On September 26th the police in Orlando put two children, a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, in handcuffs! Instead of treating our children as the kids they are Orange County Public Schools is making them out to be criminals for throwing "tantrums". Firing Dennis Turner isn't enough we need to make sure this never happens to our children again no matter what. We need Barbara Jenkins to act to protect our kids! According to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, last school year Black children made up 51% of school-related arrests across the state, despite making up 21% of the student population. This is totally unacceptable! We are living in a society where kids are being arrested before they are eligible to graduate. The underlying theme here is the role that School Resource Officers have in the School to Prison pipeline is very large. We must limit their role in schools as we continue to combat the effect of over-discipline in our schools. Sign now to demand Dr. Barbara Jenkins limit the role of School Resource officers in OCPS schools.

Tondalao Hall is a domestic violence survivor sentenced to 30 years behind bars under a "failure to protect" law. Tondalao was punished for not leaving her abuser quickly enough, before he could inflict physical abuse on their children. The abuser, Robert Braxton, was released back to the streets the day he was sentenced for child abuse, with only 8 years of probation to serve. He admitted to breaking the ribs, toe, and femurs of the two youngest children. Tondalao, the adult victim of his abuse and mother of his children, is now serving her 15th year behind bars. While we haven’t had much to celebrate in the quest for Tondalao’s freedom, this time is slightly different than others. Here’s how: 1. The Pardon and Parole board voted UNANIMOUSLY in a 5-0 vote to move her case to the next round. 2. Four out of five board members were appointed within the past year. 3. After years of organizing, District Attorney David Prater finally wrote a letter of “support" calling for Tondalao’s release. Oklahoma has the highest rate per capita of incarcerated women than any other place in the word. Hall is 1 of 28 women sentenced across 11 states under “Failure to Protect” laws who are serving more time than the abuser himself. Hall’s appeal for justice could have broader implications for the lives of women across experiences. ​Courts must not use Failure to Protect laws to further victimize survivors of domestic violence by scapegoating them for their batterers’ crimes. Failure to Protect laws must not hold domestic violence victims with children to an impossible standard of choosing between risking their lives (and their children's’ lives) and risking their freedom. After 13 years behind bars, Tondalao has served enough time for a crime she didn't commit. We must do better to protect and #FreeBlackMamas.

Pottstown, a 110 year old rural, historically Black working class is located two blocks from the original slave quarters in Huntersville, NC. Two multi-million dollar corporations, Bowman Development Group and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation, have made their fortunes exploiting the land and community members of Pottstown. The community has had enough! We are calling both corporations to divest from harmful practices and invest in a historic landmark. Forty years ago, the Griffin family (of Griffin Brothers C & D Reclaimation) began operating a demolition landfill where over 200 dump trucks travel through our small Black community. The name has changed, but the company's impact has remained the same. In 2017, the Huntersville Town Board approved the Griffin Brothers' request for a 40-year extension that will end in 2057. Residents along Holbrooks Road are subjected to fumes from the trucks and the harmful chemicals used within the neighboring reclamation center. In 2000, in an attempt to quiet the grievances of residents living on Holbrooks Road, the Griffin Brothers created a community HOA, the Holbrooks Road Association, in order to provide annual stipends to .prevent further resident complaints and investigations. Developer and Partner of the Bowman Development Corp., Don Bowman, created a “new urbanism development” that gentrified a historic community by laying his most recent project's foundation along the streets that once ran through the heart of our rural community. His new development, -- Vermillion/Valencia, a 27 acre village -- was created at the expense of hundreds of rural Pottstown homes, as his quick property grab left countless families with nowhere to go. Pottstown residents adjacent to these newly developed urban homes are concerned that the rise of urbanism will irrevocably alter the culture of their hometown and push them out of their homes. Pottstown and most of its families have suffered from the effects of both companies who earn millions of dollar each year from the exploitation of a historic community. The profits of these businesses will allow company owners' children to benefit financially from their exploitative practices. But what about OUR children? Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation have made our community a “commodity” in which to profit from. The majority of Pottstown residents have not received any compensation from the harmful effects of the companies actions. We community of Pottstown deserve to thrive as these companies do! We are calling on Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation to invest Pottstown, not destroy it. The needs of our community are significant and we are calling on these companies to be good neighbors! We are calling on Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation to make an investment in the existing community's culture and pride. We are calling Bowman Development Corp. and Griffin Brothers C & D Reclamation to provide the necessary funds to renovate our historic Torrence-Lytle High School. This small investment would demonstrate goodwill and prove to community members that they value our beloved Pottstown. The community of Pottstown is asking YOU to support our demand for an investment in our community's rich culture with the corporate-funded restoration of Torrence-Lytle High School and affordable housing options for displaced familes.

