You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: End Cash Bail in New York.

Stealing a backpack shouldn’t be a death sentence. Kalief Browder’s death is an indictment on nearly every aspect of our jails and prison system.

We should — all of us — be taking this tragedy seriously, as Glenn Martin, president of Just Leadership USA explained to Aaron Morrison of International Business Times: “Ultimately, we are all collectively responsible for the death of Kalief, since our insidious criminal justice system exists in our name.”

The length of time Browder spent at Riker’s simply because he couldn’t post bail has surprised people. But if we’re supposedly all “innocent until proven guilty,” maybe the question shouldn’t be “Why was a 16-year-old expected to have $3,000 on hand for bail?” Instead, we should be asking, “Why do people pay for the privilege of waiting for their day in court at all?”

As the editorial staff for amNY explained in an op ed demanding bail reform, the NYC Independent Budget Office report found in 2011 that pretrial detainees make up 75% of the average daily jail population and nearly half were there because they couldn't post bail. Nationally, the numbers are six out of ten prisoners who are incarcerated in lieu of bail.

Cash bail is nothing more than punishment for the poor that benefits only the CEOs of private prison companies and their lobbyists.

Visit the Pretrial Justice Institute’s website — Pretrial.org — and click the banner for their petition with MoveOn titled "Gov Cuomo: End Cash Bail in New York.” Sign and share to encourage similar actions in other states and cities. Pretrial.org also has a great “Take Action” tab with local and national coalitions, an events calendar, and a page to submit your story.

Martin F. Horn — former commissioner of NYC's Department of Correction — closes his plea to prevent even one more Kalief Browder at The Marshall Project this way:

"It requires political courage for the city to address these issues and bring sanity to the jails. It will take money and leadership. There is no alternative, because our jails are a reflection of our collective conscience, and if they remain as they are, the fault is ours.”

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN: "Gov Cuomo: End Cash Bail in New York” via the Pretrial Justice Institute

Additional Activism/Resources:

Follow and support the work of The Bronx Freedom Fund

Follow and support the work of The Brooklyn Bail Fund

Sources/further reading:

"Fixing the Jail Where Kalief Browder was Held: Former corrections chief Martin Horn has some ideas for Rikers Island.” at The Marshall Project

"Newsday: NYC may set up taxpayer-paid bail fund for low-level offenses”

"After Kalief Browder's Death, Prison Reform Advocates Say NYC Rikers Island Abuses Must Not Produce More ‘Martyrs’” by Aaron Morrison at The International Business Times

"Bail reform can help fix NYC criminal justice” by the Editorial Staff at AM New York

"How to Lock Up Fewer People” by Marc Mauer of The Sentencing Project

"City Needs ‘Some Type of Bail Reform,’ de Blasio Says After Kalief Browder Suicide” by Jill Jorgensen at NY Observer

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #930 "Our prisons: cruel and counterproductive (Injustice System)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: "Free Victims of the Drug War" with the Drug Policy Alliance.

President Obama stepped up his pardons earlier this year by commuting the sentences of 22 federal prisoners convicted of nonviolent drug offenses being served “under an outdated sentencing regime,” according to the administration. As Trymaine Lee reported for MSNBC.com, the president described the power of commutation as embodying “the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance.”

For what are most certainly widely varying reasons, bipartisan conversations have begun seeking to tackle the injustices of decades-old mandatory minimum and three-strikes laws which have lead to the overcrowding of our nation’s prisons and the fulfilling of the greedy dreams of private prison company CEOs. In his statement on the commutations, the president acknowledged both the social good and the financial imperative of fixing the broken system.

“Well, here’s the good news,” the president said. "There is an increasing realization on the left, but also on the right politically, that what we’re doing is counterproductive. We’re all responsible for at least a solution to this.”

As the predictably slow wheels of potential Congressional action turn, there is good news: this is another situation where the White House holds significant unilateral power. The Drug Policy Alliance is campaigning to pressure the president on additional commutations — which should be an easy sell as he has already established a clemency initiative to encourage individuals sentenced under the draconian drug laws to petition for commutation.

