Jasmine Shepard should have become the first Black valedictorian in 110 years at Cleveland High School in Mississippi. An amazing achievement considering that Cleveland, MS still has not fully complied with federal desegregation orders from Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. But Jasmine was denied this honor when she was forced to share it with a white student who did not qualify for it. Since filing a lawsuit against the school district a few weeks ago, Jasmine and her family have been the target of a torrent of racist and hateful messages. Messages that are too sickening and hateful to be shared here. This whole incident exemplifies the barriers that Black girls and women face - when we work twice as hard we get half the credit, and when we speak out about that unfairness we get flooded with hateful messages. Black girls know all too well that they must often navigate through a landscape that reinforces multidimensional stereotypes, discrimination, and debilitating narratives about their Black femininity. Recognizing Jasmine as the sole valedictorian is a small but crucial step to changing these harmful narratives about Black girls. Jasmine Shepard should be recognized for the incredible work she’s done to become the first Black student to ever earn valedictorian honors in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Donald Trump's Interior Department announced that it's taking the first step toward massively expanding oil drilling in our oceans. If Big Oil is allowed to drill in these areas, it will be only a matter of time before the next oil disaster. Fragile marine ecosystems and coastal communities would be at risk. We need your help to stop Trump's plan! Help us reach 25,000 comments: Stop Big Oil from drilling in protected areas in our oceans!

The Peruvian Amazon is under threat from the palm oil industry. But indigenous leader Robert Guimaraes is fighting back. He and other community leaders have been subject to death threats, defamation campaigns and even assassination -- all for trying to protect their land and the environment. We need your help to stop this violence! Urge the Peruvian government to protect land defenders in the Peruvian Amazon!

Palm oil is a big business. It's leading to the destruction of tropical forests and pushing indigenous communities off their land. And it’s being funded in part by TIAA -- which may manage your retirement funds! Flood the CEO of TIAA's inbox and tell the company to stop investing in rainforest destruction!

Monsanto and other junk food and chemical companies are pushing for this non-labeling because they know most Americans don't want to eat GMOs. These companies are aiming to protect their profits no matter what the cost to our health or environment. We need your help to stop them. Tell the USDA: We need clear, on-package labels on GMOs!

Bees are in trouble largely thanks to neonicotinoid pesticides. But Kroger could stop this. It could stop selling food produced with neonics. Friends of the Earth members like you convinced the world’s largest garden retailers, including Lowe’s and Home Depot, to stop selling neonics. It didn’t happen overnight -- but with enough pressure, these companies did the right thing. Now, we need your help to push Kroger to act too. Tell Kroger to say NO to neonics and help save the bees!

Bees are in trouble largely thanks to neonicotinoid pesticides. But the EPA could stop this. It's reviewing imidacloprid -- one of the most widely used neonics. Comments are due July 24th -- so we need you to speak up NOW! Help us reach 40,000 comments: Tell the EPA to ban this widely used bee-killing pesticide!

The so-called "Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017" would increase fracking, allow easier approval for dirty oil and gas pipelines and exempt dams for hydro power from environmental laws. We need your help to stop it! Tell your Senators: Stop this giveaway to the fossil fuel industry!

I have worked in the medical field for over 30 years and would like to encourage all U.S. Citizens to support the idea that all children under 18 living in the U.S. should be entitled to access medical care free of charge

It is possible to write a reasonable healthcare bill! We just need a different set of people to do it. Privileged white males are only one sector of society, and the public has soundly rejected their ideas (Trumpcare). Our next attempt at fixing healthcare must include women and minorities. Any future national healthcare legislation should be written by a truly representative group. That means an equal number of women and men, along with representatives of minority groups in terms of race, class, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and rural/urban location. And we must have public hearings on any proposal!

Our country is divided by extremism. It is time to stop the madness and find a way to give a truer representation of social and political hopes and expectations of most Americans.

Critical Mass in Berkeley; overpopulation, in general, is nothing new, but there is a genuine lack of green space in Berkeley. House the homeless and the poor and the schizophrenic. Keep the park for the People. The Park is relative to civil rights and free speech. 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of People's Park and it would be a horrific shame on the community if the park would be destroyed simply for the sake of student housing, which can be built anywhere. UCB used eminent domain illegally to displace the original neighborhood and, lacking funds to create yet another student housing unit, created the blight in the first place. The park was an attempt by the community to create something beautiful. The UCB and, frankly, the City of Berkeley, have done everything in their power to destroy the park. Given the associated civil rights and free speech background linked to People's Park, the actions of UCB and The City of Berkeley seem determinedly fascist.