CNY Solidarity Coalition

United in defense of our community and our neighbors

Action Alerts – Week of August 14th

CNY Solidarity members and supporters:

After the horrific events in Charlottesville this weekend, it was amazing to join together in solidarity at the Jerry Rescue monument last night. We at CNY Solidarity stand indivisible against hate-motivated violence. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Heather Heyer and everyone else impacted by the violence in Charlottesville.

Please find below the weekly ACTION ALERTS from our legislative action team.

 

Monday (Aug 14):

(one phone call, plus a congressional town hall in Auburn and a county legislature forum in Syracuse)

Valesky protest CANCELLED

State Sen. Dave Valesky is holding a high-dollar fundraiser at KANON VALLEY COUNTRY CLUB today and there was some discussion of plans to protest his support for the IDC. We’ve got a number of folks out of town this week and haven’t found anyone to spearhead this action, so we’re calling it off.

NO white supremacy in the White House

Following up on yesterday’s rally at the Jerry Rescue, please call White House Chief of Staff John Kelly 202-456-1414 and demand the immediate firing of Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka. The Trump administration has given a platform to white supremacists for long enough. This must end NOW.

Congressional Town Hall, featuring Anne Messenger and Dana Balter

6-8pm: Town Hall Meeting—24th District Congressional Race, organized by Indivisible Cayuga, co-sponsored by CNY Solidarity. Student Lounge, Cayuga Community College, 197 Franklin Street, Auburn, NY 13021. Folks will be meeting at 5pm at Bishop Harrison Center in Syracuse to car pool.

County Legislature Forum with Uplift Syracuse

6-8pm: County Legislature Forum, 500 W. Genesee St. 13204. More details here.

 

Tuesday (Aug 15):

a rally, a phone call, a public forum with Katko, and a mayoral debate!

We say #NotOnePenny in tax cuts for millionaires!

12:00 noon: Join CNY Solidarity for a rally to say Not One Penny in tax cuts for millionaires. The Galleries Building (site of Rep. Katko’s district office), 440 S. Warren St. in Syracuse. More details here

If you can’t make it downtown to join us in person, please draft a letter to the editor denouncing the Republican tax agenda. Indivisible’s guide to writing letters to the editor is here, our list of local outlets is here, and background info on the tax policy fight is here.

Tell state senators to refuse money from right-wing racist billionaire

Last week, billionaire Daniel Loeb, who is chairman of the Success Academy charter school network and a major donor to NY State Senate Republicans and the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), as well as to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, made a racist remark on Facebook about Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the African-American woman who leads the Democratic caucus in the State Senate. Loeb said that Stewart Cousins’s opposition to charter schools does “more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood.” Today, please call your state senator and ask him/her to (1) denounce Mr. Loeb’s remarks and demand his resignation from his position at the Success Academy, and (2) to return any donations they have received from Mr. Loeb. (In State Sen. Valesky’s case, this includes any donations received by the IDC.) Most of us are represented in the State Senate by David Valesky (315-478-8745), John DeFrancisco (315-428-7632), or James Seward (607-432-5524), but if you’re not sure whose district you’re in, click here and enter your address to find out.

Katko forum on agriculture

Katko declined an invitation to yesterday’s town hall in Auburn, but at 7pm tonight, he’s holding a community forum on issues affecting Wayne County farms. The forum is at the Wayne County Public Safety Building, 7376 state Route 31, Lyons. Free and open to the public. More details here. If anyone is planning to attend, please email nslade@workerscentercny.org, as our friends at the Workers Center of CNY have some questions they’d like asked regarding the treatment of farmworkers.

Mayoral Debate Watch—Democratic Candidates

7-9pm: Uplift Syracuse and the Palace Theater host a mayoral debate watch party. Palace Theater, 2384 James St. 13206. More details here.

