Three calls, actions, boycotts and some spirit lifting.

Do not let this administration steal your joy.

ICE Update/Protecting Our Communities

We just don’t know what will happen with ICE in the Triangle.

They were active in Charlotte and Durham on Monday Dec. 8. In one instance, agents showed in the parking lot at an apartment complex in Charlotte at 8 am wearing tactical vests and masks staking out the parking lot.

According to Siembra,

“Volunteers on patrol arrived on the scene and documented 8-10 agents outside the apartment building, as well as a Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Officer. The apartment property manager asked agents to present a warrant and sent alerts to residents. Volunteers on patrol continued to notify residents about the presence of ICE on the property. Agents left shortly afterwards.”

In Durham, they arrested a person who showed up for a probation appointment, who had completed their sentence and was following protocol. That person was taken away and their location is unknown.

ICE is continuing early-morning immigration enforcement activity in the Charlotte area; ICE agents are continuing to conduct early-morning stakeouts at apartment complexes in SUVs with tinted windows

We know that the $75 billion for ICE provided in the big terrible bill will increase the presence of poorly trained, often violent “agents” [thugs] in our cities and towns. A recent investigation by The Daily Mail

“…has exposed how Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lowered standards so dramatically that the new cohort now includes recent high school graduates and applicants who can ‘barely read or write’ as well as those who lack basic physical fitness and even have pending criminal charges.

In one shocking incident… one student asked to be excused from class so he could attend a court date on a gun charge.

Other recruits were even discovered to have tattoos associated with gangs and white supremacists when they stripped off their shirts during workouts.

Reports from FLETC include incidents of violence, disruptive behavior, and allegations of sexual misconduct on campus, most handled internally.

These are the people who will be heading our way to terrorize our neighbors. What can we do?

Siembra continues to document, train and resist.

Emily Cataneo, a local journalist and writer, (and co-founder of the Redbud Writing Project,) had a great piece about Siembra in The Guardian on Dec 8 : “‘We’ll need to see a warrant’: the group teaching businesses a vital tool to fight ICE raids”

Durham is in a time of figuring out what to do next. In the meantime:

1. Consider signing up to volunteer with Siembra, so that when your help is needed, everyone is ready and connected. Or sign up here for a safety patrol group.

Siembra is working to transition from the rapid response of the week CBP arrived, to an ongoing effort to protect the community from ICE. There will be new-verifier trainings to include details about how ICE works, driving routes to look for license checkpoints and how ICE operates differently from CBP. Those trainings should start being scheduled in the next week or two.

2. Durham Public School Strong & Durham For All

These groups have provided greetings and safety patrols at drop off pick up for the past few weeks. I heard from one grateful teacher, who wrote, “When I see you all outside, I know I can concentrate on teaching and taking care of the kids in here. You will handle the outside if anything happens.”

They also shared:

Together, we’ve organized hundreds of parents and neighbors to provide extra care and protection during school drop off and pick-up, and pivoted to maintain these teams when ICE came back. We’ve heard from families that this community presence made them feel safer bringing their kids to school.

During the weeks when many of our neighbors were choosing not to leave their house, hundreds more of us came together to work with schools and other partners to deliver thousands of meals to 2,000 families across Durham. The last meals from this effort of the Durham Community Care Collaborative (DCCC) will be going out this week. The organizations that make up DCCC are planning for how we will organize future collective efforts in moments of acute crisis.

Stay tuned for future opportunities.

Issues & Calls: please choose one call a day or call about all at the same time!

Thom Tillis: D.C. (202) 224-6342

Ted Budd: D.C. 202-224-3154

1.Hepatitis B Vaccine

Vaccine guidance was decimated under RFK Jr.

Facts about the Hep B vaccine from a local neonatologist:

1. 1) when an adult contracts hepatitis B the conversion rate to a chronic disease that results in liver cancer and death is extremely low.

   2) when a newborn contracts hepatitis B from their mother the conversion rate is

   100% - the child will die from liver cancer/liver failure.

   3) prior to hepatitis B vaccinations there were 20,000 newborns born each year in the US who developed chronic hepatitis B and died

   4) after the development and initiation of hepatitis B vaccines for newborns that rate dropped to 300 children a year

   5) Hepatitis vaccines are not forced on children. They are NOT mandatory.

   6) the only reason the now completely disreputable and deceitful ACIP has made the recommendation against hepatitis B vaccines in newborns is because they are trying again to promote the already fully debunked link between autism and vaccines. This is yet another bait and switch - shifting from the MMR vaccine as their target (after the Tylenol garbage) to hepatitis B - to the detriment of children across this country. This is not about health or protecting children - this is about propaganda and harm. Children are already dying from measles because of vaccine propaganda. These are preventable deaths.

Script:

This is (name) from (zip). RFK Jr.’s sham CDC has changed guidance on the Hepatitis Vaccine for infants. When a newborn contracts hepatitis B from their mother the conversion rate is 100% - the child will die from liver cancer/liver failure. Before hepatitis B vaccinations there were 20,000 newborns born each year in the US who developed chronic hepatitis B and died as a result; after the development and initiation of hepatitis B vaccines for newborns that rate dropped to 300 children a year. I am holding the Senator personally responsible for any increase in deaths as a result of his voting for RFK Jr. and want him to call for his impeachment immediately.

