Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 28, 2020
Right now, 182 KFTC members and friends are signed up to come to tonight's Town Hall meeting with Representative Charles Booker, who's running for US Senate. In this moment, it's clearer than ever Kentuckians need 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. With this momentum, electing our vision feels more possible than ever, but it's going to take all of us to get us there.
There's still time to signup and invite your friends to join us too.
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 tonight, April 28 at 7 p.m. EST.
Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 27, 2020
Kentucky's governor and secretary of state both agree, Kentuckians shouldn’t have to choose between being heard in our Democracy or keeping ourselves, our families and our neighbors safe from the pandemic. They're taken steps to make sure anyone who wants to can vote by mail on June 23, and the State Board of Elections has adopted that stance.
This is fantastic and we need to thank everyone involved for sticking up for Democracy!
But some meaningful details need to be figured out yet and we need to keep up the pressure and support.
Posted by: Meta Mendel-Reyes on April 27, 2020
How can a community come together to respond to the COVID-19 crisis?
Madison County chapter members helped to create the Berea Community COVID-19 Committee (BCCC-19), which brings together a wide range of community individuals, organizations and agencies to develop and lead a community-wide response to the pandemic. Lots of good work is already happening in Berea but the different groups have not come together. Our purpose is not to duplicate efforts, but to share information and to identify and help to fill gaps in Berea’s efforts to keep our community safe and well.
In the spirit of KFTC’s actions to help to defeat COVID-19 statewide, we are focused on our local community and grassroots organizing.
Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 24, 2020
Here's some high points from the State Board of Elections Meeting on Friday morning that just adjourned:
- The governor signed an Executive Order which included this letter from the Secretary of State, all authorizing expanded mail-in voting and other changes for the June 23 elections
- Every Kentucky voter who wants to can vote by mail
- There will be a postcard to all voters with steps to take to get a ballot – through an online portal or calling their county clerk
- There will no longer be a two-part process where people have to mail in a ballot request before they get their ballot as long as people request their ballot through www.GoVoteKY.com between May 22 and June 15
- Everyone will be filing under a medical excuse for mail-in voting
- There's a June 15 deadline to request a mail-ballot through www.GoVoteKY.com
- Ballots need to be postmarked June 23 and received by June 26
- There will be drop-off locations for ballots, too
Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 23, 2020
Kentuckians shouldn’t have to choose between being heard in our democracy or keeping ourselves, our families and our neighbors safe from the pandemic. Kentucky is one of just a handful of states that don’t generally allow voters to Vote By Mail and haven’t expanded vote-by-mail options in the current pandemic.
Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 21, 2020
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.
Posted by: Mikaela Curry, Trinidad Jackson, Tona Barkely, Nikita Perumal, and Lisa Abbott on April 17, 2020
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.
Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 17, 2020
We 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.
Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 16, 2020
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.
Posted by: KFTC Staff on April 16, 2020
