There is a concerning lack of awareness around historically significant people and events that directly lend to race relations today, particularly as it relates to the challenges Black Americans face in fighting to bring awareness to the racial disparities in education, healthcare, homeownership, law enforcement interactions, criminal sentencing and much more. Critical omissions in California's educational curriculum perpetuate the misunderstanding of what it means to be American, while simultaneously reinforcing institutional ideologies birthed from White supremacy. California has long served as the trailblazer in progress, and we are looking to our elected officials in education to, once again, set an example by ushering in a more integrated and comprehensive curriculum, offering our bright-minded youth a truer and more holistic sense of who we are and where we come from.

I was born and raised in Glastonbury and received an amazing, world-class education there. All throughout college, I would always wear my Glastonbury Tomahawks sweatshirt because of how proud I was of my home. During college, I befriended a girl who is Native American, and I would find myself pausing every time I wanted to put on my Tomahawks sweatshirt. This sweatshirt was a symbol of a place that I took so much pride in. I thought of my education as progressive and shedding light on the world outside of the four walls of GHS. However, how can a place that I held in such high esteem continue to ignore this offense? What lesson does it teach the students of Glastonbury to continue to use a mascot that trivializes the culture of others? Glastonbury’s community must recognize that their mascot is not appropriate. We cannot use this symbol in good conscience when Native American tribes throughout the country, and here in Connecticut, oppose the use of Native American mascots. We must listen to their opposition, and be good allies by trusting and respecting their stance on the subject. Glastonbury was a wonderful town to grow up in, and I am generally very proud to be from there. Please do the right thing: stop appropriating Native American symbols. “As documented in [...] decades of social science research, derogatory 'Indian' sports mascots have serious psychological, social and cultural consequences for Native Americans, especially Native youth." Change Glastonbury's mascot to one that we can all be proud of. (Link to quote on NCAI's website: http://www.ncai.org/proudtobe)

SARS-CoV-2 is ravaging our communities. It is highly infectious and it is spreading like wildfire. Our hospitals are filling up and resources are scarce. It is our government’s responsibility to ensure our safety, and something must be done to prevent further deaths in our communities.

We, Israeli and American citizens who care deeply about peace between Israelis and Palestinians, stand together in urging the government of Israel to abandon its plan of unilateral West Bank annexation, and to instead pursue negotiations with the Palestinian leadership to reach a conflict-ending peace accord. Annexation is antithetical to our shared values and our commitment to peace. The damage that annexation would inflict is not just a matter of values and vision. Annexation would severely hinder any prospect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, would jeopardize Israel’s relations with moderate Arab states, particularly with Jordan, further erode Israel’s international standing, and threaten the stability of the US-Israel relationship. Yes, Donald Trump supports annexation. And, yes, some Israeli politicians view his sharp diversion from policies followed by successive past US administrations – both Democratic and Republican – as an opportunity to take actions that would not previously have been possible. But this is an aberration. Trump will leave the White House, if not in months then in several years, and with him will vanish his short-sighted policies that compromise a peaceful future for Israel and Palestine. But the consequences of annexation will be long lasting, if not irreversible. Netanyahu recently stated that Palestinian residents of these unilaterally annexed areas will be considered “subjects” living in “enclaves” and not eligible for Israeli citizenship. What Netanyahu is describing has historical precedent and a name: apartheid. His plan means that two national-ethnic populations will live in the same area, under the sovereignty of an internationally recognized elected government, the government of Israel. One of these groups, Israeli settlers, will enjoy full civil rights, including the right to elect their government. The other population, Palestinian “subjects,” will be deprived of almost any civil right, disenfranchised, governed by a set of military occupation laws. This has been the de facto situation in the West Bank since Israel captured it in 1967. But it was, in theory and in law, a temporary arrangement. Now, Netanyahu and Trump are working ahead of the November presidential elections to turn this travesty into a permanent reality. In perpetuity. Without hope of ending the conflict. Without a horizon of peace and lasting security for Israel. And without a horizon of independence and statehood for Palestinians. Israelis, Americans, and concerned citizens worldwide should not sit idly by as two irresponsible leaders, wielding tremendous power but showing little regard for the future of Israel and its Palestinian neighbors, take measures the Israeli public itself is deeply divided on that would wreck Israeli democracy and condemn Palestinians to perpetual subjugation. A joint US-Israeli committee, armed with maps and aerial photos, is already working to chart the contours of the occupied land that Israel would call its own. But annexation is not a done deal. It can be avoided and, if not, must be reversed. We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu not to take a step that Israelis, their friends in America, and people around the world will regret for years to come. We urge President Trump to maintain the decades of bipartisan US policy that supports a two-state solution and a peaceful end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hadar Susskind President and CEO Americans for Peace Now and Shaqued Morag Executive Director Shalom Achshav

