The Other 98%

Campaigns

• No More Trayvons. President Obama: We Need To Talk About Race. Now.

  America is in turmoil since the announcement of the Zimmerman verdict. Demonstrations of outrage have ignited all across the country in response. The verdict sends a message about the lesser value of Black life and the toleration of racial prejudice. We must refute this dangerous message. We cannot deny the role of race and racism in the Trayvon Martin Tragedy. The only reason that the 17-year-old, was considered suspicious in his own neighborhood was because he was Black. It is reflective of the prejudice in our society that the young Black man who was killed on his way home was made out to be the criminal, and the grown man who shot him became the victim. To omit the role of race is to ask for tragedies like this to happen again. We must break the cycle. America must talk about race and the reality of racial inequity. NOW. Your leadership is required to seed that conversation. In response to the Zimmerman verdict, your office released a statement acknowledging the tragedy of Trayvon’s death and the strong passions around the decision, noting: “[W]e are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. <b>And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities.</b> We should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this." You are right that we need to ask “how we can prevent future tragedies like this”. But to do that, we must ask ourselves how we will address racial inequality in our society. We can’t turn a blind eye towards the unfounded racial prejudice and criminalization of Black men that was at the root of this case. Nor can we ignore the myriad other indicators of racial injustice in this country: In Florida, the same State where Zimmerman’s trial took place, Marissa Alexander, a 31-year old Black mother of three was sentenced to twenty years for firing warning shots to defend herself from her abusive husband. She received no protection under the Stand Your Ground law. [1] This year’s public school closings in Chicago disproportionately affect Black students. Although the Black student population in Chicago is only 43%, of the 54 schools that were closed, 88% of the affected student population is Black. [2] In 2012, there were 313 reported extrajudicial killings of Black people by police officers, security guards, and vigilantes. That’s one Black person every 28 hours. [3] Deaths like Trayvon’s and so many more injustices will persist if we do not name the reality of racial inequity. This 17-year-old boy’s tragic death is about more than Gun Control and Stand Your Ground. It’s about racial prejudice in the United States. We need a leader who will name that. A leader who will respect the legacy of the many Americans who struggled and died for civil rights. A leader who will seize upon this critical teaching moment for America. We need you to be our President, not another cautious politician. America must begin a national conversation about race and we need your leadership to do it. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/marissa-alexander-gets-20_n_1530035.html [2] http://politic365.com/2013/06/10/88-black-how-about-taking-a-recess-from-closing-public-schools/ [3]http://mxgm.org/operation-ghetto-storm-2012-annual-report-on-the-extrajudicial-killing-of-313-black-people/

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• Burger King: Don’t Try This Whopper of a Tax Dodge

  Burger King is an American company worth more than $9 billion dollars. They're in talks to buy Tim Hortons Inc, Canada's largest coffee-shop chain. Burger King's sinister plan is to relocate their corporate headquarters to Ontario, Canada, thereby dodging their American taxes in a calculated move called "tax inversion." Burger King's largest shareholder, a private equity firm called 3G Capital, will win and the American people will lose. Again. Unless we stop them.

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• Take the Planned Parenthood Pledge

  Let's teach GOP haters a lesson and give Planned Parenthood supporters a tangible way to fight back against the Right Wing War on Women.

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• Dear Bayer: Fire. This. Clown.

  Last month, Bayer CEO Marijn Dekkers was discussing Bayer’s new cancer-fighting drug, Nexavar, at a conference hosted by the Financial Times. Nexavar costs a scandalous $69,000 for an annual supply, and India’s patent court has taken action to make the drug available for a price that India’s people can afford. When Dekkers was asked about India’s decision his response was: “Is this going to have a big effect on our business model? No, because we did not develop this product for the Indian market, let’s be honest. We developed this product for Western patients who can afford this product, quite honestly." Join us in sending a message to Bayer and Marijn Dekker that their racist policies and corporate class warfare will not be tolerated: it's time to fire Marijn Dekker and make cancer-fighting medication affordable to those who need it.

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• I Stand With Elizabeth Warren: America's Students Deserve the Same Loan Rates as Big Banks.

  We've all heard the stories or lived the hardship ourselves: young Americans trying to move our economy and country forward, but being saddled with so much student loan debt it's nearly impossible. Now, if Congress doesn't act, our already-too-high student loan rate of 3.4% is about to *double* to 6.8% - while banks keep their sweet 0.75% deal. ENOUGH. Students deserve the same preferential interest rates that the Big Banks get. Let's get this done.

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• We Need Answers Now: How Far Did Indiana Go To Ban Howard Zinn books?

  Mitch Daniels was a high-ranking Bush administration official and Governor of Indiana - and it's just come out that while Governor he emailed his state's Commissioner for HIgher Education, Teresa Lubbers, demanding that she attempt to purge books by the massively influential historian Howard Zinn from education courses because he didn't like Zinn's political views. We need answers on how far it went. Having a Governor personally intervene to deny credit for studying an academic he or she didn't like is disturbing enough - what makes it even worse is Daniels just became President of Purdue University, one of the most important research universities in the United States.

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• Larry: Wasn't Killing The US Economy Once Enough? Let Someone Else Try.

  Larry Summers is being considered for Federal Reserve Chair, the single most important economic position in the country, which requires a quick review: When Larry Summers was Treasury Secretary, he was the foremost advocate of effectively repealing Glass-Steagall and passing the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which led directly to the financial crash of 2008, nearly toppled the global economy and wreaked havoc at home. He then went on to a career of mismanaging Harvard so badly while behaving in such an openly sexist manner that he was forced out, before rejoining the White House Economic Council just in time to support a bailout for banks but not for homeowners. Our question for Larry as he considers taking the gig: Isn't killing the US economy once more than enough?

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• Dear Congress: We Accept Your Resignation.

  Let's be honest: it hasn't been working out between us for a while. From the Wall Street bailout of 2008 on down to the sequester, it’s been pretty clear that your allegiances lay with the banks and multi-national corporations, rather than the majority of Americans. But shutting down the government crucial regulatory services, national parks, inspections and oversight services that benefit everyone as well as throwing the millions of Americans who rely on their government paycheck for stability (many whom are just one shock away from poverty) under the bus… well, that just proves it. Join us and tell Congress you feel the same.

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