EG 6th Congressional District Newsletter 310
Two survivors of the Oxford High School Shooting: Their Trauma and Triumph (Watch the Video Below)
Social studies teacher Lauren Jasinski and student Dylan Morris told the stories of their trauma and resultant activism on November 30, 2021 to a zoom audience this past Sunday night. Each recounted their fifth hour spent terrorized in a barricaded classroom after they heard shots down the hall. Each told of subsequent days filled with fear, survivor’s guilt, and a renewed commitment to activism.
High schooler Morris’s testimony at the State Houses was instrumental in getting the Michigan Senate to pass an eleven-bill gun safety package which includes a requirement for safe storage, universal background checks, and red flag laws. The Michigan House of Representatives has passed bills requiring safe storage and universal background checks but has yet to pass red flag laws. Although Morris had hoped to garner bipartisan support, the GOP almost uniformly voted against these commonsense gun reforms, which polls have shown are supported by 80-90% of Americans.
Jasinski and Morris’s activism knows no bounds. They were instrumental in founding End Gun Violence, a coalition of groups representing labor, the Methodist and Episcopal churches, medical associations as well as the venerable United Way, the MEA and Gifford’s Gun Owners for Safety.
In January, 2022, they also founded No Future Without Today, an organization comprised of students and community activists. Empathy for the survivors of the Uvalde school shooting energized them, prompting a march downtown to dramatize the urgency of sensible gun laws and mental health resources. They also helped initiate the successful Oakland County Gun BuyBack program, responsible for getting 350 guns out of residents’ homes.
Jasinski and Morris want your voices to be heard as well as theirs. If you feel gun reform legislation is vital to the health and safety of Americans, please call state representatives (not just your own) and beg for their support of red flag laws.
Links to Learn More ways to Get Involved
No Future Without Today Website
No Future Without Today Facebook
No Future Without Today Instagram
NFWT – Click to call/email your legislators
Learn More – MI Gun Safety Laws
Which Senators have benefitted the most from NRA money?
Brady United Against Gun Violence has published a chart of the Senators who have benefitted the most from NRA (National Rifle Association) political spending throughout their careers and who oppose gun safety legislation, such as expanding background checks and banning assault weapons. The top 15 are: Mitt Romney, Richard Burr, Roy Blunt, Thom Tillis, Marco Rubio, Joni Ernst, Rob Portman, Todd Young, Bill Cassidy, Tom Cotton, Pat Toomey, Josh Hawley, Marsha Blackburn, Mitch McConnell and Rod Johnson. The chart also has a link to each Senator’s twitter account.
The majority of Americans support stronger gun laws. Check out the chart here and send a tweet to let these Senators know that “if they don’t start representing voters instead of the gun lobby, then we will vote them out!”
Michigan is passing Gun Safety Laws, but what does that mean?
According to Bridge Magazine, at least 53 mostly rural counties adopted resolutions to declare themselves a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” or to explicitly support constitutional rights including the right to bear arms, according to a Bridge Michigan review of news reports, county resolutions, meeting minutes and interviews with local officials.
The resolutions are not legally binding since county commissioners can’t direct sheriffs or judges on what laws to enforce. But they signal a reluctance, if not refusal, to enforce state or federal gun regulations that local authorities consider a violation of the Second Amendment. Such notions are similar to the constitutional sheriff movement, which holds that local authorities, not the not the state, are the primary arbiters of most law enforcement decisions. not the state, are the primary arbiters of most law enforcement decisions.
Events
Saturday, April 1. Community Violence InterventionGun violence has become the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in this country. The Washtenaw Dems April General Meeting will focus on Community Violence Intervention (CVI) and our approach in Washtenaw County to preventing gun violence in our cities and townships and saving young lives.
This will be a Hybrid program.In-person attendees:The Washtenaw County Learning Resource Center (LRC) is at 4135 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor, 48108. Social hour with coffee and snacks begins at 9:15 am.
Virtual attendees: Zoom link here. Program begins at 9:45 am.
Tuesday, April 4. Free Citizenship Class-11 wk class beginsThis class is very helpful if you or someone you know wants to apply for US citizenship. Choose either the morning class, 10am-12pm or the afternoon class, 3-5pm. Students will need to attend every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from April 4 until June 22. Class is in English with ESL support. Classes will be held in-person at 2245 S. State St. 48104. Download the flyer to see more details. Registration HERE, or with the QR code.
Visit the PEG Events Page for all upcoming events at www.equalityingov.org/events!
Things to do, read, watch, and listen to
Help Wisconsin elect a progressive Supreme Court judge on April 4!
It will tip the court and could tip Congress. There is a conservative and progressive running for the Supreme Court in Wisconsin. Please help tip the court to the progressives: letters, calls, and texts to WI voters for the Supreme Court election. We are at the GOTV stage. The election is on April 4. Ending gerrymandering matters to all of us. It is not just a state matter. Gerrymandering affects US Congress, state legislators, and electoral votes. However, making WI solid blue would help the country. Please help to elect the progressive candidate. Thank you. This is the first step to what we did in Michigan. We all see what ending gerrymandering does!! A variety of things one can do: https://www.mobilize.us/activateamerica/event/553241/
Help Michigan Resistance make calls
They will be calling constituents to ask Michiganders to call their senators and representatives to support common sense gun legislation bills over the next few weeks. If you’re interested in helping, text Terryl Sperlich at 810-516-0923 and tell her A2D2 sent you. Ann Arbor inDivisible for Democracy
Voice Your Opinions and Concerns – It’s Easy to Email your Representative
The Democracy Labs provides information on how to determine and contact your state representative to voice your opinion/concerns. There is even an email for you to copy and send.
Good News
“Craftivist” gifts Snowflakes to make a Statement; Ron De Santis and Ted Cruz are among the Recipients
Julie Ross, a volunteer English teacher based in Davenport, Iowa, identifies as both a progressive and a “craftivist.” Ross makes it a goal to hear both Democrat and Republican candidates speak as often as possible and to ask them questions. In return for their time, she’d leave them with a little souvenir. The words are intricately laced into the snowflakes like an optical illusion. Sometimes, it takes a moment to figure out what the design is. the woman who gifted Ron DeSantis a “fascist” snowflake.
Historical, hidden messages were sewn quilts directing escaping slaves as to the next Underground Railroad stop. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, in Missouri in the early 1860s, a ‘snowflake’ was a person who was opposed to the abolition of slavery. Update to 2023 “snowflake” can also be viewed as an insult “often, but not always, young people — who take offense to anything from political policy changes to offensive comments are as weak and vulnerable as a speck of snow.” USA Today
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