Dear Richard, Late last week, St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch made the startling admission that he allowed witnesses who were “clearly not telling the truth” (1) to testify before the grand jury investigating Darren Wilson - the police officer who killed Michael Brown. I’m speechless. These actions are not only unconscionable, but illegal and against the Code of Professional Ethics. Bob McCulloch needs to be removed from his position immediately. But McCulloch isnt the only official who needs to be held accountable. During the 2014 mid-term elections, Republicans took over the Senate. Right-wing elements now control both houses of Congress and they are determined to put Black communities in harms way. What’s at stake in 2015 at the federal level is huge: a repeal of Obamacare, stripping away voting rights, refusal to fix our broken criminal justice system, keeping the same minimum wage we’ve had for far too long, and chipping away at a woman’s right to choose. (2, 3) What 2014 has taught us is that our movement needs to be more effective at holding elected and appointed officials accountable. In the new year, we have a plan to do just that: Contribute $5 to ColorOfChanges 2015 Political Accountability Fund, and hold bad actors like Prosecutor McCulloch accountable. And help fight back against Republican attempts to attack our communities next year. In 2016 we’ll elect the next President of the United States. That means the primary process will be starting soon enough. We can’t afford another Presidential primary where the candidates don’t speak to Black voters. Whether it’s Hilary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, or someone completely unanticipated, we’ll demand that they address issues facing Black families everyday. But in order to be truly effective, we need you. That’s why I’m asking you to dig deep and contribute to ColorOfChange’s 2015 Political Accountability Fund. Will you join us? Over the past couple years we’ve been successful at holding corporations accountable. We got Pepsi, Coca Cola, McDonalds, and other major corporations to leave the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which was responsible for enacting “shoot first” laws across the country. We got Saturday Night Live to hire not one, but three Black women. We got Twitter to release their workforce diversity data - a critical first step in creating a tech industry that hires more Black men and women. Right now the industry average is a pitiful 3%. And recently we got GoFundMe to donate profits from the racist, harmful Darren Wilson fundraisers hosted on their platform. ColorOfChange is effective at pressuring corporations to do the right thing. In 2015 we’ll make investments to ensure that politicians hear us too. To make this happen, we need to raise $65,000 before the end of the year - in the next week. It’s not a huge amount. If even 10% of ColorOfChange members chip in a dollar, we’ll easily surpass this goal. But we know that not everyone can give. Will you? Yes, I’ll chip in $5 to reach ColorOfChange’s year-end fundraising goal. Thanks and peace, -Arisha, Rashad, Matt, Bhavik, and the ColorOfChange team
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 01:06:58 +0000
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