What good things happened last week? I’m so glad you asked.
3 min readMay 8, 2017
- Tens of thousands of immigrants and their supporters in U.S. cities and around the world marched in protest of immigration policies to mark International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day.
- The Republican’s AHCA “victory” in the House this week has energized the opposition, sparking Democratic campaigns and attracting millions in donations to unseat reps who voted for the bill. We should be seeing some wild town meetings this week.
- He wanted to arrest Joe Curtatone, mayor of Somerville, and other officials of sanctuary cities. Now Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is being taken to court for violations of Massachusetts’ public records law. PS, he’s the guy who volunteered county inmates to help build Trump’s wall.
- Two of the five people ICE arrested last month at the Lawrence USCIS office will be released. A judge ordered Leandro Arriago released and allowed to pursue legal residency. He’s lived here for 16 years, is married to a citizen, has 4 citizen children and no criminal record. Yusuf Alptekin, the Turkish immigrant featured in a moving WBUR interview, was released on bail Friday.
- A pardoned drug dealer and the judge forced to give him a life sentence are now fighting mandatory minimums together.
- Mark Green, Trump’s pick for Army Secretary, has withdrawn his name from consideration after offending both the LGBTQ and Muslim communities.
- Fox News co-president Bill Shine resigned after intense scrutiny over sexual harassment and racial discrimination allegations. Who’s next?
- The Philadelphia City Council voted to end the city’s contract with Wells Fargo to oversee its $2 billion payroll.
- Florida Memorial University will award a posthumous bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering to the parents of Trayvon Martin.
- The fired Balch Springs, Texas, police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards as Edwards was driving away from a party has been charged with murder. #JusticeforJordan #ConvictRoyOliver
- A California judge has ruled that transgendered inmates have a right to affirming undergarments and accessories.
- FIBA (International Basketball Federation) approved a change in policy to allow Muslim women to play basketball in hijab on the international level. The decision will also benefit Sikh men who wear turbans and Jewish men who wear yarmulkes.
- Barack and Michelle Obama are donating $2 million to summer jobs programs for young people in Chicago.
- The Board of Directors of the Veneta, Oregon, Country Fair apologized and voted not to raise the story pole to which many Native Americans had strongly objected.
- African-American candidates Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, Mississippi and Yvette Simpson of Cincinnati OH both won close mayoral primary races. These folks make me a believer!
- 241 members of Congress announced their support for the Equality Act (H.R.3185), which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for LGBTQ people.
- The FDA approved the first new drug for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 22 years.
- 82 of the nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants just over three years ago in Nigeria were released and will return to their families as part of an exchange for detained suspects from the militant group.
- Greenpeace climbers unfurled a banner emblazoned with the French republican slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” and the word “Resist” on the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Friday, a message urging people to vote against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the upcoming presidential election.
- Congress passed a continuation budget good through September. It retains funding for Planned Parenthood, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and it doesn’t fund the wall.
- Texas law enforcement opposes a state law that bans sanctuary communities and forces police officers to ask the immigration of everyone they detain. The Houston and Dallas police chiefs published an op-ed against the bill, and other police chiefs have been following suit.
- A Georgia judge reopened voter registration for the run-off election between Ossoff and Handel.
- Emmanuel Macron is the new president of France, defeating his far-right rival Marine Le Pen by a comfortable 65.1% to 34.9% margin. At 39, Macron will become France’s youngest president. He has never held elected office, and just over a year ago his political movement En Marche! did not even exist. #possibility
