Take Action Now!
Want to make a difference but not sure how? These one-time actions are a great place to start.
(Past but recorded) 3/7, Shalom Supper Celebrating Refugee Shabbat
Thank you to all who attended our Shalom Supper! I hope you enjoyed learning more about the programs that Refugee Services of Texas provides for refugees, asylum seekers, and victims of Trafficking. The Farhat Family from Afghanistan and the Banduka Maleluka Family from the Congo shared recipes, music, and stories of their journeys to the US. We also enjoyed some Jewish music with Rabbi Blumofe, Rabbi at CAA, and Sara Avner, Cantorial Soloist at CBI. Here is a link to the recording if you missed it!
3/22, 12-1 PM: NCJW Advocacy Training
- Training by National Coalition of Jewish Women National Advocacy staff on effective advocacy -- part of NCJW "Texas Day On The Hill"
- Register here or sign up to lobby with NCJW here. Contact Lea Isgur for more information.
3/20, 7 PM: Interfaith Organizing Training
- Join us for a Central Texas Interfaith-wide training focused on building relational power, engaging leaders, and conducting small group “House Meetings.”
Now-April: RAC-TX Legislative Advocacy: Democracy Protection + Racial Justice
• For Everyone: Join the RAC-TX 2021 Democracy Protection Campaign
o Last week, we launched RAC-TX’s democracy protection campaign. If you were not able to join the webinars, you can find the recordings and slides in the RAC-TX group in The Tent . To continue our important work, please sign up to join the democracy protection campaign. Phase one (outreach to county election officials) is already underway, and phase two (legislator meetings) begins late March.
• For Teens (and allies): Join the RAC-TX 2021 Racial Justice Campaign
o Sign up to attend one of two issue briefing/lobby prep sessions. (The same session, offered two different times.) We will be organizing teen specific lobby and advocacy meetings supporting criminal justice reform in the state. Sign up to receive RAC-TX updates and be notified when issue briefings are scheduled.
• Questions? Contact dsegal@rac.org.
Now-4/5: HIAS Welcome to Congress Advocacy Campaign
• Welcome the new Congress to Washington, D.C. and tell them their constituents want them to prioritize the rights, dignity and safety of refugees and asylum seekers. To communicate this, congregations and communities will collect signatures for their online welcome cards. Please go to this link, find Temple Beth Shalom (TX) in the dropdown menu (even if you're at CBI!), sign at the bottom of the letter, and hit send. We need these signatures asap in order to send to our Congressional reps in Washington. Thank you!!
o April 5 - HIAS Training for Talking Points during Congressional Meetings
o Month Of April - Meetings will be scheduled
Interested in joining the Austin Advocacy Team? Questions? Contact Nancy Wolf at 512-917-3731 or nwolf1000@gmail.com
4/5, 7-9 PM: NCJW Advocacy Experts
- Presentations by speakers on NCJW's three advocacy issues:
1. Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights – Dyana Limon-Mercado, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes;
2. Criminal Justice Reform – State Senator Royce West of Dallas; and
3. Voting Rights – James Slattery, Senior Staff Attorney at Texas Civil Rights Project.
4/6 & 12, 7-8:30 PM: Interfaith Civic Academies
- 4/6: Rental Assistance, Housing, and Addressing Homelessness
- 4/12: Community Policing co-hosted by Huston-Tillotson University
Save the dates!
Refugee Actions Now
• Food Deliveries for Refugees: Anyone interested in providing food to a family on a weekly basis (directly or through a donation) can contact Cathy Campbell.
• Donations to Refugee Fund: Anyone who can contribute (from either congregation) can give to the Temple Beth Shalom Refugee Task Force Fund on the Temple Beth Shalom website or contact Russ Apfel.
Join a Movement!
Change happens person by person. Our community social justice leaders would love to talk to you about how we can make it happen, together.
Religious Action Center - Texas (RAC-TX)
• Email Rabbi David Segal, Liz Mitlak (CBI), or Sandy Dochen (TBS) to get involved, or learn more about our main issue, Democracy Protection, here.
• Advocate for our Jewish values at a statewide level with other Reform congregations.
HIAS Jews for Refugees
• Check with Russ Apfel and Cathy Campbell for updates on the Temple Beth Shalom Refugee Task Force, Austin Sanctuary Network, and refugee activities at CBI. They work closely with Ahmed Abbas, the asylum caseworker at Refugee Services Texas. For more info about HIAS contact Nancy Wolf or click here.
