Since Johnston Hall was built in 1929, it has been able to avoid updating the interior of the building for ADA compliance. James Madison University values diversity, stating, "We strive to be an inclusive community that values the richness of all individuals and perspectives." Addressing accessibility issues on campus will put this value into action and make the campus more inclusive. So often, we wait until disaster strikes before we make meaningful change. The university is filled with brilliant faculty and staff who can plan for and create this important change. Let's address this issue now to make campus safe and inclusive for people of all abilities.

America does not stand for this kind of (or any) inhumane behavior and we will not tolerate it on any level, especially from our federal agencies. We demand investigation and justice for individuals who have been detained and subjected to this abuse from ICE.

Hispanic immigrant business owners face significant exposure from the coronavirus-induced economic downturn. They accounted for 51% of all Hispanic-owned businesses in 2016, shares similar to the percentages of Hispanics who are immigrants. They are now closing their businesses at a staggering rate. Historically, there are racial and gender inequalities in business ownership. Nationally, people of color represent about 40% of the population, but only 20% of the nation’s 5.6 million business owners with employees. The U.S. could have millions more businesses if women and minorities became entrepreneurs at the same rate as white men. Now, with the COVID-19 crisis, millions of “missing businesses,” are facing a massive potential disruption and some risk permanent closure. There is not the same urgency to address it—COVID-19’s impact on minority-owned small businesses—, because it is already established that’s been built up over decades, even if closing these disparities would result in the creating of millions of new small businesses.

A spike in apprehensions of migrant children crossing the U.S. southern border without a parent or guardian is threatening to overwhelm the systems set up to care for them, and has reinvigorated debate over the detention of minors. The Donald J. Trump administration has called the influx of asylum seekers—both adults and minors—a national security threat, and has implemented a suite of policies meant to deter migrants and combat human traffickers. Critics, including many in Congress, say the administration’s response is exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Central America, breaking U.S. law, and violating international human rights norms, according to on The Council on Foreign Relations.

In addition to hundreds of thousands broken families, the economic costs to American society from mass deportations are in disproportion to the economic benefits that Latinos bring to the US economy. While direct costs to taxpayers amounts to about $70 billion in enforcement agents, detention facilities, immigration judges and transportation, the Center for American Progress estimates that approximately $4.7 trillion is lost in economic output, nearly a trillion dollars in lost tax revenue over the next decade, while the conservative American Action Forum calculates some $2.6 trillion in lower GDP over 10 years, according to Unidos US. The increase in apprehensions has come as a growing number of migrants seek asylum. The demographic profile of those crossing the border has changed, too: People traveling in families, not single adults, accounted for the majority of those apprehended last year (56%). And most of those apprehended were from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which have struggled with violence and a lack of economic opportunities.

The r-word (r*tard) is a highly offensive term to the disability community. It is a derogatory, exclusive, hateful and outdated slur to refer to people with intellectual disabilities. Time and time again activists with intellectual disabilities have spoken up about how hurtful this word is to them and the impact is has had on their lives. It also offends anyone who knows or loves someone with a disability. This word perpetuates negative stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities and is dehumanizing. It is time for instagram to make a change and include this word as a violation of community guidelines under hate speech as this is exactly what it is.

Corporate America is one of the largest supporters of anti-choice, anti-women politicians -- even those who claim they are pro-woman. Some of the worst offenders champion anti-choice candidates at the local, state, and federal level, empowering an extremist agenda that is not only anti-abortion and anti-women but antithetical to equality and justice.  As consumers, we have the power to hold corporations accountable and demand they actually stand for the values they sell in PR statements and advertisements. This is why UltraViolet is collecting the receipts and launching a major campaign calling out six of the biggest companies in America to stop supporting the dangerous anti-women, anti-justice political agenda. But we need your help to show that consumers care about reproductive rights and will not stand for corporations funding extremist politicians like Senator Ted Cruz. Earlier this month, Sen. Cruz attempted to pressure the Food and Drug Administration to continue its restrictions on medication abortion. Cruz stated, “Pregnancy is not a life-threatening illness,” despite the rising maternal mortality rate in the country, especially for women of color.  Can you join our campaign? Here are the receipts: Company giving to anti-choice candidates or their associated PACs/committees AT&T: $1,956,953 Coca-Cola: $1,028,838 Disney: $203,350 Nike: $99,000 Procter & Gamble: $144,000 Uber: $148,000 The total? Over $3.6 million. The actual total and cost for women around the country? Incalculable. The reality of the impact of these political donations goes beyond the raw numbers. Hundreds of bans and restrictions. Several lawsuits. Clinics closed. Lives disrupted. Futures denied. These corporate titans are complicit in the denial of our rights through their political giving and make these extremist views acceptable and even “normal.” But these views are not normal or acceptable. They are at odds with the majority of Americans who support legal abortion, and the millions of people who need accessible reproductive healthcare. Many of these companies have bragged about their social justice cred to consumers in the face of Black Lives Matter and the racial pandemic. But what about the Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer, rural, and young people who bear the brunt of the impact of anti-choice policy? Oftentimes, anti-choice views are a sign of a larger framework that is also opposed to racial justice efforts and to science-backed responses to the pandemic. Many of the candidates these contributions support are not just anti-women, they are anti-justice and have harmed our nation’s journey toward progress. Let’s call on these companies and demand they stand by the values they espouse where they can have real impact: their political giving. All of these corporations claim to support women in their workplaces and, sometimes, in their products or where they will do business. But you can’t say you are for women in the workplace or racial justice but stay silent on reproductive rights. Women live intersectional lives and it is time corporations center intersectional policies. As consumers, we have the power to change this narrative. Corporations know that increasingly consumers care about the social impact of corporate power and demand more from corporations than one-time donations or PR statements. Corporations have changed their policies in response to consumer pressure. Just last year, UV members organized to force Netflix to denounce the 6-week abortion ban in Georgia. This year, we made tech platforms change their moderation policies. There is a fierce urgency now. With our rights and lives on the line this election, we need to push on all fronts to ensure reproductive justice now and in the future. Can you join our #ReproReceipts campaign? Sign the petition and tell these companies enough is enough. Stop the anti-choice political giving!