To remove the symbols of the Confederacy which traumatizes people of color. The monuments of an evil leader who fought to continue to enslave African Americans and treat them less than human. This action will give empowerment of true equality to black folks. BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!

Facial recognition technology can't tell the difference between people of color, and that’s a huge problem. In the hands of law enforcement agencies, which are eager to get their hands on and use this technology, facial recognition has an alarming tendency to misidentify people with darker skin. In essence, facial recognition technology codifies racial profiling into advanced AI systems. Last week IBM made the correct and moral decision to abandon their facial recognition technology, but they weren't the only tech players in the game. Amazon announced a pitiful one-year moratorium on selling facial recognition, while Clearview AI, one the more aggressive pushers of facial recognition, continues their ties with alt right-wing extremists.

Stop using black faces in hoodies on ads for your services as it implies that drug addition is a BLACK problem. It is especially important in mostly white neighborhoods to NOT use these kinds of ads because it reinforces racist view unintentionally. At a minimum use both white and black faces in same ads so that it does not automatically cause people to think that the drug problem is a black problem. It reinforces stereotypes that we need to reverse in today's human societies.

The life-saving Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made a world of difference to LGBTQ Coloradans. The ACA has provided access to care and strengthened protections for millions of Americans, including transgender people and the broader LGBTQ community. Before the passage of the ACA, being transgender was considered a pre-existing condition, and LGBTQ folks could be charged more for the same service as non-LGBTQ adults. The ACA extended health insurance coverage to more than 600,000 Coloradans through the public health exchange and Medicaid expansion, eliminated pre-existing conditions and transgender-specific exclusions, established cost parity, clarified that spousal benefits must apply to same sex couples, and removed limits on annual and lifetime spending for people with chronic conditions. Colorado’s uninsured rate dropped significantly as a result of the ACA. A survey by One Colorado found that the uninsured rate for LGBTQ Coloradans was cut in half between 2011 and 2018. Insurers in the individual market could no longer drop, deny, or charge more for coverage because of a pre-existing condition. That’s particularly important for the nearly 2.4 million Coloradans living with a pre-existing health condition. An estimated 65% of LGBTQ adults have a pre-existing condition. Despite the successes of the ACA, it is still at risk— and we need our leaders, like Senator Cory Gardner, who has voted seven times in his career to repeal the ACA, to start defending it. Sign this petition and tell Senator Cory Gardner to protect the ACA for LGBTQ Coloradans.

American couples are not solely white. American families with only white children are not representative of reality....it’s about time to include the diversity we see in everyday American households reflected in these emojis. They are the only emojis where skin color cannot be chosen and this deserves to be changed.

Because as U.S. citizens we have a right to peaceful protests which can be seen in the wearing of our face masks. In a time of civil unrest, with thousands of people and hundreds of companies speaking out against the racial inequality imposed on African Americans, we as a people should be able to wear what ever kind of mask we so choose as long as it doesn’t go against someone’s religion, ethnic background, and doesn’t have obscene graphics or language.

It’s Important because a lot of us don’t know our history or what Juneteenth is about. I want this to educate my community because I didn’t really know what Juneteenth was about until I was an adult. I want my community to be celebrated because we built this country.

It's important to let the management of WFMU know that it is not ok to exploit it's volunteer DJs. We should be able to keep our show title and all content that we provided to the station, should we decide to leave. Please let me keep my name, Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban