CSS Social Action Email

​“Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy."  Wendell Berry

CSS ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Join us this Sunday for the first session of our new adult education series
Diversity and Inclusion: Conversations on (Dis)Ability, Race, and Gender
The Adult Education Committee, chaired by Judith Heilizer, invites the community to conversations on diversity and inclusion. Through this we hope to address the ethics of diversity and inclusivity, as well as practical issues around creating community.
 
November 5: Yishai Barth on (Dis)Ability
At Center for Families, 2120 Fordem Avenue, 9:50-11:30 a.m.
Yishai is a 21-year-old Junior at UMass Amherst Honors College. He is an advocate and activist for people with disabilities. He has Cerebral Palsy and Sensory Integration Disorder and has done significant work in helping teens with disabilities advocate for themselves. In this session, he will reflect on his own experience as he shares his philosophy of disability as part of our framework for applying our understandings of diversity and inclusion.
 
December 3: Exploring Transgender Issues: A Panel on Diversity and Inclusion
December 17: Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Jewish Community: A Conversation with Shahanna McKinney Baldon
 
EVENTS AROUND TOWN:
Well it is no secret that this world, our country, Wisconsin and sometimes Madison can be a depressing place to live and be part of. So, in addition to organizing events and action oriented events happening in Madison I will try to be a bit more intentional about mentioning events that I think are part of actively making Madison a better, more inclusive and equitable community.
 
November 1: Dane County Sanctuary Coalition meeting:
There is a general meeting from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at James Reeb UU Congregation at 2146 E. Johnson Street. This meeting is for CSS and other coalition members that are interested in volunteering with the sanctuary work at FUS or the two other sanctuary host sites in Madison.
 
November 2: Voces de la Frontera rally at the Capitol
SB 275, the Senate version of the anti-sanctuary bill, is going to be voted on this Thursday. Voces is going to hold a press conference at the Capitol at 10:00 a.m. to draw attention to the vote. It is short notice and they are worried about crowd size. Please consider attending and spreading the word about it.
 
November 3: Nehemiah’s 25th Anniversary Party
The Center for Urban Leadership Development is “celebrating our past and creating our future”. See this link with details about the event.
 
November 4: Stop Sheriff Schmidt from turning sheriffs into ICE through 287g
Voces de la Frontera is organizing a Milwaukee Community Meeting at 1:30 p.m. at 
1027 S 5th St, Milwaukee.
 
November 4 – Voices of Courage and Longing: Honoring Immigrant Journeys
Sequoya Library, 4340 Tokay Blvd, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
"Open Mic" format featuring readings and stories by current immigrants and descendants of past immigrants. Participants are invited to tell their own family's story or to bring a possession from their country of origin and tell a story about it. There will be displays of literature, CDs, cookbooks, and films inspired by immigrant experiences. Literature from local immigration programs will be available to describe their work and discuss how to contribute to their current programs. Click here for more details. 
 
November 5: Stop 287g & Stop the Anti-Immigrant Bill AB190!                 Voces de la Frontera is organizing a Protest at Scott Walker’s Campaign Announcement at 1:00 p.m. at 2001 S Prairie Ave, Waukesha.
 
November 9: Growing Through Literacy Reception
The Literacy Network of Dane County is having a reception at 6:00 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel Madison to both raise money for the organization and to hear the stories of people that are served by the Literacy Network. More information here.
 
November 19: Fair Trade Fair
9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Orchard Ridge UCC, 1501 Gilbert Rd, Madison, WI 53711. For more info call (608) 271-7212.
 
ACTION ITEMS:
287g Program
Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson has applied to turn his deputies into ICE agents through the 287g program. Voces de la Frontera has several things you can tap into to try to stop this from happening. Click here to see their 287g factsheet, toolkit to stop 287g in Wisconsin, and bus info for Saturday.
 
Voces is also asking people to call Sheriff Severson at 262-548-7122, and call Milwaukee County Sheriff Richard Schmidt at 414-278-4766 and urge them to drop their 287g applications! We have until November 14. Suggested script: "I want to urge the Sheriff to drop his application for the discriminatory, dangerous 287g program. Local law enforcement should be helping protect the community, not separating immigrant families.
 
Oppose a Mueller Firing
As we know, anything is possible at any time. Trump could try to fire Mueller or he might not. Maybe by the time you read this he has already started the process. Cory Booker and Lindsey Graham have introduced bipartisan legislation to limit the President’s ability to fire Mueller. Click here for talking points and phone numbers for your legislator to encourage them to support this legislation.
 
Help Widely Distribute Affordable Care Act Resources Before Enrollment Date
Since they don’t have the votes to repeal Obamacare this administration is openly trying to sabotage it. Cut advertising budget by 90%, shutting down the online system on Sundays, destabilizing the insurance markets, etc. There really is no bar that is too low for this administration to crawl under. Open enrollment is between November 1 and December 15.  Most of us don’t work in the health care field, but if your connections and reach is such that there are people who might learn about this because you shared the information, please share that enrollment is open and how to do it. Word of mouth is going to be important since funding was drastically cut for outreach. Indivisible has some useful information on how to spread the word about open enrollment.
 
Push Back Against the Trump Tax Plan
From Indivisible: “Republicans have cleared the first stage of jamming the Trump Tax Scam through Congress, by passing a budget resolution in the House and Senate. But this fight is far from over. Find out how we can stop the scam.” Information, resources and links can be found here.
 
Derail the Jail campaign
The Derail the Jail campaign has been pushing for community alternatives to incarceration. In Dane County, a significant percentage of people incarcerated in jail are suffering from mental illness challenges or because they can’t make bail. The Action Network has a petition you can sign that will go to the Dane County Supervisors that calls on the Dane County Board to vote no to any new jail construction and will instead earmark sufficient funds for community healthcare, affordable housing and the creation of a crisis restoration center. Here is information on how your supervisor plans to vote. And events that are coming up for this organizing effort. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS:
--Anna O. Law, a political scientist that focuses on U.S. constitutional and immigration law has a very informative twitter feed. Check it out if you want to better understand the Diversity Visa Lottery that Trump wants to end in the aftermath of the terror attack in NYC yesterday.
 
--The Progress Center for Black Women – Sabrina Madison announces the creation of Progress Center for Black Women at the Urban League. Click here and here for details and click here to help reach the fundraising goal for creating the center.