Dear LiftGen Family,

We are reeling from the leaked news that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) plans to overturn Roe v. Wade in a few weeks.  We will fight and invite you to join us.  The Republican-led war on women is not new and we must push back to ensure our daughters, sisters, aunties, mothers, and community members remain empowered to make their own healthcare and life decisions.  Banning abortion disproportionately harms women of color, indigenous women, and low-income women.  The fight for access to abortion is also fight for racial justice.  

It's short notice, but join us tonight (May 4, 2022), if you can, at the Hall of Justice (330 W Broadway) at 6 PM to protest SCOTUS overturning Roe v. Wade.  Bring a sign.  Bring a friend.  We will keep you up to date on the next protest so you can join us again and again and again to fight this dehumanization of all women.

In solidarity,

Trish

Abortion is legal in the U.S. thanks to Roe v. Wade--but abortion laws and restrictions vary by state.  Select your state to see its current abortion laws and how access to abortion would change if Roe v. Wade were overturned.

How much do you know about abortion in the U.S.?  Take the quiz.

Remember to mail your ballot with a "NO" vote by September 14, 2021.

Here's a quick video on how to vote no on your ballot!

Remember, if Governor Newsom is recalled it is likely a Trump-supporting Republican will be our new Governor.

If you'd like to do more, consider signing up for a slot to virtual phone bank to stop the recall with San Diego Democratic Party: https://www.mobilize.us/sandiegodems/event/401807/

Lifting Generations is forming a Racial Justice Film Club to educate ourselves and our community about our privilege, power, intersectional identities, and social justice so we can better carry out our vision.  Our first meeting is in March 2021 and we will be viewing and discussing "13th" a 2016 documentary where scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the US prison boom.  If you miss the viewing, we invite you to watch it and consider our discussion questions:

As you watch consider the following questions:

1) What are my positions of privilege and power?

2) What social injustices are happening and how can we as voters challenge those?

3) Think about the prison industrial complex and its ties to capitalism and enslavement?

4) How is the prison industrial complex a new form of enslavement?

We are happy to offer you a carefully researched 2020 voter guide with candidates, measures, and propositions checked against our vision and values.  Flag it, save it, or print it for when you vote!  

Make sure you are registered to vote in California here: https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/

On August 12th LiftGen Legal Affairs Chair, Deanna Niño and Chair, Tricia Gallagher-Geurtsen engaged with the ACLU's Virtual Lobby Day in Sacramento.  We spoke with Assemblymember Todd Gloria this morning to ask him to support two important bills currently in the California Legislature:  AB 901 Reducing Criminalization of Youth and SB 731 Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act.  AB 901 will support youth and keep them on track by providing educational resources, tutoring, counseling, mentoring and other appropriate supports, rather than pushing them into the juvenile justice system.  And SB 731 helps decertify police officers who have been fired for excessive force, sexual misconduct and dishonesty.  Assemblymember Gloria said he was in support of AB 901 and talked about the need to put more funding into social services.

Being on the call was inspiring because it reminded us that we can make a huge impact on the lives of minoritized communities and all of us, decriminalizing People of Color through direct conversations with legislators.  It reminds all of us that elected officials work for us and need to hear from us!

You can make your voice heard too! 

Call Your Lawmakers! 📱

Connector Line to Call Your CA Assemblymembers: 1-833-946-2258

Connector Line to Call Your CA Senators: 1-844-924-2258

What to say when calling legislators about SB 731 & AB 901:

On June 7th 2020, members of Lifting Generations joined in a car caravan organized by Black Lives Matter San Diego stopping at 14 different sites of violence against Blacks across San Diego including La Jolla where Monique Clark was shot at a UTC pool party by a white man.  In solidarity with justice for Blacks, Lifting Generation members drove in long lines of cars with signs calling for justice and demanding that Black Lives Matter.  There were hundreds and hundreds of cars across the county taking part in this socially distanced peaceful protest to end violence against Blacks in our country.

The Route Planned by Black Lives Matter San Diego

Jenn Budd speaking to Lifting Generations at Thorn Brewery, Barrio Logan

Andrea Guerrero, Executive Director of Alliance San Diego describing the New Border Vision

Tricia Gallagher-Geurtsen, Chair of Lifting Generations and Jenn Budd, Civil Rights Activist

February 7, 2020

(Warning: This post and links contain disturbing stories of violence, misogyny, and racism.)

I keep deleting the start of this post because I am not sure how to thank Jenn Budd for speaking to us last night.  How do you thank someone who has undergone unfathomable attacks and threats to her life and well-being while training and working for Border Patrol?  How do you thank someone for leaving Border Patrol and unveiling the truth about the violence, lies, crimes, misogyny, and shocking monstrosities that are the fabric of Border Patrol?  How do you thank someone who has dedicated her life to a humane border policy that treats migrants like sisters and brothers?  Dedicated her life to pulling back the curtain on abuse at the border?  It was not easy for any of us to hear the terrifying recounting of events but we are all better for knowing the truth.  We are so horrified that we must continue to take action.  Ways we can do that are to call out Border Patrol for their abuses and lies, write letters, take to the streets and Border Patrol offices and demonstrate, research local, state, and federal candidates to ensure their positions on the border ensure massive reform and respect for all of our sisters and brothers, share what we learned, and motivate like-minded people to register to vote,  vote, and write letters to get likely democrats to vote.  We raised $800 for Alliance San Diego.  Their New Border Vision is what we hope will gain traction so we can begin to live up to the promise of a welcoming and just United States.

Wow!  LiftGen members and guests were blown away by the powerful discussion of timely issues by four local women candidates of color on January 13th 2020: Andrea Cardenas - Chula Vista City Council; Marisa Calderon - CA 50; Olga Diaz - SD County Board of Supervisors, and Lawana Richmond - SDUSD School Board.  A robust discussion of how each candidate will address gun violence, the goodness that migrants bring to our communities and harness their experience and knowledge as women of color to enrich their constituencies and more were appreciated and served to educate and inspire the audience in attendance.  Thank you to LiftGen members Carolyn Shadle for hosting and to Deanna Niño and Elif Tinney for researching local candidates and communicating with them!  Thanks to local artist Elizabeth Tobias for her "Voting is My Superpower" artwork!  Don't miss our next event and mark your calendars for February 6, 2020 6:30-8:30 to hear from Jenn Budd, former Border Patrol Agent turned migrant activist!  Get your tickets here: Jenn Budd tickets.

LiftGen Writes Letters to Encourage Dem Votes in 2020!

Thank you to those who came out last week to help us write letters to encourage likely democrat voters in super states to vote!  We had a great time learning from board member Laura how to use the Vote Forward system.  Thank you Laura!  And thank you, Kim, for hosting us.  We enjoyed yummy snacks, wine, and drinks as we wrote our encouragement, labelled and sealed envelopes, and stuck fun stamps on our work!  Vote Forward makes it so easy - even printing and filling in each recipient's voter registration form that we include with the letter!  Wow!  I think we made a big difference for 2020!  The best part is you can continue this letter writing at home.  If you want to dig in, check Vote Forward out here!  If you'd rather learn how to do it with us, keep an eye out for an October date when we will get together again to write letters and orient newbies to the process!  

Yours in ReSisterhood,

Trish