09/06/21 - Missouri Mondays - Thanks Unions! Roe v. Wade under attack--Fight Back!
Welcome to another Missouri Mondays filled with important news, events, and actions. Thank you for staying informed and taking action with us! YOU make a difference!
CELEBRATE LABOR DAY BY CELEBRATING LABOR UNIONS!
“History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
Unions are proof that we accomplish great things when we take action together! Thanks to unions we have the 8-hour work day, safer and more equitable workplaces and more!
HOW YOU CAN HELP!
~SIGN UP, DONATE TO MISSOURI JOBS WITH JUSTICE!
https://www.mojwj.org/kansas-city/
https://www.mojwj.org/missouri-jobs-with-justice-voter-action/
~HELP SUPPORT THE WORK OF STAND UP KC AND FIGHT FOR $15
~TAKE ACTION TO PASS THE PRO ACT! PROTECT THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE!
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is a landmark worker empowerment, civil rights and economic stimulus legislation, and is key to America's future.
Find actions to help pass The PRO Act : https://proact.aflcio.org/actions/
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LEARN MORE ABOUT UNIONS
~Read the fascinating history of A. Philip Randolph who led the campaign to organize the Pullman sleeping car porters: https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/asa-philip-randolph
~How unions make a difference for workers and families https://aflcio.org/what-unions-do
~Learn about the origins of Labor Day: https://uaw.org/celbrating-labor-day-celebrating-labor-unions/
~Check out this 2021 UAW Union-Built Vehicle Guide:https://uaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2021_Vehicle_Guide.pdf
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Texas Effectively Bans Abortion - Will Missouri be next
In a 5-4 decision in the dark of night Wednesday, the Supreme Court declined to block a new Texas law that bans abortion after six-weeks and allows vigilante bounty hunter style enforcement by citizens who can sue anyone for at least $10,000 for helping someone obtain an abortion.
Alison Dreith, Deputy Director of Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, IL told the Riverfront Times Sept 3 that her clinic is ready to help Texas patients and those seeking reproductive health care with increased staff and physicians and the capacity to see as many as 10,000 patients. Dreith says Hope Clinic has been preparing for “a doomsday scenario since 2019 when the Republican majority Missouri legislature passed a similar bill banning abortion after eight weeks and criminally charging any doctor who provided an abortion after the eight week mark.” The 2019 Missouri law is still tied up in the courts. According to Yamelsie Rodriguez, President and CEO of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis Region, “RHS in Missouri is currently fighting one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country. The Eighth Circuit is hearing that case in a matter of weeks. Today it’s Texas, tomorrow it could be Missouri.” "As neighboring states eliminate abortion access, Illinois providers like Reproductive Health Services and Hope Clinic for Women are ready to receive patients no matter their zip code, Rodríguez adds.”
Deputy Director Dreith estimates that 55 percent of Hope Clinic's patients come from outside Illinois, 50 percent are from Missouri and five percent from other states.
NOW MORE THAN EVER ABORTION FUNDS NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
Those who wish to help can donate to Texas Abortion Funds through ActBlue Charities HERE: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/txfunds
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KEVIN STRICKLAND’S INNOCENCE HEARING DELAYED BY MO ATTY GENERAL SCHMITT’S EMERGENCY MOTION TO STOP IT
Not only has justice for Kevin Strickland has been further delayed by Missouri AG Eric Schmitt, Mr. Strickland missed attending his mother’s funeral over the weekend. On September 13 the judge and attorneys will meet to decide if Strickland’s case will be heard in a Jackson County Court.
