it's a special week for our #changemakers

The Newsletter of the Deeds Not Words Community

November 7, 2019 | Deeds Digest No. 152

The Deeds Digest is your bi-weekly look into the latest news from Deeds Not Words and what's making us inspired, angry, and ready to change the world. 🌍

Hello #Changemakers,

This week is a HUGE week for us. Our campus organizers throughout the state are completing their civic engagement-charged Capstone Projects with a full week of action.

So, what are Capstone Projects? Well, we at Deeds believe strongly against parachuting into communities and telling people how to organize. We have campus organizers within these communities statewide who get to decide what policy issues they want to tackle, AND create ways that make the most sense for their community to mobilize and effect change. Because of this, our capstone projects statewide vary widely.

For example, our chapter at A&M (College Station) saw the need for civic engagement outreach in their county-neighbor community of Bryan, TX–as there are not many voting efforts such as voter registration, education, and turnout taking place. That being said, our A&M chapter will be mobilizing a large canvassing effort to register new voters for the March primary as well as turning out voters for the Nov. 5th TX Constitutional Amendments Election.

Our Ft. Worth campus at TCU wants to tackle the lack of inclusivity for transgender students in TCU men’s bathrooms by petitioning their school to include trash baskets and menstrual products for their trans students who need to use or discard menstrual products in the men's bathroom. All while also educating their colleagues on the importance of voting in all elections and how these decisions can impact access to reproductive healthcare on both the micro and macro levels of their lives.

You can see what the rest of our students are doing by following us on Twitter and Instagram!

--Andrea Reyes,
Political Director

Team Deeds is heading to San Antonio this weekend for the fourth gathering of the Movement Mujeres Program, a joint initiative of Deeds Not Words and Jolt to organize and develop the leadership of young women of color in Texas through an intersectional framework. We’re excited to see our fellows again and continue them on the path to driving systemic change across Texas. Watch out, San Antonio!

Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 2019: The Young People Changing the World

Last week, Teen Vogue released its “21 under 21” list, which features Changemakers from around the world who are doing amazing work to move their communities forward. This year's youth leaders range from a young woman solving a water crisis in her hometown of Bageldore, India through an app to an indigenous Mexican climate activist who helped organize the Global Climate March. Not only are we inspired by these women, femmes, and non-binary youth using their power to change the status quo — but we’re also inspired by our own Changemakers here in Texas, who have done amazing work this semester with civic engagement and empowering youth in their communities to create change. We see you, Changemakers!

Here’s what’s also inspiring us:

Five men acquitted of rape because unconscious teenage victim didn't fight back

[Trigger Warning: Rape]

Last week, a court in Barcelona cleared five men of sexual assault charges after saying the crime couldn't be legally defined as rape because the unconscious teenage victim didn't fight back. Under Spanish law, a sexual attack can only be classified as an assault or rape if the perpetrator uses violence or intimidation. Because the 14-year-old victim was unconscious, the five men were convicted of a lesser charge of sexual abuse.

Let’s get this straight: there’s no such thing as “non-censual sex” — sex without consent is rape. Being unconscious does not grant consent. At Deeds, we believe that ending sexual assault requires a two-pronged approach that is focused on both prevention and response. It’s on all of us to take action and call on our leaders from college campuses to the state capitol to create supportive environments for sexual assault reporting and oppose efforts to weaken the due process rights of victims.

Here’s what’s also has us fired up:

The fate of DACA is now in the hands of the Supreme Court — and now is the time to stand up for the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives could be threatened by the ending of this program. Let's show the Supreme Court that DACA recipients and immigrant families aren’t going anywhere — because their #HomeIsHere.

To fight for the future of Dreamers, you can join United We Dream and Team Deeds in Austin on Nov. 12 as we walk out and rally in support of DACA and all undocumented immigrants!

If you’re not in Austin, head here to find a rally near you! Can’t join the walkout & rally in person? Please consider donating to the DACA renewal fund to support and protect DACA recipients cover their renewal fees or share your personal immigration story using #HomeIsHere on social media.

This Week's #Changemaker:
Pranali Haribhakti, Texas A&M University

Our Changemaker of the week is Pranali Haribhakti, who is the Deeds Campus Organizer at Texas A&M University!

This semester, TAMU's big project was the Capstone Week of Action project called “Bringing Bryan to the Ballot Box”, where they wanted to get as many people in Bryan registered to vote and represent them more in the electorate. This week, they registered the hyped Popeye’s crowd, painted a banner about Civic Engagement through voting, and they'll be going to a Food Pantry to talk about voting and registering voters. Deeds at TAMU is also working to get access to free menstrual products on the A&M campus.

"Deeds Not Words is one of the best organizations I’ve been involved with and Deeds at TAMU is a dream come true," said Pranali. "We are new to A&M and only started recruiting this semester but we are a small but passionate team that shares the same ideals about working to make a change. In Hindi there is a saying which roughly translates to 'small package, but causes a big bang', and I think that’s us- small, but we bring it."

Pranali, thank you so much for your leadership! We see you, Changemaker!

After the polls close and the results are revealed, our students won’t stop working towards their goal of registering and turning out 35,000 young people in Texas to the polls. As they continue to push towards that goal, we still need your help in fueling it. By giving $20 for 2020 today, our students can keep galvanizing the power of youth in their community and help make their voices heard in the political process.

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This Week's #Changemaker: Pranali Haribhakti, Texas A&M University

This Week's #Changemaker:
Pranali Haribhakti, Texas A&M University