President Biden's predecessor FDR signed the New Deal Legislation to bring the country out of Depression and also brought forth FEDERAL THEATRE. We the actors and artists are out of work and are in a similar situation comparable to the Depression era of 1930's with Covid 19 still hanging over our heads. All the theaters along with so many businesses are shut down. Actors and artists are out of work since the beginning of the Pandemic. FEDERAL THEATRE was a successful project and it created a new awareness among the public and work for all the actors and others that depend on theatre. An idea is a most powerful thing. And theatre is the place to nurture those ideas in these changing and rebuilding times. It is the Federal Theatre that gave opportunity to everyone to become an artist. And some of the most wonderful artists came out of that project, for instance, Arthur Miller, Orson Welles to name a couple. It's not just commercial theatre that only few people can afford to go. Federal Theatre is open for everyone and it is full of new ideas. It is time to restart this project again. Other Western countries have it in one form or the other of this theatre and they produce wonderful plays and create excellent artists. You need ART and a person can not live by bread alone. Coming out of Pandemic and being cooked up in self-containment in our apartments, it is essential to have a theatre to go to, that is cheap and affordable to everyone, not just for few. Moreover, It is good for the society and for everyone's mental health. Tell President Biden to publicly support this proposal and sign it as part of the New Stimulus legislation or a separate Executive Order from the White House.

To protect those who are at the highest risk from severe complications or death from COVID-19.

President Biden and his administration promised to reunite children separated from their families and treat immigrants with the respect and dignity we all deserve, but in late February news broke that Homestead Child Detention Center may reopen soon. Reopening Homestead—or any child detention center—places young people in greater danger, especially in this pandemic. Detention centers are places where social distancing is impossible, health care is inadequate, and abuses are rampant. And studies have shown that detaining children causes lasting trauma. The cost of that to children, families, and our communities is incalculable. Environmental conditions at this detention center also pose potentially serious health and safety threats to the children who would be housed there, including possible exposure to toxic chemicals from a neighboring Superfund site. AFSC worked with partners and community members in Florida and across the country to shut down the detention center in 2019, when it held around 2,000 children under President Trump. Now we’re mobilizing to stop the Biden administration from reopening the center—and urging them to instead prioritize uniting migrant children with family members or sponsors and promote community-based alternatives to detention that are in compliance with the rights of children.

The Dream and Promise Act will cover some 3 million young immigrants and TPS holders, provide them with a path to citizenship, strengthen our economy, and keep families united. Their existence in this country has always remained in a state of limbo and it is time to protect undocumented immigrants from future challenges.

No child should have to worry about where their next meal will come from, but right now 1 in 5 kids across the United States are going hungry. One of the best ways to help is to make sure kids get good, free meals at school--free school meals are an incredibly effective way to fight hunger. There’s a bill in Congress that would give all kids universal free school meals -- breakfast, lunch AND dinner! Passing it would mean that kids no longer would have to worry about whether they can pay for lunch at school, and school districts no longer have to struggle to find room in their budgets to feed them. Sign the petition now calling on Congress to enact universal free school meals for all children.

When babies ingest toxic heavy metals, the results can be disastrous. According to the Environmental Working Group, it can increase the risk of cancer, lead to behavioral and learning issues and even slow growth and development. While the FDA hasn’t established limits for heavy metals in baby food in general, it has established a limit of 100 parts per billion of arsenic in rice cereal. Incredibly, one of the baby food brands highlighted by the report has nearly twice that much arsenic. The Food and Drug Administration has been studying heavy metals in food for years, but still hasn’t taken steps to keep babies and the rest of us safe. That needs to change – and we need your help to make it happen. Sign the petition now calling on the Food and Drug Administration to take emergency action now to ensure baby foods do not contain any dangerous heavy metals.

There is a reason the Center for Disease Control made the guidance for Phase 1C of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out to include people aged 16 - 64 years with underlying medical conditions and disabilities, which increase the risk of serious, life-threatening complications and death from COVID-19. However and despite this guidance, in recent weeks thirty states de-prioritized these people in COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the name of efficiency and equity. It is common sense to prioritize vulnerable Americans. In the past twelve months, over half of a million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States. 94% of these were Americans with comorbidities. The guidance is not just that of the Center for Disease Control. An analysis by FAIR Health, in collaboration with the West Health Institute and Johns Hopkins' Marty Makary, found that COVID-19 patients with developmental disorders are the most at risk of dying, followed by those with lung cancer and intellectual disabilities, regardless of age. And now, recent studies from leading immunologists in Boston show mutations are incubated in autoimmune disease patients, creating strains that are sometimes undetectable to testing and impervious to current COVID-19 treatments. Studies from John Hopkins found that people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s can catch the virus. Some develop severe and lasting symptoms, particularly if they have comorbidities or underlying conditions (such as obesity, diabetes, or high blood pressure (hypertension)). Data from one study shows that of more than 3,000 adults ages 18 to 34 who contracted COVID-19 and became sick enough to require hospital care, 21% ended up in intensive care, 10% were placed on a breathing machine, and 2.7% died. The majority of these patients had comorbidities. This in-hospital mortality rate is lower than that reported for older adults with COVID-19, but approximately double that of young adults with acute myocardial infarction. And the data is there in other parts of the world—the United Kingdom recently announced that sixty percent of their COVID-19 deaths were those with disabilities. In Australia, disabled people are five times more likely to die. Unlike the UK and AU, the United States does not collect data the same way it collects data on race or gender identity, meaning the 94% could be a low figure. Unfortunately, the majority of state vaccine rollout plans are based on state data. However, many states do not track numerous underlying conditions and disabilities within their health departments as they do other demographics such as race, age, and gender. But we know now that these are individuals at risk for bad outcomes and death from COVID-19; second to age is an underlying condition and disability such as developmental disabilities. To make matters worse, “disability activists, chronic illness advocates, and people with disabilities and underlying conditions have pointed to three main failures in inequitable vaccine rollouts: eligibility lists that do not include all those who are considered high risk; states that have not prioritized people with disabilities; and websites or vaccination sites that are not accessible, as author Cecilia Nowell wrote in her article "This women-made tool could help get more disabled people vaccinated" in The Lily. We implore the National Governors Association to re-prioritize those in thirty states who are vulnerable and have a disability. We demand vulnerable and disabled people are included in phase 1C of ALL states' vaccine rollouts, that vaccine sign-up and sites are accessible, and that states provide a choice of vaccines to those with conditions or disabilities who require choice due to their unique medical needs. Sign our petition to tell the National Governors Association to stop ignoring the vulnerable and disabled Americans and demand equity in COVID-19 state public health plans. Re-prioritize them for vaccination in the thirty states that have de-prioritized them by including them in Phase 1C. We will update you on our upcoming letter to the National Governors Association that will include this petition and other actions you can take as the campaign develops. Please stay tuned. Sincerely, Vulnerable Advocates Collective https://bit.ly/vacpact The Vulnerable Advocates Collective, or VAC Pact, is a group of activists dedicated to amplifying the voices of the vulnerable people and disabled people erased from the equity conversation. Full Plain Text Petition with Works Cited: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bma65ujyZAygUQcJ11ZEtHDi1Soh7Wc9_zKJtmT8J4M/edit?usp=sharing

The single most important thing we can do to move our country forward, the thing on which all other progress in the current Senate depends, is to eliminate the filibuster rule. The Democrats can do this if they act in unison. Therefore it is critical to get Joe Manchin and Kristin Sinema, the only Democrats currently in opposition, to feel the weight of popular support and join their fellow Democrats in making this essential change.

Jamaica Plain has grown in population over the last few years. As such, there are more folks and families living in our community. Though we have a large amount of open space, there is a not a designated place for dogs to roam and socialize. For folks without access to transportation, this raises equity issues and favors access to cars. We know the City of Boston would like to have a park within a 15 min walk from all folks, we would like a dog park within each neighborhood. We also know that there can be trauma or fear of and from dogs. Creating a space for dogs allows for all community members to use public space conscientiously and intentionally.

Covid-19 did not cause New York’s budget crisis; it simply deepened a long-standing wealth gap that resulted from decades of cuts to housing, health care, education, and other essential services while New York billionaires continued to grow their unreasonable wealth. Everyone, including the Governor of New York, must be held accountable for their actions. And every allegation of sexual misconduct must be fully investigated, no matter who the subject of the allegation is. It is time to bring the power back to the hands of the people.

Child sexual abuse livestreaming has been a growing harm to kids for years, and lockdowns and isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic have made children even more vulnerable to abuse. This type of abuse is especially hard to fight because it doesn’t leave a record to help law enforcement rescue victims and catch predators. Simple changes like better privacy controls and stronger collaboration with law enforcement would help keep kids safe -- but Skype hasn’t done these things. Its critical that Microsoft take further steps to address Skype’s role as the most popular platform for livestreaming child sexual abuse.

President Trump’s Justice Department chose to look the other way as yet another Trump appointee abused her public office for private gain, according to new reports. Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has been accused by the department’s inspector general of repeatedly using her position to help her family and their shipping business, Foremost Group. The inspector general’s 44-page report detailed dozens of these instances. To name just a few -- she used Transportation Department resources to arrange a trip to China for her father and sister; she tasked staff with promoting her father’s public appearances; and she even had her employees perform chores for her father, like updating his Wikipedia page. [1] Plus, according to the report -- Sec. Chao did an interview with a Chinese-language television station just to help boost her father’s profile and promote Foremost Group. The inspector general referred these serious allegations of nepotism to Trump’s Department of Justice for a possible criminal investigation -- but in the last few weeks of the administration, the department declined to take action. That’s outrageous -- it’s clear that the Trump administration was rife with corruption. We’re calling on Biden’s Department of Justice to take up this investigation and hold Sec. Chao accountable. Plus, the Senate must pass the For the People Act (S. 1), a bill that was recently passed in the House that includes strict ethics requirements for appointed and elected leaders. We can’t let the Senate -- and especially Sec. Chao’s husband, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- shut down this important legislation. 1) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/us/politics/elaine-chao-inspector-general-report.html