provides an opportunity to discuss the ongoing work of intersectional racial and economic justice. Cite the values of Equality, Voice, and Opportunity. 

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking About the Attacks on Critical Race Theory, Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, and Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice
• Hashtag: #birminghamjail

This year's Tax Day deadline is April 18. The pandemic laid bare both economic inequities and the importance of government revenue to fund key human and physical infrastructure improvements and support programs. Cite the values of economic security and community when talking about the importance of taxes on this day.

• Messaging tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Quick Tips for Talking About Poverty and Taxes; Narrative Shift: From The War on Poverty to "Ending Welfare as We Know It", and Talking About Poverty & Economic Opportunity Today: Three Core Pillars; We Make the Future's Fund Our Future digital toolkit; Americans for Tax Fairness' Fair Taxes Calculator; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' Fiscal Recovery Funds in the American Rescue Plan; and Lightbox Collaborative's "I Love Taxes!".
• Hashtags: #TaxDay; #TaxDay2022;

On this day in 1939, jazz singer Billie Holiday recorded “Strange Fruit,” which is considered to be the first significant song of the civil rights movement. The song directly addresses lynching in the South, an issue that activists and journalists like Ida B. Wells and the NAACP had been challenging for many years. Use this anniversary hook to discuss the power of artists in addressing social injustice. Cite the values of Voice and Equality. 

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Working with Cultural Influencers and The Case of the Cultural Influencers; BBC’s Strange Fruit: The Most Shocking Song of All Time?; Biography’s The Tragic Story Behind Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit”; Radio Diaries’ Strange Fruit: Anniversary Of A Lynching
• Hashtag: #StrangeFruit; #BillieHoliday

Today is Earth Day, a day to support environmental protection and advocate for the importance of racial justice to guide climate change solutions. Discuss proposals like the Green New Deal that would address climate change while creating jobs and economic opportunity. Use the values of community, equity, and voice.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking About Economic Justice; Molly Crabapple’s Green New Deal film, A Message from the Future (video); 99% Invisible’s podcast episode Crude Habitat (about the events that inspired Earth Day)
• Hashtags: #EarthDay; #GreenNewDeal;

On this day in 2017, New Orleans began removing Confederate monuments from the city. Many monuments remain across the U.S., and several cities and states continue to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day in late April. Use this hook to counter the social and political attack on critical race theory by emphasizing the urgency of telling an honest story about our nation's history. Cite the values of community, voice, and equality. 

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking About the Attacks on Critical Race Theory, and Ten Lessons for Talking About Race; TruthOut’s It’s Time to Honor Victims, Not Perpetrators, of US Brutality; Southern Poverty Law Center’s Whose Heritage? Community Action Guide and Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy
• Hashtags: #LoseTheLostCause; #WhoseHeritage

On this day in 1993, the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Equal Rights and Liberation became one of the largest protests in American history with more than one million participants. “Transgender” was omitted from the title because organizers failed to gain support for its addition. Cite the values of Community and Voice when discussing this anniversary. 

Today is also the kickoff of Lesbian Visibility Week. In 2008, Diva Publisher Linda Rily celebrated the first Lesbian Visibility Day, which later became a weeklong celebration that aims to celebrate ALL LGBTQI women and non-binary people. Use this hook to discuss intersectional issues for the LGBTQIA+ community, including racial and economic justice. Cite the values of Economic Security, Community, and Voice.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s ;Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice; Center for American Progress’ Protecting Basic Living Standards for LGBTQ People and ICE’s Rejection of Its Own Rules Is Placing LGBT Immigrants at Severe Risk of Sexual Abuse; Social Justice Sexuality’s Intersecting Injustice: A National Call to Action Addressing LGBTQ Poverty and Economic Justice for All; Immigration Legal Resource Center’s Special Considerations for LGBTQ Immigrants
• Hashtag: #LGBTQ

On Workers Memorial Day, labor unions and organizations working for occupational safety remember those who have suffered and died on the job, while renewing the fight for safe jobs. Cite the values of Economic Security, Community, and Voice when discussing this day. 

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking about the Importance of Unions and Economic Security; and AFL-CIO Workers Memorial Day digital assets and Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2022 report
• Hashtags: #WorkersMemorialDay; #SafeAtWork;