Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Helen Keller – Women’s History Month


(American Author and First Deaf-Blind Person to Earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree)

Birthdate: June 27, 1880

Birthplace: Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States

Died: June 1, 1968

A prolific author, having written 12 published books and several articles, Helen Keller was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Her autobiography, The Story of My Life, made Keller famous and was adapted for film and stage. She was also an activist and campaigned for women’s suffrage, labour rights, socialism and other such causes.

Source: thefamouspeople.com

Selma ~ In Memory of ~


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  March on Selma

This month marks the 1965 marches in Selma, Alabama — a moment in American history that is layered with bravery, fear, hope, hatred, violence, perseverance, and triumph.

In many ways, Selma is the quintessential American story of people banding together against all odds to stand up for the promise of freedom and fairness. It is a story that deserves to be told, explored and understood by every American in this country.
Whether we realize it or not, every one of us was touched by this courageous moment that is often considered the emotional and political peak of the Civil Rights Movement.

It is because of events like the Selma marches … and the entire Civil Rights Movement … that makes the completing of the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall so important.

The construction of the Museum is more than halfway complete. But to ensure we can open the Museum’s doors in early fall of next year as scheduled requires additional support from those of us who understand the importance of building this place of remembrance, celebration and reconciliation. Please help keep us on track with a donation of $ 25 or more today.

When I think of African American history, I often think of Selma, Alabama and the Civil Rights crusaders who made the historic marches and all of the African-American heroes, famous and not famous, and the white supporters who came together to push freedom forward.

I’m thinking of people like Amelia Boynton who was beaten, tear-gassed, and left for dead during the Bloody Sunday March. Ms. Boynton lived to tell her story and she is now 103 years old. But it is up to people like you and me to build our Museum to make sure her brave story lives on forever.

That is why the Museum embarked on the very important task of interviewing people who were foot soldiers in the Civil Rights Movement, to give them the chance to tell their stories and have them preserved and shared in ways that resonate with people from all backgrounds.

So as we spend this month commemorating the heroes who courageously marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, please take your celebration one step further by making a special contribution of $ 25 or more to the Museum that will forever share this important history with the world.

On behalf of the entire Museum, thank you again for your leadership and support.
All the best,

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Lonnie G. Bunch
Founding Director

1985 – Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings. At least 21 demonstrators were killed.


Democracy 30 | The Sharpeville 6 sentenced to death in 1985

In the Black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed Black South African demonstrators, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a hail of submachine-gun fire. The demonstrators were protesting against the South African government’s restriction of nonwhite travel. In the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, protests broke out in Cape Town, and more than 10,000 people were arrested before government troops restored order.

The incident convinced anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela to abandon his nonviolent stance and organize paramilitary groups to fight South Africa’s system of institutionalized racial discrimination. In 1964, after some minor military action, Mandela was convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life in prison. He was released after 27 years and in 1994 was elected the first Black president of South Africa.

Source: history.com

JANE BOLIN (1908-2007)


Women’s History Month

Judge Jane Bolin, 1942 Courtesy US Library of Congress (LC-USF344- 007933-ZB)

Jane Bolin

Jane Bolin was the first Black woman graduate of Yale Law School and the first Black female judge in the United States. Bolin was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on April 11, 1908. From her earliest days in her father’s law office, Bolin knew she wanted to be an attorney. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1928 and earned her law degree from Yale Law School in 1931.

Bolin clerked in her father’s law office until she passed the New York bar exam in 1932. She married fellow attorney Ralph E. Mizelle a year later, and together they opened up a practice in New York City. In 1937, Bolin was named Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, serving on the Domestic Relation Court. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia appointed Jane Bolin Judge of the Domestic Relations Court in 1939, where she served for 40 years. During her tenure with two other judges she achieved two major changes: the assignment of probation officers to cases without regard for race or religion, and a requirement that publicly funded private child-care agencies accept children without regard to ethnic background.

Source: blackpast.org

Spring – did you know? … Our Environment


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Rachel Carson‘s book Silent Spring, an early voice for our environment in 1962..get it

Climate Change chief victims of global warming are women, we grow the food, walk miles for water, and gather the firewood.

Fend off Allergies … by eating more leafy greens, having high levels of folic acid may decrease your risk of wheezing and silence some genes, including those of the immune system. author, Elizabeth Matsui MD

Making a glass jar impacts our environment, you have to burn a gas furnace 24hrs at 2000 degrees, this consumes a  huge amount of energy.

According to the WTC wiping  your feet off before home entry can reduce tracking pesticides by 25%, removing shoes can cut the amount of dust by 10 times, clean carpets every 18months instead of every 12months and save $300

the EPA states the air indoors is 2 to 5times more polluted, install smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, open windows daily, buy air cleaning plants, English ivy, Philodendron, spider; green cleaning recipes at Planetgreen.discovery.com

Buy local … less packaging if you buy local, more fresh tasty choices …support local farmer’s markets and community gardens

Raising Beef accounts for 18% of global warming emissions worldwide

You can reduce your carbon footprint just by switching to vegetarian meals for 1day, save about 860calories &9pounds of carbon,if done for 2weeks, a reduction of carbon by 122pounds and 12,460calories, losing about 3lbs or more.

So, this post is 11 + yrs old, so the numbers must be staggering now