Posted on July 1, 2018
Vote for these three progressive groups this July
Each month, CREDO members vote to help us distribute our monthly donation to three great progressive groups. This month, you can help support groups fighting for civil rights, climate justice and racial equality by voting for the ACLU, Amazon Watch and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
American Civil Liberties Union
A long-time CREDO ally, the American Civil Liberties Union fights vigilantly to make the promises of the Constitution real for all people in the United States.
In the era of a hateful administration undermining the civil rights and civil liberties of Americans, immigrants, Muslims, women, CREDO funding will give the ACLU the flexibility to take advantage of new advocacy and litigation opportunities and respond to emerging crises.
Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch campaigns to defend the Amazon rainforest and advance indigenous rights by challenging resource extraction and promoting indigenous led alternative solutions.
Funding from CREDO members would enable Amazon Watch to hire a field organizer in Brazil to strengthen our advocacy campaigns against the new wave of industrial expansion taking place in the Amazon, largely in indigenous territories. Or, it could help the organization scale up its solar program in the Amazon to provide power to a school in U’wa territory of Columbia and support solar powered boats for the Ecuadorian Achuar to provide them with fossil free transport within their territories.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the country’s foremost civil rights law organization, working to achieve racial justice, equality and an inclusive society.
In today’s turbulent political climate, LDF’s goal is to prevent what could otherwise become a multi-generational loss in civil rights gains and protections. CREDO support will help ensure that LDF has the resources to carry out its core operations, while also engaging in rapid response activities in the face of countless new assaults on civil rights. Through litigation and advocacy, LDF will work to eliminate discriminatory voter suppression tactics and educate the public on their voting rights.
Your vote this July will determine how we divide our monthly donation among these three progressive causes. Be sure to cast your vote to support one, two or all three by July 31.
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.
Posted on June 28, 2018
Free Posters to Download for Families Belong Together March on June 30
Donald Trump doesn’t care about immigrant children, and his recent executive order does nothing to help children still separated from their parents and families who are being detained and jailed at the border.
The massive outrage over Trump’s inhumane family separation policy has put Trump and his Republican lapdogs on the defensive.
That’s why, on June 30, CREDO is supporting massive Families Belong Together protests in Washington and in cities and towns across the country to increase pressure on Republicans in Congress and the Trump regime to abolish ICE and stop criminally prosecuting immigrants and detaining families.
- To learn more about the protest, visit the Families Belong Together event page.
- If you have the means to support groups fighting for immigrants rights, please click here to rush a contribution right now.
If you’re attending a protest, we have free posters for you to download, print, and bring with you.
Download your free posters
Download ICE: Inhumane Cruel Evil (PDF) – 18×12 in.
Download Familias Merecen Estar Unidas (PDF) – 18×12 in.
Download Freedom for Immigrants (PDF) – 18×12 in.
Download Abolish ICE (PDF) – 12×18 in.
Posted on June 27, 2018
CREDO and UltraViolet are fighting Google’s deceptive “crisis pregnancy center” ads
In the age of Trump, the fights for women’s rights, reproductive freedom, equal pay and equal treatment have become extremely difficult.
Trump and his sexist administration have emboldened anti-women Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures across the country. These cruel and craven lawmakers have advanced policies that would block women’s access to affordable birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, prenatal care, breast exams, and safe, legal abortion.
And it’s not just members of the Trump administration and right-wing lawmakers who are attacking women’s health and rights. Some corporations are making it even harder for women to access the care they need.
Right now, Google is allowing crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to entrap women on its platform. CPCs are fake health clinics that do not provide health care and spread lies about abortion to scare women into carrying unwanted and life-endangering pregnancies to term. They use deceptive Google ads to steer women away from trusted health care providers like Planned Parenthood, which offers medically accurate health advice and safe, legal abortion. Right now, misleading CPC ads appear above Google Search results and in Maps results when women use the platform to look for information about abortion in more than 20 regions across the United States.
CPCs infringe on women’s ability to freely and safely access medical care. That’s why CREDO has teamed up with our friends at UltraViolet to expose Google’s continued promotion of fake health clinics and demand that it stop now.
Posted on June 27, 2018
Brands, take note: The LGBTQ community needs allies all year, not just in June
You see it every year – brands like Miller Lite, Abercrombie and Fitch and McDonalds slap rainbow flags on their products in June in hopes of attracting a lucrative demographic through their support of Pride.
And it’s no surprise. A recent Gallup poll finds that more than 11 million Americans self-identify as LGBTQ. Companies go where the consumers are.