On September 15th at 11:59PM more than 45,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) in 10 states went on strike. No state feels the brunt of this more than Michigan, the American auto capital. And as we know, black union workers always end up with the shortest end of the stick. The UAW went on strike to demand that GM increase wages, offer wage progression for new hires, improve healthcare and prescription drug benefits, and provide better overall job security. GM's current CEO, Mary Barra, makes $22 million dollars a year while GM’s temporary employees who have been there more than 4 years, get paid less than $16 dollars an hour. GM's announcement on September 17th to cut the healthcare coverage of of any UAW worker on strike is just one of its latest scare tactics to prevent workers from exercising their basic human rights: demanding better pay. It is our right to protest and this problem is bigger than GM. Those workers on strike are only being paid $250 a week. No one person can live off $250 dollars a week let alone someone with a family. Stand with UAW workers in Michigan and demand that the Vice President of General Motors North America Labor Relations Scott Sandefur support the workers that supported GM during the bail out by providing healthcare coverage! Sign the petition today!

The road to recovery in Bahamas is just starting and will take long. With on-going exposure to the elements and contamination from chemicals, dead livestock, and more than half of the houses on the islands destroyed, temporary relocation is a key element of the humanitarian response. In times of overwhelming catastrophe, the United States has historically given protected status (TPS) to people who cannot return safely to their homes. This can be one of those times. Sen. Rubio and Gov. Rick Scott have called on Trump to waive the restrictions. Rep. Maxine Waters has called for action, and Reps Yvette Clark, Stacey Plaskett, and Barbara Lee joined by dozens of co-sponsors have presented a bill in the House of Representatives urging Temporary Protected Status in the House. This petition will be delivered to Members of Congress and the Trump administration by New Florida Majority, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Making the Homeless Smile and the Family Action Network Movement.

Officers who killed Miles Hall should not be on active duty during an on-going investigation. On June 2, 2019 Miles Hall, a 23-year-old resident of Walnut Creek, was senselessly killed by Walnut Creek police officers, Melissa Murphy and KC Hsiao. Miles was in the throes of a schizophrenic episode and both Miles’ mother and grandmother had reached out to police officers for assistance navigating through it. Miles’ parents felt they could trust, confide in and partner with Walnut Creek police, as they had assisted the family in getting Miles transported to mental health treatment facilities in the past. The Walnut Creek Police Department grossly violated that trust. Having received calls from Miles’ grandmother and mother about Miles’ erratic behavior and mental breakdown, police officers arrived at the scene and repeatedly yelled at Miles. When Miles attempted to run past them, several yards off to the side of the officers and in the direction of his home, an officer fired beanbags at him. A second or two later, a police officer with just one year of experience and another with four years' experience fired handguns at Miles, killing him. The three seasoned, trained officers did not draw any lethal weapons. Less than 12 days later, the officers who shot Miles were back on full duty while the investigation continues. This is not only a blatant disregard for the Hall family and the Walnut Creek community, but also shows little emotional and mental support for the officers who had just killed a young man. The officers' continued active duty on the streets of Walnut Creek represents a breach of trust between law enforcement, the city and the community, and prematurely validates the officers’ actions. Walnut Creek Police Chief, Thomas Chaplin, has a history of protecting his officers and not holding them accountable. We cannot allow this to continue. Please sign this petition to remove the two officers who shot Miles from duty until the investigation is complete.

