We need to be happy with the life we have. Otherwise, we’ll be dissatisfied all of our lives. Life is never going to be perfect, but it is a gift from God – and is to be treasured in all its imperfect glory.
J4J report shares important data about attacks on public ed – Death by 1000 Cuts
The Journey 4 Justice Alliance has issued an important new report entitled Death By A Thousand Cuts which includes the number and location of school closings not previously gathered together by any major organization or media portal. It discusses the racist motivation of the misnamed “education reform” movement; the injustice that investor-based charters represent – institutions which are publicly funded but privately controlled; and is a must-read for any person interested in education equity.
Did Facebook illegally try to depress users?
I learned today that Facebook is under an FCC consent decree that will last 20 years (until 2032) to protect user’s privacy. Also that privacy advocacy group EPIC has filed a formal complaint against Facebook for violating it. Facebook recently attempted to influence the mood of 700,000 users by filtering posts in their News Feeds to show either more good or more bad news, and then monitored individual users’ posts for words known to reflect emotional state. This was a research project that involved Cornell University but users were not informed that it was taking place.
How equity differs from equality
Equality and equity may once have been completely interchangeable terms but in law and as pertains to social justice matters, they are not the same any longer. Equity speaks to making allowances for handicaps created by historic, economic or racially based lack of access in order to level the playing field for everyone. Equality is the goal of equity considerations: by giving a leg up to the underserved, we hope to become a society where all are truly equal.
Oxford Dictionary defines equity as “A branch of law that developed alongside common law in order to remedy some of its defects in fairness and justice, formerly administered in special courts.”
How Koch Bros’ $25M gift to United Negro College Fund can hurt us
A friend posted this on Facebook about the $25 Million gift given to the United Negro College Fund by the Koch Brothers:
If this money comes from sincerity (their heart) it is a blessing, but if it comes with “strings attached” the Koch brothers will have not surprised us. They will show us as usual their true colors! Win-win situation either way!
My thoughts are different:
Not necessarily, Maria. The insidious multi-level strategies that typically accompany gifts by the rich and powerful are designed to have subtle, but long-lasting and far reaching effect. First we should ask, what is being asked for as a direct trade for the gift? We may never know everything that was bargained away behind closed doors but we do know that two Koch Brothers designees will sit on a scholarship decision committee of three that will decide which students get that blood money. Right out of the gate, it’s clear that the money was not given with an open hand.
Leadership tool: CHEJ’s Community Organizer Guide
Fight to Win Leadership Handbook
by Center for Health, Environment & Justice
This is CHEJ’s first basic community organization manual. Although it is written for first time organizers, established leaders may find they learn a new trick or two. Topics covered include how to start a group, keep a group going, research opponents, organize your community, carry out an effective action, raise funds, and win!
“White feminists” want to determine what feminism is
Fabulous post by Betty Mamzelle on the white privilege of “White Feminism”.
This, in a nutshell, is about how white people feel they own the right to dominate a conversation (or a movement) and tell other people what can and cannot be discussed; who’s in and who’s out; what topics are allowable and which are not; and what’s important v. what is not … and how those beliefs extend to the battleground of feminism.
Even though feminism is supposedly about protecting women from other-abuse, “white feminists” feel perfectly comfortable browbeating or excluding women who don’t fit their concept of what feminism is supposed to be. Betty says,
Join Newark students in mass rally & boycott for local control on Mon. Nov 4
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 NJ
Issues, news and fact checking for NJ’s 2013 election season
THIS ELECTION VOTE YOURSELF A RAISE! Vote YES on the ballot referendum to raise the NJ minimum wage to $8.25/hr
Also in the 2013 election cycle, all of New Jersey’s state level positions are up for election including Assembly, State Senate seats and the governorship. Federal and state elected officials have the ability to make changes to improve, approve or eradicate the issues listed below. Your vote and your voice make them accountable so be sure to vote. (Download issues flyer).
