Posted on June 15, 2018
LGBTQ people in the U.S. must be counted in the census
Although this administration continually refuses to recognize it, LGBTQ people across the nation have celebrated June as Pride Month since transgender women of color and other activists fought for their lives at the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Pride Month is a time when many LGBTQ people feel emboldened to partake in joy publicly and show the nation the strength and size of our communities. Pride Month is when many of us feel visible.
And though it’s incredibly important to feel visible, we have an incredible opportunity to be visible as well.
Most people think of the census as a long, boring survey they have to fill out because some census person will not stop coming to the front door. But, these people are tasked with ensuring every household completes the census because it is critical that every person is counted. Results from the census are used to determine aspects of our democracy and social services funding for an entire decade. Through the census, we can have an impact on how many seats in the House of Representatives a state receives and how district lines are drawn. We determine how $675 billion is distributed for important programs our communities use, such as Medicaid, Section 8 housing vouchers and SNAP.
To hold that power, LGBTQ people in the United States must be counted in the census, but the Trump administration is taking steps to stop us from being counted. It has slashed funding for the 2020 census and has significantly delayed outreach and partnership plans to ensure people who were historically undercounted in the census are counted. It has also added a dangerous and racist question about citizenship status that could cause dramatic undercounting of immigrant communities and communities of color
We deserve to be represented, we deserve to have funding for our needs and we deserve to be visible.
Posted on June 12, 2018
Tuesday Tip: 5 Gift Ideas for Progressive Dads and Grads
Good gifts for great people: celebrating dads and grads!
June is the month for celebrating fathers and graduates: The grads for what they’ve just done, and the dads for what they do every day.
If you’re shopping for a gift, we offer these suggestions, gathered from CREDO staff members who are giving gifts to dads and grads this month.
(Standard disclaimer: Products listed are not endorsed by CREDO Mobile. Before purchasing any product, please confirm that it meets your personal standards for corporate ethics.)
If there’s a coffee lover (or bird fan) on your list, look into Birds & Beans Coffee. This is the only company in the United States or Canada that sells exclusively shade-grown coffee certified bird friendly by the Smithsonian.
Migratory songbirds are in rapid decline and a primary cause is habitat loss as forests throughout Latin America are cleared. Often the reason they’re cut down is to plant full-sun coffee farms, which provide higher yields and larger corporate profits but are disastrous for birds.
Birds & Beans buys from over 2,250 family farms that grow beans planted in the shade, under a canopy of trees that provides habitat for birds. It pays top dollar so that farmers will keep growing coffee this way and so they can provide a decent living for their workers and families.
Birds & Beans coffees are certified organic and cost around $13 for a 12 ounce bag. Keep in mind that shade-grown coffee tends to be of higher quality and taste better than sun-grown coffee. Starting at $13.
Boozik Bamboo iPhone Amplifier
Your dad or grad no doubt has music on their phone. This eco-friendly fair trade amplifier is a great way to add volume while on the go. Just insert an iPhone into this 9-inch length of bamboo, and you can boost volume by 25 percent to 50 percent, without any batteries or electric cords. The results will vary depending on your surroundings.
It fits easily into a bag or pocket. It’s slow oven–dried and enameled with water-based lacquer for strength, durability and a smooth aesthetic. It fits all iPhones except the 6 Plus and can also accommodate a phone with a case or thicker frame. $32.
Your grad’s dorm days are a thing of history now, which means it’s time to start cooking! And if you’re going to learn to cook or just make regularly cooking meals a habit, why not try out vegan meals?
Check out Vegan for Everybody: Foolproof Plant-Based Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and In-Between, published last year by America’s Test Kitchen. The authors started from scratch to find vegan ingredients that produce dishes that are flavorful, satisfying and easy.
Like baja-style cauliflower tacos with crispy coconut-coated cauliflower, spicy mango slaw and cilantro cream. And butternut squash chili with quinoa and Peanuts. There are also delicious egg- and dairy-free baked dishes. And interesting discoveries like aquafaba, which is the liquid left over from cooked (or canned) chickpeas. It’s the ideal egg replacer. You can use it in pies, cookies and cakes, even beat it into peaks like egg whites. $19.95
Here’s a cool gift for the dad or grad who’s a traveler – even if the trip is to the office or the coffee shop. Santa Cruz, California-based EST/WST has partnered with skilled artisans in Nepal and India to design these functional, attractive backpacks that “blend Eastern cultures with Western styles” (and hold a laptop).
