• Justice for Hevenly Mendonsa
    The police have been beating my sister in jail, she suffers from Schizoaffective bipolar disorder. Recently an officer kicked her so hard which resulted in a dislocated kneecap for the cop. My sister is facing charges for the cops wrongdoings in criminal court instead of mental health court. I’m asking everyone to please pray for my sister and for protection while she is in jail. My sister is a young black woman from Solano County and is being denied her rights under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a black woman with mental disabilities. My sister is facing 7 years and the officers excuse for kicking her is that my sister was “moving to slow” coming from the jail elevator. Someone with a mental disability should not be handled with aggressive impatient treatment. My sisters life matters #blacklivesmatter This is Hevenly her life matters. Black women need protection now more than ever especially those who suffer from things out of their control. Her hearing is at 8:30am on October 16 in Solano County Crimal Court she is being charged unjustly from charges related to this event. If anybody out there has any referral resources or that hears this message & is willing to share in hopes of helping our family in this tragic situation please do! Even if it’s with words of encouragement. I know we aren’t the only family from Solano County that suffers from police brutality and from officers who strategically target those that are mentally disabled, black, and poor. #Blacklivesmatter 🖤🖤🖤
    352 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Dacari Mashauni
  • Pass the Peace Book ordinance now!
    At the end of September 2020 in Chicago 3,210 people have been shot and 551 have lost their lives to gun violence and we don't want to lose one more person but especially our children. Please use your voice to let city council that they need to prioritize saving lives and investing in healing. We can't wait for another 3 years before substantive change happens. The time to act is now and we have to pass the Peace Book ordinance. The Peace Book is the opposite of the Gang Book. The Peace Book is a regularly-published book (as well as a website and an app) that provides a resource directory identifying wraparound services and job opportunities with the purpose of reducing youth incarceration. The Peace Book suggests diversion programs and ways to further implement restorative justice practices inside schools, courts, and juvenile detention centers. It documents the inequality that contributes to intergenerational poverty and trauma and proposes solutions. It describes models and instructions regarding how to curate neighborhood-based peace treaties. It identifies Peace Keepers in each ward who have the experience and relationships required to conduct peace negotiation and violence interruption. And it proposes remedies to gun violence, including but not limited to free drug treatment centers, trauma centers, trauma-informed schools, mental health care clinics, standby psychiatrists or therapists, restorative justice, community centers, transformative justice, fair housing, food justice and economic justice.
    5,426 of 6,000 Signatures
    Created by GoodKids MadCITY
  • Retroactive Admission
    FAIRNESS, INCLUSION, and EQUALITY. The Supreme Court lowered the bar passage score for the California bar exam 2 months after the February 2020 bar results were made public. If the passing score on the Feb. 2020 exam had been reduced to 1390, five percent more white test takers would have passed the exam, but eight percent more Latinos, seven percent more Asians and 13 percent more Blacks would also have passed. The percentage of woman applicants have not been disclosed by the committee. Please support recent eligible applicants who have passed previous bar exams with the new cut score of 1390 to 1439 but are unable to retake the exam due to the high fees and costs associated with taking the exam, wildfires, and the numerous issues caused by the pandemic from unemployment, school closures, and the novel Corona virus. Make California attorneys more representative of the state and provide greater access to justice for low- and middle-income Californians in need of legal assistance. The State Bar of California does not want to make the exam retroactive because they will lose money. The State Bar of California will not make admissions retroactive without guidance from the Supreme Court. Please sign this petition, share with friends and family, and support our future generation of legal minds during these times of social injustice. DID YOU KNOW- The State Bar of California will receive $317,080 in test fees from the 376 repeater applicants that have to retake the online October 2020 exam to receive the same score the received in February 2020. Bar Exam fee: $677; Laptop fee: $153; Total to retake online OCT bar exam $830. Bar preparation courses range from $2,500-$10,000. Law school graduates are required to take the California bar exam after graduating from law school and passing moral character and an ethics exam if they want to practice law in the State of California. Support this petition so this new generation of legal advocates can make an impact in the legal field.
    478 of 500 Signatures
    Created by Ava Boloori
  • Sidewalks for Rock Creek Manor
    How Sidewalks Would Improve our Community: • Would provide sidewalk access to two entrances of Rock Creek Park Paths (Parkvale Rd and Manorvale Rd) • Provides sidewalk access for students walking to Earle B Wood Middle School and Rock Creek Valley Elementary School and the Earle B Wood Park on the school’s grounds • Provides sidewalk access to Bauer Driver Community Recreation Center • Would allow sidewalk access (via Rock Creek Park Path) to Tikvat Israel, and Twinbrook Baptist Church • Provides sidewalk access to Bus Stop (Bus 48 Line) at intersection of Greenspan Lane and Bauer Drive • Allows sidewalk access to Rock Creek Village center grocery stores/restaurants • All three roads are being used by drivers from outside the neighborhood as a short cut around Rock Creek Village Center and associated traffic • There have been car accidents from speeding cars on our street already. • We have an active community with seniors, kids, bikers, pedestrians, and dog walkers all currently in the street and increasing the risk of a serious accident.
