There are a lot of problems in Washington, D.C these days, but not many solutions to them. Inefficiency, an allergy to cooperation, and stiff resistance to pragmatism have all ground the federal government to a stand-still. But one op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal knows what the real problem is: not enough rich, white men.read more
Film: American Violet
American Violet is a film that shows us the criminal justice system being used as a tool to disenfranchise target communities from housing, jobs and social services – with no regard for whether detainees have ever committed a crime, or how the arrest of one member will impact the stability of an entire family.
People who are falsely detained and have children or parents at home who rely on them for support, are likely to succumb to coercion and plead guilty to crimes they did not commit in order to get released from jail and back to their families. But afterwards, they will face the consequences of being branded as convicts and the immediate loss of social support services their families rely on, including their family’s home if they live in public – or publicly supported – housing.read more
Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools by Diane Ravitch
Category: Social Justice, Education
In the days that Diane Ravitch was U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education in the administration of George H. W. Bush, she drank lots of Kool Aide and believed strenuously that destroying public education was good for students of color and poor kids. But one day the veil was lifted from her eyes. She understood the error of her previous thinking, and did a complete about face to become the country’s most visible and high-profile champion of public education. I’m a Diane fan and now, you can be too! Read her book and her blog.read more
What’s known today as the Charter School Movement is not new. The concepts that drives it were born prior to 1954, when students of color won the right to equal education through the historic lawsuit, Brown v. Education, which ushering in the desegregation of schools throughout the country. What we are seeing today is simply a big step forward being taken by racists with money and power to re-segregate schools and make sure that Brown and Black students receive inferior educations.
These 1%ers want to make certain that public schools will never produce another brilliant Barack Obama. And, they want to make sure they get hold of the money public schools’ budget and buildings represent.read more
Katie McDonough of Salon dislikes Kmart’s Joe Boxer male underwear ad#showyourjoe because it’s too overtly sexual for her taste, and she wonders about metal testicles. The booty shaking didn’t bother me – most popular musicals have way more spice in their dance routines.
When I watched the 1 minute commercial, what I noticed was that the only dude with speaking lines and the guy with the most shakes, was the single Black man out of a field of 6. Naturally, I asked myself – is this commercial racist? I’d love to know what you think.read more
Police are harassing African American men in a Detroit suburb, and investigative journalist Steve Neavling has video clips and a photo of the abuse. Neavling reports in his blog, Motor City Muckraker.
“Most of the videos are shot from squad cars while African American men are told to sing or “dance like a chimp.”
On Thursday, November 14 2013, the Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department was contacted by an individual who said that he was in possession of video clips and a photo of African American males. The video clips and photo are allegedly made by an officer of this department. The department has begun an internal investigation of this matter. The Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department does not tolerate unprofessional conduct by its officers when interacting with any citizen they may come in contact with.read more
The Newark Students Union (NSU) organized a massive 1,000 student walkout last April and on Monday Nov 4, they will stage another mass boycott demanding that quality education be returned to Newark. The students want Gov. Christie to fund schools at court ordered levels and to repair school buildings, which are currently unsafe – two legal obligations which Christie has refused to honor. Spread the word about the rally and be there if you can. The social media hashtag is #npsboycott.
Boycott & Rally to Protest Gov. Christie’s Control of Newark Public Schools
November 4 2013 @ 9am
30 Clinton Street in Newark NJread more
Two information sessions for November’s Fugitive Safe Surrender program are being held 6:30-8:30pm on Thursday, Oct. 17 in Hackensack and Tuesday, Oct. 22 in Paterson, NJ. Faith workers, community and re-entry advocates, criminal justice students and attorney volunteers will want to attend a session to learn directly from experts handling the program, what it can do for non-violent offender law fugitives. Volunteer needs and opportunities will also be discussed. Law and criminal justice student volunteers will gain valuable insights into the legal system and CE credits will be issued to attorney volunteers.read more
New film asks America to talk about the causes and consequences of systemic inequity. Check out this vignette from the movie Cracking the Codes in which Joy DeGruy describes A Trip to the Grocery Store, where she as a Black woman is targeted for humiliation until her white skinned sister-in-law steps in.
