WHERE THE ACTION IS: Formerly "T'Keyah Fights City Hall" which was formerly the "Do Something" and sometimes the "T'Keyah's Two Cents" columns. This is what the action should be...
ACTION ALERT: Support SB 1157 (In-Person Visits) & AB 2466 (Voting Rights in Jails)! Ask Governor Brown to Sign SB 1157 to protect in-person visitation in jails! What SB 1157 does:
Prevents county jails from eliminating in-person visitation
Allows counties to install and use video visitation as a supplemental visiting option
Why LSPC is a co-sponsor: · In-person visitation is crucial to the well-being of incarcerated people and their families. And there are many benefits for our communities too: in-person visitation has been shown to reduce recidivism, increase the chances of securing employment post-release, and facilitate successful reentry. · Yet, 11 California counties have eliminated, or plan to eliminate or severely restrict in-person visits in at least one of their jails. These counties have decided that video calling an incarcerated loved one from the jail lobby allows for the same human connection as an in-person visit. We know that’s not true. That’s why we co-sponsored SB 1157 (Mitchell)- Strengthening Family Connections: In-Person Visitation. SB 1157 would allow counties to install and use video visitation as a supplemental option but would prevent them from eliminating in-person visitation. Ask Governor Brown to sign SB 1157: Strengthening Family Connections today!families. Call the Governor's office at (916) 445-2841 http://act.credoaction.com/call/prison_video_visitation_brown/?t=1&akid=19757.3185433.htPN7x
Ask Governor Brown to Sign AB 2466 to clarify voting rights in jails! What AB 2466 does: · Creates consistent language in our Elections Code on who can and cannot vote with a criminal conviction; · Ensures that individuals sentenced under the Criminal Justice Realignment Act keep their right to vote; · Clarifies a juvenile adjudication does not affect the right to voting; and · Clarifies the information courts send to election officials so that no eligible voter is mistakenly denied their right to vote.
Why LSPC is a co-sponsor: · At LSPC, voter disenfranchisement is not a theoretical “civil rights issue.” It is an exclusion that my colleagues have experienced first hand. This experience forms the basis of our support for this bill. · AB 2466 is a practical solution to the functional disenfranchisement of thousands and thousands of Californians. · When it comes to increasing access to fundamental rights, the importance of clarity cannot be overstated. One of the largest barriers to voting we have encountered in our work at LSPC is confusion about who has the right to vote, and when.
LSPC supports AB 2466 because it is a straightforward fix to a pernicious problem. The California constitution does not support permanent disenfranchisement, and yet this is the functional result of an ambiguous law. Ask Governor Brown to sign AB 2466: Clarifying Voting Rights today! Call the Governor's office at (916) 445-2841
Faithful readers of The Crystal News have seen this petition before, women are still navigating campuses where they fall prey to sexual assault: Senator Barbara Boxer says,"It's stunning. More than 30,000 women in college are sexually assaulted every year. Colleges and universities should be doing everything they can to prevent these heinous crimes and ensure justice for their victims. Yet, unbelievably, 41 percent of colleges and universities recently surveyed have not investigated a single case of sexual violence on their campus in the last five years. ... This must end. That's why today, I'm joining my colleagues in introducing the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, which would take critical steps to address this epidemic.Will you join us in this fight to end campus sexual violence? Add your name in support of the Campus Accountability and Safety Act!Survivors of sexual assault need to be supported by their schools every step of the way. Unfortunately, right now, too many campuses fail to do everything in their power to prevent sexual assault and -- even worse -- sometimes blame the survivors themselves. ... Will you join Senator Gillibrand, my colleagues, and me in urging Congress to pass the Campus Accountability and Safety Act?Sign on today and take action to end campus sexual violence! ... In Friendship, Barbara Boxer U.S. Senator" Please join me in signing Senator Barbara Boxer's petition. Ask Congress to pass the Campus Accountability and Safety Act Click Here! This is where the action is...
