Monthly Archives: September 2020

There are many ways to help in big ways and small. You have 3 things that you can donate: your time, your money, or your influence.

You can work at a polling booth on election day. It’s a paid job, and you get the satisfaction of helping make sure voting is smooth. Click here.

Donate your time to any cause or political candidate you believe in. Working for a cause, any cause you believe in, will give you great satisfaction.

You can donate some money, anything from under $5 up to $2700 to the many candidates running for office. Research the candidates positions on their websites, and reach out to them to discuss anything you want changed. Their staff will respond if you are in their district.

You can support an organization that helps candidates you believe in. For example, If you believe strongly in womens equality, Emily’s List supports women candidates at all levels, and here are several more organizations suporting women running for political office: https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a23678900/women-political-organizations-run-for-office/. If you believe in eliminating discrimination due to racial bias, here are some organizations that support black candidates. https://movement.vote/funds/black-led-fund/

The best thing you can do is to reach out to every person you know socially or business contacts, and email them personally. Research shows that the most effective influence in voting, getting people to register to vote, and getting people to vote, comes from personal appeals from people they know and trust.

By Shabbir

Do you always agree with your spouse on everything? Or your parents Or children? How about with your best friend? Of course not! No two people can think exactly alike and agree on everything.

Similarly, you cannot expect to agree with every position taken by the politician to whom you grant your vote. You must choose the person closest to your way of thinking. No politician is perfect, and you must make the best choice, i.e. vote for the one that most closely fits your way of thinking.

In our two party system in USA, we generally choose between one of two candidates running for office under the two major parties, Democrat and Republican. Sometimes there are more choices such as Independent or Green Party. You must choose the candidate that represents your views as closely as possible on as many issues as possible.

Not voting is a bad option, as that essentially supports the candidate you least agree with. By not voting, you take away a vote from the candidate closest to your preference. You must make a choice and vote.

How about if you don’t agree with your candidate on major issues? Well, you still must make the choice based on who is closer to your position, and then try to influence their position by writing to them or calling their office. You can definitely influence after they get elected by making yourself heard. You must vote first and influence their position after. So get out there and make an impact with your vote this November.

By Shabbir

2018 was dubbed the “Year of the Woman”, and a record number of women were elected to the Senate (25), House of Representatives (102), and numerous other elected offices such as Attorneys General, Governors, State Reps and Senators, and city councils around the country. Many of these women were Democrats and 2018 is also called the Blue Wave. https://www.vox.com/2018/12/6/18119733/congress-diversity-women-election-good-news

2020 is the hundredth anniversary of when women gained the right to vote in USA, and there are even more women vying for Senate and Congress, and elected positions in every state.

Organizations like Emily’s list, which supports Democratic women running for office, and NFRW for Republican women, and the non-partisan grandmammy of all, The League of Women Voters, have played a big role in this recent surge of women candidates. These organizations provide training, support, mentorship and funding at all stages of their candidacy, and have been extremely influential in promoting the right female candidate in the right district. Several new organizations have also sprung up as resources for women, and demand for such services has surged.

For example, Emily’s List is a wonderful not-for-profit organization that focuses on helping women around the country run for elected office ranging from School Board to Senator. Emily’s list was started by an ordinary woman (surprisingly not named Emily – read the history behind the name Emily on their website) named Ellen R. Malcolm in her basement in 1985. Since then Emily’s List has supported nearly 1300 women get elected, including 16 Governors, 26 Senators, and 150 Congresswomen. Emily’s List was a major cause for the wave of women elected to Congress in 2018. Emily’s List has a great website featuring each candidate they support, with a short bio and their positions on various policies. They not only support their candidates with funds, but also provide training and supportive advice, and they have a knack for picking winners. (In 2018, I supported 11 of their candidates, and to my great surprise, 10 got elected. I wish I had the same luck with my stock picks!)

All around the world things are changing for women. Change is slow but steady. Even Saudi Arabia now allows women to drive without a male escort and has allowed women to vote since 2015. Yes, I know this sounds crazy today, but remember that Switzerland only allowed women to vote in 1971, and USA only in 1920, and in Shakespearan England, women were considered property, much like slaves. Today, there is change all around as countries like Rwanda, Bolivia, Cuba and Mexico lead the way with more than 50% women in their parliaments. (No European nations in the top 10, and USA trailing at a sad 75^th!). C suites and Boards are being filled by women, slowly but surely, as women head diverse corporations like GM, Pepsico, Citicorp and others. Young girls, changemakers like like Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg, are revered and honored around the world. While I wish for my two daughter’s sake that change were faster, I am very sure that things will indeed change and women will be considered equal in every way in all aspects of life.

I am a strong believer in women’s leadership being better and more sustainable for our political institutions as well as our future as a democracy in USA. Notwithstanding some bad actors like PFC Lyndie England and Brig General Janis Karpinski at the Abu Ghraib prison, women are kinder, gentler leaders  who are less likely to promote a win at all costs strategy.

We are well on the way to a tsunami of women being elected leaders around the world as well as in USA. This November, if there is a woman candidate in your district for any office, take a few minutes to get to know her positions better, and vote for the best candidate.