You can join with the Drug Policy Alliance by visiting DrugPolicy.org/action and contacting the White House through their "Free Victims of the Drug War” page. You can also follow their hashtag #NoMoreDrugWar and use it to publicly share that you’re participating in the campaign to free those wrongly and cruelly incarcerated.

As the Drug Policy Alliance letter-writing page explains, the White House is starting to listen on this issue; now is the time to build momentum by asking the president to continue a process he began and not leave the work unfinished for an incoming administration. The time is now.

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN to tell the president to Free Victims of the Drug War via the Drug Policy Alliance

Additional Activism/Resources:

FOLLOW the hashtag: #NoMoreDrugWar

For those who want to get more involved, it’s early registration for the International Drug Policy Reform Conference (11/18-11/21/2015)

Sources/further reading:

"President Obama commutes prison sentences of 22 drug offenders” by Trymaine Lee at MSNBC.com

"Prolific Pardoner? Obama Grants Clemency to 22 Prisoners Last Week, but Has Denied Thousands” by Annie Waldman for ProPublica via Truthout

"Will the U.S. Senate Finally Reform Harsh Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Drugs?”> via Drug Policy Alliance

"The Nation's Shame: The Injustice of Mandatory Minimums" by Andrea Jones at RollingStone

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #929 "Looking to avert further tragedy (War on Drugs™)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Public Banking.

Neither the concept of pooling money to benefit a larger community nor the notion of holding that money in a publicly owned and run institution is novel. We collect taxes to fund schools and roads — projects we couldn’t accomplish individually — and the state of North Dakota has operated its own financial institution for nearly a century. So why is Bismarck, ND the only place in the country with a publicly owned bank?

The movement to expand public banking is gaining momentum. Gus Alperovitz — the economist behind The New System Project we featured just a few weeks ago — described what has created renewed interest in founding more public banks in an op-ed for Bill Moyers:

“[R]ecognition is also growing of the undue influence that private corporate finance — tied to Wall Street rather than anchored to Main Street — has on our communities. Most Americans understand that regulation can only go so far and that it has a tendency to unravel in the face of corporate pressure…[S]tarting at the local level, 'public banking' and related strategies seek to transform the current system toward one in which banking is managed as a public utility rather than a global casino where taxpayers pick up the tab for private losses.”

Banking as a "public utility" — a public good — rather than a playground for the uber rich could quickly revolutionize who has access to capital for starting businesses, buying homes, and funding worthwhile projects that benefit entire communities. We already know that locally spent dollars fuel local economies; public banks work in a similar way by not funneling a percentage of the tax dollars housed in those institutions off to the CEOs of Wells Fargo and Citibank.

Efforts are underway in Sante Fe, New Mexico and the state of Vermont to found public banks. The Vermont plan would authorize up to 10% of the state’s cash balance — approximately $350 million — to be available for investment in local enterprise. Imagine what that could do for a state with just 600,000 people?

If this concept is exciting to you, the Public Banking Institute is looking for volunteers, members for their chapters in more than 20 cities across the country, and support for local initiatives in Santa Fe, Philadelphia, Seattle, Vermont and California. Visit PublicBankingInstitute.org and click on the “Take Action” tab for volunteer opportunities, events, and info to share on your networks.

Then, keep an eye out for more from The Next System Project, which The Public Banking Institute partners on, and new ways to get involved with reclaiming public assets for public use.

TAKE ACTION:

Get involved with The Public Banking Institute by:

Supporting a Local Initiative, Volunteering, and/or Joining a Chapter!

