NMAAHC -- National Museum of African American History and Culture

NMAAHC Acquires
Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photo Collection

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired more than 400 photographs from the Eyejammie Hip-Hop Collection, originally compiled by Bill Adler, a pioneering music historian who has written about, advocated for and studied hip-hop since the 1980s. These images will contribute to the museum’s arts and entertainment collection, designed to explore how cultural movements like hip-hop influenced the nation.

The acquisition will be NMAAHC’s largest contemporary photography collection featured in its Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts, which houses an extensive collection of photographs, films, audio recordings and digital resources by and about African Americans. CAAMA will give visitors access to its vast media collection, produce public programs and present exhibitions to show the sweep of African American history and culture from the 19th century to the present.

The Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photo Collection was exhibited at Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery in New York City between 2003 and 2007, featuring mostly black-and-white photographs taken from the early 1980s to 2004. The images represent the diversity of the individual photographer’s eye and of the hip-hop community. There are images of hip-hop’s major innovators, including Run DMC with Russell Simmons at the start of the group’s career, a young Nas in front of the Queensboro Bridge, the 1990s rap duo Black Sheep with the World Trade Towers in the background, LL Cool J during his first performance in the basement of Benjamin Franklin High School in New York City, early images of Public Enemy and photographs of female artists such as MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown, Yo-Yo and Queen Latifah, among many others.

For more information and to view additional images of the photo collection, please visit Smithsonian’s News Desk website to read the press release.

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Breaking Down The Pope’s Address To Congress

09/25/2015 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

“Mr. Speaker, The Pope Of The Holy See!”

Today, Pope Francis made history yet again by becoming the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress. Speaking for nearly an hour on a range of issues, the pope’s overall message was one of peace, cooperation, and action. Pope Francis made sure to include members of Congress in his call to action, stating, “your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation.” Though he is the leader of the Catholic Church, today’s speech solidified Pope Francis’s role as a moral force for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

We’ve put together a summary of the key points in his speech. Head over to ThinkProgress for a complete run-down.

Immigration

Pope Francis spoke at length about immigration. He again reminded us that he is the son of immigrants and noted that “so many of you are also descended from immigrants.” The Pope called for people to treating immigrants with compassion and fairness, invoking the Golden Rule of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” He also urged us to reject “a mindset of hostility” towards immigrants, to welcome them, and help them seek opportunities. The pope said, “is this not what we want for our own children?”

Inequality

Throughout his speech, Pope Francis expressed his concern for the poor and his dismay at growing income inequality. He referred to his first papal exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, and emphasized the need to strive for a just distribution of income and a “modern, inclusive and sustainable” economy. Pope Francis even had a special message for lawmakers, urging them to pay attention especially to “those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk.” He declared that “the fight against poverty and hunger must be fought constantly and on many fronts.”

Climate

Pope Francis also discussed the dangers of climate change and the need to pass legislation to address it. He cited his own encyclical, Laudato Si, stating, “now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a ‘culture of care’ and ‘an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.’” The pope emphasized that US lawmakers have an “important role to play” in protecting the climate and noted that American research institutions can also make a vital contribution.

International Relations

The pope emphasized our need for international peace and cooperation. He recognized recent efforts in the United States to “help overcome historic differences linked to painful episodes of the past,” possibly referencing the normalization of relations with Cuba. Pope Francis also applauded efforts to open up dialogue, saying they require “courage and daring” but are worth it for they open “new opportunities” for all. He encouraged lawmakers and others to “end the many armed conflicts throughout our world,” citing the damaging role of the weapons trade in these conflicts.

Death Penalty

Some of the Pope’s strongest remarks concerned abolishing the death penalty. He reminded us that the Catholic Church has for centuries believed in protecting life at all stages. Pope Francis even called on Congress to abolish the death penalty, stating “a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.”

After the speech, Pope Francis greeted tens of thousands of admirers on the West Lawn of the Capitol. He then skipped lunch with Congress, choosing instead to eat lunch with Washington, D.C.’s homeless. “I want to be very clear,” the pope said. “We can’t find any social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing.”

BOTTOM LINE: Pope Francis’s speech today was a historic moment in America and solidified his role as a global moral force for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. His remarks on issues ranging from immigration to climate change to poverty have reached many this week. They represent a call to action that all should heed.

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Starbucks, Whole Foods and carbon pollution

09/25/2015 Nativegrl77

10% of all carbon pollution comes from tropical deforestation, largely driven by palm oil production. We can stop it by pressuring corporations to use palm oil that doesn’t burn up forests—but only with your help.

Give now to fight global warming and protect tropical forests.