Protesters calling for the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel uncovered another reason for disapproval. Paramedics were called to the mayor's home last December, because some protestors were apparently slipping on the ice in front of his property. The ground had not been shoveled, which is ironic, since the mayor mandated last year that Chicago homeowners must keep the public walkway in front of their property shoveled or be fined. Among the reasons that several groups are calling for the mayor's resignation, as well as that of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, is the number police shootings in Chicago, particularly of unarmed and underarmed youth of color. Alvarez waited 13 months to prosecute police officer Jason Van Dyke for shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The video which she received two weeks after the shooting shows officer Jason Van Dyke shooting the Black teenager 16 times as he walks away and lays on the ground (with a closed knife in his hand). None of the seven other officers on the scene fired a shot. The Chicago city council approved a $5 million settlement to McDonald's family on April 15, 2015, although the family had not yet filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. The settlement deal was finalized the day after Emanuel secured his second term by a run-off election. Allegations include the mayor's possible knowledge of the video and an alleged negotiation with the family not to go public with it until after the election. On December 16, Van Dyke was indicted by a grand jury on six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct. http://act.credoaction.com/call/emanuel_alvarez_resign/?t=1&akid=16525.3185433.6LFA6y
The National Afrikan Amerikan Family Reunion Association (NAAFRA)is a nonprofit organization that seeks to link families who engage in “reunion celebrations” under an “alliance umbrella” to:Create jobs ~ Improve educational opportunities ~ Maximize the ability to grow wealth~ Develop programs that enhance health ~ Establish Saturday schooling for all needy family members ~ Offer major opposition to the “fratricide” that is occurring throughout Black America... We must return to this place of “each one reach one,” to this place of “family” and our God to find the challenge, and to BE THE CHANGE we seek. As you reflect on your 2015 family reunions, make the gathering more meaningful by registering your family at www.naafra.org!
WHERE THE ACTION IS: Still Seeking Justice for Tamir Rice
Update on LaTonya Goldsby's quest for justice after her 12-year-old cousin Tamir Rice was tragically shot to death by Cleveland police on November 22, 2014. Tamir was in a local park playing with an airsoft toy gun in board daylight when someone called 911. The caller said that the gun was “probably fake” and that the person was likely a juvenile, but even so, two police officers rushed to Tamir’s location. The officers jumped out of their car and shot him twice at point-blank range within 1.5 seconds of arriving. The incident was caught on video. There were other children playing in the park with Tamir. None of them were running from him. No of them appeared to be afraid or threatened by him, but the officers, who waited for more than four minutes to treat Tamir with first aid, said that they considered him an imminent danger and, unlike the children there, feared for their own safety. Tamir died from the gunshots the next day. Thousands of people signed petitions asking for justice, but last December, the decision was made not to prosecute the officers responsible for Tamir's death. Whenever I speak to youth groups or individuals, Tamir Rice's is one of the faces I see. To help make the opposition to injustice clear, join me in signing the petition to ask the Cuyahoga CountyProsecutor Timothy J. McGinty to file charges against Officer Timothy Loehmann and Officer Frank Gramback, pleaseClick Here! This is where the action is...
WHERE THE ACTION IS: Blacks Urged to Save Chicago’s Historically Black University
CHICAGO–Chicago State University supporter calls for Black people to save the city’s only historically Black University. “At no point should we ever rely on anyone but ourselves to save ourselves. It is time to put our money where our mouth is,” said Cassiopeia Sledge. Operation Save CSU, a student coalition, demonstrated Jan. 9 at CSU to protest and ask for the support of the community in attempts to save the university from closing this winter. CSU is one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America and is one of nine Illinois public universities that awaits long-overdue state funding. Although CSU is not a federally recognized HBCU, the HBCU community does recognize it as one. Come March, however, the predominantly Black school on Chicago’s South Side won’t have the money to pay its employees, officials said. The public universities are caught in the middle of a six-month budget standoff between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly, but CSU stands to lose the most unless the money comes in. Sledge produced this passionate video as a call to action of Black Chicagoans. - See more at: http://beansouptimes.com/blacks-urged-to-save-chicagos-only-historically-black-university/#sthash.CgIim4nA.dpuf To make a donation, click here: http://csu.edu/TUFCS/ This is where the action is!!!
WHERE THE ACTION IS: My Black Year...
As you have read in earlier issues of The Crystal News, Maggie's Anderson's book, "Our Black Year" inspired me to up my own support of Black businesses, and to find and champion at least one business per month. This issue of The Crystal News spotlights: The African American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 W Sistrunk Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 (954) 357-6282. http://www.broward.org/Library/LocationsHours/Branch_es/Pages/AA.aspx The library was the vision of Samuel F. Morrison, the former director of Broward County Library, who wanted to build a state-of-the-art facility for research, life-long learning, community gatherings, cultural events and technology training by and about African-Americans for the Broward community and the world at large. Morrison worked with Broward County Library off and on for more than three decades and eventually, with community support, saw his vision realized. Since its opening, AARLCC has become an integral part of the community, offering classes in computer technology and educational, recreational, and cultural programs on a regular basis. AARLCC has displayed over 38 major exhibits and offered 184 cultural programs to over 895,000 customer, celebrities, noted authors and international speakers who have made AARLCC a thriving center, a vital component of our community. ON a recent trip to the area, I went there with family and friends and was quite impressed, especially by the life-like automated history lesson that we received from Morrison (almost) himself. I look forward to being returning... Remember to check my Black Friday page (and suggest new Black owned products and services that you can personally recommend)! This is where the action is...
WHERE THE ACTION IS: Florida's Got Me So Upset!
Yes, this article has also been included in The Crystal News before. Something more needs to be done. WARNING:This article is of a horrific, disturbing act: Change.org wrote "Darren Rainey, a 50-year-old mentally ill state prison inmate in Miami-Dade County, died after guards responded to his defecating in his cell by locking him into a 180-degree shower for two hours... The case was only brought to light by The Miami Herald. Rainey was serving (the last month of) a two-year sentence for drug possession and housed in a psychiatric unit. After his death, guards forced another prisoner, Mark Joiner, to clean up the shower where Darren died, including chunks of skin. "He was crying, please stop, please stop, Joiner said. And they just said "Enjoy your shower, and left." Only the U.S. Department of Justice can properly investigate this terrible crime, and a broader culture of abuse in Florida’s prisons that has led to other unnecessary deaths, and which falls especially hard on the mentally ill."Update (http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/darren-rainey/) - "On Friday, September 19th, 2014, a total of thirty-two (32) employees with the Florida Department of Corrections were fired by DOC Secretary Michael Crews, after investigating a long history of systematic brutality, official coverups, and buried complaints. The firings were spread across all four of the state’s prisons. Warden Jerry Cummings, who presided over the prison where Darren Rainey was killed, was among those fired. The unprecedented move came after the Miami Herald helped to expose damning evidence regarding the outrageous behavior of the guards and multiple suspicious inmate deaths. Aside from Mr. Rainey’s horrific shower death, was the 2010 death of Randall Jordan-Aparo, who was gassed to death in a cell. The killing was then covered up and documented as death by natural causes. Among the most sadistic of the guards was Rollin Suttle Austin, who ...often boasted about getting away with murder. Complaints about Austin were continuously ignored during his 23-year career. He received high marks and timely raises up until the state-wide scandal broke. The accounts of the whistle-blowers and inmates are nothing short of disturbing. The reports included allegations of systematic forging of incident reports and guards who brazenly told inmates that they knew how to “act for the cameras” and cover up their frequent brutality. The firings of the 32 DOC employees is a refreshing and necessary step, but it is only a first step. Those responsible for committing and covering up acts of violence and murder need to be put behind bars themselves. The nation patiently awaits for the sadistic guards to be charged for their criminal actions. As of May, 2015 the Miami-Dade Police Department has not criminally charged anybody, and the Miami-Dade medical examiner never conducted an autopsy. That month the U.S. Justice Department began investigating Rainey's death." Join me in calling for an autopsy of Darren Rainey and for his murderers to be brought to justice: Miami-Dade Police Department (Florida) Phone: 305-471-1780 Email: Contact List. Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Phone: (305) 545-2400 To join me in calling on the Department of Justice to address this horrific act, Click Here! This is where the action is...
WHERE THE ACTION IS: End Toxic Water Pollution in Michigan!
CREDO Action writes, "The children of Flint, Michigan have been drinking water containing toxic levels of lead, which can cause irreversible brain damage and lifelong physical effects. The toxic water is also being blamed for vision and memory problems, skin lesions, and hair loss. The crisis in Flint started in 2014 when Gov. Rick Snyder’s hand-picked and unelected city manager decided to save money by switching Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Problems with the water were immediately apparent but state officials did not take residents’ complaints seriously until testing last fall showed elevated levels of lead in the blood of Flint’s children. Gov. Snyder has finally, after 20 months, declared a state of emergency and is scrambling to do damage control and deflect blame.2 But as chief executive of the state of Michigan, with an aggressive agenda of cost-cutting and austerity practices, responsibility ultimately rests with him. The Justice Department has said they will join the EPA in investigating the contamination of Flint’s water.3We need to make sure there is a transparent and fair investigation that reaches all the way to Gov. Snyder, and holds him accountable for his role in creating and perpetuating this crisis. Tell the Justice Department: Deliver justice for Flint, Michigan. Click here to sign the petition Before the water source switch, anti-corrosives were added to the Lake Huron water to help protect aging pipes. But when the switch was made, officials did not add anti-corrosives to the Flint River water. It would have cost $100 a day to do so. The change in water quality was immediately apparent: Residents rapidly voiced complaints about the smell, taste and rusty appearance of the water. They also raised health concerns including rashes, hair loss and mood changes. Even General Motors stopped using the Flint water, “saying it was rusting its parts.” To join me in asking the Justice Department to address the water toxicity in Flint Michigan, CLICK HERE! This is where the action is...
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