Sources/further reading:

"Inequality’s Dead End — And the Possibility of a New, Long-Term Direction” by Gar Alperovitz of The Democracy Collaborative

"Vermont Votes for Public Banking” by John Nichols at The Nation

"Public banking debate starts in Santa Fe” at Albuquerque Journal

"Public Banking Institute a Partner to a New Project on Economic Alternatives” via The Public Banking Institute

WATCH: "National Launch Webinar: The Next System Project

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #928 "The criminal enterprise that runs our politics (Big Banks)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached today’s activism segment. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s a reminder that certain awful things don’t go away quickly, so we have to stay vigilant and keep fighting them until we succeed. Today’s update: Tar Sands Resistance March.

You’d be excused if you thought Keystone was over following the February veto of the bill approving its construction. President Obama has been cynical at best in his public remarks recently, describing the project accurately as having little to do with American oil prices or consumption. Headlines were celebratory on the left and outraged on the right. Also, it feels like we’ve been fighting this project practically forever.

And yet, the permit is still up in the air. Final say rests — as it always has — with the State Department and that means continued pressure is needed on the White House. The president seems most moved by the way the pipeline would affect aquifers and farmland — much of which is located in the middle of the country.

This Saturday, June 6th, more than 60 environmental organizations including The Sierra Club, 350.org, NRDC, and Idle No More, are gathering 20 buses from 10 Midwestern states in St. Paul, Minnesota for the biggest regional march ever opposing Keystone.

Speakers include Rep. Keith Ellison, Bill McKibben, First Nation activists, Hip Hop artists and more. You can RSVP and find transportation at TarSandsResistance.org.

Then be sure to let the president know — again — that you still oppose Keystone and any project that brings toxic tar sands oil into this country. You can call, email, and write the administration through WhiteHouse.Gov/Contact and tweet @WhiteHouse. To support the Tar Sands Resistance March, use the hashtag #StopTarSands.

Update!

"Obama Just Vetoed The Keystone XL Pipeline. Now What?” by Emily Atkin at ThinkProgress Climate: final say for approving the Keystone XL permit remains with the State Department

Follow-up/new Action!

JOIN/RSVP: Tarsands Resistance March, June 6th

Let the president know you oppose approval of KXL through WhiteHouse.Gov/contact and @WhiteHouse on Twitter

Sources/further reading:

"Dozens of Canada's tar sands projects on hold as prices fall, analysis shows” at The Guardian

"The Keystone Pipeline Just Lost Big in a Shocking Canadian Election” at Mother Jones

"The Keystone XL Pipeline: What Do You Really Know? You’ve probably read a lot about it. Now take this quiz and find out what you remember.” at The Wall Street Journal

"TransCanada's Keystone Pipeline Network Under Investigation by Federal Regulators” via DeSmog Blog

"Grass-Roots Push in the Plains to Block the Keystone Pipeline’s Path” at The New York Times

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #927 "Confronting the evil of our era (Climate)"

Revisit the original action/segment:

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Halt All Executions.

Despite almost tantrum-like resistance from its “pro-life” governor Pete Ricketts, Nebraska is about to become the 19th state to abolish the death penalty. With public opinion shifting on capital punishment, other red states are considering similar legislation.

Montana came within one vote of outlawing the death penalty in February and a republican state representative in Kansas has introduced legislation following the Republican Liberty Caucus coming out in opposition to capital punishment.

Legislators aren’t the only ones softening on state executions. A Boston Globe poll found that only 15% of people in Massachusetts agree with the sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man convicted of the Boston marathon bombing. Almost 66% of Bostonians and 63% statewide favor a life sentence instead.

Massachusetts may not have executed anyone since 1947 when the death penalty was used to execute gangsters convicted of murder, but death penalty proponents would have you believe that a heinous crime in anyone’s backyard can turn them in favor of execution. With a sizable majority disapproving of the sentence despite the effect of the crime on residents state-wide, this last remaining almost-logical talking point is slipping away.

Still, after Nebraska, we’re left with 32 states plus the federal government and the military having the death penalty. In an effort to push for increasing momentum on a federal ban, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has a new project co-chaired by Sister Helen Prejean of “Dead Man Walking” fame: 90 Million Strong.

