People of Faith CT

According to Wikipedia, the following Connecticut state legilators
are affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council:

Rep. John Piscopo, Republican House Minority Whip
50 Judson Street
Thomaston, CT 06787
860-240-8700
john.piscopo@housegop.ct.gov
Member ALEC Board of Directors

Rep. Debra Lee Hovey, Assistant Republican Leader
296 Fan Hill Road
Monroe, CT 06468
860-240-8700
debralee.hovey@housegop.ct.gov
ALEC State Chairperson for CT

Sen. Kevin Witkos, Assistant Minority Leader
15 High Ledge Road
Canton,CT  06019
860-240-8700
kevin.witkos@housegop.ct.gov
ALEC State Chairperson for CT

ALEC has promoted the infamous NRA Kill-At-Will bill
and endless right-wing, racist, capitalist bills to:

In the Justice System:

*mandate local police to enforce federal immigration law like AZ SB-1070

*privatize prisons

*enact mandatory minimum sentencing

*treat juvenile offenders as adults

*create barriers to alternatives to prisons

*revoke financial aid to college students convicted of a drug offense

*suspend the driver's license of anyone convicted of a drug offense

*oppose bans on semi-automatic weapons

*oppose waiting periods for criminal and mental health background checks of firearm purchasers

*support concealed-carry gun laws

*encourage guns on campus

In Education:

*subsidize private schools with public tax dollars

*promote climate change denial in education

*eliminate teacher tenure

*subsidize private universities

Against Workers:

*repeal and oppose minimum wage laws

*repeal prevailing wages for government contracts

*limit union rights

*support so-called "free-trade" export of jobs

See ALEC Exposed:
http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

See American Legislative Exchange Council
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council

[The following speech was delivered by LaResse Harvey,
Executive Director of the
Civic Trust Public Lobbying Company
at the "Justice for Trayvon Martin" Rally
in Hartford on Saturday, March 31, 2012.]

Today we are here to show unity for Trayvon Martin. What we are not doing is being honest with ourselves. How many
times have we walked by a young black male with a hoody and instantly thought
the worst? Yes Zimmerman should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
However, we are all guilty of stereotyping, being prejudiced and biased toward
black youth in hoodies and baggie pants.

How many of us see a Trayvon walking into the bodega and believe he is going
inside to buy a Philly blunt? How many of us ever stopped to ask
ourselves…”Would we be here today if Trayvon Martin had a juvenile record?”
Let’s be honest!

There are laws created by fears, because most of our young black males look like
Trayvon Martin. There are movies, commercials, and media focused on skewing our
vision of a young black male. We do not challenge those negative images. We have
endorsed Mr. Zimmerman’s “suspicious looking” comment by not standing up against
other negative comments, laws, movies, and the like. We have turned our backs on
“our” own Trayvon Martins by supporting a new slave trade…the prison complex
industry, the criminal justice system, and dare I say the lack of an education
system.

We allowed nicely packaged laws like Drug Free School Zones give us a false
sense of security, without doing our own research. No one told you that there
are two laws that protect our children no matter where they play, sleep, and
live. These laws carry a 3 year mandatory sentence. The statues are status
21a-278a sections a and c -- if you give a child drugs to sell or try to sell
drugs to a child you are in violation of these laws. Call your state
representative and senator. Tell them to vote yes on SB 244 The Enhance Penalty
for the Sale or Possession of Drugs Near Schools, Day Care Centers, and Public
Housing Projects which would rescind the mandatory minimum sentences and allow
discretion by the judges. We are tired of losing our young Black and Latino boys
and men to a law that depletes our community and doesn't offer real substance
abuse treatment. Prison is not treatment. In 2009, over 19,000 individuals were
arrested for Drug Free School Zone law. This number equated to the prison
population. Only 24% of the prison population has access to drug treatment
programs. There is something wrong here.

Racism is alive in America. America has not changed. Electing an African
American President, did not free us from this truth. President Obama himself was
reminded that he too is just a negro, the day he apologized to a white beat cop
for what? Making a statement with the word “stupidly” in reference to a “white
man”? Zimmerman is getting away with the opposite. Because he is a white man and
the person Zimmerman killed is a young black male it is okay in the sight of the
law and most White Americans. Let’s be honest!!!

Action Alert from the Community Party:

Contact Your State Senator and Represetative and urge them to
amend the Penn Act to include the Community Party's language --
Provisions 2, 3 and 4 below.

