Hi there! Welcome to Easy A–Your go-to source for quick and easy actions you can take in five minutes or less about the issues you care about.
Are you a busy mom? Or maybe your work is so hectic you can’t think about anything else during the day? A lot of us are also taking care of parents or other loved ones too, leaving little time for anything else.
The good news is that these are things you can do while you’re waiting in the school pick up line, on your lunch break, or even at your kid’s soccer practice – anywhere you happen to be! And you can easily share Easy A with your friends so they can be in the know, too! We’ll send you a new action to take every week–just one, we promise –and it will always be something you can do in five minutes or less. Ready to get started? Let’s go!
Read This: America’s Declaration of Independence on its 250th Anniversary
In just a few weeks, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. As we celebrate this July 4th, let’s go back to school and study the primary source!
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which was then signed by the Second Continental Congress. But something we don’t often learn in school is that he was likely influenced by up to 90 other state and local declarations of independence that had already been written at the time, reflecting the strong nationwide desire for separation from Great Britain.
Even at the time of its writing, Jefferson and other founding fathers were criticized for declaring freedom for all men while one third of the Congress were, or had been, slave owners. (Come back next week to explore that criticism further!)
Earn your Easy A this week by reading the Declaration of Independence. We’ve reprinted a transcript of it below, exactly as it appears in the National Archives (with the spelling and punctuation of the original, so you might catch what would be modern-day typos!).
Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Do This: Get Your Copy of the Costs of Conflict Report!
We’ve learned that extremism cost our public schools $3.2 billion last year. Now we’re also seeing that President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon fully intend to defund and destroy the U.S. Department of Education entirely. That means our public schools can expect to lose even more money that they can’t afford.
With 97.5% of public schools experiencing some level of the extremist-driven culture wars last year, almost every one of nearly 50 million students1 and 3.8 million teachers2 in public schools has felt — or will feel — the impact of this assault. Their stories deserve to be heard.
The Costs of Conflict report includes compelling stories directly from superintendents who were interviewed. Earn your Easy A this week by downloading the full Costs of Conflict Report and giving them a look!
Want to take it one step further? Once you download the report, share it with everyone you know. We give you an easy way to share when you get your copy of the report. Let’s get loud with our support of public education!
Watch This: The Costs of Conflict
A new research report found that extremist attacks on schools and teachers — from book bans to new laws controlling what is taught about race and history — cost our public schools $3.2 billion last year alone!
Watch this short video to hear directly from one of the researchers, Dr. John Rogers from the University of California – Los Angeles, about what else was learned in their study.
Mainstream parents don’t want this level of conflict in our schools. We want our teachers to be able to focus on their teaching, our students to feel safe and supported, and for our schools to spend their funding on their needs, not on fighting extremism. We must speak out when politicians and other groups hurt our kids, waste our educators’ time, and waste our schools’ precious funding like this. We’ll have one more action for you to take on this next week!
Read This: The Costs of Conflict
Between 2021 and 2024, more than 300 bills were introduced in state legislatures to ban books, restrict schools from teaching about race and racism, and set restrictive policies for LGBTQ+ students. It’s all part of an extremist effort to attack our public schools with culture wars.
You’ve probably already heard a lot about this, especially if you’ve been reading our Easy A blog for awhile. And you probably know that these culture wars are hurting our kids’ mental health and taking a toll on our educators.
But a lot of us have been asking, what is the financial cost of these culture wars? Well, now we have the answer!
According to a recent report, “The Costs of Conflict: The Fiscal Impact of Culturally Divisive Conflict on Public Schools in the United States”, these culture wars cost our public schools $3.2 billion just last year. That’s right, we said $3.2 BILLION!
How is that possible? The report found that for an average-sized school district experiencing high levels of culture wars, fighting them cost $812,000 last year. Here are some more findings from the report:
- Two-thirds of the schools in the study were experiencing moderate or high levels of “culturally-divisive conflict.” Only 2.5% reported no conflict at all.