The goal is to end capital punishment by highlighting the 90 million who oppose the death penalty in this country. At 90MillionStrong.org you can add your name to their “Halt All Executions” petition, track scheduled executions and contact the legislators who have the power to stop them, register to vote — an important part of any long-term campaign, and get educated with articles and facts to post on your networks with the #HaltAllExecutions hashtag.

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN: ”Join the 90 Million Strong: Call for Halt to All Executions” from 90 Million Strong, a project of The National Coalition To End the Death Penalty

Find more resources on pending executions and educational content: 90MillionStrong.org

Additional Activism/Resources:

JUNE 6: DC Standing for Peace and Justice w/Mothers in Charge

Sources/further reading:

States with and without the Death Penalty via DeathPenaltyInfo.org

“Lethal Entanglements” via The New Republic

“Death penalty foes see Nebraska vote as momentum-builder”

"Boston Bomber’s Execution To Be Delayed 18 Years?” via The Inquisitor

"Few favor death for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, poll finds: Less than 20% of Mass. residents support execution” via The Boston Globe

"Boston Marathon bomber unlikely to be executed – even if jury votes for death” via The Guardian

"European boycott of death penalty drugs lowers rate of US executions” via The Guardian

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #925 "A bad idea for all the reasons (Death Penalty)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached today’s activism segment. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s a reminder that certain awful things don’t go away quickly, so we have to stay vigilant and keep fighting them until we succeed. Today’s update: Roll Back Standardized Testing & Support #OptOut.

Standardized tests are finally getting a hard look in our education policy and legislature. This is due in no small part to the parents, students, and teachers around the country staging coordinated protests to opt-out of the tedious fill-in-the-bubble marathons that school kids are routinely put through.

Some teachers are on board, not just because they care about the quality of instruction they’re able to deliver, but because test scores are heavily weighted in their evaluations without concern for mitigating factors. We not only risk students falling behind, but the loss of good teachers who become frustrated or let go because of unfair criteria.

The National Center for Fair and Open Testing — or Fair Test for short — is a group we’ve highlighted before. Currently, in addition to providing links to opt-out contacts and resources around the country and a comprehensive list of colleges that are “test optional,” they’re backing Senator Jon Tester’s legislation to reform the biggest cause of standardized testing: No Child Left Behind.

Senator Tester, a former teacher, has introduced the Student Testing Improvement and Accountability Act. He explains why reforming evaluations of both teachers and students is important:

"Students shouldn't be spending most of their time in school filling out bubbles. That's not the kind of education that fosters critical thinking or creativity. Students shouldn't be learning for the test, they should be learning for life.”

Visit FairTest.org and click on the “Public School - News” tab for their "Write Congress to demand less testing, an end to high stakes” campaign supporting Senator Tester’s bill which would reduce federally-mandated standardized testing to once each in elementary, middle and high school. GenXers managed to survive their educational lives with such bare bones testing; certainly the current generation of kids could as well.

A floor debate on the bill is expected any time and currently there are no co-sponsors. You can urge your senators to sign on and then vote yes by using ContactingTheCongress.org.

Update: Assessment Reform in Education

FairTest’s opt-out state contacts

Search to find and support test-optional colleges

Follow-up/new Action!

Add your name: "Write Congress to demand less testing, an end to high stakes.”

Support Senator Jon Tester (D-MT)’s Student Testing Improvement and Accountability Act! Use ContactingTheCongress.Org to tell your senators to sign on as co-sponsors and to vote yes.

Sources/further reading:

"Tester Pushes Overhaul of No Child Left Behind Testing Policy” via Senator Jon Tester (D-MT)

“Are Teachers Ok With Opt-Outs?” — hear from teachers on the subject via EdWeek Teacher

“Stop the Testing Circus” via US News

"Opt-Out Parents Have a Point” via US News

"What Happens When Students Boycott a Standardized Test?” by Laura McKenna at The Atlantic

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #924 "The revolt against high stakes testing (Education)"

Revisit the original action/segment:

"Assessment Reform via @FairTestOffice - Best of the Left Activism” via Episode #871 "Your child is a widget (Education)” 10/24/2014

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached today’s activism segment. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s a reminder that certain awful things don’t go away quickly, so we have to stay vigilant and keep fighting them until we succeed. Today’s update: Reject Medicare cuts and reject TPP Fast Track.