2. Murder of Innocents in the Caribbean

Suggested Script:

This is (name) from (zip). I want the Senator to call for the release of the video of the Sept. 2 double strike in the Caribbean. Let the American people see the truth about the abject cruelty and lawlessness of this administration. The Senator must also support the bipartisan inquiry into these crimes.

3. ACA and Healthcare*** TIME SENSITIVE

This is (name) from (zip). The Senate will be voting this week on a clean 3 year extension of the ACA tax subsidies. If these lapse millions will lose access to healthcare and it will do irreperable damage to our entire healthcare system. People will lose access to their insulin, their cancer treatments and children will lose healthcare. A lapse will cause untold illness and death. I want the Senator to vote to extend ACA tax subsidies. I will hold him responsible for the result.

High Priority ACTION: secure our democracy in NC

Registration Repair Canvass: Virtual Launch Saturday Dec. Dec.13 register here

This Saturday (shifts available throughout the day between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm), the NC Democratic Party is launching its next wave of outreach to the 3,600 voters in Durham County who are still on the Voter Registration Repair List. That is the list that the MAGA Jefferson Griffin and GOP tried to use to overturn last fall’s Supreme Court Election. These voters still need to “repair” their registrations, even though they have done nothing wrong. This is voter suppression and WE CAN HELP.

Voters on that list can easily fix their registration so they will not have to vote a provisional ballot, but only if we make the effort to reach them.

On Saturday, there will be a virtual training, and then folks can go out on their own time (hopefully with a friend!) to knock a few doors.The conversations are simple - just offering information and helping people remove a barrier to voting! Also, the ‘assignments’ are easy - 5-10 houses in whatever part of Durham you prefer.

For other actions this week, check out Chop Wood Carry Water by Jess Craven and Marilyn Hartman’s Everyday Election Activism

BOYCOTTS and Corporate Actions

1. Hilton Hotels are housing ICE agents in Minneapolis. If you are a Hilton Honors member, (or even if you are not) consider calling +1-888-4HONORS or writing to esg@hilton.com with the following message, and feel free to paraphrase:

   “Hilton Hotels in the Minneapolis area are housing ICE agents. I have been appalled at scenes of masked men in tactical gear breaking windows, forcibly removing innocents and tearing parents away from their children. Hilton’s statement on human trafficking says, “As a business of people serving people, respecting human rights is a core part of our mission.” That is one reason I have chosen Hilton in the past [and am a Hilton Honors member] However, given Hilton’s welcoming of ICE, I plan to no longer do so. I hope Hilton Hotels reconsiders.”

   

   2. Avelo Airlines is flying people kidnapped by ICE, in shackles. There is a national boycott and weekly protests at RDU.

   3. Spotify is running ads for ICE. Indivisible is calling for a boycott : don’t stream fascism, cancel Spotify.

   4. Home Depot works with ICE and allows kidnapping on their properties. Avoid whenever possible and boycott if possible.

Context and a Pep Talk by the incomparable Heather Cox Richardson

HCR had a useful video last week about the decades long effort to dismantle our constitutional order and reverse all of the progress made in so many areas. I thought it might be of use to many. I’ve included a quick quote, an IG pull and a 15 minute YouTube version, below.

For those wanting an even longer time frame of the movement to destroy democracy in our country, I’d recommend reading Nancy MacLean’s (William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University) book, Democracy in Chains. It details a much longer history of this movement…and no surprise, is rooted in oligarchy and white supremacy.

1. Quick summary of HCR’s video

2. one minute version

@heathercoxrichardson

Heather Cox Richardson on Instagram: "From today’s Politics Cha…

The 15 minute version in which HCR explains the historical context of the present moment:

Finally…as we head towards the darkest days, a few thoughts to keep spirits up:

@optimisticsoap

Molly Lee: soapmaker | do gooder | ally on Instagram: "I know i…

From Molly Lee of optomisticsoap:

“I know it’s been a tough year. Every day seems to bring us news to drain us, to grind us down, to make us feel powerless. And yes — we do need to push back. We have a responsibility to do what we can to protect the most vulnerable among us.

But here’s the part people forget: we cannot survive on resistance alone.

My friend Gina @theshabbycreekcottage gave us all a formula earlier this year that I’ve held onto like it’s a lifeline:

15 minutes a day fighting fascism.
15 hours a day seeking joy.

Joy isn’t frivolous. It isn’t naïve or a luxury. Joy is an act of resistance.

This administration wants us exhausted, hopeless, and terrified. They want us too overwhelmed to act. So choosing to laugh, to nurture your relationships, to find beauty, to rest, to live — that is its own kind of protest.

And I refuse to let them steal that from me. I hope you do it too!

We can fight and we can live.
We can show up for each other and protect our joy.

So take a deep breath.
Do something that makes you happy today.
It matters more than you think.”—-Molly Lee