Sister-in-law shines a deserving spotlight on the injustice and inequity of how poorly Joy is being treated as compared with the friendly and welcoming customer service she just received. It becomes immediately clear to all observers that the shabby treatment is race related and it needs to stop. Joy points out that her half-Black, half-white SIL who appears to be a white woman, journeys through life with an understanding of the power of white privilege and is not afraid to use it to right racial injustice wherever she goes … And Joy invites white people everywhere to do the same. read more
Police in Santa Ana, California have killed five unarmed residents this year. Some residents wonder if this is part of a political strategy to create an environment which discourages people from fighting against being run out of their homes and off their land.
Concerns about Santa Ana corruption are more widespread than just shooting the public. Mark Burcaw reported illegal citations issued by the Santa Ana Police Department for the purpose of illegally seizing property.
This writer has been informed by other residents about land grab schemes within the city. People who want other people’s property reportedly have city officials misuse their positions to cite the property for bogus violations for the purpose of later condemning and stealing the desired property. The city has been known to turn off the water of residents and then cite them for not having water as part of this seemingly continuous scheme of corruption. The information provided by residents appears to confirm that Mr. Burcaw’s complaints are common place in Santa Ana.read more
Everybody wants to believe GZ will suffer. Pffff. If smirky George had a conscience, this might be true. If he wasn’t getting his legal expenses paid by private donations, this might be true. But now he’s got money, is nuts, arrogant, self-deceiving and self-aggrandizing. His wife is a lady willing to perjure herself for personal gain. And, George has presently situated himself outside of the US where he might experience trouble, in a secret overseas location where he must feel safe.read more
The loving and wonderfully talented young performers from Watoto from the Nile have produced a hauntingly beautiful song they call “Warning”. In their music video, the young people follow in the wake of Trayvon’s fateful footsteps as he walks to the 7-11, singing –
… Watoto here with a Warning … right now our Nation’s in mourning. Oh Martin Family, we’re with you … I put my hoodie oh I weeping … because this case is so misleading. We come together we must care … Trayvon Martin your spirit is in all of us.read more
My friend David Meza sent me this anti-Nazi propaganda cartoon created by Disney during WWII to stimulate United States citizen’s hatred for Germans. I’m a Jew who lost family in Hitler’s holocaust, so I’m far from being a Nazi sympathizer. But, I like to remember that not everything that reinforces my experiential and cultural judgments is factual or true. And I am a lover of truth. So, please, when watching this disturbing 10 minute cartoon portraying how Nazis killed love and hope in their young men to make them into the optimal fighting machines they wanted them to be, keep in mind that this is the American propaganda version of Germany. What really went on there may have been quite different from what this film portrays.
The cartoon disturbed me for another reason. In the militaristic, unfeeling youth mindlessly pledging obedience to the heartless Nazi philosophy, I see too many parallels with American society today. Which makes sense, right …. as this film is an American brainchild. Today in America, there are too many parents and children taking an approach to education and career preparation that embraces arrogance, elitism and a willingness to hurt anyone who blocks a student’s path to academic success, job security and the acquisition of material goods. In today’s education system, financially stable parents want their children to be separate from those who are not; standardized tests which are culturally skewed to favor middle class children over others and are used as leverage for separating students by economic class or ethnicity. And Blacks, Latinos and other students who struggle with the challenges poverty exerts on their school performance – and their lives overall – are ruthlessly deemed by financially secure student families to be worthy only of condemnation, and neither of inclusion nor assistance.read more
The imprisonment of human beings at record levels is both a moral failure and an economic one …
refers to the reality that 750 people out of each 100,000 residents in the United States are being jailed. In mathematic terms, that equates to .0075% of our population (3/4 of a percentage point) meaning that it comes way too close to being 1% of our population (1 person out of every 100).read more
Alternet author Adam Peck does a good job of showing the humour in Joseph Epstein’s massively egotistical and racist WSJ Op-Ed in which Epstein proposes, “we need more rich white men in power, preferably WASPs,” and goes on to say,
