5 Ways to Advocate with NCJWSTL this Week |
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Have you ever wanted to write a letter to the editor, but didn't know where to start? Click here to watch a short training video by NCJWSTL's VP of Leadership, Nancy Litz, and learn from the best!
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Would you like to be even more up to date on our advocacy issues?
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Help Protect Missouri's Trans Youth |
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A slew of dangerous bills have been referred to committees this week that aim to harm transgender kids. NCJWSTL will be providing testimony in opposition to these bills, but we also need your help.
HJR 56 and HB 1077 (Burger R-148) and HJR 53 and HB 1045 (Basye R-47) would effectively ban transgender athletes from participating in sports. We all know that transgender youth deserve the opportunity to play the sports they love and experience the valuable lessons of being on a team with their peers--teamwork, discipline, success, and failure. We know kids that are transgender in Missouri should be able to be part of a team and play the sport they love as their authentic selves, just like any other young student.
HB 33 (Pollock) and HB 1128 (Coleman) are dangerous health care bans targeting transgender youth. Both bills seek to ban life-saving, medically necessary health care for transgender youth. These bills overlook standard best practices backed by all mainstream medical associations and penalize healthcare professionals and parents for doing exactly what they should be doing -- making decisions together that help affirm, celebrate, and save the lives of some of our most marginalized young people.
Please click here to contact your legislator and urge them to vote NO on these dangerous bills if and when they come to a floor vote.
Please also click here to sign the petition urging the Missouri Legislature to stop trans youth athlete bans and click here to urge them to stop trans youth health care bans.
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Meet Your Members of MOLEG with NCJWSTL & JCRC |
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When: Friday, March 12 | 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM CST
Where: Zoom Meeting
While we can’t bring you to Jefferson City, we can bring Jefferson City to you!
Please join JCRC and NCJWSTL for a special opportunity to build personal relationships with your state elected officials — those who make decisions on your behalf in Missouri’s capitol.
We will begin with an opportunity to mingle with the group and orientation to the event. Gathering in breakout rooms, you will then meet with your state representative and your state senator. After meeting with legislators, we will reconvene and learn from NCJWSTL board member, St. Louis Alderwoman, and lobbyist Sarah Wood Martin, who will tell us what to expect during the final weeks of the Missouri legislative session.
Depending on legislative developments and schedules, it may be necessary to meet with legislative staffers rather than your legislator. But that’s OK! – They work closely with the legislators and are often the point of contact for building relationships.
Please click here to register by Wednesday, March 10, and Meet Your Members of MOLEG.
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March Virtual Lunch and Learn: Police Violence & Reform with Sgt. Heather Taylor & Lt. Ray Rice |
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When: Thursday, March 18 | 12:00 - 1:00 PM CST
Where: Zoom Meeting
We are very excited to welcome two very dynamic speakers who will help us learn how to effectively advocate for police reform.
As president of the Ethical Society of Police, Sgt. Heather Taylor has been an outspoken advocate for change. She’s spoken out about racism in the department and misinformation from her superiors. Sgt. Taylor spoke up when she felt the department’s COVID-19 policies were endangering officers earlier this spring. After 20 years, she has retired and moved to Florida but is still advocating for change in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
In St. Louis County, Lieutenant Ray Rice is also working for changes in how the department focuses on the community. He has over 20 years of law enforcement experience with the St. Louis County Police Department and is an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at Lindenwood University. He teaches graduate-level courses in Leadership, Ethics, Race Crime and Punishment, and Labor Relations. Lt. Rice regularly participates in forum discussions with legislators and community stakeholders to discuss the role of law enforcement in social change and how all parties can better serve the community by working together.
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Send a Postcard to President Biden in Support of Abortion Justice |
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Since taking office, President Biden has taken steps to reverse some of the harmful policies enacted by the previous administration, but there is so much more that needs to be done.
For the past year, low-wage workers, immigrants, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, AAPI, and LGBTQ+ communities have borne the brunt of the pandemic, on top of the systemic inequalities they already face.
That’s why NCJW, in partnership with the All*Above All coalition, is calling on President Biden to take immediate, meaningful action to ensure people can access abortion care. No one should be denied abortion coverage because of where they live, how much money they earn, or how they get their health insurance. Anyone who is seeking abortion care should be able to receive their prescribed medication abortion in the way that makes the most sense for them.
Use NCJW's unique link to send a postcard to President Biden today and urge him to lift medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion and write a budget without Hyde or abortion coverage bans: https://p2a.co/ygbqa7p?p2asource=NCJW.
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State of Roe in MO: Update from Jefferson City & the Courts |
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When: Thursday, March 4 | 6:00 - 7:00 PM CST
Where: Zoom Meeting
Please join MO Representative Ian Mackey, MO Senator Doug Beck, and Legislative and Policy Director with American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, Sara Baker, for an update on the status of reproductive healthcare legislation in the current Missouri legislative session and pending Missouri reproductive healthcare litigation. If you care about reproductive justice, you do NOT want to miss this event.
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Sign up Now!
The Great Divide: Race in our Region -
A Racial Equity Series with NCJWSTL & JCRC
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When: March 10; April 14; May 12 | 12:00 PM CST
Where: Zoom Meeting
Join the interfaith community for conversations on ways systemic racism permeates our city and region. We will learn background from topic experts, hear stories of people directly impacted, and learn ways we can take action together.
Each session begins at 12:00 PM CST and will last an hour. All are welcome to stay after the program for discussion.
Topics:
- March 10 - Healthcare
- April 14 - Environmental Justice
- May 12 - Court Systems
You don't want to miss this series. To register for these sessions please click here.
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Don't Forget: Join the A-List |
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YOUR voice is important, now more than ever! Vote-by-Mail and supporting Clean MO are some of the critical legislative issues we are taking action on together.
A-List sponsorship ads in the St. Louis Jewish Light sustain our collaborative efforts to educate the community and elected officials about issues integral to our mission.
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$18 includes your name in the ad.
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$54 makes you an Advocate Plus with your name in bold.
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$72 makes you a sponsor with your name distinguished in color and includes a special gift.
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It is perhaps no surprise that a Black woman faces disingenuous attacks about her supposed motivations and increased scrutiny over an academic event in which she participated in 1994.
President Biden's nominee Kristen Clarke is being falsely accused of anti-Semitism. Jews must push back. A lawyer whose career was spent championing the rights of Jews and other marginalized people is being maligned for things she never said. It's not right.
Click here to read NCJW CEO Sheila Katz's impassioned piece for NBC News on why we must speak out in support of Kristen Clarke.
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