Criminal justice reform in the USA is long overdue, as we learned through the excruciating process required to obtain the conviction of Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (GFJPA) was passed in the House by a vote of 220 to 212, with only one Republican vote. While the GFJPA is not perfect, it is a great start and we hope you will give it your full support and pressure your senators to strengthen it in the Senate. Had the GFJPA been in effect before 2020, George Floyd might still be alive today.
Some of its most important elements are an end to qualified immunity (a federal judicial precedent that gives government officials, including police officers, vast protections against lawsuits), collection of data on police misconduct, stronger federal oversight, a prohibition against racial profiling, strengthened deescalation training, and limits to the violence police are allowed to use (making choke-holds and no-knock warrants for federal drug cases illegal).
Civil rights organizations such as the NAACP-LDF and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights have recommended strengthening the act in a number of key areas—for more detail, read our call script. Even so, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is an important first step in finally achieving meaningful reform of policing on a national level.
Contact your Senators and tell them to support and strengthen the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act!
Local Action: Save CCSF!
Our City College is facing yet another round of cuts—including cancelled classes and layoffs of teachers—in response to chronic state underfunding and now the covid pandemic. The Board of Supervisors can prevent these cuts by expanding the City’s Workforce Education Recovery Fund to offset lost funding—but this requires the Board and the Mayor to take action. Which means your Supervisor and the Mayor need to hear from you.
AFT 2121 has published a call to action, which we’re uplifting in solidarity. Contact your Supervisor and Mayor Breed and ask them to support expanding the Workforce Education Recovery Fund (WERF) to prevent massive cuts to CCSF.
ISF Spotlight: Standing up against racial violence
On Saturday, April 17 at Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission, Mayor Breed, and community leaders launched the Campaign for Solidarity to unite the Asian American and Pacific Islander, Black, Latinx, American Indian, and multi-racial communities of the City. The event was held, in part, in response to violence against Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
Indivisible SF was one of several organizations who participated, where two of our members hosted a table! We are proud to stand in solidarity with Asian and Pacific Islander communities in San Francisco, and we will never stop fighting for racial justice.
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All are welcome to join our events!
ISF State and Local Working Group meeting: Friday, May 7, 7:30–8:30 PM. Register here to help us plan to propose legislation to our state legislators and support progressive initiatives on the state and local level.
Bay Area May 8 Votercade: Saturday, May 8, 11:30AM–2:30 PM. Join members of several Indivisible chapters around the Bay Area, including Indivisible SF, as we mobilize in the name of John Lewis as part of 100+ events across the nation to pass the For the People Act (H.R. 1), the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4), D.C. Statehood and address the filibuster to do so. This Covid-safe car caravan will kick off at noon. Come early to get in line and decorate your vehicle! We’ll wrap up with a celebration tailgate from 1 to 2:30 PM at Peralta Community College District at 333 E. 8th St. in Oakland. For more details, see https://www.bayareavotercade.org/ .
ISF Federal Working Group meeting: Thursday, May 13, 7–9 PM. Register here to help us develop strategies to influence our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to enact a progressive agenda. Zoom room opens at 7 PM for discussion and orientation, and the meeting agenda starts promptly at 7:30 PM.
Indivisible Marin & Common Cause For the People Phone Bank for HR1/S1: Saturday, May 1, 10 AM–12 noon. Phone bank with Indivisible Marin every Saturday to support the For the People Act and oppose the filibuster! Sign up for a shift here.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on Twitter and Facebook, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue. This week’s photo is of demonstrators protesting the murder of George Floyd in Washington, D.C., taken by Evan Vucci for AP Photo.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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