By Shabbir

There are people who don’t want us to vote, and they have placed many barriers in our way, including everything from removing mailboxes to purging voter rolls. We are almost a century past Jim Crow laws and literacy tests for voting, but there many subtle and not-so-subtle barriers being placed in our way to prevent us from voting this November. Don’t let them take away your basic right as a US citizen. Make a plan and vote as early as you can for this November election. (Do not vote twice as its illegal, and you could go to jail 🙂

The biggest barrier is that 48 out of 50 states have laws preventing felons from voting in some way. These laws are discriminatory in large part against those in lower economic strata. For example, in Florida which has 14 million registered voters, and 8 million people voted in last election, had until recently 1.4 million felons not allowed to vote, Fully 10% of all voters, and 18% of those casting votes! This becomes really important when one considers the last two recent elections in Florida were won by only 10,000 votes. A recent amendment to Florida’s constitution approved by an overwhelming number of voters now allows felons to vote, but the Governor then put in new restrictions that all fines must be paid prior to being allowed to vote.  The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition is a fantastic grass roots organization that was highly effective in overturning Florida law, and it is now working on helping felons pay off their fines and fees. FRRC was formed a former homeless person, Desmond Meade, who has been selected as Time’s most influential 100 people. FRRC is non partisan, and helps all felons regain their voting rights.

The recent attacks on the postal service is another bar to voting, as many citizens depend on US Mail to receive and deliver their ballots. Contact to your congressman or senator to demand ontime postal service, a service mentioned in the US constitution. ContactCongress.org is a website that tells you who is your Representative or Senator, and how to get in touch by phone, mail, email, social media, etc.

By Avi Ornstein

I had the good fortune of growing up in a melting pot. My extended family is a combination of varied nationalities and races, as are the friends of several generations of the family. The first girl I took to a dance was black, as is my nephew. In my many years of teaching, I judged each student on their effort and performance, rather than on external factors. That, in itself, does not, however, absolve me form the existing problem.

The school I attended was small and integrated and, while I saw conflicts in the media, we were fortunate that we did not experience it directly. I actually became more aware of the social issues when I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which was published when I was a sophomore. I was moved by the message in his final chapter: “Where the really sincere white people have to do their “proving” of themselves is not among the black victims, but out on the battle lines of where America’s racism really is – and that’s in their own home communities; America’s racism is among their own fellow whites.  That’s where the sincere whites who really mean to accomplish something have got to work.”

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Unfortunately, racism is deeply ingrained in American society. In 1974, author Isaac Asimov was referring back to 1935 when he said “Those were the days when racial quotas were as American as apple pie.” In 1940, Ruth Benedict noted in her book Race: Science and Politics that “…racism is an ism to which everyone in the world is exposed; for or against, we must take sides.  And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.” Martin Luther King, Jr., had responded to another person’s comment by noting “In your statement you asserted that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence.  Isn’t this like condemning the robbed man because his possessions of money precipitated the evil act of robbery?”

In the June 1976 issue of Technology Review, Rev. John Crocker pointed out: “Some people begin to claim superiority over other people. The dominant ones employ the sciences to support their claims by measurements which say that the dominant ones are superior. (Every kind of educational and psychological testing…demonstrates this assertion.)”

Robert A. Heinlein noted in Revolt in 2100: “You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.” This is a condition that should not be accepted. And that is the important point – it will only change if we work at seeing it occur! This is why everyone must consider the true facts and use them to reach their decisions – and they must then follow that by being sure to actually vote!

I would like to close by quoting Robert Heinlein again. He addressed this issue beck in 1958 in Methuselah’s Children: “When discrimination was removed, the problem solved itself and cultural assimilation took place.”

By Samina Sundas

In the United States voting is a right, a privilege and a responsibility. People fought long and hard to be able to vote, yet sadly many do not bother to vote.

Important reasons to vote:

1. Your vote matters. Many claim their vote does not matter. There have been many elections decided by a few votes. Vote so you are choosing your leaders.
2. Vote to defend what is important to you, your family and your community.  Politicians make laws that protect or restrict social freedoms. This includes controversial issues like capital punishment, gay rights, civil rights, prayer in school and religious freedoms.
3.  Chief executives like governors and presidents appoint judges and justices.  When a new Supreme Court Justice is appointed, he or she is appointed for life influencing the social direction of America for generations.
4. Comprehensive health insurance is a major issue for everyone, and millions can lose their coverage due to pre-existing conditions. The issue impacts your health and your family’s health too, especially the seniors with pre-existing conditions.
5. Choose leaders who will protect your life, your civil rights and human rights.
6. Environment is a huge issue for us.  Vote to save our world. Global warming and environmental issues are serious. In California we have been dealing with fires every year and the rest of the country is facing record breaking hurricanes and other natural disasters.
7. Vote to keep social services for the poor and protect social security.
8.  Vote for those who fought for your right to vote. There was a time in this country when women, minorities and adults younger than 21 could not vote. Many people worked hard and sacrificed their lives so we have right to vote. It is your duty to exercise it.
9.  Vote for those who died for your freedom. Soldiers and civil rights workers have given their lives for your right to vote. Soldiers continue to fight and die in wars. Your vote decides if we go to war.
10.  Most importantly please vote for the next generation. Our choices today impact our children, grandchildren and all generations that follow. Make choices that will improve their lives by voting. It also sets a good example and encourages civil responsibility.
11. You lose your right to complain if complain if you do not bother to vote.  
    
    
12. Please make a choice to vote with your conscious and make our world better for all of us. One day you will be able to share that story with your kids and grandkids.