- When schools become the center of these culture wars, districts and school boards have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on:
- Hiring lawyers and paying legal fees to fight the challenges.
- Increased security to protect board members and educators at meetings.
- Paying for additional staff hours spent responding to overwhelming public records requests, emails, and online disinformation.
- Community and government relations.
- Recruitment of teachers due to high staff turnover rates. 29% of the superintendents interviewed in the study had lost teachers due to culture wars!
We can all agree, this is not what mainstream parents want. We can think of a lot of ways that $3.2 billion could be better spent, and so did the study. Things like: hiring more counselors and teachers, upgrading supplies and technology, offering nutritious meals to all students, and providing more opportunities for kids and educators to prepare for the 21st Century.
You can learn more about “The Costs of Conflict” study on our website here. Please join us in speaking out in support of our public schools and against these divisive — and expensive! — culture wars!
Do This: The Truth About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs have a long history of preventing discrimination in the U.S. And it’s been proven that even if each DEI program isn’t meant for us individually, on the whole, they make things better for everyone.
Unfortunately, extremists are lying about DEI and they’re getting really important programs cut within the government and in private business. These cuts will have a lasting impact on our country. So, now that you know the facts about DEI, it’s time to earn your Easy A this week by spreading the word!
Scroll through and pick one — or all! — of the three posts below to share our information with your friends and family on social media. Let’s stand up together for diversity, equity and inclusion in our communities.
Watch This: The Truth About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
On his first two days back in office, Donald Trump issued executive orders to:
- End Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government.
- Investigate private companies and discourage them from continuing their DEI programs.
Well, that threat was intimidating enough to make at least one big company cave. By the end of the same week, Target announced that they’d be ending their programs supporting Black employees and shoppers, and Black-owned businesses.
The hosts of our The Suburban Women Problem podcast had some thoughts on all this! Take just a couple of minutes and give them a watch:
As we learned last week, DEI is good for all of us, and many people don’t realize the far-reaching consequences of ending DEI programs — intended or not. Next week, we’ll have a simple action we can all take to protect DEI initiatives in our communities.
Read This: The Truth About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
You’ve probably heard the term “DEI” — an acronym for “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” — a lot lately. Far-right extremists are attacking the concept and want to end DEI programs for good.
Unfortunately, their plan is working.
Companies like Walmart and Target have ended their DEI policies. Since 2023, more than 230 colleges and universities in 34 states have stopped programs because of anti-DEI laws or mandates — the same year the U.S. Supreme Court ended affirmative action. President Donald Trump has already issued executive orders and memos that end all federal DEI-related programs and positions. People who work in DEI are losing their jobs. And Trump and members of his cabinet had the nerve to blame DEI for recent tragedies like the D.C. plane crash and the L.A. wildfires.
But when people understand what it truly is, the majority of Americans support DEI and say it’s a good thing, so let’s learn a little more about it.
What is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)?
Diversity refers to the differences among people like: race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical ability, class, and more. Equity means treating everyone fairly and giving them equal opportunities. Inclusion means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, valued, and heard.
So taken as a whole, DEI means any effort or program instituted to protect us from discrimination! The goal of DEI programs is to make sure that everyone has equal access to school and job opportunities, and that they are treated fairly. Examples include:
- Recruitment programs for women in jobs that have historically been dominated by men.
- Efforts to close gender pay gaps.
- Flexible work hours or locations for working parents.
- Family and all-gender restrooms in public spaces.
- Development programs for young minority leaders.
- Accessibility measures for people with physical disabilities.
- Federal grants and contracts for small business owners who have historically been passed over, like Black or Hispanic women.
- Programs to help first-generation college applicants navigate their admissions process.
When did DEI start?
DEI programs started during the Civil Rights movement, which drew attention to the systemic racism that kept non-whites from getting an equal education, jobs, and fair treatment. Segregation and workplace discrimination became illegal through efforts like the Equal Pay Act of 1963, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity in 1965, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and countless other executive orders and acts that followed.
