Today was tough. Today was really tough. But there are still more of us than there are of them, and we are fighting back every single day. I hope you found things to be joyful about today, and I hope these three wins help make that just a little better.
Wed June 25 - Over 100 union members of various Seattle, Washington Unions, including Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) picketed in front of the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in support of federal workers who have been threatened and intimidated by ICE when entering the federal building and courthouse where immigrants are attending their hearings and filling out paperwork.
The Facebook post where this story comes from doesn’t have a lot of views or comments and the ones that are there are kind hateful. So, if you still use Facebook, consider commenting!
Mon, June 16 - The superintendent of Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts, Anna Nolin, sent a letter to the school committee and to parents that if a student doesn’t have all their MA required vaccines by fall, they cannot come back to school.
Please note that when we return to school in the fall, any child who is not vaccinated in accordance with the vaccination guidance we have included above--which is the state requirements for school attendance--the students will not be allowed to return to school until those requirements are met.
This is how it always was till RFK Jr. made people start doubting the validity of vaccines, and this is how it should always be. I also want to give a shout out to WBZ Boston for their reporting on this story. Other broadcast companies interviewed far more anti-vax people.
Thurs, June 26 - Ventura City Council passed the CARE policy 6-1. This policy protects the queer and immigrant communities as well as reproductive healthcare. It stands for “community, autonomy, rights, and equality.” KEYT writer Mina Wahab explains:
The non-cooperation policy sets boundaries about what Ventura will — and will not — participate in.
One of the things it does is instruct city officials to withhold city resources such as data sharing from any identity-based enforcement action
The one city council member who voted against it said it’s just performative and has no real power because California already has these protections, but, Huntington Beach is also in CA, and it’s definitely helping ICE and others do those things, so this sounds like real power to me.
So, those are just three of the eight wins I had that I could have posted today (don’t worry, most if not all will get posted eventually.)
This is just a reminder that there are always wins, and we owe it to ourselves to be on the lookout for them. And it’s not just to feel good, it’s strategic too.
It’s easier to fight from a place of hope than catatonic fear.
Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
Hey Ariella you have a big effect, the Seattle Union post now has plenty of positive thankful comments! Did you see?
I know this poll came out ~10 days ago, yet it shows that most people think we need to spend more on things like Education, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, not less.
https://apnorc.org/projects/few-want-spending-on-federal-benefit-programs-reduced/