For the past seven years, a fusion movement has been growing in North Carolina. In 2006, the Historic Thousands on Jones St. (HKonJ) People's Assembly Coalition was formed under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II and the North Carolina NAACP. It has grown to include over 150 coalition partners. Each year this fusion movement comes together on the second Saturday in February to hold a mass people's assembly to reaffirm its commitment to the 14 Point People's Agenda and to hold lawmakers accountable to the people of North Carolina. This year's annual people's assembly will be held in the wake of a powerful push back to the immoral and unconstitutional policies supported and passed by Governor Pat McCrory, Speaker Thom Tillis, Senate Leader Phil Berger, Budget Director Art Pope and other extremists in the NC General Assembly during the 2013 Session. After 13 Moral Mondays in Raleigh leading to almost 1,000 arrests for civil disobedience and 23 local Moral Mondays spanning the entire state, the Forward Together Moral Movement and the HKonJ coalition will join together once again for the Moral March on Raleigh HKonJ People's Assembly on February 8, 2014. We are calling on all people of conscience and concern to join us as we stand against the extreme and regressive agenda being pushed in North Carolina. This agenda is a reflection of what is happening across the United States. We need to move forward together, not one step back.

Last November, the United States and our partners in the international community reached a breakthrough agreement with Iran that allows negotiations to begin that can remove from Iran the ability to covertly obtain a nuclear weapon without resorting to military action.  The six-month deal provides unprecedented daily access to nuclear facilities in Iran, while halting or reversing important components of their current nuclear program. In exchange, the United States will provide limited and immediately revocable relief from some sanctions that leaves in place existing severe restrictions on their oil and banking industries.  Some will argue that we cannot trust Iran — but we do not need to trust Iran to choose to give these negotiations a real chance. Any final agreement will provide the U.S. and our partners with unprecedented access to their nuclear program to prove, on a daily basis, that their intentions are purely benign. If Iran walks away from the negotiating table in bad faith, then the Senate should debate new sanctions. But now, let’s give the Obama Administration and their partners the room to work out a peaceful resolution to this long-festering crisis before voting on any additional sanctions or other efforts that would undermine diplomacy.

Today, more than 123,000 Virginians earn minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage would help many families and boost our economy. In real dollars, today’s minimum wage is LESS than it was in 1968, and we’re way overdue for a raise. Virginia lawmakers are considering SB 590, a bill that would raise Virginian’s minimum wage to $8.25 by July 1, 2014, and then to $9.25 by July 1, 2015. Sign the petition to Virginia lawmakers now.

In this year’s State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 – an idea popular among many Republican, Independent, and Democratic voters. Bruce Elder will deliver this petition to Rep. Bob Goodlatte demanding he support a minimum-wage increase to bring 511,000 working Virginians — 1 in 7 — above the poverty line. Will you sign this petition?

TOM HOUGHTON will deliver this petition to Rep. Joe Pitts demanding he give 855,000 Pennsylvania residents a raise by supporting a minimum-wage increase. Can you sign this petition? From Tom: I support the growing movement to raise the minimum wage above $10. Next week, I’ll deliver this petition to Rep. Joe Pitts challenging him to join me in standing with families across Pennsylvania and across the nation. I am running for Congress because I believe in investing in American families and creating opportunities for people to build a better life. As a former township supervisor and former state representative in Pennsylvania's General Assembly, I have a proven track record of working across the aisle to support legislation that made life better for the people I represented. As your Congressman, I will go to Washington to do the same thing. I do not stand behind radical ideologies, I stand for common sense legislation that improves the lives of American families and makes our nation stronger. Creating opportunities for American families is something on which we all used to agree. I believe it still is. That is why I support raising the minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage above $10/hr would benefit approximately 1,229,000 hardworking Pennsylvanians either directly or indirectly. Nationwide, the minimum wage increase would benefit a whopping 30,294,000 Americans. This is an investment in the American people and in our nation's economy. For these reasons and more, this idea is popular among many Republican, Independent, and Democratic voters.

Student debt is treated more harshly than any other type of debt in America. Unlike your mortgage, business, credit card or even gambling debts, student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and there is no statute of limitations on the collections of student loan debt. As a result, more than 40 Million Americans are buried under approximately $1.2 Trillion worth of student debt and more than 7 Million of those people have defaulted on their student loans, causing major financial hardships from which there is almost no escape. We believe that it is extremely important to level the playing field and start treating student loan debt just as any other type of unsecured debt in America. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) has introduced H.R. 3892, The Student Borrowers' Bill of Rights, to right these wrongs. The bill seeks to restore bankruptcy protections to student loans, restore the statute of limitations on the collections of student loan debt, prohibit the suspension of professional licenses for those who default, and prohibit the automatic garnishment of wages, Social Security benefits and tax refunds for defaulted borrowers. The bill further seeks to treat loan forgiveness under various repayment options as non-taxable income, provide partial loan forgiveness for those in public service careers after five years, and enable borrowers to pay down their education debt using educational savings plans. The legislation establishes four core rights— (1) to basic consumer protections, (2) to reasonable and flexible repayment options, (3) to meaningful earned degrees, and (4) to effective loan cancellation following the completion of public service—which, combined, will help guarantee a level playing field for America’s student borrowers.

