In a world full of walls, social media is a powerful tool to help us share our stories and support one another and our common humanity — no matter our religion, race or nationality. We know Facebook is considering its responsibility to implement guardrails to keep the platform safe and accessible for us to connect across space and difference. But we are deeply concerned about Facebook's proposed revision of its hate speech policy to consider "Zionist" as a proxy for "Jew" or "Jewish." The proposed policy would too easily mischaracterize conversations about Zionists — and by extension, Zionism — as inherently antisemitic, harming Facebook users and undermining efforts to dismantle real antisemitism and all forms of racism, extremism and oppression. We cannot dismantle antisemitism if we are blocked from voicing our opinions and sharing our experiences with each other. We can discuss, debate and even disagree, as long as we share the belief that all of us deserve safety, freedom, and dignity. We ask Facebook to not erect barriers impeding users from connecting with each other as we engage in this work. This is the wrong solution to a real and important problem: those who fuel antisemitism online will continue doing so, with or without the word “Zionist.” In fact, many antisemites, especially among white supremacists and evangelical Christian Zionists, explicitly support Zionism and Israel, while engaging in speech and actions that dehumanize, insult, and isolate Jewish people. Importantly, this move will prohibit Palestinians from sharing their daily experiences and histories with the world, be it a photo of the keys to their grandparent’s house lost when attacked by Zionist militias in 1948, or a livestream of Zionist settlers attacking their olive trees in 2021. And it would prevent Jewish users from discussing their relationships to Zionist political ideology. Facebook scrutinizing specific words won’t keep any of us safe, but it will prevent us from connecting on the political issues important to all of us and block us from holding people and governments accountable for their policies and actions. The current Israeli government, and some of its supporters, have demanded that Facebook add “Zionist” to its hate speech policy. This would shut down conversations about accountability for policies and actions that harm Palestinians. Facebook should refuse to cooperate with those who seek to build more walls to keep us apart. We call on Facebook to not add “Zionist” as a protected category in its hate speech policy.

We, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, call on President Biden to take action for immigrant rights. We will hold President Biden accountable to the immigrant rights reforms he already promised AND also demand that he works to demilitarize the border and provide legalization for all. We have not forgotten the three million people who were deported under the Obama-Biden administration. Justice today does not only look like reversing anti-immigrant policies but actively seeks to repair the harm that has already been done to countless families. MIRAC will continue to push for legalization for all and an end to the whole system that profits from the mass-incarceration and the mass-deportation of immigrants, and also from the superexploitation of the labor of immigrants who live under constant fear of deportation. Please sign our petition to tell President Joe Biden to meet these demands! If you would like to get involved with MIRAC, please provide your email here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uUMnByB-S6JGMOd7q9wgyavae_5sXwQEcpsbTOKFOgk/edit

Unless policies change, billions of people around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries will not get access to a COVID-19 vaccine until 2024. This is a threat to people around the world, to the US, and to the entire global economy. We can address this problem by ensuring that intellectual property restrictions do not interfere with vaccine access. President Biden himself committed to share vaccine technology with other countries when asked this past summer by activist Ady Barkan. One critical way to remove barriers to vaccine access is to reverse the Trump administration’s deadly opposition to the WTO TRIPS Waiver proposal. U.S. opposition to this waiver, a hallmark of the Trump administration’s COVID-19 failure, is a huge roadblock to efforts to produce and manufacture accessible and affordable vaccines for all. The waiver would allow for the production of generic versions of vaccines and treatments necessary to end the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives worldwide. The people of the U.S. stand with South Africa, India, and over 100 other countries: we want President Biden to stop opposing this proposal to temporarily waive World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that protect pharmaceutical corporation profits over human health.

We’ve come to expect police union leadership to defend cops’ violence and abuse—but now Mike Mazzeo, president of the Rochester Locust Club, is saying it’s appropriate for a 9 year old—who wasn’t even a suspect—to be manhandled, handcuffed, and ultimately pepper-sprayed by police officers. It’s beyond excessive use of force, and it appears that the child’s 4th amendment rights were violated. But Mazzeo thinks the cops’ actions were appropriate: • “Those officers in those scenes, they broke no policy. There’s nothing that anyone can say they did that’s inappropriate.” • “I don’t know who could do any better job.” • “It resulted in no injury to her. Had they had to go and push further and use more force there’s a good chance she could have been hurt worse.” No community, especially its Black and brown folks, should be expected to trust or respect a police department with someone like Mazzeo in a position of leadership. Mike Mazzeo is the same police union leader who defended the officers who mocked, suffocated, and killed Daniel Prude. Mazzeo is also suing the state of New York to stop it from releasing the disciplinary records of Rochester police officers. Mazzeo’s defense of these officers—and his defense of the officers who killed Daniel Prude—are textbook examples of the playbook police unions use to shield violent and dangerous cops who are caught abusing their power and breaking the law: • When police are caught doing something that is clearly wrong, say they were following protocol and blame their training. • Deceive and lie to obscure and confuse the truth about what happened. • Attack city officials, activists, and others in a position to hold police accountable. It’s not just outrageous for Mazzeo to justify these officers’ violent actions towards a 9 year old girl—it’s a big part of what helps violent and biased police continue to get away with abuse. If Mazzeo can say these things and remain the leader of the police union, it virtually guarantees that Rochester police will continue to be unaccountable and violent. His behavior and way of thinking encourages police brutality, and it makes accountability for police and necessary reform impossible. Mike Mazzeo has to go. Please join us in calling on Rochester’s Mayor, Chief of Police, City Council members, and Police Accountability Board to force Mazzeo’s departure, now.