The University of Alabama has seemingly pushed for the resignation of its dean of students and assistant vice president — a Black man who had been in the job just seven months — for past tweets that made honest, straightforward statements about racism in America. It’s outrageous. Dr. Jamie Riley was apparently forced to resign after the “alt-right” website Breitbart — a favorite of white nationalists, known for its racism, antisemitism, and dishonest smear campaigns — published an article with Dr. Riley’s old tweets. Instead of standing up against this racist hit job against a prominent Black leader at the university, the University of Alabama threw him under the bus. It looks like an effective firing, with the university refusing to give details, only saying that there was “mutual agreement” around his resignation. . While Riley’s tweets might make some people uncomfortable, they’re based in fact and well within the mainstream conversation about racism. Here are two of them: • "The [American flag emoji] flag represents a systemic history of racism for my people. Police are a part of that system. Is it that hard to see the correlation?" • "I'm baffled about how the 1st thing white people say is, 'That's not racist!' when they can't even experience racism? You have 0 opinion!" When the dean of students can lose his job for a couple of old tweets about racism that many people would agree with, the message sent to Black students and faculty couldn’t be clearer: if you want to keep your job and stay at the university, you better keep your mouth shut. It’s chilling, and it conveys a lack of interest in protecting the academic freedom of Black people at the university and an unwillingness to protect Black members of its community when racists come after them with baseless accusations. At the same time, the University of Alabama recruits Black athletes and makes millions in profits from their unpaid labor (anchoring an athletics program that brings in $170+ million in revenue per year). The university wants to profit off of Black peoples’ unpaid work, but it wants us to keep our mouths shut about racism. Making money off of black students while suppressing their speech makes the University of Alabama seem more like a modern day plantation than a modern university. If the University of Alabama doesn’t want to be known as a racist institution, it needs to act quickly to reverse this mistake by rehiring Dr. Jamie Riley immediately.

Six states, one territory, six relocations and an adolescence filled with diverse experiences have all led me here, North Carolina A&T State University. I’ve come here to major in political science in search for answers to questions I did not know how to ask as a child. Why did I walk one way to get home from school but all my black friends would walk the other way when I lived in New Jersey? Why were my white classmates and teachers in Kansas filled with such hate and anger during the 2016 election? Why did I witness two elections in which my parents' vote, along with the popular vote, was ignored? I went running for answers. While I found some of the answers I was looking for in the classroom, the root of the problem stemmed from the place I wish to soon call home. NC A&T has a rich history of political activism. On February 1st 1960, four brave young aggies fought to have a seat at the lunch counter to ensure that the voices and concerns of their community would be heard. These sit ins were not just about having a seat where others sat but having their voices heard equally along with their counterparts. They had the understanding that if you’re not at the table, you're on the menu. Today we are asking you to give us a better chance to be heard during these turbulent times in America. Being disenfranchised, silenced, and ostracized is not a new phenomenon for our majority minority students. However, simply because it has become the norm, does not mean we will allow this disenfranchisement to continue any longer. A&T has been the subject of controversial partisan gerrymandering in recent years, but shifting voting ID laws and the loss of its early voting location have made it increasingly difficult for the school’s nearly 12,000 students to participate fairly in the democratic process. To top it off, the primaries are being held during our spring break. Not allowing us to have an early voting site on campus, with election day during spring break, would discourage students from voting. This is in spite of the fact that civic engagement on campus is growing; from 2014 to 2018 A&T voter turnout increased by 51% in the midterms. This trend would continue if there were not so many efforts to suppress our vote. By allowing us to have an early voting precinct on campus you allow us to play a part in this democracy that we have historically been kept from doing. A democracy works best when everyone has a voice and can speak on issues that affect their everyday lives. By putting an early voting site on NC A&T’s campus, you are telling me and 12,000 students that our voice matters in these supposedly fair and free elections. You are telling us whether we come from in state, or out of state, that Greensboro, NC is our home for the next four or more years of our lives. This would establish that when we are in Guilford County, we are at home where we will always have a spot at the table and we will never be silenced.

