AKPIRG Updates October 2023
Trimble Gilbert: AKPIRG Language Champion
Welcome to our new series, the AKPIRG Language Champion Spotlight! This series will highlight the AKPIRG language access team’s language panelists. This team is made up of educators, Elders, and knowledge bearers from around the state. AKPIRG recognizes and uplifts Alaska Native languages and supports this work in all of our communities. The Language Champions do amazing work in many spaces to ensure that Alaska Native languages continue to thrive, and we are so excited to celebrate their work with you.
Our first Language Champion is Chief Rev. Dr. Trimble Gilbert, a Gwich’in Athabascan Elder and speaker of Dinjii Zhuh K’yaa, the Gwich’in language. Trimble currently serves as the First Traditional Chief of the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) region and is an Episcopal priest, a renowned fiddle player, and a music educator who has performed throughout the United States and Canada. In 2016, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Trimble is a cultural treasure!
Trimble was born at a trapping camp 70 miles from Arctic Village, where he continues to live a traditional Gwich’in lifestyle with his wife, Mary Gilbert. When speaking of his home, Trimble told us, “I know I was born here. Where I live, that's the only place – my life is here.”
Trimble has been involved with the AKPIRG Language Access team since its inception in 2018. He has done numerous projects and created many messages that touch on deep cultural knowledge in relation to wellness and caring for one another.
“We are connected to the land, water, air, snow, rain, ahtraii, wind and datthak, everything… Traditional life means you need to learn lots from the elders. Why did the elders live a long time? Why are they strong? They lived on their own land, eating Native food, and they are happy together.” –Trimble Gilbert
AKPIRG’s language access team is honored and fortunate to work with Trimble as a language panelist. Thank you for all you do for your community, Trimble. Mahsi’ choo! Hai’ee!
#LanguageMatters #LanguageChampions #AKPIRGLanguageAccess
To learn more about Trimble and his work as a Language Champion, visit:
Digital Inclusion Week 2023
It's digital inclusion week! In an increasingly digital world, inclusion is key. Everyone deserves equal access to technology, knowledge, and opportunities, regardless of background or circumstance. Digital inclusion is vital to education, job opportunities, and vital services. It gives a voice to people who are being left out. Building connected communities is key for everyone to thrive.
An abundance of amazing work around digital inclusion is happening here in Alaska. Whether it’s getting communities connected, holding digital skills trainings, increasing access to devices or fighting for affordable and transparent service rates, so many individuals and organizations statewide are contributing to a more digitally equitable future for Alaskans. Here are just some of those organizations, and a bit about their digital equity work:
– In the Southeast, Tidal Network, a proud Tribally-owned ISP, is dedicated to bringing affordable broadband connectivity to unserved & underserved communities. Beyond infrastructure expansion, they prioritize digital literacy and in-home support.
– RurAL CAP, a community action program empowering low-income Alaskans, conducts outreach and helps sign people up for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides up to $75/month toward internet bills.
– The Polynesian Association of Alaska is helping educate community members about digital equity opportunities during their regular community meetings. They also hold listening sessions to assess digital needs among Pacific Islander communities in Anchorage, Kodiak, and Juneau.
– Alaska Literacy Program works to make sure that all Alaskans–including those for whom English is a second language–have the skills to use the internet and devices in critical ways like sending emails, managing files, navigating websites, and filing online forms. They offer digital literacy courses and advocate for accessible language on the internet and devices.
Digital Inclusion Week ends on Friday, but the work toward digital equity must happen year round. Here are some opportunities to take action now, and in the near future:
✅ Share widely, and raise awareness about digital inclusion in Alaska!
✅ Keep an eye on AKPIRG’s social media for ways to make your voice heard when the State Digital Equity Plan is released.
✅ Consider volunteering at an organization near you that is doing digital inclusion work.
Kroger-Albertsons Merger Update
This is a great development for Alaskans and all Americans: the bipartisan Alaska Senate Majority has announced their opposition to the Kroger-Albertsons merger! This comes just after both of Alaska’s Senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, declared their opposition, adding to the opposition letter that Representative Mary Peltola released last month.
Having bipartisan opposition to this deal on the record is a huge win – it gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a clear mandate to block the deal. This is not only a win for Alaska, it’s a win for the entire country. If the FTC is able to stop this one very bad deal, it will help set a precedent empowering the FTC to stop more bad deals in the future.
