Category: Media and Culture,

Homeboy Industries & Father Greg

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

By 1988, having buried an ever growing number of young people killed in gang violence, Father Boyle and parish and community members sought to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth by developing positive opportunities for them, including establishing an alternative school and day care program, and seeking out legitimate employment.  They called this initial effort Jobs for a Future.  “Gang violence is about a lethal absence of hope,” Father Boyle has said.  “Nobody has ever met a hopeful kid who joined a gang.” 

In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Jobs for a Future and Proyecto Pastoral, a community-organizing project begun at Dolores Mission, launched their first social enterprise business in an abandoned bakery that Hollywood producer Ray Stark helped them purchase.  They called it Homeboy Bakery.  

….Today, Homeboy Industries employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to 15,000 men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.

…Each year over 10,000 former gang members from across Los Angeles come through Homeboy Industries’ doors in an effort to make a positive change. They are welcomed into a community of mutual kinship, love, and a wide variety of services ranging from tattoo removal to anger management and parenting classes. Full-time employment is offered for more than 200 men and women at a time through an 18-month program.

…We offered a simple question, “What if we were to invest in this population rather than just endlessly incarcerate?” that has redirected our attention away from suppression and onto treatment and education. Homeboy played an integral role in replacing the “tough on crime” mantra that predominated in the 1980s and 1990s with a “smart on crime” model that many police and sheriff’s departments have adopted.

What this place discovered was that it was a lethal absence of hope that leads kids into gangs, and the fact that there was no way out of the cycle of gang violence compounded people’s despair. So Homeboy offered this model, in the fullest sense, of community trumping gang.

… We have learned in that time that jobs are probably about 80% of what these folks need to redirect their lives. The other 20% is a mixture of therapeutic and support services. So, in addition to paying men and women to receive job training, we also require that they spend part of their working day here working on themselves. We offer education, therapy, tattoo removal, substance abuse treatment, legal assistance, and job placement services. We also offer six different social enterprise businesses where trainees can receive real job training that they can use immediately upon graduation from Homeboy. And we provide all of this in a trauma-informed, therapeutic community setting that also allows them to work on attachment repair and building healthy relationships with co-workers who may formerly have been members of rival gangs.

…In 1994, the ceiling leaked, the oven broke, and the bakery closed. Father Greg found new partners; a worker from the Southern California Gas Company repaired the oven free of charge and USC Medical Center stepped up and said they would buy whatever the bakery could turn out. The business of job training and re-entry grew. Total disaster struck in 1999 when the bakery burned down, but despite these obstacles, Homeboy continued to grow and expand. More social enterprise businesses and new, free social programs were added and by 2001, Homeboy Industries was an independent non-profit. …Today, Homeboy is located in gang-neutral downtown Los Angeles.

…Thousands of young people have since walked through the doors of Homeboy Industries looking for a second chance, and finding community, sanctuary, and family.

…Social enterprises are businesses that apply commercial strategies to improve the well-being of individuals rather than creating enterprises for profit. Homeboy is an organization with many true social enterprises where trainees are paid to learn job skills and take advantage of comprehensive services. By offering former gang members a place to work, Homeboy provides a place for them to learn soft skills, like administration and customer service, and also vocational skills from solar panel installation to pastry baking or catering. These jobs in Homeboy’s social enterprises, often the first “legit” employment our clients have ever held, give our clients confidence and self-esteem while enabling them to provide for their families.

The jobs our clients have through our social enterprises offer them alternatives to re-incarceration or a return to their former gang lives.

Homeboy’s Social Enterprises include:
Homeboy Bakery (storefront, wholesale, and online at homeboyfoods.com.)
Homeboy Silkscreen & Embroidery
Homegirl Café
Homegirl Catering
Homeboy Merchandise
Farmers Markets
Homeboy Diner at Los Angeles City Hall
Grocery – Salsa
Homeboy Café and Bakery in LAX Terminal 4

What services are offered at Homeboy?
Case Management
Tattoo Removal
Employment Services
Mental Health Services – individual therapy, substance abuse counseling, and group classes
Legal Services
Education – including academic, life skills, wellness and enrichment classes,and a partnership with LearningWorks Charter High School.
Solar Panel Training and Certification

…Homeboy Recycling is the newest venture at Homeboy.  We have partnered with Isidore Recycling who’s mission has been and still is to make recycling electronics easy, secure and accessible, while creating employment opportunities for people who have successfully exited California’s correctional system.