They’re made from traditional textiles and durable natural fibers, including organic cotton, handwoven wild nettle, organic ikat handwoven in villages in India and dhaka from a workshop where the textile was created in a remote hill station in southern Nepal.
The rucksacks and other EST/WST products, including totes, caps and scarves, help sustain and keep relevant traditional artistic and cultural practices in communities now being inundated by Western commercialism. EST/WST pays a premium for high-quality materials, which enables its partner collectives to pay fair wages. Products are stitched in factories in the United States and at a fair-trade factory in India.
Starting at $110
iPad sixth generation from CREDO Mobile
Give your progressive dad or grad a CREDO Mobile membership, the only mobile carrier that shares their values. Values like support for women’s rights, social equality and climate justice – and adamant resistance to the Trump agenda.
Join today to give the new sixth-generation iPad, released earlier this year. The 9.7-inch iPad 6 is ideal for checking email, browsing the web or binge-watching Netflix. And don’t forget the iPad Apple Pencil for creating art on your iPad.
Best of all, when you give the gift of CREDO Mobile, you give the pride and satisfaction of membership in a nationwide movement fighting for a better world – and against the Trump agenda of hate, greed and deceit.
That’s a gift no one will ever forget. Now $299.99 ($99 savings) plus cost of plan.
Posted on June 7, 2018
CEOs Should Get Political, But Only Authentically
CEOs Should Get Political, But Only Authentically
Our CEO Ray Morris weighs in on taking an authentic political stand and how CREDO Mobile made that move, previously considered “public relations suicide,” to becoming a leader bringing about change on social and political issues, which is now a business necessity.
“CEOs Should Get Political, But Only Authentically” originally published on Forbes.com, April 25, 2018.
“Republicans buy shoes too.” The controversial quote, attributed to basketball legend Michael Jordan when he refused to endorse Harvey Gantt over avowed racist Jesse Helms in a 1990 Senate race, had dogged him ever since, despite doubts over the statement’s authenticity. Nonetheless, it reflected a longstanding brick wall between business and politics. After all, who wants to put off potential customers?
But there is a limit to this mindset, even for the biggest corporations. When President Trump equated both sides in the Charlottesville protests, his CEO-led business advisory councils disbanded – just one example of how his behavior and rhetoric have compelled companies to ignore the historic wall between corporations and issue activism. Recent Super Bowl commercials confirm this trend, hawking beer with touching (albeit often ham-handed) immigrant stories, and car ads calling out racial and gender bias. As corporate activism surges under this administration, it seems that companies are rushing to appeal to today’s consumers by standing with DREAMers, proclaiming environmental bona fides or dropping sponsorships with the National Rifle Association (NRA) after horrific school shootings.
How did taking a political stand shift from public relations suicide to business necessity, and how can we know when companies are acting authentically or with solely financial motives?
When our company, CREDO Mobile, was started more than 30 years ago, the founders wanted to show that a company could have a true moral compass as well as a strong political voice. Our goal was not to function as a tool of political candidates or parties. Rather, we sought to do the right thing and see if we could achieve our business goals as well as our vision for a more progressive future while inspiring the public to take action.
We pursued these two ends authentically, acting on our values, not from pressure to adapt to consumer whims. It worked because our customers liked the quality of products and also appreciated the ability to put their monthly bills to work for causes they care about, like funding Planned Parenthood, Doctors Without Borders, Friends of the Earth, the American Civil Liberties Union and dozens of others. CEOs just now wading into the political fray shouldn’t do so to woo customers — they should do it because it’s the right and necessary thing to do.
The evidence supports this approach. A company’s reputation can hinge on its response (or lack thereof) to developments in politics and broader society. As a Global Strategy Group (GSG) survey found, 81% of consumers believe CEOs should play a leadership role in bringing about change on social and political issues, and they are actively trying to understand where the companies stand on certain issues — a marked increase over previous years. In fact, the study shows that consumers are willing to go beyond simply tolerating a company’s activism and now actually embrace it, suggesting that all else being equal, a huge swath of the market will be loyal to a company that fights for their values.
There is an important caveat, bringing us back to the importance of authenticity: While it’s crucial to take a stand on critical issues, companies must do so quickly. GSG found that following a current event, half of Americans now expect a response from a corporation within 24 hours. This separates the authentically political from bandwagon jumpers-on because this timeframe is just too short for poll-testing, focus-grouping and hand-wringing over risking the bottom line. Companies that act from their long-held values can continue doing so with confidence, knowing their customers will remain loyal.
