Mejor venado que jamon

Written by Axel Fuentes

En el estacionamiento de una tienda de comida me encuentro Bill, quien regresaba de ir de caza.  En la parte trasera de su camioneta, cargaba un gran venado con unos preciosos cuernos.  Con curiosidad le pregunte, “Que haría con ese venado?”

Pensando que su respuesta sería que solo le quitaría los cuernos para mantenerlos como decoración de su casa, asi como se mantiene un trofeo y como muchos de los cazadores lo hacen.  Pero su respuesta fue diferente.  “En estos tiempos cuando uno ya ni siquiera sabe ni con que alimentan a las vacas, los marranos o los pollos, creo que es mejor comerse un pedazo de venado cazado en los bosques que un jamón… Read more

Politics

Cross-Post: A “war on drugs” or a war on people of color?

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Originally published on Race-Talk, a project of the Kirwan Institute. By Elizabeth Renter on October 21, 2010 at 11:00 am

When the head of the California division of the NAACP spoke out in support of that state’s Proposition 19 this summer, there seemed to be an equal amount of immediate praise and backlash. Alice Huffman labeled the drug war as a “civil rights issue” getting attention both on a state and national level and once again bringing the War on Drugs front and center in the national dialogue on race. Treading on unbroken ground in regards to the NAACP and calling on the legalization of marijuana, Huffman has used

… Read more

Politics

Black Male Multiple Choice: Unemployed, High School Dropout or Incarcerated

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Originally posted: December 6, 2010 on Huffington Post.

By Russell Simmons, Founder of GlobalGrind.com

If a black boy is born in the US today, he will have a 33 percent chance of going to prison in his lifetime. Stated another way — one in three black boys born today will face prison time. It has become a sad normality, almost a backwards rite of passage, for black young men to enter the penal system and never return to our communities. And if we are “lucky” enough for them to return, they usually are much hardened criminals than they ever were before. Black men represent 8 percent of the population of the United States

… Read more

Immigration

Audio Blog: Arizona Favors Racial Profiling Over Healthcare

Written by Jessica Acee

Press play below to listen:

Not only has the state of Arizona passed a punitive, racist law called SB1070, but they’ve just cut state funding for residents who need transplants but can’t afford them.  Gov. Jan Brewer believes it’s the right thing to do, but the state has lost a lot of funding and it’s low income Arizonans who have to pay.

Food Justice

Temp agencies make job security tough for meatpacking workers

Written by Carlos Rich

Temporary work agencies have been popping up all over the country. I did a Google search for agencies in Iowa alone and came back with 53,000 results.  As I talk to workers, many of them say they are finding work, but that they must go through temp agencies first. Although this may seem like an innocuous path to permanent employment for many Americans, there are hidden drawbacks for low-wage workers.

Many meat-processing workers, especially immigrants, find themselves caught in hiring practices designed to keep them from gaining fair wages or job security.  Nine months ago, a worker I spoke to was unfairly fired from a plant where he was employed for almost five years.… Read more

Immigration

Editor’s note: DREAM passes House, deals blow to the anti-immigrant movement

Written by Jill Garvey

The fight for the DREAM Act not only proved that American opportunity is alive, but that forces for hate can be pushed back – no matter how powerful.

During a journey that spanned several years, the DREAM Act brought out the best in a young generation. It also exposed a powerful movement that would like to bar the way to an inclusive democracy.

Congratulations to all those who struck a blow against hate. This dream wouldn’t have been possible without the brave decision by many to step out in the open and fight racism.

Immigration

Apple sells white power music on iTunes

Written by MJ Olahafa

For those who have been following the recent controversies at Apple, it’s clear that hate has found a home in the company’s many platforms.

Apple recently launched an app for NumbersUSA, an anti-immigrant group that is part of a network with ties to white nationalism. NumbersUSA’s executive director Roy Beck is a frequent contributor to The Social Contract Press, a white nationalist quarterly journal published by John Tanton. Both TSCP’s editor, Wayne Lutton, and Roy Beck have associated with Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist organization.

Apple also broadcasts The Political Cesspool, a radio show hosted by white supremacist James Edwards. Along with hailing Hitler and advocating his hatred for… Read more

Politics

An Open Letter: Together we can make the DREAM happen for everyone

Written by Guest Blogger

Dear Friends:

For the past two years I have lived in Washington, DC, as a full-time undegrad at the George Washington University (“GWU”).  I recently declared Organization Sciences as my intended major, as I am hopeful that its interdisciplinary approach to education will allow me to further my ongoing efforts to build strong and effective leaders in our community who will help to institutionalize the change that we are all working towards.

Still, I miss my home community in LA and know that I am needed there.  But when living with the constant memory of an imprisoned generation as well as with the day-to-day awareness of so many students across America who aren’t privileged enough… Read more

Politics

For Iowa’s King, Racism Knows No Bounds

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Sprawling from its northern to southern borders, and nuzzled up against the Missouri River on the west, Iowa’s Fifth Congressional District encompasses almost a third of the State’s counties. This is Iowa livestock and grain country, with beautiful, rolling land toward Missouri and tabletop fields toward Minnesota. Along the River the rare loess hills formation—the only other geo-site like it is in China—distinguish the landscape across from Omaha.

During the Great Depression populist farmers rebelled against foreclosures in the north of the District, prompting a 1933 call-up of the National Guard to quell the uprising; beginning in 1984 farmers in the south led the Iowa Farm Unity Coalition that swept the… Read more

International

A day of action against false climate change negotiations

Written by Rebecca Poswolsky

The climate negotiations taking place in Cancun, Mexico represent an exclusive dialogue around environmental issues.  Many groups and organizations are taking a stand for more inclusive and real solutions to global environmental climate change.  As a result, there will be a day of action on Tuesday, December 7 to address the “market-based” solutions that the Conference promotes.

The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference is being held in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29 to December 10, 2010.  The conference serves as the meeting ground to follow-up on Kyoto Protocol commitments, aimed at addressing climate change. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference… Read more