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For HuffPost’s #LoveTakesAction series, we’re telling stories of how people are standing up to hate and supporting those most threatened. What will you stand up for? Tell us with #LoveTakesAction.
The American Civil Liberties Union wants to train a new generation of activists to resist President Donald Trump’s discriminatory policies.
On March 11, the ACLU is launching a new website, PeoplePower.org, to “organize the mass resistance to President Trump,” the group announced Friday. The platform will provide ways for people to take action against the Trump administration’s policies ― including resisting deportation raids, opposing Trump’s executive order on refugees and travel and sustaining funding to Planned Parenthood.
People Power will promote specific actions ― anything from attending a local march, to holding signs of support in front of a local mosque. ACLU staff will post notices for some of the events, while the platform will also enable regular people who want to get the word out about local initiatives to put up information.
The platform will also connect ACLU experts with people interested in getting training in grassroots organizing.
“So many people are coming to us and asking, ‘How can I get involved?’” Faiz Shakir, ACLU national political director, told The Huffington Post. “We’re using our brain power, and that of millions of people, to say what are good actions for people to get up out of their chairs, and not just click.”
“People have known us for, ‘See you in court,’” Shakir added. “I hope now they’ll know us as, ‘See you in the streets.’”
The ACLU recently received a spike in donations ― it raised $24 million in just one weekend after its victory in court against Trump’s executive order on immigration ― and the group decided to use some of the new funds to grow this new organizing arm, Shakir said.
A wave of protests has rolled across the country since Trump’s inauguration ― and many of those rallying are young, with some demonstrating for the very first time.
The People Power platform will live-stream a “resistance training” on launch day, during which the ACLU will provide a list of actions individuals nationwide can take to stand up for social justice.
“Many people have been involved in protests,” Shakir said, “and they want to know how to sustain and build upon this ― and this is to help guide them as they encounter the challenges of organizing.”
“We’re invested in training a generation of activists,” he continued. “So how do we counter-program Trump? When he beats up on immigrants, let’s go to a naturalization ceremony and shake new citizens’ hands. When he beats up on refugees, find a refugee in your community and hold a potluck for them.”
The ACLU’s new platform will be similar to Michael Moore’s Resistance Calendar, which also allows people to post information about local gatherings, according to Shakir. However, it will also have a digital map, allowing users to click through to any city and RSVP to an event.
The ACLU will also promote select events to its followers via email.
“If we’re just in our own communities taking Trump on one slice at a time, it’s not going to work,” Shakir said. “We have to be united.”
To support its new push into activism, the ACLU hired about 15 new staffers with experience in digital organizing, including those who have worked at the White House and others who were behind Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign. But the platform won’t be pushing any actions that support specific candidates for political office.
The People Power platform is one of many protest grassroots efforts to emerge since Trump’s inauguration: NextProtest.com lists progressive rallies in New York City; the Indivisible Guide helps people advocate to Congress; and the Women’s March’s ‘10 actions in 100 days’ outlines actions people can take to advocate for social justice.
Shakir doesn’t see the ACLU platform as competing with these efforts, but rather as helping to gather them into a “one-stop hub” for people to know which actions to take and when. With 2.5 million members and affiliates in all 50 states, the group said in its statement that it is uniquely “well-positioned to take on the incredible responsibility of grassroots organizing nationwide.”
“Grassroots organizing isn’t a zero sum endeavor,” Shakir said. “There will be a number of crescendo moments where Trump does something that is explicitly or implicitly unconstitutional ― and within hours, we want to distribute info about what he did, and what people can do next.”
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Nearly everyone and their mother expected Emma Stone to take home the Best Actress award at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, but that didn’t make the moment any less emotional for the “La La Land” star.
When she gave her speech, it was clear Stone was overwhelmed with emotion, joking that she would thank and hug her friends when the feeling returned to her body. Still, she got through her moment with undeniable grace.
The feelings came pouring out when fellow actress and last year’s Best Actress winner, Brie Larson, came over to congratulate Stone backstage. Just as Larson opened her arms to embrace her friend in a hug, both ladies burst into tears (of the happy variety, we’re guessing).
The Academy captured the sweet hug on video, and it’s giving us all the feels.
Larson also shared a photo of the touching moment on Instagram, writing, “You know what’s better than winning? Watching your friends win.”
We’re not crying. You’re crying.
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Actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway weren’t the first to make a big mistake in announcing an Oscar winner.
Singer and actor Sammy Davis Jr. flubbed his Oscar presentation when he was handed the wrong envelope at the 36th Academy Awards
At the ceremony to honor movies released in 1963, Davis was set to present the award for best score ― adaptation or treatment. The nominees were George Bruns for “The Sword in the Stone,” André Previn for “Irma La Douce,” John Green for “Bye Bye Birdie,” Leith Stevens for “A New Kind of Love” and Maurice Jarre for “Sundays and Cybele.”
Someone handed Davis an envelope on stage, and he read the name on the card: “John Addison for ‘Tom Jones.’” Addison wasn’t even a nominee in that category (he won for best original score that year).
After some hesitant applause died down ― and Davis realized the mistake ― he jumped back to the podium to address the blunder.
“Oh, they gave me the wrong envelope. Wait till the NAACP hears about this,” he joked.
“I ain’t gonna make no mistake this time, baby,” he added while pulling out a pair of glasses from his jacket.
The winner was André Previn.
Davis’ flub was corrected in a matter of seconds. The same cannot be said for the 2017 Oscars, where three acceptance speeches for “La La Land” as best picture were given before the error was fixed. The rightful winner, “Moonlight,” was eventually announced.
