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

We're doing it, folks!

We now have 33 co-sponsors committed for the reintroduction of the #WeThePeopleAmendment as House Joint Resolution 48.  

The Move the 117th Congress to Amend campaign goal is to secure 100 co-sponsorships for the #WethePeopleAmendment by March 31, 2021.

If you aren't able to sign up for this campaign, please make a donation to help us start STRONG in the new Congress!

Perhaps the most destructive lasting impact of the previous administration's legacy is just how far the bar has been lowered -- and how any criticism of our current government can now be met with "hey, at least it's not Trump!"

The past four years were not a fluke, nor an aberration. A fascistic faux-populist rising to power is but one of the consequences of a government that has lost the trust of those they represent -- a government that systematically puts profits over people, fueling the deep inequalities that are indefensible anywhere but especially in a nation as wealthy as the United States.

And right now, the deep suffering of the American people is being ignored, in the middle of an economic and public health crisis that has NOT ended with the transfer of power. We are concerned that this cycle will continue if the Biden administration does not step it up, and quickly.

WHAT WE NEED IS AN F.D.R. MOMENT...

On this day, we celebrate the chosen birthday of great orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery, Douglass never knew his actual birthdate or age -- but he remembered his mother affectionately called him "Lil Valentine" -- and after escaping slavery, Douglass chose February 14th to observe his birthday as a free man. 

Great news!

We have already secured 25 co-sponsors for the reintroduction of the #WethePeopleAmendment as House Joint Resolution 48.  The Move the 117thCongress to Amend Campaign is in full swing!

As leaders and constituents organize around the country, now is the time for YOU to plug-in. Our campaign goal is to secure 100 co-sponsorships for the #WethePeopleAmendment by March 31, 2021.

We are pleased with the initial number of Congressional members that have already committed, considering all that is happening in Congress!

However, we are aiming much higher. For that, we need YOU!

Once upon a time, a man named Henry Ford found himself with an extra $60 million of capital, and decided it was in the best long-term interest of Ford Motor Company to reinvest that surplus back into the corporation -- hiring more workers, increasing their wages, and lowering the price of the products for consumers.

But brothers John and Horace Dodge, stockholders who owned 10% of Ford company shares, didn't like Henry's decision. It interfered with their short-term profits. So they sued him.

In Dodge v. Ford (1919), a landmark case decided 102 years this month, the Michigan Supreme Court held that Henry Ford could not lower consumer prices and raise employee salaries.

Last week marked the 151st anniversary of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declares “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

While the 15th Amendment was objectively good and greatly expanded and protected voting for Black men and other previously excluded groups, there is a common misconception that it grants a universal right to vote.

It does not. There is no universal right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. 

Reformist legislation like H.R.1. are good in that they mitigate corruption and protect and expand voting access in the short term. But it's still playing defense. We need a long game too -- that is why it's critical that we continue to push hard for HJR48, the #WeThePeopleAmendment, in order to have genuine DEMOCRATIC POWER FOR THE PEOPLE.