Article reposted with permission from Forbes Technology Council. Read the original article here.
Posted on June 5, 2018
Tuesday Tip: 10 Ways to Reduce Your Energy Use This Summer
Tuesday Tip: 10 Ways to Reduce Your Energy Use This Summer
People were cooler in the ’80s. Literally. The last time the global monthly temperature was below average was February 1985. Which means that if you were born after that date, you have not enjoyed a cooler-than-average month in your entire life.
Clearly, climate change is an urgent—if not the most urgent—existential problem facing our planet. Here at CREDO, we know this, and that’s why we mobilize our millions of CREDO members to take action on climate justice issues, like stopping dirty energy pipelines and keeping fossil fuels in the ground, and why we support groups like 350.org, Rainforest Action Network and Earthjustice through our CREDO donations program.
Of course, we also do our part at home by conserving energy where we can to shrink our carbon footprint. To help you save energy in your home, we offer the following 10 suggestions.
Close your curtains.
Shut your curtains or blinds to keep out the heat during the day. Doing this can cut home heat gain by 45 percent, according to the Department of Energy. Curtains are not as effective as blinds but even a medium-color curtain with white plastic on the back can cut heat gain by 33 percent.
Set your AC higher.
If you use air conditioning, set it at the highest temperature you can tolerate comfortably. You’ll save 10 percent a year on your cooling bill by setting your thermostat 10 to 15 degrees higher for 8 hours each day. Also: AC will not cool a space faster if you crank it to the maximum when you get home. Dialing the thermostat down to 60 won’t get you to 70 any quicker. You’ll just waste extra energy and money.
Get a fan.
If you don’t have a ceiling fan at home, a floor fan will also do a great job of keeping you cool. If you use air conditioning, a good fan will allow you to raise your thermostat 4 degrees with no reduction in comfort, according to Energy.gov, though your personal results may vary.
Make a personal AC.
Put a bowl of ice in front of an electric fan. The fan will blow the cold air in your direction and keep you cool. This uses a lot less energy than air conditioning. And it really is a thing, we didn’t make it up! It actually does work, if only for a short while.
Close doors and vents.
Don’t waste energy cooling rooms you don’t spend time in. Close the doors to these rooms and shut the vents that supply them.
Plant trees.
If you have a house, plant more trees, shrubs and bushes around the edges. They not only provide shade, they cool the air before it penetrates your walls and windows.
Line dry your clothes.
Clotheslines are making a comeback. And summer, of course, is the best time for line drying. The sun is available and you’ll keep radiant heat from the dryer out of your home. Also: air dry your dishes if you have a dishwasher.
Wash in cold water.
A whopping 90 percent of the power consumed by your washing machine is used to heat the water for warm-water washing, according to Energy Star. Switch to the cold-water setting and you’ll save a lot of energy. But look for a cold-water detergent next time you’re shopping. They actually are formulated to work better in cold water (the claim is not just marketing).
Turn down your water heater.
Water heating accounts for 15 to 25 percent of energy consumption in the average home, says the Department of Energy. Turning down the temperature 10 degrees Fahrenheit on your hot water heater saves 3 to 5 percent on energy costs, so a drop from 140 F to 120 F saves you 6 to 10 percent.
Use solar lighting outdoors.
Outdoor solar lights have improved markedly from the dim, short-lived lights of years past. Bright LEDs have replaced conventional bulbs and better photovoltaic cells have boosted efficiency. LEDs create light without generating heat, so they run on far less energy and last longer. The lights are simple to install, virtually maintenance free and provide free light for your yard.
Plus this one: consider CREDO Energy, a new CREDO product we’ve launched in partnership with Energy Rewards to enable you to choose 100 percent renewable wind power while supporting progressive causes. Learn more at CREDO Energy and sign up to be notified when it’s coming to your state.
Posted on June 2, 2018
Our May grantees thank you for your support
Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three incredible organizations. Those small actions add up – with one click, you can help fund groups fighting for voting rights, civil rights and digital rights. In May, nearly 50,000 CREDO members voted to distribute our monthly donation to Brennan Center for Justice, Detention Watch Network and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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 MayApril grant recipients thank you.
Brennan Center for Justice
$60,645
“At a pivotal and challenging moment for American democracy, the Brennan Center could not be more grateful for support from CREDO members like you. Thank you for joining the fight to protect voting rights, the rule of law and equal justice.” To learn more, visit brennancenter.org.