~Read more on Kevin Strickland’s case here: KCUR Sept 2 https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-09-02/kevin-strickland-will-miss-his-mothers-funeral-after-innocence-hearing-delayed-again
~Help Kevin Strickland by donating to his GoFundMe fund organized by the Midwest Innocence Project: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kevin-strickland-after-wrongful-conviction
~Call Gov. Parson (573) 751-3222 and tell him to pardon wrongfully convicted Missourians Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson. The story of these wrongfully convicted Missourians has made national news, as Governor Parson prioritized the pardon of the McCloskeys, the gun-toting couple who pleaded guilty to assault just recently. Meanwhile, Kevin Strickland has maintained his innocence for 43 years and Lamar Johnson has been incarcerated 26 years for a crime he did not commit. We must continue to advocate for Mr. Strickland and Mr. Johnson’s freedom!
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LGBT HISTORY EXHIBIT REMOVED FROM THE CAPITOL AFTER COMPLAINTS FROM A REPUBLICAN STAFFER
An exhibit titled “Making History: Kansas City and the Rise of Gay Rights” documenting the LGBT rights movement in Kansas City, was removed from the state capitol by Missouri state parks officials after a legislative staffer complained. State Senator Greg Razer, the only openly gay member of the senate, said “This display was supposed to be up until Dec. 26 [and] made it all of four days before some members of the legislature threw a fit and DNR apparently acquiesced to them and took it down and literally put my history back in the closet,” he said.” Senator Razer believes “the parks officials removed it because lawmakers or their staff complained.” “On Tuesday Uriah Stark, a legislator assistant to Rep. Mitch Boggs, a LaRussell Republican, posted a complaint on Facebook that by displaying the exhibit, the “taxpayer funded museum is pushing the LGBT agenda in our state capitol.”
“These are literally in-your-face banners that you can’t walk through the museum without seeing… and they’re scheduled to be there through December,” Stark wrote. In response to subsequent comments decrying the exhibit, Stark wrote that it “needs to be stopped.” “I’m so sick of always having to react to this stuff. It should never have happened. And they KNEW it would get a reaction, they just like pushing it,” he wrote.” On Wednesday night, he posted that the exhibit had been removed and credited intervention by Reps. Ann Kelley, a Lamar Republican and secretary of the House Republican Caucus, and Brian Seitz, a Branson Republican. “Update on pro LGBT ‘history’ exhibit,” Stark wrote. “Thanks to the efforts of several of our great elected officials, the exhibit has been removed from the Missouri State Museum! To God be the glory! Shoutout to Rep. Ann Kelley and Rep. Brian Seitz for taking the bull by the horns! I also spoke with multiple other elected officials who were ready and willing to take action, thank you all for standing for traditional family values!” Razer said he was not involved in the putting up the exhibit but said it was a “happy surprise” to learn it was in the capitol. He was furious to find out about its removal and said he questioned whether LGBT Missourians are welcome in state parks. “I think it is the epitome of cancel culture that they just want to cancel my history,” he said. “I think it shows a degree of bigotry and I don’t use that word lightly.” In recent years, Razer has pushed for the legislature to adopt a law prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people in housing, employment and other private sector activities. The proposal has not made it to passage after more than two decades. Razer said the exhibit’s removal was proof discrimination is alive in Jefferson City. “Do you really think the people that brought down that exhibit are going to rent me a house? We have seen discrimination under our own roof,” he said. “The story that that exhibit told is the story of how I get to stand on the Senate floor in the first place. Thirty years ago there wouldn’t be an openly gay man in the state Senate.”
We proudly support Senator Razer and stand with him in denouncing this disgraceful act of LGBT discrimination in our state capitol!
~Send a message of support to Senator Razer:
Email: greg.razer@senate.mo.gov
Phone: 573-751-6607
~Tell Governor Parson and House Speaker Rob Vescovo--Anti-LGBT bigotry is unacceptable especially in our state capitol and should not be tolerated from anyone working for the people of Missouri!
