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

Jessica Acee: Food Safety Audiolog by Imagine2050

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

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

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.

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

A recent article in the Washington Post reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ignored domestic terrorism for the last two years.  After a 2009 report entitled “Rightwing Extremism” was leaked, DHS caved to pressure from conservatives that the report could lead to monitoring of anti-immigrant or anti-abortion groups.  That same year (2009) saw the murder of abortion provider George Tiller and the shootings at Fort Hood and at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.

In the same Washington… Read more

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. It takes guts to walk against the tide. Former Phoenix Chief of Police, Jack Harris, Massachusetts Mayor Patrick Deval, and Uvalda, Georgia Mayor Paul Bridges deserve a shout out.  Thanks gentlemen!

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

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

In this edition of Imagine2050′s audio blog we explore what it really means to support our troops ten years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We’ll hear about the Veterans Administration’s backlog of unpaid claims, the threat of foreclosure that many of our veterans face, and the added fear of deportation for our immigrant service men and women.

On Friday the Republican led House voted to cut all federal funding for Planned Parenthood.  While the organization most notably provides abortions (which cannot be federally funded), they also offer men and women’s general and sexual health care on a sliding scale.

Most women I know, myself included, have relied on Planned Parenthood as their sole health care provider at one point in their lives.  For many women Planned Parenthood is the only health care they’ll ever receive. In fact, one in five American women have received services… Read more

Two weeks ago Bernard was released from federal detention and given a 1 year reprieve from deportation after thousands of his classmates and community members wrote letters to congress, held vigils, and… Read more

Combined, these speakers have been organizing against the right for almost 100 years.  While there are hundreds of Americans who could have sat at this table, these five did an insightful job of analyzing where we’ve been and laying… Read more

Liberty Central is a newly created and richly endowed lobbying group founded by Virginia Thomas, a Washington lobbyist and consultant to the Heritage Foundation.  Liberty Central’s online forums showcase conversations on topics such as “banning Islam” and “Marxist Obama,” and the group ardently supports Republican insurgent candidates like Rand Paul and Christine O’Donnell, both winners on Tuesday.

Liberty Central’s slate of candidates also includes Lou Barletta, Mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, which as a city is a near no-go zone for immigrants, and Joe Miller,… Read more

This installment of the Imagine2050 audio blog takes a look at bullying among our youth.  Recent suicides across the country have once again drawn attention to the taunting, teasing, and harassment that occurs in our schools and online. We have to put an end to this crazy notion that kids suffer through bullying because it’s part of growing up.  In this episode a veteran teacher and school principal offers his thoughts on the subject and we discuss the Obama Administration’s new anti-bullying initiatives.

- Sojourner Truth

The 14^th amendment was written and enacted to give full rights to former slaves.  It is integral to the civil rights of African Americans and women and is a crucial facet of American identity.

Many reproductive rights laws and rulings have been based on the 14^th amendment, including the seminal Roe v. Wade case that guaranteed women’s reproductive choice by based on right of personal privacy in the Due Process Clause of the 14^th amendment.

Now the Tanton Network is leading the fight against the 14^th amendment. The Network is made up of anti-immigrant organizations… Read more

A steady decline in union membership has mirrored the decline in real wages, standard of living, job security, and social safety nets, not just for union members, but for the entire middle class. Today, only 12 percent of workers hold union cards. And if you discount union members who are public employees, barely 7 percent of private-sector workers are union members.

Companies like Wal-Mart, Coca Cola, and Swift have turned the clock back to… Read more