1)Today I met up w/my friend Jorge. He ran my Neighborhood Advisory Board w/me as Chair. He immigrated here from Guatemala in the 1970s. I wanted to know his opinion on the @VP saying, "Don't come here" and how that went over w/his family still in Guatemala. He said, "very well."
2) He said first, "Listen my opinion is mine, but what VP Harris did was focus on the indigenous people of Guatemala who are usually overlooked. She was very blunt about the corruption in our country that is pulling resources away from the very poor and I was happy to hear that."
3)Jorge added, "I wasn't offended when she said 'don't come here' because when we make the journey from Guatemala we're taken advantage of or harmed by people who know we're in a desperate way."
4)Jorge said, "The way she talked about investing in my Country in the way that she did, I've wanted to hear that for years. We have a class system here. The very wealthy [that Americans never talk about] and the very poor [That Americans don't care about] that's it."
5)Jorge said again, "@VP talking about investing the very poor. She spoke bluntly. I am fine with all of that."

Moral of the story? Ask.

Attn: Media & elected officials not from Guatemala, Ask how people from Guatemala feel. Don't guess or assume. Don't be outraged w/o info.

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More from @mayatcontreras

7 Jun
1)Jemele is right.
Also, @Sen_JoeManchin and @SenatorSinema have said they'd vote for the #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct but not #ForThePeopleAct. @SenSchumer said he'd bring the John Lewis VRA to the floor in June. It has a great updated coverage formula which SCOTUS gutted in 2013.
2) Coverage Formula? When SCOTUS gutted the VRA in 2013 it did so by invalidating the coverage formula of Section 4(b) that determined Section 5 pre-clearance requirement. In simpler terms, states had to "pre-clear" changes to their voting laws with the federal government (DOJ).
3)If we pass the #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct volia! States will have to ask first before they change their voting laws again (usually discriminatory laws). The problem is it'll only apply to NEW* laws and not the ones that are currently in place (but lawyers are working on that).
Read 8 tweets
29 May
1)The #TulsaMassacre happened in Lessie’s life. An aspect of Critical Race Theory is discussing resource disparity (White men hegemony over most resources in the US). When Black people create resources for ourselves many in power have historically tried to take them away.
2)Voting Rights is an example of that. They’re a way for us to access power, to access representatives that work w/us, & to access resources. This is why Republicans are trying to block our path to the ballot box, they want to control power and resources. brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
3)The GOP are trying to block #CriticalRaceTheory and #1619Project because when the public begins to analyze racial disparities and connect it how law and policy operate in the United States then people understand accountability is needed. Republicans want nothing to do w/that.
Read 7 tweets
27 May
1)"[In this] historic moment we can make long-overdue improvements to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The critical component of our nation's Social Security system that has largely been forgotten by lawmakers in Washington for more than 30 yrs."
#DemolishDisabledPoverty Image
2)"While SSI benefits are incredibly modest maxing out at $740 a month for most of the nation's poorest people with disabilities & seniors, SSI can mean the difference between being able to put food on the table, a roof over your head."- @rebeccavallas #DemolishDisabledPoverty Image
3)“We need to update our system to reflect the way people live & work today. [SSI] a lifeline for millions of people who are elderly, blind, or disabled. For 60% of recipients, these SSI benefits are their only source of income.” - @SenSherrodBrown
#DemolishDisabledPoverty Image
Read 24 tweets
13 May
So far Yang and Adams, who are currently leading the last Mayoral poll have both heavily come out for MORE police funding. 🤦🏽‍♀️
“Safety is not synonymous with policing... We need to invest in our communities.” @Dianne4NYC just hit that question out of the park. 🔥 #NYCMayoralDebate 🍎
.@mayawiley has been hitting the “I am a Civil Rights attorney AND a mom” and “tonight a mother is without a child” pretty hard. (Polling?) Mother’s are incredible important but I would like to see her lay out her policy points a bit more clearly.
Read 14 tweets
11 May
McConnell just called #ForThePeopleAct "a partisan effort" "racial justice" "hot wiring our democracy"

He said, "He helped pass HAVA (Help America Vote Act)." BTW HAVA had "poison pill" in that legislation. It opened the path for strict Voter ID implementation.

#ConfirmClarke THE HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT I...
Senator Roger Wicker (R) still called #ForThePeopleAct "partisan" and makes it "easier to vote."

Democrats need to ask The GOP: "Should voting be impossibly difficult? Is it partisan to make sure voters are picking their candidates, not state legislatures picking the voters?" Image
Senator Jeff Merkley (D) quotes Cairre Catts, “The vote is the emblem of your equality, women of America, the guaranty of your liberty. That vote of yours has cost millions of dollars and the lives of thousands of women." Image
Read 9 tweets
7 Feb
1) I believe it’s currently in process and it is — a process. Biden can not just terminate DeJoy (that’d be wonderful but that’s not how that works). Biden can terminate the Board of a Governors, “with cause”, then he’d need to appoint an all new BoG who can in turn fire DeJoy.
2)Just 13 days ago Rep. Bill Pascrell, called on @POTUS to fire the entire USPS Board of Governors “for their silence and complicity in [Trump’s and DeJoy’s] deliberate campaign to subvert vote-by-mail elections and destroy the Post Office”. pascrell.house.gov/news/documents…
3) Part of the reason why Rep. Bill Pascrell wrote a letter outlining all of the misdeeds by the USPS Board of Governors and sent it to @POTUS is to give Biden “just cause” to fill the current vacancies and the Board of Governors and terminate the rest. It’s a process.
Read 5 tweets

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