More neighborly actions for you
Drivers' licenses for immigrants to RI, farms and food for the future, safe and penalty-free parking for people whose cars are their only shelter, further ways to #ShutDownWyatt, and more.
Good morning, everyone. Here are some things to do with and for our neighbors today.
CN: white supremacist & misogynist murder. In memory and rage for the Asian women murdered in Georgia, today would be a good day to donate to PrYSM, Project WEBER*RENEW (I have small recurring donations set up for both of those) the Center for Southeast Asians, Ocean State A$$ and/or Red Canary Song, a grassroots collective of Asian sex workers and allies, or the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum which advocates for immigrant Asian women worker rights and reproductive rights in GA. If you are feeling the shock of this attack today, be gentle with yourself, avoid talking to people who won’t get it, and maybe step away from the computer/phone if you can.
TODAY, 3/17, BY 12:30pm, remotely: Send in written testimony to support RI House Bill 5305, which would allow undocumented people to apply for and receive a RI driver’s license, increasing work and safety options for many people. AMOR and others have been working on this for ages: let’s make 2021 the year it passes. Send your testimony to housejudiciary@rilegislature.gov. Here’s a guide. I’m so sorry to have missed the verbal testimony signup for this!
TODAY, 3/17, BY 2pm, remotely: Another opportunity for written testimony, this one on Senate Bill 468, another part of the Rescue RI Act and in my opinion a real honey: it provides for PAID work on community-controlled farms that restore the soil (A+ for climate change) and increase people’s access to fresh food for greater food security and food justice. Everyone eats food, so I know you have something to say about this! One thing you might consider doing is connecting it to the Act on Climate legislation that passed in the Senate earlier this week, which is great but doesn’t go far enough with the “how”: emphasize that these two pieces of legislation complement each other and are equally necessary. Send your testimony to slegislation@rilegislature.gov.
TOMORROW, 3/18, 3:45pm, starting at the Providence Place Mall parking garage and going toward the state house: No one sleeps in their car by choice, but if you don’t have a home it may be your safest option. Yet Rhode Island still tows the cars of people in these circumstances, removing both their shelter and their last asset. Join a car parade to demand that the state permit and/or provide safe parking for people forced to sleep in their cars because they have nowhere else to go. See the flyer at the bottom of this list for more details, and/or contact megan@thehouseofhopecdc.org with questions.
Anytime this week, remotely: Over 150 people in writing, and over 50 in person, testified in favor of a bill that would shut down the Wyatt Detention Facility. If you were among them, thank you! Whether you were or weren’t, you can follow up on their work by writing a letter to your own legislators; you can also sign up (at right) to be notified when it’s time to testify on the senate version of the bill. Like the drivers’ license legislation, this one affects our Asian immigrant neighbors: ICE has been targeting them in New England for years. ALSO: If you or someone you know is available and interested in volunteering to translate testimonies, emails, and other text from English to Spanish, please reach out to neveragainpvd@gmail.com!
Anytime/starting this week: Grocery delivery service Cartwheel is looking for backup/on-call drivers (so you need a flexible schedule as well as access to a car, a driver’s license and auto insurance). They pay $18/hr plus reimburse $0.58/mile. If you’d like to get a message when there’s an open shift, make sure that you have the Signal app and send your phone number to cartwheelri@gmail.com.
With love,
Kate