In these dark days that mark the first weeks of winter and the end of the year, there's something especially uplifting about supporting the people and organizations that light the way to a more just, compassionate world.
But if that noble thought doesn't make you grab your checkbook, consider self-interest. This year, due to the so-called Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005,
cash gifts made to "qualifying charities" between August 28 and December 31, 2005 can be deducted in amounts up to 100 percent of your adjusted gross income.
Will that mean more relief for hurricane victims? Maybe some. But it will definitely mean that fat cats all over the country will ease their tax burden by donating megabucks to right wing policy and PR machines disguised as "non-profits" like the Heritage Foundation and The American Enterprise Institute. So if you don't want these dark days to turn into the Dark Ages, it's time to reach for your wallet.
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Here are 5 outstanding organizations whose groundbreaking, landmark work made the U.S. better and more just in 2005.
The Equal Justice Initiative of Montgomery, Alabama provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment by Alabama's legal system. As readers of "Sweet Home Alabama" will recall, Alabama has no statewide public defender system - and a really bad habit of putting indigent people of color on death row to advance the political careers of its judges, who then flout their "tough on crime" records at election time.
Dr. Paul Farmer, the internationally heralded head of Partners in Health, chose Bryan Stevenson, EJI's founder and Executive Director, for the "American Patriot" Awards this past July. In lauding Stevenson's work, Farmer notes that "Bryan Stevenson has argued passionately that we cannot understand the immorality of the death penalty without grasping the immorality of racism, or the structures that create poverty, or the power dynamics that marginalize the poor. The protection of every person's civil and human rights are essential to a fair and just society."
National Advocates for Pregnant Women works to recognize, respect, and meet the needs of all pregnant and parenting women and their families. At a time when the DNC is backpedaling on reproductive rights and running anti-choice candidates for the 2006 elections,
Executive Director Lynn Paltrow, is - as documented in "Testify...and Watch the Right Run" - doing an extraordinary job of turning the debate about choice, and what it really means to care for families, on its head in the US.
What might the world look like if anti-choice forces devoted the time, energy, and funding they currently spend on restricting abortion to helping women to care for their families? Or to ensuring that pregnant women live in a country where they need not worry that their children will survive infancy or go without health care, food, shelter, a good education, and a safe and healthy environment? Give to NAPW and we just might find out.
Litigation is currently the key to securing LGBT people full civil rights under the law. And right now, the leader in arguing precedent-setting cases is Boston's Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, which brought us Goodridge et al. v. Dept. Public Health - the landmark ruling from the Massachusetts SJC that opened the door to gay and lesbian couples enjoying civil marriage rights in the Bay State.
Of course, the wingnuts will never rest so long as same-sex couples are free to spread their filthy contagion by, er, opening joint bank accounts, paying their taxes together, protecting their children, and visiting one another in the hospital. So GLAD has still got plenty on their docket. Current projects include: a) filing a lawsuit to challenge the anti-marriage equality ballot question that proponents seek to put before Massachusetts voters in November 2008; b) pursuing one case that would clear the way for out-of-state couples to marry in Massachusetts; and c) arguing another that seeks to end Connecticut's exclusion of lesbian and gay couples from marriage rights.
Grateful that your local schools are still teaching evolution instead of creationism? No time like the present to say "thank you" to the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State for leading the country in defending the First Amendment and joining together to bring us the Kitzmiller v. Dover
victory earlier this month.
In a stunning decision, a devout Lutheran Republican judge appointed by Dubya ruled that it was unconstitutional for a Pennsylvania school district to "present intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology courses because it is a religious viewpoint that advances a particular version of Christianity." Think the religious right is going to back down? Heck, Pat Robertson responded by accusing Dover, PA of rejecting God before going into full-throttle fundraising mode with the "War Against Christmas." So guess again. And donate generously to the ACLU and AU.
In these last few days of 2005, the choice is yours. There's a well-organized, well-funded right wing out there. But there are also progressive, effective organizations that are dedicated to preventing them from dominating the American political landscape and imposing their views on us all.
Light a candle or curse the darkness.
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Nancy Goldstein can be reached at goldstein.nancy@gmail.com. Her next column will appear on Thursday, January 5th.