    130 of 200 Signatures
    Created by William Horowitz
  • The University of Michigan: Decolonizing Pedagogies Initiative
    DPI must be instilled within DEI project plans to offer a sustainable approach to retaining diverse ANISHINAABEK, Native American, First Nations, Black Native, Pacific Island, Mesoamerican, South American, Caribbean Indigenous and global Indigenous students and their epistemologies. DPI at The University will give way to mass decolonization of academia throughout Turtle Island. Decolonization must BEGIN with Michigan! THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MUST BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TREATY OF FORT MEIGS ON BEHALF OF DIVERSE ANISHINAABEK AND GLOBAL INDIGENOUS ONTOLOGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION. Times up Michigan, your Treaty obligation is overdue. We DEMAND decolonial pedagogy.
    1,105 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Samara Jackson Tobey
  • Inmate Firefighters Deserve Real Jobs in Oregon
    These fire crews work tirelessly to serve and save our state when we're at our most vulnerable. Yet, they are denied access as they re-enter into society. They put their lives on the line for us, let's give them the opportunity to start new, serve the community, and create a new life with the skills and experience they possess.
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    Created by Kate Woods
  • Urgent: MCAS, Oregon, retaliates to kill young dog despite a qualified and safe rescue option
    When the punishment does not fit the crime: Multnomah County Animal Services (MCAS) wastes money; wastes lives, and spends $22,620 to kill a young dog. MCAS will immediately kill this young dog as soon as all legal deadlines end in mid-September. Protest this politically motivated action and support the rescue, adoption, and foster offers that have been made to allow him the life he has never had. Blaze, a young American Pit bull impounded at 10 months of age, has been held in maximum security at Multnomah County Animal Services (MCAS) since May 19, 2017. Over 3 years have gone by. He is not a “dangerous dog.” Blaze has not caused a “serious physical injury.” He was never used as a weapon and has caused no one ‘s death. The bite incidents (2) that resulted his incarceration in 2017 were well within the range of incidents that occur throughout the community, were preventable, and situational, secondary to living in a chaotic multi occupant household. There is no need to kill him to keep society “safe.” MCAS’s plans to kill him are retaliatory, driven by a need for absolute control and a commitment to the idea that killing is the best way of teaching a lesson to those with the courage to a challenge MCAS’s authority. The fundamental policy at MCAS is that that no one may ever question the validity of their decisions or offer alternative solutions. The rejection of public input and inclusive thoughtful solutions began with a regime change five years ago when the newly hired director began to systematically re-write all policies to exclude all professional consultations, rescue and public input, once important parts of decision making. It was in fact a hostile takeover, unfettered by oversight targeting removal of the public from its own government. The immediate escalation in killing that followed has been covered up, disingenuously explained away way as “socially responsible,” when no data has been presented that the community is “safer” with more killing. Killing just requires less effort. The agency, not the homeless animals unfortunate to be there, is “unhealthy and untreatable.” No questions are asked by government. Complacency and collegiality trump fact finding every time. The agency requirement that Blaze be killed when safe humane alternatives exist is a continuing pattern at Multnomah County Animal Services and is about vengeance, a revenge for which MCAS as of September 07, 2020 has willingly incurred boarding costs of $22,620. Blaze’s exemplary behavior under stressful agency generated circumstances has been extraordinary. Nearly all of Blaze’s life has now been spent in solitary confinement where he is only permitted visits behind a kennel door without contact allowed for 15 minutes or less, with those closely supervised by an animal control officer. The goal to discourage visitors has succeeded. But despite the fact that nearly all of his life has been spent in solitary confinement, Blaze has survived. His daily kennel monitor reports document a cheerful welcoming behavior and efforts to seek out positive attention from other animals and people passing by the outside of his cell. MCAS refuses to allow him to be evaluated by an expert professional with a diplomate in veterinary behavior medicine and rejects the opportunity to create a behavior plan and allow him to go to a 501(c)(3) placement partner as did previous administrations. This resort to autocratic rule is occurs because MCAS can simply run out the clock. MCAS’s deliberate refusal to acknowledge and respond to consultation and rescue offers from volunteers, community professionals, and rescues in all cases now is unconscionable. “Winning” by deliberately shutting out the community has led to increased killing throughout the county without any safety agenda served. Please contact the listed responsible parties in charge of this agency where every democratic principle has been removed. Ask that Blaze be permitted to live and help us in this county advocate for a humane democratic shelter, one that does not kill arbitrarily when safe and humane options exist and partners with the community that pays its way. Documents available upon request. Gail O’Connell-Babcock, PhD [email protected] Foster Pets NW Citizens for Humane Animal Legislation/Watchdog --- Contact list for responsible parties: Wade Sadler, MCAS Director: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-6233; (503) 988-7387 Jamie Waltz: Interim Director Dept.Community Services: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-7968 Interim Chief Operating Officer Peggy Brey: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-2999. -- The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners County Chair Deborah Kafoury: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-3308 Sharon Meieran, Commissioner District 1: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-5220 Susheela Jayapal, Commissioner District 2: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-5219 Jessica Vega Pederson, Commissioner District 3: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-5217 Lori Stegmann, Commissioner District 4: [email protected] Phone: (503) 988-5213
