Change.org - Honoring baby Oliver's life

Baby Oliver fought hard against a rare childhood disease. He tragically passed away earlier this year in a Cincinnati hospital. While he was in his hospital ICU room, visitors and loved ones filled it with stuffed animal sloths. Oliver even slept with one of the sloths day-and-night! At his funeral, word broke that a sloth was pregnant at the Cincinnati Zoo. Now to remember Oliver, his family is hoping the Cincinnati Zoo will name one of the new baby sloths “Oliver.” Add your name to help remember baby Oliver. Name the baby sloth after Oliver 6,086 have signed Alyssa Nicholson’s petition. Let’s get to 7,500!

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On October 11, 2019 we brought two beautiful  boys into this world 7 weeks early. Oliver and Atticus were born at 2 pounds 14 ounces and 4 pounds 16 ounces. Oliver Andrew Nicholson was born with 1 hand, 3 total fingers, pig bronchus, long gap TEF (born unable to swallow), right aortic arch heart, one kidney, narrow airways and a few other minor issues. We would learn Oliver had VACTERL association which effects 1 in 10,000 to 40,000 newborns at random. It isn’t genetic and has no known cause.  Oliver would spend 5 month in the Cincinnati Children’s NICU and would come home after 2 failed attempts to connect his esophagus to his stomach. Once he came home Oliver quickly started to catch up to his twin in milestones and was the happiest boy you’d ever meet. He learned to sit up, butt scoot to get around, stand, and almost was walking. He did all of this with just 2 thumbs and one index finger. Oliver’s vocal cords were paralyzed but he still learned to say hi, dada and mama.  On January 11, 2021 Oliver finally had his esophagus connected to his stomach. While in recovery we got Oliver a sloth stuffed animal which he adored and he would sleep with him every night. He had a giant “hang in there” sloth balloon that was a main stay in his hospital room, all of nurses loved it. After 4 weeks in recovery he would finally come home. On February 17, 2021 Oliver went for a routine procedure to check on his esophagus. While asleep and under anesthesia , there were complications that led to bleeding around his heart and he was not able to recover from it. Oliver Andrew Nicholson passed that evening at 6:36pm at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, in the shadow of the Cincinnati Zoo. On February 24th, while at Oliver’s visitation, people started coming up to us to tell us the sloth at the Cincinnati zoo was pregnant. Everyone was saying it was a sign and speculating that it would be named after Oliver. We later found out that Lightning was a two toed sloth which sort of resembled Oliver’s one hand with only two fingers. We had his “hang in there” balloon above him and buried him with a lovey sloth. We still have his favorite stuffed animal sloth with us and it reminds us he is still here with us. https://m.facebook.com/OliverandAtticus/

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National Call-in Day: Tell the Senate to pass the For the People Act

153 years ago today the US Congress ratified the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, granting full citizenship and equal protection of the laws to formerly enslaved persons. It also clarified that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Despite this constitutional mandate, in 2021, we are still fighting against state efforts to suppress the fundamental right to vote for millions of citizens.  The For the People Act (H.R. 1/ S. 1) is a transformational democracy reform package that would  "expand Americans' access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes."  This comprehensive bill would make the guarantees of the 14th Amendment real by setting baseline standards for access to the ballot for all citizens, no matter in which state they live. However, S.1 has been blocked by the filibuster, a Senate rule that has consistently been used to block progressive legislation. There is still time to pass this bill, but we need our elected leaders to stop prioritizing this Senate procedural rule over protecting the foundational right of citizens to vote. Call your Senators to tell them that this basic right is non-negotiable. They should not leave for recess without finding a path to passing the For the People Act and protecting this right for all citizens. Call your Senators today at 1-888-885-1748!   Sample script: “I am deeply concerned about the state laws that are passing around the nation to restrict citizens’ voting rights. As a person of faith, this is a moral issue that is foundational to the health of our democracy: the vote represents the dignity of each person. When we infringe upon the voting right of one individual, we threaten our democracy, we compromise the promise. The only way these state laws can be overcome is by passing the For the People Act (S.1) which would establish federal rules to protect the sacred right to vote and supersede those anti-voter laws. Passing the For the People Act needs to be a top priority for Congress.  Will Senator __________________ do whatever it takes—including delay recess and confront the filibuster rule head-on—to pass the For the People Act?”

