 In this week’s address, the Vice President laid out his and the President’s plan to make two years of community college free for responsible students.Access to higher education has a tangible impact on a student’s success: Those with an associate’s degree earn 25% more than folks who graduated high school, and those with a four-year degree make 70% more. Not only that, but a better educated citizenry is necessary to ensure that the United States continues to out-compete the rest of the world.
Making two years of community college free is good for workers, good for companies, and good for our economy. And this proposal is part of the President’s broader vision for middle-class economics: that everybody who works hard deserves their fair shot and the chance to get ahead. Watch the Vice President’s Weekly Address here.
|
|||
|
|||
| Why We Support Banning Conversion TherapyMore than 120,000 people signed a petition calling for a ban on the dangerous and unacceptable practice of conversion therapy — and on Wednesday, we responded. The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy is neither medically or ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm. That’s why the Obama administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.
President Obama headed to Kingston, Jamaica on Thursday, meeting with Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, as well as other Caribbean leaders on the importance of improving energy security and fighting climate change. He also held a town hall with the Young Leaders of the Americas — and swung by a museum dedicated to Bob Marley.
The 137th-Annual White House Easter Egg Roll On Monday, President Obama and the First Lady welcomed more than 35,000 guests to the South Lawn for the 137th-annual White House Easter Egg Roll. This year’s theme was #GimmeFive to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative.
To see more from the past week, watch the latest edition of West Wing Week here. |
Tag Archives: ~ Culture & History
First Americans were Black Aborigines
Racism Is Real- Real Story Behind Baltimore
 |
| To be a person of color in 2015 comes with shocking racial bias and discrimination in many aspects of your everyday life. Study after study has proved this through facts on hiring, criminal justice and more*.How to take those facts and reach an audience that would rather have a root canal than read a study was the task at hand for us at Brave New Films.And so we created, Racism is Real- the #BaltimoreUprising is a symptom of a much larger problem.
From understanding that reality, change can happen.  This video has already reached over 29 million people on Facebook and YouTube! Major press outlets like the Washington Post, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, and BuzzFeed have featured it. And now we need you to share it with even more people! Join us. Fight back against racism. Robert Greenwald, President *Read more about the studies used in this piece here. |
Share this:
Translation: Bank of America is dumping coal mining!
After years of pressure on Bank of America, they just announced a new coal mining policy: “Our new policy … reflects our decision to continue to reduce our credit exposure over time to the coal mining sector globally.”1
Translation: Bank of America is dumping coal mining!
This is a huge moment. Bank of America has gone from being the worst bankroller of coal to having the strongest global coal mining policy of any major global bank. It’s the result of years of hard-hitting campaigning by RAN, our many front-line allies — and by you and all of RAN’s supporters in this fight. So, thank you for everything you’ve done.
Now, we have to hold Bank of America to its word by rigorously monitoring their implementation of this policy. And second, we have to push other banks to meet or exceed Bank of America’s coal mining policy. There are just a few short years left to meet the challenge of climate change. We need to build on this victory to stop the coal industry using big banks as ATMs.
Will you help RAN do that vital work by chipping in today?
I’m writing to you from the Bank of America shareholder meeting in Charlotte, NC, where I came to hear today’s announcement in person. RAN has been at this meeting every year since 2011 to make the case that the bank should divest from coal mining. I’m thinking about the many allies whom we have stood here with throughout this campaign. Allies like Paul Corbit Brown, whose stunning photographs and eloquent advocacy have made it impossible for Bank of America to ignore the destruction that mountaintop removal coal mining has done to his home state of West Virginia. Allies like Pat Moore, who was so outraged by Bank of America funding the coal-fired power plants in her community, while her granddaughter suffered through asthma attacks, that she led a civil disobedience action here in Charlotte. I’m thrilled to share this moment with them.
When we started this campaign in 2011, most banks were basing their wafer-thin “climate commitments” around efficient lightbulbs in their branches and green-certified headquarters. Other banks felt that modest investments in renewable energy allowed them to ignore their huge investments in fossil fuels. After four years of hard work, Bank of America’s coal mining policy represents a sea change: it acknowledges that they’re responsible for the fossil fuels that they bankroll. This is a huge paradigm shift.
When we first approached Bank of America about instituting a responsible coal policy, they told us they were “diametrically opposed to our position on coal”. They said they aspired to be “number one in every sector” — including the fossil fuel sector. We took on Bank of America because they were the hardest target: they were the most resistant to stopping doing business as usual.
Today, with Bank of America’s new coal policy, we’ve reached a huge milestone. Now we have to make sure they’re as good as their word. Will you help us do that by chipping in today?
This new policy is the strongest to date of any global private-sector bank — but it can’t be the only one. Across the financial sector, we don’t need big banks to change the lightbulbs at their corporate headquarters, we need them to stop bankrolling fossil fuels that are killing the climate. Coal, oil and gas need to be left in the ground.
We’re going to push other banks to own up to the climate consequences of their financing decisions, and meet or exceed Bank of America’s policy. Time is running out to stop catastrophic climate change. We can’t meet the challenge of our era unless the big banks profiting from fossil fuels drop their support. Along with our allies — and supporters like you — we’ll build on today’s success to turn this into a truly sector-wide change.
But we can’t do it without you. Support that work today!
In gratitude, for our communities and the climate,
Amanda
 |
Amanda Starbuck Climate and Energy Program Director Rainforest Action Network |
P.S. To celebrate the hard work of our allies and supporters in this fight, we’ve put together a timeline of key moments in the years-long campaign against Bank of America. Check it out!
Sources:
1. “BREAKING: Bank of America dumps coal mining in sweeping new policy”, Rainforest Action Network, http://www.ran.org/breaking_bank_of_america_dumps_coal_mining_in_sweeping_new_policy
Share this:
Friday in Bothell: Tell Rep. DelBene Please “Don’t Walk Away from Workers”
Host: Gillian L.
Where: Rep. DelBene’s office, Bothell
When: Friday at 12:00 p.m.
What: Join us at Rep. Delbene’s office to ask her to vote no on fast track Trade Promotion Authority. Currently before Congress, this bill would pave the way for quick passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a secretive trade deal referred to as “NAFTA on steroids.” Rep. DelBene has not yet said that we can count on her vote against fast track, so we’ll deliver shoes with the message “Don’t walk away from workers.” Bring an old pair of shoes if you have them!
Can you join us in Bothell on Friday?
Click below for more details and to RSVP:
Be a Seed for Change 
You must be logged in to post a comment.