Our guy MLK, the movie star, once said that “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
Eight years ago, there was a court case, Bush v. Gore, to decide the fate of the 2000 elections, as the votes were so close. Lawyers from the case David Boies, who represented Al Gore, and Ted Olsen, who represented George W Bush, have put their political differences aside and have teamed up to fight the gay marriage ban.
On New Years Day, in the San Francisco area, a police officer opened fire on Oscar Grant at close range in a crowded BART subway station. Over the past several months, many have responded with a sense of uproar, disbelief and protests in reference to what has been called a “senseless murder” and an “execution”.
The streets outside the courthouse are vibing with the same kind of energy. As can be seen in the video above, the condemnation of the police officer who opened fire on Grant rivals that which was seen over a decade and a half ago, during the Rodney King trial.
Peep the Rousing Applause
I know more about Sonia Sotomayor than I do my next door neighbor. Since being announced as Prez Obama’s pick to replace retiring Justice David Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court, her life has been plastered all over the media. The last time I took note of a Supreme Court nominee was Clarence Thomas, whose hearings regarding his tryst with Anita Hill made him a household name.
It’s safe to say the reason why Sotomayor is getting so much coverage is because she is Latina and grew up poor. Period. End of Story.
According to a study released by the Natural Resources Defense Council, if California were to implement a few widespread water saving techniques, “they could save more than enough water to meet the needs of the three major cities of San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles”.
Water conservation plays a key factor in environmental health. The Natural Resources Defense Council stated that if business were to adopt a few new tactics in terms of how they are run, individual mechanisms can reduce water use by over 50 percent.
Take a look at some of the specifics after the jump and stay tuned for a pretty interesting Youtube video:
The recession has had drastic effects on families nationwide. Personally, I know it is having a drastic effect in my household, and I have not seen anyone profiting from this economic downturn. So, every now and then, it is fantastic to see something good happening as a result of such a terrible economic climate. A rose that grows from concrete, if you will.
It would seem that as a result of the economic downturn, the current prison strategy is essentially ‘too much’ to handle in the current economic climate and states are starting to pursue prison reform as an viable option, as well as methods seen in the Youth Promise Act.
Read the full story
A few moments ago, in California, the decision to overturn Prop 8 was struck down. For gay rights activists, a sense of anger was in the air outside the California State Supreme Court today, as the CA State Supreme Court upheld a controversial ban on gay marriages that was voted in on November 4th. However, the court stated that those marriages that were enacted during the six month period of legalization before Prop 8 will remain legal, in a somewhat awkward state of limbo.
This does not mean the fight is over. This only means that those who fight must keep going. Read the full story
At 10:15 AM today, Prez O will be announcing his nominee for the next Supreme Court Justice. His choice: New York’s Sonia Sotomayor.
Sotomayor is recognized as a political centrist with an ‘extraordinary’ personality and appeal, who has come from humble beginnings to reach where she is today. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, if Sotomayor’s nomination is accepted, she will be the first Hispanic nominated to the United States Supreme Court.
Read the full story
In 1997, R. Dwayne Betts was a smart high school junior, pegged as the first in his family to go to college. At age 16, his entire life changed. He participated in a carjacking in Northern Virginia, leading to him being sentenced to 9 years and prison. His hopes for a college education and a bright future seemed all but crushed.
Until now.
This just in on the movie front: one of history’s perennial civil rights leaders, Martin Luther King, is going to get the star treatment.
Steven Spielberg has just signed on to make a biopic about Martin Luther King. No details are finalized yet and very little is known currently about the project, but the prospect tends to make one more than a little nervous.
Read the full story
Around my 18th birthday, I decided I was gonna get a credit card. The rates were extremely high, the credit line was miniscule, but I felt like a grown up!
Plus, they gave me a free tote bag!
Soon afterwards, I felt myself falling further into debt. I found that American Express was paying for lunch, my gas and my movie tickets way too often. A few years later, I’m finding that the debt I racked up so long ago is starting to even itself out. Many of my friends weren’t so lucky, and the credit card companies are making billions of dollars from people just like them. But relief is on the way.
Yesterday, the CARD Act of 2009 passed through the House and is gonna land on Prez O’s desk for signing. The CARD Act is extremely favorable to the consumer, and credit relief is going to be a huge help in the current economic climate.
Check out how the CARD Act is gonna help you after the jump! Click Here!
The California League of Young Voters was heavily involved in the lead-up to the CA Special Election that went down on Tuesday, and in the end, the people have spoken.
Back to the drawing board; most of the state think it’s headed in the wrong direction, but the esoteric Californian constitution prevents decisive change when the state is hemorrhaging money and at a loss for how to get back on track.
“The state’s legislative districts are highly gerrymandered, leaving the Legislature influenced by the political fringe of both parties and unable to agree on practical budget matters or much else. State senators represent roughly a million people each, larger than most Congressional districts, leaving them out of touch with local needs. Further, the state is one of only three requiring a two-thirds majority vote in the Legislature on taxes and budgets, which leads to partisan fighting and long delays.”
We’ll Be BACK… after the jump! Click here to read on!
Bill Gates and some other big funders are stepping into the Green movement with some major strategies for overhauling the biggest American cities.
“Living Cities will be leading an effort to invest directly in several local efforts, particularly in large-scale energy retrofitting–insulating homes, plugging the energy leaks–and designing transportation projects in pilot city markets (SF Bay Area, Minnepaolis-St. Paul). Look for new partnerships among financial institutions, philanthropy and business as a result.”
