Act up, Bellingham: 5 actions for Dec. 11-18

1) Pressure Obama to shut down the US’s Muslim registry
Did you know there is already a registry to profile Muslim immigrants? In 2002, the Bush administration launched a program that required men from 25 countries to register when they entered the U.S. and then check in regularly with immigration officials.

Officially, this program did not target Muslims, but in practice it did -- 24 of the 25 targeted countries were majority Muslim. The program profiled Muslims, subjected them to detention and deportation, and damaged their communities. Obama took all 25 countries off the list in 2011, but he has not yet shut it down altogether.

Sign the petition here: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Obama_NSEERS?sp_ref=252848761.4.177315.f.562330.3&referring_akid=.6531817.yL213s

2) Read up on white saviorism and humanitarianism

Saturday was International Day of Human Rights. Our speaker in Bellingham, Raed Jarrar, cautioned cautioned that people who come together to defend human rights should be wary of a humanitarian tendency that seeks to rescue oppressed people. His talk went into how the U.S. narrative about armed intervention in the Middle East inaccurately portrays Western countries as liberators, when in reality the U.S. is arming and training militias while U.S. companies reap profits.

The discussion that followed also brought up white saviorism, which inspired these recommended reading/watching for this week:

• Video explaining what “white savior” means: http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/06/white-savior-problem
• Article by novelist Teju Cole: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843

3) Daily No DAPL solidarity picketing
There is a call from the Sacred Stone camp to take bold action in your communities to force investors to divest from the Dakota Access Pipeline project. In Bellingham, come join the No DAPL Solidarity Picketing any day this week, from 12-2 p.m., at Railroad and Holly.

4) Fight for environmental racial justice
Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have clean drinking water. Come out to Bellingham Black Lives Matter’s meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 13, for a discussion of environmental justice issues including Standing Rock, Flint, and more. Be sure to read the event invite before attending: https://www.facebook.com/events/1248749958480683

5) Eat tamales
Yes you can: https://www.facebook.com/events/1281833615171966

---