- Protect the constitutional right of every US citizen to have one vote and get it counted
- Fund and enact The Amistad Act which calls for racially accurate history to be taught in NJ schools
- Food justice: eradicate urban food deserts and barriers to home & community gardening; ban of genetically modified foods (GMOs); make college food healthier and more affordable
- Reverse Citizens United ruling that gives corporations the status of personhood
- Take big money out of general elections (see rootstrikers.org)
- Save the open internet and protect it from takeover and control by corporate interests (see savetheinternet.com)
- Ban prison based gerrymandering which causes prison inmates’ families to lose government resources in their home states and counties
- Stop privatization of schools, prisons, nursing homes and food services
- Moratorium on foreclosures to protect 1 in 4 Black &Latino families who are in danger of losing their homes
- Hold banks accountable for wrongful foreclosures, charging Blacks and Latinos higher mortgage interest rates, refusing to renegotiate underwater mortgages; and failing to provide maintenance on foreclosed homes – which contributes to the creation of urban blight zones
- Lower US prison population. We incarcerate almost 1% of American citizens, about 2.5 million individuals, whom are mostly Latinos and African Americans
- Protect civil rights including: ban racial profiling, stop unfounded searches and halt incarceration of non- criminal undocumented immigrants
- Achieve diversity of court justices on every level of the judicial system
- Transition to a green economy and protect clean air, water and the environment. Prevent climate change.
- Provide help to families with homes in foreclosure, the unemployed and the hungry
- Protect women’s health, lives, career opportunities; and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
- Hold major corporation and government agencies accountable for diversity in hiring and the awarding of small business contracts
- Make minimum wage equal a living wage and protect American jobs. Vote yes to the NJ 2013 ballot referen- dum to raise min wage to $8.25/hr!
- Expand the scope of the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which offers important protec- tions including: financial institutions may not enact excessive credit rate hikes or provide misleading informa- tion about credit terms and fees
- Support for women and minority students wishing to enter STEM fields
- Protect Obamacare and fund affordable community health centers
- Continue the Deferred Action program & pass the DREAM Act for undocumented immigrant youth; enact comprehensive immigration reform
- Increase support for Historically Black Colleges and Minority Serving Institutions and protect public education
- End government subsidies to big banks and dirty fuel companies. Invest more in public education and health.
- Maintain affordable interest rates on student loans (impacts 140,000 NJ students) and lower college tuition.
- Increase the amount of Pell grant dollars available for low-income studentsTrack Congressional bills
FACT CHECK & OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES
Act for Trayvon
Join the movement.
Here’s a list of actions we can carry out to honor Trayvon Martin’s life and protest the Florida government’s handling of his murderer’s trial. Please add yours as a comment.
Mother love
Mother love. A force more powerful than wind or water.
~ A Kimiism
Almost 1 in 100 jailed in US
Here are a few quotes and visuals to help us see what the United States’ almost 1% incarceration rate looks like – a phenomenon the ACLU condemnsin its new report Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration.
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).
NAACP’s police interaction guide: The 411 on the 5-0
The NAACP advises that the “war on crime” fought by police, sometimes results in innocent people needlessly surrendering constitutional and civil rights which they are not aware they have. The NAACP and its members support just and effective law enforcement, and also believes that people must learn how to exercise our constitutional rights to ensure that law enforcement, and law officers, work as they should: to protect all United States citizens and visitors regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration or economic status.
Racist Mountain Dew goat series commercial pulled
Friend of a friend Sandi Baronvonsassypants Snipe summed this disgusting series of Mountain Dew commercial up much better than I can:
Uggg. I could go on and on about the many fuckeries this commercial promotes but then I would just cry.
Our mutual friend @bryanalexander posted this on Facebook with this note, “Here’s the full Mountain Dew goat commercial series. #3 is the killer. Wow.” And yeah, I found it not only racist, but quite unsettling.
What do you think?
HIPAA offers no privacy or protection to an ill child
Joey Furlong is a Bethlehem, NY 4th grader interned in hospital for a life-threatening condition and awaiting brain surgery. This week, he was approached by one of the teachers employed by the hospital, who wanted the boy to take a standardized test. CBS News reports (Tami is Joey’s mom),
Tami’s husband was in the room when one of the teachers came in talking about the test but she wonders what would have happened had he not been, “I would like to hope she would not have taken his arm that has an IV and oximeter on it and put a number 2 pencil in it, I would like to hope that she would wait to talk to the family.”