“One focus of the study was on how to make improvements in the “un” sectors of cities: the unemployed, and underskilled paying large portions of their capital on energy for their uninsulated homes.”
That’s a good sign, but we’ve yet to see open lines of communication among these big funders and the ‘un’ communities that are also dealing with the highest levels of pollution and lowest levels of existing support.
The clout these foundations have can’t be ignored, and I’d say it’s an important step for Green businessmen to start wielding their authority. But it’ll be up to us to make sure it goes down in the way that works for us, the residents of these cities, and make it less of a PR move, more of a sea change.
“There are three things I never talk about in public: politics, religion and money.”
My experience as a journalist has shown me that a lot of people think this way. It’s normally the people who have money that don’t want to talk about it. People who don’t really care too much about religion are the ones that don’t want to talk about it. And folks who are staunchly conservative try not to talk about their views in the street for fear of being publicly stoned to death.
Obama’s historic race had everyone discussing politics, so much that for the year and a half that he ran his campaign it became as normal a conversation starter as “How’s the weather?” Now that he is in office, the culture he created for using one’s voice is allowing folks to speak their minds on American policy, the economy and such. But don’t think that everything is fair game.
“Five Political Topics That Don’t Go Over Well”
1. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Talk about a mood killer. Try uttering the words, “Well I think Israel/Palestine should…” and watch people’s smiles disappear and ears perk up. The war between the two nations has been going long before Israeli was made into an independent Jewish state in 1948. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is like the abusive couple that lives upstairs. Sure, you hear them fighting every night. You wonder why they still live together. Time to time you call the cops, who only get turned away because the couple is determined to work it out themselves. At some point, you become numb to it.
We have to expect our government to take on the real problems in our neighborhoods. We’re not used to counting on them for change, but we should be able work with them and make something important happen.
There are over 80 cosponsors of the Youth PROMISE Act right now; we’re trying to get up to 150, but that’ll take all of us working together, contacting our representatives and telling them personally that we want their support for this pivotal piece of legislation.
Go to 99problems.org/youth-promise to send a message to your representative. It only takes a few minutes but will mean a world of change.
When Isaac started his voter registration campaign, he quickly came to realize there were many more issues to tackle in Colorado. Like the struggle of single mothers to hold jobs and raise their kids. Or ex cons who can’t find a job, anywhere.
What is it that sometimes turns us against the needs of our neighbors? We must look past the superficial, past our varied histories or roads taken, and see that we need each other to get where we want to go: a healthier community, with equal rights, and neighbors who help you get what you need.
Soldiers have perhaps the hardest job in the world. They wake up in the morning happy to be alive, strap on their gear and go kill people before they kill them. It’s like being an inner-city police officer but worse.
When news of a U.S. solider opening fire on a stress clinic at Iraq military base Camp Liberty (these military names are great propaganda) broke, it came as no real surprise to me. Monday’s attack is the sixth time that a serviceman was killed by a fellow serviceman since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003. This week’s shooting ended in five dead. A suspect is alleged to be in custody.
What makes a solder snap?
The League was there on the scene at Power Shift 2009 and we want to congratulate all the participants for the biggest, most inspiring energy conference yet. Van Jones was on the scene, The Roots were on the scene…for a few days D.C. was the home of ten thousand kids from across the country, and the passion and inspiration we saw is all the motivation we need to know that Green Jobs are the way of the future, and we’ve got to spread the word.
So, without further ado, we present LYVEF’s Power Shift 2009 coverage.
Ben Gilbarg is the Director of 3rd EyE Unlimited, a film/video producer and socially conscious Hip Hop artist from New Bedford, MA. Ben works in New Bedford to build a movement of young people to organize for the betterment of their communities. Check out: http://www.3rdeyeunlimited.com/
IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. This is a legally binding document that spells out exactly what special education services your child will receive and why. Makes a lot of sense, right? It is supposed to help our friends and children who need a different kind of education to succeed but a lot of school districts are just ignoring IEP’s and setting up young people to fail.
Astronauts can see trash in the ocean from space? That’s insane. We have got to get up for our planet, make a stand like this ol’ world deserves. We’re not just gonna talk at you, though; this week we’ll be bringing you info you can use to start tipping the balance from pollution to people power.
This is our world, and we gotta stand up in the greatest tradition of American society; stand up for change when it seems impossible, when all the odds are against us. The world is at stake, and everything that we have is imperiled. There’s never been a more important moment to be on the right side of history!
In D.C. for the Youth PROMISE Day of Action, I was invited to watch the documentary “Crips and Bloods: Made in America”, (directed by Stacy Peralta and produced by actor Cash Warren and NBA superstar Baron Davis) at a special screening hosted by Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) on Capitol Hill. The screening was held to kickoff a series of events in support of the Youth Promise Act national day of actio.
As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but think about my favorite line from the seminal 70s gang movie, The Warriors. It was the unforgettable line Cyrus delivered during his legendary speech: “Miracles are the way things ought to be.”
: Getting this new job! It's gonna happen tho..
: Police abuse and misconduct is rampant. Yet, our courts do not hold them accountable. Red tape discourages ligitimate complaints of police violence. I recently filed [...]
: Im starting to believe that all customer service calls for various companys (Wal-Mart 
WTF) are overseas or offshore calls!!!!!!!! Why cant we open more [...]
: My problem is all the families that hurt their children.
: my one issue i think this world has #1 in ny we have the rockafeller law and all these men who are caught or [...]
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