Tag Archives: civil rights

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Edison R. Wato Jr., Membership Program Manager


Corona Panels with Washington MonumentIt is not just cherry blossoms that are blooming in Washington, DC

April is always an exciting time of year in Washington, D.C., as thousands flock to the city to experience the blossoming of the Yoshino Cherry trees. This year the peak bloom was April 11-14th according to the National Park Service.

Yet on April 14th the National Museum of African American History and Culture also had some exciting things blossoming. The first of the building’s exterior panels for the Museums Corona have been hung! NMAAHC

Each panel is roughly 3’ by 5’, and approximately 3,600 are required to clad the entire building. The design of the panels is our architect David Adjaye’s modern interpretation of slave-made New Orleans ornamental iron work. The panels are made of cast aluminum with a custom artisan painted finish and weigh from 95-130 pounds each, depending on the opacity of the design. There are four opacities ranging from 10% open to 35% open for the panels on each side of the building. This opacity will allow a certain amount on sunlight into the building helping to regulate the temperature of the building. This will help establish the buildings LEED Gold Certification for an energy efficient building.

The installation of the panels is slated for completion towards the end of June or early July. Once completed, the corona will visually define the Museum inside and out. Sunlight entering through the panels will gently illuminate the Museum’s wood-covered interior walls. And at night, light reflecting off the corona’s spectacular exterior will make the Museum truly stand out on the National Mall — as it reaches to the heavens to express the faith, hope and resilience of the African American spirit.

We wanted to take this chance to thank YOU for all your support, and helping to make this Museum become a reality! These construction milestones would not have been possible without the steadfast commitment from our amazing Charter Members!

Corona Panels on Building

We hope if you live in the area or will be visiting in the next few months, you will stop by our construction site to go see this amazing milestone in progress.

Sincerely,
edison signature
Edison R. Wato Jr.
Membership Program Manager

Please, consider helping the museum with a donation!
Or join as a Charter Member of the Museum!
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

No gays allowed …


I’m an openly gay Eagle Scout, and the Boy Scouts recently rescinded a job offer based solely on my sexual orientation. I’m calling on the Boy Scouts to end its ban on gay leaders.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Richard Martinez, Everytown for Gun Safety


I wear mine with hope:

Limited-Edition Leather NOT ONE MORE BraceletI wear mine with hope:

Please take this opportunity to show your support for this movement by making a donation of $25 to receive this limited-edition bracelet as a gift:

http://store.everytown.org/products/donate-and-get-your-not-one-more-bracelet

Every gift will be delivered with an acknowledgment card to share the important meaning behind the Not One More call to action.

We all have an important role to play in this movement and I want to thank you for your incredible support.

All my best,

Richard Martinez

Richard Martinez

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility


Word spreads fast on Twitter.  That’s why it’s such an important tool for our movement to reduce gun violence in Washington.  It helps us keep our supporters informed on the latest developments in our fight to pass common sense gun safety laws and hold the politicians accountable.
Some of our recent tweets
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Official Google Blog …


GOOGLeEveryone wants to know what D.J. Tanner and Target are up to. Read on for all the search scoop from this week:

The earth in focus
Wednesday marked the 45th annual Earth Day celebration. People came to search to get more information on the origins of the holiday and learn about ways to conserve—oh, and find out what animal they are, of course. In addition to searches for [earth day slogans] and [earth day worksheets], searchers asked questions like “When was the first Earth Day?”, “How do we stop climate change?” and “Is styrofoam recyclable?”

Just when we were feeling all warm and fuzzy about our planet, we got a reminder that nature can be a little scary as well as awe-inspiring. In Chile, the Calbuco volcano exploded for the first time in more than 40 years, sending clouds of ash into the air and causing thousands to evacuate. There were 100K+ searches for [chile volcano] as people sought to learn more about the eruption.

Prized Pulitzers
Sunday morning, people lined up outside Target stores around the country for the launch of the store’s new Lilly Pulitzer collaboration. But many fans waited in vain, as the affordable line of clothes and home decor sold out within hours both on and offline. Shoppers vented on social media, and searches for Lilly Pulitzer reached an all-time high this month. Meanwhile, persistent types have driven searches for [lilly pulitzer ebay] up 1000% in the last seven days.

But lucky Lilly fans weren’t the only ones thanking the stars for their Pulitzer this week. This year’s Pulitzer prizes were announced on Monday, leading people to the web to learn more about the winners across categories ranging from fiction to investigative reporting to poetry. (And in case you were wondering: Lilly Pulitzer, who died in 2013, was once married to the grandson of Joseph Pulitzer, who established the eponymous Prize.)

Everywhere you look…
…there are reboots. First “DuckTales,” then “The Muppet Show,” and now “Fuller House.” This week Netflix announced a spin-off of the 90s family sitcom “Full House,” to debut in 2016, and 200,000+ searches followed. The new show will feature oldest sister D.J. Tanner (Candace Cameron Bure), and several other stars from the original series are signed on to return, including Jodie Sweetin—the subject of some 50K+ searches this week—and John Stamos. Still, it’s yet to be seen whether the rest of the cast will participate or decide to cut it out. Though searches for Mary-Kate Olsen reached more than 50,000 this week, she and her sister have said that they were surprised by the news. So you might want to wait a bit before saying “TGIF!”

Tip of the week
Keep that good Earth Day momentum going. Just ask Google, “Where can I recycle electronics near me?” for a handy list of places to drop off your old wires and devices.

Posted by Emily Wood, Managing Editor, who searched this week for [gilbert blythe] and [nba playoff schedule]