Recent Praise for Obama Administration Undeserved

Written by Jessica Acee

On Friday the Obama Administration announced Family Unity Waivers, a new immigration procedure which would allow undocumented immigrants to stay in this country with their US citizen family members while applying for green cards.

Previously, applicants had to return to their country of origin, often for years, before they were eligible to apply for citizenship. Fathers left children, sons and daughters left elderly parents; two income-earning families became dependent on one. Subsequently, Democrats and immigrant rights groups have risen up in a chorus of praise for Obama. The National Immigration Forum calls it a “tremendous victory for US families,” and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalitions commended the Obama Administration in a Jan 6… Read more

Audiolog: the Perils of Industrialized Food Production

Written by Jessica Acee

The recent outbreaks of food born illnesses like listeria and salmonella only serve to reinforce that we are all eating from a poisoned food system. This episode of Imagine2050′s audio blog traces our current industrialized system of food production back to the 70′s when the Nixon administration changed the Farm Bills to subsidize commodity crops like corn. We’ll listen to excerpts of interviews with the Nixon Administration’s Secretary of Agriculture, Earl Butz, and food activist and author Michael Pollan, among others.

Jessica Acee: Food Safety Audiolog by Imagine2050

An Epidemic of Violence

Written by Jessica Acee

There is an epidemic of violence in this country that’s all but completely ignored.  And it’s costing women their lives.

It seems that every week there is another news story of a man who kills his wife or girlfriend, and then maybe himself or their children.  A quick Google search pulled up four such cases in the last three weeks alone.

Also routinely, random and horrific acts of violence are committed against groups of women by men.  A few examples that come to mind are the mass killing in 2009 at a health club in Pennsylvania, the 1998 school shooting in Jonesboro, AK, and the Amish school shooting in 2006.

When a… Read more

Occupy Wall Street Movement Must Unequivocally Reject Antisemitism

Written by Jessica Acee

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has a unique opportunity to stamp out antisemitism every chance it gets.

A fantastic op-ed was recently published calling out the OWS opponents who are focused, not on countering antisemitism, but on using incidents of it as tools to divide the movement.  The piece, by MJ Rosenberg, which ran in the Jewish Journal and Al Jazeera English, details how unchallenged antisemitism has undermined the strengths of popular movements for economic and social justice.

People with anti-Semitic messages have been seen at OWS protests, and OWS participants have responded by spreading the word for others to stay away from them, or better yet, make them feel unwelcome.  The… Read more

podcast

Audio Blog: Where is My Fred Hampton?

Written by Jessica Acee

LISTEN HERE:
Where is My Fred Hampton? by Imagine2050

What is as dangerous as injustice, is the inability to recognize that we can do something about it right now.  This episode of Imagine2050′s audio blog tours the country to see what Americans are doing to fight for social justice in their communities, with the tools they have on hand.

Recently, Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia despite much doubt about his guilt and massive, world wide protests.  It is often hard to keep our eyes on the prize amid such unjust and discouraging times. But the Civil Rights movement didn’t start in 1960 and the road to justice is long.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Written by Jessica Acee

Recently, while perusing magazines at an airport book store, I saw a headline offering to show the reader how to ensure their kids grow into rich adults.  The headline was tongue in cheek and the answer was to start saving young.  This is a long shot given that Americans are notoriously bad at saving money.  The majority of Americans don’t have $1000 in emergency savings.

While Wall Street and politicians would like the American public to believe their children can all be millionaires, it’s an insular club whose membership numbers are shrinking.  To get into the top economic 0.01 percent (one-hundredth of one percent) of the (US) population, you must have a household… Read more

Politics

Dept. of Homeland Security Not Concerned by Rightwing Extremism

Written by Jessica Acee

With the tragic shooting and bombing in Norway, we once again have the impetus to take a critical look at all movements that pose threats to our safety and democracy.

Politics

Audio Blog: Elected Officials Stand Up to Backwards Immigration Policies

Written by Jessica Acee

Press play below to listen:

In this edition of Imagine2050′s audio blog we’ll take a few minutes to recognize three elected officials who have stood up in the face of considerable pressure to fight against anti-immigrant injustice in their communities.

Health

Blame a Poisoned, Inhumane Food System . . . Not Sprouts

Written by Jessica Acee

Health officials and news pundits are blaming bean sprouts for the latest outbreak of E.coli in Europe, which has killed at least 22 and sickened over 2000. But the real culprit is a diseased and dysfunctional food system where the earth is plowed and crops are picked by workers lacking in the most basic of safe working conditions.

As the “foodie” and “locavore” movements keep growing, it’s shocking that there has been no loud public outcry about our broken and poisonous food system.  It seems that the people buying their vegetables at Whole Foods and curing their own gourmet meats think they can buy their way out of food deserts and diseased… Read more

Culture

Run the (White) World Girls

Written by Jessica Acee

Beyonce has just released her fourth studio album and the cover shows her skin much lighter and hair blonder than what god gave her.  Many critics are calling her out on such a blatant affront to her identity as a black woman and to women of color everywhere.  And it’s not the first time.

The skin lightening rumors started back in 1998 and by the time she released the hit video duet with Shakira in 2007, both women looked exactly the same: light golden skin, blonde hair, slim but busty.

In 2008, the cosmetics company L’Oreal was caught photo-shopping Beyonce’s skin whiter for one of their ads. Beyonce has also let her… Read more