This is extremely important because we do not want to send out the wrong message to members on our campus or elsewhere, nor do we want to give a platform to someone who has explicitly expressed views contrary to our call to respect the dignity and life of all people. While she may have a unique testimony to becoming an anti-abortion activist, Abby Johnson, in recent videos and Twitter posts, has expressed beliefs and values that do not embody the Church's or Catholic University's consistent life ethic, including egregiously racist remarks and arguments.

This is so important because we need to honor her hard work. First, she was passionate about freedom and rights for all Black people. Next, she didn’t back down no matter how hard it got. Finally, she was strong and caring even when she went to freedom herself, she risked her life to get other enslaved people back to freedom too. We also think it would be great to put a statue of Harriet Tubman in Lake Eola Park, but we know that might be expensive so only if you can. I think that our City of Orlando should make Harriet Tubman day because we are a City where all that work that we believe in needs to be celebrated.

My name is Lois and I live in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Before the pandemic I worked at an Inn as a dishwasher -- but then, like millions across the country, I was laid off. Each month without work is an impossible decision between paying my water and sewer bill or making repairs on the house so it’s not condemned. It feels like I’m never going to get out of my terrible financial situation. I need to be able to take care of my family. I'd like to get back to work at a safe, good paying job and ideally it would be doing something that helps the country. I want to help us build back better with clean energy -- with the right training, I would be a great administrator or an instructor that we need to make it happen. Clean energy workers are builders, roofers, engineers, electricians, accountants, administrators, researchers and teachers who are all working to deliver renewable energy, like wind or solar power, to create a cleaner, safer, more just country, and I’d love to join them. Congress should see these crises as an opportunity. They have the power to get us back to work NOW, after delivering relief checks, while also tackling the climate crisis and environmental injustice. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer can lead the way. We can solve these problems all at once. Climate Action = Jobs, and right now we NEED good paying jobs that get folks like me back to work ASAP. President Biden’s plan to build back better with clean energy means creating millions of good-paying, clean energy union jobs that provide relief. And it means protecting our air and water for communities suffering from decades of environmental racism, who are consequently disproportionately suffering from COVID. At the same time, we’d tackle the biggest existential crisis of our time -- climate change. Millions of people like me want to get back to work. We want to be part of the fastest growing industry in America, which we need to grow even faster. At 50, I’m an older worker, and it’s harder for me to find work. The hospitality industry that I was in before the pandemic has been affected badly and probably won’t recover for a while. I’ve been trying to cobble together unemployment insurance, and the $600 stimulus check was helpful, but it’s gone, and without work I can’t pay my bills. With the right investments in our economy, all of us can thrive. Congress needs to deliver for the American people as quickly as possible. We can build a clean energy future and create good paying jobs, with an emphasis on the low-income communities and communities of color who are bearing the brunt of COVID and the climate crisis. Congress -- we have no time to wait. ADD YOUR NAME: Demand Congress take immediate action to create clean energy jobs and get Americans back to work NOW. Lois P. Pittsfield, Massachusetts

During the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 Frontliners’ Healthcare, Fire/ Emergency Services & Police have been directly engaged in the defense of our nation during a historical time of arduous and dangerous situations while trying to protect our nations citizens, and infrastructure firm the fall out and possible collapse of the American and global economy. The brave women and men of this great nation who have and are serving in any of the aforementioned positions deserve the gratitude of the US government and its people just as the US Military receives during combat actions in our nations defense. As we see it, there are currently no differences between the current combat actions abroad and now here at home. The only difference currently is the common enemy. America is facing the global enemy of COVID-19 currently on our home soils. Many have lost their lives and lives of family members and friends in the line of duty against the war on “COVID-19!” While the rest of the economy is getting stimulus payments, moratoriums, and bailouts, healthcare workers, firefighters, emergency services and police departments alike have been hard at work, with little to no relief, in hazardous duty zones, risking our lives to save America and its people with little to no expectations from the American people except a simple “thank you!” We believe it’s time for the US government to step up and do the right thing in support of its frontline providers services to this great nation we call UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! United we have stood, and many have fallen and will continue to fall. Please, be kind, be compassionate like we are, and do the right thing. Provide us COVID-19 Frontliners’ Healthcare, Emergency Services & Police, Tax Exclusion Hazardous Duty Service! Thank you and Be safe America!

Since she was inaugurated on January 3rd, 2021, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has continued to show that she is unfit for the office with which she is charged. She has repeatedly promoted dangerous conspiracies, refused to wear masks on the house floor, and has a history of violent rhetoric. She harassed young activist, David Hogg, and it has recently been discovered that she made numerous posts on Facebook calling for the execution of Democratic leaders, including the Speaker of the House. She harassed Muslim members of the House and demanded that they swear an oath on the bible in direct violation of Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits religious tests as a requirement to hold federal office. It is increasingly clear the constitution holds little meaning to Rep. Greene. The House of Representatives' power is not guaranteed to anyone, as it is a privilege bestowed by the people. This privilege, sacred in its nature, is maintained by an oath of office, entirely dependent upon the competence and good faith of the person swearing that oath. Representative Greene has no such competence or good faith. Her rampant conspiracism, history of violent rhetoric, and her disregard for other House members' dignity make her unfit for office. Therefore, the signatories of this petition call upon Speaker Pelosi to bring a vote of expulsion to the floor and remove this dangerous woman from her position.

1) To reduce the work needed for third party organizations to register voters; 2) To greatly increase the number of voters in this country; 3) To expand upon the goals of the National Voter Registration Act; 4) To overcome the hurdles set in place by petty state governments; 5) To allow popular agencies, including USCIS, VA, DOD, DHS, SSA, Interior, etc, to register voters under the laws of their respective states. More: https://www.demos.org/policy-briefs/millions-polls-national-voter-registration-act-expansion https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/15_Executive_Actions.pdf

If you march because Black Lives Matter, our calls for racial justice are one: Last summer, the people of D.C. were tear gassed while peacefully protesting for our lives. This January, white supremacists descended not just on the U.S. Capitol but on the neighborhoods we call home. Our community was left vulnerable to the violence of hate and then called to clean up the mess, because we lack the protection of statehood. And, if the District is granted statehood, it would be the first and only state with a plurality of Black residents. D.C. statehood is a racial justice issue. If you advocate for a path through the pandemic, our calls for relief are one: In the first COVID stimulus bill, D.C. received a fraction of the support we needed to take care of our own, because we did not have the status of statehood. This too left the communities around us more vulnerable to the virus. D.C. statehood is a health care issue. If you walked out of school to demand safety, our calls for gun violence prevention are one: Congress has used its outsized authority over D.C. to block and threaten the local government’s ability to pass life-saving measures. D.C. statehood is a gun violence prevention issue. If you know #MyBodyMyChoice should be policy, our calls for reproductive rights are one: D.C. is blocked from spending local dollars on abortion care because without statehood, our elected local leaders don’t control our budget. D.C. statehood is a reproductive health, rights, and justice issue. The movement for D.C. statehood is inextricably linked to the movements for progress you are leading in every corner of this nation, so it will require all of us joining together to demand a real path to D.C. statehood. Add your voice today.

On January 6th, 2021, a violent mob of extremists motivated by conspiracies that were sowed by the White House stormed into the Capitol, forcing legislators and their staff to barricade with the protection of armed guards. After hearing an address with yet more incendiary rhetoric from the outgoing president, they forced their way inside the Capitol building, carried a Confederate flag through the rotunda, and threatened lawmakers and our seat of government in Washington DC. Anyone involved in inspiring, encouraging, and abetting these terrorists must be held responsible for their actions. Unfortunately, they have been enabled by a large cross section of extremist politicians, many of whom represent Texans. They have made a mockery of democracy by embracing the fascist rhetoric of a far-right figurehead with a far-right movement behind him. They have suppressed votes while lying about the nature of our election system, sullying our elections while opposing their legally legitimate losses. They have proven themselves entirely unfit for office. They must resign. Additionally, we support the resolution of Representative Cori Bush to expel the seditious members of Congress attempting to undermine the legitimacy of our democratic election results. We support accountability that will expel, censure, disbar, begin ethics investigations into and cease campaign donations to the complicit congressmen, Texas Attorney General, as well as continue the impeachment hearing and conviction of Donald Trump. We believe in the power of democracy and the power of the People to make progress in the United States. Those who have proven that they would prefer to destroy the country rather than hold Trump accountable must surrender their power permanently. Their power is vested in us and they have shown themselves willing to use it abusively.