A Philadelphia Inquirer investigation recently uncovered a brutal attack that took place at Riverside Correctional Facility, the city women's jail. In 2016, Zack, a transgender inmate at RCF, was mocked, humiliated, and subjected to sexual harassment and assault by jail staff, including improper searches of his gential by correctional officers. While handcuffed and shackled, he was also pepper-sprayed four times by a correctional officer while others watched. . The officers responsible –Officers Lawrence Wiesenski, Tahira Brew Littlejohn, Monique Jones, and Sgt. Nakia Anderson—are still working at RCF. The article and video of the incident can be found here: https://www.inquirer.com/news/transgender-pepperspray-genital-searches-philadelphia-jails-20191023.html The story also showed that Riverside Correctional Facility's correctional officers pepper spray inmates, the vast majority of whom are Black and Brown women and queer and trans folks, at over double the rate that they do at men's jails in Philadelphia: "In 2018, Riverside, which averaged 466 prisoners per day, logged 124 instances in which jail guards used pepper spray on its detainees, according to internal prison reports. At Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, Philadelphia’s largest male jail, which had an average daily population of 2,140, guards used pepper spray 252 times." We demand that: Commissioner Blanche Carney hold each of these correctional officers accountable by firing them immediately. Humiliating, harassing, and assaulting incarcerated people should never be tolerated. Commissioner Carney and the Department of Prisons conduct an immediate Prison Rape Elimination Act audit of their practices at all city jails, as well as a comprehensive review and overhaul of their use of force policies, including a detailed report to City Council explaining this ugly, offensive abuse of women and trans people in our community. We need action now! Firing these officers and accounting for this abuse should not be a difficult decision for Commissioner Carney, who in 2018, expressed the importance of "ensuring that all staff persons treat inmates with respect and dignity." Why is this important? Right now, Officers Wiesenski, Littlejohn, Williams, Jones, and Sgt. Anderson, are still employed by the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, being paid by taxpayers. They still interact daily with incarcerated people at RCF. Those incarcerated at RCF are not safe with these officers on staff. We cannot risk allowing any of these officers to continue to attack, harass, and humiliate incarcerated people at RCF without any accountability. They cannot continue to be compensated after viciously attacking someone from our community. Our community, our city, the people incarcerated at RCF deserve better. Fire Officers Wiesenski, Littlejohn, Jones, and Sgt. Anderson now, and Commissioner Carney, produce a comprehensive audit report on this detailed abuse of Philly's incarcerated women, trans folks, and all incarcerated people for Council and the public to see, so we can take action to stop it permanently!

Black people are suffering the consequences of a sustained and concerted effort to deny them their right to representation in states all over the nation. As we saw here in Georgia these efforts have resulted in concrete harm to Black communities. These attacks on democracy allow politicians to continue to target our communities for exploitation and neglect. We need someone who will make the candidates answer to the long-running campaign to damage our democracy by denying Black people their right to representation. We need a moderator who will make the candidates answer the unique challenges of people who are facing multiple aspects of oppression as they navigate their lives and participate in society. Stacey Abrams knows the tactics used by officials like Brian Kemp in Georgia to deny Black electoral power. Sign today and demand the President of MSNBC and Editor-In-Chief of The Washington Post, name her as a moderator in the Georgia debate on November 20th. With Stacey Abrams as a moderator we can guarantee candidates will be forced to propose solutions for everyone in Georgia.

#AskaboutMeToo at the November 20th debates in Atlanta. Two years ago, we raised our voices in the name of courage and accountability. 19 million of us showed up for ourselves and showed up for each other, and we’re not turning back. We believe that healing is a form of action, and taking action helps us to heal. Two years later we continue to call on political leaders to demonstrate their commitment to survivors by putting forth solid policy proposals that will aid in survivor’s healing, provide necessary services and benefits, and expand the laws to ensure that they cover all survivors- no matter what kind of sexual violence they have experienced, where they have experienced it, by who or when. We want to hear candidates address ending sexual violence as an epidemic during the debates. We want all presidential candidates to layout specific plans to address sexual violence, including harassment, and supporting survivors.

As a Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother that resides in Wake County I am very disturbed that more action has not been taken around the situation this young lady experienced entering her 1st year of High School. Cenayia Edwards, an African American freshman at East Wake High School was informed by one of her friends that some of her classmates were apart of a racist group chat where they advocated for the killing of African Americans, used hate language such as “kill ni**ger babies” and the hashtag #BringSlaveryBack. Cenayia was able to gain access to this exclusive chat room where these racial slurs and offensive hate speech was being exchanged and encouraged. Immediately, Cenayia and her parents reported this hate group to her principal and other school administrators in order to bring their awareness to this unacceptable behavior by her peers and fellow students. To date, the family has not received a response from either school district regarding their intention to prevent and condemn this egregious behavior. We cannot remain silent on the broader issue of racial discrimination and intolerance because silence is compliance. Some continue to say that we are living in a post-racial society and if that is true, how can this type of hatred have been shared in a group chat in 2019. Please sign this petition and help make our Schools Safe for ALL CHILDREN. Policies that address hate speech must be a critical element for all school districts.

Imagine being a 12-year-old child, excited about the opportunity to play football only to be barred from play by adults, coaches, and mentors because of the way your hair grows out of your head. This is what a group of young kids at Impact Christian Academy in Jacksonville had to experience as they were denied an opportunity to be children playing a children’s game by adults in the Sunshine Christian League who are obsessed with policing Black hair. Instead of focusing on how a child’s hair naturally grows out their heads the Administrators should be concerning themselves with the safety of the players and making sure everyone is having a good time. Rev. Bruce Armstrong, a charter member of the Sunshine Christian League, even went on to suggest the team simply abandon their friends and teammates if they’re not willing to cut their locs. This callous attitude towards kids looking to play with their friends and classmates is a perfect example of how the adults of the Sunshine Christian League are more concerned with controlling the appearance and expression of these children than instilling to values and lessons of football. Adults need to stop using our children’s bodies as battlegrounds for their control issues. Tell the Sunshine Christian League to let our kids be kids. Sign now and add your voice today!

The voting precinct in the Anderson Center, which is located on the campus of Winston-Salem State University, had been a longtime voting site prior to the 2014 election. After the Board of Elections changed to majority republican, the voting site was removed from the University. Since then, Winston-Salem State has had a continuous population increase. Freshman aren't allowed to park on campus and construction on the highway has permanently closed the interchanges with Diggs Boulevard and Vargrave Drive. This forces residents and students to take a longer route to go vote. The nearest precinct is now the Sims community center, which is on the west side of the highway. Many students do not have access to transportation to go vote. How do our representatives and the Board of Elections expect us as young black students to participate in our democracy, if there is not a polling site that is accessible to all students on the campus of Winston-Salem State University? We deserve the right to have our voices heard!

On September 26th the police in Orlando put two children, a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, in handcuffs! Instead of treating our children as the kids they are Orange County Public Schools is making them out to be criminals for throwing "tantrums". Firing Dennis Turner isn't enough we need to make sure this never happens to our children again no matter what. We need Barbara Jenkins to act to protect our kids! According to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, last school year Black children made up 51% of school-related arrests across the state, despite making up 21% of the student population. This is totally unacceptable! We are living in a society where kids are being arrested before they are eligible to graduate. The underlying theme here is the role that School Resource Officers have in the School to Prison pipeline is very large. We must limit their role in schools as we continue to combat the effect of over-discipline in our schools. Sign now to demand Dr. Barbara Jenkins limit the role of School Resource officers in OCPS schools.

Tondalao Hall is a domestic violence survivor sentenced to 30 years behind bars under a "failure to protect" law. Tondalao was punished for not leaving her abuser quickly enough, before he could inflict physical abuse on their children. The abuser, Robert Braxton, was released back to the streets the day he was sentenced for child abuse, with only 8 years of probation to serve. He admitted to breaking the ribs, toe, and femurs of the two youngest children. Tondalao, the adult victim of his abuse and mother of his children, is now serving her 15th year behind bars. While we haven’t had much to celebrate in the quest for Tondalao’s freedom, this time is slightly different than others. Here’s how: 1. The Pardon and Parole board voted UNANIMOUSLY in a 5-0 vote to move her case to the next round. 2. Four out of five board members were appointed within the past year. 3. After years of organizing, District Attorney David Prater finally wrote a letter of “support" calling for Tondalao’s release. Oklahoma has the highest rate per capita of incarcerated women than any other place in the word. Hall is 1 of 28 women sentenced across 11 states under “Failure to Protect” laws who are serving more time than the abuser himself. Hall’s appeal for justice could have broader implications for the lives of women across experiences. ​Courts must not use Failure to Protect laws to further victimize survivors of domestic violence by scapegoating them for their batterers’ crimes. Failure to Protect laws must not hold domestic violence victims with children to an impossible standard of choosing between risking their lives (and their children's’ lives) and risking their freedom. After 13 years behind bars, Tondalao has served enough time for a crime she didn't commit. We must do better to protect and #FreeBlackMamas.

Pottstown, a 110 year old rural, historically Black working class is located two blocks from the original slave quarters in Huntersville, NC. Two multi-million dollar corporations, Bowman Development Group and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation, have made their fortunes exploiting the land and community members of Pottstown. The community has had enough! We are calling both corporations to divest from harmful practices and invest in a historic landmark. Forty years ago, the Griffin family (of Griffin Brothers C & D Reclaimation) began operating a demolition landfill where over 200 dump trucks travel through our small Black community. The name has changed, but the company's impact has remained the same. In 2017, the Huntersville Town Board approved the Griffin Brothers' request for a 40-year extension that will end in 2057. Residents along Holbrooks Road are subjected to fumes from the trucks and the harmful chemicals used within the neighboring reclamation center. In 2000, in an attempt to quiet the grievances of residents living on Holbrooks Road, the Griffin Brothers created a community HOA, the Holbrooks Road Association, in order to provide annual stipends to .prevent further resident complaints and investigations. Developer and Partner of the Bowman Development Corp., Don Bowman, created a “new urbanism development” that gentrified a historic community by laying his most recent project's foundation along the streets that once ran through the heart of our rural community. His new development, -- Vermillion/Valencia, a 27 acre village -- was created at the expense of hundreds of rural Pottstown homes, as his quick property grab left countless families with nowhere to go. Pottstown residents adjacent to these newly developed urban homes are concerned that the rise of urbanism will irrevocably alter the culture of their hometown and push them out of their homes. Pottstown and most of its families have suffered from the effects of both companies who earn millions of dollar each year from the exploitation of a historic community. The profits of these businesses will allow company owners' children to benefit financially from their exploitative practices. But what about OUR children? Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation have made our community a “commodity” in which to profit from. The majority of Pottstown residents have not received any compensation from the harmful effects of the companies actions. We community of Pottstown deserve to thrive as these companies do! We are calling on Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation to invest Pottstown, not destroy it. The needs of our community are significant and we are calling on these companies to be good neighbors! We are calling on Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation to make an investment in the existing community's culture and pride. We are calling Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation to provide the necessary funds to renovate our historic Torrence-Lytle High School. This small investment would demonstrate goodwill and prove to community members that they value our beloved Pottstown. The community of Pottstown is asking YOU to support our demand for an investment in our community's rich culture with the corporate-funded restoration of Torrence-Lytle High School and affordable housing options for displaced familes.

On September 15th at 11:59PM more than 45,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) in 10 states went on strike. No state feels the brunt of this more than Michigan, the American auto capital. And as we know, black union workers always end up with the shortest end of the stick. The UAW went on strike to demand that GM increase wages, offer wage progression for new hires, improve healthcare and prescription drug benefits, and provide better overall job security. GM's current CEO, Mary Barra, makes $22 million dollars a year while GM’s temporary employees who have been there more than 4 years, get paid less than $16 dollars an hour. GM's announcement on September 17th to cut the healthcare coverage of of any UAW worker on strike is just one of its latest scare tactics to prevent workers from exercising their basic human rights: demanding better pay. It is our right to protest and this problem is bigger than GM. Those workers on strike are only being paid $250 a week. No one person can live off $250 dollars a week let alone someone with a family. Stand with UAW workers in Michigan and demand that the Vice President of General Motors North America Labor Relations Scott Sandefur support the workers that supported GM during the bail out by providing healthcare coverage! Sign the petition today!

The road to recovery in Bahamas is just starting and will take long. With on-going exposure to the elements and contamination from chemicals, dead livestock, and more than half of the houses on the islands destroyed, temporary relocation is a key element of the humanitarian response. In times of overwhelming catastrophe, the United States has historically given protected status (TPS) to people who cannot return safely to their homes. This can be one of those times. Sen. Rubio and Gov. Rick Scott have called on Trump to waive the restrictions. Rep. Maxine Waters has called for action, and Reps Yvette Clark, Stacey Plaskett, and Barbara Lee joined by dozens of co-sponsors have presented a bill in the House of Representatives urging Temporary Protected Status in the House. This petition will be delivered to Members of Congress and the Trump administration by New Florida Majority, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Making the Homeless Smile and the Family Action Network Movement.

Officers who killed Miles Hall should not be on active duty during an on-going investigation. On June 2, 2019 Miles Hall, a 23-year-old resident of Walnut Creek, was senselessly killed by Walnut Creek police officers, Melissa Murphy and KC Hsiao. Miles was in the throes of a schizophrenic episode and both Miles’ mother and grandmother had reached out to police officers for assistance navigating through it. Miles’ parents felt they could trust, confide in and partner with Walnut Creek police, as they had assisted the family in getting Miles transported to mental health treatment facilities in the past. The Walnut Creek Police Department grossly violated that trust. Having received calls from Miles’ grandmother and mother about Miles’ erratic behavior and mental breakdown, police officers arrived at the scene and repeatedly yelled at Miles. When Miles attempted to run past them, several yards off to the side of the officers and in the direction of his home, an officer fired beanbags at him. A second or two later, a police officer with just one year of experience and another with four years' experience fired handguns at Miles, killing him. The three seasoned, trained officers did not draw any lethal weapons. Less than 12 days later, the officers who shot Miles were back on full duty while the investigation continues. This is not only a blatant disregard for the Hall family and the Walnut Creek community, but also shows little emotional and mental support for the officers who had just killed a young man. The officers' continued active duty on the streets of Walnut Creek represents a breach of trust between law enforcement, the city and the community, and prematurely validates the officers’ actions. Walnut Creek Police Chief, Thomas Chaplin, has a history of protecting his officers and not holding them accountable. We cannot allow this to continue. Please sign this petition to remove the two officers who shot Miles from duty until the investigation is complete.