But this once-a-year, superficial approach strikes us as opportunistic, especially at a time when marriage equality and LGBTQ rights are under increasing threats by a right-wing Supreme Court and extremists at the highest levels in the Trump administration.
We believe brands can and should embrace Pride Month, but they should extend their support for the LGBTQ community throughout the entire year.
Some companies have tried to get it right, especially at the state level. In 2015, Salesforce and Angie’s List announced boycotts of Indiana when then-Gov. Mike Pence signed anti-LGBTQ legislation into law. IBM, PayPal and Google did the same in 2016 when North Carolina passed anti-trans legislation. And corporate pressure helped defeat anti-LGBTQ bills in 2017 in Texas as well.
But too many corporations still donate to the Republican Party or to Republican politicians who are relentless in their attacks on LGBTQ equality. And attempts to capitalize on Pride by simply changing a Facebook profile image or sponsoring a Pride parade or slapping a rainbow flag on a french fry box come off as simply another gimmick on the marketing calendar.
If brands want to support the LGBTQ community, they should do so authentically and all year-round, starting with the understanding that Pride Month was founded on resistance, and it isn’t a once-a-year party that corporate America can crash.
Here at CREDO, supporting LGBTQ rights is at the core of who we are as an organization. We not only speak out when we see discrimination, we actively campaign against it. We’ve been fighting for marriage equality and LGBTQ rights for decades. And with our monthly donations program, our members have voted to donate more than $5.7 million to progressive organizations fighting for LGBTQ rights, like the National LGBTQ Task Force and the Transgender Law Center, who you can vote for this month.
With the constant attacks by the Trump administration and right-wing conservatives on their civil rights, the LGBTQ community needs allies all year, not just in June. We hope other brands who are cashing in this month remember that.
Posted on June 26, 2018
New video: A conversation with CREDO ally Stand Up to Oil
Keeping fossil fuels in the ground and resisting oil and gas infrastructure projects are two of CREDO’s core issues in our fight for climate justice. That’s why we were proud to host a live conversation with our allies from the Stand Up to Oil (SUTO) coalition. SUTO’s Rebecca Ponzio and Linda Garcia joined CREDO Action campaign manager Brandy Doyle to discuss how SUTO organized communities and stakeholders in Vancouver to reject one of the largest proposed oil terminals in North America. If you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the full live stream below, as well as an extension of the conversation from SUTO.
We’re going LIVE with CREDO ally Stand Up To Oil to learn how they’re helping keep fossil fuels in the ground! Tune in on Tuesday, June 26 for a live discussion with the team.
Posted by CREDO Mobile on Tuesday, June 26, 2018
We’re live to continue our discussion on the CREDO Mobile page about our Vancouver victory!
Posted by Stand Up To Oil on Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Posted on June 26, 2018
Tuesday Tip: 5 Ways to Have a Greener BBQ
5 Ways to Have a Greener BBQ
We don’t want to rain on your charcoal, but have you ever considered the environmental impact of barbecuing? It can be significant. Here are 5 steps to a smaller barbecue footprint.
Plan your menu
Inviting guests? You can avoid food waste if you figure out exactly what they’ll be bringing and precisely what dishes you need to supply. Then, make a detailed list and stick to it when you shop. If you do have leftovers, send them home with your guests. For more tips on avoiding food waste, read our previous post.
Buy local food
Choose food raised locally when you can. Less fuel has been used to transport it, and many small local farms are sustainable and pesticide-free.
And, of course, choose a lot of vegetables. Veggies can be great on the grill, and they’re far less harmful to the environment than meat. Several years ago, New Scientist magazine reported that the production of four half-pound burgers produces more greenhouse gases than driving three hours while you leave all the lights on at home.
If you do cook meat, go organic or grass-fed if you can. To find sustainable producers in your area, try the Eat Well Guide.
Don’t use disposables
Choose reusable plates, cups and utensils. If that’s not realistic, there are now more sustainable disposables like 100 percent recycled paper plates or organic bamboo tableware. Check out Bambu, which has all sorts of sustainable bamboo selections, or Bio & Chic, which has everything from sugarcane plates to cornstarch cutlery.
If you do use plastic cups, make sure to provide cup markers so your guests won’t use more than one cup.
Get off your briquettes (and even your gas grill)
When it comes to outdoor grilling, the two most popular fuel options, charcoal and gas, aren’t necessarily the most eco-friendly. But if you must use one over the other, gas is slightly better for the environment, you and your family’s health and the climate.
A charcoal grill produces three times more greenhouse gases than a propane grill, and that’s not including the greenhouse gases emitted by the charcoal kilns where the briquettes are made.