The Trans Pacific Partnership is awful for all the reasons laid out in previous episodes as well as in today’s clips. The newly added awful republicans are trying to sneak in last minute is a special brand of mean and unnecessary: to “”offset”" a democratic party requirement that those losing their jobs to the TPP would be somewhat compensated, the GOP wants a $700 million cut to Medicare.

Think about that for a moment. These are their core constituents, supposedly. And while “repeal Obamacare!” remains their rallying cry, they’re looking to chop almost a billion dollars from the program that keeps millions of seniors hovering tentatively just above the poverty line. It’s unconscionable.

Democracy For America has a petition titled "U.S. Senate: Reject Medicare cuts and reject Fast Track” posted at their website — DemocracyForAmerica.com — as well as at Daily Kos Diaries under the “Trans Pacific Partnership” tag. The Senate is about to vote AGAIN on fast tracking this disastrous trade agreement. Dual action petitions like this one opposing both the bill in its entirety and a specific provision cover the just in case scenario that the TPP passes.

After adding your name to the DFA Action petition, take the advice from the Daily Kos poster and use ContactingTheCongress.org to "get in touch with your Senators offices now and tell them not to support TPP in general, but especially if it uses seniors benefits to pay for it.” The only thing worse than signing away jobs and regulatory authority on almost every industry is doing it while ALSO denying medical care to the elderly.

Update: Trans Pacific Partnership!

New Action:

SIGN: "U.S. Senate: Reject Medicare cuts and reject Fast Track” from Democracy For America

h/t Daily Kos: "ALERT: DFA Warning New TPP Provision Would Cut Medicare $700 Million to Help Pay for Trade Aid”

Use ContactingTheCongress.org to tell your senators not to support this new provision or the TPP.

Sources/additional info:

"Who’s down with TPP?: Big business wins and democracy loses as both parties lie about free trade” by Bill Curry at Salon

"The TPP Could Have Disastrous Results For The Climate, Environmental Groups Warn” by Samantha Page at ThinkProgress Climate

"A Trade Deal Read In Secret By Only A Few (Or Maybe None)” by Alisa Change at NPR Politics

Hear the segment in context:

"Resisting a secret corporate takeover (Trans-Pacific Partnership)"

Revisit the original action/segments:

"Expose the TPP - Best of the Left Activism” via Episode #792 "Don't get down with TPP (Corporate Takeover)” 01/24/2014

"Stop Fast Track of TransPacific Partnership via @MoveOn — Best of the Left Activism” via Episode #896 "Resisting global corporate takeover (Trans-Pacific Partnership)” 02/06/2015

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: The Next System Project: National Launch Webinar.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the capitalist, boot-strap, American Dream mythology basis of the way we live and interact with each other simply isn’t sustainable. But a few minutes thinking about how to reverse the ship or even rebuild the ship from scratch is pretty overwhelming.

Luckily, the folks at The Next System Project are doing the heavy lifting and they’re inviting you to join in as they imagine and design a better, more sustainable way of life. A project of the Democracy Collaborative, they describe their undertaking this way:

"The Next System Project is an ambitious multi-year initiative aimed at thinking boldly about what is required to deal with the systemic challenges the United States faces now and in coming decades.”

You can register for the introductory, interactive national launch webinar on Wednesday, May 20th at 3pmEST moderated by GritTV’s Laura Flanders. I’m tuning in and Katie will be livetweeting through the @BestoftheLeft Twitter feed using the #WhatsNext hashtag. If you heard the clip of The Next System Project on the show a couple months ago and were intrigued, but full of questions, this is your chance to ask them.