Over the next six decades, the federal government, schools, and private companies implemented DEI programs to break down barriers to access, to combat biases in hiring and admissions, and to make sure that applicants and employees were treated fairly and equally. And you know what? It turns out that DEI programs benefit companies and organizations too!
How does DEI benefit an organization?
DEI policies help organizations find the most qualified and talented candidates out of the largest possible pool. Despite what critics say, DEI brings more merit to the table. And it doesn’t tell an organization who to choose, it just gives them more people to choose from. Then, it makes sure that everyone is supported and treated fairly once they’re in the room.
Research shows that diversity brings more quality and productivity to a team. DEI combats the mediocrity that can occur when everyone looks and thinks the same way, especially in organizations that were built by “good ol’ boy” networks and nepotism.
Diversity also improves a team’s creativity and communication, and a business’s success. That’s why more than 60 U.S. companies supported affirmative action in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022.
Companies that value DEI and that have more racial and gender diversity in their leadership are proven to be more profitable. That makes sense, because these businesses actually look and think like their customers, so they’re more responsive to their needs.
Standing up for DEI
DEI is good for everyone — individuals, schools, and businesses. Ending DEI programs will roll back the progress we’ve made towards equality since the Civil Rights movement, and it will hurt more groups of people than its critics might think — even themselves! It’s up to us to inform everyone we know about how we ALL benefit from DEI, and to fight for it to continue.
Do This: Sacred Politics and the Threat of Christian Nationalism
Well that didn’t take long! We’re already seeing the influence that Christian Nationalism has on President Donald Trump now that he is back in office. Two of his first actions were to begin the mass deportation of immigrants and to issue an executive order that denies the existence of transgender people. These are both priorities of white Christian Nationalists.
Thankfully, people are raising their voices and bravely calling out these hateful actions. One of those voices we have heard is The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. In her sermon at Trump’s inaugural prayer service, she asked him to show mercy to those who are scared right now due to his policies — especially immigrants and LGBTQ+ children.
Bishop Budde joins historical religious leaders like The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa who were inspired by their faith to speak up for the vulnerable among us. Now, Trump has called her “nasty” and demanded an apology. U.S. Representative Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma has even introduced a House Resolution to censure her!
We want Bishop Budde to know that we support her, and we want you to join us. Earn your Easy A this week by signing our Thank You card below. You can even add a personal message if you’d like! We’ll be finalizing the card this week and delivering it to her in D.C. soon, so scroll down and add your name today!
It’s so important that we keep calling out Christian Nationalism for what it is — a political movement with an agenda that hurts all of us. And as Shane Claiborne said in our Sacred Politics podcast, a great way to counter something we don’t agree with is to live our lives showing a better way. Like Bishop Budde, we can all be shining examples in our community of how to treat others, regardless of our faith.
Watch This: Sacred Politics and the Threat of Christian Nationalism
Christian Nationalists, who are mostly white evangelicals, are a shrinking minority in our population.1 They are desperate to maintain the political power that white Christian men have historically had in American society. They resent the social progress that has moved America closer to our ideal of equal rights for all — progress like same-sex marriage rights, gender equality, and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Christian Nationalism is not a religion itself, it’s a political movement made up of a small subset of conservative white evangelical Christians. Watch this short, one minute video about the goals of the Christian Nationalist movement, how they’ve been successful, and the threat they pose:
Christian Nationalists support politicians like Donald Trump — even if he doesn’t live by Christian values himself — because he delivers policies and laws that uphold white Christian male privilege. Now that he is back in office — largely due to Christian Nationalist support — they will continue to have a significant influence on his administration’s policies. To protect equal rights for all, we must keep pushing back on their efforts.
Read This: Sacred Politics and the Threat of Christian Nationalism
One of the biggest threats to American democracy, especially as Donald Trump returns to the presidency, is the influence of Christian Nationalism. We took a deep dive into the movement with our limited series podcast, Sacred Politics, so let’s take a look at what we learned.
What is Christian Nationalism?
To be clear, Christian Nationalism is not Christianity. It is not even a religion — it is a political ideology and movement on the extreme right that has weaponized their religion to further their agenda. Christian Nationalists believe that America was founded by Christians for Christians. They believe that our government should give them privilege and power, and base our laws on their beliefs. They are against reproductive rights and same-sex marriage, and want to infuse religion into public education. They are often behind book bans, challenges to public school curriculum, and regressive policies on marriage and family planning.
Where did Christian Nationalism come from?
The movement grew in the 1960s and 1970s in response to the Civil Rights movement, feminism, the sexual revolution, and secularism. This new faction of the conservative right was largely White Christians who saw social progress as evidence of moral decline. They felt their values and power were under attack. They’ve been trying to return our country to what they consider a time of greatness — the time before the 1960s — ever since.
They want us to forget that pre-1960s America lacked equality for almost anyone who wasn’t a white, straight male. Their version of our history ignores slavery and segregation to make the past seem more idyllic. But knowing that this goal wouldn’t be palatable to the general public, they united around the issue of abortion instead.
The movement started by using the existing, organized communities of Christian churches, getting tens of thousands of pastors and televangelists to mobilize their congregations. This is still how they organize today. They use fear and anger to energize their base. They tell them they are being persecuted by progressive movements. They call opposing political “enemies” the “anti-Christ”. This perception of being under attack fuels their righteousness and solidarity.
How do Christian Nationalists Justify Supporting Immoral Leaders?
It’s really hard to understand why and how anyone who considers themselves a Christian can support politicians like Donald Trump, who does not seem to be religious or to live by religious values. But they don’t see him as a betrayal of their values. They just consider him “God’s flawed vessel” and they forgive him for those flaws because the ends justify the means. They don’t care if he embodies Christian values as long as he has the power to give them the political outcomes they want. And that’s exactly what he’s done for them so far.
What are Christian Nationalists’ Goals?
During Trump’s first term, he gave religious leaders insider access and appointed many Federalist Society judges, three of whom helped the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade — a decades-long goal of Christian Nationalists. That’s why they worked so hard to get him elected again — to accomplish more of their agenda.
It’s all spelled out in Project 2025, the far-right extremist plan created for Donald Trump’s second term by the Heritage Foundation and other allies. They want to take away more of our reproductive rights, they’re targeting the rights of LGBTQ+ people, immigrants and women, and they want to teach their biblical worldview in our public schools. The plan gives them a detailed roadmap for how to do it. This damage could take generations to reverse.
How do we stop the Christian Nationalist Movement?
Don’t be discouraged. We can push back. Only 14% of Americans are White evangelicals, the group most closely associated with the movement. They are far from the majority. In the coming weeks, we’ll talk about what we can do to stop them from making any more progress.
Want to dig deeper into this topic? Read more from these guests of our Sacred Politics limited series podcast:
- April Ajoy, “Star-Spangled Jesus”
- Shane Claiborne, shaneclaiborne.com and redletterchristians.org
- Kristin Du Mez, “Jesus and John Wayne”
- Karla Kamstra, aka Rev Karla, revkarla.com
- Talia Lavin, “Wild Faith”
- Jess McIntosh, jessmcintosh.org
- Katherine Stewart, “The Power Worshippers”
- Jemar Tisby, “The Spirit of Justice”
We want to hear from you!
Happy New Year! Or, maybe you’re feeling something other than happy about 2025?
We get it. We’re all still feeling and thinking a lot of things about what lies ahead this year, so we really want to hear from you. It’s time for our annual Community Survey!
Everything we do is in service to building, supporting, and strengthening our community so that together, we can fight extremism and protect our democracy. You are our North Star, so we need your input to make sure that what we’re doing — and the way we’re doing it — is valuable to you.
Your Easy A assignment this week is to take our quick 2024 Community Survey. Help us reflect on the work we did in 2024 so that we can be sure our energy and resources are focused on the right things in 2025. We promise to dig deep into your responses and use them to map our path forward. Just click on the link here or the image below to get started.
We’re grateful you’re here and are honored to take on 2025 together!