Detention Watch Network
$46,350
“Thanks to supporters like you, Detention Watch Network will continue to make strides in attaining our vision of a world without immigration detention. Thank you!” To learn more, visit detentionwatchnetwork.org.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
$43,005
“Because of CREDO members like you, our values live in the way we defeat threats and champion progress. We’re proud and humbled by your passion for freedom and the future that ought to be. Thank you.” To learn more, visit eff.org.
Now check out the three causes we are funding in June, 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.
Posted on June 1, 2018
Vote for these three progressive groups this June
Each month, we ask CREDO members to vote on how we distribute funding to three great progressive causes. This June, CREDO members have the chance to support organizations fighting for reproductive freedom, battling climate change and defending transgender rights by voting for NARAL Pro-Choice America, Rainforest Action Network and the Transgender Law Center.
Learn more about these groups below and click here to vote for one, two or all three groups today.
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its 1.2 million member-activists fight every day to protect and expand reproductive freedom – including access to abortion and birth control, paid parental leave, and protections from pregnancy discrimination.
Funding from CREDO members would help NARAL mobilize its 1.2 million members-activists under a mantra of Power, Progress, Principles: building power through people, carving out a path toward real progress and holding our leaders accountable to these principles. Funding would also help the organization gear up for a major Supreme Court challenge to NARAL’s Reproductive FACT Act, the first reproductive rights test for the Gorsuch Court.
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network preserves forests, protects the climate and upholds human rights by challenging corporate power and systemic injustice through frontline partnerships and strategic campaigns.
CREDO funding would support the escalation of RAN’s on-the-ground and digital organizing campaign to oppose JP Morgan Chase’s financing for tar sands through high profile non-violent direct actions that secure media attention. These direct actions would show JP Morgan Chase that its involvement in tar sands will harm its brand image by exposing its financial links to human rights abuses and climate chaos.
Transgender Law Center
The Transgender Law Center does what it takes to keep transgender people alive, thriving and fighting for liberation. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all.
In these uncertain political times when federal support for transgender equality has been rolled back, transgender immigrants are bearing the brunt of double attacks on their rights and well-being. Funding from CREDO members would allow TLC to rapidly move forward with impact litigation when an appropriate case presents itself, organize a National Training Institute or provide particular technical assistance to communities when state or local issues create a heightened need for trans organizing, or provide Trans Immigration Defense Effort support in response to urgent threats facing immigrants.
Your vote this June 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 June 30.
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 May 30, 2018
Victory: New Jersey passes renewable energy legislation
Big victory for renewable energy in New Jersey! Thanks to our allies and CREDO activists in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed a “historic measure to revive renewable energy in New Jersey.”
More than 2,600 CREDO members in New Jersey signed our petition urging the state legislature to stand up for solar power. Now, New Jersey will help to lead the way in promoting clean, renewable solar power to its residents by creating New Jersey’s first community solar program and ramping up New Jersey’s Renewable Portfolio Standard – the rule that requires power companies to include an increasing percentage of renewable energy in the energy they sell.
To all our New Jersey CREDO members, thank you for your activism.
We also want to thank our allies at Vote Solar, Earthjustice, the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA), the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Sunrun who have been working hard on the ground in New Jersey and advocating to move this legislation forward.
Posted on May 29, 2018
Tuesday Tip: 5 Books for Summer Reading
Tuesday Tip: 5 Books for Summer Reading
Summer will be here soon. Days will be longer and, magically, you’ll have a lot more time to do stuff – like surf the internet or binge watch that Netflix series you missed.
Or read a good book. Yes, that’s more like it. Relax with a cool drink and a book and improve your mind. It’s true. Research shows that reading is excellent for your thinking and memory and maintains brain health as you age.
Here are five of our favorite books for summer reading.
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt
This is the emotional and inspiring true story of a transgender girl, her identical twin brother and a small-town American family’s journey from discovery to understanding to fierce advocacy for transgender rights. Ellis Nutt, Pulitzer Prize–winning science reporter for the Washington Post, delivers a luminous account of the Maines family, as parents Kelly and Wayne rise above their preconceptions, learn to love both their children equally and launch a landmark legal fight that forces a town to confront its prejudices and a school to rewrite its rules. It was also named one of the best books of the year in 2015 by the New York Times Book Review.
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer
From land of the free, home of the brave to toxic Trumpscape. How did we get here? Investigative journalist Mayer shows us how, revealing the small group of immensely wealthy, extremely conservative plutocrats who have made America the bastion of inequality, tribalism and scorched-earth capitalism it is today. For decades, a secretive group of oligarchs – including the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins and the Bradleys – have spent billions to design and deliver a plan that has fundamentally altered our society, culture and politics. An eye-opening and frankly frightening account of how the United States has been made what it is today by a faction of right-wing families with entirely their own interests in mind.
Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out and Finding the Courage to Lead by Cecile Richards
Cecile Richards is the daughter of the late, great, straight-talking Texas Gov. Ann Richards. She served as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for more than a decade. In this highly personal and instructive memoir, she describes how she learned to lead and make change and fight for women’s rights and social justice, starting when she was sent to the principal’s office in 7th grade for protesting the Vietnam War. Richards tells a powerful story of the prejudice, fake news and threats of violence that face those who challenge the status quo – and she urges us to fight through it all to take risks, make trouble and create a better world along the way.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
A longtime civil rights advocate and litigator, Alexander makes the case that the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a system of racial control, imprisoning Black men by the millions, relegating them to permanent second-class status and repressing communities of color. The rate of incarceration for African Americans nearly tripled from 1968 to 2016, and Black boys now face a 32 percent probability of incarceration in their lifetime. This is a system designed to maintain African Americans as a permanent underclass, Alexander argues convincingly. Her book is a must-read for all people of conscience.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
What does an extinction look like? It looks like a massive asteroid impact. Like an enormous volcanic eruption. And it looks like now. In the past half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions in which the diversity of life on earth decreased suddenly and dramatically. We are now seeing a sixth extinction and the cause of the cataclysm is not asteroid or megavolcano but us people. In prose candid, entertaining and, yes, discouraging, New Yorker writer Kolbert explains how we are changing the planet’s environment as no species ever has and she compels us to rethink the fundamental meaning of what it is to be human.
Posted on May 23, 2018
Why did AT&T pay Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen $600,000? We have some ideas.
Earlier this May, we learned that AT&T paid Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, $600,000 to “advise” on various matters in the telecommunications industry – even though Cohen is not an expert in the field. Cohen is widely considered a “fixer” who is best known for paying hush money to a woman with whom Trump allegedly had an affair and accepting massive sums of money from corporations in exchange for access to the president.
The timing of the payments to Cohen through a shady shell corporation raises serious questions about AT&T’s intentions to influence the Trump administration.
First, AT&T’s proposed $85 billion mega-merger with Time Warner is currently pending before the Department of Justice, which has sued to block the merger from moving forward. Trump has also publicly opposed the merger and promised to block it if he was elected. CREDO and our members have pressured the DOJ a number of times to reject this merger, which would hurt consumers, decrease competition and drastically increase market concentration.
What was AT&T expecting from Cohen and Trump after making such a massive payment? Cohen is no policy expert and, as far as we can tell, has no serious understanding of the telecom industry. An internal memo from AT&T claims Cohen was hired to work on “legislative policy development” and “regulatory policy development.” This reasoning simply doesn’t pass the smell test.
Second, payments from AT&T flowed into Cohen’s bank account starting in early 2017 and ending in January 2018 – just as Trump’s hand-picked FCC chairman Ajit Pai pushed through the repeal of net neutrality regulations despite massive public outcry – including from hundreds of thousands of CREDO members and even 75 percent of Trump supporters. We already knew AT&T opposed net neutrality, but now internal documents from AT&T reveal that the company paid Cohen to work on issues “with a focus on the FCC.”
Unlike AT&T and its corporate grift, CREDO Mobile has never given money to Donald Trump’s lawyer, and we never will. CREDO customers will never have to worry that their mobile carrier will participate in a pay-to-play scheme to win approval for corporate mega-mergers or destroy net neutrality.
At CREDO, our customers know that their phone bill is supporting progressive organizations and grassroots activists fighting to stop Trump and his right-wing agenda, including the battle to protect net neutrality and preserve a free and open internet.
Here’s the comparison of AT&T and CREDO – by the numbers:
Posted on May 22, 2018
New video: UltraViolet’s Shaunna Thomas visits CREDO Headquarters
UltraViolet Executive Director Shaunna Thomas joined CREDO Action Co-Director Heidi Hess for a special conversation to discuss how the organization is fighting sexism and standing up for women’s rights. If you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the full video below or on our Facebook page.
LIVE NOW: Ultraviolet at CREDO Headquarters
CREDO welcomes UltraViolet Executive Director Shauna Thomas to discuss the #MeToo movement and her organization’s important work standing up for women’s rights.
Posted by CREDO Mobile on Tuesday, May 22, 2018
