Happy Mother's Day

A special shout out to the real meaning of the day

This piece, done originally for the LA Times, celebrates the true meaning of Mother’s Day, which is to promote good work for important causes like the struggles against war and for women’s rights. And how that can be overtaken by the system.

It’s always a kind of happy ending when we end up finding out the truth. Anyway the system honors and respects anything that shows a profit. However, Ms. Jarvis was hero and deserves being remembered today.

This piece is free for you to receive and share across platforms. If you would like to leave a small tip please feel free HERE. Thanks.

ONE ACTION. From our friend Laura Conwesser (thanks for the shout out, Laura!):

Hello friends,

We can’t sugar-coat this. It is very difficult to be a person with a moral conscience right now. However, we will keep pressing on to bring humanity and sanity back to American politics.

In the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court destruction last week of the Voting Rights Act in the Callais ruling, the actions in many Southern states were swift, racist and anti-democratic. The legislatures in Tennessee and Louisiana voted to eliminate Congressional districts with Black majorities by redrawing the lines to fracture the Black vote from being a majority in one district and make it a minority in multiple districts. South Carolina is preparing to do the same, as are Alabama and Mississippi. Florida had their new Congressional maps prepared in anticipation of the SCOTUS ruling; DeSantis has now signed that into law. Georgia will make changes, too, but will wait until after the 2026 mid-term elections. The icing on this poisonous cake was that the Virginia Supreme Court just overturned a voter referendum that passed on April 21 which would have benefited Democrats in the upcoming elections.

The response among civil rights and voting rights organizations has been equally swift. There are lawsuits being filed by the NAACP, Democracy Docket, the ACLU and many other organizations. It remains to be seen if any of those will be successful, at least in the short term by delaying the implementation of the new redistricting maps. However, it seems like the biggest push right now is to ensure that we get out the vote for the candidates who can put our country in a better place. I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about the civil rights movement of the ‘50s and 60’s. The Foot Soldiers were able to accomplish so much. It is up to all of us to continue the fight. Large majorities of the American people are opposed to the direction our government is taking us. Our immediate goal must be to elect a Democratic majority in Congress. Just a week or two ago, we all thought that was a sure thing. It will take a little more effort now but is still well within our grasp. A Congress that cares about the Constitution can enact redistricting laws that are not racist and are non-partisan. They can enact an improved version of the John Lewis Act to ensure this. Sadly, that legislation will need to be tweaked to respond to the convoluted thinking of the Roberts Court, but it is doable and necessary. There will be a weekend of action on July 17-19 across the country to advocate for this important legislation and honor the legacy of John Lewis and all the other Foot Soldiers who fought for and won the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I have already signed up. You can, too. Good Trouble. There will be an informational call next Thursday May 14 at 7pm ET. You can register for that HERE. The ACLU will also being sending out periodic alerts about actions. You can sign up for those HERE.

Looking towards the midterm elections, check HERE to be sure that you are registered to vote. Then share that link with everyone you know, particularly if they live is a critical swing district.

As we have learned from our successes in Wisconsin and the dangerous overturning of the pro-voter referendum in Virginia, State Supreme Courts are crucial to preserving democracy. If you are able, please send a donation to two pro-democracy candidates for the upcoming Supreme Court election in Georgia. These are not the high-priced, high-profile campaigns that require huge sums of money. Help these two excellent candidates: Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin. Heather Cox Richardson interviewed both of them on YouTube so you can see how well your money would be spent.

The response to Callais is not the only major issue we have to address. Congress is still considering more funding for ICE and CBP. We must tell our representatives that we expect them to vote NO on any additional funds. The National Immigration Justice Center has an easy tool for sending an email to your electeds. The ACLU has another for calling. If you prefer to call on your own, you can find your Senators and House members and leave a voicemail saying that you are counting on them to vote NOT ONE MORE PENNY for ICE/CBP.

For those of you in NY State, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence needs our help in getting Francesco’s Law (S.3385A/1962B) added to the budget. This bill addresses safe storage of firearms. Although Gov. Hochul has proposed several improvements to our gun safety laws, this is a major omission. You can look HERE to find your state representatives. Call and email them and urge them to support this important legislation. You can also sign NYGAV’s petition.

Also for NYers, Gov Hochul and several state legislators are proposing No-Speech Buffer Zones around houses of worship, schools, hospitals and airports, a serious violation of our right to free speech. You can use the NYCLU tool to call state leaders and your own representatives. The same issue was passed in the NYC Council but vetoed by Mayor Mamdani. That means it will return to the council for another vote. You can voice your opinion on that HERE.

In a recent email, I mentioned the scheduled execution later this month of Tony Carruthers. The ACLU is fighting to get a court to consider all of the evidence in Tony’s case, including untested fingerprints and DNA, statements from his co-defendant exonerating Tony, and evidence that the state’s main witness was secretly being paid to testify. We are being asked to sign a petition to Tennessee’s Gov. Lee, asking that all the evidence be examined.

Thanks to the many of you who spoke up on behalf of Olivia to support RAICES’s lawsuit to free her from detention at Dilley. She is about to be released, after more than six months of living in that hellhole. Thank you!!

REI, the camping and sporting goods store chain, has always presented itself as a progressive organization. However, they are not handling their employer/eployee relationships that way. They have hired Morgan Lewis, the same union-busting law firm that is helping Amazon in their fight against their employees. The REI workers are asking us to boycott the store and sign their letter showing your support.

I will close this missive with the work of my friend and amazing political cartoonist, Steve Brodner. If you want to see more of his work, go to

https://stevebrodner.substack.com

As always, thank you.

Laura