“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” –Banksy

The news can feel overwhelming.  The attacks on women, immigrants, and minorities keep coming. We can experience battle fatigue.  Take a rest, pull back a bit, but do not give up.  We have a place for you to do exactly that.  Our next event, Mending Hope, is a space for you to reconnect and process the hurt and suffering we have been experiencing.  Save October 10^th in your calendar and plan to join an intimate and uplifting art-making gathering that will also support the Lifting Generations Political Action Committee.

Quick Actions – At Home

Tell Your Members of Congress to Defend the DACAmented

This link will prompt you to select your state and you will get state-specific information and a call script, so you can make the call.

Oppose Secretary of Education DeVos’ dismantling protections for campus rape victims.

Call: Department of Education, 800-872-5327.

Script: Hi, I’m from [ZIPCODE], and I’m concerned about Betsy DeVos’ efforts to dismantle Title IX (nine) which would weaken protections for survivors of sexual assault. I am calling to request keeping these protections in place. Thank you.

LIFTING GENERATIONS ACTION

Join us for an evening of expressive art making in an intimate creative sanctuary at The Expressive Arts Institute at NTC Liberty Station. This fundraising event supports the LIFTING GENERATIONS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE and is an opportunity to reach within, recenter and recharge as we continue our commitment to mending hope and resisting all forms of racism, hate, violence and oppression against women, immigrants and minority communities.

What: Mending Hope

When: October 10^th 6:30 PM-8:30 PM

Where: The Expressive Arts Institute 2820 Roosevelt Rd #204 San Diego, CA 92106

Why: Meet like-minded people resisting the Trump Agenda and educate yourself on the latest work of the ACLU.

How: Registration will be available soon at liftinggenerations.com Minimum Donation: $50

EDUCATE: RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

What is a PAC?

We are excited to announce that Lifting Generations has filed our paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to become a PAC (Political Action Committee).  What this means is we can now raise money to fund candidates who align with our vision and our goal to turn the U.S. House of Representatives to majority control by Democrats at the 2018 elections.  Here’s a nice definition of a PAC and how much money they can raise:

Political Action Committee (PAC) — A popular term for a political committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates. Most PACs represent business, labor or ideological interests. PACs can give $5,000 to a candidate committee per election (primary, general or special). They can also give up to $15,000 annually to any national party committee, and $5,000 annually to any other PAC. PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual, PAC or party committee per calendar year. A PAC must register with the FEC within 10 days of its formation, providing name and address for the PAC, its treasurer and any connected organizations. Affiliated PACs are treated as one donor for the purpose of contribution limits.  PACs have been around since 1944, when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) formed the first one to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Reference: opensecrets.org

VOLUNTEER @ LIFTING GENERATIONS

Email us at [email protected] to let us know how you would like to get involved and we will get you going!

Respectfully,

Trish 

Chair of Lifting Generations (formerly Women Will)

On September 7th, 2017 we were honored to host three DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients who are students at San Diego State University at Senator Feinstein's San Diego District Office.  Since President Trump's ending of the DACA program on September 5th, all three students have been emboldened to come out of the shadows and share their immigration and education stories with key stakeholders.  Field Representative, Ryan Williams, heard their stories of struggle and achievement and will pass them along to Senator Feinstein who is co-sponsoring the DREAM Act to give them and the other 220,000 DACA recipients in California a path to citizenship. The students shared stories of being brought to this country when they were very young, being thrown into English-only school, surviving, getting straight As, helping their parents who work triple shifts and night shifts, never asking for money, trying to find a way to make money to help their families, struggling to pay for college, and being so grateful that DACA allowed them to get decent jobs, work and study without fear.  The young women who spoke said that since the news that DACA was ending was announced they have been in a state of shock with younger siblings asking if they will be abandoned  if they are taken away.  All 3 women have career or graduate school plans and now have uncertain futures.  The struggles and trauma associated with this systemic injustice is an unbearable weight.  All three students have been relying upon the undocumented community at SDSU's Education Without Borders group to support one another while no immediate solutions are clear.  Also present at the meeting was a SDSU student ally of undocumented students, and a mother of a DACA student with physical dis/Abilities who spoke passionately on behalf of her daughter's right to be here and have a path to citizenship.  Current DACA recipients whose DACA expires between September 5th and March 5, 2018 must have their applications received by October 5, 2017 to renew their DACA for 2 more years.  This renewal comes with a $495 fee that many may not be able to afford.  Support the DREAM Act here.

Also, a big thank you to Ana Anderson, Deanna Niño, Dan Gamez, and Elif Tinney for taking the time out of their schedules to make their asks of the Senator at this meeting.

Thanks to everyone who came out today and lifted their voices in support of "dreamers" who were brought here as children. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program allowed them to go to school, work etc. without fear of deportation. That all ended today with Trump's actions . BUT tonight, hundreds of people came out in support of Dreamers and support Congress passing the Dream Act which would give dreamers a path to citizenship. Call your reps and tell them you support the Dream act!

Dress up in white, wave your "Votes for Women" sign and join us to celebrate the journey of the women's movement.

Celebrate Women's Equality Day with Lifting Generations as we join with other local women's organizations to march 12th Annual Suffrage Parade, sponsored by the Women's Museum of California!

   Women's Equality Day commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, August 26, 1920.

Listen to the enactments of the Suffragists from the First Wave of Feminism:
Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth,  
Carrie Chapman Catt, Ellen Browning Scripps, Harriett Tubman, Alice Paul, Eleanor Roosevelt

Then march in a Suffrage Parade, with equality chants, through the Prado

Meet August 26th at 4:00 PM
Lawn area by the Hall of Nations
Balboa Park, San Diego
(across from the Organ Pavilion)

For more information 

It couldn't be more timely. Come and hear from ACLU attorney Bardis Vakili talk about civil rights, policing and immigrant issues tonight at 909 Grand Avenue in Pacific Beach 6-8 PM. Bring your questions. Light snacks and drinks will be served. Please register for free-it's fast and easy- here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lifting-generations-formerly-womenwill-5th-monthly-speaker-series-tickets-36524998253

Youth Advocacy Chair and high school student, Maya Landsberg, is in Washington DC meeting with legislators to communicate our Lifting Generations asks.  After completing the Georgetown University 2017 American Politics Institute course, Landsberg met with legislative staff in Rep. Scott Peters, Sen. Kamala Harris, and Sen. Feinstein's offices.  She's hoping to meet with Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton tomorrow!  We are so thankful for your service, Ms. Landsberg.

Lifting Generations Co-Chair of Immigrant and Minority Affairs, Elif Tinney speaks in support of safe spaces for Muslim students in SDUSD

Lifting Generations members Elif Tinney, Andrea Esajian, and Tricia Gallagher-Geurtsen spoke in support of San Diego Unified School District's "Addressing Tolerance Through the Comprehensive School Counseling and Guidance Plan" at tonight's SDUSD Board Meeting.  We asked about how the program will be funded, how it will reach all students quickly given the lengthy 7 year roll-out plan, and how the plan will address Islamophobia given the current hateful rhetoric towards people of the Muslim faith in our communities, state and nation.  Before the public comment period the Board voted in favor of the plan.  The comments by community members were overwhelmingly in favor but criticized the plan for not mentioning the current need to support Muslim students in particular and also imploring the Board to continue seeking input and collaboration with CAIR, the Council for American Islamic Relations.  Many Muslim Americans spoke thoughtfully and passionately about supporting Muslim youth in schools and providing safe-spaces long with a curriculum to promote understanding of the Muslim faith.  In response, Board President Richard Barrera spoke in defense of focusing on targeted groups such as Muslims, as this has always been how SDUSD has responded to the needs of students with a special focus.  Loud detractors in the crowd were drowned out by the applause of the audience when Barrera called out the hateful speech of hecklers in the audience.  Lifting Generations is proud to be a part of supporting Muslim students and will hold SDUSD accountable for protecting them.

Board Meeting attendees, including Lifting Generations members

The US Senate Legislative Calendar is an important tool to use to find out what's happening on this day in DC.  Click here to find what Congress will be working on today -- scroll down to "Document in Context" and click on "PDF."  Here's where you can find the US House calendar for the current day.

Women Will members spoke tonight at San Diego Unified School District's school board meeting to support recent efforts by the district to protect Muslim student.  The anti-bullying program is intended to make sure that Muslim students in SDUSD are protected through a program to educate students about Islam.  Thank you to Women Will members Andrea Esajian, Elif Tinney, Tricia Gallagher-Geurtsen, and Laura Beiser whose statement was caught by Board Member Kevin Beiser and posted on his Facebook feed with appreciation!

Please visit our gofundme page to donate.