Donate Now

From French fries to face wash, everyday products are filled with palm oil, a lot of it produced by destroying tropical forests.

UCS members have helped convince some of the world’s largest users of palm oil—corporations you’d recognize in an instant—to buy from sources that don’t rely on destroying tropical forests.

But some companies are lagging behind—even a few that may surprise you: companies like Starbucks and Whole Foods. Based on our research, they’re not doing as well as McDonald’s or Subway.

We’ve made too much progress on deforestation to stop now. Will you help us turn up the heat on more corporations, and support the next phase of our campaign?

Make a tax-deductible gift to the Union of Concerned Scientists today.

Companies that make a show of corporate responsibility should be leading on palm oil, not lagging behind. Yet Starbucks has stopped at half-measures—relying on a palm oil certification system that still allows for forest clearance rather than pledging to eliminate deforestation entirely and only promising to use deforestation-free palm oil in its company-owned stores.¹ Whole Foods promised to switch to deforestation-free palm oil three years ago, but hasn’t hit its targets.²

We’ve always known that science alone wouldn’t convince every major company to do the right thing on palm oil. That’s why, beyond meeting directly with executives to show them how deforestation-free palm oil won’t hurt their bottom lines, we’ve sent more than 750,000 letters to CEOs demanding action. So far, more than a dozen companies have answered our call—most recently, McDonald’s and Yum! Brands (owner of Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell).

If these fast food giants can commit to deforestation-free palm oil, there’s no excuse for companies like Starbucks and Whole Foods to hold out.

We have to turn up the pressure on companies dragging their feet on palm oil deforestation. Please, support our campaign with an urgent gift now.

You shouldn’t have to wonder if your Whole Foods groceries or Starbucks snack could be contributing to massive deforestation that’s decimating wildlife and releasing tons of global warming pollution.

Yet Whole Foods and Starbucks haven’t taken reasonable steps to make sure that their products don’t contribute to the wide-scale loss of tropical forests… to the plight of threatened wildlife like Sumatran orangutans and tigers… or to fires that have released hundreds of years’ worth of stored-up carbon into the air, burning for weeks or even months.³

Our efforts on palm oil are having a lasting impact on our planet. But it takes resources to organize hundreds of thousands of consumer activists and pressure global corporations to do the right thing. That’s why your gift today is so important.

Help fight global warming and environmental devastation by powering one of the most effective campaigns being run today.

I hope you’ll be a part of this truly historic effort. Thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Ken Kimmell
President
Union of Concerned Scientists

1. http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/03/ucs-palm-oil-scoring-breakdown-2015.pdf, page 83
2. Ibid
3. http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/palm-oil-and-global-warming.pdf, page 2

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Demand Tyson Foods transform industrial meat production

09/25/2015 Nativegrl77

Last month our Palm Oil Action Team took action at Hillshire Brands’ HQ in Chicago to call out the company’s use of Conflict Palm Oil, known for its massive climate and human rights footprint. But that’s not all Hillshire is known for. As of last year, Hillshire is owned by Tyson Foods, one of the biggest and most egregious meat producers in the world.

Raise your voice! Demand change at Tyson Foods!

Tyson Foods and its global subsidiaries are one of the world’s largest producers of chicken, beef, pork as well as prepared foods containing Conflict Palm Oil. It’s leading brands include Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Sara Lee® Frozen Bakery, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells® and State Fair®.

The food giant has unprecedented control over the nation’s meat supply and is the biggest poultry producer in the world. The system of chicken production that Tyson has built keeps farmers in a state of indebted servitude, living on the edge of bankruptcy, and takes a huge toll on the climate.

Altogether, our industrial system of agriculture is driving roughly one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, largely from tropical deforestation/land conversion for livestock and commodity feed crops, methane emissions from the prevalent industrial/factory farming model of animal production, and food sector emissions like manufacturing processed foods.

Corporations like Tyson Foods, through its factory farm industrial model of production, are driving runaway climate change, increased levels of corporate control, high levels of food waste, forest loss and fragmentation, soil erosion, water scarcity and pollution, loss of biodiversity—both genetic diversity of crops and threatened extinction of key species, food insecurity, and racial inequity.

Please take action today to demand that the biggest and most destructive global meat producers, starting with Tyson Foods, adopt a comprehensive policy that includes strict environmental and social safeguards for palm oil and meat production that will break its link to the destruction of rainforests, peatlands and the abuse of communities, workers and animals. This policy should include data on rainforest conversion, GHG emissions, biodiversity, and water impacts for its palm oil, meat and feed businesses.

For a Responsible Food System,

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