Gov. Mike Parson: https://governor.mo.gov/contact-us; 573-751-3222
Speaker Vescovo: Rob.Vescovo@house.mo.gov; 573-751-3607
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MO SECY OF STATE JAY ASHCROFT WANTS LEGISLATURE TO BAN HELP FOR ABSENTEE BALLOT MISTAKES
Missouri is one of only two states in the U.S. - Missouri and Mississippi - that severely restrict mail-in voting, do not allow advance voting for all registered voters and don’t allow voters to track mailed-in ballots. KSHB In November 2020, 28% of Missouri voters cast their ballots by mail, up from 8% in 2018, but last week GOP Secy of State Jay Ashcroft’s office told the MO House Elections Committee they want the legislature to ban “curing”, the practice of helping voters fix absentee ballot mistakes. This request is part of a growing list of Republican sponsored voter suppression measures that failed to pass in 2021 but could be considered again in 2022. Missouri already has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. “Why wouldn’t the state establish a procedure for voters to cure their votes...we say we want people to be able to vote and for their votes to matter and be counted,” said Rep. Joe Adams, a University City Democrat.” Kansas City Star Sept 1 https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article253920728.html
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HELP PROTECT THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN MISSOURI WITH THE MISSOURI VOTER PROTECTION COALITION (MOVPC)!
Sign up HERE or text “MOVPC” to 66866 to join Missouri Voter Protection Coalition Zoom weekly meeting with statewide advocates working to protect the right to vote in Missouri. NOTE: No meeting Sept 6 in observance of Labor Day holiday. WEEKLY MEETING RESUMES NEXT MON SEPT 20 AT 10AM
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MISSOURI COVID UPDATE - Week 8/29-9/5
“COVID CASES AMONG CHILDREN RISING AS MISSOURI DELTA VARIANT WAVE ENTERS FIFTH MONTH” - Missouri Independent Sept 1
Almost 1 in 5 of Missouri’s confirmed COVID cases in the last week of August were among children under 18. It was fewer than 1 in 9 during the winter. “Of 10,147 cases in that period where the Department of Health and Senior Services has reported age data, 1,871 have been among school-age children — and more than half that number have been children under 10.” “Given Delta, and if you are in a school district where they do not insist on masks, I think we will see this spread like wildfire,” said Clay Dunagan, BJC HealthCare’s chief clinical officer and leader of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force. “We have just got so many districts where parents and school boards are resistant to the idea of restrictions like masks,” Dunagan said. “We are seeing transmission in schools. We are already seeing cases pop up.”
LET’S GET VACCINATED MISSOURI! - PLEASE SHARE THIS RESOURCES LINK WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY!
FIND COVID-19 Vaccines KC Metro - Statewide and COVID-19 Testing & Recovery Treatment (KC Metro) HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i1vCikZiGfMulA8tFCDSJbEKV5N37S1JU_TSlgs699A/edit?usp=sharing
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YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED FOR AFGHAN REFUGEES IN KC - HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP!
Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) and Della Lamb are the primary organizations in Kansas City for resettling people with Special Immigrant Visas — immigrants who worked as translators, interpreters or other professional roles for the U.S. government in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Donate household items and clothing to Jewish Vocational Services (JVS): https://jvskc.org/get-involved/donate-stuff/
Make a monetary donation to JVS: https://jvskc.org/give/
Make a monetary, furniture, or household item donation to Della Lamb: https://www.dellalamb.org/how-you-can-help/donate/
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Missourians Vaccinated - as of Sat Sept 4 The New York Times
45% of Missourians are fully vaccinated - (53% fully vaccinated in the U.S.)
53% of Missourians have received at least one dose - (62% at least one dose in the U.S.
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Total COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Missouri
639,439 confirmed cases and 10,655 deaths as of Sat Sept 4 MO Dept of Health and Senior Services
785,371 total cases and 11,339 deaths as of Sat Sept 4 The New York Times
THANK YOU! for answering the Missouri Mondays CALL TO ACTION!
Invite your friends and neighbors to join us and sign up for Missouri Action Alliance and this Missouri Mondays email at moactionalliance.com/signup
Follow us on Twitter at @MissouriAction, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MOActionAlliance and check out our website at http://www.MOActionAlliance.com
