Friend,

I am a proud Board Member of Courage California’s sister organization, the Courage California Institute. I could go on for days about why I support their work -- but right now, something else is weighing on my mind.

My daughter’s beloved school district -- Glendale Unified in Los Angeles -- has recently been the subject of violent, racist, homophobic attacks by right-wing extremists, including the Proud Boys and Moms For Liberty. Because I identify as bisexual and my daughter is a lesbian, it’s incredibly important to me that her district remain an open and welcoming place.

These hatemongers travel from school board meeting to school board meeting, accusing teachers of “grooming” children, wanting to ban pride flags, saying the district is teaching “critical race theory,” and even sending death threats to veteran teachers. So a group of parents and I are fighting back (that's me with the braids!) -- and Courage California is critical to our work.

Courage California is standing up for public education against the extremists, and they’re spreading the word about the school board race in Glendale! Will you make a year-end donation to keep them going in 2024?

It was only a matter of time before the extremists stopped screaming from the audience and stepped into school board races. In 2022, Moms for Liberty endorsed nearly 400 candidates, and 45% of them won their races.

Now two of these extremist candidates are running in Glendale. Our group, GUSD Parents for Public Schools, is organizing to support two wonderful candidates to defeat them so that the extremists will finally leave our district alone and we won’t have a repeat of the violence they instigated this past June.

Telly Tse is a GUSD parent, a special education teacher in another district, and a long-time soccer coach, running to represent Area A. Neda Farid is a parent of a GUSD graduate, former president of the Glendale Council PTA, and an active member of multiple Glendale organizations, running for Area E. Telly Tse and Neda Farid are staunch champions of public schools, diversity in our schools, and inclusion and support for all students and educators in our district. Courage California is doing the critical work of informing the public about these two amazing candidates in the 2024 Courage Voter Guide.

Without Courage, GUSD Parents for Public Schools and other local groups would be working on their own -- with Courage, we can send our message to all 118,000 Glendale voters and California at large. Without Courage, the extremists will keep invading our communities -- with Courage, we can keep them out! Without Courage, legislators get to make all sorts of claims about supporting public education without following through -- with Courage, we hold them accountable with Courage Score.

I don’t want to see a California without Courage -- do you? Please make a year-end donation to Courage California today!

With you in Courage,

Joann Lo, Courage California Institute Board Member

PS:  Will you become a monthly donor and help sustain our work?

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