Since President Thomas Jefferson founded the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1802, the federal government has expanded and improved the education of military leaders. Two centuries later, however, the national declaration that "all men are created equal" remains unfulfilled. Naming academy buildings, roads, and other infrastructure for Confederate leaders at West Point and Annapolis perpetuates American inequality. At West Point, a barracks constructed in 1962--the height of the civil rights movement--was named for Robert E. Lee. At the Naval Academy, an engineering building and the superintendent's house were named for Confederate naval leaders in 1907 and 1976, respectively. Both academies also have roads and other infrastructure named for Confederate leaders. I recently urged West Point Superintendent LTG Darryl A. Williams, a fellow West Point graduate, to rename Lee Barracks and other infrastructure to "serve the nation’s paramount quest for a more equitable and just society under law." He wrote that "the Academy -- as a subordinate command of the Army -- will not act independently on this issue," "Confederate memorialization is an Army issue," and West Point recognizes "individuals who are a part of our history as an institution and a nation, not as representatives of a cause." The Confederacy and its leaders, however, will always stand principally for disunity, racism, and white supremacy. Honoring Confederate leaders at military academies reveres those values over equality and liberty. It is time for the nation's self-described premier leadership development institutions to replace Confederate names so they more fully express and honor Americans' highest values. Those values are clearly expressed through countless state and local officials who have removed Confederate statues and other divisive symbols from public spaces since the violent racist attacks in Charleston, SC in 2015 and Charlottesville, VA in 2017. State and local officials are fulfilling citizens' interests and leading an important democratic change movement where the federal government is failing. Sign this petition to: - tell the Defense Department and Congress to align the academies' values with your values; - support legislation that will require and fund the removal of Confederate honors at the military academies; - give your children better environments to learn leadership and selfless public service.

This is important because the mayor allows and even encourages the doe to be run by mountebanks and grifters who have corrupted public education under the guise of learning and caring, all while destabilizing, demeaning and damaging the children and the workforce of the NYC public school system.

It is vital to track how COVID is affecting people differently depending on race in order to address racial disparities now and in the future. The numbers of people who are dying and infected in NY, Milwaukee and Chicago are disproportionately people of color, and Black people in particular. the CDC is not keeping track of race nationally for the pandemic, although it should, because not doing so makes it seem like this is an equal opportunity illness, and it is not. generational and historical wealth and injustice are not abstract moral issues, they are the difference between life and death generational and historical injustice translate into the unequal distribution of resources like hospital beds, trained staff, infrastructure and healthcare facilities, and availability of medications generational and historical injustice affects the quality of living spaces, pre-existing conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic illnesses, and the ability to quarantine COVID is not the great equalizer. Viruses may not discriminate, but the ways in which the pandemic is panning out is clearly surfacing the inequalities that we desperately need to address. Tracking race is paramount to understand how racial inequality factors in COVID-related deaths and illnesses.

If lawmakers don’t act quickly, Wisconsin will move ahead with its primary elections this Tuesday -- despite a statewide shelter-in-place order and the growing threat of the COVID-19 crisis. This would potentially suppress hundreds of thousands of voters -- and expose those that do show up at the polls to unnecessary health risks. Wisconsin is the only one of the 11 states originally scheduled to hold contests in April that has not postponed or dramatically altered voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic. If we let things move forward like this, far too many voters will be disenfranchised or choose to stay home. Already, poll worker shortages have forced many polling places to close (from 180 down to just 5 for the entire city of Milwaukee) -- placing major strains on the locations that plan to remain open. And here’s the appalling part: Republican lawmakers stand accused of dragging their feet on this issue in order to suppress voter turnout -- and help an incumbent right-wing state Supreme Court justice who’s up for re-election. [1] This shouldn't be a partisan issue. Protecting voters’ rights and safety right now should be every party’s top priority. Gov. Tony Evers has just called a special legislative session to fix this -- urging lawmakers to adopt a proposal to expand absentee voting until May 19th... provide every registered voter with a ballot... and create safe in-person voting opportunities for voters with disabilities and others who are unable to vote by mail. But lawmakers will only do the right thing if they feel massive public pressure -- so we urgently need you to add your voice right now. Tell Wisconsin lawmakers to delay in-person voting and make sure every voter can cast their ballot safely. 1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wisconsin-goes-it-alone-holding-elections-next-week-amid-fears-of-infection-and-voting-chaos/2020/03/31/8bd801ae-735f-11ea-a9bd-9f8b593300d0_story.html