Tell Congress to Support A Pathway to Citizenship

In January 2021, the Biden Administration introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 to overhaul the immigration system to address approximately 11 million people living in the United States without immigration status. The bill focused on the following principles — urging Congress to offer a pathway to citizenship for those who have long-lived and worked in the United States without benefits and security, to ensure families were not separated, and to renew a commitment to community values.  The bill has not gained sufficient support. However, it has started the conversation about how to address this gaping problem.  In June, the Senate Committee on the Budget released a draft reconciliation budget that includes a pathway to citizenship for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, Dreamers and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and essential workers. This opportunity is imperative as it would include a pathway to citizenship for approximately 5 million undocumented persons. In March, the House of Representatives passed two separate bills (the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act) that outlined access to a pathway to citizenship. However, the Senate has yet to pass these bills. It is time for the Senate to act! Tell your Senator to include a pathway to citizenship in the budget reconciliation! Immigrant rights organizations are urging Congressional action.  On June 16, 2021, Texas Federal Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that DACA was inconsistent with the law. Judge Hanen vacated the memo that created the DACA program. The final decision stated that those who already have DACA would keep their protections, but no new applications could be accepted. This decision affects over 80,000 new applicants. Although the Biden Administration has vowed to appeal the decision, the future of DACA remains in the hands of the courts. This is another example of why Congress urgently must assist communities at risk of detention and deportation. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has advocated for a pathway to citizenship for many years. At the General Assembly in 2012, the assembly passed “On Advocating for comprehensive Immigration Reform,” which urged church members along with other community members to advocate for immigration reform that included “making family unity a priority” and “providing a reasonable and inclusive path for undocumented migrants presently living in the United States to eventually gain citizenship without imposing punitive costs, wait times, or other irksome conditions.” We much act now and urge the Senate to include a pathway to citizenship in the budget reconciliation. Undocumented individuals are our family members, faith leaders, congregation members, and community leaders. Reach out to your Senator, encouraging them to support an option that reflects a part of God’s justice. As people of faith, we will continue to seek a just pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented persons; however, the opportunity for 5 million to gain access to citizenship is a significant step. Tell your Senator to support a pathway to citizenship in the budget reconciliation!    Additional resources to learn more about the pathway to citizenship: Faith in Action - #WeAre Essential Campaign - https://faithinaction.org/news/faith-leaders-and-immigration-advocates-fast-in-support-of-a-pathway-to-citizenship-for-essential-workers/. Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCUSA, writes a letter to support those participating in the fast. Article about the Fast for Freedom. Interfaith Immigration Coalition toolkit and webinar on citizenship. Letter to elected officials from faith leaders and organizations in which the PCUSA and various church leaders signed.  Report from Center for Migration Studies, “Making Citizenship an Organizing Principle of the US Immigration System” for greater understanding of the obstacles and possible solutions.  Click the link below to log in and send your message: https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/7_zJ9qSFC3SbKiSXu4FfBA

A declaration regarding the current situation of the Cuban people

As a Hispanic/Latin community in the United States, we are profoundly concerned about the events that have occurred in the Caribbean country of Cuba. We feel and share the pain of the Cuban people in light of the shortage. of food and medicines and health conditions worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We understand that it is our responsibility, in accordance with the aforementioned purposes, to communicate to our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba and the Presbyterian and Reformed family in Latin America, our support and solidarity with the people of Cuba and our desire for their well-being.

The National Presbyterian Hispanic Latin Caucus advocates for the elimination of the embargo that the United States has imposed on Cuba and the elimination of the policies on Cuba imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

The National Presbyterian Hispanic Latin Caucus recognizes and respects the just and free self-determination of the people of Cuba.

The National Presbyterian Hispanic Latin Caucus recognizes the right of the Cuban people to express themselves and to have their human rights respected and guaranteed. May peace and dialogue be promoted, instead of confrontation and violence. We are dismay by the acts of repression by government authorities against those who demonstrate peacefully.

The National Presbyterian Hispanic Latin Caucus expresses its solidarity with the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba and other ecclesiastical bodies on the island of Cuba.

Among the purposes of the National Presbyterian Hispanic Latin Caucus:

• Advocate for issues that adversely affect the lives of descendants of Hispanic/Latin and Brazilian people.
• Promote and educate on social, gender, racial, educational, economic, ethnic and generational justice in relation to persons who are excluded, marginalized and vulnerable in society.
• Work with other secular entities and ecumenical organizations, within and outside the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), to create strategies and cooperative alliances to further the purposes of CNPHL (English acronym).

The National Presbyterian Hispanic Latin Caucus calls on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to practice what we affirm in the Confession of Belhar:

“We believe

• that God has revealed God’s self as the one who wishes to bring about justice and true peace among people.
• that God, in a world full of injustice and enmity, is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the wronged.
• that God calls the church to follow God in this; for God brings justice to the oppressed and gives bread to the hungry.
• that God frees the prisoner and restores sight to the blind.
• that God supports the downtrodden, protects the stranger, helps orphans and widows and blocks the path of the ungodly.
• that for God pure and undefiled religion is to visit the orphans and the widows in their suffering.
• that God wishes to teach the church to do what is good and to seek the right.
• that the church must therefore stand by people in any form of suffering and need, which implies, among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
• that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged.
• that in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others.

