All black lives matter. No person shall be discriminated against based upon the color of their gender, sexual orientation, skin tone, economic status, social status, religious beliefs, or location. Everyone deserves adequate resources in order to live and thrive. Speaking out and standing against injustice is an essential human duty. There is a mutual duty to serve and protect between the community and its members. Acknowledge, respect, accept, and celebrate differences as well as commonalities. Believe in the power of words and their impact.

As of 2016, Norfolk police have killed twice as many people as any other agency in Virginia since 2010, according to a Virginian Pilot investigation. According to The Guardian newspaper, out of the 19 people shot and killed by police in the state of Virginia in 2016, seven of those were killed in the Hampton Roads area, with 5 of those deaths being in Norfolk alone. These issues are not "another place's problem." Members of Norfolk City Council have the ability to make concrete change and address the systematic abuse Black and Brown people experience everyday here in Norfolk.

At the June 29th University of Michigan Board of Regents Meeting, a budget that includes a 1.9% tuition increase was approved. We believe this increase is unjustified due to the economic hardships caused by the pandemic, coupled with the amount of university courses being held online. Based on 2019-2020 budgets listed on University of Michigan’s Admissions and Costs webpage, the tuition increase would be equivalent to around: $15,853.60 for in-state lower classmen (an increase of $295.60) $17,854.92 for in-state upperclassmen (an increase of $332.92) $52,172.80 for out-of-state lower classmen (an increase of $972.80) $55,835.09 for out-of-state upperclassmen (an increase of $1041.09). These financial shifts are expected to affect most university graduate programs as well. While seemingly small on their own, these additional amounts in tuition are increases in the total budgets to attend the university. In addition to tuition, students will also see an increase in University Health Service fees, housing fees (for those living on campus), and an additional “$50-per-term COVID-19 fee”. With these additional costs, in-state lower and upperclassmen can expect to pay a total of about $31,351 and $33,352 respectively, and out-of-state lower and upperclassmen can expect to pay a total of about $67,670 and $71,333. President Schlissel says the university is “committed to [doing] our very best to make sure that the COVID-19 pandemic does not result in a lost generation of students who were unable to continue or complete their Michigan educations because of the circumstances we all find ourselves in”. An increase in tuition and fees is a direct contradiction to this statement.

We do not believe that the mitigation plans we have read about are sufficient to ensure not only the protection of the students but of the community at large. We also do not believe it should become the responsiblity of the host communities to assume the burden of supporting students as they become ill or need to quarantine. Or to have to enforce adherance to COVID mitigation measures when out in the community. Until the colleges and University can demonstrate that they have not only appropriate mitigation plans in place but the capacity and ability to enforce those plans on campus and off - as well as deliver any urgent and ongoing medical and health related services in a manner that does not burden the local resources - students should not return to campus. All future COVID mitigation plans should be reviewed and approved only by the town representatives who have been elected to represent the aforementioned communities.

This is important because now is the time for change and monuments made to preserve nothing but white supremacy and its violent dominance over non-white culture from suppression to genocide need to be removed. The exploitation of Native American culture also needs to come to an end.

San Francisco's Prayer Book Cross is a symbol that continues to glorify white supremacy. It whitewashes the narrative of colonizers, slave traders, rapists, and looters. It must be removed immediately. The maintenance of this religious symbol in a public park is a governmental endorsement of religion, which is illegal.

The Abington School District mascot “The Galloping Ghost” represents a white supremacist symbol. The original illustrations of the mascot depict a member of the KKK, a racist hate group that has been targeting black americans since the 1800s. For a school district that practices No Place for Hate ideals, this is unacceptable. Some of you may think that just because the school changed the depiction it is perfectly fine, but the history of the KKK still lies in years of yearbooks.

This is important because the City Council took a sacred site away from the historic aboriginal Tribe of El Dorado County and gave it to the Sutter County Tribe just as the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors did in 2004. The Upper Broadway site belongs to the Wopumnes Tribe with over 150 years of history in El Dorado County. This is their sacred site that they have been protecting for over 100 years. On April 16, 2020 the City of Placerville bull-dozed the site without CEQA review and without warning. The City claims they gave notice in their 2018 MND but the site was obscured from the construction activities so there was no need for the Tribe to reveal the site. On June 23, 2020, item 12.1 on the City Agenda, the Placerville City Council, in an unprecedented act of insensitivity and amidst much support of the historic tribe, decided to ignore the Wopumnes request to allow them access to their sacred site to monitor study and construction activities. Instead the City Council decided to give the Wopumnes sacred site to the Sacramento-Verona Band (who arrived in El Dorado County in 1980, owns Redhawk Casino and calls themselves (SSBMI)). The City did exactly what the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors did in 2004... they gave the Wopumnes' sacred site away to the Sacramento-Verona Band, an out of town group from Sutter County. The Citizens of El Dorado County say "Not in my town. Placerville City Council, give the Wopumnes back their sacred site so they monitor construction and study activities, and bring in UC Davis to do the dig, Collect, Study and Care for the Wopumnes Tribe's artifacts.

Tom Tiffany is not a team player! He is concerned about Tom and what Tom wants ONLY. It is time to get rid of Toxic Tom and protect Wisconsinites. It is time to show FULL Support for the Governor Wisconsinites elected. It is time other politicians respect and work with the man WE the Citizens of Wisconsin elected. Mr. Tiffany is only one example of those who refuse to work with officials that Wisconsinites elected. This is unsafe for Wisconsin. We need a government that works together for it's citizens.

All of us – teachers, parents, administration, other school employees and community, working together are needed to assure that our children and staff have a safe learning environment for the entire 2020-21 school year. The challenges are unprecedented. Our public schools need all stakeholders involved and working together like never before.

The pressure of worrying about the impact of safety measures on potential test scores should not be a factor in making decisions about how and when to protect our kids from COVID-19 (or any transmissible disease). Our only concern should be the health of the students and of the community. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classes for the majority of the Spring semester of the 2019-20 school year. Though our teachers, parents, and students worked very hard to implement effective online courses, we anticipate there will be extra work needed to catch students up. That alone will bring added stress to our classrooms in 2020-21, but it may also induce administrators and school board members to take unnecessary risks just to maintain acceptable test scores. That is unacceptable. However, we still consider it important to know how our students are learning and how much progress they have made. In Spring 2020, when STAAR testing was waived, the state of Texas still offered schools an optional End of Year (EOY) assessment, and will also offer a Beginning of Year (BOY) assessment in the fall. These exams were simply intended to help establish growth and gaps in our students' learning, and carry no penalties. We ask that the same optional EOY and BOY assessments be offered for the 2020-21 school year so all of us can gauge student progress. However, the STAAR test has no place in Texas schools for the next 12 months, and should be waived immediately.

America faces an emergency on three primary fronts: a public health pandemic, economic insecurities, and long-standing structural and institutional racism. Working families need job security, economic stability, and freedom from systematic oppression. That is, we must address the racial barriers from COVID-19 and the racial oppression that African Americans and people of color are facing. Furthermore, we must stress the importance of the HEROES Cares Act. So, please sign on and join us for this tel-town hall Wednesday, June 24th, at 6:30 pm, for the tel-town hall call-in number (866) 976-6355. Speakers for this event will be NC Senator Erica Smith-Ingram Dr. Michelle Laws- Department of Health and Human Services Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin Action NC member Tarsha Gunn