When one of the founding members of Cannabis Vision Partners discovered her mother had breast cancer there was no where she could take her mother to for a safe, knowledgeable and comfortable experience at a dispensary. This was 14 years ago. Today not much has changed. We now have "apple store" style dispensaries and not one but TWO MedMen dispensaries approved by LA city council to operate in Venice, but none of them cater to women's needs and none of them are owned by women and certainly not women of color. Women and particularly women of color are the most disadvantaged when it comes to healthcare and almost invisible when it comes to natural healing. The needs of women and women of color are not being met in health and in business. One of the fastest growing industries is cannabis and currently the community of Venice Beach is being dominated and monopolized by greedy male corporations- essentially keeping out any women and especially women of color. This is a healing industry and the need for women focused healing is being neglected and we need change. You can make a difference for all women of color who choose to heal themselves with natural medicine and not with addictive pharmaceuticals and for women who want to make a difference in their communities. It all starts with someone like you who cares about women's needs.

Please join us so the administration realizes that type of behavior is unacceptable for our young people.

The education of black and brown children in the District has been negatively impacted by the schools closing and virtual learning. To make up for this I'm asking that DCPS provide an effective summer school program for its students.

The proposed FY22 budget for the Town of Amherst does not go far enough to promote racial equity and social justice. The cry that arose last summer after the murder of George Floyd continues, as on average three people a day have been killed by police, and as the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin was announced, Ma’Khia Bryant, a teenager, was murdereed by police. The calls to defund the police did not stem from an isolated incident, but are based in the understanding that the safest communities have the most resources, not the most police. In his budget presentation to the Town Council on May 3, 2021, Town Manager Paul Bockelman revealed he had allocated only $130,000 to the CRESS program and only $30,000 to combine with existing funds to create an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion coordinator. The $130,000 comes from the two frozen police positions, and does not include any additional funding. Funding the CRESS program at only 6% of the proposed budget,and neglecting to address the additional proposals for a youth empowerment center and multi-cultural center, along with a BIPOC-led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, sends a strong message that the town does not prioritize racial equity and the safety of BIPOC residents. Reallocating only two police positions and no additional funding is disrespectful to the countless hours the CSWG spent engaging the community with public forums, researching alternative programs, and coordinating with the 7GenMC to provide a thorough proposal to the town manager. Providing only $130,000 to design and implement an innovative, anti-racist alternative responder program ensures the program will not fully thrive, and that the town will likely default to the white supremecist institution of policing to address non-violent, non-criminal matters. $130,000 is inadequate. At a meeting with the finance committee May 27, the funding allocated was increased to $475,000 for CrESS and $90,000 for a director of diversity, equity and inclusion. This increase still falls short.

Students and staff should feel safe when they come to school. Students were aware that if they chose to come back to school, they would be required to wear a mask. COVID has not gone away yet. We need to do the most that we can to protect ourselves and others.

Alex Jones is a far-right conspiracy theorist profiting off a huge fake news empire via his InfoWars website, talk shows, and consumer products, who personally "helped jumpstart" the January 6 insurrection. Which is why it's completely unacceptable that Amazon sells Jones' merchandise and dietary supplements, even going so far as to host his online storefront. Facebook, Apple, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Spotify, and PayPal have all banned Alex Jones for hate speech violations. Amazon forced Parler, a far-right social media platform, offline by suspending them from their AWS hosting platform after the January 6 insurrection, ultimately causing Parler to go into hibernation for months. And yet, Amazon is fine collecting their 15% off of Jones' Super Male Vitality Natural Stamina Liquid Drops and other unregulated so-called nutritional supplements. It's time for Amazon to pull the InfoWars Store and stop profiting off of hate speech peddler Alex Jones.

Too many are right now trying to sweep the events of January 6th, 2021 under the rug and pretending it wasn't that bad. But insurrectionists and anyone who somehow encouraged this - whether they are in congress or not - need to be reminded of their actions so they- at the very least learn something. The savage beatings of police and other Capitol defenders with American flags needs to be addressed as criminal and unpatriotic.

Back in June, an OAN host suggested that “traitors" who "stole" the election should be executed. OAN spreads dangerous messages like these every single day, powered by the income from AT&T.  And court records show that not only does AT&T provide tens of millions of dollars in revenue for OAN, AT&T allegedly proposed the idea of a right-wing show for its satellite service, DirecTV, the only cable provider that gives OAN a platform to spread its dangerous messages. Even OAN lawyer Patrick Nellies acknowledged that if OAN loses or isn’t renewed by AT&T's DirecTV, the company would “go out of business tomorrow,” which shows just how much power AT&T has to stop OAN. And AT&T isn’t just giving a platform and singlehandedly bankrolling conspiracy theory network OAN, it also donated almost $300,000 to the Texas lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored the horrible abortion ban. Unfortunately, that’s not all. AT&T was also among the corporations that committed to stop donating PAC money to Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and fueled the insurrection, but it broke that commitment and has since donated thousands, hoping we wouldn't notice. AT&T is fueling attacks on our democracy by propping up and enabling white supremacy propaganda and conspiracy theory network OAN and by funneling PAC donations to insurrectionists. AT&T must drop OAN from DirecTV now.

Medical institutions across the country have successfully made plans to vaccinate and keep their medical students in the clinical environment. UVA has vaccinated clinical medical students and is now moving on to vaccinate their 1st and 2nd year preclinical students. VCU still doesn’t have an answer for when our clinical students may be vaccinated and there is no explanation for why this is not possible. The return to the clinical environment is contingent on becoming vaccinated, however, it seems that this is not currently a priority. The clinical education of medical students nationwide has already been disrupted due to removal from clinical activities during the summer. Currently it is unprecedented for an academic institution such as VCU to remove students for another 60-90 days. Decreased clinical time will impede education and set students back in their readiness for residency compared to peers at other institutions. While we are medical students now we will be the residents tasked with treating these patients in less than 1-2 years. These changes also ignore the value that medical students bring to patient care teams. Finally, this is a case where medical students are overlooked and undervalued. It is hoped that awareness of this situation will help administrations maintain transparency and prepare for situations like this to prevent such events from recurring. Local news coverage: https://www.nbc12.com/2021/01/05/medical-students-write-letter-vcu-health-regarding-vaccine-plan/ https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/01/06/some-local-medical-providers-struggle-to-access-vaccine-as-doses-go-to-health-systems-stay-at-home-workers/

Many US families still have significant savings in our accounts and have our Dependent Care facilities closed due to Covid 19. I would hate to see our hard earned savings go to waste due to a March 15th deadline. I know I'm not alone. This simple change could help a lot of families once Dependent Care facilities are safe to open and keep our children safe again.

Rahm Emanuel‘s decisions and policies as mayor had a disproportionate and racist impact on Black communities, and his agenda aided corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working Chicagoans. To aid his re-election campaign in 2015, he suppressed video footage of the 2014 murder of a 17-year-old Black child, Laquan McDonald, by Chicago police. He made history by closing 50 public schools across Chicago, primarily in the majority-Black South and West Side communities of the city—the most school closures at one time in any school districts in the nation. During his first year in office, his administration shut down half of the public mental health clinics across Chicago. Soon after taking office, he eliminated the city’s Department of Environment, and as a result, environmental regulation dropped considerably. Communities of color throughout Chicago have borne the brunt of this decision, and thousands of people (primarily Black families) have been exposed to chemical hazards and irritants as a result. And while his administration was consistently slashing public services and utilities, the city funded the construction of a brand-new, $95-million police academy on Chicago’s West Side. The Department of Transportation has unions representing over 38,000 employees at the federal and national level. As mayor of Chicago, in addition to closing 50 schools, Emanuel repeatedly attacked public unions by supporting legislation that would make it harder for teachers to strike, laid off hundreds of school staff, and threatened to lay off hundreds of city employees in order to privatize some city services. Emanuel served big business and corporate interests throughout his time as mayor, and his decisions disproportionately harmed working families and communities of color. We have no reason to believe that he’d act any differently as a member of President-elect Biden’s Cabinet. President-elect Biden is taking office during a time of deep, overlapping crises. His administration will need to be bold, ambitious, and transformative and will need to speak to the needs of everyday people, and he needs to stand up for Black communities, as he said he would last month. His appointees must reflect that vision. Rahm Emanuel's track record is an affront to everything we voted for—especially to Black Americans—and he should have no place in the new administration.

I am a parent of two Denver Public Schools middle and high school students. My children’s health, happiness and social and academic successes are important to me as they are for all parents. Transitioning into the teenage years, their bodies naturally adjust to staying up later and sleeping in (when given the opportunity) yet they still need 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.  The current early morning start times in DPS are detrimental to their success as students and threaten their overall health.   Quality and quantity of sleep matter at all ages, but sleep is especially critical for teens. Growth and development occur during sleep and adequate sleep leads to improved attention span, attitude and overall improved health and wellness. What’s more, lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can have detrimental effects on the immune system and are tied to higher levels of stress. According to sleep specialist Wendy Troxel, a behavioral and social scientist with Rand Corp., “Research consistently finds inadequate sleep in teens is associated with increased risk of mental and physical health problems, including depression, suicide and obesity. It also creates problems with their concentration, memory, and ability to learn.” I understand that transportation logistics propose a hurdle to making schedule changes. However, we know that several other large, metro-area districts, as well as large school districts across the country, have successfully transitioned to a later start time for teens. During this unprecedented time, we have the opportunity to work solve these logistical problems and to create transportation schedules that support later start times for our middle and high schools when they return in-person learning. This petition requests that DPS create a new schedule for middle and high school students by implementing later start times to begin in the 2021-2022 school year. The science and social benefits are well documented, but here some articles that highlight important aspects of changing to a later start time:     https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/features/schools-start-too-early.html https://www.rwjf.org/en/blog/2018/02/three-reasons-to-consider-later-school-start-times.html https://www.nationaljewish.org/conditions/health-information/multimedia/facebook-live/why-do-teens-sleep-later https://www.rand.org/blog/2019/08/im-a-sleep-specialist-heres-how-i-prepare-my-two-teenagers.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/10/among-teens-sleep-deprivation-an-epidemic.html Show your support to implement later start times by signing this petition!