Small businesses are the engine of our economy. In many communities small businesses are the largest employer and the lifeblood of the community. We create meaningful jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurs to thrive. By unilaterally requiring that your small business clients have pre-existing lending relationships with Bank of America you are putting up unnecessary roadblocks to saving jobs and saving communities from devastation. Worse, this practice may even be discriminatory, as it may impact black, Latino, Asian, and Native American business owners disproportionately, who are more likely to have been denied access loans due to historic and current red-lining practices and institutional racism. The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to provide forgivable loans to Small Businesses to keep people employed during this time of emergency. In determining clients of Bank of America's eligibility for these lifeline loans, you have instituted an unnecessary pre-existing lending client requirement that is preventing many desperate smaller businesses and nonprofits from even applying for PPP. We all need to come together at times like this, not put up barriers to resources. You have the power to eliminate this arbitrary requirement and we ask you to step in and address this issue with the urgency the present emergency demands.

Like most kinds of porn, inspiration porn is exploitative, unrealistic and harmful for disabled people. Imagery of individuals "overcoming" the disabled body serves only to de-value those of us who cannot for the enjoyment of those who never had to. This is particularly gross given that this imagery is being used to increase shareholder profits for Hyundai, a global corporation that did $91 billion in sales last year. In the time of COVID-19 this also means a very real chance of disabled people being denied life-saving treatment because of the mere perception that their lives are less valuable than a “healthier” person.

Although, it is a great initiative to do distant learning, parents and/or students are not fully equipped, mentally, emotionally to successfully provide or acquire the education that is provided by an official educator. This initiative will also keep the educators and households sane as we survive and readjust because of this pandemic. It will also provide a more realistic grade point average for schools and students not to lose their academic status.

President's Trump's treatment of PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor as she fulfills her professional obligations during a national crisis is unacceptable. Recently, during COVID-19 conferences, he told her, “Be nice. Don’t be threatening,” and called her questions “nasty.” Consider the messages he is sending the world about Black women and girls. Trump has a long history of mistreating people of color, women and the press. His aggressive attitude toward Alcindor is a culmination of these biased, undemocratic and dangerous behaviors. As the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) recently pointed out in a joint statement: “As far back as November 2018, Trump leveled verbal abuse at Alcindor along with fellow Black women journalists Abby Phillip of CNN and April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks… Both groups have noted the president’s pattern of using demeaning language toward women journalists of color and other journalists.” Sources: NABJ and JAWS statement: https://jaws.org/2020/03/31/jaws-and-nabj-stand-against-unacceptable-treatment-of-yamiche-alcindor/ Examples of Trump’s racism: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-racist-examples_n_56d47177e4b03260bf777e83 Trump attacks the press: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/business/trump-calls-the-news-media-the-enemy-of-the-people.html Women who accuse Trump of sexual assault: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-running-list-of-the-women-whove-accused-donald-trump-of-sexual-misconduct_n_57ffae1fe4b0162c043a7212

No one needs to be in ICE detention as they await their case to work through the courts. Forcing people to remain there during the coronavirus pandemic is cruel and inhumane. Along with ICE’s already horrific record of medical neglect and denying basic necessities for maintaining health and sanitation, people locked up in immigration detention are extremely vulnerable to the spread of infectious disease because they are unable to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves like social distancing and sanitizing regularly. There have already been 10 reported deaths in ICE custody in the last six months alone, and multiple ICE officers and people detained have tested positive for COVID-19. Acting Director of ICE Matthew Albence must act now, before it is too late and the virus spreads like wildfire through detention centers. The answer is clear: release people now.

Every single human being is stressed now with everything that has evolved as a direct result of this crisis. Pharmaceutical drugs have proven to wreak havoc around the world causing many deaths. while cannabis is a safer alternative for many and has never killed anyone. Re-legalize cannabis NOW, it is the only humane thing to do at this point.

Las Vegas has approximately 150,000 hotels with a homeless population of approximately 5,286, as reported by their survey in 2019. There is more than enough room among those hotels to house those who are suffering from homelessness. These people being forced to stay in the streets and in parking lots are human beings. They deserve to have a safe place to stay at all times, but especially in the middle of a global pandemic. Show Las Vegas and the rest of the country that this treatment of those suffering is unacceptable. Demand they open up their hotels for those without homes.

IT BREAKS MY HEART TO HEAR SOMEONE BEG FOR FOOD CHILDREN ARE STARVING & I JUST CAN'T SIT BACK AND DO NOTHING