The Amp

The Supreme Court may have rejected Trump’s census citizenship question in June but many are still concerned about the 2020 population count and its impact on federal funding and Congressional representation. A recent report by Pew Research Center found that fewer people in the U.S. are aware of the upcoming census and 16% expressed at least some uncertainty about responding. With the onslaught of misinformation online, Congress is concerned that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter aren’t doing enough to counter disinformation about the census. To combat this, advocates are pushing for robust census funding in Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations bills. The Senate is considering cuts to the Census Bureau suggested by the Trump administration. This week, seven former directors of the U.S. Census Bureau wrote to Congress urging lawmakers to approve funding for the 2020 Census immediately. Discuss the census and funding its operations by citing the values of Voice, Community, and Economic Security.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda's #2020Census: The Value of Counting Everyone; Census Data: A Fair and Accurate Count and  Census Data and Storytelling; Spotlight on Poverty's A Fair Census Supports Shared Economic Opportunity; Census Count’s Message Toolkit and resources; #WeCount Coalition’s Social Media Toolkit; NALEO Educational Fund’s Hagase Contar; Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ talking points; Brennan Center for Justice’s Backgrounder on Federal Laws that Protect Census Confidentiality  
• Hashtags: #SaveTheCensus; #2020Census; #Census2020; #HagaseContar

Below is a list of communication hooks and events for this week in October that you can use to reach new audiences and inform existing ones. Click on each link for messaging and communication tools as well as hashtags.

Events and Cultural Hooks:

• Filipino American History Month
• LGBTQ History Month
• See Us, Support Us Month
• National Week of Action Against Schools Pushout: now until  Sun. Oct. 27
• Kick-Off Rally for March for DACA and TPS: Saturday, Oct. 26
• Justice Votes 2020 - A Presidential Town Hall: Monday, Oct. 28

Historical Anniversaries:

• NAACP petitioned U.N. with An Appeal to the World: Oct. 23, 1947
• Fair Labor Standards Act signed: Oct. 24, 1938
• PATRIOT Act signed: Oct. 26, 2001
• The Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment Act signed: Oct. 27, 1978
• U.S. prison population surpassed one million people: Oct 27, 1994
• Statue of Liberty was dedicated: Oct. 28, 1886
• Wall Street stock market crashed: Oct. 29, 1929
• Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education decided: Oct. 29, 1969 (50 years ago)
• Hurricane Sandy hit New York City: Oct. 29, 2012

For a look further ahead in October, click here.

You don't need to wait each week for the Amp action alert to find out what's coming up. You can easily add our media hooks and events to your work calendar, which will automatically update when your refresh your calendar. Here's how:

• Google Calendar:  Follow these instructions to subscribe to calendar (not "from URL" option). Copy and paste this entire link:      o33rmu231ochbp5i16botmsvus@group.calendar.google.com 
• Outlook: Follow these instructions. Copy and paste this entire link:   https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/o33rmu231ochbp5i16botmsvus%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
• Apple iCal for Macs: Follow these instructions. Copy and paste this entire link:   https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/o33rmu231ochbp5i16botmsvus%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics