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Beck Kramer

@beckkramer / beckkramer.tumblr.com

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nicholaskole

I stayed up late last night, throwing together some ink and color for the latest in this series of Redwall/Martin The Warrior character pieces ^___^ Rowanoak is just the loveliest- co-founder of the Rambling Rosehip Players- prop-mistress, cart-puller, seamstress, baritone and formiddable badermomma warrior! She was such a great character from the book, and her friendship with Ballaw was lovely (see above) Fur and Freedooommmm! :D 

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Taking Action

It’s been a rough week.

I’ve been left angry, scared, and anxious. I have lots of words and lots of thoughts I could share on it, about how I’m feeling, but I’m holding back because I just don’t feel like it’s useful, and I want to be doing something right now. So I’m going to tell you what I’m doing instead. Because of everything I’m thinking and feeling right now, that’s the most useful: action has been needed, and action is needed now.

We’ve all known this, some of us have been doing this, but most of us do not. Most of us don’t sign up for volunteer work, most of us don’t call our state or national reps (most of us don’t know what’s coming up for discussion or vote in a give month in session), most of us don’t push back when we see or hear racist or homophobic or transphobic language around us, but nervously wait for it to pass. Most of us aren’t donating regularly to organizations, local or national, if we have the means. Here is some information on each of these fronts to share and think on, and some groups you might be interested in supporting.

Contacting Legislators and Finding Out What’s Happening

I’ve never run into someone who didn’t care about what happens to their money, but if you’re paying taxes and aren’t engaged in the running of our country in any other way (don’t really ‘do’ politics”), that’s exactly what you’re doing. It’s not always fun (ok, it’s rarely fun), but it’s very important to stop being complacent or outright ignoring what is happening with your state and local governments.

  • Legiscan https://legiscan.com Legiscan has a list of what’s currently going on in a given state’s legislature. You can look to see if there’s something coming up you’d like to give your reps your two cents about, and add it to a list to get updates about it.
  • Effective ways to engage your representatives https://twitter.com/editoremilye/status/797243415922515970 This twitter thread about effective ways to contact your reps is worth reading.
  • Follow groups on social media Care about homelessness in your city? LGBTQ rights in your state? Follow advocacy groups on social media. This is a very quick way to be informed about immediate action that may need your support.
  • City of Chicago Boards and Commissions https://webapps1.cityofchicago.org/moboco/ “These boards and commissions play a vital role providing advice and counsel to city government on a wide-range of issues, including public safety, education, housing, economic development, architecture and planning and other matters affecting the quality of life in our city. Membership consists of individuals from a variety of backgrounds, all who share a commitment to public service.”

Impacting the Normalization of Bigotry

Some reading about how to be a good ally, and how to combat bigoted language in your day to day life. Practice at both is important and a process best begun today if you haven’t already:

Donating Time or Money (or Both)

A lot of groups will potentially be having a very very rough four years ahead. Either due to cut funding, due to other programs that would supplement their work getting cut, or due to them advocating on behalf of groups that will be put under extreme stresses by the next administration, monetary and volunteer support will be vital to helping them do their work.

Recurring donations are especially important in my opinion if you have the means. Sort out if you can spare 120, 240, 360 dollars or more over the course of an entire year. If you can, set up a monthly donation.

Find groups in your area or on the national stage.  Some groups that come to mind and accept recurring donations:

National:

  • Planned Parenthood https://www.plannedparenthood.org/ “Planned Parenthood is America’s most trusted provider of reproductive health care. Our skilled health care professionals are dedicated to offering all people high-quality, affordable medical care. One in five American women has chosen Planned Parenthood for health care at least once in her life.”
  • ACLU https://www.aclu.org/ “For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

States in Need:

Certain states have introduced legislation or policies that make certain services harder to come by for those who need them.

HIV/STD Prevention

Local (Chicago): I live in Chicago and here are some groups near and dear to me.

  • Greater Chicago Food Depository https://www.chicagosfoodbank.org “Every day, we distribute an average of 200,000 pounds of food to people in need across Chicago and Cook County. We distribute food through our network of partner agencies and programs, including mobile distributions and responses for children, older adults and veterans.”
  • Howard Brown Health Centers http://howardbrown.org/donate/ “Howard Brown Health exists to eliminate the disparities in healthcare experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people through research, education and the provision of services that promote health and wellness. [...] Howard Brown serves men and women, infants, youth, and children through a multi-site operation based in Chicago[.]”
  • The Night Ministry https://www.thenightministry.org/ “The Night Ministry is a Chicago-based organization that works to provide housing, health care and human connection to members of our community struggling with poverty or homelessness. [...] Through The Night Ministry's Health Outreach Bus, Youth Outreach Van and Youth Shelter Network, each year we provide services to 5,200 adults, teens, pregnant and new moms who have nowhere else to go.

Note: I have gaps here. If you know of good national organizations for environmental rights, or any other area you feel will need added help and is omitted here, please let me know. If possible I tried to vet the above with https://www.charitynavigator.org/ which is a great resource, but only covers how good a charity is with its money. 

#charity#election 2016
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