Nov 10, 2018
This Week in Wizard Activism: Announcing our Second GLA19 Keynote Speaker!
By Victoria Rosales
Happy Saturday everyone! Let’s dive in to This Week in Wizard Activism!
Little Miss Flint to Speak at GLA19!
We were thrilled to announce this week that Mari Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, will be a keynote speaker at GLA 2019! Mari is an 11-year-old activist fighting for the children of Flint, Michigan. In 2016, Mari wrote a letter to President Obama and convinced him to come to Flint to get a closer look at the Flint Water Crisis. Since 2016, Mari has fundraised over $350,000 that has impacted over 25,000 children in Flint and beyond.
Early Bird registration ends November 20th and we are 60% sold out! Get your tickets to the world’s only magical retreat for activists and leaders today!
Dumbledore’s Army Fights Back!
We’ve got a few very important and exciting announcements!!!
- In addition to many historic firsts, the midterm elections was also an enormous victory for #StopTheSnatchers. Wizard activists in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand made over 7,000 calls to remind Oregon voters to vote no on ballot measure 105, a measure that would have repealed the state’s 30+ year sanctuary laws and would have helped ICE tear more immigrant families apart. Thanks to the efforts activists on the ground (including HPA’s Portland Chapter, PDXpelliarmus!) and of wizard activists on the phones, Oregon sent a strong message: immigrants are welcome here and we will always be stronger together!
- Additionally, dozens of wizard activists downloaded and completed our Marauder’s Map to the Polls for election day! Here’s an example from Lisa with this very cool pic.
Staffer of the Week!
Our staffer this week is Jessica Rozycki! Currently, Jessica is a proud Hufflepuff living in NYC. She’s our LGBTQ+ researcher, social media queue club member, and also helps with general DMCC needs. Our anonymous nominator states, “Jessica is such a beautiful person, inside and out! She fights for justice here at The HPA and in her daily living. She’s so honest, genuine, passionate, and kind, which truly makes her the Leslie Knope of our time.”
Here’s more about her!
What social justice causes are you most passionate about?
Justice for LGBTQ+ folks and communities of color, gender equity, mental health, and education/safe schools
What was the first social justice action you took part in?
I participated in the Day of Silence when I was in high school. At the time, I took part as an ally (I didn’t really discover my queerness until college) but it really opened my eyes and made me realize how privileged I was, and from then on I knew I wanted to do something about it.
Fave HP book and why? (or favorite book of all time)
I fell in love with Chamber of Secrets for the mystery. And then fell in love with Half Blood Prince for the backstory. My all time favorite book is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe…..and typing this out I just realized my two fave books have “secrets” in the title. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Last show you binge watched?
I’m not very good at binge watching because I don’t have the attention span. But right now I am casually watching Schitt’s Creek.
Favorite class you’ve ever taken in school?
Fun fact: I made my own major in college, so in building my own curriculum, I got to take A BUNCH of really cool classes! I’ll pick my top three: “LGBTQ+ literature” for obvious reasons, but specifically because it’s where I was introduced to James Baldwin. “The Politics of Abortion” taught me so much about the complexity of the conversation on abortion policy. Lastly, I took a class that was considered the hardest course offered at my school called “The HIV/AIDS Epidemic.” It was an upper level science class that taught about the virus so that part was SUPER challenging, but then later on we added social aspects to our discussions. I loved how first learning from a scientific perspective made the discussions about social aspects THAT much more fascinating and intricate. — — WOW, that was a long answer. I guess I should also mention that I have very strong Ravenclaw tendencies okay byyyyeeeee!!!
A Little Bit of Lumos
- From our HPA Chapters, we’ve got a lot of exciting news from our Chapters around the world! For instance, The Deluminators chapter in Sydney, Australia raised $1,800 at Oz Comic Con to help families suffering from a drought. How amazing is that!
- In LGBTQ+ world, Alaska elected their first two transgender women into office! They’re in different roles, but they’re definitely both making history.
Join the team!
Interested in volunteering or know someone who could be? Have a passion for Harry Potter and social justice? Why not join our amazing volunteer family! Whatever your strengths may be, we’re certain to have a place for you here at The HP Alliance. Check out our Volunteer page for more information and position openings!