…All of Homeboy’s services, offered free of charge, are designed to equip our clients to successfully turn their lives around. Participants in the 18-month program are offered case management and comprehensive wrap-around services while at Homeboy. All of our services (with the exception of case management and individual therapy) are free and open to community clients as well.

…Homeboy Industries offers employment services to community clients. We provide assistance with developing job leads and building an individual’s marketing package to include resumes, references, and cover letters. Employment services assists with some transportation needs, offers free professional clothing, identification, certifications, work history documents, and other support services for individuals seeking employment.

Homeboy Industries – Father Greg |

(Yes, this is a break from the new cycle. Because we at the Peanut Gallery needed it!)

What a mensch this Father Greg, guy!

White victimology, white privilege and the Covington Catholic rules of race | Salon.com

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Race,Leave a comment

The mere accusation of racism against a white person is worse than the impact of racism on the safety, security, lives and literal existence of nonwhites.

…Whiteness is benign. White people, regardless of the evidence of their bad behavior or ill intent, are always entitled to the benefit of the doubt.

…White racial innocence and white racial fragility must always be honored.

…Intentions, feelings, and the unanswerable question “What is in their heart?” trumps all empirical evidence and facts about the consequences of racist behavior and the context in which it occurred.

…In America only white people are allowed to “stand their ground.” It is expected that nonwhites, especially black people, will always be deferential and submissive to white people. 

…”Personal responsibility” does not apply to white conservatives.

…For example: the white teen MAGA mob is somehow held to be not responsible for their foul behavior toward Native American elder Nathan Phillips because a small group of “Black Israelites” (essentially racial chauvinist black Power Ranger cosplay clowns) said mean things to them. [emphasis: mine]

…A group of white teenage boys donned their MAGA hats — which are overt and intentional symbols of bigotry, racism and ignorance — attended a right-wing Christian rally aimed at denying women their reproductive rights, then happened upon a group of “Black Israelite” cartoon bigots, and in retaliation decided to harass and insult a Native American. They did so because white privilege had trained them from birth that they would likely be able to act in such a way without consequences.

…What W.E.B. Du Bois described as the “psychological wages of whiteness” can take many forms. One of them is the ability of those deemed to be “white” to bend reality and distort plain and obvious facts in the service of white supremacy. Defending the behavior of the white teens of Covington Catholic is a prime example of an old and dangerous American problem.

White victimology, white privilege and the Covington Catholic rules of race | Salon.com

Yup.

Thoroughly disappointed in (and have eroded respect for) for our fellow white liberals who wanted to talk about how there was ‘more’ to the Covington story and how we should ‘give the young boys a chance’ before condemning them. Whether meant to be or no, well-intended or not,  those types of responses were racist AF and you all should be very, very ashamed of yourselves both for being racist and for being stupid enough to be manipulated by the media like that. For reals. Peanut Gallery out.

Pink Won’t Apologize for Condemning Student in Viral Face-Off

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,Leave a comment

“I was raised by a Vietnam Veteran who taught me to stand up for what I believe to be right. Even if that means standing alone,” she added. “I do not now, nor have I ever apologized for some of my very polarizing opinions. If you are surprised by this, or offended, you have every right to unfollow me, as you really don’t know who I am. I am mostly peace and love, with a little bit of go f*ck yourself.”

Pink Won’t Apologize for Condemning Student in Viral Face-Off | PEOPLE.com

The way this article is presented and framed is really irritating. Why would she have to apologize for not buying into the revisionist, apologist, white-washing most media outlets have covered the story in?

What’s her offense here? Not being stupid enough to fall for such crass manipulation?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

The End Of Plastic Cutlery, Plates And Straws: EU Market Says Goodbye To Single-Use Plastic Products

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Europe,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

The aim of the directive, which is part of the European Plastics Strategy, is to protect the environment and reduce marine litter by avoiding the emission of 3.4 million tonnes of CO2. However, it should be noted the importance of the economic benefits that the new regulation will bring: the directive may avoid environmental damages which would cost the equivalent of €22 billion ($24.9 billion) by 2030 and save consumers a projected €6.5 billion ($7.38 billion). 

