In light of community concerns surrounding the video of BRDTF Agent Joe Joswiak, Sgt. Tim Gaul and the Worthington Police Department, the task force held a general community forum on July 9th at St. Mary’s Church. As a result of this forum and emerging concerns, we urge the city of Worthington to take action to heal community fears of and anxiety towards law enforcement agencies. The community expects a thorough, fair and transparent investigation with a judicious timeline.

I have a personal inquiry regarding the dark shadow that has hangs over the town of Alcolu; SC namely the execution of 14 year old George Julius Stinney, Jr. was exoneratied 72 years later.. In June of 1944, the bodies of the two young white girls were found 300 yards from the back door of my great-great grandfather’s church. On the night of that horrible incident, many of my family members fled Alcolu, by foot from the Klan and their lynch mob. Today, a memorial headstone sits on private property located on highway 521. I would like the State of South Carolina to rename a state highway, bridge or state park in honor of George Julius Stinney, Jr. Just as the private residents on highway 521 pay their respect daily, the world should never forget this innocent, of young George. Stinney Jr.

Why you should sign: In an effort to contribute to the momentum started by Colin Kaepernick and bravely expanded upon by more and more NFL Players and to combat the recent attempt to hijack the narrative by President Trump from police brutality to patriotism, we are setting forth a call to action to the community to rally our voices by SIGNING & SHARING THIS PETITION and connecting our collective protests and frustrations to a list of demands. It is our hope that fighting to reach 200,000 signatures on this petition we can show the wide array of support from throughout the community and country to support the protesting of NFL players to, 1. Effectively leverage their unified efforts 2. Aid in obtaining these initial but necessary police reforms in NFL cities across the country 3. Create a central point of support for those who have put their livelihood on the line to raise awareness and facilitate change

Every year since 1989, House Representative John Conyers has introduced H.R. 40 - Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. Unfortunately, the bill is killed every year due to lack of action on the part of the Committee to which it has been referred. It is time to take action. We demand that the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice call the bill to hearing so that the ramifications of the passing said bill can be discussed. The damages done to the African-American people at large are no secret; neither is the establishment of United States' economy due to the utilization of Black lives as a permanent working and consumer class. Racism is not over. The harm done to the Black People in America has gone without appropriate remedies for far too long. Written apologies do not set the scales of justice straight. When the UN reported in 2016 that the United States has yet to confront its legacy of "racial terrorism" towards Blacks in America, the call to action expanded to the world's stage. How long will we continue to avoid the injustice that we can all clearly see? H.R. 40 cannot be "swept under the rug" for another year. This is our cause for petition.

On September 20th a volunteer at Ameilia's school tried to pull her from her seat because she refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I say tried because as she yanked and pulled Millie under her arms trying to get her to stand she refused. I was in the hall right outside of the class talking to Millie's teacher and hadn't noticed until she started screaming mommy. When I stepped back in the class and said she doesn't have to stand for the pledge instead of taking her hands immediately off my child she looked at the teacher and asked if she had to stand. The teacher replied no and she then let my baby go. Now anyone who knows me knows it took everything in me not to lose my temper. Mind you this was the 4th time that this volunteer had put her hands on Ameilia in an inappropriate way in FRONT of me. I had already met with the principal and was in the hall talking to the teacher about her at that moment. When the teacher and I stepped back in the hall after both witnessing this she told me that she would speak to Mrs.Vance. I then told her that I was planning to let her know that Millie didn't want to stand for the pledge and I had told her she didn't have too. Ameilia has said she didn't know why she had to stand for the pledge and that she didn't feel like it and I told her that she didn't have to. When she didn't stand and sat quietly in her seat that should have been that. Unfortunately, the teacher then told me that she wanted Millie to "understand what was afforded to her in this country because in some countries 5-year-olds don't go to school. They wake up and go to sweatshops." I can only imagine what would have happened if I wasn't there. I had already met with the principal about this volunteer grabbing Millie before this incident and after this incident, I called the Superintendent. Nothing has happened to the teacher or the volunteer but Ameilia's class was changed as if she had done something wrong. Now I am being told that I am not allowed to walk my 5-year-old to class because it's board policy even though I walked her to class every day before this incident. I asked to see this policy in writing but it still has not been provided to me. It is unacceptable for Hazel Park School District to have volunteers physically forcing children to stand for the pledge. My daughter decided not to stand and I supported her as a parent. Instead of taking the right steps and removing Ms. Vance from the classroom my child had to change classes and now I'm not allowed to walk her to class as I've always done. Clearly we are being targeted by the school. Tell Hazel Park School District to remove Ms. Vance and stop punishing my daughter for sitting for the anthem.