Also urge Mike Lawlor who oversees criminal justice issue for the administration,
to support the provisions. Mike dot Lawlor at ct.gov

Why Is This Important?

Trayvon Martin was brutally murdered as a result of RACIAL PROFILING.
He and his family deserve justice but his murderer walks free!

Let's not forget about Jashon Bryant, shot and killed by a white police officer
in Hartford in 2005, Malik Jones, shot and killed by a white police office in 1997,
(both officers were acquitted) Oscar Grant, Sean Bell and so many other Black
males who have been unjustifiably killed by law enforcement.

The message sent to the general public by these killings is that young Black
males are a threat and must be dealt with accordingly.

Racial profiling has a trickle-down effect on the general public which leads to
hate crimes.

THE BEST WAY FOR FOLKS TO HONOR TRAYVON'S MEMORY IS TO
PROTECT THE TRAYVON'S IN CT BY SUPPORTING CHANGE TO CT'S
RACIAL PROFILING LAWS.

How You Can Promote Change:

Email your legislators and tell them that you support the Community Party's
Racial Profiling bill.

1) We want all motorists who are pulled over by the police to receive a traffic
stop receipt, which would include vital information such as the patrol officer's
name and badge number, driver demographics, and info on where to file a
complaint.

2) All racial profiling complaints should remain confidential and be processed
and investigated by an entity which is independent of law enforcement, such as
the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunites.

3) We want protection for religious minorities and a prohibition against harassment
of motorists or passengers about their immigration status.

4) We are calling for the creation of a Penn Act / Racial Profiling Oversight
Committee made up of the Minority Commissions, CHRO, Law Enforcement
officials, legislators and at least two community stakeholders.

Racial profiling is a layered issue - traffic stops are just one tool of racially biased policing.

The profiling bill which is currently being debated at the State Capitol, S.B. 364
An Act Concerning Traffic Stop Infofmation, only includes provision 1 above.
We need the other provisions for full protection.

Visit http://votesmart.org to identify your legislators.

Check out the Community Party's facebook page for updates on the Penn Act:
http://www.facebook.com/PennAct

By SAMAIA HERNANDEZ

The Hartford Courant
March 31, 2012

Protesters huddled around a podium at a North End intersection, braving the rain
and raw temperatures Saturday morning to engage in what has become an
international conversation on racism.

The killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old black student in Sanford,
Fla., who was shot by a neighborhood watch guard on Feb. 26, is just one example
of the effects of racism in the United States, according to more than 100 who
clapped and chanted for justice.

Martin's death prompted activists to call for fair policing in Connecticut,
better parenting in city homes and a renewed focus on education — which they
said have all been polluted by racism.

"This happened during the day. Where should [Martin] have been?" asked Hartford
City Councilman Kyle K. Anderson, standing on the corner of Albany Avenue and
Main Street. "In school, getting his education."

Martin had been suspended from school at the time of the shooting.

The rally in the North End was just one of several in Connecticut on Saturday.
Activists also gathered in front of the Capitol building and at campuses in New
Haven and Storrs.

Many of the protesters linked the killing to racial profiling.

"Racial profiling has a trickle-down effect on the general public, which
leads to hate crimes," said Mary Sanders, a member of the Community Party in
Hartford. "The best way for folks to honor Trayvon's memory is to protect the
Trayvons in Connecticut by supporting change to Connecticut's racial profiling
laws."

The Courant, in a recent look at more than 100,000 traffic stops reported in
Connecticut towns, found that Hispanic and African American drivers were much
more apt to get a ticket than whites — for the same offenses.

The legislature's Judiciary Committee this month approved amendments to the
state's anti-racial-profiling law that would require the state Office of Policy
and Management to develop a standardized form to be used during police stops,
and would shift to OPM the responsibility for analyzing the information gathered
on those forms. Proponents argue that the changes will improve compliance and
assure that police departments are held accountable if they mistreat motorists.

On Saturday, however, a diverse crowd was in agreement that action must be taken
to combat racism.

"We thought that with the election of President Obama that racism would end.
Racism is still alive in this country," Mayor Pedro E. Segarra said.

"It looks like there needs to be some federal intervention here," Segarra said
of Martin's case.

Segarra said his father was shot to death at age 19, a victim of what he called
Latino-on-Latino violence.

Frank O'Gorman, a member of the Queer Liberation Front, linked the teen's
killing to what he said was the white supremacy influencing police, courts,
government and education.

"Sanford is Connecticut, where African Americans and Latinos make up 23
percent of the general population but 80 percent of the prison population. Now
that looks suspicious," he said.

Sixteen-year-old Kejuan Williams said he doesn't worry about local police
treating him fairly. He said he feels safe in his hometown of Enfield, but has
concerns about safety in Hartford.

"It's a very tragic story," Williams said, who joined protesters across the
country donned in hoodies to symbolize racial stereotypes. "The fact that
[Martin] was young, he was a normal kid, and he likes Skittles."

[The following speech was delivered by Minister Cornell Lewis of the Men of
Color Initiative
at the "Justice for Trayvon Martin" Rally
in Hartford on Saturday, March 31, 2012.]

In Germany a man named Goethe said “truth comes to us first in a hideous mien.”
The solemn occasion for which we are gathered here today is like a recurring
nightmare. In European thought a nightmare hung over you like a cloud,
descending upon a victim and eventually placing an oppressive weight on that
sleeping person. The death of Trayvon symbolizes the nightmare so many black men
have suffered here in America--death.

And this reality of Trayvon descends upon our black consciousness, placing an
oppressive weight on our brothers and sisters that have gone asleep mentally,
and allowed such atrocities to continually happen. Like a Rip Van Winkle we go
to sleep (as a black nation) for 20 years until the next Blackman is killed;
then we lift voices to heaven crying for justice. Maybe we need not to look
toward heaven but recite a poem entitled With Freedom and Justice for Some:

Why should I love you red, white, and blue?
After all of the trouble you sent me through.
I was hated in the morning, and hunted down at night.
When I complained about my treatment, you said lord what a sight.
Because of my past treatment there is nothing for me to do,
But to turn my back completely on that red, white, and blue.

I tire of rallies where people of color sing, or pray, then go into hibernation
only to awake at the next death of a Blackman or injustice. We as a black nation
need to point out to America how dire our situation is. I am of the opinion that
the social soil in America is racially polluted. Zimmerman did not kill Trayvon
in a vacuum. The death happened due to an indifferent American society that set
the stage for a shooting by:

(1) not offering an apology to blacks for slavery,
(2) leading blacks to believe in the fiction that America is now over the
problem of race and prejudice,
(3) that Jim Crow is dead and will not arise on the 3rd day like Jesus,
(4) that any talk of reparations for blacks in America is stoking flames of
hatred.

Zimmerman shot Trayvon because of a reality that we as blacks do not want to
discuss openly in public (for fear of being called a racist).

. America has not had honest dialogue about racism
. America cannot bring herself to listen to black people discuss our pain
. America will not admit that a collective white consciousness exists that can
call a boy “a coon” then chase him down and shoot him like a damn dog.

[The following speech was delivered by Kamora Herrington at the "Justice for Trayvon Martin" Rally
in Hartford on Saturday, March 31, 2012.
Kamora is a member of the National Black Justice Coalition's Advisory Board
and spoke also as a concerned citizen and parent.]

We are gathered here this morning to demand justice for Trayvon Martin, a 17
year-old Black teenager murdered by a paranoid adult who believed that Trayvon
looked suspicious. Many have called this murder a senseless tragedy, but I beg
to differ. I don't know what United States of America you live in, but the USA
that I live in is the home of the scared and reactionary. It is a land that
relies on lazy stereotypes rather than allowing time for people to learn about
each other in the nuanced ways that are needed to forge respect for the
diversity that we give lip service to respecting.

Every day in America, young Black men are denied their right to live full and
autonomous lives, every few days young black men are abused by a system designed
to negate their humanity, and every couple of years there is a murder that is so
blatantly racist, so egregiously wrong that we gather on mornings like this to
demand that America value her melinated citizens.

I stood here four years ago demanding justice for the Jena Six; I asked that
people go home and read up on some American history and think. And talk. From
Emmitt Till, to Larry Davis, to Aquon Solmon, to Sean Bell, to Trayvon Martin,
et al, the lives of our men are not valued, and never have been. However, many
of us have made a dollar, moved to the suburbs and give lip service to a
post-racial America. Trayvon reminds us that there is no post-racial America
because America is not willing to confront or acknowledge her need to divide her
citizens. It doesn't matter if you can buy your way out of the ghetto, your
melanin marks you as 3/5ths of a human, someone whose murder can be justified
with the simple phrase, 'suspicious looking person'. A wink and nod and the
murderer gets to go home to continue his life, while a family and a people morn.

[The following speech was delivered by Frank O'Gorman of People of Faith CT
at the "Justice for Trayvon Martin" Rally
in Hartford on Saturday, March 31, 2012.]

We are here today
because we cannot be elsewhere.

We are here today
to unite across race and creed
to say despite our differences . . .
- an innocent life struck down
- a mother's inconsolable anguish
- a father's quiet grief
touches all of us
because though our skin be black, brown, yellow, red or white
our hearts are all the same color.

We are here today
because a life has been cheapened
a sacred and beautiful life
the life of a son of Africa.

A life once filled with promise and dreams
has been disrespected
treated like something to be disposed of . . . and forgotten . . . without a
name.

We are here today to say,
“HOW DARE YOU PROFANE!”
what is holy . . .
a young black man . . .
with a name
Trayvon Martin.

We are here today
because grief by itself is hard enough to bear
but this is a parents' surreal nightmare.

This is whitewashed murder
where the killer becomes the victim

where George walks
and Tayvon is on trial but can't talk:

Black, strike one
Male, strike two
Young, strike three

The crime has become wearing a hoodie . . . “looking suspicious,”
Not racism,
not prejudice
not racial profiling
not stalking
not pulling a trigger at point blank range.
No . . . wearing a hoodie . . . “looking suspicious.

Grief by itself is hard enough to bear:
“First they killed my son, then they killed his reputation.”
I swear, We swear:
IF THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE WILL BE NO PEACE!

Justice for Trayvon Martin, Shaima Alawadi and all victims of racism!

Tuesday March 27, 2012 at 6PM

Court House - Elm St and Church St, New Haven
Sponsored by A.N.S.W.E.R. CT

On Feb. 26 in Seminole County, Fla., George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin.
The 17-year-old Black youth was walking home from the store.
Martin was unarmed with only a pack of Skittles and a can of iced tea in his pockets.
Zimmerman, captain of the local neighborhood watch, pursued Martin and gunned him down
in broad daylight, in front of many witnesses.

Zimmerman stated that the unarmed Black teen appeared “suspicious” and “threatening.”
Local police did not arrest Zimmerman at the time.

Justice demands that Zimmerman be arrested and charged in the killing of Trayvon Martin
and the Sanford Police Department be investigated.

Shaima Alawadi was a Muslim woman, an Iraqi living in California and a mother of 5.
She was attacked this past week, beaten on the head with a tire iron and found in a pool
of blood by her 17-year-old daughter.
Shaima Alawadi died Saturday afternoon from her injuries.

The attacker(s) left a note at her home that read, "go back to your country, you terrorist."

We must build a fight-back movement against bigotry, racism and Islamophobia.
Join us Tuesday March 27, 2012 at 6PM to say no to racism and anti-Muslim bigotry!

http://www.facebook.com/events/339404776106567/

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JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON MARTIN
 
The people of Hartford will take to the streets
on Saturday, March 31 at 10am to call for justice
for Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old boy MURDERED in Florida
by racist George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman HAS NOT been arrested or charged for killing Trayvon Martin.

Join us to call for the arrest of George Zimmerman,
and to show solidarity with the family of Trayvon.

Let the world know that OUR COMMUNITY WILL NOT ACCEPT the murder of an unarmed
young Black man by a racist vigilante in the guise of a “neighborhood watch” member!

A Black teen in a hoodie DOES NOT equal “suspicious!”

Trayvon Martin was LYNCHED and we DEMAND JUSTICE NOW!!

Let us show our strength as a community!

MEET AT ALBANY AND MAIN 10AM SATURDAY, MARCH 31!

Speakers include: Minister Cornell Lewis; City Council Members Cynthia Jennings
and Kyle Anderson; Laresse Harvey of Civic Trust Lobbying; J. Stan McCauley
“The People’s Mayor”, Kamora Herrington of the National Black Justice
Coalition’s National Advisory Board, concerned citizen and parent; Frank
O’Gorman of People of Faith and Queer Liberation Front

For further information, call 860-461-2611

Download Flyer below:

http://faithct.net/sites/default/files/justice-for-trayvon-martin-hartford.pdf

http://www.facebook.com/events/208948682544608/

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Hoodies Up New Haven- A March for Trayvon Martin

Saturday, March 31, 2012
3:00pm until 6:00pm

Sponsored by the Black Student Alliance at Yale

On February 26, 2012, 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin was shot and killed
in Sanford, Florida by unofficial neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman admits to killing Martin, but claims he was acting in self-defense.
A month after Martin’s death, no arrests have been made and Zimmerman remains free.

Join us as we march&rally for justice for Trayvon, for the arrest of Zimmerman,
and in support of amending the Alvin Penn Racial Profiling Act being considered
in the CT legislature.

We'll start at the Dixwell Community "Q" House and march to the New Haven Green.

WEAR YOUR HOODIE TO THE MARCH!!!

www.bsay.org/hoodiesupnewhaven

Sponsoring Organizations
The Black Student Alliance at Yale [BSAY]
My Brother's Keeper
MEChA de Yale
Yale Chapter of the NAACP
The Connecticut African American Emancipation Committee [CAAEC]
Unida Latina en Accion
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity
UNH NAACP
SCSU NAACP
Yale College Democrats
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority

El 26 de febrero del 2012, un joven afro-americano de 17 años llamado
Trayvon Martin fue baleado y muerto en la ciudad de Sanford, estado de Florida.

El hombre responsable se llama George Zimmerman y era el autoproclamado
vigilante de su barrio.

Y el dice que lo hizo en defensa propia.
Un mes después de los hechos George Zimmerman sigue impunemente libre.

Unase a Unidad Latina en Accion y otros grupos en una marcha para pedir justicia
para Trayvon Martin, el immediato arresto de George Zimmerman y en apoyo al reciente
proyecto de ley en contra del perfilamiento racial presentado en la legislatura
estatal de Connecticut.

La marcha comienza en 197 Dixwell Avenue y termina en el Green.

http://www.facebook.com/events/262248417195485/

PRESS CONFERENCE: Monday, March 12th, 12:30PM, New Haven City Hall
at which time this letter will be read to the public by Occupy New Haven:

Dear City of New Haven Administration,

Occupy New Haven has received a letter from the City of New Haven stating that the City would like the encampment on the Upper Green dissembled and removed by “mid-March”. After this time, we would be allowed to return every so often, pending the granting of permits by City Hall. Seeing that significant changes have not occurred in our government and the broader society at large, we at Occupy New Haven would like to take the opportunity to deliver an official reply to the city’s request:

Globally, across the nation, and here in Connecticut, the 1% and those acting in the interests of the 1% have carried out a one-sided assault on working-class people, which has been exacerbated by the economic crisis created by the same 1%. Lawmakers, politicians and corporate interests have eroded the living standards of ordinary people, as Wall Street criminals have lined their pockets with taxpayer-funded bonuses. At the same time, our rights have been taken away by the PATRIOT Act, NDAA and other violations of civil liberties. We, the activists of Occupy New Haven, refuse to vacate the Upper Green or dismantle the camp. Our presence is not a camping trip. Being in solidarity with the global Occupy movement, our presence is a visual testament to the growing class inequality present in our city, nation and world.

The following list of grievances and demands outlines the corruption and moneyed interests that plague our city. As Occupy New Haven is a broad collective of people from many struggles and walks of life, this list does not represent every interest, but some of the most critical for our city at this time.

Fund all public schools equitably and sufficiently. Stop all public school giveaways to for-profit corporations and charters.

Extend library hours.

Provide funding for community-led youth and social programs, so that youth have access to safe spaces that offer engaging and enriching programs. For example: reopening the Dixwell Ave. Q House

Provide safe and adequate low-income housing. Replace all low-income housing that has been removed to make way for luxury living units. Utilize and repair currently empty houses to prove stable living situations for the city’s homeless population.

An immediate end to foreclosures and gentrification processes that marginalize the community to create profitable opportunities for corporations at the expense of working-class people.

Establish a real All-Civilian Review Board for the NHPD, independent of the police department, that would be transparent and accountable to the public and able to discipline officers who commit crimes against the people.

Invest in meaningful, well-paying union jobs in our communities and stop privatizing public-sector jobs.

Seeing as the mayor makes $127,070 per year, and the police chief make $150,000 per year while the average family income in New Haven is $35,950, limit the salary of elected and appointed city officials to match the average income of a family in the city.

End tax exemptions for Yale, which is the among the top 5 richest universities in the world.

As we have not seen the change we demand in the city, the nation, and the world, we will not be leaving the Green at this time.

Sincerely,

Occupy New Haven