Together We Will – San José is an intersectional, feminist, inclusive, anti-racist community dedicated to progressive activism.
TWO Calls to Action this week:
- Spread the word to California educators about getting CalSTRS to divest from companies that profit from incarcerating immigrants – URGENT! Meeting is 9/20!
- Contact Governor Jerry Brown about signing 5 bills that support immigrant and marginalized communities
Read on for details!
👉 URGENT: CalSTRS Update – if you’re covered by CalSTRS, see actions below. If not, please share with all your CA teacher/educator friends!
California State Teacher’s Retirement System (CalSTRS) has promised an update to its investigation about divesting from for-profit prison companies CoreCivic and GeoGroup at its next Investment Committee Meeting on September 20th. They’ve refused to include supplying corporation General Dynamics in this investigation.
Teachers please:
a) CALL or EMAIL CalSTRS at Phone: 800-228-5453 or 916-414-1099 or
ExternalAffairs@calstrs.com Let them know how long you’ve been teaching and how you feel about your pension being invested in corporations that make millions off of the incarceration of migrant families and youth of color. Ask them to divest from CoreCivic, GeoGroup, AND General Dynamics.
d) FORWARD this email to your friends & coworkers and to your union, post on NextDoor, tweet, share this public
TWWSJ Facebook post – SPREAD THE WORD that teachers don’t want their pensions supporting for-profit prisons!
👉 There are many bills on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk right now, awaiting his signature. Our partners from SEIU-USWW, San Jo Brown Berets, and South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking have alerted us to these 5 important ones – please CALL (916) 445-2841, EMAIL leg.unit@gov.ca.gov AND/OR use Resistbot or other method of contact to urge the Governor to sign these bills.
a) Help stop rape on the night shift! Support the 100 brave women janitors who walked 100 miles from SF to SAC – urge Gov. Brown to sign
AB-2079 Janitorial workers: sexual violence and harassment prevention training.
b) Support Ethnic Studies in California – Representation matters! AB-2772 allows for high schools in California to apply for grants to incorporate ethnic studies as a curriculum.
SB-895 will require the Department of Education to make a Vietnamese American studies curriculum that will be accessible for district adoption. Studies have shown that when students feel represented in their classroom, it increases class engagement, attendance, and performance in other academic areas. Tell the Governor to sign these bills!
c) Stop human trafficking! AB-2034 will require transit employees in bus, train, or light-rail operations to undergo human trafficking awareness training by January 2021. Please email Gov Brown at
leg.unit@gov.ca.gov AND cc:
Ryan.Guillen@asm.ca.gov
We’re glad you’re with us!
Are you a member of
our Facebook Group? That’s the best place to find current actions, local events, news, and discussions of trending issues, but there are other ways to stay in the loop – this email newsletter for highlights, our
online event calendar for local events that have been shared with the group, and our monthly meetings – mark your calendar for the
FIRST SUNDAY of every month! Coming Oct 7 and Nov 4: Voter Information parties to prep for the Nov 6 election.
We are always looking for members to get involved in the leadership of this group, so if you want to help out and like working with a great group of organizers, let us know! Reply to this email or PM us on Messenger, and we’ll get right back to you.
–Miriam Martín & Felicia Gershberg, lead organizers, TWWSJ
Together We Will – San José is an anti-racist, inclusive community – an online and in-person home for feminist activists. TWW-SJ members show up for and amplify the voices of people of color, immigrants, workers, and others working for social justice at the local, state, and national levels.