Jemele Hill was recently suspended by ESPN for commenting on the pressure added to players by Jerry Jones's recent comments on the protests against police brutality taking place during the national anthem. Her comments have been mischaracterized as a call for a boycott when she went out of her way to write that she was not personally advocating for a boycott. ESPN then went on to suspend Jemele Hill for two weeks for what term is a violation of their company policy. Apparently now, it is against the journalistic standards of ESPN to have Jemele Hill discussing the way other people may decide to voice their displeasure towards a corporate partner. This suspension is not happening in a vacuum, this comes as Trump is using his office to attack Black players for taking a knee in protest to police brutality. Jemele Hill's tweets on a boycott were about ways people could protest the Cowboys backing Trump's demands while not punishing or denigrating the players themselves as Trump already has. ESPN had already attempted to remove Jemele Hill from the air after she honestly responded to Trump directing racism towards players beforehand. It is clear that instead of supporting its employees as they respond to racist attacks from the highest office of the land, ESPN and their partners, are submitting to the demands of Trump, and punishing employees for protesting police brutality and systemic oppression. Jemele Hill is being punished for speaking honestly, and discussing how difficult it must be for Black players under attack by the President, and employers, for protesting police brutality that affects Black people in America. It is time for players to have Jemele's back the way she had theirs. We're supporting Jemele Hill and asking players to stay off of ESPN until she is returned to the air. ESPN cannot function without Black labor. ESPN cannot air shows without Black players. Instead of acknowledging the concerns of the people the enterprise depends upon ESPN suspended Jemele Hill to protect their partner the NFL, who's carrying the Trump agenda. We can no longer participate in a system that refuses to honor our right to express the worth of our lives. Sign in solidarity and #BlackoutESPN

Climate heating, baking, drowning caused by skyrocketing climate carbons of fossil fuel emissions (combustion) are causing our 6th Extinction now....but we have a rare opportunity to change the course of history....to stop causing hell on earth....and to grow heaven on earth instead if we act now....if we can count more than private rates of cash and value the invaluable uncountable flows of light, energy, air, water, topsoil, green productivity also....and act now to do good, to grow good, positive outcomes: Every living cell, seed, seedling, soil, self wants to reach up toward light of our sun to grow positives, to lift life up to light, to grow heaven, laughter, vision, wisdom on earth instead.... So let's garden....and harvest free flows, blessings to lift us up.

United States Education Secretary Betsy Devos has been invited by the University of Baltimore President, Kurt Schmoke to give the fall commencement address at the University of Baltimore, on December 18, 2017. President Schmoke decided to move forward with the invitation for Betsy Devos despite the Student Government Association’s proposed resolution to revoke Ms. Devos’s invitation to speak at commencement in response to a drafted a petition in opposition to DeVos, that received over 3,000 signatures. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos is a representative of the Trump administration that has routinely proposed discriminatory policies that negatively impact Black and Brown Communities. Ms. Devo’s policies perpetuate Trump's destructive cycle of alienating communities of color by deconstructing the public education system of which many University of Baltimore Students are a product. Her remarks about school choice ‘ have been found to be racially insensitive and tone deaf to the needs of the public school systems and the communities it serves. In addition, Secretary of Education Devos’s reversal of Obama Administration policy on campus sexual assault under the Title IX is in direct opposition to the University of Baltimore’s stance on gender equity and supporting a safe campus environment. The teachers union has also called on the University to rescind the invitation for Secretary Devos to speak. It is clear that this invitation from President Schmoke runs counter to the wishes of the university community as well as the greater community of Baltimore. Please Join the student body of the University of Baltimore, and sign the petition to President Schmoke telling him to listen to students and rescind Secretary Devos’s invitation to speak at the University of Baltimore Fall 2018 commencement.

On Sunday, Mike Pence spent an estimated $200,000 American tax dollars to stage a fake protest against athletes who chose to #TakeTheKnee. He flew from Indianapolis to Las Vegas, where the city and state spent thousands providing him security--only to use the game as an opportunity to instigate hatred against Black football players exercising their first amendment rights. The cynicism of this publicity stunt is punctuated by Pence telling his media detail not to move because they wouldn't be staying at the game, his scheduled flight to California being set before he "protested" players kneeling, and Trump's tweet where he boasted of setting the entire thing up beforehand directing Mike Pence to walk out of the game. Feigning respect for the military and veterans as his cause, Pence spent thousands of our dollars on a cheap political stunt instead of directing that money towards services that would actually benefit the people who served and need help. This gross misuse of tax money to target Black players and Black protest falls into a long and deliberate pattern where the very money Black people pay in taxes is then used directly against them. Every dollar spent by Pence on this poorly thought out publicity stunt is one less dollar spent on improving schools, roads, and providing jobs. Every dollar spent on attacking Black protest is a dollar that could have been used to change our criminal justice system or voting system. If Mike Pence wants to demonstrate his love for veterans he would have written a check for the amount he's wasted grandstanding towards helping Black veterans as they return to the states. We will no longer allow public money, our money, Black money to be used to oppress Black people. Pence's trip to Indianapolis was a gross misuse of funds made worse so because the money was used for the express purpose of attacking the First Amendment rights of Black people. The House Oversight Committee should make Mike Pence return every cent to the people, or donate an equal amount towards helping Black veterans.