…The measures discussed are closely related to the latest estimates on marine litter, according to the European Commission, plastics make up 85% of beach litter, which is causing catastrophic consequences on the environment. The organization WWF has already pointed out the dramatic effects that the excessive use of plastics, poor management of waste and mass tourism are having in the Mediterranean Sea, the most visited sea in Europe.

…The new rules aim to stop the use of throwaway plastic products and packaging for which alternatives exist and is focused on the most frequently found items polluting European seas: plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, and chopsticks), plastic plates, plastic straws, cotton bud sticks made of plastic, beverage and food containers made of expanded polystyrene (such as fast food and takeaway boxes), and products made from oxo-degradable plastic, which contributes to microplastic pollution.  According to the European Commission, together these products constitute 70% of all marine litter items.

…The global production of plastics has not stopped to increase since 1960. According to the European Commission, in 2015 the global production reached 322 million tonnes and it is expected to double over the next 20 years. In Europe, around 25.8 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated every year and less than 30% of such waste is collected for recycling. 

The End Of Plastic Cutlery, Plates And Straws: EU Market Says Goodbye To Single-Use Plastic Products

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First Nations, Inuit an Métis food guides may be coming, Health Canada indicates

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, The Americas,Leave a comment

But the colourful palette of fresh produce, grains and proteins—like chickpeas and tofu—adorning the guide’s front page doesn’t necessarily represent or reflect Indigenous peoples’ food preferences or the barriers that many face in accessing healthy foods.

Treena Wasonti:io Delormier, an associate professor of human nutrition at McGill University, says the food guide—first developed in 1942—has historically neglected Indigenous peoples’ traditional dietary needs and the social, cultural and historical determinants of food availability and food choices within Indigenous communities.

…Delormier says now that traditional foods have been identified as “important and nutritious,” the next question is: “how do we now make programs, or learn from other programs, that support…communities to access food that is their right to access?”

She says that question directly relates to food sovereignty, which is “the notion that people have control over their food systems.

“But Indigenous food sovereignty then becomes about Indigenous peoples’ self-determination around accessing their foods, and rights and access to land,” she continues.

First Nations, Inuit an Métis food guides may be coming, Health Canada indicates – APTN NewsAPTN News

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Google Urged the U.S. to Limit Protection For Activist Workers

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Privacy,Leave a comment

While Google publicly supported employees who protested company policies, it quietly asked the government to narrow the right to organize over work email.

…Google, whose employees have captured international attention in recent months through high-profile protests of workplace policies, has been quietly urging the U.S. government to narrow legal protection for workers organizing online

…Google has long fostered a culture of employee feedback, allowing open debate in meetings and online forums, where staff have advocated for changes to products and facilities over the company’s 20-year history. But the last year has seen an unprecedented wave of concentrated and forceful advocacy from employees, often at direct odds with the positions of management. After Google was awarded a Pentagon contract for using artificial intelligence to analyze drone footage, thousands of employees signed a petition demanding Google remove itself from “the business of war,” nine software engineers refused to work on a security feature that could help the company win more military contracts, and in June the company said it wouldn’t renew its Department of Defense deal. An employee introduced a shareholder resolution to tie executive compensation to diversity and inclusion, while others wrote a letter to their chief executive officer decrying the treatment of sub-contracted staff as “part of a system of institutional racism, sexism, and discrimination.”

…Google’s objections to the legal protection for employees organizing via employee email came in filings defending itself against allegations brought by a regional director of the NLRB. In a 2017 complaint, the agency had accused Google of violating federal labor law, including by maintaining workplace policies that infringe on workers’ rights and by making threats against employees. The complaint also alleged that Google violated the law in 2015 by issuing a warning to an employee because of comments made via email and on the company forum G+ “regarding workplace diversity and social justice initiatives, workplace policy viewpoints, and regarding employees’ rights to express their opinion on G+.”

…The protection established in Purple Communications is “pretty fundamental” given the centrality of email to modern workplace communications, said Wilma Liebman, who chaired the NLRB during Obama’s first term. Given Google’s rhetoric about “the free exchange of ideas, and itself as a purveyor of mechanisms for communications,” she said, “That’s an irony that Google, of all companies, would take such a narrow position.”