 

Wednesday (Aug 16):

a phone call and some on-line reading

Demand government investigations of white nationalism

Earlier this year, the Trump administration ordered the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism program to cease all investigations of right-wing extremism and focus only on Islamist violence. The administration even cancelled grants that had already been approved to community organizations working to counter white nationalism. More details here. Today, please call Rep. Katko, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, and demand reinstatement of the program’s focus on right-wing extremist violence. Not one more Heather Heyer! Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).


Educate yourselves on proposed state constitutional convention

Our State Legislation Action Team (SLAT) has reached consensus on a position opposing the NYS Constitutional Convention that will be on the ballot this November. SLAT would like CNY Solidarity Coalition to vote on this position during one of our upcoming meetings. In preparation for this discussion, we urge CNY Solidarity members to review the following links about the Constitutional Convention:

http://www.nyagainstcorruption.com/who-is-voting-no/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/nyregion/constitutional-convention-voting-new-york.html?emc=eta1

 

Thursday (Aug 17):

1 phone call, and for extra credit, an on-line comment

Say NO to right-wing media monopolies

Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA) and David Price (D-NC) have recently introduced legislation that would protect local television markets across the country from corporate consolidation by permanently ending the so-called “UHF discount,” an obsolete FCC loophole that the Trump administration wants to revive to benefit right-wing media conglomerates. If the UHF discount is allowed to go into effect, a series of pending corporate mergers, including one between the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media, would dramatically reduce competition among local TV stations across the country.

Sinclair owns/operates 173 TV stations, 528 channels in 81 markets, including CNY Central locally. Tribune owns/operates 42 stations in 33 markets and both have affiliates in all major markets. Sinclair is a right-wing conservative media conglomerate and they provide each station with “MUST SHOW” segments extolling the Trump agenda. Often they provide scripts for local TV anchors to read…..the same script in every market…..without identifying the words as scripted by Sinclair.  With this merger they will control a large majority of the US markets. More details here.

Please call Rep. Katko today and urge him to sign on as co-sponsor of the Local and Independent Television Protection Act of 2017 (HR 3478) (i.e., the Huffman-Price bill). More details on the bill here. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

In addition, the FCC is accepting on-line comments on the proposed merger of Sinclair and Tribune. If you go to FCC.gov – in the inquire box – top right – enter “Sinclair”.  This will bring you to Sinclair & Tribune MB Docket 17-179 where you can read the proposal. At the bottom of the page find ECFS and click on “express” which takes you to the comment page.

 

Friday (Aug 18):

one phone call today

Call Rep. Katko and urge him to co-sponsor Rep. Gutierrez’s American Hope Act (H.R. 3591), which would give those with DACA and others who arrived in the United States as children a path to permanent legal status and eventual citizenship. More details here. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

 

Saturday and Sunday (Aug 19-20): No actions or meetings for now. Enjoy the time with family and friends.

Save the date for these upcoming events:

Wed., Aug. 23, 7pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, Bishop Harrison Center.

Sun., Aug. 27, 3-7pm: CNY ACLU Chapter Outreach BBQ, Sankofa Park (just north of the intersection at Salina and Colvin).

Sat., Sept. 2, 10-11am: Hail Working Men and Women Parade, beginning at corner of Mill and Owasco Streets in Auburn. For more info, Charlie at cgreene@greenemeadow.com.  

Sept. 10, time and location TBD: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting.

Sept. 10, 7-10pm: “Concert for a Cause” to benefit Center for New Americans, Nelson Odeon, 4035 Nelson Rd., Cazenovia 13035.

Sept. 18, 6:30-8pm: Roving Teach-In on the Trump Administration and the Constitution, Palmyra Community Library.

Week of Sept. 18: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting, day/time/location TBD.

Oct. 1, time and location TBD: CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting.

 

Today and every day, be sure to follow us online and on social media!

Check out our website: www.cnysolidarity.org

Follow us on Twitter: @CNYSolidarity and @IndivisibleNY24

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cnysolidarity/  and www.facebook.com/groups/IndivisibleNY24/

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