Blog Archives - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

"Civil Rights Queen" Podcast - No Hate In Our States

3/29/2022

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley - the 1st Black Female Federal Judge

No Hate In Our States

In 1966, Constance Baker Motley became the nation's first African American woman to serve as a federal judge. Her many achievements should have earned her a place in American history books. However, few today know her name or her story. Learn about this civil rights icon’s life from this PBS Newshour story:

www.pbs.org/newshour/show/civil-rights-queen-examines-the-legacy-of-constance-baker-motley

Julie Ross

April Green Drinks - PACG Events

3/29/2022

April Green Drinks
Tuesday, April 5th at 5:00 pm via Zoom

Environmental Forum

Join us on April 5th for Green Drinks. Davenport Councilmember Judith Lee will give us an update on the efforts Davenport has made to address climate change, energy and other environmental issues.

Register in advance at: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register

Susan Leuthauser

Make Meds Affordable Campaign Artwork - PACG Event

3/29/2022

Make Meds Affordable Campaign Artwork online now!

Health Care Reform Forum

You may have seen an animated version of an image similar to this online recently! We have been working with Richard Iavarone, Business Development Manager for The Quad-City Times and his team.

We wanted to spread the word about the Make Meds Affordable campaign, so we hired some expert help! We have had quite an education about things like target audience, impressions vs. those that lead to action, how our mobile devices are tracked, and how people’s search behavior is tracked. Our forum is new to the concepts of marketing, so this was a steep learning curve for us.

Mr. Iavarone and his team offered a Zoom crash course in marketing which was very helpful in learning how to narrow our geographic target to Scott and Clinton counties, focus on the age range of 24 - 64 years old, and establish clear goals for the campaign.

Letters to the editor reach a significant number of people, but we wanted to learn how to contact those who get their news electronically. We recognized that this group represents the majority of the population in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas. With a limited budget, we have been pleased with the outcome to date.

Our primary goal is to get people to click through and sign the petition or write a letter to President Biden. Both links are on our blog post here. Our secondary goal is to raise awareness about PACG.

Your actions can Make Meds Affordable and spread the word about PACG as an organization. This is how the Health Care Reform forum is doing work for the common good.

Deb Sperry

May Book Club - "Home Made"

3/22/2022

"Home Made" - PACG Book Club Meeting via Zoom
Monday, May 16th at 5:30 pm

PACG Book Club

For our May book we are reading Home Made: A Story of Grief, Groceries, Showing Up - and What we Make When We Make Dinner by Liz Hauck.

Here's an excerpt from the Good Reads review: An intimate account of humorous and heartbreaking conversations, and a vivid account of the clumsy choreography of cooking with other people, Home Made is a sharply observed and honestly told story about how a kitchen can be both safe and dangerous; how even the short journey from kitchen to table can be perilous. Each chapter explores the interconnectedness of flavor, memory, culture, and life and offers a glimpse into the ways we behave when we are hungry and the food we crave when we seek comfort. Home Made is a tender and vivid portrait of poverty and abundance, vulnerability and strength, estrangement and connection. It is a memoir about the radical grace we discover when we consider ourselves bound together in community and a piercing investigation of the essential question: Who are we to each other?

Contact Alta Price or Julie Ross for a Zoom link to this meeting.

PACG Book Club for April - PACG Event

3/22/2022

"Klara and the Sun" - PACG Book Club Meeting via Zoom
Monday, April 18th at 5:30 pm

PACG Book Club

Our next meeting is Monday, April 18th at 5:30 pm, and we will be discussing Klara and the Sun by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro. This is a work of science fiction. In PACG Book Club we alternate between fiction and nonfiction each month.

From the Goodreads review about Klara and the Sun: From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

If you would like to read ahead, our book for May is Home Made: A Story of Grief, Groceries, Showing Up - and What We Make When We Make Dinner by Liz Hauk. We will meet on Zoom on Monday, May 16th. Read more at our May Book Club blog post here.

Contact the PACG Webmaster for the Zoom link for this meeting.

Alta Price

Racial Equality Now! Rally continues - No Hate In Our States

3/22/2022

Racial Equality Now! Rally continues with warmer weather!
Saturdays from 12:00 noon - 12:30 pm

The Slumberland/Party City Corner of
John Deere RD & 16th ST
Moline, IL (across from South Park Mall) (map)

Note: We continue to gather every Saturday unless the temperature is a wind chill of 20° F or below, if there's been a recent snow or ice storm, or if there is lightning or an active thunderstorm.

Civil Rights Forum

PACG's weekly Racial Equality Now! rallies have occurred each Saturday since June 13, 2020. It is our hope that the rallies will continue until racial equality and justice are achieved for people of color in our country.

With the warmer weather, we hope more people will be able to join us. Stand with us. Carry one of our signs or bring your own. The 30 minutes you spend with us will be a bonding and soul-lifting experience and will give you hope for our future.

We believe that all lives will matter only when Black Lives Matter.

See more images from January 29th's rally here. Read previous blogs about this weekly event on the PACG website here.

Caryn Unsicker
Glenda Guster

NPR's Throughline Podcast - No Hate In Our States

3/22/2022

NPR's Throughline: Our Own People podcast

No Hate In Our States

Solidarity and intersectionality are vital to the success of social justice and liberation movements. Yuri Kochiyama had been involved in bettering the public schools in Harlem, when she met Malcolm X. She was greatly influenced by his work and became a founder of Asian American social justice movement.

Kochiyama cradled and comforted the dying Malcolm X in the Audubon Ballroom in February 1965. She worked for social justice into her 90s.

Listen to her story: www.npr.org/2021/03/29/982274384/our-own-people

Julie Ross

A Message to Our Membership - Regarding WEU Editing

3/22/2022

A Message from the WEU Editors

The Communications Committee of PACG has been busy writing up "Policies and Procedures" documents for our organization. One of the documents that has been written recently regards the Weekly Email Update (WEU) editing process.

The following statement has been added to the Make a Submission to our Weekly Email Update (WEU) page of our website:

An Important Note from the WEU Editors: The Weekly Email Update (WEU) has established a reputation as an important means of communication about progressive issues in our communities. As editors, we are responsible for the clarity of all submissions. We reserve the right to edit any submitter's post for typos, grammar and clarity, and to supplement with informational links. These minor changes do not require permission from the submitter. Approval from the submitter is only required if an editor believes that a substantial change would improve the content of the post. When we make corrections, we improve the image of our organization and of the submitter. We all want to be seen in the best light, and our editing accomplishes this.

You will see this message the next time that you submit something for us to share with our community in the WEU. We have actually been making minor edits to your submissions for many years. But since this is now in writing, we wanted to share that fact with you.

Thank you for your continued support of PACG, our Weekly Email Update (WEU) and our website. We are proud that we are able to share information about progressive issues, and the good work our friends are doing, in a timely manner.

the PACG Webmaster

Scholarship Applications Available! - Of Interest to Our Community

3/15/2022

Scholarship Applications now available!

Of Interest to Our Community

QC Pride

We are looking for local students with leadership potential and/or experience in the LGBTQ+ community. Two $1,000 scholarships will be offered. To apply please email [email protected].

Rev. Rich Hendricks

Make Meds Affordable Campaign - 4 Easy Steps

3/10/2022

Make Meds Affordable Campaign - Update

Note: Although PACG's Health Care Reform Forum has completed its paid Make Meds Affordable (MMA) project, the campaign is still going on nationwide. If you have not yet done so, it is not too late to take action with the four things listed below.

40,000 US citizens die each year because
they can’t afford their medication. *
The prostate cancer drug, Xtandi, costs $520 a day
in the US but only $84 a day in Japan.

Help us fix this.

Do four simple things:

Read the facts.
Watch the video.
Sign the petition.
Write to President Biden.

1.  Read the Facts
Americans pay more for prescription drugs than citizens of other countries (on average four times more) while drug companies post record profits and use their drug patent rights and other tactics to limit competition and raise prices. In spite of public protests, Congress has failed to act, yielding instead to Big Pharma’s lobbying dollars.

The Make Meds Affordable campaign has documented that the president and the Department of Health and Human Services have tools under existing legislation to take executive action to lower the cost of many prescription drugs. They have this authority because many drugs have been developed using taxpayer funds, and/or because companies have illegally restricted competition. Read more about this at the "March-in" Rights blog below.

We, as citizens and taxpayers, must demand that these long-ignored tools be used to help lower drug prices now.

2.  Watch the Video
For more information and documentation on this issue go to
https://bit.ly/MakeMedsAffordable. In this informative video, Senator Elizabeth Warren explains how the plan would work. After watching, contact President Biden and DHHS Secretary Becerra and urge them to take action now to Make Meds Affordable!

3. Sign the petition
Make your voice heard! Sign this petition: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/make-meds-affordable

NOTE: When you fill out this form (email address and zip code) and click "Add Your Name," you will be directed to a page called "Social Security Works." You do not have to contribute money to this campaign! Your signature has already been entered into the petition. No contribution is necessary.

4. Contact the President
Tell President Biden to support the Make Meds Affordable campaign. Contact the White House through this website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

For more information about Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) and its Health Care Reform forum, read about us here. And learn about our ongoing work to Make Meds Affordable. We have also written several other blog posts regarding the campaign:

Support the upcoming documentary, “Pay or Die,” about the high price of insulin
Make Meds Affordable – Pay or Die documentary

What are “March-in” Rights and Why Should You Care?
Make Meds Affordable - What are "march-in" rights?

We will keep updating you on recent news on the Make Meds Affordable campaign. Here's a great article.

Deb Sperry

* per CDC/WHO data