Google Urged the U.S. to Limit Protection For Activist Workers – Bloomberg

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claps back at Sarah Huckabee Sanders – Business Insider

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Environment,, Media and Culture,, Religion,Leave a comment

The 29-year-old New York Democrat, who was raised Catholic, retweeted a story about Sanders’ remarks and cited the Bible in her counterargument.

“‘Genesis 1: God looked on the world & called it good not once, not twice, but seven times. Genesis 2: God commands all people to “serve and protect” creation. Leviticus: God mandates that not only the people, but the land that sustains them, shall be respected,'” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

She went on: “You shouldn’t need a Bible to tell you to protect our planet, but it does anyway.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claps back at Sarah Huckabee Sanders – Business Insider

heh

Standing Rock’s Surprising Legacy: A Push for Public Banks

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Once Seattle had committed to move its money, the city needed somewhere to move it to.

“When we were organizing around getting [Seattle] to divest, the question all along was what to do with the city’s money,” Remle said. “And our philosophy was it’s not going to be a victory to close accounts with Wells Fargo and go to Bank of America.”

Organizers saw public banks as the solution.

A public bank is an institution owned by a governmental body, funded with taxpayer money, and mandated to serve the public interest. In summer 2017, Remle and other Seattleites started advocating for the city to establish a public bank, a process that could take years.

Sawant said a public bank “would be accountable to the people of Seattle in a way that you could never hold a private bank accountable,” adding that the city could better direct the bank’s resources, like loans, to projects that support community-directed goals. Remle noted affordable housing, homelessness services, and funding for higher education as causes the city might fund.

…The next step, the council member said, is to demand that obstacles—such as the inability for credit unions to serve municipalities and the Washington law that bars cities from establishing any type of business entity—are removed so that the city or state can establish a public bank.

…Because proposed banks have unique business plans, market competition, and local economic context, among other factors, the FDIC does not prescribe a minimum of initial capital. But the agency does suggest that organizers examine “the risks inherent in the institution’s business model, the potential variability in earnings projections, and the skill and ability of the management team to carry out the business plan” when planning to apply for insurance.

…There are also legal challenges to establishing public banks in some locations. Many states and cities—including Oregon state, as well as Sante Fe and Los Angeles—have clauses in their constitutions or charters that inhibit the establishment of public banks. There’s movement in some places to overcome institutionalized policy barriers to establishing public banks. In Los Angeles, a measure on the November ballot that would have amended the city’s charter and allow it to explore establishing its own financial institution did not pass. And in San Francisco, a city report recently showed that state laws could not prevent the city from creating a public bank.

…The main obstacle to starting a public bank in Washington is that the state constitution prohibits the state and its cities from loaning money or credit to individuals, associations, or corporations.

Standing Rock’s Surprising Legacy: A Push for Public Banks by Deonna Anderson — YES! Magazine

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Transcript: The Vaccine War

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

The hypotheses continue to shift. The first hypothesis, which, you know, people bought into long and hard, is that the combination measles, mumps, rubella, or MMR vaccine, cause autism. Twelve epidemiological studies showed that that wasn’t true.

Then the hypothesis shifted to thimerosal, an ethylmercury-containing preservative that was in vaccines, that’s no longer in vaccines, except for some multi-dose preparations of flu vaccine, that that caused autism. And that clearly has been shown not to be true.

So now this is classic for pseudo-science, is you just keep moving the goalposts. So now the goalpost is, “No, we didn’t mean actually MMR caused autism or thimerosal caused autism, we just meant vaccines in general cause autism.”

…These students who sat in that room were much more likely to believe something they had seen on YouTube from a Washington Redskins cheerleader than they would have believed something that they would have heard from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the American Academy of Pediatrics. That’s a little frightening.

…If a certain percentage of the population is vaccinated, that will stop infections from spreading because most of the people around that child are vaccinated, so therefore, the virus can’t really spread. However, when a critical number of people aren’t vaccinated, when there’s a critical drop in herd immunity, then the viruses can spread. And not only are those children who aren’t vaccinated at risk, but those who can’t be vaccinated are at risk.

…When enough people don’t vaccinate, herd immunity begins to crumble. The first to suffer are vulnerable populations, those who because of age or illness can’t be vaccinated. 

