George Floyd and the 5/30 Protests

I think so too!

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If I’m reading right, I think SCOTUS just declined to review qualified immunity.

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I saw the same headline, but I haven’t dug into which scenario/case brought the issue to their attention.

I’m not surprised they would decline right now. SCOTUS generally wouldn’t want to take a hot button case or rule while something is actively being discussed through political/legislative channels for reform right now in response to protests.

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I thought it was and I was just getting confused because I agreed with him but he didn’t seem to understand that I did.

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Here’s an interesting announcement by Chef Andy Ricker of the Portland Pok Pok restaurants. He is closing all but the original restaurant locations, and points out how the US is really failing at the city, state, and country levels in dealing with the pandemic.

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A civil rights lawyer who’s been organizing the movement here has been getting death threats against his whole family and burning crosses on their lawn.

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This graphic of locations police used tear gas (non-exhaustive) is horrifying and amazing: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/16/us/george-floyd-protests-police-tear-gas.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-george-floyd&variant=show®ion=TOP_BANNER&context=storylines_menu

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:rage: :rage: :rage:

WTF people

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Just signed up with Reclaim Our Vote, which reaches out to voters of color in states with rampant voter suppression (especially of Black voters).

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I signed up too, thanks for the reminder about this group. I can recommend it to my Indivisible group once I try it out.

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Someone over on MMM recommended it to me. I figured – holy hell I can textbank and send out some postcards!!

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Ok here it goes: It’s Juneteenth, I’m not working today, and so far I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been all talk and no action.

Today I plan to change that by writing to city/county/state level officials. I’d like to focus on 1-2 key asks for each. Can you all help me figure out how to do this?

  1. City: Ask them to revise policy so that Police officers stop responding to non-criminal activities such as disputes between neighbors, reports about homeless people and school discipline interventions. Ask them to divert funding to establish response units trained in mediation and crisis management (should I write to the mayor, my city councle person, the police chief, or all of them??). My city already requires body cams at all times and while I don’t agree with all the nuances of the policy I’m not sure that’s where I should focus this ask.

  2. County: Similar ask on non-criminal activities, plus asking them to require that ALL county sheriffs are required to wear body cams at all times. A black man was killed yesterday in a shootout where he apparently fired the first shots and a semi-automatic was recovered at the scene (so, apparently justified?) but the articles noted that there was no body cam footage from any of the responding officers because they aren’t universally required.

  3. State: Ask my state senator/assembly person/governor to introduce and/or support bills on including racial impact statements in all new legislation.

I’m trying not to let perfect be the enemy of good, but if anyone has feedback on this plan, or specific scripts to be able to use, I’d really appreciate it!! I plan on emailing and/or submitting forms on websites because I will actually do that and I don’t think I’ll actually call.

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Write your council member, the mayor, and the police chief all. If you want some info on talking points, https://8cantwait.org/ has some good stuff.

There are some good SURJ scripts that @Illathrael posted – I think here in this thread – for legislative stuff. In general, short and sweet is good in political emails!

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Thanks for the @!

In rough draft form, this is my general template for letter writing:

Dear _________

  • I am writing because _________
  • I (oppose/support/am concerned) _____________
  • Reason I (oppose/support/am concerned)
  • What I want you to do about it (ban/support/promote/withdraw/etc)

Sincerely,

Name
Address (if writing to government officials)


It’s really important to keep it short and sweet if you can. If the issue you’re writing about is super personal to you, though, please please please include your story. If a legislative aide thinks that your story will fit the elected official’s agenda, they’ll use it to make a case, and constituent stories are powerful.

Also @Sunflower definitely write to the mayor, city council and police chief, but also write to your state’s attorney general, your governor, and your state senator and representative about the same things, they determine a lot of the funding and legislation.

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Thanks! I think my emails were maybe even too short and sweet after reading your template but at least I sent them, and the next time I can try something different. I basically just said “Hi I’m a constituent and I’m urging you to introduce or support legislation regarding x,y,z because I believe BIPOC members should be safe in our communities”.

I did remember my state assembly/senate but couldn’t find a place to contact anyone in the local police department. I’ll look for that over the weekend and also the attorney general.

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Nope, that sounds perfect.

I will note that with smaller/more local offices, they’re less set up to handle these kinds of letters than larger officials. It may be a better opportunity for very specific asks.

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I’ve been emailing my municipal representatives every day or two. I’m not using a script, just telling them what matters to me and what’s on my mind. It probably makes no difference but I figure the assistants that read the email just gloss over and discard the form letter ones.

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The Houston Association of Realtors no longer uses the word “master” to describe bedrooms and bathrooms on its Multiple Listing Service. It’s being replaced by “primary”, which I think makes more sense these days with some lay outs in, for example, apartments where both bedrooms are identical.

I hope HGTV follows suit!

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I was just reading about this for my realtor client! His brokerage is really tech savvy and progressive and I’m hopeful they’re going to implement some of these changes too

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I’ve been seeing owner’s suite come up a bit more as well.

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