Mayor Patrick Rushing, of Air Heights, Washington, is refusing to resign after posting Facebook comments referring to Michelle Obama as "gorilla face" and President Barack Obama as "monkey man." Throughout his five-year tenure as Airway Heights mayor, Rushing's Facebook page has regularly churned out (mostly reposted) images and comments that have been racially insensitive. How can someone with so many racist preconceived notions serve racially diverse constituents?

Most Richmonders and most enrolled at and working at VCU are unaware that the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chapel is located on the 17th Floor of the West Hospital (former MCV) at The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. This chapel must be renamed. The chapel, dedicated in 1963 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, is a fine place for worship but who can imagine a Black person choosing to do so? This monument to the traitor Jefferson Davis should not be on the property of a state-owned hospital dedicated to serving the region's poorest. It must be renamed and rededicated to those poor people seeking compassionate medical care. Michael Rao, President of Virginia Commonwealth University, can be contacted on Twitter at @vcupresident.

The Department of Justice must conduct an independent investigation into the death of Sandra Bland in Texas. The circumstances surrounding her traffic stop are suspicious and deserve an independent, thorough, accountable investigation--especially in light of new video footage. We cannot allow the local police to investigate themselves. The Department of Justice has the authority--and power--to find out what happened to Sandra Bland.

Equality has finally been acheived and we will not allow individual government officials to refuse this equality for any reason.

Judges should not legislate from the bench and they should never, ever impose their religious beliefs on the citizens they have sworn to serve in the name of the municipality, county, state, or nation they represent.

I'm tired of the poor logic used by some Christian legislature, which espouses religious freedom in order to trample civil liberty. I'm quite disappointed that so many of our leaders seem to have failed our 8th grade lesson detailing the cause and spirit of separation of church and state.

DA Mathis said there was no reason for concern, despite the fact that an allegedly routine traffic stopped turned into a violent arrest is itself a cause for concern. Sandra's family says that Sandra would never kill herself and that police seem to be covering up her death. We must demand that local officials release all video, information and photographs relating to Sandra's unjust arrest, imprisonment and death. The local police department and prosecutor's office have a long history of racism and corruption. Last year, DA Mathis threatened a local Reverend who spoke out about racist prosecutions, saying he would release his “hounds” on the Reverend. Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith was fired from the police department in Hempstead, Texas for documented cases of racism. According to her loved ones, Sandra Bland was a loving, compassionate woman, with a bright future ahead. Today would have been the first day at her new job working student outreach at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University. Loved ones described her as bright, spirited, and having a thirst for life. She was also a vocal advocate against police brutality and often spoke about ending racism and police violence. Our hearts and minds are with her friends and family as they move through this unimaginably hard time. But in a world where Black people are stereotyped as “violent” and police exist to enforce the boundaries of a deeply divided and racist society, who Sandy was or the life she was creating, did not matter. What mattered was that she was Black, and therefore, in the eyes of the law, didn’t deserve respect, didn’t deserve her civil rights, her freedom or her life. To be Black in America, is to be safe nowhere. Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to be targeted by police and incarcerated than white women. The Department of Justice and Attorney General Lynch have the power and responsibility to address the systemic police violence targeting Black communities. The reality is, racism, corruption and a deep-seated culture of secrecy prevents local and state police from holding themselves accountable. Without independent oversight, police will continue to kill and prosecutors will continue to do nothing. We should not have to demand justice, every time a Black person is murdered, but we will continue to do so until the justice system respects Black lives.

Earthjustice is heading to court to demand environmental justice for five communities that have been disproportionately exposed to toxic contamination. Take action now to tell the EPA to address these injustices by enforcing the Civil Rights Act. The suit we’re filing argues that the EPA has failed to complete open investigations of civil rights violations filed more than a decade ago. Each of the complaints charged that state agencies, in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, granted permits for polluting facilities in predominantly low-income, African-American, or Latino neighborhoods, including: * A hazardous waste facility in Chaves County, NM * A landfill in Tallassee, AL * Two gas-fired power plants in Pittsburg, CA * A wood incinerator power station in Flint, MI * An oil refinery expansion in Beaumont, TX Will you join me by asking EPA Administrator McCarthy to act on these civil rights violations? It’s unacceptable that the racial composition of a community continues to be a critical factor in predicting exposure to toxic contamination. Like all agencies of the federal government, the EPA has a responsibility to ensure that the states, local governments and private entities to whom it awards grants and financial assistance don’t discriminate. This has been the law of the land since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But the EPA’s record on civil rights enforcement has been notoriously poor. Tell the agency to enforce the law.

All eligible couples have a legal right to marriage in ALL 50 states. Ohio is no exception! Source: 1. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/07/13/guernsy-county-marriages.html.

Justice should be blind. All judges should follow the law. Even laws they don't agree with.

Too often people are busy working or cannot get away from their job to vote or volunteer on Election Day. Giving them a paid day off for this purpose will encourage them to take the time to make sure their opinion gets counted at the polls.

The Confederate battle flag, revived by racist terror groups during the civil rights struggles in the 20th century, remains a powerful, negative and deadly symbol for promoting racial terror today. The recent murders of the Emmanuel 9 and this flag's influence on the alleged perpetrator of those murders is a horrific reminder. People who "love" others should renounce the Confederate flag and not associate with it in any manner!