Good news roundup! Things to make you feel hopeful about our world!
Hey everyone, it’s my birthday this week, and if you’d like to help me celebrate, please donate to Mujer Al Volante, the QTBIPOC Nonprofit Mutual Aid Fund, and UnKoch My Campus.
It’s been a while since we’ve done a good news roundup. While there are horrible things happening every day, there’s also good, hopeful, and community-affirming stuff. Here are just a few of them that I’ve compiled, in no particular order, from various sources. Read and be hopeful, and add your good news in the comments section:
Mexico is restructuring or eliminating predatory mortgage loans for five million people! Also, its jaguar population has increased significantly.
Spain was able to, for one day, have all its electricity be generated from solar, wind, and hydro. 50% of the country’s electricity is already produced by renewable sources.
Spain also opens pathway for legal residency for half a million undocumented people. Over 500,000 people living and working in Spain now have a path to becoming lawful residents.
Ireland’s universal basic income for artists is paying off! Remember in the previous roundup when we mentioned the Ireland is providing 325 Euros a week to 2,000 artists to create art? Well, it has recovered its net costs and is generating lots of other benefits to society, proving that investing in artists is always a good thing to do.
France made it illegal to make products that are designed to fail. It’s called planned obsolescence when companies make products that intentionally break down after a few years (cough, iPhones). France passed a law against it.
Democrats are flipping seats in deep-red states: In deep Republican strongholds, including Georgia and Texas, democrats have been flipping seats, a sign that a huge blue wave is coming for the midterms. At least 26 seats have been flipped, with more coming!
Four Anti-trans Democrats got defeated in North Carolina. Some of them have been horrible on other issues too, such as voting with conservatives to support ICE. And voters have had enough and kicked them out.
Judge rules against Trump’s DEI attacks on colleges. Federal judge Stephanie Gallagher (who was appointed by Trump) in Maryland ruled that the administration’s plans to cut federal funding from schools that continue their DEI work, unlawful. The administration does not plan to appeal.
Columbia has banned all new oil projects in its portion of the Amazon. That’s half a million square kilometers, an area the size of Sweden!
Australia passed a law to limit political contributions from billionaires to $50,000. And all donations over $5,000 must be declared, further limiting the wealthy’s influence on elections.
Home Depot earnings have been going down after it dropped DEI. The boycotts are working, y’all. Keep it up.
In the UK, the Green Party makes tremendous gains. I don’t know much about UK politics, but it seems a good thing when progressive/leftist movements make gains against right-wing and neoliberal parties.
Mamdani getting all sorts of stuff accomplished: New York City’s extremely progressive mayor has been kicking ass as soon as he got in office, including making childcare free for 2,000 2-year-olds and increasing NYC’s emergency workers’ pay from $19 to $30 with goal to increase NYC’s general minimum wage from $16.5 to $30.
Two Muscogee Nation women, Jordan Harmon and Mackenzie Roberts, stopped an AI data center from being build on tribal land in Oklahoma. They organized and mobilized community members and it worked.
In Raytown Missouri, tenants unionized and went on a rent strike, and it worked! They were living under horrible conditions while their landlord kept increasing rent prices. After four months of organizing withholding payment, they won tons of needed concessions.
In Hutchins, Texas, organizers helped prevent a warehouse from becoming an ICE concentration camp. The camp would have held more prisoners than the city’s population of 8,000 people.
New Mexico bans ICE concentration camps from being established. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the bill into law, taking effect on May 20th this year. The bill blocks the county and city’s police departments from collaborating with ICE.
Colorado passed a law to make Black History year-long. Starting in 2028, Black History won’t just be something relegated to the shortest month of the year.
Miami elected its first woman mayor by a landslide, and the first democrat in 28 years. Eileen Higgins won 59.46% of the votes against her Republican opponent’s 40.54%.
The UK High Court ruled unlawful the government’s banning of activist group Palestine Action under the label of “terrorist organization.” Branding as “terrorist” groups and people that support Palestine is a fascist move, and the UK’s highest court agrees.
Seattle is about to pass a major tax on millionaires. People earning 1M a year or more would get a 9.9% tax, and 5% of the proceeds would go to vital things like childcare and early learning.
Massachusetts’s millionaires tax raised 1.5B. Taxing the ultra-wealth works! The state is generating more than 1.5B in its fiscal year ending June 2024; actually, according to Snopes, it surpassed this number and was actually 2.2B. Money that will be used to support free school meals, community colleges, and other services. And no, the rich didn’t flee the state, so every city should start taxing the rich more.
The European Parliament passes resolution recognizing trans women as women. The resolution also includes other critical issues, including abortion access and online hate speech against women.
The European Union requires members to recognize same-sex marriages. Some countries currently in the EU don’t recognize same-sex marriage. Well, those countries, if they want to remain a member of the EU, will now have to.
Scotland passed Community Wealth Building law. The law will require every local authority to work on reducing economic inequity and build local economies, including prioritizing local businesses and work cooperatives.
Portugal elects socialist president in landslide against fascist opponent. António José Seguro wins 65% of the vote.
The Wyoming Supreme Court rules to protect abortion. The highest court in one of the most conservative states in the US struck down two laws that would have banned abortions. That hasn’t stopped the right-wing from passing more laws, but hopefully they’ll be struck down too.
Wales is getting ready to pass law to make it illegal for politicians to lie. It would make it a crime for politicians to lie or mislead while campaigning.
Judge struck down Trump orders against vote-by-mail in Washington State and Oregon. I live in Washington State, and vote-by-mail makes voting super easy to do. Which is why Republicans want to ban voting by mail. It’s a hopeful follow-up to when another judge struck down another of Trump’s voter suppression orders.
Finland ends homelessness. They recognize housing as a human right and not something you earn. They use a housing-first strategy and they don’t require sobriety or employment as conditions to people getting housing.
I'm sure there's tons more good news I'm missing. Please share them in the comment section. See you next week! (Unless you're in Atlantic City for the NJACP conference, then I might see you in-person this week).
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March 19th, I’ll be having a conversation about my new book with colleagues Andrea Caupain Sanderson and Rashad Morris of Ile Kimoyo. This will be a more in-depth dive into the book. Register here.
This spring, on April 25th in San Diego, California, Community-Centric Fundraising is having its Family Reunion. Whether you’re new or true to the CCF movement, this event is for you. Register here to lock in your spot before they sell out. Tickets are offered on a sliding scale with suggested levels, so everyone can participate.
