KFTC Blog | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

KFTC Blog

Virtual Town Hall with Representative Charles Booker next Tuesday!

KFTC Staff on April 21, 2020 in , featured, , Voter Empowerment

In this moment, it's clearer than ever Kentuckians deserve leaders who share our values and put the wellbeing of our communities–no matter the color of our skin or how much money we have–above all else. Electing our vision feels more possible than ever, but it's going to take all of us to get us there.

On Tuesday, April 28, join KFTC members for a virtual town hall with Rep. Charles Booker, who is running an inspiring primary campaign to become the candidate to defeat Senator Mitch McConnell. Rep. Booker’s clear and bold ideas for achieving our shared vision are rooted in lived experience and an unwavering commitment to justice. He is a champion of the issues that impact our lives, including health care for all of us, good jobs that don’t damage our climate, racial justice, and more. In a moment when so much is at stake, Rep. Booker is the kind of candidate who can reach across those differences and work with and for all of us – not only on election day, but every day.

At the town hall, we’ll gather together online to hear his story, ask him questions, and find out how we as KFTC members can take action to make a real difference in the June primary, even as we practice social distancing and work to keep our communities safe. Registration is required for this event. Once you register, we'll email you a link with easy instructions to join the call through your computer or phone.

The Town Hall is next Tuesday, April 28 at 7 p.m. EST.

0 comments view comments

Revisioning what we mean by "A Just Transition"

Mikaela Curry, Trinidad Jackson, Tona Barkely, Nikita Perumal, and Lisa Abbott on April 17, 2020 in New Energy and Transition, Racial Justice, Just Transition, Empower KY Leadership Network, , Revisioning a Just Transition

The Empower Kentucky Leadership Network – a cohort of 40 grassroots leaders across Kentucky dedicated to growing a stronger movement for Just Transition and climate justice – had its first gathering in Bowling Green in early November 2019. Among many resources provided to the cohort during this weekend was the KFTC document “Appalachia’s Bright Future – Working Together to Shape a Just Transition.” This document was created in 2013, but is still frequently used to reflect KFTC’s work related to Just Transition. 

During a generative group discussion at this first gathering, a member of the cohort pointed out that there were problematic aspects of this document. For instance, the document’s list of frontline communities whose leadership should be centered in a Just Transition did not include people of color. The document also included a photo of a KFTC member of color who had been a strong leader in KFTC’s just transition work, but the lack of actual content emphasizing the importance of centering racial justice made the image feel tokenizing in nature.

0 comments view comments

Helping people register to vote during Covid-19

KFTC Staff on April 17, 2020 in Voting Rights, Voter Empowerment

88985469_616438465879908_8059081689390907392_nWe won a major victory late last year when Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order restoring the right to vote to an estimated 152,000 people with felonies in their past. About half of people who are off of probation and parole got their right to vote back. The problem is that in most cases, no one has told them that.

Since then, he rolled out a tool at CivilRightsRestoration.KY.gov people can use to see if they got their right to vote back through that order. 

0 comments view comments

Pushing to Vote by Mail in Kentucky

KFTC Staff on April 16, 2020 in Voting Rights, Voter Empowerment

Kentucky is one of just 8 states that don’t generally allow voters to vote by mail and that haven’t expanded their vote-by-mail options in the face of the current pandemic.

0 comments view comments

Empower Kentucky Leadership Network digs into Race-Class Narrative with JaNaé Bates

Minister JaNaé Bates speaking on Zoom
KFTC Staff on April 16, 2020 in New Energy and Transition, Racial Justice, Just Transition, Climate Justice, , Empower Kentucky, , Racial Justice

The Empower Kentucky Leadership Network–an ongoing cohort of 40 Kentuckians committed to building a stronger movement for climate and just transi

0 comments view comments

Fairness Moving Forward

Joe Gallenstein on April 16, 2020 in , Northern Kentucky, LGBTQ equality

Kentuckians continue to come together to fight for a more just future for all of us.

0 comments view comments

Senate Bill 2 passes as legislators override veto

KFTC Staff on April 15, 2020 in Voting Rights, General Assembly

The final vote on Senate Bill 2 happened yesterday evening (April 14) to override Governor Beshear's veto.

If you want to know which representatives voted for a complicated 57-page bill to make it harder to vote in the middle of a pandemic, that's the representatives with the green "y"s next to their names (or you can view the roll call votes here). The Senate passed the same veto override earlier in the day. Then they celebrated suppressing the vote.

SB 2 is not slated to go into effect until the General Election in November, but it's not clear whether ID offices will be open then (they're closed now). Even so, many Kentuckians simply don't have or need photo IDs, particularly elderly Kentuckians and lower income Kentuckians who don't drive.

0 comments view comments

Have you filled out your Census form yet? How's your county doing so far?

Census 2020
KFTC Staff on April 9, 2020 in , Voter Empowerment

The U.S. census is a critically important tool that helps determine how much funding for health services a particular community gets, how many electoral votes a state has, or where state legislature maps are drawn. It's important that we're all counted, though we also know that some lower income and rural communities don't get fully counted.  That means our communities and our state end up missing out on funding and electoral power.

And in this moment, census worker aren't able to go door-to-door. We need to step in and help get every person living in Kentucky counted. 

0 comments view comments

Call on your Legislator to Oppose SB 2. We can’t make voting harder right now.

KFTC Staff on April 9, 2020 in Voting Rights, Voter Empowerment

Will you take a few minutes to tell legislators not to override Gov. Beshear’s veto of Senate Bill 2?
cropped4535
We don’t need slower voting lines, more restrictions that make it harder for registered voters to vote, or to implement a new and complicated 57-page bill to limit voting. Not now and not ever. 

0 comments view comments

NKY chapter hosts Coffee for the Commonwealth

State Representatives Rachel Roberts and Kim Moser talk with Campbell County residents
Joe Gallenstein on March 28, 2020 in , Northern Kentucky, General Assembly, , Leadership Development

During this past session of the Kentucky General Assembly, members of the Nrthern Kentucky chapter hosted conversations at local coffeeshops with legislators.

0 comments view comments

Page