Activity Requests: Tuesday

[Note: As always any sample messages, letters, etc. that we provide are just that, “samples.” The samples are just what we’re sending out from this end and you are strongly encouraged to use your own judgment, voice and perspectives. Our prose, tone and approach can always be improved upon and quite frankly a good mix of perspectives is better than blindly following our samples verbatim (we’re just expressing one opinion among well over a 1500 different member opinions). We don’t do messaging for the group (nor do we aspire to) or ever speak for the group, but instead merely facilitate our members’ ability to speak at once for more power and volume. If you’re a “professional communicator” or would like to help with recruiting, research, administration, etc. shoot us a note and we’ll be happy to get you involved. There is no lack of work to be done.]

Outreach to Civil Rights Groups

This is of course a partial list of civil rights groups. We can’t know everything, nor do we have a staff or the resources to do all the required research. We depend on YOU! If we missed some on this pass, send them in and we’ll try to add them to the next outreach to civil rights groups.

What we would really like is for some of YOU civil rights experts and activists to take this effort over and get it fully organized and energized. We on this end are NOT experts in this vein and your efforts and expertise would be greatly appreciated. Grassroots political lobbying is all about YOU getting involved and volunteering. So shoot us a note if you can help with this effort and we’ll get you involved.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

http://sclcnational.org/net/write.aspx?s=2607.0.12.2607

National Urban League

http://www.nul.org/contact-us

National Action Network

http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/contact.html

The Al Sharpton Show 877.532.5797

Rainbow Push Coalition

info@rainbowpush.org

773.373.3366

Southern Poverty Law Center

http://www.splcenter.org/contact-us

NAACP

WASHINGTONBUREAU@NAACPNET.ORG

We know they are a registered lobbyist on HR3149 and we found the following link from December, but we don’t know much more than that.

http://www.naacp.org/get-involved/activism/alerts/111thaa-2009-12-22/CREDIT.SCORES.HIRING.pdf

NCLR

http://www.nclr.org/section/about/feedback/

LULAC

BWilkes@LULAC.org

[Sample Letter for Civil Rights Groups]

SUBJECT: H.R.3149: The Equal Employment for All Act

While I may have missed something, your organization does not seem to be fully and publicly supporting passage of HR3149: The Equal Employment for All Act now sitting stalled in the House of Representatives. In short, the legislation would make it illegal for employers to access and use personal credit reports as criteria for hiring and firing. I believe this employer discrimination practice and gross invasion of privacy - that cuts across the entire white and blue collar employment segments - constitutes the single most important workplace issue in America today. This is most especially true during this, the worst economy since the Great Depression! When you deny a well qualified human being the right to work in America – you violate the core principals of justice set down by our founding fathers and prevent millions and millions of Americans from affording food and shelter . . . the basic requirements to sustain life. Without passage of H.R3149 there is simply no way out of the horrible cycle of no job = bad credit and bad credit = no job. Employers today are forcing almost half of “blue collar” job applicants and more than 80 percent of “white collar” job applicants to turn over their personal credit report. The credit reports are being used as the first cut in the screening and hiring process and believe it or not - the percentage of employers using this discriminatory practice is rising rapidly. This practice constitutes a modern day debtor’s prison where millions of Americans are relegated to a lifetime of under-employment at best with no hope whatsoever of ever working their way out debt or improving their credit report. It’s un-American to brand someone for life and lock out a highly qualified worker from the workplace. Nonetheless, it’s happening right here in America and without your help, we cannot generate the number of citizen voices necessary to force passage of the legislation.

As a civil rights organization, how can you not be more fully supporting HR3149? Statistically, the minority community is twice a likely to be a victim of predatory lending and is experiencing an unemployment rate far higher than non-minority Americans. The right to work is the most basic of all rights in America and without passage of HR3149 millions of minority people are simply locked out of the workplace or barred from ever changing jobs. It’s just WRONG and we need your help to bring the practice to an end.

Please stand up for the American worker and the minority community you’re charged with representing by using your membership, your communication channels, your political channels in Washington and your publicity channels to force Congress to listen to 90% of the American people that demand passage of HR3149 NOW!

Basics of the Legislation:
http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2009/11/basics-of-bill-now-pending-in-house.html

Platform for Passage:
http://hr3149.blogspot.com/2009/11/basis-of-platform-for-passage.html

[End Sample Letter]