New North Carolina Project Weekly Bulletin
COVID Safety, 2022 Resolutions and saying goodbye to 2021,
from the desk of digital director, Kristen Havlik.
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COVID-19 Updates
The CDC has decided that capitalism is more important than keeping people healthy. So how do we protect ourselves from a COVID-19 variant that is more infectious?
Mask up. Doctors are now recommending that you switch out cloth masks for surgical, N95 or KN-95 masks. Cloth masks are not protective enough because Omicron spreads faster and at a much quicker pace.
Just like the beginning of the pandemic, where possible, reduce your exposure to other people that you don’t live with. Even if you’re vaccinated and boosted, you can still be infected with the Omicron variant. And while the symptoms may not be as harsh when you’ve been boosted, you can still unintentionally give people this deadlier variant.
Anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection
Almost a year has gone by since the attempted insurrection on the Capitol just a few weeks before President Joe Biden was sworn into office. Since the attack on our democracy, Republicans have ramped up their efforts to silence people at the polls through gerrymandered maps and voter suppression laws. Our democracy is still under attack, and we must treat it with urgency through action.
While we are not marking the occasion of this dark day, our friends at Indivisible NC are with a Vigil for Democracy which will be held at Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh on January 6th at 5:30PM. You can sign up to attend the event HERE.
Upcoming Events
Our Town Hall Series kicks off next week! The first session about redistricting will be held on January 5, featuring Lekha Shupek from All on the Line NC and Nida Allam, Durham County Commissioner and candidate for NC-6.
Elected officials, activists and experts in their field will join the panel, moderated by Dr. Aimy Steele.
We also need 40 volunteers to help us set up and take down as well as serve the community during the day. Please sign up for a shift!
Volunteer Opportunities
We announced our week of action from January 15 - 22, which will also observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day and serve our communities in the process. You can start signing up for shifts now, with more to come in the coming days after our holiday break.
We also have a big day of action coming up on January 22, 2022 in Robeson County, NC. 4,000 pairs of chino pants have been donated to us to distribute to the Indigenous community in NC. We are seeking partnerships with clothing companies in NC that can donate clothing and perishable items. E-mail us if you can help with this effort at [email protected]
2021 Was Just the Beginning
Our founder and executive director, Dr. Aimy Steele, created our organization after losing her race for the NC State House in 2020. She got to work quickly after to design a permanent infrastructure that is now that foundation we have built. In 2022, we will work to give communities what they need in places where they have been forgotten or ignored by politicians who only want their help when it's convenient for them.
In 2021, we were featured on MSNBC, Spectrum News, The News & Observer, Axios, Bloomberg and so many other publications to spread the word about the work we’re going to do to save democracy.
In 2021, we were able to hire a team that is majority people of color. They will lead our work statewide to reach communities where they are.
In 2021, we participated in numerous conversations with groups that have been doing amazing work to keep people engaged during election cycles and provide communities with resources.
We are excited to partner with many community leaders in 2022!
And lastly, you helped raise over $2 million this year, which will give over a dozen people thriving wage jobs, and provide communities of color with resources that they may need to survive.
We are so grateful for your continued support and we hope you'll join us in the fight in 2022!
2022 Resolutions
Since the racial uprising in the summer of 2020, white people have shown a steady decrease in support for Black Lives Matter.
A month of support and black squares posted all over Instagram, didn’t result in much change at local, state and federal levels- no surprise there. We’re still fighting for voting rights legislation to pass in Congress. “Defund the police” and “Antifa” were turned into right wing talking points. Bills were passed to try to limit protesting widely across the country after the 2020 uprising as well as voter suppression bills in states like Texas and Georgia.
So I encourage you to have a resolution to become more anti-racist this year because all lives won't matter until Black Lives Matter. This is a lifelong journey to unlearn racial biases and learn why white people need to step back and lift up Black and Brown voices. In order to be allies, we need to learn about the systems that are still disenfranchising our neighbors of color. And we need to be more involved and aware of what the systems around us are doing and speak up. Here’s a few ways to learn more about being anti-racist:
- Take courses at The Great Unlearn by Rachel Cargle
- Listen to Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s podcast, Be Antiracist
- Watch Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man with Emmanuel Acho.
- Start to watch your local city/town council, county commissioner and school board meetings. Becoming more aware of what your local representatives are doing will inform you more about the different levels of government that are still oppressing communities of color
- Commit to volunteering at least once a month with Black and Brown-led organizations, like the New North Carolina Project
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Check Your Voter Registration
We’re no stranger to voter suppression in our state. So we encourage you to check your voter registration often as board of elections offices purge voters from time to time.
Help us reach our goals in 2022
With your generosity, we are able to build a permanent infrastructure that will increase voter registration and turnout as well as take care of our communities of color, in and outside of election cycles.
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Paid for the New North Carolina Project
The New North Carolina Project
6012 Bayfield Pkwy
Suite 142
Concord, NC 28027
United States
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