A 12 year old girl was raped and pressed charges against her offender in 2017. After the trial was delayed three times over the course of three years, this young woman's offender has still not been brought to justice. It is time that we ensure victims are afforded the rights that they are guaranteed by law. This starts with providing victims with a designated contact in each office across Texas that will ensure that the victims' needs are met. More and more victims feel powerless when their trials are delayed for years at a time. Victims are voiceless when they are not granted time to speak in court and present their Victim Impact Statement. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is a system that prioritizes the punishment of offenders before granting the victims' guaranteed rights. Please help bring justice to these victims by supporting the revision of the Texas Family Code § 57.003.

Our nation was founded on stolen land. It is important in the dismantling of White Supremacy for reparations to be given to the Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous people who’s land we are on, including the returning of said land. The family who owns this land and company are direct descendants of a man who fought for the confederate army, the side that fought to own slaves. This is a textbook example of consequences of generations of White Supremacy and Anti-Black racism that need to be fought against to provide Equity to the BIPOC community

As current MSW students who will soon be licensed practitioners, we believe that these recent changes are detrimental to the furthering of social justice. Our future careers and the lives of the people we will serve demand that all populations have the rights and protections that they are due. We demand that the BHEC reverse their recent decision and return the Code of Conduct to offer full protection to people of all populations, specifically persons in the LGBTQIA+ community and persons with disabilities. We also petition Texas lawmakers to change the Social Work Practice Act to offer full protections for all populations. Sign this petition to show your support for reinstating protections for these vulnerable populations. Contact Alice Bradford Executive Director of Social Work Examiners: (512) 719-3521 Governor Greg Abbott: (512) 463-2000, https://www.gregabbott.com/contact-us/ Devkota, H. R., Murray, E., Kett, M., & Groce, N. (2018). Are maternal healthcare services accessible to vulnerable group? A study among women with disabilities in rural nepal. PloS One, 13(7), e0200370. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0200370 Ekmekci, P. E. (2017). Do we have a moral responsibility to compensate for vulnerable groups? A discussion on the right to health for LGBT people. Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, 20(3), 335-341. doi:10.1007/s11019-016-9750-1 Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners Board. (2020). https://hhs.texas.gov/about-hhs/leadership/advisory-committees/texas-state-board-social-worker-examiners-board Walters, E. (2020). New Texas rule lets social workers turn away clients who are LGBTQ or have a disability. https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/new-texas-rule-lets-social-workers-turn-away-clients-who-are-lgbtq-or-have-a-disability/

This is so important to protect families in the workplace from discrimination and harassment. It is part of our constitutional right per Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The United States Constitution also prohibits discrimination by federal and state governments against their public employees. Discrimination in the private sector is not directly constrained by the Constitution, but by signing this petition we can change that, we can move forward not backwards on civil liberties. Please join me in telling the house of senate we do not want a Supreme Court Justice who rules in favor of using the N word! We want a Supreme Court appointee that supports workplaces that are free of discrimination and harassment. We want senators who support safe workplaces.

Many are excluded from the voting process- whether they're too young, incarcerated or suppressed. Regardless, your vote impacts their future too. Vote4Me is amplifying the voice of those who can't vote because they deserve a say in their lives. Take a pledge to vote for those in your own life who can't vote, and encourage others to do the same! For those who can't vote, we're hear to support and amplify. Challenge those around you who can vote & say, "This is why you should vote 4 me."

Indian Village is an affluent neighborhood on the East side of the city of Detroit. It is a subdivision that was created from a farm owned by the Cook family. The name of the neighborhood was not chosen to lift up or empower people, it was not chosen out of honor or respect. Instead, according to the Detroit Historical Society, it was chosen to “give the neighborhood character” helping to sell the lots and homes. There were many settlements in the area and there is a long history of people living in the area before colonization. However, local Tribal historians, the Detroit Historical Society, and the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office have all confirmed that there was not a Native settlement at the location. The name is offensive to the local Indigenous people, historically inaccurate, and misleading. It is not acceptable to appropriate people or culture to sell products. Indian Village is another example of the appropriation of the Indigenous people of North America being used by others. These practices must come to an end and we are calling on the neighborhood residents and the City of Detroit to rename this neighborhood to “The Village.”

