In response to a recent decision that denies his office participation in a federal deportation program that is slowly being phased out, Sheriff JJ Jones released an alarming statement on his website. He said: "I will continue to enforce these federal immigration violations with or without the help of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If need be, I will stack these violators like cordwood in the Knox County jail..." The fact that he was denied is partly because of massive community pressure to keep him from getting additional immigration powers when he already has a troubled past and a poor relationship with the immigrant community. Now he has publicly vowed to unconstitutionally detain immigrants and stack them in his jail. His statements blatantly expose a dangerously hostile attitude toward immigrants and high likelihood of racial bias in his policing. Join Knoxville residents in calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Sheriff JJ Jones' office for racial bias and patterns of targeting immigrant community members. Our country doesn't need a "new Arpaio" like the one in Arizona - sign today and ask the DOJ to investigate.

As we live in the aftermath of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s unexpected death at the hands of George Zimmerman, I want to encourage each and every one of you to use your voice for change. Millions of people across the nation witnessed the injustice of Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal of all charges in trial—something we must fight to prevent from happening again. We at the I AM READY Foundation and One Million People United for Change movement have teamed up with Trayvon’s parents to directly benefit the Trayvon Martin Foundation and Change For Trayvon in our efforts to keep Trayvon’s legacy alive. We believe joining MoveOn.org’s campaign to end rampant racial profiling in our nation’s law enforcement through the End Racial Profiling Act, is the first step to balancing the system. We cannot make a powerful impact that will last and spread our message of change, hope, peace, and justice without your help. We need each of you to stand with us #forTrayvon and join our One Million People United for Change campaign as we continue to reach the masses across the nation. We have already garnered the support of celebrities passionate about change, including Meagan Good, Chris Brown, Ledisi, Tank, Omari Hardwick, Dawn Richard, and so many more. With your support and action, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish to ensure Trayvon’s legacy lives on for decades to come. Here’s what we need you to do to get involved: 1) Join millions of Americans by signing this petition. 2) Make sure you opt in to receive updates from me and this campaign. Our efforts will assist us as we work to build community programs for our youth across the nation that will provide peaceful solutions to gun violence, increase youth engagement in politics and social topics, and create engaging programming that promotes liberty and access to the American dream. Can we count on you to stand with us #forTrayvon and act to effectively end racial profiling in America?

Pennsylvania is the only state in the northeast where it is legal to discriminate against LGBT people. LGBT people can be fired, denied housing, credit or even a motel room simply on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Thirteen Democratic State Representatives in PA have not signed on to HB 300, the bill to end legal discrimination against LGBT people. If these 13 joined as co-sponsors we would have a majority in support of the bill. Please send a message to all of them that it is outrageous that they are not sponsoring HB 300.

The call for the exoneration of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvy is a long overdue necessity. As the bedrock of early America’s civil rights projections the unparalleled legacy Jamaica’s first national hero cannot and should not be denied. It is no secret that highly celebrated American humanitarian giants all studied in the chambers of this great Jamaican. The time has come to make right the age-old wrong.

Many local ordinances do not allow "camping within city limits", & people who live outdoors (homeless, traveling musicians, artists) get either taken to jail, written a ticket, or warned about "next time this happens..." between the hours of midnight & 8 a.m. Often times shelters can fill up leaving no place to go, or individuals would rather just sleep outdoors. There are many circumstances-- it is the preservation of freedom that is most important. These ordinances have been put in place unfairly by committees who (usually) have no homeless people on their boards representing, & the subjugation involved against people without houses is certainly discriminatory.

"World-renowned American author Alice Walker has been disinvited from giving a speech at the University of Michigan because a donor objects to her views on Israel, the agent negotiating the contract was told. Walker, the Pultizer Prize winning author of The Color Purple, posted on her blog an excerpt of a letter from the agent informing her that the invitation to keynote the 50th anniversary celebration of the Center for the Education of Women at the University of Michigan had been withdrawn." -"Alice Walker disinvited from University of Michigan over ‘Israel comments’" http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/alice-walker-disinvited-university-michigan-over-israel-comments Urge the University of Michigan to reverse this decision and re-invite Walker.

It's time for Afro-Americans to receive their reparation we have given reparation to the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indians and now Mexicans. It is now time for black people to receive their promised 40 acres and a mule.

North Carolina House Bill 589, which requires voters to show ID, restricts early voting and ends early registration for teenagers under the age of 18, among other changes. This bill sorely infringes upon the rights of North Carolina voters.

Recently, Crestline Public Schools have enforced a new dress code that involves a full uniform. I believe that this dress code is a violation of rights. My friends are no longer allowed to exercise self-expression freely and I believe that they should. It is also making them not want to go to school. I think that everyone should be comfortable when in a learning environment. The parents of my friends are upset as well, because they have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. To me, school should not cost large amounts of money. I would like to get this new dress code repealed. If not repealed, at least loosened up.

I enjoyed visiting St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1996, when freedom was beginning to take shape there, and I am appalled that since I am gay, I would be endangered to go back there now with my partner of 16 years. Russia's backslide into suppression of free speech and human rights is wrong and needs active opposition.

My petition is meant to end the Rent-A-Slave arrangements we now have with Third World Countries that masquerade as "Free Trade Agreements"

Most Americans still believe that this is a country of opportunity, where those who put forth honest effort can build a good life for their family. Many of us have parents, grandparents or great grandparents who came here as immigrants and earned their citizenship through hard work and determination, while still managing to raise their families on a meager salary, learn an unfamiliar language and labor at difficult and often low paying jobs that no one else was willing to take. For many years, however, our country’s immigration system has been broken, creating barriers for new immigrants who want to work hard and earn their place as citizens. Meanwhile, those who don’t play by the rules have flourished, leading to increased crime and danger along our borders. Most Americans don’t begrudge others the right to work hard and succeed, but we all want our communities to be safe and for those who take advantage of American opportunity to earn it honestly. This summer, it looked like Congress might finally pass legislation that would solve many of our country’s immigration woes in keeping with the views and values of majority of Americans. The immigration reform bill passed in the Senate this June includes a pathway for undocumented immigrants to work hard and earn citizenship while increasing safety for our communities by strengthening border security. It is time for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass comprehensive immigration reform, like the Senate did in June. However, Republicans in the house have stalled and effectively killed the Senate bill to force this option off the table. Speaker of the House John Boehner has insisted since this Spring, before the Senate bill even passed, that this proposed legislation would never make it to the House of Representatives and he and his colleagues have made good on this promise. In the meantime, our system is still broken. We have no path for many otherwise honest, hard working immigrants to make things right legally, including many who have grown up in this country and lived most of their lives as Americans. Meanwhile, this broken system means that our communities are still unsafe, as those desperate to make a better life for their family continue to present an opportunity for profit to the drug smugglers, coyotes and criminals who pose a threat to our Southwestern borders. The good news is that we live in a Democracy with a lawmaking process that has checks and balances to protect the American People from grandstanding by a handful of legislators. By using a process called a discharge petition, members of the House of Representatives can gain support from their colleagues to force the legislation to the House floor for a vote. Unfortunately, while many House Democrats have voiced support for signing such a discharge petition, none have yet shown the leadership to actually introduce it. We need one brave soul to take the lead. A coalition of progressive and social justice groups including MoveOn.org, America's Voice, 18Million Rising, We Belong Together, and CREDO Action, have committed to mobilizing our combined 15 million members in support of a discharge petition on comprehensive immigration reform. We hope you will join us in urging Arizona Representative Raul Grijalva to take the courage and leadership his colleagues have not by introducing a discharge petition and making it possible to bring the Senate Immigration legislation to the House floor.