La Jolla youth spoke their minds and hearts sharing their concerns about the current U.S. administration yesterday at Senator Feinstein's office in downtown San Diego.  Representing the Women Will Youth Advocacy Committee, La Jolla High 9^th grader Chair Maya Ordonez Landsberg and 10^th grader Oliva Hatch, spoke eloquently about the dehumanization of minoritized groups and the importance of immigrants to our nation.  “The Youth Advocacy Committee works to embody the voices of the youth who want to contribute to the cultivation of their future as citizens of the United States of America, and their concerns being expressed at this meeting do just this,” explains Maya Ordonez Landsberg.  She continues, “It has been enlightening for Olivia and I to see how vocal and passionate our peers are, and we believe that it is the job of our committee to see that the voice of the next generation is never overlooked - as it comes from a genuine perspective that is vital to the fight for change in this country, especially at this trying time.”

In addition, youth from Bird Rock Elementary, Muirlands Middle School, and UC San Diego spoke about a minor instigated lawsuit against the Trump administration for not protecting youth's rights to the pursuit of life, liberty, and property through a clean environment; protecting women's and girl's rights, safety, and equal pay; valuing and protecting undocumented people's rights to due process and Universal Human Rights (United Nations).

We were also honored to have Lorraine Fisher speak about the threats that the Lawrence Family JCC* in has endured over the past few months and how the JCC, law enforcement, and the community has responded. 

Jen Gamez and Tricia Gallagher-Geurtsen asked the Senator to stand firm in her protection of youth on issues such as loan forgiveness, the banning of pesticides that harm youth, labor protections for women, and continuing funding of youth programs in the 2018 budget - all of which have been or are under threat of cuts due to the current U.S. administration.

Women Will meets with Ryan Williams, Field Representative, every first Thursday of the month.  If you have a personal story and request of the Senator that aligns with Women Will's vision statement, please contact us about speaking at our meeting.

*In a previous version of this post the Lawrence Family JCC was named incorrectly. This JCC is the Lawrence Family JCC, Jacobs Family Campus.  

A month ago it was unclear whether progressives in the Senate would put up a fight at all on Trump’s extreme Supreme Court nominee. But the political environment changed as direct result of the local leadership of Indivisible groups and the broader resistance movement on the ground. These advocates made clear to their own senators that Gorsuch's extreme anti-worker, anti-women, anti-LGBTQ, anti-environment record is unacceptable for the highest court in the land.

Here’s what we now know: because of Gorsuch’s extreme record and the public’s response, Trump’s nominee will not be confirmed under Senate rules that have been on the books for more than two centuries. But instead of admitting defeat and requesting a more mainstream nominee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is now threatening to invoke the incredibly unpopular 'nuclear option.' In defiance of public will, McConnell wants to blow up 230 years of Senate precedent to ram Gorsuch through.

It's simple: if a Supreme Court nominee is so extreme that he can’t get to 60 votes, don’t change the rules, change the nominee. If Republicans choose to throw out centuries of Senate precedent to put their extreme nominee on the bench, that’s on them and them alone.

This week is an important one as we're working to keep the conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch from being confirmed to the Supreme Court. Even if you've called before on this one, it's worth your time to call again and make your voice heard!

Your script:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I'm a constituent from [CITY, ZIP].

I'm calling to demand a “no” vote on Neil Gorsuch. His pro-corporate stance is not in the best interests of the majority of Americans.

Thank you for your hard work answering the phones.

[IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied]

Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)
331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3841
Contact: www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

Harris, Kamala D. - (D - CA)
112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3553
Contact: www.harris.senate.gov/content/contact-senator

We just met with Ryan Williams, Field Representative at Senator Dianne Feinstein's office.  We made some hard asks of the Senator: will the Senator ask Attorney General Sessions to resign given his lack of honesty, protect the rights of undocumented workers and DACA youth, stand up against the Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office which is a propaganda tool to criminalize undocumented immigrants, continue to protect transgender youth who are increasingly at risk of suicide, educate herself about the problems and mediocrity of charter schools,  strike with women worldwide on March 8th, 2017?

We'll be back in the Senator's office in April to make more hard asks to assure that the Senator is representing us well and fighting hard for all of us!

Thank you to La Jolla Families who donated a lot of warm clothing, toiletries, shoes, and non-perishable food for migrant workers in North County!  We partnered with Union del Barrio who will be delivering the donations to workers who live outdoors in canyons near the farms where they work.  Thank you for caring about this invisible population.  Stay tuned for more opportunities to get involved.  Thank you to our Minority and Immigrants Rights Chair, Elif Tinney for coordinating this effort.

Today, seven of our representatives returned to Senator Feinstein's San Diego district office and met with Ryan Williams, the Senator's Field Representative. He was receptive to our concerns and took copious notes he will share with the Senator. We told powerful stories of how our lives will be negatively affected by Sessions, DeVos, Price, Gorsuch, and Trump's executive orders that are attacks on women, attacks on immigrants, attacks on the Muslim faith, attacks on undocumented immigrants, attacks on minorities and attacks on our most vulnerable populations. We will not rest. This is personal. Raise your voices, speak truth to power! #womenwill #indivisible #resisttrump