Nurses have been validated as healthcare heroes. The nurses worked through the pandemic to ensure that patients throughout the District were properly cared for.  Since 2019, the Mayor has refused to bargain in good faith with the nurses by consistently canceling negotiation sessions, refusing to bring proposals to the table and finally only offering 1% for annual raises, while approving over 2% annual raises for other DC government employees. This is a slap in the face to the nurses who sacrificed the safety of their families to ensure that District residents were properly cared for. The Mayor needs to give the nurses a fair contract that reflects our value to the patients and residents of the District of Columbia.

This is an important matter for without these folks, we would not be the United States that we know today. These are the people that make our freedoms possible, and the reason we wake up in the morning without fear of invasion or being taken over. Given the recent movement from Russia into Ukrainian territories, the United States government has mobilized troops overseas yet again, leaving the future their mental health unknown. It is only right to provide the ones who provide for us with proper repayment; proper mental health care.

On February 24, Ukrainians woke up to unprovoked attacks from Russia by land and air. Ukraine is a democracy that elects its own leaders—yet Russia's Vladimir Putin is now threatening the safety, democracy, and freedom of the Ukrainian people. Putin's decision to go to war in Ukraine was his own—and he has been using disinformation to lay the groundwork for it. It will have devastating effects on the Ukrainian people, the Russian people, and, potentially, the global economy. While the U.S. government and international allies pursued diplomatic efforts to prevent Russia's aggression, Putin has now launched attacks that will lead to death and destruction and jeopardize Ukraine's autonomy. The U.S. needs to work with international allies to hold Putin accountable, bring this conflict to an end, and support the Ukrainian people. "People protesting by the Presidential Administration" by mac_ivan is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

These American children, and their parents, must be protected AT ANY COST!

The truth is that Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans are running a full-court press to attack our most vulnerable communities this legislative session. DeSantis' own Press Secretary Christina Pushaw took to Twitter with a bigoted, anti-LGBTQ rant regarding Florida's Don't Say Gay bill. In the two-tweet thread, she accuses LGBTQ people of being pedophiles. She continued throughout the weekend, retweeting similar language from right-wing outlets and lashing out at NBC's SNL for a skit on the bill. DeSantis owns this unbridled hatred. Time is running out. And it’s not just Florida: Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country have introduced over 100 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, most of which especially target trans and nonbinary youth. So we must rise up to push back against these dangerous attacks. There is absolutely no time to waste. LGBTQ+ youth like me are counting on you to rise up and fight back. Bills like this cause further, immeasurable harm to communities that already face harassment, discrimination, and attacks like these day after day for simply existing. These bills are attempts at erasing us, stigmatizing us, and isolating us, and they would continue to push LGBTQ+ youth even farther to the margins. It's heartbreaking and hits way too close to home for me and so many others. These attacks are happening across the country, so it’s critical that all Floridians and people across the country know of the lengths Governor DeSantis and Republicans are willing to go in order to curb free speech, propagandize school curriculums, and police them in classrooms, private workplaces, and doctor’s offices. DeSantis and Republicans are willing to inflict harm on the most vulnerable in our state in order to shore up their extremist base. Together, we can stop DeSantis and Republican’s dangerous agenda by fighting back against white supremacy, homophobia, and transphobia.

Please sign this petition to help our teenagers get the sleep they need to stay physically and mentally healthy and perform better academically!

Donald Trump needs to face consequences for his attempts to overthrow our democracy. He has been accused not only of inciting the deadly January 6th insurrection – but also of pressuring local election officials to falsify election results, lying in multiple courts of law about the integrity of our elections, and pushing the Department of Homeland Security and the DOJ to seize local voting machines. [1] But that's not all – in fact, the list of laws that Trump has been accused of violating is constantly growing longer. Just this month, he reportedly tried to hide 15 boxes of presidential papers, some of them marked “top secret,” by taking them to Mar-a-Lago. He also apparently used his personal cell phone to contact top allies in Congress during the January 6th attack – leaving no official record of White House calls, as required by law. [2] And of course, he recently made headlines for allegedly flushing White House documents down the toilet while in office. [3] If Attorney General Merrick Garland and the DOJ look the other way and decline to investigate all of these serious allegations – they’ll tacitly give Trump and future presidents a green light to abuse their power and violate this country’s bedrock principles. Much of the DOJ’s work is done behind closed doors – so there may be efforts underway that the public doesn’t know about yet. But whether or not this is the case, Garland needs to hear that we’re counting on the DOJ to protect our democracy from Trump’s authoritarian agenda. If you agree that the DOJ must investigate Donald Trump’s alleged criminal conduct, add your name today. 1) https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/594242-press-time-for-merrick-garland-to-flush-donald-trump 2) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/us/politics/jan-6-trump-calls.html 3) https://www.axios.com/maggie-haberman-book-trump-papers-2d59d593-8b89-4edd-8623-8ef709af524f.html

Afghanistan is facing an economic crisis that has plunged millions into starvation and poverty. Ninety five percent of Afghans are unable to get enough food, and nine million of them risk starvation in the near future. But rather than helping, the Biden administration is making matters far worse. The United States froze financial assets the previous government of Afghanistan kept in the US. Despite widespread calls to return it, the White House just issued an executive order keeping it out of Afghanistan's hands. As a result, Afghanistan's financial system is in crisis as ordinary people and businesses are unable to access their savings. That makes it harder to buy basic necessities, and a famine is now looming. It doesn't have to be this way.

America’s history is one drenched in immense hypocrisy that persists today and is exemplified by the inability of these territorial residents to cast a ballot. How can the United States continue to champion its superior democratic principles when approximately four million of its citizens don’t even exercise the right to vote for who governs them? Furthermore, these territories provide enormous sums of taxes, strong military bases, and high rates of loyal American soldiers. It is crucial that they are given the right to vote in order to eliminate the current limitations of true democracy and allow them full protection under the constitution.

This is important because the United States promotes itself as a democratic country filled with opportunity, and changing the way the nation taxes its wealthiest members will limit their excess of power and redistribute the wealth: allowing American society to live up to these expectations. We must promote legislation that will raise the tax rate for these individuals and elect officials who promise to do so in Congress and the Executive branch. Additionally, it is imperative that we bring attention to the billions of dollars in taxes the opulent are avoiding paying. By spreading awareness on this issue the American people can collectively demand change from our officials. We can also hope that the shame of their sins being publicly exposed will push the top one percent of Americans to start paying their fair share.

The Greek Life system damages the self esteems of young women, subjects students to dangerous hazing, and promotes misogyny, usually expressed through sexual assault. Fraternities and sororities need to be held accountable for their actions, and education about these issues needs to be spread. Removing this institution is not the correct way to go about solving this issue, but rather reforming Greek Life will benefit the majority of students. This campaign is important in order to ensure the safety of college students across the nation!

The current push for book bans is the strongest that it’s been in decades, with attempts to stop students from learning about the Holocaust, slavery, gender and sexuality, and more. Schools should allow a curriculum that educates students on our collective histories and allows them to learn about resilience and empathy. In a state that often touts freedom, there is no freedom of speech, when books are now being censored after years of already being taught in Florida schools. School environments should be inclusive to all students and give them the opportunity to read stories that reflect their interests and identities. Students, teachers, and communities across the country are facing similar right-wing attempts to censor what’s taught in schools, but we are not powerless. Together, we can take action to ensure schools and libraries have the ability to serve everyone so that we can learn from our diversity, history, and culture, and work to create an inclusive future where everyone can thrive.