In his State of the Union, President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 – an idea popular among many Republican, Independent, and Democratic voters. We'll deliver this petition to Paul Ryan demanding he give 461,000 Wisconsin residents a raise by supporting a minimum-wage increase. Will you stand with Rob?

In his State of the Union, President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10. Pat will deliver this petition to Senator Grassley demanding he stand up for Iowan working families and support a minimum-wage increase. Will you sign this petition? We’ll invite the media to our petition delivery. The more signatures we have, the more likely the media will cover our fight on this issue – so please tell others too.

In his State of the Union, President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 – an idea popular among many Republican, Independent, and Democratic voters. Leslie Endean-Singh will deliver this petition to Rep. Steve Pearce demanding he give 150,000 New Mexico residents a raise by supporting a minimum-wage increase. Can you sign this petition? We’ll invite the media to our petition delivery. The more signatures we have, the more likely the media will cover our fight on this issue – so please tell others too.

The Illinois Constitution states, “The public policy of the State and the duty of each person is to provide and maintain a healthful environment for the benefit of this and future generations.” It is our duty to protect our environment, but we are running out of options. Oil and gas industry has started exploratory drilling.

 We've reached a new phase in the fracking struggle in Illinois. According to the Illinois DNR, thanks to dangerously weak rules, the fracking rush could begin as early as this fall. Citizen’s groups have pointed out that the law will devastate local ecosystems, and won't protect us from health impacts including poisoned water supplies or air pollution that cause birth defects and other illnesses for people living near fracking wells. Over 32,000 comments were submitted to IDNR during the public hearings but even the strongest of regulations work to protect industry, gut local control in unincorporated areas, legalize pollution, are worthless without enforcement, and will do nothing to stop earthquakes in the New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones. It’s crystal clear. Money and the prospect of jobs are the driving force behind our governor’s poor decision to sign this negligent law and disregard people for profit. We are running out of options. Non violent direct action is our last line of defense to protect what we love. 

 We are asking for your pledge of solidarity. Will you stand with us and hundreds of other folks who are dedicated in stopping the destruction of our beautiful Illinois, the land between the rivers, from becoming the next sacrifice zone for the industrialized fracking. Will you support us in building a powerful movement to defend our homes in Illinois by 1) Raising awareness of civil liberties in your community, 2) Donating resources, like supplies, for organizational efforts, 3) Join or support  nonviolent direct action campaigns, like rallies, protests and candlelight vigils? 
Pledge your support and solidarity with Illinoisans who are protecting their communities from the harms of fracking.

For a woman excited to welcome a beautiful, healthy child into the world, there is nothing as devastating as learning the pregnancy is high-risk -- or worse, enduring a miscarriage. Pregnancy complications can threaten a woman's health and future fertility. Unfortunately, in Alabama, it could become legal for any medical staffer at a hospital to deny care and put pregnant women at risk. This week, the Alabama Senate will have a hearing on HB 31, a cruel bill that would allow health professionals to refuse to give urgent assistance to pregnant women who need to end the pregnancy to prevent serious harm. And in most cases, they would not even have to provide a referral elsewhere. The bill would also protect health care professionals and hospitals from liability for refusing to provide necessary medical care. Most doctors and nurses want to help women live healthy lives - not leave them in dangerous predicaments. The Alabama House has already passed this bill and this is a crucial moment to stop it in its tracks before the Senate votes on it. Stand with Alabama women and demand lawmakers oppose HB 31.

Giving every kid access to high-quality preschool in Illinois is a winning investment that levels the academic playing field for students [1] and boosts our economy in the short and long run. [2] Not only that, but this is an idea with bipartisan support.[3,4] Despite the evidence, Sen. Mark Kirk doesn't currently support the Strong Start for America's Children Act which would expand access to preschool. That’s why we want Sen. Kirk to join Sen. Dick Durbin and stand up for Illinois kids who can’t afford to get into a good preschool classroom. Sources: 1. “Why Investments in Early Childhood Work,” Ounce of Prevention http://goo.gl/2sDtWh 2. “Top 5 reasons why investing in early childhood education can drive better local job creation,” September 2011, investinginkids Blog http://goo.gl/mqSCKA 3. "Oklahoma! Where the Kids Learn Early,” November 2013, The New York Times http://goo.gl/tjlRcu 4. "U.S. Voters Overwhelmingly Support Investments in Early Education,” August 2013, First Five Years Fund http://goo.gl/krup0z