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WASHINGTON ― In a show of party unity, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) will bring newly elected Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez as his guest to President Donald Trump’s speech before Congress Tuesday.
Perez defeated Ellison in a contentious race to chair the party Saturday, in an outcome that upset some in the progressive wing of the party who aligned themselves with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
But the two former opponents have been urging the party to come together ever since the winner was announced. Perez quickly named Ellison his deputy DNC chair and Ellison told his backers to “give everything you’ve got to support Chairman Perez.”
“DNC Chair Tom Perez has always been on the side of working people, and I am honored to have him as my guest to tomorrow evening’s Presidential Address,” Ellison said in a statement Monday evening.
Although many Democrats boycotted Trump’s inauguration, members of Congress so far seem to be planning to show up for Tuesday’s joint address. But many of them are going to do so in a show of opposition, whether it’s by bringing as their guests the new chair of the Democratic Party or people adversely affected by Trump’s policies.
Trump has said, without any proof, that the DNC chair election was rigged.
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In the wilds of this year’s Oscar race, “La La Land” and “Moonlight” were pitched as bitter rivals. In actuality, they were more like competitive pals. Frenemies, if you will.
As “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz said Sunday upon realizing his film had not actually won Best Picture, “I’m going to be really thrilled to hand this to my friends from ‘Moonlight.’” Horowitz waved director Barry Jenkins and company to the podium without a hint of resentment, despite having just been informed that presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced the wrong winner.
The exchange was a gracious encapsulation of a monthslong Best Picture contest that assumed complex layers amid Donald Trump’s election. The media’s analyses painted “Moonlight” as the socially conscious contender whose victory would double as Trump resistance, rendering “La La Land” a fantasy frolic doused in Hollywood nostalgia. But as these things go, our armchair narratives outpaced what was happening among the people actually involved with the movies. Having seen one another at event after event since September’s big festivals and the subsequent awards blitz, it turns out the competitors might actually like each other.
Representing a small independent movie about a black, gay latchkey kid in the Miami projects, Jenkins has remained neighborly throughout the long haul. In fact, he first demonstrated affection for “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle when their movies premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September.
And again when the musical enjoyed stellar returns during its first weekend in theaters.
After a Twitter user lamented that “La La Land” would likely topple “Moonlight” for awards, Jenkins politely protested.
When I talked to Jenkins about his Golden Globe nominations a few days after “La La Land” opened, he called the movie one of his favorites of 2016. “’La La Land’ is an amazing film,” he later told Esquire, defending it against criticisms. “I think there’s a very superficial read of ‘La La Land’ that does injustice to what Damien’s doing in the film, and it’s convenient because these are tough times to make a superficial read of that film. But it’s like, no, this is America. This is what this shit is. You gain something; you sacrifice something else in the gaining of that thing. I mean, that’s dark stuff.”
The “sacrifice” to which Jenkins alludes is Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) ending their relationship to pursue professional fulfillment, which some interpret as a cynical take on romance. Jenkins’ implicit candor about the nature of awards season ― in which movies with little in common are pitted against each other for the sake of trophies ― marks a respite from the mudslinging and strategizing that dominate Oscar derbies.
The “La La Land” crew exhibited similar grace. While accepting the Golden Globes’ screenwriting prize in January, Chazelle said of his fellow nominees, “One of the actual benefits of this whole rodeo of awards season is getting to meet people whose work you really admire, so all of you, I’m in awe of your work and I’m humbled to be up here.” The telecast cut to Jenkins nodding along as Chazelle spoke. Ryan Gosling, seemingly bemused by Sunday’s mishap, threw his arms around actor Ashton Sanders as the “Moonlight” crew congregated onstage. Nearby, Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali embraced “La La Land” producer Fred Berger. In the press room backstage, Emma Stone said, “I think we all would have loved to win Best Picture, but we are so excited for ‘Moonlight.’ I think it’s one of the best films of all time, so I was pretty beside myself.”
At the Governors Ball after the ceremony, members of the “Moonlight” and “La La Land” clans reportedly hugged one another. “It was a surreal, kind of out-of-body experience,” Horowitz told The New York Times. “We’ve been on the circuit with them for six months. If that kind of thing has to happen, I’m glad to give it to them.”
Of course, we can’t know what any of these people really think of the “Moonlight”-”La La” two-hander. But assuming their reactions aren’t just calculated attempts at sportsmanship, the camps’ positive repartee is the exclamation point to a heated Best Picture race defined by Hollywood’s damning statistics about inclusivity and on-screen representation. Some of the Monday-morning quarterbacking has called Horowitz “brave” for announcing Beatty and Dunaway’s mistake, which undercuts “Moonlight” as the rightful winner. Stating a fact on live television is not brave, but Horowitz was gracious and warm in welcoming the other team to take his place, and that counts for a lot. He held up the card inside the proper envelope so the world could see “Moonlight” printed on it. Despite whatever disappointment the “La La Land” personnel felt, it was a rare moment of unity in a cutthroat industry.
And the affection goes beyond praising one another’s films. About half an hour after the Oscars ended, “La La Land” co-star and producer John Legend praised the “team” from “Moonlight.” On Monday morning, Horowitz tweeted about the “beautiful people” involved with the movie, which he had called “excellent” back in September.
We can now close the books on the 89th Oscar race having crowned a progressive indie underdog that probably wouldn’t have been made 15 years ago. It is, in a sense, a demonstration against the Trump administration, which has exemplified disregard for the sorts of marginalized voices depicted in “Moonlight.” And for those of us who have watched this pony race from the sidelines, it is a vote for what we love most: celebrating the city of stars that provides both escapism and life-affirming mirrors of our planet’s diverse realities. On to the next one!
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