Gas is more efficient than charcoal. Around 90 percent of propane makes it out of the production process as usable fuel, while only 20 to 35 percent of the source wood winds up as a charcoal briquette.
What about electric? It can be a good option if your power comes from green renewable sources, but if not, electric grills can emit the most carbon of all.
If you must have that charcoal flavor on your grilled foods, look for natural or environmentally certified charcoal chunks. They’re more sustainable – and less distasteful. Conventional charcoal briquettes often contain nitrates, petroleum solvents and coal dust. Yum.
Check out Royal Oak Star Grill Lump charcoal, which is from renewable oak, hickory, maple and walnut hardwoods with no chemicals or additives. Royal Oak annually converts hundreds of millions of pounds of lumber industry waste wood into the charcoal.
Choose to chimney
If you do ’cue with charcoal, start your chunks with a chimney. It’s quick and easy. Never use self-igniting charcoal – those briquettes that light at the touch of a match. They’re soaked with paraffin, petroleum products and other accelerants. Also avoid lighter fluids. Most of them emit volatile organic compounds, which can have adverse effects on your health.
Here’s to blue skies and greener BBQs this season.
Posted on June 23, 2018
June 26: A Great Day for Equality
June 26 is the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic verdict in Obergefell v. Hodges, when the court declared same-sex marriage legal across the United States and granted all Americans the right to marriage equality. For impact, the decision ranks with Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education.
In the words of lead plaintiff Jim Obergefell, it “affirms what millions across this country already know to be true in our hearts. Our love is equal.”
Opponents argued that the legalization of same-sex marriage would fundamentally change the institution of marriage. And it did – for the better. In the three years since the Obergefell decision, millions of same-sex couples have married and, in doing so, added strength to the institution of marriage.
Here at CREDO, we’ll be celebrating June 26 and marriage equality along with all people who believe in equal rights. We’ve worked hard for decades to make it reality. Hundreds of thousands of CREDO members took action for marriage equality. We fought for and won the freedom to marry in many states.
CREDO members have also voted to donate millions of dollars to groups fighting for marriage equality, including the National LGBTQ Task Force, Freedom to Marry, Courage Campaign, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Campaign, and the ACLU.
But we know the work is not done – especially now as the Trump administration, Republican Congress and, yes, Supreme Court (hello, Neil Gorsuch) level new assaults against the rights of LGBTQ people, including the recent verdict in Masterpiece Cakeshop, the case of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. Donald Trump’s first year in office was a full on assault on LGBTQ rights: He tried to reinstate a ban on transgender people in the military; he stacked his cabinet, his administration and the courts with anti-LGBTQ extremists; and even, in his petty way, refused to recognize Pride Month.
So, yes, we’ll celebrate today. But tomorrow we’ll continue the fight for LGBTQ rights. To quote our friends at GLAAD, “Marriage equality is a benchmark, not a finish line, and our work to bridge the gap to full acceptance for LGBT people continues.”
Posted on June 22, 2018
CREDO leads protest at DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s house in Alexandria, Virginia
This morning, we led a protest at the Alexandria, Virginia house of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, one of Trump’s leading henchmen who is implementing Trump’s cruel and inhumane immigration policy.
She doesn’t just oversee the ICE and Border Protection agents who are ripping families apart, criminalizing immigrants and terrorizing immigrant communities, she also spent much of the last few weeks defending and even denying the atrocities she was committing.
At the protest, we loudly played leaked audio of crying children who were separated from their parents at the border and marched with signs branding Nielsen a “child snatcher.”
You can watch a video of the protest here:
Posted on June 21, 2018
PRIDE 2018 Free Posters to Download
June is Pride Month, and here at CREDO, we’re celebrating along with our friends and allies in the LGBTQ community.
We know that with LGBTQ rights under constant attack by Trump, extremists in Congress, and elected officials in state houses across the country, our work to ensure equal rights and protect marriage equality is a year-round fight.
But we also know how important it is to celebrate. Many of us are attending parades this month, and if you are, too, we’d like to offer some free posters you can download, print out and bring along with you.
Download Your Free Poster
Download Show Your True Colors (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Download Pride and Joy (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Download Hope Not Hate (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Download Equality (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Love Trumps Hate (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Love is Love (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Pride 2018 Hashtag (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Pride 2018 (PDF) – 11×17 in.
Posted on June 19, 2018
Ways you can fight Trump’s policy of ripping children away from their parents at the border
This post has been updated to bring you breaking news.
CREDO leads protest at DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s house in Alexandria, Virginia:
