Take Action with DJJ
Help People's Water Board Coalition conduct research on Metro Detroit Water bills
If you or someone you know lives in Oakland or Macomb County and has experienced difficulty paying water bills, you can help People’s Water Board Coalition conduct some much needed research! Bonus: the task force doing this project is brimming with beloved DJJniks! Please sign up if you’re eligible, and share with your friends and communities that might be able to help. Sign up here!
Send a letter to Michigan State officials urging them to protect our teachers, staff and students with disabilities
Send a letter to your state officials urging them to protect our teachers, staff and students with disabilities by: Mandating the use of masks, mandating social distancing, and requiring all teachers and staff to be vaccinated or regularly tested for Covid-19. Follow the link here to do so!
Join Rep. Tlaib, Senator Sanders and Rep. Levin in the push for infrastructure improvements and environmental justice in Metro Detroit
Rep. Tlaib, Senator Sanders and Rep. Levin are among those in support of the Build Back Better campaign, which is aimed at making transformative investments in the lives and futures of residents in Michigan's 13th Congressional District. Read more about it here!
Additionally, sign this petition from Detroit Disability Power and tell your US Congressperson/Senator why we need the Build Back Better Plan!
Sign up to volunteer with Voices for Earth Justice at the Hope House & Garden
Connect with the earth and make new friends while volunteering at the Hope House & Garden - which is a block east of Lahser and Puritan (5 Mile) in Detroit. Sign up here!
Senators Stabenow & Peters - Flooded Detroit Needs Climate Investments NOW
Detroit and its surrounding areas were devastated by the hours of rain and flooding this past week. We are calling on Senators Stabenow & Peters to bring home, to our front steps, the community investments we need to fix this problem long-term -- AND to tax the fossil fuel companies responsible for creating this crisis. Sign this petition to demand deep climate investments NOW.
Saginaw Residents Ask for Help to Keep Water ON.
The City of Saginaw is currently conducting a water shutoff program to deny hundreds of residents their right to clean water. In addition, they are planning on issuing municipal civil infractions to residents who can't afford to turn their water back on in 48 hours, piling on fees to our poorest residents.
This is NEGLIGENT during a pandemic when fewer than 50% of Saginaw residents are vaccinated. This is UNNECESSARY when there are billions in federal relief funds currently on the way. Please help Saginaw residents by emailing our officials to tell them:
NO SHUTOFFS, NO FEES, NO INFRACTIONS, NO LIENS.
Gathering at Saginaw City Hall on Thursday, July 8th at 1pm.
Demonstrating until all four demands are met in totality:
- Saginaw residents demand an immediate cease of all water shutoffs in the City of Saginaw, free reconnection for all disconnected residents, and the implementation of an indefinite water shutoff moratorium.
- Saginaw residents demand a cessation of all plans and intentions to issue municipal civil violations, or fees of any kind, to Saginaw residents in relation to their water utility status.
- Saginaw residents demand a cessation of all plans and intentions to use tax liens as a means to remove Saginaw residents in relation to their water utility status.
- Saginaw residents demand that the City Council investigate the repeated efforts of city staff to deny due process in regards to water shutoff, evictions, municipal civil infractions, etc.
Questions? Email Barry DJJ's water justice liaison.
Become an Official Legal Observer with the NLG!
The National Lawyers Guild needs you! Sign up for a training FRIDAY at NOON to become an official legal observer at actions and marches this season. Learn more here, and sign up for trainings here!
Help People's Water Board Make Calls
People's Water Board needs callers to assist with checking in with suburban cities to see who is going to shut off water before American Rescue Plan money arrives.
Call Cass Charrette at (248) 980-1191 to get an assignment!
Join Cosecha Detroit for an Informational Meeting on Drivers Licenses for All
On Sunday, June 6th 2-4pm, join Cosecha Detroit and DJJ immigration justice members for an informational meeting on the fight for drivers licenses. Email Bobbi Spiegler at [email protected] or visit Cosecha Detroit's Facebook page for more information!
Support Environmental Justice and Health in Michigan's Energy Future
Everyone deserves to live in warm homes and breathe air free from pollution. DTE Energy consistently puts profits over people, fighting the transition from coal and fracked gas to healthy, affordable wind and solar energy. Submit a public comment to support environmental justice and health in Michigan's energy future!
