The Amp

Now that Congressional Representatives are in their home districts during the recess, it’s the perfect time to connect with them about voting for H.R. 6, “The American Dream and Promise Act” and cutting off funding for detention and deportation. H.R. 6 would keep families together and give permanent status to over two million immigrants already in the U.S. In June, Congress will introduce bills to fund the Department of Homeland Security for 2020 with more than $2.1 billion. Discuss the legislation and funding bills by citing the values of Family Unity, Economic Security, and Community.

• Take action: Use United We Dream’s tool to set up a meeting with your representative. Encourage your networks to tell their representatives to support the act with the National Immigration Law Center’s tool.
• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s 5 Tips for Talking About the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (H.R. 6) and Immigration Policy Solutions: Promoting Family Unity; America’s Voice's Toolkit Dream and Promise Act Markup; Center for American Progress’ State-by-State Fact Sheets; National Immigration Law Center’s Trump Proposes Rigging Immigration System; United We Dream’s Defund Hate Recess Toolkit and Dream and Promise Toolkit; National Immigration Law Center’s Dream & Promise Act Most Inclusive Dream Legislation in Decades
• Hashtags: #DreamAndPromiseNow; #DreamAndPromiseAct; #DreamAndPromise

The Trump Administration is proposing to change the way the federal poverty line is adjusted annually for inflation. By shrinking the poverty line over time, this change could reduce the number of people who qualify for health care, food assistance, and other aid.  The Trump White House is seeking comments by June 21st. Discuss this development with your networks, citing the values of Economic Security and Community.

• Take Action: Sign and share this tool to leave a comment about this proposal.
• Messaging and communication tools: Center for American Progress' Trump Proposes to “Cut” Poverty by Lowering the Poverty Line; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Trump Administration Floating Changes to Poverty Measure That Would Reduce or Eliminate Assistance to Millions of Lower-Income Americans and The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking About Poverty & Economic Opportunity Today and Talking About Economic Justice
• Hashtags: #redefiningpoverty; #usapoverty

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum ordering federal agencies to develop policies within 90 or 180 days that target U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who sponsor their relatives when they immigrate. The agencies are tasked with developing plans to sue the sponsors of immigrants who use certain public programs. The Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign points out that, by stigmatizing those who use public benefits, these policies will intimidate sponsors from reuniting with their family members and will deter documented immigrants from securing services for which they are eligible. “Trump will do anything to send immigrant families the message that if you’re not white and wealthy, you’re not welcome — or even safe — here,” the campaign co-chairs wrote in a statement. Discuss these proposals by citing the values of Family Unity, Economic Security and Community.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign’s Public Charge and Deportation FAQ; Pacific Standard’s How Trump’s Latest Crackdown on Public Benefits Fits into His Immigratio Plans; The Opportunity Agenda’s Immigration Policy Solutions: Promoting Family Unity and Talking About Poverty & Economic Opportunity Today: Three Core Pillars
• Hashtag: #ProtectFamilies

This week wraps up these month-long observances:

• Asian-Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month. Hashtags #APAHM19; #APAHM; #APAHeritage; #WeCrossedOceans
• National Mental Health Month. Hashtags: #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth; #WhyCare; #MHM2019; #StampOutStigma
• Community Action Month: Hashtag #CommunityActionWorks
• Older Americans Month. Hashtags #OAM19; #ConnectCreateContribute

Join The Opportunity Agenda's webinar, "Talking about Poverty and Economic Opportunity: Shifting the Narrative" which offers messaging guidance on how to shape an affirmative narrative on the issues of poverty and economic opportunity. Guest speakers will be Marisol Bello (Community Change), Bill Nichols (Spotlight on Poverty), and Charon Hribar (Poor People's Campaign). Register here. Hashtag: #EconOpp4All

On this day in 1851 Sojourner Truth made her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at the Women’s Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio. Today scholars see the speech as an intersectional critique of single-issue activism. It’s also an important anniversary in light of recent abortion bans passed at the state level and their potential impact on people of color. Use this anniversary to discuss intersectionality and the values of Voice, Equality, and Community.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice and Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, Racism and Racial Justice
• Hashtag: #AintIAWoman

At 7pm EST, join Detention Watch Network for a webinar, "The Fight to Shut Down and Stop the Expansion of Detention Centers." The webinar will be entirely in Spanish with English interpretation. Register now! Hashtag: #CommunitiesNotCages

On May 30, 1955, the Supreme Court ordered that schools should be integrated “with all deliberate speed." Known as “Brown II,” the order was issued because few schools had integrated since the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Today, several of Trump’s judicial nominees refused to affirm Brown, a troubling sign for advocates. Cite this anniversary by referring to the values of Voice, Equality, and Mobility.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human rights’ Oppose the Confirmation of Judicial Nominees Who Decline to State Brown v. Board of Education Decision Was Correctly Decided; The Opportunity Agenda’s Devos’ “School Choice” Means No Choice for Many American Families
• Hashtags: #BrownVBoardofEd; #RetireSegregation