…The more immunity we have in a community, the better it is. Fifty percent is better than nothing, and 100 percent— it’s like building a brick wall around a city and protecting it against an enemy. It’s excellent protection against something entering our community that could cause illness.

…Parents don’t have unlimited rights with respect to the welfare of their children. You can’t put them at risk of fatal disease. You can’t put them at risk of devastating disability.

You know, the ethics isn’t just on the side of the critics. The ethics is also on the side of those who say, “Do good in the name of children. Do good in the name of public health.”

The Vaccine War – Transcript | FRONTLINE

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What White, Western Audiences Don’t Understand About Marie Kondo’s ‘Tidying Up’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Kami are Shinto spirits present everywhere — in humans, in nature, even in inanimate objects. At an early age, I understood this to mean that all creations were miracles of a sort. I could consider a spatula used to cook my eggs with the wonder and mindful appreciation you’d afford a sculpture; someone had to invent it, many human hands and earthly resources helped get it to me, and now I use it every day. According to Shinto animism, some inanimate objects could gain a soul after 100 years of service ―a concept know as tsukumogami ― so it felt natural to acknowledge them, to express my gratitude for them.

…Treasuring what you have; treating the objects you own as not disposable, but valuable, no matter their actual monetary worth; and creating displays so you can value each individual object are all essentially Shinto ways of living. Even if you don’t have the space for shelves of books or can’t afford a dresser with enough drawers, make what you have work for you, instead of being unhappy that you don’t have more.

What White, Western Audiences Don’t Understand About Marie Kondo’s ‘Tidying Up’ | HuffPost

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Wilbur Ross doesn’t understand why furloughed federal workers need food banks

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he does not understand why federal employees who are furloughed or have been working without pay during the partial government shutdown would need assistance from food banks.

Wilbur Ross doesn’t understand why furloughed federal workers need food banks

What a fucking moron! How does this pre-Christmas eve Scrooge even get out of bed or cross the street by himself? Total cluelessness and this is who the Cheetoh has in his cabinet. Sad!

Trump gives South Carolina foster agency the right to discriminate against LGBTQ & Jewish people / LGBTQ Nation

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,, Religion,Leave a comment

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Trump Administration has taken an unusual and alarming step, waiving anti-discrimination requirements for federally-funded child welfare agencies in South Carolina.

The move opens the door for discrimination of non-Christian and LGBTQ people who may be seeking to foster or adopt, and sets a precedent for future waivers in other states and for other reasons.

Trump gives South Carolina foster agency the right to discriminate against LGBTQ & Jewish people / LGBTQ Nation

Unamerican nazi-style bullshit.

Is Elizabeth Warren Unpopular? It Depends on Whom You Ask.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Mentioning the right’s attacks on Warren plus her low approval ratings while citing her “very liberal record” and the controversy surrounding her alleged Native American heritage implies a causal relationship between these facts. Warren is a lefty who has made controversial ancestral claims. Ergo, Republicans attack her, and many Americans don’t like her very much.

But that equation is misleading. The better explanation for why Warren attracts disproportionate conservative criticism, and has disproportionately high disapproval ratings, has nothing to do with her progressive economic views or her dalliance with DNA testing. It’s that she’s a woman.

…[Yale professors] showed identical fictional biographies of two state senators—one male and one female—to participants in a study. When they added quotations to the biographies that characterized each as “ambitious” and possessing “a strong will to power,” the male state senator grew more popular. But the female state senator not only lost support among both women and men, but also provoked “moral outrage.”

…The problem is that when journalists ignore what academic research and recent history teach us about gender’s role in shaping those perceptions, they imply—whether they mean to or not—that Warren’s unpopularity can be explained by factors unique to her. 

…What all this ignores is the harsh truth that when women politicians—especially women politicians who embrace a feminist agenda—overtly seek power, many American men, and some American women, react with “moral outrage.” They may not express that outrage in explicitly gendered terms, just as they may not express their anxiety about a black candidate in explicitly racial terms. They may instead cite DNA testing or hidden emails or San Francisco’s cultural liberalism. Or they may simply say they find the candidate’s mannerisms off-putting.

Is Elizabeth Warren Unpopular? It Depends on Whom You Ask. – The Atlantic

hmmm

Newspaper apologizes to family for not publishing mother’s anti-Trump obit

On By peanutgallerynhIn Local Interest,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Frances Irene Finley Williams passed away on Nov. 21 and loved ones said they wanted to make it clear that the 87-year-old believed Trump had a bad impact on her final years.

The homemaker was critical of Trump’s temper, immigration policies, views on women’s rights and ethical standards, her daughter, Catherine Duff, and son, Art Williams, told NBC News on Thursday.

…“Her passing was hastened by her continued frustration with the Trump administration,” the obit said.

The paper balked and said it wouldn’t run the submitted obit unless the Trump line was removed.

…”We were in the midst of grieving, and it was Christmas. We were notified of this on Christmas Eve, and didn’t feel like we had much of a choice and didn’t have the emotional energy to fight that fight,” Art Williams said.

And now, weeks later, the paper has apologized and said Williams’ obit should have run as written.

Newspaper apologizes to family for not publishing mother’s anti-Trump obit

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Burnout is making doctors want to kill themselves

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

The reason for the scary numbers isn’t what you would think: Most doctors say it’s the level of paperwork and data input they’ve had to do since medical records went digital. Doctors end up spending about 45 minutes per patient visit on tasks like “inputting data codes for the visit,” Nazario says, leaving little face-to-face time with patients.

“[Doctors] are spending an enormous amount of time taking in data during physician-patient visits,” she says. “I know during my last visit for my physician, I think the doctor spent no more than two minutes looking at me. They were looking at a computer screen.”

The result is scary: “I dread coming to work,” one neurologist says in the report.

…Though most doctors say the depression doesn’t affect their patient care, 35 percent say they find themselves getting exasperated with their patients, and 14 percent say they make errors they wouldn’t normally make.

Nazario says that while burnout is common among workers, for doctors, it can seem worse because all the schooling and training they’ve undergone can feel like a waste when most of their day is spent typing codes into their medical software.

“It’s almost like being a cog in a wheel, where they’re going through the motions of what’s necessary, not necessarily using all the knowledge that she or he has gained in the years of training,” Nazario says.

Burnout is making doctors want to kill themselves: report

The health care system reform we need may not be the one we keep talking about….

Dr. Gladys West, mathematician and woman behind GPS, inducted into Air Force Hall Of Fame

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Military,, Race,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

She was also publicly recognized for her work as a member of a team of all black female professionals who did computing for the U.S. military before electronic systems were even available to the public. West also excelled during the midst of the Jim Crow segregation and among an industry predominantly ran by white men. 

Dr. Gladys West, mathematician and woman behind GPS, inducted into Air Force Hall Of Fame – KRDO

A superior intellect to e sure, but what a spine that woman must have to have contributed so much under those conditions….

The View From Here: Time’s up for Skowhegan ‘Indians’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Local Interest,, Media and Culture,, Race,, Schools,, The Americas,Leave a comment

You don’t need to have bad intentions to cause real pain for native people fighting for their culture.

…“Genocide has two phases,” wrote Raphael Lemkin, the lawyer who coined the term in 1944. “One, destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other, the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor.”

It’s that second part of the definition, cultural genocide, that needs to be considered as the town of Skowhegan considers dropping the name “Indians” from its sports teams.

…We may not think of it as genocide, but that’s been happening to Indians in Maine – not just in Colonial times but also in our era, while white people were cheering for sports teams with names like “Redskins.”

In 2015, the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission issued a report after 27 months of fact-finding among the state’s native people, a process that’s the subject of the documentary “Dawnland” (it aired on PBS last year and is scheduled for several screenings around Maine this winter). It describes the lifelong trauma that follows Indian children who were taken away from their homes and brought up in an alien culture. 

…They found that in the years leading up to their study, Maine Wabanaki children were being taken into state custody more than five times as often as non-native children. Tribal relationships were not treated with the same deference given to family relationships, even though federal law required the state to do that.

These removals, probably done with good intentions, hurt many children. It also tore the fabric of community and decreased the population of people who could speak native languages and participate in religious practices. In other words, cultural genocide.

…And what’s even more disturbing is the idea that we can participate in cultural genocide without having any bad intent. All it requires of us is blindness.

The View From Here: Time’s up for Skowhegan ‘Indians’ – Portland Press Herald

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