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Posted on September 6, 2022

Why Teach Reconstruction in 2022

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Note from the CREDO team: This September, Facing History and Ourselves is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will help educators across the country nurture students’ analytical skills, empathy, academic engagement, and civic agency—even amidst efforts to restrict teaching about race, identity, and other vital aspects of American history and life.

Read this important blog post from Facing History and Ourselves, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this September.

Man representing the Freedman’s Bureau stands between armed groups of Euro-Americans and Afro-Americans.
Image used in Reconstruction video series.

“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” —James Baldwin, “A Talk to Teachers” (1963)

Over the last year, we have seen an explosion of debate within the public sphere about how to teach young people about the past. From antebellum slavery to contemporary manifestations of racism and other forms of injustice, communities remain divided on the question of whether and how to introduce these dimensions of history and contemporary life into the classroom. One way to deliver meaningful instruction in the midst of these debates is to teach about the Reconstruction Era—the period that immediately followed the Civil War in which formerly enslaved people pursued meaningful freedom and equal citizenship. This period was transformative, in part, because these newly-freed people and their allies across the U.S. South helped to make profound changes to democratic institutions. During this period, African Americans achieved significant, hard-won gains that students are seldom taught about, only to be undercut by a countervailing host of regressive measures implemented by those invested in maintaining the racial and economic status quo. This period of unprecedented possibility and hope would become a time of immense injustice and violence, and the roles that actors large and small played in those events are instructive for our times.

At Facing History, we believe that much is lost when we fail to engage this history in the classroom, and that our nation at large stands to gain a great deal by recovering knowledge of this historical period and its lessons. We recently supported our partners at the Zinn Education Project in an advisory capacity with their Teach Reconstruction Report (January 2022). A core component of their Teach Reconstruction Campaign, the report offers a state-by-state analysis of the ways in which Reconstruction is addressed—or not—around the country with an emphasis on the widespread erasure of the Black freedom struggle from K-12 curricula.

Since 2014, we have helped educators adapt our curriculum on the Reconstruction Era to their classrooms and students. Our experience supporting educators on this topic has strengthened our belief that students of Reconstruction gain a host of fundamental lessons about American history and the roles they can play in the future of the nation. Here are three of those core lessons:

Interracial democracy that includes widespread Black political leadership is indeed possible

Many people are unaware that with new freedoms and Constitutional amendments, the United States saw an outpouring of Black political leadership in the aftermath of the Civil War. In communities across the South, Black people held elected office and set profound changes to their communities into motion. This basic fact is unknown to many modern Americans, perhaps in part because the American history taught in schools so often skips over this significant period, effectively advancing an understanding of the past that obscures both what has been and what could potentially be again.

Present-day barriers to interracial democracy were never inevitable

The history of Reconstruction reveals that there were alternative paths that the nation could have taken after the Civil War that may have landed us in a profoundly different present characterized by a much more robust interracial democracy. A typical account of Black history in America might highlight a linear story of gradual improvements from enslavement to emancipation to the Jim Crow Era to the Civil Rights Movement to the Obama presidency. Viewing history in this light might suggest that change can only ever come slowly but the sudden wave of Black political leadership during Reconstruction disrupts these assumptions and demands that we understand that the present-day problems we face did not have to develop and are not necessarily unshakable.

Individual choices really do matter and make history

Studying the history of Reconstruction reveals that American history is lined with recurring cycles of social progress and backlash in which everyday people have surmounted immense barriers to drive powerful change. Though some people might look at this chapter of American history as one that reveals the impossibility of fundamental and lasting change, our view at Facing History is that our history simply reveals that we must remain ever vigilant in the fight against injustice. Rather than focusing on the possibility of our gains being reversed, we ought to focus on learning from our past and from the courageous and oft-overlooked gains made by newly-freed people in the Reconstruction era for example. If we can learn from their strategies and successes as well as the violent and often devastating resistance they faced, we can better hone our approach to the collective action upon which democracy depends.

To learn more about how Facing History helps students explore complex ethical issues, reflect on choices they confront today, and embrace their civic power, visit facinghistory.org.

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Posted on September 1, 2022

Need to scan a document? You can do it from your smartphone for free

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We’ve all been there: You need to scan a document to sign, send or save — but honestly, who has an actual scanner at home?

Luckily, you can scan all of your important documents safely and securely right from your smartphone.

In this week’s tip, we’ll give you a few quick steps to scan and save documents on your iPhone and Android device for free.

Scanning documents from your iOS device

You can easily scan documents from your iPhone or iPad from right inside the Notes app. Here’s how to scan documents from your iOS device:

  1. Open the Notes app . If you can’t find the Notes app, search for it by swiping down from the middle of the home screen (on older devices, you might need to swipe right). Tap the search bar, start typing “Notes,” then open the app.
  2. Create a new Note or open an existing Note.
  3. Tap the Camera button , then tap Scan Documents
  4. Hold your phone over the document or object you want to scan and follow the instructions on the screen (for example, your device may ask you to move closer or farther away).
  5. If Auto is enabled, your device should automatically scan. If not, manually press the shutter button . Drag the corners to adjust the scanned area, and press Keep Scan. Then, scan a new document to add to the Note or press Save.
  6. In order to use the document outside of the Notes app, you may want to send it to yourself or someone else. To do that, tap the More button to bring up a list of commands, including Send a Copy.

Scanning documents from your Android device

Scanning documents and saving them as PDF files from your Android device is just as simple. Here’s how:

  1. To begin scanning, open Google Drive
  2. Next, tap Add in the bottom right corner of the app.
  3. Then, tap Scan
  4. You can now adjust the scan area, take the photo again, or scan another page.
  5. Tap Done when you’re finished. Your file will be saved in your Google Drive.

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Posted on September 1, 2022

Our August grantees thank you for your support

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Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three incredible nonprofits. Those small actions add up – with one click, you can help fund groups working for civil rights, climate justice and economic justice and so much more. Amid the recent unprecedented attacks on women’s rights and reproductive freedom CREDO members in August voted to distribute our monthly donation among three amazing women’s rights organizations: the Abortion Care Network, She the People and Women’s March. 

These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our August grant recipients thank you.

 Abortion Care Network

“Thank you for standing up for the indie clinics who provide the majority of abortion care! CREDO grants will support the network of independent clinics & allies working to keep abortion care accessible. We are deeply grateful for your partnership.” – Nikki Madsen, Executive Director, Abortion Care Network

To learn more, visit www.abortioncarenetwork.org.

She the People

“Thank you for your partnership in this movement. CREDO members like you allow us to continue centering the narratives of women of color, and our work in building collective power to advocate for racial, economic, and gender justice.” – Aimee Allisson, Founder + President, She the People

To learn more, visit www.shethepeople.org.

Women’s March

“Thank you for your support of our movement. CREDO members like you make Women’s March’s work possible — CREDO grants have supported the millions of everyday women in our base to take action for gender, racial, and economic justice.” – Rachel O’Leary Carmona, Executive Director, Women’s March

To learn more, visit www.womensmarch.com. 

Now check out the three groups we are funding in September, and cast your vote to help distribute our donations.

CREDO members who use our products are the reason why we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile, the carrier with a conscience.

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Posted on August 25, 2022

Important security patch: It’s time to update your smartphone

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Now is a very important time to update your smartphone.

Apple recently issued critical security updates (iOS 15.6.1) for iPhone, iPad, Mac and other Apple products to patch a vulnerability that “may have been actively exploited” by attackers who could execute malicious code on those devices.

What does this mean for you? We recommend that you update all of your devices to the latest operating system as soon as you can — even if you’re an Android user, since Google has also issued separate security patches recently.

If you’re not sure how to update your smartphone, we’ll quickly show you how.

How to update your iPhone’s operating system (iOS)

  1. Make sure to plug in your phone to a power source and ensure you’re connected to the internet through a WiFi network.
  2. Go to Settings > General > Software Update
  3. Choose Download and Install (if it’s already downloaded, choose Install Now)
  4. If you do not see the above options, it is likely your device is already updated to the latest operating system
  5. It’s also a good idea to turn on Automatic Updates, too.

How to update your Android’s operating system

  1. Make sure to plug in your phone to a power source and ensure you’re connected to the internet through a WiFi network.
  2. Open Settings > System > System Update, then follow the directions on your screen
  3. Now, check for security and Google Play updates. 
  4. Open Settings > Security
  5. If a security update is available, tap Google Security checkup.
  6. To check if a Google Play system update is available, tap Google Play system update.
  7. Follow the directions on the screen.

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Posted on August 18, 2022

How to stop smartphone apps from collecting your personal data

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Smartphone apps can collect a whole lot of data about you: 

Your name and email address, location history, personal contacts, photos and videos, purchases, health and fitness data, financial information, browsing and search history, your IP address and other sensitive data.

Why? Your personal data is worth money — and although Apple and Google are working to crack down, these companies may share and sell your data to third-parties, usually without you even knowing.

If you’re concerned about your privacy, here are a few steps you can take to further protect your data on your smartphone.

Stop third-party apps from collecting data on iPhone

  1. Limit app tracking, to prevent apps from tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking > Toggle off “Allow Apps to Request to Track”
    • Toggle any app in the list below to “off” as well
  2. Limit app access, , to contacts, microphone, photos, health, etc:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy 
    • Click on the category you would like to limit app access (for example, Photos)
    • Click on an app in the list and change the permissions
  3. Limit location sharing
    • Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services (Note: Location services may be essential for some apps to function properly or as expected, think ride-sharing, mileage tracking or weather apps.)
    • Choose an app to change its permissions

Stop third-party apps from collecting data on Android

  1. Limit location sharing:
    • Go to Settings > Location
    • Choose specific apps to modify their location permissions
  2. Turn off diagnostic data sharing and marketing information:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy
    • Toggle off Send diagnostic data & Receive marketing information
  3. Turn off ads personalization:
    • Go to Settings > Google
    • Tap Ads. Toggle on Opt out of ads personalization
    • Depending on your Android model, you may need to go to Settings > Privacy to access this option
    • Delete or reset your Advertising ID.
  4. Remove permissions from apps:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy > Permission manager
    • Choose and tap a permission to modify settings
    • Choose the app and tap Don’t Allow, Ask every time or Allow only while using the app

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Posted on August 12, 2022

How CREDO funding is helping Planned Parenthood Action Fund fiercely fight for abortion rights

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Note from CREDO: In January 2022, CREDO members voted to distribute $55,235 to Planned Parenthood Action Fund to help the organization continue the fight for reproductive freedom and health care access. In total, CREDO is extremely proud to have donated $3.7 million to Planned Parenthood, its Action Fund and affiliates since 1996. Please take a moment to read this incredible update from the organization about how it utilized funding from CREDO to preserve and expand access to reproductive care.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund is pleased to share an update on work CREDO has helped to make possible over the past six months. 

This reporting period has been a time of grave challenges for reproductive health and rights: The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has eliminated the federally protected right to abortion and opened the floodgates for as many as 26 states to move to ban abortion. A total of 36 million women — nearly half of the women of reproductive age (18-49) in the United States — and more people who can become pregnant — will likely lose abortion access within a matter of weeks or months, if they haven’t already. Communities that already face the greatest barriers to care will be harmed the most. While we are devastated, we are also resilient, better equipped and more determined than ever before. The Action Fund will never stop fighting to ensure every person has the care they need to control their bodies and build their futures.

As we approached the Supreme Court decision, the need to galvanize Planned Parenthood supporters around the existential threat to abortion access became increasingly urgent. The leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion provided further impetus. Working in close collaboration with coalition partners, Planned Parenthood organizations participated in a national Bans Off Our Bodies Day of Action on May 14 that drew more than one million supporters to the streets. In the 24 hours following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, Planned Parenthood organizations mobilized tens of thousands of supporters across the country. More than 550 coalition events were held nationwide, including more than 80 hosted by Planned Parenthood organizations.

Earlier in this reporting period, we mounted a fierce fight to preserve and expand access as many states rushed to pass abortion bans in anticipation of the then-pending Jackson Women’s Health decision. The Action Fund worked at a furious pace to provide local Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations with the critical organizing, communications, lobbying, and policy guidance they needed to defend and expand access. We used these fights to further garner public awareness of how our rights were gravely threatened.

Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations scored important defensive victories despite the hostile climate. For example:

  • In February pro–reproductive health legislators in Virginia defeated a measure that would have banned abortion in Virginia after 20 weeks of pregnancy and subjected providers to potential felony charges for violating the law.
  • Several abortion restrictions were defeated in Iowa, including a medication abortion restriction bill, a trigger ban, and 12-week ban, which all failed to meet a procedural deadline and earn a final vote.

In more supportive states, Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations have successfully advocated for the following measures to expand abortion access:

  • The Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act in New Jersey, a historic law that includes protections for abortion, birth control, and pregnancy care;
  • Repeal of Illinois’s parental consent requirement, removing the final abortion restriction on the books in a state that became critical to abortion access since the fall of Roe;
  • Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act, which codifies the protections established by Roe into state law; and
  • A California bill eliminating out-of-pocket costs for abortion patients covered by private health insurance plans.

Also during this period, Planned Parenthood Action Fund worked to promote a bold, proactive federal policy agenda and ensure that the Biden-Harris administration prioritized sexual and reproductive health care. We have been in close communication with the administration about the abortion access crisis since Texas’s six-week abortion ban went into effect in September 2021. As we got closer to a ruling in Jackson Women’s Health, the administration used its bully pulpit to shape the national conversation around the chaos and harm of overturning Roe. Examples include Vice President Harris’s virtual roundtable with abortion providers — including doctors from Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and SW Missouri and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast — and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s testimony at a Senate hearing about how banning abortion would be “very damaging” for the economy.

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund is rallying the overwhelming majority in this country — the 80% who support legal abortion — while working with local Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations to fiercely defend against restrictions in strategically selected states. We are also providing support to expand access wherever possible, while prioritizing those states where gains will increase access for people living in adjacent, more restrictive jurisdictions.

As part of the Bans Off Our Bodies campaign, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood local organizations are organizing millions of advocates around the country to demonstrate widespread momentum for abortion rights. In July we launched a “Summer of Dissent,” a mass mobilization that harnesses the outrage of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision into a movement-defining state of action. This includes hundreds of events; volunteer phone banking and social media outreach; a corporate day of action; and actions by Planned Parenthood Black, Latino, and patient organizing programs.

Additionally, we are pressing the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to do all in their power to safeguard abortion access. In the immediate aftermath of the court’s ruling, the Action Fund and our coalition partners have been working with the administration to implement emergency and longer-term measures, including those in the Executive Order (EO) signed by President Biden in early July. The EO takes a vital step toward protecting and defending access to abortion care in a post-Roe reality.

CREDO has been a staunch corporate partner throughout this crisis — showing up time and again to voice support for abortion access leading up to and in the wake of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Planned Parenthood Action Fund is deeply grateful for CREDO’s incredible partnership and unwavering commitment to reproductive rights. Thank you for standing with us at this pivotal moment.

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Posted on August 12, 2022

Grounded in Love, Justice and Belonging – She the People Reimagines a World Led By and For Women of Color

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Note from the CREDO team: This August, She the People is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community this month will help She the People’s efforts to elevate women of color as a core voting bloc and leaders of a new progressive political and cultural era.

Read this important blog post from She the People’s Fariha Hussain, Major Gifts and Donor Relations Director, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this August.

Founded and led by Aimee Allison — a recognized voice in the national efforts to elevate the power of women of color — She the People is amplifying the leadership, insights, power and solutions brought by women of color across the nation. The organization is building a multiracial coalition to ensure women of color win racial justice, gender equality, and an inclusive democracy.                            

Now more than ever, women of color are critical to strengthening racial and gender justice in our troubled country. Polling and history demonstrate our commitment to a progressive solution-oriented agenda as voters, activists, and leaders. Yet women of color are underserved as a community and significantly undervalued and underrepresented at all levels of government. It’s time for that to change.                                    

Our country needs the full participation of women of color to advance new, justice-centered possibilities. Grounded in the values of love, justice and belonging, She the People is building for this transformative change led by Black, Latina, Indigenous, Muslim, Asian American and Pacific Islander women working across a national network connecting women of color to transform our democracy.

Working in strategic coalition with women of color and their organizations from around the country, She the People surfaces insights from our diverse communities to activate leadership and social change by:

  •     Charting a path towards an America redefined and inspired by women of color.
  •     Building a multiracial coalition to ensure women of color leaders, candidates, organizers, creators, and voters to win racial justice, gender equality, and inclusive democracy.
  •     Centering women of color in political conversations and decisions, with a focus on multiracial, Muslim, trans, undocumented, poor, and women with disabilities.
  •     Illuminating untold stories of our participation and power in community and national political movements and successes and then winning seats in governance and leadership.

It’s Our Time – Join the Movement

We are redefining and elevating women of color as a core voting bloc and leaders of a new progressive political and cultural era. There are several ways to support our work:                      

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Posted on August 11, 2022

How to clear your phone’s cache to save space and improve performance

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It’s inevitable: Our phones start to slow down and that precious memory space begins to fill up — causing a whole host of annoying problems that seem to get worse over time.

So how can you improve the performance of your smartphone and free up space for more photos, videos and text messages? 

Clearing out your cache. In this week’s quick tip, we’ll show you how to clear your cache to save space and improve your smartphone’s performance.

