Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

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Frelga
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Frelga »

Given all the racist and anti-immigrant attacks, I'm figuring the best bet on the national scale is ACLU. Because local law enforcement may or may not be on the side of the victims, and the feds helped put Trump into office, so what else is left
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Frelga
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Frelga »

Also here's a fantastic Twitter thread on how to reach your elected representatives effectively.
https://twitter.com/editoremilye/status ... 5922515970
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Lalaith
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Lalaith »

Thank you, everyone, for all of the suggestions.

If you follow the Humans of New York guy, he posted this on FB:

As we hope for moderation, we must prepare for the possibility that rhetoric will become reality. It is not ‘alarmist’ to take a man at his word. We must recognize that a proven tactic for holding onto power is to deflect and channel anger onto populations with little political clout. History has proven this over and over again, to devastating results. One of our most vulnerable groups right now is the refugee population that the US has received from Iraq and Syria. Our President-elect repeatedly compared them to “snakes” on the campaign trail. We’ve learned their stories on this blog. These are innocent people who have experienced horrible trauma. They do not have a vote or a voice. So we must speak for them-- in our living rooms, our classrooms, and our courts. You may remember International Refugee Assistance Project, the nonprofit that helps organize lawyers to defend refugees. They have spent hundreds of hours helping us with Aya’s case. (Wish I had good news to report there. I don’t. Though we are still trying.) Yesterday I received an emotional phone call from Aya’s lawyer. Her voice was shaking. She is terrified that the refugee population will be targeted in the coming months, and she asked if there was any way that we could help. So if you were moved by the refugee series, please consider donating to IRAP to help them fight the coming tide: http://bit.ly/2ftIotp
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Impenitent
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Impenitent »

Many Reform synagogues are reaching out to communities threatened by the President-elect's rhetoric by offering refuge in literal sense - opening their buildings and communities in whatever way is needed, as listeners and advocates. I guess that is something all religious communities could consider.


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Lalaith
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Lalaith »

(Forgive me while I scoff at that thought when it comes to some churches around here—filled with the very people who voted for Trump and don't see him as a bigot.)

Sigh. But some churches probably would. I need to remember that.
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by JewelSong »

Try your local Quaker Meeting, Lali.
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Dave_LF
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Dave_LF »

What are the places you go to make sure these orgs are efficient and not scams?
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Lalaith
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Lalaith »

I'm still keeping that option open, Jewel. Right now I'm liking the Episcopal church I occasionally go to.


Dave, I'm not sure. I used to use ECFA to check Christian organizations. I'm sure there must be a secular equivalent.

ETA:

I remember using some of these before:

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index. ... ew&cpid=43

http://www.give.org/

https://www.charitywatch.org/charities
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Dave_LF
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Dave_LF »

I've been going with this one:
https://www.charitywatch.org/home (and you have too, apparently; cross-post)

Nothing you (one) couldn't find in 10 seconds of Googling, I suppose, but I'll put it here anyway.

I haven't been able to find any ratings for the International Refugee Assistance Project/IRAP/the one from Humans of New York anywhere. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it, but if you want a guaranteed-A+ rated US-based refugee organization, there's American Refugee Committee too.

I've also been discovering that charity appears to have gone like business; i.e. they need money a lot more than they need people, unless those people have one of a few highly-specialized skills. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise.
Last edited by Dave_LF on Mon Nov 14, 2016 4:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Lalaith
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Lalaith »

:( I can't either.

In any case, I posted a John Oliver video in the Trump's America thread; toward the end, he gives several suggestions on organizations to support.
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Dave_LF
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Dave_LF »

I commonly see LGBTQ listed as one of the demographics that stands to lose from a Trump administration. Aside from the fact that the usual suspects dislike them on general principles, has there been any rhetoric been directed specifically against these groups?
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Lalaith
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Lalaith »

Other than the fact that Pence is the VP? :suspicious:
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Frelga
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Frelga »

For more resources, there are now these guys.
https://www.ragedonate.com/
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.

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Lalaith
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Lalaith »

Wow. That's kinda cool.
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by narya »

Best of the Left is a good podcast that aggregates various talk shows on a particular issue. They also have an activism section for each show. http://www.bestoftheleft.com/activism
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by axordil »

Can't go wrong with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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Maria
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Maria »

The "hate map" on the Southern Poverty Law site is appalling.
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Lalaith
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by Lalaith »

anthy, where did your post go? It was good. :scratch:
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anthriel
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by anthriel »

Dang it. You caught me deleting something. :nono: I didn't see anyone else on the board at the time, so I didn't think anyone would miss that post. (But I didn't edit! That's what I had promised not to do. Hah.) Anyway, I apologize for the delete.

I posted without thinking it through. I didn't have any links to the good deeds I had mentioned, and I thought that was probably important. Without backup, it was all hearsay. And then I went to the church's website, and I couldn't find a good link, so I just quickly abandoned ship. Not quickly enough, of course, but hey.

The point of the deleted post was that a church in our vicinity (not really "our" church, we haven't had a home church in years, but it is where we go for Christmas, for whatever that is worth) is supporting refugees (they also purchased an old hotel in a derelict part of town, and are using it to 1. house women who have been freed from sexual trafficking and 2. house children who have "aged out" of the foster system, but I couldn't find links to that either).

So yeah. Hearsay's all I've got at the moment, and I shouldn't have posted until I had more.

I really do apologize. I feel really bad about that. I'm still doing it! After I had promised not to! :oops:
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Re: Concrete Ways to Help Suggestion Thread

Post by River »

Too bad. If you could find the links, we could donate. :(
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