Global Poverty Campaigns Weekly Update March 26, 2018
Global Poverty CampaignsWeekly Update | Week of March 26, 2018 |
Quote of the Week"As the children marched on Washington in support of safe schools Saturday, another life-saving cause was quietly advancing. March 24th was also 'World TB Day.' You might be asking yourself, 'Why should we care about [t]uberculosis? . . . TB is a thing of the past, isn’t it?' Unfortunately, no." – Allison Berkowitz, RESULTS advocate, in the Baltimore Sun Quick ActionTake Action: Write a Letter to the Editor Rejecting Cuts to Foreign Aid
Voices That Change the World: Gather for the International ConferenceRESULTS International Conference 2018 is July 14-17. The earlybird rate ends May 15! Have you registered? "If you want to meet incredible advocates from all over the country and the world, if you want to learn new skills and sharpen the ones you have, and if you’re eager to take the issues you care about straight to your members of Congress on Capitol Hill, there is no better opportunity than the International Conference." – Tiffany Wood, former REAL Change Fellow
Strong Appropriations Work in the House. Now, the Senate!You have weighed in on the FY19 appropriations process in the House, and your work has been terrific. Take a look at the round-up of the FY19 process in the House, including some wonderful signature numbers on the sign-on/Dear Colleague letters. (You can also read the late-breaking information on the long-awaited resolution of the FY18 appropriations process.) Now the window of opportunity for our Senate requests for FY19 is upon us. We have two key ways we weigh in on the budget/appropriations process every year: funding level requests and sign-on letters which emphasize the importance of a spending area/issue. As advocates, we take our appropriations requests related to health, education, and economic opportunity every year to our members of Congress and ask them to weigh in specifically on the process. Additionally, we use the power of the sign-on letter. A sign-on letter (also called a “Dear Colleague” letter) is like a petition in Congress. Sign-on letters are circulated by champions in Congress to ask other members to join them in showing their support for an issue. We are in the process of getting all the information on the timing of the Senate appropriations process as well as details on all of our anticipated Senate "Dear Colleague" letters, but that doesn't mean you have to wait to act. Ask your senators to weigh in individually with funding level requests on our key issues: child health and nutrition; tuberculosis; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and the Global Partnership for Education. Use our current action sheet and laser talk designed to help you make your requests to your senators and to enlist others into action as well. This is where #LettersGetLOUD can come in. The LettersGetLOUD campaign is designed to help you enhance the impact of your meetings with Senators while inspiring others and growing our movement in 2018. Organize your community to write letters to Senators related to the appropriations process. See if someone would read their letter aloud, video it, and then post it on social media (particularly Twitter, with the hashtag #LettersGetLOUD). Book meetings with your Senators for the upcoming congressional recess which began March 26. Hand-deliver written letters to your members of Congress. Amplify your Senate appropriations requests with the power of the community. Go to our #LettersGetLOUD page for complete support materials, including a campaign guide, tips on reaching out to your community, materials you can order to enhance your outreach/letter-writing meeting, and other helps. National Grassroots Webinar on April 14, 2 pm ETRESULTS wants to play an active role in calling out and dismantling systemic forms of oppression. RESULTS realizes that if we are to achieve our mission of ending poverty, we must open our ranks to everyone, especially those experiencing oppression, and we must actively work to dismantle the built-in mechanisms of oppression. The challenge for many of us is that, if we are not part of an oppressed group, we may not recognize when oppression is occurring nor understand the experiences of those affected. Therefore, part of our anti-oppression effort must be our own personal learning. We must understand what is going on, how oppression affects others, and how we can undo the structures that perpetuate it. Our Global Poverty Campaigns National Webinar on April 14 (as well as the U.S. Poverty Campaigns National Webinar on April 3) will focus on understanding this issue, what RESULTS is doing about it, and how to address these issues locally. We’re also planning additional trainings the evenings of April 17 and May 15 to keep this conversation going. We hope you will join us. This will be the start of a journey for some of us, and the continuation of a journey for others. Our goal is to give everyone in RESULTS an opportunity to learn about systemic oppression and how we can be allies and activists in dismantling it. April 14 Global Poverty Campaigns National Webinar, 2 pm ET. Login: http://fuze.me/30204806. Or to join by phone only, dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 30204806. RESULTS Advocates Invite You to Join in for Inspiration and Publication!From Portland advocate Janet Brumbaugh: "How do I get started with my letter to the editor? To which paper should I submit my letter? What's my hook? What exactly IS a hook? My letter will never be good enough . . ." So it goes (or did go) for me. For 9 years, this was my conversation: "I never get published, so why bother?" But after working with Snohomish advocate Willie Dickerson, I got published! I absolutely never thought it would happen. And I know there are others out there just like me.
If you had the right support, you could write that letter to the editor and send it off, not worrying about absolute perfection, right? If this sounds like you, join us for three 30-minute "virtual coffee break power sessions." We'll support each other, chat, and have fun. Bring your favorite brew and let's write a letter. Share your ideas, get ideas, hone your direction . . . together, we'll develop a sure-fire way to create something simple you can send off to your paper. Why? To make a difference in the world!
Thursdays: March 29, April 5, and April 12 at 1 pm ET. Log in to https://fuze.me/37038942, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 37038942. For best video functionality, download the Fuze application.
Questions? Contact RESULTS Portland's Janet Brumbaugh. It doesn't get better than this: community, compassion, and empowerment. The game's afoot. Who's in?
Intriguing World TB Day Media CoverageThanks to all who engaged in media pushes (print and social media) for World TB Day. Interested in reading some great national and international pieces that appeared recently on the topic of TB? Check out pieces from the Huffington Post and the Inter Press Service News Agency, as recommended by David Bryden, TB Advocacy Officer. And watch a compelling video featuring TB expert/ally Thokozile Phiri. Upcoming Opportunities and Calendar ItemsMarch 26-April 6. Senate and House Recess. March 29, 1 pm ET. Letter-writing "Coffee Break." Log in to https://fuze.me/37038942, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 37038942. April 4, 1 pm ET. Letter-writing "Coffee Break." Log in to https://fuze.me/37038942, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 37038942. April 4, 8:30 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Learn more about us! Dial (712) 775-8972, passcode 761262. April 12, 1 pm ET. Letter-writing "Coffee Break." Log in to https://fuze.me/37038942, or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 37038942. April 14, 2 pm ET. National Webinar/Conference Call for Grassroots. Login: http://fuze.me/30204806. Or to join by phone only, dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 30204806. Focus: Embracing the values and practices of anti-oppression. April 16, 1 pm ET and 8 pm ET. RESULTS Global Free Agents Webinars (choose one). Login: http://fuze.me/35703902. Or to join by phone only, dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 35703902. April 17, 9 pm ET. Training related to our on-going work to call out and dismantle systemic forms of oppression in our advocacy work together. Details forthcoming. May 3, 8:30 pm ET. Spring Friends and Family Fundraising Campaign Kick-off. Campaign will run in May. More information forthcoming. July 14-17, 2018. RESULTS International Conference. Resources at Your FingertipsSubscribe to the Weekly Update Advocacy Resources (Weekly updates, action sheets, online action alerts, and more) Global Poverty Campaigns Background Report 2018 Actions 115th Congress Congressional Scorecard: See global poverty actions your members of Congress have taken. Contact the Grassroots Board Members of the RESULTS Board. Also, you can view the most recently published minutes from Board meetings on the RESULTS website, as well as download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.
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