Take Action Tuesday

#weekly_action

The #fundUSAscience campaign has launched! Take 2 minutes to tweet today to help bring attention to science funding as the FY2018 budget negotiations get underway. 
1) Tell us how your science benefits society and add #fundUSAscience @500wsDC and a picture (sample tweets and instructions here). 

2) Time to revive our habit of calling our elected officials - get in touch with your elected official and let them know what you think about science funding, DACA, or any other topic.

How to have a productive call with your representative - http://www.ucsusa.org/action/phone-calls.html#.Wa7uoNOGMn0

To defend DACA, a list of resources from United We Dream and The National Immigration Law Center:

1. Support bipartisan legislation that protects immigrant youth: Ask your legislators to co-sponsor S.1615 in the Senate and H.R. 3591 in the House. Check out Indivisible for more information on these bills and scripts to call your legislators.  

2. Join United We Dream’s Day of Action: There are protests all across the country and you can find one or register your own action here. We encourage all who are able to show up and stand with Dreamers.

3. Read about the impact of DACA: The law has allowed people to work and attend school without the constant fear of deportation. Read first-hand stories of DACA from the National Immigrant Law Center and share with family members and friends who may not understand or support the law.

4. If you’re a DACA recipient: click here for reliable information from United We Dream and the National Immigrant Law Center on your rights.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday! Wishing those of you who are heading back to school good luck and strength for the year. And if you aren't on the academic schedule, hopefully you were able to take a summer vacation and a break from the chaos. We are wrapping up our summer by finishing up our Summer of Writing, and have a few new projects for the fall! 

What we've done

• Wrote a letter to the ESA society, offering our help to improve diversity and inclusion. 

• Our Environmental Strike team wrote a piece on the dangers of pesticides. 

• Our members are breaking into the #scicomm film biz. 

• Mark your calendar for our upcoming #FundUSAscience on Twitter Tuesday, September 5th.

What we like

• Exactly how we feel - conversations aren't enough. 

• REI - force for nature fund. 

• AGU celebrating women's equality day. 

• #notAllTShirts

Weekly Wrap Up

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention”

The events in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend and in Spain this week have left us reeling. With a heavy heart,  500 WS leader Rukmani Vijayaraghavan (who lives in Charlottesville, VA) posted some ways we could support Charlottesville and things we can do to support each other. We reaffirm our commitment to continue to stand up against the normalization of hateful rhetoric and violence. 

WHAT WE'VE DONE

• Rukmani Vijayaraghavan's list of actions #Charlottesville

• Continuing to speak up for science (still taking op-ed submissions).

• New 500 Women Scientists pods in Kuwait, Mongolia, and Chile - welcome!

WHAT WE LIKE

• Why the past matters now. 

• A plan to end manels. 

• Tina Fey and the sheet cake coping mechanism

• Humblebrag as a way to elevate women at work

Take Action Tuesday

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention”

We write this week’s action with a heavy heart. Our guest writer for the week is 500 WS leader Rukmani Vijayaraghavan who lives in Charlottesville, VA and works at the University of Virginia. Here is a message from Rukmani:

"I woke up on the morning of Saturday August 12, angry about the white supremacists scheduled to invade my city. The evening before, they’d marched on the University I work at. I went to bed sleepless that night, heartbroken by the tragedy of a terrorist attack on the street corner half a block from my apartment -- the corner I drive through every single day and have crossed on foot a hundred times. This has not been an easy weekend nor will the coming days and weeks. But the support we have received from across the country and around the world has been overwhelming -- keep it coming, and keep fighting for what is right and just."

Heather Heyer was a 32 year old woman who did what was morally right, who stood up against white supremacy, bigotry, and hatred. And she died for it. Two state troopers tragically died while simply doing their jobs -- trying to keep the people safe. Let us honor their memory and legacy.

We’re all angry, confused, and outraged. We should be. Here is what we can do this week. As many have said, if this not who we are as a country, then let’s prove it.

1. The first step in action is to educate ourselves and the people closest to us about what happened leading up to the incidents over the weekend:

   1. This statue is the symbol of hatred at the center of the controversy.

   2. The petition to remove the statue was started by a high school student, Zyahna Bryant; let her be our inspiration.

   3. Charlottesville is a city where a veneer of gentility and progressivism often covers over decades of slavery and segregation. The University of Virginia where the marches began on Friday, was founded by Thomas Jefferson, and is also in the process of confronting its own history of slavery and segregation. More background reading here: Why this happened in Charlottesville

   4. Some more reading: What to do about Charlottesville, White Feelings: 0-60 for Charlottesville

2. There are no easy solutions or actions, but there are many in Charlottesville doing the work of confronting and dealing with the legacy of racism and segregation and would greatly benefit from your support,

   1. Like the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. You can support them here.

   2. Here are local groups and chapters you can support: Black Lives Matter Charlottesville, Charlottesville NOW, Charlottesville Pride, the Charlottesville-Albemarle NAACP, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville,  Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, and more here.

   3. Support the Black Student Alliance at U.Va. They are on the frontlines.

   4. Source unknown, but an excellent list of things you can do. And this one’s from Mashable.

3. Still feel like this is not enough? We are scientists, and we are far from perfect. So be creative and push yourself and your community to find more ways to stand up against hatred and bigotry in your community

   1. Listen to Charlottesville’s protest songs

   2. Find out what your members of Congress are doing to respond to the Charlotteville terror attacks.