• Founded as the Hebrew Immigrant aid Society in 1881 to assist Jews fleeing from progroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, HIAS has touched the life of nearly every Jewish family in America. These Jewish refugees were facing barriers of language, customs, discrimination, and even worse. Today HIAS continues to help refugees, no matter their religion, ethnicity, or nationality, to escape persecution and resettle in safety, reunite families who have been separated, and help them build new lives all around the world.
Advocates for Social Justice Reform
• Email Bob Batlan at asjraustin@gmail.com to join or learn more here.
• Next Meeting: 3/22 10:00 AM
• ASJR is a local advocacy group focusing on issues surrounding criminal justice reform, especially indigent defense, or representation of the poorest defendants. We focus on developing positive relationships with government officials, community leaders, diverse fellow advocates, and people impacted by the criminal legal system. This approach helped lead to the creation of the Travis County Public Defender's Office.
• Current main projects: Implementing funding for legal representation at or before first court appearance (magistration), and supporting County Attorney and District Attorney actions to evaluate cases for dismissal prior to magistration. This can minimize the disruption to people's lives at the earliest possible moment.
Texas Anti-Poverty Project
• Email Larkin Tackett at larkin.tackett@gmail.com to join or learn more here.
• Next Meeting: 3/24, 10:30 AM
• Advocate for living wages in Austin by focusing on access to high-paying jobs at the new Telsa giga-factory, for our neighbors experiencing poverty.
MLK Continued Conversations--Third of Three Coming Soon!
• Conversations on diversity, equity, + inclusion as individuals + community
• If you are interested in watching the videos from the first two session on implicit bias, they are available to view below:
o Session 2 full video
o Implicit Bias
o Why We're Awkward
o Four i's of Oppression video
o MLK Discussion Guide
o Identity Mining Worksheet
o Bias Recognition Worksheet
A Word from Your Social Justice Coordinator
Shalom y’all,
This week, with a solid minyan of Congregation Beth Israel and Temple Beth Shalom volunteers, we had a productive discussion with Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir. If you vote in Travis County, she makes it possible. Special thanks to Mindy Lee, Elyse Rosenberg, Wynne Prater, Shayna Levy, and Sandy Dochen for their thoughtful questions.
We asked her mainly for her thoughts on pending bills in the Texas Legislature, for the session we’re in the middle of currently. Clerk DeBeauvoir’s outlook was, to cut right to it, horrified. She described a miraculously well-executed 2020 election, agreed by partisans of all stripes to have been the most secure and highest-turnout election of our lifetime, despite a pandemic and mail ballot drop-offs closed with voters already in line to drop off ballots. Then she described a bill that would be the “worst voter suppression in Texas history,” which is to say, a Texas-sized problem for all of us.
SB7 is an all-encompassing voter suppression bill. Our allies across the Texas Election Protection Coalition (of which RAC-TX is a part), have universally panned it. It limits when we can vote, including the Sundays on which black churches organize “Souls to the Polls.” But more importantly, it opens the door to voter harassment. Poll workers would have to allow partisan poll watchers everywhere, and allow recording of absolutely everything in a polling place except the voter screen itself. To describe this as Jim Crow 2.0 would not be exaggeration.
Dear reader, the conversation was every bit as apocalyptic as this note. Clerk DeBeauvoir was apologetic for this, but this is simply the reality of SB7, as confirmed by our interfaith allies.
However, there is something you can do about it! You have a state representative and a state senator! If you don’t know who, I made you a map! Through RAC-TX, or on your own, you can make your voice heard directly to their face (on Zoom). You can tell them that you care that everyone gets an equal chance to vote. You even have 2 U.S. Senators, who might want to know how you feel about HR1, the federal bill that would override a lot of this suppression.
So unlike many of my notes, because of how singularly important our democracy is, this one has a direct ask: will you join us in fighting back against voter suppression?
As always, regardless of shul affiliation, the point of contact for every initiative listed would be happy to have your help. And if you simply want to ask how best to be an ally, or how we got here, please reply to this email, fill out the form above, or call me. My email is jason.austinsocialjustice@gmail.com, and my number is 469-834-9987.
Thank you!
L'shalom,
Jason Taper, Social Justice Coordinator
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