Video: 5 Things You Need To Know About the Enbridge Line 5 Shutdown
Five months ago, Gov. Whitmer gave Enbridge a deadline to stop pumping gallons of oil into the Great Lakes. Watch this video from Oil and Water Don't Mix where you can learn more about the Enbridge Line 5 Shutdown.
Support Michigan Black Mama's Bailout
We know that far too many Black womxn, mothers and caregivers are in cages in Michigan simply because they can’t afford bail. Join our partners at Michigan Liberation in the effort to raise funds to bail them out so they can be reunited with their families. Will you support the movement? Click this link to make a donation to the 2021 MI BLACK MAMA’S BAIL OUT.
Take a stance and support voting rights in Michigan
Republicans in the state legislature are trying to roll back voting rights instead of expanding them. Take action NOW to tell the Elections Committee to protect our voting rights!
Sign the petition to demand that Governor Whitmer investigate the over assessments in Detroit
Demand an investigation and to devise solutions to ensure it ends, and provide compensation to affected homeowners.
SIGN YOUR NAME
Encourage the Biden-Harris administration to make gender-markers on IDs more inclusive and remove barriers to changing gender markers.
Trans and non-binary people belong, and everyone should have federal IDs that accurately reflect who they are. That is why we just joined the ACLU in urging the Biden-Harris administration to issue an executive order improving the access to accurate gender markers on federal IDs and records. Sign the petition here!
TAKE A STANCE
We stand with our partners at Detroit Action in calling for Mike Shirkey's resignation in the wake of the capitol attack, his open racism, sexism and spread of disinformation. Call his office at 517-373-5932!
EDUCATE YOURSELF
What can we learn from the catastrophic system failure in Texas?
Watching millions of Texans lose power in frigid temperatures, while CEOs cheer at high prices, has brought energy justice to the forefront nationwide. What does the Texas grid failure mean for us, for our communities in Michigan? Join DJJ's beloved Jackson Koeppel on FB Live or Zoom TODAY From 12-12:30 PM to learn more.
SIGN YOUR NAME
Take action NOW in order to protect some of our most vulnerable community members - farmworkers and undocumented immigrants.
Tonight, our US senators are both proposing and voting on bills - and GOP Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) is going to introduce Amendment #211 to freeze farmworkers pay. He want to freeze the wages of workers that are putting food on your table during a global pandemic. At We Make Michigan, we also know that what this means for our people: that low wage, predominantly BIPOC farmworkers are once again being scapegoated in order to divide us and line the pockets of those at the top. We refuse to play their game.
Shamefully, Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters already both voted tonight to pass an anti-immigrant bill blocking undocumented community members from receiving stimulus checks tonight. It's more important than ever that we contact them in mass numbers to protect ALL Michiganders. They cannot claim to support essential workers then cut out the most vulnerable residents - mostly low-wage and predominantly BIPOC essential workers - that have been told to keep working the fields and packing plants to feed us. Join us in fighting for a Michigan that leaves NO ONE behind!
1. Send a quick, automated email to our MI senators and their staff.
2. Call Senator Peters at 313-226-6020 (Detroit) | (202) 224-4822(DC), and Senator Stabenow at 517-203-1760 (Lansing) | 202-224-6221 (DC).
3. Tweet @SenPeters and @SenStabenow to urge them to vote NO on #211. Amplify @WethePeople_MI's tweet thread here.
This is something we need to act fast on - but we also act together, knowing that in our Michigan, we take care of all of us, regardless of immigration status, regardless of where we come from, regardless of where we live. We got us, we will fight for ourselves and each other, and we will win.
DMF Drive SAFE Petition:
Pledge to support the Drive SAFE (Safety, Access, Freedom and the Economy) legislation and ensure a pathway to licenses for undocumented Michiganders.
Act Today to Protect Water Access
- Who to contact -- click here to find a list of Republican senators, their contact info, AND the number of households in their individual respective districts who are at risk of water insecurity.
- What to say -- click here to find a sample email that you may use to email or call Republican senators (Democrats already support the legislation).
STAY AWARE!
The Michigan EGLE ruled, allowing Nestle to pump 400gpm of water from central Michigan to bottle & sell for $200/yr. Read MCWC's response here.
