ALEC feeling the Pressure from ColorOfChange Campaign - Get Involved

A Message from the ColorOfChange -

ColorOfChange members are making a huge impact in our campaign urging corporations to stop supporting the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). We want to give you a quick update on our progress and let you know how you can help.

Major companies are leaving ALEC in response to our campaign. After hearing from us about ALEC’s work spreading laws which suppress the Black vote — and ALEC’s link to the “shoot first” law used to justify the killing of Trayvon Martin — companies including Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Kraft,¹ McDonald’s,² Mars,³ and Yum Brands⁴ (which owns KFC and Taco Bell) have all stopped supporting ALEC.

ColorOfChange members began calling on companies to leave ALEC late last year.⁵ Two weeks ago, news broke that several corporations had left ALEC in response to our campaign, and we’ve been working hard to convince more companies to follow suit. ColorOfChange members have made thousands of phone calls to companies that refuse to leave ALEC, and we’ve shone a spotlight on these corporations in the media.

It’s working. A steady stream of big companies has continued to leave ALEC — at least 12 have now stopped funding ALEC’s dangerous agenda.⁶ Our campaign has been covered by major news outlets including NPR,^7,8 CNN,^9,10 MSNBC,^11,12,13 the Washington Post,¹⁴ Time,¹⁵ the Associated Press,¹⁶ Reuters,¹⁷ the New York Times,¹⁸ Current TV¹⁹ and Democracy Now.²⁰ Meanwhile, Fox News²¹ and other right wing media outlets have attacked us as the campaign gains steam. And ALEC is retreating — this week they announced that they are ending their “Public Safety & Elections Task Force” — the committee within ALEC that was responsible for discriminatory voter ID and “shoot first” laws.²² ALEC is saying they will only focus on “economic” work moving forward.

We’ve forced ALEC to admit that much of its agenda is simply indefensible, and that’s a testament to the power of everyday people to hold corporations and organizations like ALEC accountable. But ALEC’s latest move is a PR stunt to try to stop their corporate donors from leaving. We have no reason to believe ALEC when they say they won’t continue working to disenfranchise voters. And we know that ALEC’s so-called “economic” work consists of policies designed to benefit rich and powerful corporations at the expense of people of color,^23,24 workers,²⁵ and the environment.²⁶ Many major corporations are continuing to fund that toxic agenda.

It’s incredibly inspiring what we’ve been able to achieve together so far. With your help, we can do even more. Here are three ways you can help:

1. Sign the petition to ALEC’s corporate sponsors, if you haven’t already. We’ll make sure the companies that fund ALEC hear your voice, and we’ll keep you up to date on how to hold accountable companies that refuse to leave ALEC.
2. Encourage your friends and family to sign the petition. You can post the petition to Twitter by clicking here; to post on Facebook click here.
3. Chip in $3, $10, or whatever you can afford to help fund this campaign. The more resources we have to support this campaign, the more we can take advantage of the amazing momentum we have. We’ll use your contribution to expand our outreach to corporations, continue our media work, and run ads calling out companies that refuse to leave ALEC. Click here to help out with a financial contribution.

Our partners and allies have been a huge help in this fight. Members of CREDO Action, People for the American Way, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, SumOfUs, and United Republic have joined ColorOfChange members in signing petitions and making phone calls to companies that support ALEC. Overall, more than 450,000 people have called on companies to stop funding ALEC. And organizations like the Center for Media and Democracy, the Center for American Progress, Common Cause, and Progress Now have done excellent work to expose ALEC and hold its members accountable.

We hope you’ll take a moment to celebrate what we’ve accomplished so far, and join us in taking this campaign to the next level.

Thanks and Peace,

– Rashad, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Natasha, Kim and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
April 21st, 2012

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/donate

References

1. ‘Coke withdraws from group that backs Stand Your Ground law,” Reuters, 4-5-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1306?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=12

2. “McDonald’s Says It Left ALEC In March 2012 [UPDATE],” 4-10-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1307?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=14

3. “ALEC loses two more supporters, candymaker Mars Inc. and Arizona energy company,” Daily Kos, 4-13-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1308?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=16

4. “Yum! ALEC loses again,” Daily Kos 4-19-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1309?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=18

5. “Black group targets corporations over voting laws,” AP, 12-8-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1310?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=20

6. “KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut’s Owner Is The 12th Corporation To Drop ALEC,” ThinkProgress, 4-19-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1311?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=22

7. “Boycotts Hitting Group Behind ‘Stand Your Ground,” NPR, 4-5-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1312?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=24

8. “Companies Flee Group Behind ‘Stand Your Ground,” NPR 4-13-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1313?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=26

9. Situation Room, CNN 04-09-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1314?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=28

10. “Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien”, 4-10-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1315?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=30

11. “Coke and Pepsi drop membership from right-wing group,” Ed Show, MSNBC, 4-5-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1316?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=32

12. “Two more companies dump ALEC,” Ed Show, MSNBC, 4-6-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1317?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=34

13. “Conservative group ALEC retreats,” Ed Show, MSNBC, 4-17-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1318?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=36

14. “Trayvon Martin shooting spurs protests against companies with ties to legislative group,” Washington Post, 4-12-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1319?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=38

15. “ALEC: What It Does and Why Three Major Corporations Cut Ties,” Time, 4-9-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1320?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=40

16. “Coca-Cola boycotts group backing ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws,” AP, 4-5-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1321?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=42

17. “Coke withdraws from group that backs gun laws,” Reuters, 4-5-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1322?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=44

18. “Embarrassed by Bad Laws,” New York Times, 4-16-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1323?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=46

19. The War Room with Jennifer Granholm, 4-17-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1324?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=48

20. “ALEC Drops Push for Voter ID, Stand Your Ground Laws After Public Outcry Sparks Corporate Exodus,” Democracy Now, 4-18-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1325?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=50

21. “Fox Defends ALEC As Companies Flee,” Media Matters, 4-17-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1326?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=52

22. “ALEC Sharpens Focus on Jobs, Free Markets and Growth — Announces the End of the Task Force that Dealt with Non-Economic Issues,” ALEC press release, 4-17-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1327?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=54

23. “Michigan’s Hostile Takeover,” Mother Jones, 2-15-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1328?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=56

24. “The Benton Harbor Trend: African Americans Targeted by Rick Snyder,” Politics USA, 4-18-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1329?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=58

25. “Hang onto that Paycheck! ALEC “Sharpens Focus on Jobs,” PRWatch, 4-19-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1330?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=60

26. “Environment, Energy, and Agriculture,” ALEC Exposed
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1331?akid=2457.453451.S2R2_v&t=62