So what is cache?

Essentially, cache is the data stored by your phone’s browser or apps after opening a webpage or program for the first time to speed up loading times the next time you access it. While this can help load times in the short term, this digital clutter can eventually use up a lot of space on your phone and slow it down in the long run. That’s why we recommend clearing out your cache once a month.

Clear cache on an iPhone

As we mentioned above, there are two types of cache stored on your device: app and browser cache. Here’s how to clear both:

Clear cache on Safari

Safari is the default browser on iPhones. If you use a different browser, click these links for Chrome or Firefox to learn how to clear the cache from those apps.

  • Go to Settings > Safari > Tap Clear History and Website Data, then confirm.

Clear iPhone app cache

  • Go to Settings > General > select iPhone Storage then let the page load.
  • You will see a list of apps sorted by which ones are using up the most space.
  • Click on an app, then tap “Offload App”
  • Additionally, you can enable “Offload Unused Apps” to automatically save space from apps you haven’t used recently

Clear cache on Android

Clear cache on Chrome

  • Open the Chrome app > tap three dots for More > History > Clear browsing data and follow the instructions to clear out cookies, site data, cached images and files.

Clear Android app cache

  • Open Settings > Storage > Other apps.
  • Tap the three dots in the top right and choose “Sort by size”
  • Choose an app and tap it, then tap Clear cache.

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Posted on August 10, 2022

We Won’t Go Back: Thousands of Everyday Women Gather in Houston, TX for this year’s Women’s Convention

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Note from the CREDO team: This August, Women’s March is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will power travel and accommodations scholarships for the Women’s Convention in Houston, TX, so everyday women activists can build the skills and community required to create the feminist future we all need.

Read this important blog post from Caitlin Breedlove, Deputy Executive Director of Organizational Advancement at Women’s March, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this August.

Amid the greatest attacks on our freedom and bodily autonomy in a generation, we are filled with rage and determination. Thus we must consolidate everyday women and allies together into a force with one overriding purpose: to strengthen our capacity to defy and defeat the radical right, as we work to build a feminist future where everyone can thrive. We won’t sugarcoat the situation: These are dire and dangerous times. We won’t win back what we lost overnight. No single strategy can undo the damage that has been done. This moment requires all of us to bring our best and highest contribution using every tool in our toolbox. 

Not everyone’s work at this moment is to organize women as a political group, but it is ours, and this roadmap is our offering as a strategic intervention. Our opposition seeks to divide us, and yet we commit to organizing with people of all genders who are affected by the current onslaught of attacks, as well as our allies.

That is exactly why we organize to build power — especially with this August’s Women’s Convention in Houston, TX. The Women’s Convention is a weekend of workshops, strategy sessions, inspiring forums, creative expression, and intersectional movement building. It will be a place where cause, community, and creativity intersect. We provide a space where people can meet, share common interests, and engage on issues of civic engagement, accelerated by pop culture. We engage activists by melding traditional organizing programming with non-traditional programming, including salons, art spaces, screenings, social programming, and women’s workforce development.

We know that a robust and growing majority of the country’s population supports our values, even as the right works to enact its racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, and transphobic priorities into violent public policy with long lasting and deeply harmful impact. 

Our interventions will bring together people from the gender justice, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, and environmental justice movements, to build collective power for both the short- and long-term. We are gathering in Houston this summer to nourish and strengthen our spirits, to sharpen our organizing skills, to forge the personal connections that sustain every movement for justice. We know that there will be no solution that does not involve more of us, more everyday people, not just the choir. We need to broaden our partnerships: that is why the convention partners with Planned Parenthood, Black Feminist Future, National Women’s Law Center, NOW, Mozilla, National LGBTQ Task Force, UltraViolet, and so many others. We know that we need more brand new activists: which is why we organized the content of the convention around delegations from 43 states, and learning tracks that equip new women activists with skills while building community.

Tarso Ramos of Political Research Associates often says when you study the history of authoritarianism you see that a key antidote to this tyranny is a mass-based women’s movement. We need one now. So, we are uniting women and our allies around shared values, experience, and culture so we can heal wounds from the pandemic, the economic depression, and a history of racism to build a nation that works for all of us. 

The 2022 Women’s Convention is not just about building a community, it is about building a community with a purpose. It is for us those new to social change, and those of us who need to rekindle our hope and determination through community. We need to glimpse the feminist future we want in order to build it.

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