October 14, 2020: Today the United Farm Workers (UFW) and UFW Foundation (UFWF) filed a lawsuit against Trump's Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. On September 30th, the Department of Agriculture took an unprecedented step toward reducing farm worker wages. They announced the unilateral decision to eliminate the data collection that is the only national source of information that allows the Department of Labor to determine and set guest worker wages. Without this information, the wages of all domestic farm workers could be adversely impacted. You can stand with farm workers by signing their petition to USDA Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. For over 100 years USDA has consistently used this method to collect data about farm labor and wages. The federal Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), determines the minimum rate that must be paid H–2A workers to avoid undercutting the wages of domestic farm workers. The AEWR rate is higher than the minimum wage in all 50 states -- often significantly. To put it in perspective, in states like Utah and Wisconsin, wages could fall by as much as $7 per hour. Even in California, workers stand to lose almost $2 an hour. The USDA gave no rationale for this change and did not make it available for public comment. In addition, they did not consider the incredible harm this move would have on farm worker wages and did not explain why they chose to eliminate it even though many states and federal entities rely on this information. This lawsuit is critical. The wage loss could amount to thousands of dollars to workers who are barely making both ends meet. These wage decreases will create a ripple effect, ultimately resulting in many US farm workers being paid less. And the fact that they are trying to cut the wages of these essential workers in the middle of a pandemic is outrageous. Stand with us in stopping this travesty. THE UFW & UFWF filed a lawsuit against Sonny Perdue today, but let's also show him that Americans care about the people who put food on our tables and will not accept this change. Sign our petition to Sonny Perdue now.

The Trump administration is trying to end the 2020 Census count as soon as possible -- so that already vulnerable communities lose out on representation in Congress and vital funding for things like schools, fire trucks, and COVID-19 relief. This is just the administration’s latest attempt to intimidate, exclude, and erase immigrant families and young people out of the 2020 Census. And now, the Supreme Court has given Trump and his administration the go-ahead to halt the census count. Remember: rigging the census is part of a years-long effort by far-right political operatives to rig our system and silence millions of Americans. We’ve uncovered documents from the GOP’s top redistricting strategist, Thomas Hofeller, that outline this exact strategy -- and we took this fight to court. And despite this setback, we’re not done fighting. But we need to prepare for the worst: that the Administration might shut down the census immediately. We have one path to stop this -- put maximum pressure on the U.S. Senate to save the Census. We must go all out -- right here and right now -- to protect the 2020 Census from political manipulation. We must make sure senators know that their seats are on the line -- and the American people expect them to put the integrity of our democracy before Trump’s partisan schemes. We don’t have a moment to waste. There is bipartisan legislation right now that would save the U.S. Census -- and passing it just got far, far more urgent. If we can get it to the Senate floor, it has the support to pass. Demand that GOP senators add their support to the bipartisan 2020 Census Deadline Extensions Act (S. 4571) -- which would extend the census count through October 31st -- and insist Majority Leader Mitch McConnell holds a floor vote.

History is fundamental to our understanding of the world around us. Through the study of history, we can discover why the world is as it presently exists: our world in its current state is a direct result of the developments and events of the past. Every action taken in the past, every idea and concept thought of and acted upon, every war and treaty, every great leader and villain has contributed to the collective sum of developments which have molded our world. History is the build-up of actions taken in the past, and as we go about our lives in the present we contribute to that accumulation. Our choices today will directly affect the future, just as the choices of the past directly affect our present. We are, right now, making the history of the future. Thus, history is an immensely important subject to study and understand. It provides the answers to why the world is like it is. An inaccurate understanding of the past, therefore, will present the incorrect answers as to why the world is like it is now. This is incredibly important: having the incorrect answer to why the world exists as it does presently means that the consequences of choices made in the past, or the reality of the development of the past, will be lost and unknown. This means that, as we move forward into the future, we will be unable to truly understand our own place in history and the nature of the changing world around us. Further, incorrect readings of the past can lend support to ideas or beliefs which don’t actually have a historical basis. Such misinformation about the past can provide people inaccurate assumptions about the world around them. It is lamentable, then, that history is so often either lost, deliberately misconstrued, misunderstood or misinterpreted, or entirely fictitious. Much of our understanding of history, and the stories presented to us, do not accurately describe actual events in the past. We therefore often cannot truly understand the nature of the world around us. Much of early recorded history is rife in inaccuracy, legend, and fable. This, of course, is a result of the nature of early human civilization: writing was uncommon and in its early stages of development, history was told through word of mouth and legend, and such a medium for the recording and telling of history easily allows for the true history to be changed, altered, and reinterpreted. Yet history has also been deliberately falsified to provide support or justification for various positions or beliefs. As with any other type of knowledge, history directly influences and shapes our perception of the world, our beliefs, and our ideas. Because of this, the telling of history can be a powerful tool to provide justification for some concepts or ideas, and rewriting history can discredit others. There are many examples of these inaccurate histories, and some of them are quite prolific and influential in the way various societies and civilizations perceived the world. These inaccurate stories of history range from legends and myths about the origins of civilizations and societies, such as the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, sons of Mars, which gave the Romans a perception of their civilization as being divinely inspired and thus destined to greatness, to stories about great events in a countries past, such as Paul Revere’s supposed ride to warn the colonists that the British ‘were coming’ which, in reality, never happened but created patriotic fervor amongst American citizens. Further inaccurate histories can be seen across theology, as almost every system of religion claims to be the sole descendents and adherents of the one true god or gods. Not every religion can correctly claim to be the only true faith, and thus the histories that each present must somehow be falsified. As students and scholars of history, we must thus pick out what we discern to be the most reliable sources of history, and be skeptical towards all claims and stories which attempt to tell the past. History is an immensely important subject which contributes very heavily towards our understanding of the present, and as such it is vital that we understand it as correctly and completely as possible. The misconceptions and misinformation about the past which is prolific in modern times lends support to inaccurate understanding of our present world, but hopefully the diligent study of and reporting on accurate and correct accounts of the past will help us finally understand the true nature of our here and now. Cody Knipfer.

He Was an Initiator of Indigenous Slave Trade. Columbus noted that the natives he encountered were kind and giving … and that he planned to use that kindness against them. What resulted was genocide, rape, mutilations and a variety of other atrocities. We Celebrate a Murderous Undocumented Immigrant While Disparaging Hardworking & Honest Undocumented Immigrants Today. Columbus Wasn’t Even the First Explorer to Arrive in the Americas. By celebrating Columbus, we are ignoring a significant aspect of his legacy: genocide. None of Columbus's accomplishments outway the costs of the human lives that he took. It is abundantly clear that Columbus Day should be replaced with a day that honors the lives taken under Columbus’s rule.

Jaiden Locarnini Barajas 13 years old of Reno Nv was killed on September 25 while waiting for the school bus in Fallon Nv. He was ran over by a drunk driver who turned out to be a retired police officer. Trying to flee the scene the man had to be guided off the road by a witness. Jaiden and his two sisters were standing in the yard waiting for the school bus when this man made a u turn and plowed through a yard running 13 year old Jaiden over who pushed his sister out of the way, saving her life. This man was able to go home that night to his family. Why is this ok? Why wasn't something done about this? That is why we want this law. Something needs to happen.

This is important especially as we are witnessing upticks in violent racially charged hate crimes. Most recently a Black family in Warren was targeted due to their race by a white neighbor. It is important that Madison Heights takes a firm, zero tolerance stance on hate and bigotry in our city. To call Madison Heights the "City of Progress" while housing a known Nazi club in 2020 seems contradictory. We can do better and the citizens of Madison Heights deserve to live in a city that does not welcome hate groups and allows them to stay.