Tell Gov. Whitmer, STOP Illegally Inflated Property Taxes in Detroit
It's not just COVID and police brutality exposing racism in America. Black homeowners in Detroit are being overtaxed on top of these other injustices.
Sign this petition to End Facial Recognition in Detroit
As Black and Brown communities all across this nation have mobilized to challenge police brutality and systemic racism, the issue of over-policing and hyper-surveillance of our communities has come to the surface. In Detroit, facial recognition is the latest incursion into our communities.
Community activists and researchers have been pointing out the dangers of this technology for years, particularly the inaccuracy of facial recognition when it comes to people of color. Their warning was confirmed this year by the experiences of Robert Williams and Michael Oliver, two Black men who were misidentified by the facial recognition software and wrongfully arrested by DPD.
Detroit, one of the poorest, Blackest major cities in the country, spends millions of dollars on COINTELPRO-like policing that doesn’t even solve crimes. Chief Craig himself admits that the facial recognition technology is wrong “96% of the time”!
We, the undersigned, demand an end to facial recognition surveillance in Detroit. Instead of investing in programs that make our young people unnecessary targets and do nothing to make our lives better or safer, the City needs to get rid of facial recognition and put that money towards housing, community centers, jobs, and other resources Detroiters desperately need!
Sign this petition to condemn DPD's use of excessive force on peaceful protesters:
Tell the Democratic Party: There is always time to do the right thing
The Movement for Black Lives is making a national call to hold the Democratic Party accountable to the demands of Black-led movements.
There is still time to do the right thing. Movement for Black Lives are inviting the DNC to stand on the right side of history with the largest social movement our nation has ever seen.
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3 simple demands: 1. Include the BREATHE Act in the DNC Party Platform. 2. Endorse the BREATHE ACT today. 3. Show that Black Lives Matter not just in words, but in action. ADD YOUR NAME » |
Send some emails to support a nationwide moratorium on utility shutoffs
There is a final push to get a nationwide moratorium on utility shutoffs passed and with it, there is a real shot at protecting people’s basic services during this crisis. Sen. Schumer has a video endorsing a national moratorium here, and Rep. Tlaib has shared it here.
Senator Merkley’s bills to prohibit power and water shutoffs (S.4362, which is the Senate version Reps. Tlaib and Dingell’s Emergency Water Is a Human Right Act) and prohibit broadband shutoffs (S. 3695) have legs in Congress right now, but we need your help to get across the finish line.
Michigan Reps. Tlaib and Dingell led the charge to get a national shutoff moratorium passed through the House, but our Senators, Sens. Stabenow and Peters, have not yet cosponsored Sen. Merkley’s bill.
Please send an email to the Senators to ask them to cosponsor Sen. Merkley’s legislation to stop utility shutoffs? Here is a sample letter.
- Emails go to:
- Emily Carwell, Legislative Director for Sen. Stabenow - [email protected]
- Zephranie Buetow, Legislative Director for Sen. Peters - [email protected].
Sign on to the Dismantle Mass Incarceration for Public Health Act
COVID-19 is ravaging jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers due to overcrowded, unsanitary conditions and a lack of adequate healthcare.
Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Barbara Lee have introduced the Dismantle Mass Incarceration for Public Health Act, which would condition federal funding on whether states release eligible incarcerated people, including those who are:
- Awaiting trial and have not been convicted of a crime (likely just can’t afford bail)
- In ICE detention
- Pregnant or primary caregivers
- Terminally ill, medically vulnerable to COVID-19 (including ages 55+), or have a disability
- Nearing the end of their sentences
- Serving misdemeanor sentences or possession/sale of a controlled substance
- Incarcerated due to technical violation of parole/probation or a bench warrant for arrest (often due to a missed court appearance)
- Status offenders (young people charged with an offense that would not be a crime if committed by an adult)
The pandemic should not be a death sentence for incarcerated people. Add your name today to become a grassroots co-signer of the Dismantle Mass Incarceration for Public Health Act to save lives by releasing people immediately for up to a year after the pandemic ends. Follow this link to learn more and sign in support.
DO YOU SEE SOMETHING MISSING? Email Miriam at [email protected]