Action Alerts – Week of April 16 – CNY Solidarity Coalition

CNY Solidarity members and supporters:
For those who haven’t yet heard the sad news, our dear friend and comrade Marthe Reed passed away unexpectedly last Tuesday. Her friends and family celebrated her remarkable life at a memorial service on Saturday. Many thanks to everyone who helped out with that event.

Marthe had just recently returned from an extended trip to Australia, and in just the few days she had been back, she had spoken at our “Katko Misses the Target” rally, helped draft and disseminate a press release from a coalition of local Indivisible activists, and petitioned for Dana Balter’s campaign (all on Friday!); attended our weekly “Say No to Katko” protest and the Town Hall for Our Lives at Nottingham on Saturday; participated in our CNY Solidarity and Indivisible NY24 meetings on Sunday; and attended Uplift Syracuse’s forum on lead paint safety on Monday. Her efforts and her presence will be sorely missed. Conversations are underway about having CNY Solidarity host a public vigil of some kind in her memory, likely in about a month’s time; more details as we have them.

I worked closely with Marthe over this past year, and while her passing puts much in perspective, I can say with confidence that she would want us to carry on with our work. With a heavy heart, then, it’s on to the weekly ACTION ALERTS from Indivisible NY24 and our legislative action teams.

First some news from last week. On Wednesday, Speaker Paul Ryan announced that he would be retiring from Congress at the end of his current term. Since January 2017, we’ve often described our work as “resisting the Trump-Pence-Ryan agenda here in CNY.” One down, two to go. On Thursday and Friday, there were repeated rumors that President Trump would seek to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller and/or his boss, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. If/when that happens, we’ll be calling an emergency rally at the Hanley Federal Building in Syracuse; sign up for notifications here. And on Friday evening, President Trump unilaterally authorized a dangerous military airstrike on Syria. More on that below.

Today (April 16)

Demand diplomacy, not war, in Syracuse

President Trump’s airstrike on Syria was a purported response to the Assad regime’s horrific use of chemical weapons, but it’s transparently clear that Trump has no real interest in the safety of the Syrian people. The US has accepted only 11 (not a typo) Syrian refugees so far this year. And the airstrike put Syrians in greater risk of harm by escalating war and bloodshed. As national Indivisible’s statement put it, “Trump’s message to the Syrian people? Stay there, we’ll bomb you. Come here, we’ll ban you.”

Though they don’t always act like it, Congress is a co-equal branch of government that holds significant power to check Trump’s recklessness. Any single one of these actions is better than allowing Trump’s one-off missile strikes to continue:

Publicly voice support for the ongoing investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the chemical weapons attack;
Forcefully insist on its sole authority to authorize military force by demanding that Trump come to Congress before any further strikes in Syria;
Vote NO on any authorization for further force in Syria, based on Trump’s demonstrated recklessness and lack of a full strategy;
Publicly denounce Trump’s bigoted Muslim and refugee bans that are harming victims of violence in Syria and elsewhere, and call on the Administration to immediately resettle more Syrian refugees;
Call on the Administration to lead not by military force, but by engaging international partners to seek a diplomatic and political solution to end Syria’s suffering;
Hold hearings to assess the US government’s own global war operations and the resulting ramped-up civilian body count across the world.

Today, please choose one or more of the items on that list, call Rep. Katko, and urge him to support it. More details here. As always, Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

Tuesday (April 17)

One rally, one public forum, and one on-line survey today

Tax Day Speak Out, Will Rep. Katko Hear Us?

Our friends at Speak Out Central New York are hosting a tax day rally outside Rep. Katko’s office to fight back against the #TrumpTax. 12-12:45pm, 440 S. Warren St. All are welcome. More details here.

Public Meeting: Input on Next Police Chief in Syracuse

5-7:30 p.m. at St. Lucy’s Church, 432 Gifford St. If you missed last week’s email with suggested issues/concerns to raise at these public forums, let me know and I’ll forward it to you.

Syracuse Police Chief Survey

If you haven’t been able to make it to any of the public forums (or even if you have!), here’s another opportunity to weigh in. Mayor Walsh’s office has distributed a brief online survey seeking feedback about priorities for hiring the next leader of the Syracuse Police Department. It takes just a few minutes to fill out.

Wednesday (April 18)

One phone calling/emailing action today, plus a reproductive rights forum tonight, both from our state legislative action team (SLAT)

Multi-Part Alert re Green Light Legislation in Albany

This is a critical time to mobilize support for GreenLight driver’s license legislation in the NY State Assembly. (All of the activity focuses on the Assembly now.) The new GreenLight legislation was introduced in the Assembly 4/4/18 as the “driver’s license access and privacy act.” The bill # is A10273.

Assembly Member Pamela Hunter is a sponsor. If you are in her district, please call her office at 315-449-9536 to thank her for her sponsorship and ask her to become a major sponsor and to publicize her position on this bill. You can also email her at HunterP@nyassembly.gov.

Assembly Member Al Stirpe is focused on getting input from his constituents now. If you are in his district please call his office at 315-452-1115 and email him at StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.

Assembly Member William Magnarelli hasn’t taken a position on the bill. We will set up a meeting with him at his Syracuse office probably between Mon. 4/30 and Fri. 5/11. The only issue on the agenda will be this bill. If you are in his district please email Paul Weichselbaum canela8800@gmail.com and Rebecca Fuentes rfuentes@workerscentercny.org to be part of this meeting. Future alerts will include phone and email contacts with a relevant message for him.

The Workers Center of CNY seeks to contact the Assembly Members in nearby districts to ask for their vote for this legislation, preferably by becoming sponsors now. We greatly need your involvement if you are in Anthony Brindisi’s, William Magee’s, or Donna Lupardo’sdistricts. Please contact rfuentes@workerscentercny.org as soon as possible if you are in one of those districts or can recommend acquaintances from those districts who should be contacted.

Not a Crime: Making Our Case for the Reproductive Health Act

From our state legislative action team (SLAT), a talk with patient advocates fighting for New York State abortion law reform. RHAvote was created by patient advocates Erika Christensen and Garin Marschall after they had to travel from Brooklyn to Colorado to end a non-viable pregnancy at 32 weeks. They created RHAvote.com to raise awareness about the issue and to support the Reproductive Health Act (S2796). Their advocacy efforts target the stigma around late-term abortion and give context to the state’s unconstitutional law and the legislation necessary to fix it. 7-9pm at ArtRage, 505 Hawley Ave. in Syracuse. More details on the legislation here, the RHAvote tour here, and tonight’s event here and here.

Thursday (April 19)

No actions today.

Friday (April 20)

An opportunity to meet with legislators this morning, and to support student activists after that

League of Women Voters Annual Legislator Breakfast

7:45-9:30am, Embassy Suites-Destiny USA, 311 Hiawatha Blvd. $20/person; more info here.

Student Walkouts Against Gun Violence

Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and other gun safety advocates have called for a nationwide high school student walkout today. Students at JD, Westhill, West Genesee, Liverpool, CNS, Bishop Ludden, and Marcellus High Schools have posted planned walkouts here, as have students at North Syracuse Junior High and OCC. If you know students at any of these schools, please reach out to support them.

Saturday (April 21)

#metoo rally/march

10am, Clinton Square in Syracuse. More details here.

Central New York Says No to Katko

This morning at 11am, and every Saturday until November, we’re partnering with Indivisible Syracuse, Knit the 24^th, and others to say NO to Katko. We’ll be on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, near the traffic light, across from Talbots. More details here.

Sunday (April 22)

CNY Solidarity meeting

3-5:15pm at University United Methodist Church, 1085 E. Genesee St. in Syracuse. Note new location. More details here.

Save the date for these upcoming events:

Mon., Apr. 23: CNY Solidarity is teaming with StopNYInfrackstructure, 350.org, and others to organize a massive climate rally in Albany today. RSVP and get more info at CuomoWalkTheTalk.org.

Thurs, Ap. 26, 6:30 pm. Indivisible Cayuga presentation by Dr. Nancy Ries from Colgate Univ.: Thugocracy: The Russian Mafia & The Trump Presidency at Cayuga Community College, Auburn. More details here.

Sun. Apr. 29: Plans are in the works for a No IDC action in Syracuse. More details soon.

Mon., Apr. 30: One Fair Wage Rally & NYS Dept. of Labor Hearing, The Gateway Center, 1 Forestry Drive, SUNY-ESF. Rally/news conference 8:45; Hearing 10:00.

Sat., May 5, 10am-5pm: Nonviolent Direct Action Training, Lutheran Atonement Church, 116 W Glen Ave, Syracuse 13205. Note the new date. More details here.

Sun., May 6, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, Bishop Harrison

Mon., May 14: Plans are in the works for Poor People’s Campaign direct actions in Albany.

Sun., May 20, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD

Tue., May 22, 5:30-7:30pm: School Advocacy Meeting, hosted by Uplift Syracuse. We will be discussing the outcome of this year’s budget and planning steps forward. One of the steps will be a march for education. This will be an initial planning meeting for the march. 500 W. Genesee St in Syracuse. More details here.

Jun. 1: NYS voter registration deadline for federal primary.

Jun. 3, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD.

Jun. 19: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for federal primary.

Jun. 20, 7-8:30pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD. Note that for June, July, and August, we will meet on one Sunday afternoon and one weeknight per month.

Tue., Jun. 26: Election day (primaries for federal offices).

July 11, 7-8:30pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD.

July 29, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD.

Aug. 19: NYS voter registration deadline for state primary.

Sept. 6: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for state primary.

Thur., Sept. 13: Election day (primaries for state offices). Note the date change; and yes, it’s a Thursday.

Oct. 12: NYS voter registration deadline for general election.

Oct. 30: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for general election.

Tue., Nov. 6: Election day (general election for all offices). Click here to add it to your FB calendar.

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

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