ISSUE 1

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”

— Zora Neale Hurston, a queer Black American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker from Eatonville, Central Florida

Hello! This is the first edition of our new weekly newsletter – Future Florida. 

2020 is the year we answer the question: ”Are we better than this?” And our goal is to keep you informed, empowered, and energized so that come November, the answer is a full-fledged YES. So we’ll keep you up to date on What’s Happening, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to build power and defeat Donald Trump in 2020.

Our hardworking organizers and volunteers are on the ground all over the state assisting our partner organizations with mutual aid benefits, organizing actions in support of Black Lives Matter, and checking in on their neighbors to make sure they’re alright as we all live through Trump and Ron DeSantis’ failure to control COVID-19. 

We’ll also be doing the electoral work that taking back power requires, which means we’ll need volunteers to help us call and text voters (no door-knocking until real experts tell us it’s safe).

Once you’ve finished reading, let us know what you think.

• It’s Pride month and this year we’ll be uplifting queer Black history. Did you know that the first Pride was a protest? That’s right, the Stonewall uprising was led by Black and brown trans women like Marsha P. Johnson after police raided a LGBTQ+ haven in NYC.

• On Monday, in a surprising 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and sex, includes gay and transgender workers, that you cannot be fired based on their sexual orientation nor their gender identity.

• Four years ago, during Pride month, 49 souls were stolen from the Sunshine State at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Most of the 49 people killed were from Florida’s Hispanic community. We’re keeping the victims and survivors in our hearts this month.

• Juneteenth is on the 19th. It commemorates the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that the Civil War had ended and enslaved African Americans were free, although there was no way to enforce it in southern states like Texas.

• On Tuesday, we saw Florida’s highest number of new COVID-19 cases (over 2,700 new cases) since the pandemic began. We haven’t had more than two days of decline since the start and Ron DeSantis has pushed to reopen the entire state while covering up data (again and again) with little regard for the safety of Floridians.

• People are still taking to the streets to exercise their right to protest – demanding action to address police brutality and systemic and systematic racism. Thousands of Floridians in every corner of Florida have come out to show solidarity and demand action since the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade.

• “I don’t want their names gone in vain, those lives may be lost, but we cannot be scared. You are angry and it’s OK to be angry,” said BLM activist, Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau, to a crowd of BLM protesters in Tallahassee as a response to the police killing of trans man, Tony McDade. Days later, Toyin was found dead after tweeting that she had been sexually assaulted on June 6th.

• Just like racism did not end with the abolition of slavery or the election of Barack Obama, homophobia and transphobia did not end with the Marriage Equality Act. Violence against Black trans men and women has increased in recent years. And on May 27th of this year, Tony McDade, a Black trans man was shot and killed by police in Tallahassee, FL and was one of the catalysts of the Black Lives Matter protests around the country.

• On Monday history was made, but the fight for equality is far from over. Some are calling for states like Florida, with bad record on LGBTQ rights, to take this ruling as calling to take action. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board is calling on Ron DeSantis to sign an executive that prohibits “discrimination against LGBTQ Floridians on housing and public accommodations.”

• The shooting at Pulse shook the entire LGBTQ+ community all around the world. We should commemorate the loss of these beautiful lives with resolve and action.

   
• Juneteenth allows us to take a hard look at what has been true in America ever since June 19th, 1865. Since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the ratification of the 13th Amendment, Black Americans have been systematically oppressed – from Jim Crow laws to redlining to the War on Drugs to today’s mass incarceration and prison industrial complex. The fight for civil rights in our country has been long and hard, and it’s still not over. Take a look at this visual timeline.

• As businesses reopen in Florida, experts think it’s likely that we’ll see a second wave of COVID cases. While, nearly one in five Florida nursing homes “say they do not have a one-week supply of protective gowns or the N95 masks recommended for care of patients with COVID-19.” This is unacceptable. Period.

• Protest is a political resource and it takes many forms –from demonstrating in the street to kneeling for the pledge of allegiance. Protest helps change the conversation and demand action and political will from our elected leaders.

• Donate to trans funds and organizations. Tune into Equality Florida’s virtual event, TransAction Florida’s TransChat: Voting While Trans, and check out these other virtual events you can join. Those of us who are not trans should take this as an opportunity to make space, listen, and learn.

 
• Talk to and engage with your friends and family, across the political spectrum, about how racism affects the lives of Black Americans in our country. Here is a list of anti-racism resources that will help you navigate sometimes difficult conversations. You are your network’s best messenger and it’s vital that these conversations happen. Anti-racism is a process that we have to keep working on. Here are 62 books by Black authors to get started. Here is a great resource with low-cost ways you can support the Black Lives Matter movement as well as links to make donations. 

•  Health care workers, custodians, public service workers, and other working Floridians have been putting their lives at risk. The New Florida Majority put together an incredibly helpful map of testing and food distribution sites around the state.

(For Our Future Florida staff and volunteers taking part in Black Lives Matter events across the state)

We need volunteers to talk to Floridians across the state to help us defeat Trump and advance progressive change. Can you join us and help Florida be on the right (left) side of history this year?

We’re excited to be doing this work in Florida this year with you!

Thanks for tuning in,

For Our Future FL

This newsletter is brought to you by For Our Future FL and we’re recruiting volunteers to help us call and text voters. Sign up to get connected with an organizer today.

Due to COVID-19, we’re putting the safety of our staff and volunteers first, so until further notice, our physical offices are closed. Community is still a huge part of our mission as an organization – so you can now go to your local virtual campaign office, better known as Facebook groups.

Our Facebook groups are open to everyone who wants to elect Democrats and take action, whether that’s calling or texting voters, or talking to your friends and family about the 2020 election.

Receive this newsletter from a friend and want to sign up? Click this link!