The Amp

The 2020 Census has been mailed to addresses across the United States. A fair and accurate census ensures that federal dollars are disbursed where they are needed most. 

• Messaging and communications tools: The Opportunity Agenda's A Fair and Accurate Count;
• Hashtags: #CountMeIn; #Census2020; #SaveTheCensus

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 Foster Successful Reintegration; Prison Fellowship's model resolutions for state and local officials, petition and social media toolkit;
• Hashtags: #SecondChanceMonth #SecondChances and #SecondPrison

In past years, our partners have marked Medicaid Awareness Month in April. Given the coronavirus crisis, awareness of the need for equitable and affordable access to healthcare is everywhere. 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 Resouces; 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

The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture is partnering with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival for their sixth annual People’s State of The Union. During this month, hundreds of people across the nation will host Story Circles to share stories and visions for a more just future, and to build creative people-power to confront systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and militarism. The stories that come out of Story Circles will be interpreted by an array of artists, poets, and musicians, and make their way directly into the Poor People Campaign’s Mass Assembly and March in Washington, D.C. on June 20, 2020.

• Messaging and communication tools: U.S. Department of Arts and Culture’s#PSOTU2020 Toolkit; The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking About Poverty & Economic Opportunity Today: Three Core Pillars
• Hashtag: #PSOTU2020

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 as well as his unfinished work, such as the Poor People's Campaign. Cite the values of Equality, Voice and Community.

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda's Opportunity for Black Men and Boys: Public Opinion and Equality; The Kairos Center's Quotes from Rev. Dr. King’s Last Years: “A Revolution of Values”; The MLK Center's MLK50Forward.org; Poor People's Campaign's weekly themes. 
• Hashtags: #IHaveADream, #PoorPeoplesCampaign

On this day in 1931, the first Scottsboro Trial started. Despite lack of evidence, nine African-American teenage boys were ultimately convicted of rape by an all-white jury. The trial has particular relevance this year as the Supreme Court considers the case of Curtis Flowers and racial bias in jury selection. 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 Equality and Voice. 

• Messaging tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s 10 Lessons for Talking About Criminal Justice Issues; The Road Ahead for Social Justice: Broken Windows Policing and Transforming the System: Criminal Justice Policy Solutions
• Hashtags: #transformcj; #unbreakablecj; #CurtisFlowers

Today is labor organizer and activist Dolores Huerta's 90th birthday. 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: @DoloresHuertaand @Dolores_Movie

Seven days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act on this day. The Act included the Fair Housing Act. Under the leadership of current Secretary Ben Carson, Housing and Urban Development has stepped back its enforcement of fair housing laws. And in 2019, fair housing groups settled an historic lawsuit with Facebook after alleging that its advertising platform enabled landlords and real estate brokers to exclude people of color, and other protected groups from receiving housing ads. Use this hook to discuss home opportunity and fair housing. Cite the values of Voice and Economic Security.

• Messaging tool: The Opportunity Agenda's Why Fair Housing, Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity and Reforming HUD’s Regulations to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing; The National Fair Housing Alliance's The Fair Housing Act at 50
• Hashtags: #FHAct50; #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; Gulf Coast Rising’s Final Report; CultureStrike’s Climate Change is a Racial Justice Issue; Movement Generation’s Propagate Pollinate Practice; Peoples Climate Movement’s Resources
• Hashtag: #DustBowl; #ClimateStrike; #ClimateEmergency

April 15 is traditionally Tax Day, though the deadline has been extended until July 15 due to the coronavirus crisis. Tax Day provides a great opportunity to connect the harms caused by the Trump-GOP tax scam with the Trump budget, which calls for slashing critical services such as healthcare and  education, and with Trump's call to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Cite the values of Economic Security and Community when talking about taxes on this day. And maybe take a moment to get a head start on your filing before July! 

• Messaging tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Quick Tips for Talking About Poverty and Taxes; Americans for Tax Fairness' Fair Taxes Calculator; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Lightbox Collaborative's "I Love Taxes!"; Topos' Taxlandia; 
• Hashtags: #TaxDay; #TaxDay2020; #WhatsInYourReturn 

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 Ten Lessons for Talking About Race and Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice
• Hashtag: #birminghamjail

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. Use this hook to talk about environmental injustice. Discuss proposals like the Green New Deal that would address climate change while creating jobs and economic opportunity. Use the values of Community and Voice.

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

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. As of 2020 it remains an official state holiday in South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Discuss this anniversary and the underlying problem citing the values of Community, Voice, and Equality. 

• Messaging and communication tools: 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. 

• Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice; Queer Detainee Empowerment Project’s World Report on the LGBT Immigrant Experience; 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

Lesbian Day of Visibility provides a platform to speak out on the issues facing female sexual minorities. Use this hook to 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; Queer Detainee Empowerment Project’s World Report on the LGBT Immigrant Experience; 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: #LesbianVisibility

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: AFL-CIO Workers Memorial Day Toolkit; National Employment Law Project's Workplace Fatalities Rising Under Trump OSHA as Enforcement Declinesand Trump Administration Rolls Back Workplace Injury Reporting Rule
• Hashtags: #1uSafety; #IWMD2019; #SafeAtWork; #SaveOSHA