On Saturday, August 12th, white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, communities and the University of Virginia campus, rallying around a statue of the Confederacy and carrying torches evoking a history of violent racial terrorism. The next day in Charlottesville they killed in the name of their white supremacist symbols. Protesters were rammed by a car killing someone in a terrorist attack. These symbols were not chosen randomly. Confederate monuments have been erected and remain as a direct rebuke to the recognition of the full humanity of Black people. Confederate monuments were built and given places of honor in public space as gains in this recognition have been made and it is the commitment to the reversal of this recognition of humanity that draws white nationalists to these symbols. These symbols of white supremacy have always been memorials to the cause of slavery and the denial of humanity to Black people. Now they are being weaponized to rally white supremacists. We have the power to diffuse these modern-day lynch mobs by removing these statues altogether, instead of giving white supremacists a rally point. Confederate statues and named institutions are more than mere symbols of a heritage but instead, they are an assertion of the continued imposition of white supremacy and its current political power. Terrorists in Charlottesville understood this and were willing to kill in the name of this, we must be determined to persist in the face of this white supremacist terror. Removing all Confederate statues would be one step among many in sending the message that we are no longer honoring white supremacy at a societal level. We've already many communities take the step to address these monuments in cities like Tampa and New Orleans. Join with me today and pledge to work to remove all Confederate statues or names from our community.

On Saturday, August 12th, white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, communities and the University of Virginia campus, rallying around a statue of the Confederacy and carrying torches evoking a history of violent racial terrorism. The next day in Charlottesville they killed in the name of their white supremacist symbols. Protesters were rammed by a car killing someone in a terrorist attack. These symbols were not chosen randomly. Confederate monuments have been erected and remain as a direct rebuke to the recognition of the full humanity of Black people. Confederate monuments were built and given places of honor in public space as gains in this recognition have been made and it is the commitment to the reversal of this recognition of humanity that draws white nationalists to these symbols. These symbols of white supremacy have always been memorials to the cause of slavery and the denial of humanity to Black people. Now they are being weaponized to rally white supremacists. We have the power to diffuse these modern-day lynch mobs by removing these statues altogether, instead of giving white supremacists a rally point. Confederate statues and named institutions are more than mere symbols of a heritage but instead, they are an assertion of the continued imposition of white supremacy and its current political power. Terrorists in Charlottesville understood this and were willing to kill in the name of this, we must be determined to persist in the face of this white supremacist terror. Removing all Confederate statues would be one step among many in sending the message that we are no longer honoring white supremacy at a societal level. We've already many communities take the step to address these monuments in cities like Tampa and New Orleans. Join with me today and pledge to work to remove all Confederate statues or names from our community.

On Saturday, August 12th, white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, communities and the University of Virginia campus, rallying around a statue of the Confederacy and carrying torches evoking a history of violent racial terrorism. The next day in Charlottesville they killed in the name of their white supremacist symbols. Protesters were rammed by a car killing someone in a terrorist attack. These symbols were not chosen randomly. Confederate monuments have been erected and remain as a direct rebuke to the recognition of the full humanity of Black people. Confederate monuments were built and given places of honor in public space as gains in this recognition have been made and it is the commitment to the reversal of this recognition of humanity that draws white nationalists to these symbols. These symbols of white supremacy have always been memorials to the cause of slavery and the denial of humanity to Black people. Now they are being weaponized to rally white supremacists. We have the power to diffuse these modern-day lynch mobs by removing these statues altogether, instead of giving white supremacists a rally point. Confederate statues and named institutions are more than mere symbols of a heritage but instead, they are an assertion of the continued imposition of white supremacy and its current political power. Terrorists in Charlottesville understood this and were willing to kill in the name of this, we must be determined to persist in the face of this white supremacist terror. Removing all Confederate statues would be one step among many in sending the message that we are no longer honoring white supremacy at a societal level. We've already many communities take the step to address these monuments in cities like Tampa and New Orleans. Join with me today and pledge to work to remove all Confederate statues or names from our community.