Get registered at “launch.thenextsystem.org” and mark your calendars!

TAKE ACTION:

WATCH The Next System Project National Launch Webinar moderated by Laura Flanders of GritTV

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #922 "A crisis of culture (Capitalism)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Transgender People & the Police: Rights & Resources.

Bruce Jenner’s national TV interview will undoubtably give a visibility boost to the transgender community and force a less aware demographic in our country to at least learn some new terms and possibly foster a base level of respect and courtesy.

The third in our activism series focusing on law enforcement recognizes that trans people as a group are not privileged with the resources Jenner is afforded, leaving them more likely to be brutalized by both private citizens and the police — especially if they are people of color. According to the Transgender Law Center, 47% of black transgender and gender-nonconforming people have experienced incarceration.

In Baltimore, a transgender woman named Deairra Michelle Venable was arrested, and spent four days in a man’s prison after being forced to wear a sheer thermal shirt without her bra — a purposeful humiliation that left her especially vulnerable to assault.

Her story is terrifyingly common. Transgender woman Ashley Diamond, who has — like Venable — lived openly as a woman since her teens has been incarcerated in a Georgia men’s prison since 2012. Diamond has been denied her hormone therapy, causing physical distress from the withdrawal and — in addition to humiliations from the guards — has been raped seven times by other inmates.

The Transgender Law Center, Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and National Center For Transgender Equality have a comprehensive set of resources detailing the rights of trans people when interacting with law enforcement. Posting the links on your social media feeds and and taking the information with you to direct actions can help you help protect those most vulnerable at protests and marches.

The Sylvia Rivera “Tips for trans people dealing with cops and jails" graphic folds into a pocket sized, bilingual pamphlet broken into “On the street and in public” and “If you have been arrested.”

The National Center for Transgender Equality’s “Participating in Direct Actions: A Guide for Transgender People” breaks down additional risk factors such as immigration status, past arrests, medical needs, and housing status. It also outlines tactics like surrounding the most vulnerable with those who have more privileged demographics and challenging the separation and searches of trans people.

Legal resources and alternatives to street action are important information for organizers and activists to have. Please use the links in the segment notes to post the available information on your networks, on event pages, and carry it with you when you attend demonstrations.

TAKE ACTION:

"TLC Solidarity with Baltimore” — resources for interacting with law enforcement via The Transgender Law Center

"Participating in Direct Actions: A Guide for Transgender People” via National Center For Transgender Equality

“Tips for trans people dealing with cops and jails” via The Sylvia Rivera Law Project

Sources/further reading:

"Transgender woman arrested in Baltimore forced to stay in male holding cell” via Mashable

"Transgender woman arrested in Baltimore out after four days of ‘hell’” via Mashable

"Transgender Woman Cites Attacks and Abuse in Men’s Prison” via The New York Times

"Federal Judge: California Must Provide Trans Inmate with Access to Gender-Affirming Surgery” at The Advocate

"Win: Georgia to Allow Hormone Therapy for Trans Inmates” via The National Center for Transgender Equality

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #921 "We all have a trans friend now (Bruce Jenner)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

Follow-up action:

SIGN and share the Color of Change petition: "President Obama: End discriminatory, violent policing and its unjust consequences”

Hear the original activism segment:

Demand an Executive Order on Racist, Violent Policing via @ColorOfChange, episode #915 "A fight for survival (#BlackLivesMatter)”

Sources/further reading:

"Black Protesters Aren’t Thugs—They’re Patriots” by Imani Gandy at RH Reality Check

"As Part of a Reparations Deal, Chicago Teens Will Learn About Police Brutality in School” via Vice

"Chicago City Council Passes Landmark Police Torture Reparations Ordinance” via Amnesty International

"Baltimore Uprising: How Did We Get Here?” by Zerlina Maxwell at Essence.com

"Baltimore uprising: Solidarity protests spread across US LIVE UPDATES” via RT America

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #920 "Continued injustice, continued response (#BaltimoreUprising)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich