Empowermynt

My Name is Emma González. I’m 18 years old, Cuban and bisexual. I’m so indecisive that I can’t pick a favorite color, and I’m allergic to 12 things. I draw, paint, crochet, sew, embroider—anything productive I can do with my hands while watching Netflix.

But none of this matters anymore.

This Saturday, March 24, we March For Our Lives

If you stand with the students and activists of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the 30,000 people killed by guns every year, we’re asking you to turn out for the March For Our Lives. It’s time we say #NeverAgain and end gun violence. 

There are 828 sibling marches planned in conjunction with the main march in Washington DC. This is global, and chances are there is one near you. 

We understand that not everyone can attend a march, so we want to make it easy for everyone to participate. Your voice matters, even if you can’t be there in person. That’s why we’re creating a virtual space with optional ways for everyone to participate:

Join us this Saturday as we livestream the March For Our Lives starting at 12 p.m. EST. The livestream will be at the top of every dashboard on every phone, computer, and tablet that uses Tumblr that day.

There’s going to be an @action-packed dashboard takeover with original art sourced from the Tumblr community and @creatrs.

Sign the petition and make your voice heard.

Donate to March For Our Lives, if you can.

You can show your support that day by posting your illustrations, your poems, your promises—anyway you want to express yourself. We even have stickers to add to your photos, if you want. They’re a collaboration between Tumblr Creatrs (@creatrs) and our friends at Kanvas. 

They’re in your app now. Make sure to tag your posts with #NeverAgain so everyone can see your support.

This is it, Tumblr. This is how change happens.  When people ask #WhatWillYouDo, you can point them to Saturday, March 24; To the march you participated in, the money you donated, or the messages you spread across the globe with social media.

Malala is spending her 20th birthday fighting for girls’ education in Iraq

It’s been a big week for Malala Yousafzai.

On Friday, the women’s rights advocate announced from her newly launched Twitter account that she’d graduated high school.

“Graduating from secondary school … is bittersweet for me,” she wrote. “I’m excited about my future, but I know that millions of girls around the world are out of school and may never get the opportunity to complete their education.”

Yousafzai, not one to waste any opportunity, is already at work trying to help other girls have the same chance. 

Net neutrality day of action: 5 websites explain why they’re waging a “battle for the net”

Net neutrality rules could be rolled back in the next few months by the Federal Communications Commission.

Trump-appointed FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai has begun the process to introduce a new policy that would abandon the 2015 rules.

That move would let internet companies charge websites to maintain fast load times. Pai has argued the rules must be reversed to reduce government regulation of the internet.

Much of the internet argues the opposite, begging for the regulations to remain in place. With 80,000 websites participating, Wednesday will mark one of the largest online protests in history.

Facebook, Google, Twitter, Netflix, Mozilla, Amazon, Airbnb and eighty-thousands additional websites will push U.S. internet users to run up the score against reversing the Barack Obama-era free internet rules. Read more (7/12/17)

🚨 The internet needs you 🚨

You’re up again, Tumblr. 

Back in 2015 you demanded that the FCC adopt strict net neutrality rules and establish a free and open internet. And you won. 

That should’ve been the end of it. But apparently not.

The new head of the FCC wants to undo the net neutrality protections you fought so hard for.

His proposed changes open the door to your web traffic being slowed down, or even blocked altogether. You could be forced to pay extra to use your favorite apps. You could even be prevented from getting news from the sources you trust.

Title II protects consumers and democracy by ensuring all voices can be heard.

You know the drill. Here’s what to do:

The FCC is taking comments from the public, and dearfcc.org is making it as simple as possible for you to make your voice heard.

Go there now 👉 dearfcc.org ✌️

You’ll just need to provide a name, an address, and then say a little bit about why rolling back Title II protections is a bad idea. If you’re not quite sure what to write, here’s something to get you started:

I’m writing to urge you to keep our Open Internet rules based on Title II in place. Without them, we could lose the internet as we know it.

The proposed changes to FCC rules would allow fast lanes for sites that pay, and force everyone else into slow lanes. We’ve already seen access to streaming services like Netflix, popular games like League of Legends, and communication platforms like FaceTime slowed down, or even blocked. Conditions like this hurt businesses large and small, and penalize the users who patronize them. 

The changes also open the door to unfair taxes on internet users, and could also make it harder for blogs, nonprofits, artists, and others who can’t pay up to have their voices heard.

Please leave the existing net neutrality rules based on Title II in place.

Thank you!

If you need more ammo, feel free to quote these experts from our net neutrality Issue Time. TechCrunch and Battle for the Net also have some good starters.