We're launching #WeThePeopleWednesday!

Calling your Representative every 28th of the month to support the 28th Amendment to #EndCorporateRule is good -- but calling EVERY WEDNESDAY is better!

This week marks the anniversary of First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978) -- the very first case that defined "free speech" rights for corporations, laying some of the groundwork that would lead to the even more infamous Citizens United v. FEC (2010) ruling.

In this landmark case, the Supreme Court of the United States held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make contributions to ballot initiative campaigns.

This case is one of many examples of why overturning Citizens United is NOT enough.

Tomorrow is Earth Day -- and while planting a tree is a great way to spend the day, we can't forget that we are up against a powerful, extractive, and brutal system that our individual choices will never be enough to defeat.

There's no easy way to say it -- this is a dark time for our already-hobbling labor movement.

Last month, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid case -- in which two agricultural corporations are challenging a California regulation that allows labor unions to talk to workers on the property (during very limited, non-work hours). Their goal is total defiance to any state law affirming any union organizing rights on corporate property.

March is almost gone, but the madness doesn’t end with it — nor does COVID 

https://youtu.be/5zEWoXmYKHg 

When Virginia L. Minor tried to register to vote in Missouri in 1872, the registrar (Reese Happersett) refused to allow it. Minor sued, on the grounds that the 14th Amendment made women citizens of the nation -- and therefore she should be able to vote.

This week marks the 149th anniversary of Minor v. Happersett -- wherein the Supreme Court ruled that a right to vote was NOT inherent to citizenship, and that the laws regarding who could and could not vote should be left to the states.

Great news! We now have 42 co-sponsors formally committed for the reintroduction of the #WeThePeopleAmendment as House Joint Resolution 48, with more expected to sign on by the end of this week!

Did you know that the Supreme Court deemed corporations as people with Constitutional rights fifty years before women achieved the right to vote? That fact gives a whole new meaning to this sentence: The US Constitution is a property rights document.

Today, March 8, is International Women's Day -- an observance established in 1911 with deep roots in the Women's Suffrage Movement. It is an expression of how hard women all over the world have had to fight to secure the same legal status, rights, and opportunities as men. It's also a reminder of the immense work is left to be done to elevate human rights over corporate privilege. Help us grow the movement to continue that work by sharing the Motion to Amend petition on your social media, or a group text/email to your friends and family!

by Greg Coleridge

February 26, 2021

https://truthout.org/articles/big-tech-shouldnt-be-the-arbiter-of-our-free-speech-rights/

Business corporations don’t need free speech rights. Nor should they have the power to deny free speech to others. But leading up to and following the 2020 election, we saw both undemocratic realities on display.

Community Rights: Working Together for Real People
National Community Rights Network's (NCRN) presentation and discussion with Greg Coleridge, Move To Amend's (MTA) Outreach Director, 2/24/21