Nonprofit Tweets of the Week – 6/29/18

Stay informed of the week’s notable events and shared resources with this curated list of Nonprofit Tweets of the Week.

Notable Events of the Week:

I usually only list 2-3 events, but this has been a particularly eventful week marked by three important (and problematic) U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The voting of the Justices on these cases clearly evidenced two factions, and each time, it was won by the conservative majority created by the GOP’s blocking of the Senate’s consideration of Obama appointee Merrick Garland. With the retirement of Justice Kennedy, if President Trump successfully appoints a conservative successor, Roe v. Wade could be overturned, threatening women’s reproductive rights. And the Supreme Court would likely be dominated by conservative decisions benefiting the rich, the powerful, and the privileged at the expense of others for decades.

  • “Anthony Kennedy’s announcement of his retirement from the Supreme Court on Wednesday creates an opening for President Donald Trump to reshape the ideological makeup of the nation’s highest court for decades to come, a best-case scenario for a Republican Party that only reluctantly accepted the idea of the reality-star-turned-politician as its leader.” CNN
  • “The Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s ban on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, delivering to the president on Tuesday a political victory and an endorsement of his power to control immigration at a time of political upheaval about the treatment of migrants at the Mexican border.” NY Times
  • “Centers and clinics established to persuade women to continue their pregnancies cannot be required to tell their patients about the availability of state-offered services, including abortion, a divided Supreme Court said Tuesday.” Washington Post
  • “On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued what is probably its single most consequential ruling of the year. Janus v. AFSCME is a devastating blow against public sector unions, barring them from charging “agency fees” to the public employees for whom they negotiate pay increases and benefit bumps if those employees decline to join the union as full members.” Vox
  • “A judge in California on Tuesday ordered U.S. border authorities to reunite separated families within 30 days, setting a hard deadline in a process that has so far yielded uncertainty about when children might again see their parents.” SF Gate
  • “Less than a year ago, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was bartendingand waiting tables in Manhattan to support her family. On Tuesday night, she unseated a potential speaker of the House, and is on her way to becoming the youngest woman in Congress.” The Atlantic

Top 10 Nonprofit Tweets:

  • Daniel Dale: In legal filings, @Fahrenthold reports, Trump is claiming a clerical error caused his charity to make its illegal $25,000 donation to a pro-Bondi PAC, and that he didn’t know it was illegal to use charity money to buy a portrait of himself for his resort. Washington Post
  • Gene: [The June 20] #SCOTUS decision – Supreme Court Widens Reach of Sales Tax for Online Retailers NY Times  #crowdfunding
  • New Yorker: Barring an unexpected change, the Donald J. Trump Foundation will be defending itself in a New York courtroom shortly before this fall’s midterm elections. The proceedings seem unlikely to go well for the institution and its leadership. New Yorker
  • Rick Moyers: Via @npquarterly, a cautionary tale for boards. “Nebraska AG: Board Members Convinced Goodwill CEO was Best in Class Even as Red Flags Waved” http://bit.ly/2tKQbuU
  • Anne Wallested: Reflecting on SVCF: As I said in another context back in February: “The board has a very important role in providing leadership and oversight of the entire organization, including protecting one of its most important resources—its people.” https://bit.ly/2ELeC3H via @npquarterly
  • La Piana Consulting: “Post-merger integration brings all the months of negotiation and planning to life. It’s also where a merger succeeds or fails.” http://ow.ly/dntM30kEDGg via @SSIReview #nonprofit #merger #collaboration @DavidLaPiana
  • Ted Bilich: Hot off the press – our latest in our series on adopting a lean risk management process for #nonprofits – http://bit.ly/2tEh6Z1
  • Bill Gates: If you’re interested in donating your time or resources but don’t know where to start, @TheEconomist recently highlighted one approach to giving that might give you some ideas. Economist
  • Joi James: Rapid response models can be a key strategy for philanthropic organizations to support families at the border @keely_hanson Urban Institute
  • Stanford Social Innovation Review: Instead of avoiding uncomfortable social justice topics, @benandjerrys faces these issues head-on. CEO @JosSolheim on the company’s recent efforts to deliberately address institutional racism through education and action: SSIR

Themed Media Selection:

Karen Korematsu reacts to SCOTUS decision: ‘They traded one injustice for another’ (video – Washington Post)

Supreme Court failed us again. Today they upheld a Muslim travel ban without any evidence that it promotes “national security,” the same timid capitulation the President repeated in the Korematsu, Hirabayashi and Yasui decisions justifying incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese Ancestry during World War II. Even though they overturned Korematsu, it was a hollow victory since they still endorsed discrimination against a marginalized group.

 

I don’t believe we can achieve Justice in this judicial system as long as the Supreme Court remains subservient to a fascist President. And with an obsequious Congress and a compliant Supreme Court, we have one legal option: Vote, get others to vote, donate, speak out. Please act as time may be running out on our democracy.

 

Dale Minami, a San Francisco-based lawyer best known for heading the legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu, whose defiance of the World War II Japanese American internment order lead to Korematsu v. United States, one of the most controversial United States Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century.