On Tuesday, August 27, 2019 around 2:00pm, a member of the UDC community threatened our sense of safety by vandalizing the only community gender neutral bathroom on our campus. On the A level of Building 44, adjacent to the Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Affairs, a sheet of paper intentionally obscured half of the gender neutral and accessibility restroom signage. This is a hate crime and a direct violation of Title IX. As the first LGBTQ+ student organization at the University of the District of Columbia and part of only 30% of HBCUs that have active LGBTQ+ student organizations, we The Alliance Group (T.A.G) are requesting a meeting with UDC leadership on addressing this incident and we have created a list of demands. Hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ and Non-binary people have increased since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016. Additionally, 16 Transwomen have been murdered so far this year and all but one have been women of color. Washington D.C has the highest number of openly LGBTQ people in the nation and as the only urban, public Historically Black College in the nation, we believe we cannot sit by when incidents like this happen on our campus. We are asking for your support by signing this petition and sharing it with others. Real change happens when everyday people like you and I come together and stand up for what we believe in. Together we can reach heaps of people and help create change around this important issue of homophobia and transphobia. UPDATE: As we were preparing to send this letter, at 12pm on Wednesday, August 28, 2019, our community has been attacked again; another vandalization occurred at the same bathroom in building 44. This requires outrage and action on our leadership's behalf immediately With Love and Support, The Alliance Group (T.A.G)

COPWATCH AMERICA INCORPORATED HAS A PRIMARY GOAL TO MINIMIZE & ELIMINATE UNJUSTIFIED DEATHS DUE TO ILLEGAL ACTIONS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT IN AMERICA AGAINST CIVILIANS. COPWATCH AMERICA INCORPORATED USES UNITED STATES/STATE LAWS, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, CIVILIAN COMPLIANT REVIEW COMMITTEES, POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY MONITORING PROGRAMS, AND OTHER FORMS OF RESOURCES & ACTIONS TO ESTABLISH TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY IN EACH AND EVERY LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT/AGENCY IN AMERICA.

In the all-star cheer community, there are unwritten and unspoken rules. Rules that should already be known. Girls wear the skirts and sports bras and boys wear the T-shirts and basketball shorts. Yet, what do you do about transgenders in the cheer community? Boys that are transitioning to girls who want to wear the spandex and bras for practices and competitions or girls who want to transition to boys. I think all teams should be open to accepting the gender that they want to be not necessarily the gender they were born. Which is why I am petitioning that USASF creates a rule stating the transgender athletes can not be discriminated towards and be based only on their skill and their ability to add to the team. This is important because cheerleading gyms are supposed to feel like your second home. You should be comfortable in your own skin there and that won't be a possibility if people are making fun of, or teasing, or discriminating the athletes who just want to be who they are.

Burning Man is one of the most well known cultural gatherings in the world that takes place in a temporary city where everything is provided and shaped by its citizens. Because of this, Burning Man is not only a space of artistic expression and personal transformation, but also a space to learn new skills and strategies for building communities. Burning Man is praised globally for it’s dynamic urban design and joyful artistic culture, yet has done little to address the question of racial inclusion and equity. Burning Man Project says that their mission is to “move Burning Man culture beyond the playa,” and that they “believe it’s more important than ever to ensure Black Rock City is the strongest possible manifestation” of their ethos. As Burning Man continues to expand it’s broad cultural imprint and influence, Black people and people of color must be a part of that vision. Radical inclusion means racial inclusion. For over five years, Burning Man has known it has a shamefully low attendance of Black people and other people of color. Despite pressure from Burners of color who have raised the issue of racial diversity, Burning Man Project’s staff leadership and Board of Directors has failed to take decisive action, even at a time when more and more cultural organizations are adopting strategies for equity and inclusion. When a 33-year-old institution does not confront racism and inequality directly, they are contributing to the problem by their implicit support of the status quo. The Burning Man event has been a transformative experience for me over the last seven years. As the daughter of immigrants who grew up in a working-class Black and Latinx community, I witnessed severe inequality as a child and hateful anti-immigrant sentiments toward my family. I wanted to be an artist since I was a child, yet the culture around me did not reflect people who looked like me. Representation in cultural spaces matters, and cultural organizations must ensure that they create environments where all feel welcome. At my first Burn, I felt a great sense of freedom and creative expression that I had never felt before, and I instantly knew that I wanted other leaders of color to experience Burning Man because the event’s transformative nature can help us imagine solutions for society at large. Join me today in urging the Board of Directors to live up to the principle of Radical Inclusion and actively fight institutional racism through true racial inclusion. For more information, please read my open letter to Burning Man Project’s Board of Directors sent in May 2019, visit: bit.ly/radical_inclusion