Therefore, we reject any ideology which would legitimate forms of injustice and any doctrine which is unwilling to resist such an ideology in the name of the gospel.” (“Book of Confessions,” 10.7—.8)

With the prophet Isaiah, the National Presbyterian Hispanic Latin Caucus says: “Learn to do good! Seek justice: help the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.” (Is. 1:17, Common English Bible)

Respectfully,

National Hispanic Latin Presbyterian Caucus Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Register for Faiths 4 Climate Justice Kickoff Call!

In just the last month, climate change-strengthened storms have wrought devastating flooding and mudslides across Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands; deadly heat waves across the US and Canada have killed hundreds of people; and a gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico lit the ocean on fire. (The ocean. On fire.)  

Join us for the global Faiths 4 Climate Justice kickoff call on 4-5 August and get ready to be part of a worldwide climate action.

Rev., we’ve known about the dangers of climate change for decades, and it’s dead wrong that we’re in this situation. We are running out of time, and we’re fed up with the lack of progress.

That’s why grassroots people of diverse faiths around the globe are going into action on 17-18 October with Faiths 4 Climate Justice, a global, multi-faith action.

It’s time to start planning, so join us on 4-5 August for the global Faiths 4 Climate Justice Kickoff Call.

Your participation matters. When thousands of us stand up collectively for what is right, we become impossible to ignore.

We can’t do it without you.

In solidarity and hope,

Rev. Fletcher Harper and the GreenFaith Team

Change.org - Justice for Kevin

Kevin Strickland has been in jail for over 42 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Prosecutors in St. Louis have even apologized to Kevin for his conviction. But to this day, Kevin remains in prison. Why? Because Missouri lawmakers won’t release him. They believe that even if Kevin is innocent, there’s no procedural system to release him. Petition starter Matt believes this is outrageous and started this petition to free Kevin now. Mike Parson needs to free Kevin Strickland, not wait on new legislation to do it for him 1,605 have signed Matt Doty’s petition. Let’s get to 2,500!

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Kevin Strickland is not a criminal, but he is an inmate. A triple homicide landed him in prison, but he did not participate. Based on faulty evidence including fingerprints on a car and retroactive eyewitness testimony, Jackson County prosecutors put Strickland in prison. That was in 1979. He was 18. Now, though the sole eyewitness wished to recant her statements (before she recently passed away), though the current Jackson County Prosecutor testifies to his innocence along with MO senators and Strickland’s own co-defendants, Mr. Strickland remains in prison at age 62.  The Missouri State Senate included a section in a new bill (SB53) that would make it much easier for Strickland to receive his day in court and see freedom again. This is incredible news. But do we want to live in a country in which a clearly innocent person has to sit and wait for new legislation before they can hug their now adult daughter, or spend time with their now ailing mother? Does our government not have a check on clearly wrongful convictions? It does. Missouri Governor Mike Parson could let Strickland go free today if he only were to sign the petition for pardon that is sitting on his desk. Parson has refused to do so despite essentially unanimous bipartisan support. It is unclear why he won’t. We are asking Mike Parson to prove to us that innocence matters, and that freedom is a right, not a privilege revocable without reason. Mr. Parson, you know this case isn’t complicated, and you know that Kevin Strickland deserves to go free. Do your job. For more information, read the Missouri Innocence Project’s report on Strickland here: https://themip.org/clients/kevin-strickland/

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Change.org - Tragic hazing death

Adam Oakes lost his life from a frat hazing. As part of an initiation ceremony, Adam was forced to drink so much alcohol it poisoned him. Now his family is fighting back to strengthen anti-hazing laws. In the coming weeks they’re meeting with lawmakers to help put an end to hazing. Add your name to their petition so that when they meet with lawmakers next month, they can show tens of thousands of supporters standing with them. Changing the Virginia Law Against Hazing 20,460 have signed Courtney White’s petition. Let’s get to 25,000!

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On February 27th, at a "Big/Little" hazing event held by the Delta Chi fraternity at Virginia Commonwealth University my cousin, Adam Oakes, lost his life to alcohol poisoning.  Being told to drink an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time as an initiation rite of passage shows a lack of empathy and a complete disregard for human life.  After hazing him, they let him tragically die on the ground alone without getting him help.  Our lives will never be the same due to one group of boys, one night, and one fraternity.  Unfortunately, Adam’s death is not the first in the state of Virginia.  There have been at least 9 deaths in Virginia due to hazing!  How many more lives must we lose before action is taken?  Hazing is a criminal act.  However, in the state of Virginia, if you haze someone to the point of bodily harm or death, it is a Class 1 Misdemeanor.  The maximum punishment for causing injury or death is 12 months in jail and a $2500 fine.  We need your help to change the current law against Hazing from a misdemeanor to a felony.  Please sign our petition against hazing so people who haze are held accountable for their actions.

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