The four-part miniseries, “When They See Us,” written and directed by Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay, premiers on Netflix today. The series exposes the failures of the U.S. criminal justice system through a retelling of the Central Park Five case that gripped the nation in 1989. Cite the values of Voice and Equality when discussing this series.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s The Central Park Five: Looking Back; When They See Us: Thirty Years Since the Central Park Five Case and When They See Us: Improving the Media’s Coverage of Black Men and Boys
• Hashtags: #WhenTheySeeUs; #TheCentralPark5; #CentralPark5

Today celebrations are planned across the country to celebrate the 200th birthday of Walt Whitman. Because Whitman criticized slavery and stood up for social justice, he is considered the first "poet of democracy" in the United States. The poet’s sexuality has been disputed but some still consider him a gay icon. Use Whitman’s birthday to discuss the role of artists in changing hearts and minds for lasting social change. Cite the values of Voice and Equality.

• Messaging and communication tools: Academy of American Poets’ Whitman at 200; Studio 360’s American Icons: Leaves of Grass; Humanities DC’s Walt200.org;
• Hashtags:#WaltWhitman; #Walt200; #Whitman200

On this day in 2009, Dr. George Tiller was assassinated in Wichita, Kansas. Tiller was the medical director of Women's Health Care Services and was targeted by anti-abortion extremists. Use the anniversary of Tiller’s death to talk about the dire need for reproductive healthcare for women living in poverty. Recent state legislative banning abortion also makes Tiller’s more resonant. Cite the values of Economic Security and Community.

• Messaging and communication tools: New York Times Editorial Board’s The Doctors Who Put Their Lives on the Line; PBS POV’s documentary After Tiller; National Women’s Law Center’s Reproductive Health Is Part of the Economic Health of Women and Their Families; Center for American Progress’ 13 Ways States Can Protect and Advance Women’s Health and Rights; Democracy Now's Remembering Dr. George Tiller
• Hashtags: #GeorgeTiller; #DrGeorgeTiller

At 2:00 pm PST/5:00 pm EST in Pasadena CA, the Unity and Freedom Presidential Forum will be the first immigration presidential forum to take place. Community Change Action, CHIRLA and FIRM Action will have a conversation with 2020 Democratic candidates about their ideas and solutions to the immigration questions facing the country. RSVP to join the live-stream. 

• Messaging and communication tools: The Unity Forum’s Roadmap to Freedom [to be published this week]; The Opportunity Agenda’s 5 Key Facts: Online Discussion of Immigration in The Trump Era and Talking Immigration Issues Today: Due Process and Basic Rights;
• Hashtag: #UnityFreedomForum

June is Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month and this year it’s an even bigger deal with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprisng. Discuss intersectional issues for the LGBT 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; 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
• Hashtags: #Pride50; #Pride2019; #PrideMonth

Immigrant Heritage Month provides another opportunity to talk about the economic challenges and contributions of immigrants in the United States. Reference the values of Economic Security, Community, and Voice.

• Messaging and Communication Tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Quick Tips for Talking Immigration Issues and Power of POP - Media Analysis of Representations of Immigrants in Popular TV Shows; Fwd.us' Immigrant Heritage Month 2019 Launch Social Media Toolkit
• Hashtags: #CelebrateImmigrants; #IHM2019; #ImmigrantHeritageMonth

Today is the deadline to sign onto the Families Belong Together Coalition’s “No Profits From Pain” action to demand that Bank of America and SunTrust stop financing private prisons. More than 70% of immigrants in immigration custody are in private prisons and they are part of the system of mass incarceration that has devastated communities of color. After a similar campaign, Wells Fargo Bank and JPMorgan Chase declared that they will no longer finance private prisons. Cite the values of Voice, Equality, and Community when talking about this campaign.

• Take Action: Show your support and sign on to the letter by June 3, 2019
• Messaging and communication tools: “No Profits From Pain” toolkit;
• Hashtags: #NoProfitsFromPain; #FamiliesBelongTogether

Today is the 100th anniversary of Congress approving the Constitution’s 19th amendment which gave white women the right to vote. While an important accomplishment, Jim Crow laws prevented many women of color from exercising this right for decades. Cite the values of Equality and Voice when talking about this anniversary.

• Messaging and communication tools: National Women’s Law Center’s Our Voting Rights are Under Attack and Kavanaugh’s Nomination is Another Blow; Southern Poverty Law Center's Challenging the whitewashed history of women’s suffrage; National Park Service’s African American Women and the Nineteenth Amendment; New York Times Editorial Board’s When the Suffrage Movement Sold Out to White Supremacy
• Hashtag: #19thAmendment; #WomensVote100