We need the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) to make a statement denouncing racism and systems of white supremacy. We ask you stand with us. Thank you to the "SLPs of Color" for drafting their original petition to ASHA. Please also directly submit feedback to AAA here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VFGBN5K AAA is the world’s largest professional organization of, by and for audiologists, representing the interests of approximately 14,000 audiologists, as well as students and faculty at the university level. Per AAA’s website, one of the core values is Cultural Sensitivity and Diversity, defined as: “to value diversity and to treat all patients fairly and equally without discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed, religion, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, or national origin.”  The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd are just the recent accounts of police brutality (towards Black people) and white supremacy. As a large professional organization, even if white-majority, we cannot stand idly by. Our silence speaks for us. Our silence says we are complicit. Our silence says we do not care. This silence not only affects those we serve, but also students and professionals of color within the organization.  Furthermore, intersectional identities are, by definition, not mutually exclusive. You may know of the Black students, audiologists, and faculty members in our organization, but what about those who may be Black AND d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing? Our students and professionals also serve numerous Black and d/Deaf + hard-of-hearing patients around the world, either through service trips and/or their everyday work. How can you actively choose to remain silent and not acknowledge their pain and experiences?  As a profession, we are stewards of health and communication and are charged with improving the quality of life for our patients, clients, and students. This includes our audiologists and patients that are directly affected by the systematic injustices seen in our country. We implore AAA to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and subsequently our Black students and professionals.

I am a teacher and believe that the key to reopening the economy is reopening schools and allowing parents to get back to work. Every state in our country is facing a budget deficit, thus we need the Federal Government to help make that gap. In order for states to reopen schools safely will require more money, not less to maintain smaller class sizes that allows for social distancing, to provide necessary PPE to students and staff, and to have health and counseling support that our students need. Most school district believe that they will need an additional 20-30% on top of their normal budgets to safely reopen. Without this Federal support it would be an impossibility to reopen our schools. Therefore, the gap between what schools are losing from state cuts and what they need to safely reopen is over $300 billion across the country. Thus, the Senate must act now!

It is important that we follow suit to where the city, state and nations are going, in the wake on George Floyd’s Death we would be Proud to have a Black Lives Matter in his honor and to all those that have lost there lives to police brutality.

In 1939, when Eleanor Roosevelt realized that the DAR was not allowing the esteemed Black opera singer, Marian Anderson, to perform for them on the racist rule that they only wanted white performers for their events at Constitutional Hall in D.C., Eleanor not only resigned from the DAR but also invited Marian to sing at the White House. As alumni from Roosevelt University, we stand for every person’s life mattering. We believe that we can make a difference in our brothers’ and sisters’ lives moving forward, with the understanding that education changes the world. With students learning about America’s racial history, we can help grow a greater connection to the principles of social justice that our university was built on. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/23/black-history-white-privilege-course-graduation-requirement-column/2389375001/ https://www.fdrlibrary.org/anderson

Given the recent events in our home state of Minnesota concerning black lives matter, we feel a better education about black oppression could have aided us during this time. To this extent, our education system has failed our generation and many before us. Our classrooms have ignored the plight of blacks and minorities, for too long. Please know, we do not write to condemn but rather to inform and improve. We want to change the status quo to build a future that benefits all, white people and people of color alike. We believe change begins with education. We know that TG cares about its students of color, but we need to see this represented in the classroom. Below is a list of alumni who support this initiative.

We believe it is necessary to educate and inform students about race, prejudice, and privilege at Wake Forest University. In order to achieve this goal, we believe that the university should incorporate education on racial issues into the academic curriculum, develop online training modules on racial bias, and enhance the diversity education included in orientation material. It is vital that Wake Forest University makes a permanent change to show that we stand with the African American community, especially in light of the racial injustices that have occurred during this time of civil unrest across the nation.

If we want to change the epidemic of mostly black men being murdered by police, we have to take strong action and this proposal is just one change that is needed.

FSUSD has known about sexual abuse allegations/reports and have not acted to the best of their ability. They failed to meet their own guidelines and in return—left victims facing their abusers daily.

These kids have been robbed of so much already their senior year due to COVID-19. Please don't take this from them as well. They deserve this!!! They need this!!! Please sign our petition so our kids can be recognized the way they deserve to be!!! Thank you!

If he is not immediately removed from office (and subsequently arrested for his multiple crimes against humanity), this country, with all the immense challenges it is facing, will not survive until November. He has made it abundantly clear he will not cede control of the office of president, regardless of the outcome. He has sanctioned the murder and open violence against the majority of the electorate by his sharing the despicable vitriol of a supporter stating "the only good Democrat is a DEAD Democrat". He has openly called for the unlawful and illegal suppression of our constitutional rights to redress our grievances and lawful assembly- as he did in his phone address to our Nation's Governors on June 1st, 2020.

This is to save what is left of the United States. We as Americans have to do our part in making sure we save our country.

You might be asking, “How can making these two dates federal holidays improve our situation?” You also might be asking, “How do we seem to be taking steps back to “Da Crow”?” You must fight for freedom yes, but use your power wisely. Do it through love and collaboration. We have to do things decently and in order and remember, a divided house will fall from infighting! Instead of risking Covid-19 infection, continue to mitigate exposure as much as possible to protect vulnerable people. But to really get something done. We need it in writing and we need it in the law. IF YOU WOULD MARCH IN THE STREET, SIGN THIS PETITION! Once we get 150,000 signatures we will submit transparent plans to raise funding to cover the administrative costs involved. This virus will devastate the same populations in our already risky environments. The disproportionality in the death toll skews overwhelmingly towards the black and brown communities. DO NOT BE A MOTH to the FLAME. Be STILL, and sign this petition. Juneteenth June-teenth celebrates the final freeing of slaves in Texas. It was on June 19, 1865, that slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free—although they had been freed two years earlier in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This is a prime example of progress for everyone does not always mean progress for people of color, especially black Americans. The only way to level the playing field is to vote and be able to do it freely! Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Cel-Liberation Day or the Black Fourth of July, is an American holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865. On this day, after almost two and half years since the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved African Americans were informed of their liberation. More Info: The Mascogos (also known as negros mascagos ) are an Afro-descendant group in Coahuila , Mexico. Centered on the town of El Nacimiento in Múzquiz Municipality , the group are descendants of Black Seminoles escaping the threat of slavery in the United States. • Also called: Freedom Day or Emancipation Day • Observances: Exploration and celebration of African-American history and heritage • Next time: June 19, 2020 • Observed by: Residents of the United States, especially African Americans, Mascogos • Significance: Emancipation of the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy The Pen is Mightier than the Sword!