Due to COVID-19, 194,000 people have died in the US and other 6.5 million people have become ill with the virus, without knowing the long-term consequences of the disease. Following misleading information from the Federal Government, the disdain of many made of the pandemic a political flag, and little or no resources were offered, especially in minority communities. As usual, inequality takes its toll in our “hermanas” y “hermanos.” “For low-paid employees whose work is rarely if ever glorified — the people who clean the floors, do the laundry, serve fast food, pick the crops, work in the meat plants — having the jobs that keep America running has come with a heavy price. By the odd calculus wrought by the viral outbreak, they have been deemed “essential.” And that means being a target. Along with blacks, Latinos have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic in California and other parts of the United States, becoming infected and dying at disproportionately high rates relative to their share of the population. Health experts say one of the main reasons Latinos are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 is because many work in low-paying jobs that require them to leave home and interact with the public,” said the LATimes.

President Trump’s recently publicized comments that he “saved” known authoritarian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) of Saudi Arabia from accountability in the wake of Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder are utterly unacceptable. We cannot let Trump allow MbS to act with impunity, nor can we allow an erosion of the checks and balances in our own system of government. Congress has got to stop the Trump administration’s blank check for authoritarians and despots. By halting weapon sales to Saudi Arabia, we, through Congress, can hold MbS accountable — breaking this corrupt relationship apart and removing the firepower he needs to wage war. Sign the petition urging Congress to immediately halt ALL weapon sales to Saudi Arabia.

It’s time for us small hilltowns to take a stand against these people that call us haters!!!

Our current tools to keep racism, corruption, and “bad apples” out of our police department aren’t working — as evidenced by the fact that the Jersey City Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit received 206 excessive-force complaints from 2013-2019, but sustained only two. For more than three years, members of the Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition and other South Side community activists have called for a CCRB. Beginning in June 2020, they met regularly with neighborhood residents, law enforcement representatives, Councilmember James Solomon (who agreed to introduce this legislation), the ACLU-NJ’s attorneys (who helped write it), and hosted a citywide August 19th town hall attended by over 100 people. They’ve created a community-driven, thoroughly researched, powerful ordinance providing Jersey City residents the authority to track, investigate, and create consequences for police misconduct in Jersey City, and to do so in a transparent way that builds community trust. Jersey City can model a Civilian Review system that works. We’re inviting you to do better than the Minneapolis officials who would not empower their own CCRB — which, despite no fewer than 17 misconduct complaints about Officer Derek Chauvin before he killed George Floyd, could do nothing to investigate, discipline, or stop him. We cannot allow a similar situation to occur in Jersey City.

As residents of a severely fire-affected region in Oregon, we are concerned that transitioning work to online during the pandemic crisis is enabling some incredibly irresponsible behavior from schools, agencies, and employers during this absolutely unreal forest fire crisis. The fact that some families can work from home does not make it a reasonable expectation for students and employees to work from home when the air quality is in the hazardous zone. ALL activities that are not essential for basic infrastructure and survival should have been shut down. There is no excuse for school, even online school, to be open today; it is irresponsible. We are ALL emotionally, intellectually, and physically impaired right now. PPS needs to halt classes IMMEDIATELY until air quality improves. According to NASA the ground-level carbon monoxide concentration in this region reached OVER 126,000 PPB this weekend. Other days, the CO concentration was recorded as high as 86,000 ppb. Obviously, these concentrations are not sustained for prolonged periods at ground level, but these are shockingly, horrifying above unsafe concentrations, which OSHA identifies as as above 50 ppm (50,000 ppb). We are certainly breathing sustained elevated concentrations down here on the ground, and what it means is that even those of us with robust respiratory systems that are not sensitive to the high levels of particulate matter in the air are suffering from chronic low-key oxygen deprivation. Feel like you can't think? Have no energy? Can't stay awake? That's why. Teachers need to be supported in order to support students. Their health and well-being matters, as well as that of the greater community. There can be no such thing as “getting behind”, when the neurological capacity for growth and learning are limited due to the nature of the current environment. Teaching to the ideal conditions is a fool’s measure; we must adapt to the conditions that exist. Just as you close schools for unprecedented weather systems that disrupt daily activities, it is appropriate to close schools for unprecedented environmental health threats that disrupt daily activities. Students, teachers, and staff need to focus on health, safety, and self-care during these hazardous air quality days. We cannot evacuate Portland; there is literally nowhere for Portland to go. But we are facing unprecedented and unelucidated health risks, and that PPS is expecting employees and learners to proceed as if it were business as usual is absolutely irresponsible, negligent, and untenable. Please shut it down. Sincerely, Mxm Bloc