AKPIRG created a petition in January for Alaskans to sign in opposition of the merger. Over 400 Alaskans signed – perhaps including you! In April, we carried that petition to Senator Murkowski and Sullivan, and to our state lawmakers in Juneau. The high volume of opposition made an impact on multiple offices. AKPIRG had several meetings over the past year encouraging public opposition of this merger with the offices of Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Sullivan, and Rep. Peltola, including just two weeks ago, when we met with them in D.C.
AKPIRG is grateful to Alaska's federal and state lawmakers for speaking out against this deal, to our coalition partners, and to you, our community of support. Thank you for signing our petition, for reaching out to your lawmakers, and for raising your voice on this important issue. We couldn’t have done this without you.
Your continued support makes our work possible. Help us keep fighting for a healthier, safer, and more sustainable future for all Alaskans free of monopoly control by making a donation today!
AETP: Call for Citizen-Journalists
If you live in the Railbelt region, from the bottom of the Kenai Peninsula north to Fairbanks, and you pay an electric bill, you almost certainly get your power from an electric cooperative. These cooperatives are owned by us, their member-owners, and are supposed to work in our best interests. Making sure they do requires informed and engaged members who can let the cooperatives’ elected boards of directors know how they feel about key questions and elect board members who reflect their values.
The Alaska Energy Transparency Project (AETP) exists to help inform the member-owners of Alaskan electric cooperatives about the key issues facing them and the decisions and policies that will shape Alaska’s energy future. We want to reduce the barriers to engagement and help explain pressing issues in a way that is accessible to people who care about their communities, but don’t have the time to attend meetings, decipher technical reports, or learn to navigate Alaska’s regulatory bureaucracy.
AETP needs volunteer citizen-journalists to expand its coverage of Alaska’s electric power sector.
Anyone with a passion for helping their community and strengthening democratic self-control of our cooperatives who can spare a little time to help inform others about these important issues can be a citizen-journalist!
Have questions? Story ideas? Interested in getting involved? Get in touch with AETP's editor, Brian Kassof, at brian@akpirg.org, or learn more on AETP's website:
AKPIRG Kodiak Team Update
In the 2022 election cycle, we were honored to sponsor a Get Out the Vote project in Kodiak promoting the availability of voting information and ballots in Tagalog. We brought on a team of FilAm matriarchs who hosted community events, knocked on doors, put up flyers, distributed voting materials, and visited major employers like canneries to spread the word about the 2022 elections and the availability of language assistance.
Through their experience canvassing community members in the 2022 election cycle, the team determined that pathways to citizenship was another major barrier to civic engagement in Kodiak – while the eligible voter population of Tagalog speakers is large, many Filipinos who move to Kodiak never apply for US citizenship due to the challenging citizenship test in English and the extreme cost of applying (between the hefty application fees and the costly travel to and from the nearest USCIS office in Anchorage).
That is why this year, our Kodiak team is assisting with the process of acquiring US naturalization by teaching a class on the citizenship test in both English and Tagalog at Kodiak College. The citizenship class started in September with over 20 students ranging in age from 20 to 88, and will run through November. The team will also be hosting a visit from two USCIS officers in October, who will help with petitions, interviews, and even swearing-in for those who have already applied.
At the same time, the Kodiak team has been door-knocking and flyering to Get Out the Vote for the local Kodiak Island Borough Elections, distributing information and resources to voters in English and Tagalog. The entire team also served as translators at the polls on election day this past week. They will continue to do voter education in the community through the 2024 election cycle.
We are so grateful to be a part of this project that is providing incredible on-the-ground language access support to the FilAm community. The Kodiak team is truly a powerhouse of civic engagement!
Protect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
On October 3rd, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of CFSA vs. CFPB. In this case, a payday lending industry group (CFSA) has argued that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is entirely unconstitutional. The decision in this case could have far-reaching consequences for consumer protection.
Thankfully, court watchers are reporting that the Supreme Court Justices asked hard questions of the payday industry lobbyists, suggesting that they’re unlikely to disband the CFPB.
The CFPB plays an important role in protecting Alaskan consumers from predatory lenders. Data from the CFPB about the payday lending industry helped us to make a data-driven case for HB145, a bill we hope will pass the Alaska legislature next year. HB145 would repeal the special regulations that currently allow payday lenders to charge over 500% interest. HB145 would also add protections against online loans. Without the support of the CFPB, it will be more challenging for local regulators to protect Alaskans from out-of-state lenders who violate our state’s laws.
We hope the Supreme Court makes the right decision in this case, to allow the CFPB to continue to protect Alaskan consumers from predatory lenders. But whatever the Supreme Court decides, AKPIRG will continue to fight for common sense consumer protections like HB145 here in Alaska.