    372 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Gail O'Connell-Babcock
  • Sign On: Expand Michigan Paid Sick Leave Law
    Now is the time to have paid sick leave for all Michigan workers! The COVID crisis has magnified just how vital paid sick leave is, and how unprepared we were when the pandemic hit. Paid sick leave has been proven to be an effective policy to reduce the spread of the virus. Paid sick leave for all workers is critical as we re-open, is the best way for businesses to stay open and would help get the nation working again while supporting public health. While Congress passed emergency paid leave for many, it was temporary and limited, omitting as many as 106 million workers nationally and 1.7 million working Michiganders, many of them essential workers and on the front lines risking their lives and further exposure. Many of these workers are disproportionately people of color, women, and low-wage workers. Michigan Paid Leave for All (MiPaidLeave4All) is a coalition of individuals, businesses, community groups and nonprofit organizations that have committed to organize and fight for the right of EVERY worker in Michigan to have access to paid sick time to take care of themselves and their loved ones when illness strikes. The coalition is composed of civil rights, economic justice, faith-based, and women’s rights organizations. Together, we are united in a long-term fight in Michigan for establishing Paid Leave for All. Combined, these organizations have decades of experience strategizing, organizing, and mobilizing on behalf of racial, economic and gender justice in policy making. We firmly believe that no singular group can bring about this change. Together, however, through a coalition built on trust, we will be able to fight for and amplify policies that enable workers to have the ability to care for the families they work to support and sustain without losing their jobs, incomes, or livelihoods. As a coalition of your collective constituents, we expect our goal of achieving a public health policy that affords paid leave for all Michigan workers to be heard, listened to, and supported by you. We know that working individuals, their families and the state are strongest with time to heal from illness or injury, to welcome a new child, to help a loved one recover, or to ease their passing. We believe that everyone should be able to take time to care for themselves or a loved one without risking their job or paycheck. Being there for family is what matters—no exceptions. Right now the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave for members of its workforce. Current laws have failed to keep up with the needs of our workers, families, or our businesses in the 21st century. Having widespread access to paid leave would also give workers the confidence in their employers to abate their fears and concerns about getting exposed to COVID-19 (and other likely communicable illnesses) while on the job. Despite existing protections from retaliation for workers who are exposed or who may need to take time off to quarantine because they or a close contact has been exposed, many workers are still concerned that without adequate paid leave policies, they will have to choose between risking their physical health and their financial health. It’s a zero-sum situation and lose-lose situation for our workforce and the power to rectify that is at our collective fingertips. This is a workers’ rights issue, an economic justice issue, a racial justice issue, and a gender equity issue. And as a matter of equity, it’s time for paid sick leave for all of Michigan workers, not just those who already are lucky enough to have access to it. Because of dedicated community organizing Michigan has a Paid Sick Leave law; however, the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that it is inadequate. We must update and expand it in the very short term in order to cover every working person, to provide paid leave for a longer period of time than the current law provides, and include health pandemics, as SB 961 sponsored by Sen. Erika Geiss does. We urge you to support SB 961 so that Michigan is never caught unprepared again, whether the crisis is national or personal.
    177 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Mothering Justice
  • Normalize Teachers Using Pronouns In School
    If the school wants to foster a community where we feel safe and can be ourselves this is an imperative thing to do. We need to normalize this kind of stuff so students don’t feel so ostracized
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    Created by Catherine Koester
  • Joe Biden: Go to Portland & Kenosha -- BE THE LEADER WE NEED
    Joe Biden cannot control the narrative of a campaign against Donald Trump through words. HE MUST ACT. He should spend the remaining days of the campaign shuttling between Portland and Kenosha. Bring the parties together. GET THEM TALKING TO EACH OTHER.
    65 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Craig Boreth Picture
  • Extend Unemployment Insurance For Struggling Families!
    Congress let federal unemployment benefits and other coronavirus relief aid expire, and they have no idea what they’re going to do to help millions of struggling families! How are we supposed to feed our kids or pay the bills?? Republicans blocked the extension–so they need to hear from millions of us. Will you sign my petition urging Congress to extend unemployment benefits for as long as the pandemic lasts? #ParentsAct
    97 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Nani Arreaza
  • No Foster Child Lost
    This is important to me because I not only have 3 siblings in foster care that I have not seen since I was eleven but I also have cousins in the system that are separated. I know how the system works because I was in the system and felt alone at times. I was lonely thinking I didn't have a family that cared until my father passed away and I moved with my aunt and then was taken from her. Placed in another home and then placed with my grandmother and I was scared for years that I would be lost in the system. I have been searching for my siblings since I turned 18 I tried calling the agency we were at when I was younger I spoke to a lawyer, searched Facebook, sent emails. I want to find them because they mean the world to me and I want to make sure they know that because I went through so much pain in the system to protect them and my little sister that got adopted with me. So just getting that help and finding them and stopping this from happening to other families will mean everything.
    113 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Skyashia LaBorde