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Yes, I was tearing through books constantly, and talking to this teacher at least weekly. Because even though I always loved reading as a kid, literature was always a very weak subject for me in terms of a teaching-to-standardized-test school setting (I just do awful on "what color were the curtains" type multiple choice questions. Those details don't stick in my memory THEY JUST DON'T). But that didn't matter for this class. I could just read my way out of any bad test score. I have always had fond memories of how I "fudged" my way through that class and "abused' the extra credit policy.

and i just

You know the saying “we might not win every battle, but we will win the war” and that’s especially true with these stories. The win is that we continue to fight. We haven’t won just yet, but we will.

Starting in Michigan…

Michigan

Thu, April 29 - The Michigan Supreme Court proposed an amendment to Michigan Court Rules to protect people who enter a courthouse from civil arrest. Yes, this is about ICE.

They made the proposal in November and got over 2,000 comments during the month long comment period.

In late April they adopted the rule and it went into effect on May 1.

The rule states that “Parties, attorneys, and subpoenaed witnesses are not subject to civil arrest while going to, attending, and returning from the places they are required to attend.” and goes on to add any “officer of any of the several courts of record, including jurors.”

Basically anyone who enters the court for any reason cannot be subject to civil arrest on court grounds.

In the ruling, Justice Noah Hood wrote:

If we do not act to safeguard access to our courts, we will not be able to fully measure the harm of our inaction. We will not know when someone chooses not to file a case. We will not know why a witness fails to appear. We will not know why a victim chooses not to allocate. But we will have failed in our duty to fairly and efficiently administer justice.

The sole dissenter was Brian Zahra, the only Republican on the court. And he’s concerned that the state doesn’t have the authority to prevent federal actions.

He might be right, but we want Dems to push the boundaries and try everything, and that’s exactly what they’re doing here.

Even if it turns out this isn’t legal, it gives me hope cause we aren’t going to win every battle, but as long as we keep fighting, we will win the war.

Wisconsin

Thu, June 4 - The Dane County Board adopted a resolution that urges University of Wisconsin Health and Wisconsin Children’s Hospital to resume gender affirming care for minors.

They wrote:

Dane County Board of Supervisors urges UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin to resume the provision of gender-affirming care for transgender and gender diverse youth to the fullest extent permitted by law.

They don’t have the power to compel the hospitals to resume care, but the resolution matters none the less.

This is an escalation from the letter LGBTQ+ organization Fair Wisconsin lead with 64 other organizations back in mid May, and the rally lead by Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee at the end of May.

This started with Attorney General Josh Kaul securing a ruling that blocked Trump from ending the care in March, and the subsequent Oregon ruling in April.

Of course, this isn’t a win until the Wisconsin hospitals actually resume care, but just seeing so many groups, organizations and elected leaders alike, fighting so hard for trans youth gives me immense hope.

And, with luck, all of this will put enough pressure on the hospitals to finally start the care again.

Sacramento, California

Mon, June 15 - Juneteenth will be a paid holiday for city workers starting this year.

The Sacramento African American Employee Leadership Council made this their main priority beginning in 2022.

Councilmembers Caity Maple and Rick Jennings first proposed the change back in 2024.

But, it wasn’t as easy as just deciding it within the City Council. Council member Maple explained, “this achievement would not have been possible without the leadership of the AAELC and the dedication of our city staff and labor partners, who worked together to bring this across the finish line.”

Progress matters, but it’s also nice to have an out and out win. And this is definitely that.

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So I hope these stories bring you joy and help remind you to keep fighting back, even if we don’t always succeed immediately.

Cause remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!

okay, the data bears out that public investment in health, education, public commons, and infrastructure has a massive return on investment for both the economy and the nation as a whole, so we should be investing as much as we can afford into public institutions.

Step by step, the Trump administration is moving forward with implementing President Donald Trump’s anti-mail voting executive order — despite an expert consensus that the order is unconstitutional and ongoing efforts to block it in court.

In a notice filed Thursday in federal court, the administration said the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has begun the process of creating a new records system to track mail ballots.

In a proposed rule published earlier this month, USPS said it would require states to send it information about voters who request mail-in or absentee ballots for federal elections. Voting rights advocates have warned that the rule could disrupt mail voting and give the federal government unprecedented power over a process traditionally run by states.

The new filing is not the final rule. But it shows USPS is laying the groundwork to collect and maintain records related to mail-in and absentee ballots while multiple lawsuits challenging Trump’s order continue.

And it comes the same day the administration disclosed a separate DHS memo showing that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is on track to deliver citizenship-list infrastructure to states by June 30.

Together, the filings show the administration is continuing to build out both sides of Trump’s order: a citizenship-list system for states and a USPS records system connected to mail ballot delivery.

In plain English, a system of records notice is a formal notice agencies must file when they plan to keep a new set of records about people. Here, the records system is tied to USPS’ proposed mail ballot rule.

According to the filing, USPS gave advance notice to two congressional committees and the Office of Management and Budget. The Postal Service will next send the notice to the Federal Register for publication.

The records system will not take effect unless USPS finalizes its proposed mail ballot rule.