Tag Archives: msnbc

Jordan Russell Davis didn’t have to die.

A 17 year-old Black teenager was shot in a Jacksonville convenience store parking lot after a dispute over loud music.¹ He died in his friend’s arms. The shooter, Michael David Dunn, has pleaded “Not Guilty” and is expected to invoke Florida‘s “Shoot First” law, claiming the killing was a justifiable homicide.²

Nearly 33,000 ColorOfChange members took action earlier this year and told their state government officials to fight back against “Shoot First” laws. Please add your voice today and when you do, ask your friends and family to do the same.

“Shoot First” laws, sometimes called “Stand Your Ground” laws, were thrust into the national spotlight following the killing of Trayvon Martin. Unless these laws are repealed, our communities will continue to lose our young people to avoidable tragedies.

“Stand Your Ground” laws have proliferated around the country thanks to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its deep-pocketed supporters at the National Rifle Association (NRA). Half of the members of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” task force, charged with reviewing the state’s law in the aftermath of the Martin killing, are ALEC members.³ Unsurprisingly, that task force recently found no problem with “Stand Your Ground” despite clear and compelling evidence that the law is racially discriminatory. “Homicides involving white shooters and Black victims are 11 times more likely to be deemed “justifiable” than those where the scenario is reversed.”⁴

Below is our original outreach calling on state government officials to oppose “Shoot First” laws where they are under consideration and repeal them where they are in place. Join nearly 33,000 ColorOfChange members and fight back today.

Thanks and peace,

— Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Kim, Johnny, Charlene and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
December 1st, 2012

1. “The Killing of Jordan Russell Davis,” The Atlantic, 11-28-2012
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1974?t=4&akid=2727.1174326.zaXTMZ

2. “Black teen’s shooting revives ‘Stand Your Ground’ debate,” MSNBC, 11-28-2012
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1975?t=6&akid=2727.1174326.zaXTMZ

3. “Half The Lawmakers On Florida ‘Stand Your Ground’ Task Force Are ALEC Members, All Supported Stand Your Ground,” Think Progress, 04-20-2012
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1976?t=8&akid=2727.1174326.zaXTMZ

4. “8 Months After Trayvon: “Stand Your Ground” Law Deemed Just Fine by Florida,” Mother Jones, 11-16-2012
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1977?t=10&akid=2727.1174326.zaXTMZ

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A Tale of Two Stories

10/25/2013 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Media Prioritizes Gadgets Over Gun Violence

Is the launch of a thinner iPad bigger news than a teenager gunning down a teacher at school? Cable news seems to think so.

ThinkProgress took a look at the coverage of the two stories on Monday and here’s what they found:

On Monday morning, another school — this time in Sparks, Nevada — was thrown into chaos when a seventh grader brought in his parents’ semi-automatic handgun and shot a teacher, two 12-year-old boys, and himself. Local news outlets, notably the Reno Gazette-Journal, immediately and thoroughly reported the developing story on the ground. But as the tragedy unfolded, major cable news channels chose not to cover it as a breaking news event, only mentioning the shooting sparingly throughout the day.

According to a ThinkProgress analysis of the media monitoring site TVEyes between 10 am EST on October 21 and midnight, Fox News and MSNBC barely discussed the Sparks Middle School shooting on Monday. Fox News had nine mentions of the shooting, while MSNBC talked about the shooting just five times. CNN’s coverage was more regular, mentioning the keyword “Sparks” 19 times.

By contrast, another breaking news event on Tuesday attracted a flurry of media attention. The hype surrounding Apple’s press conference releasing the new iPad and iPad mini started growing hours before the event. All in all, the Apple event got more coverage than the Sparks shooting on all three channels: CNN mentioned the Apple event 23 timeson Tuesday, while Fox News mentioned it 12 times and MSNBC mentioned it nine times.

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Social Security

07/30/2013 Nativegrl77

On Saturday Senators Tom Harkin and Mark Begich were on The Ed Show to
introduce their plan to strengthen and expand Social Security to MSNBC’s
audience across the country.

They certainly have the right
idea. They’ve proposed bills that would strengthen and enhance Social
Security for generations to come. That’s the kind of renewed commitment
to community and security we need. Already 94,672 DFA members have taken
action to support their plan. Will you join them?

Click here to watch the Senators’ appearance on The Ed Show and then
add your name to our petition to help us reach 100,000 signatures by
Tuesday.

This
isn’t going to be an easy fight. The very same Wall Street bankers and
Tea Party interests that have plotted to derail Social Security time and
again will no doubt put up the fight of their lives. We need your help. Will you join us in the fight to expand and strengthen Social Security?

Thanks for all you do,

Neil

Neil Sroka, Communications Director
Democracy for America

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Command a Change for Survivors of Sexual Assault

06/11/2013 Nativegrl77


	Stand with Survivors of Sexual Assault



	Tell your Senators: Stand with survivors to prevent sexual assault in the military.

Fox News host Andrea Tantaros attacked MSNBC for covering the Senate’s hearing last week on the scourge of tens of thousands of sexual assaults in the military. She said, “What baffles me though is the way they prioritize these issues… Why is MSNBC devoting so much time to this issue?”
Why? Maybe we should instead be asking why isn’t everyone trying to fix this egregious injustice?
Tell your Senators: Stand strong for survivors of sexual assault in the military.
Sexual assault and sexual harassment have been persistent problems in the military for decades. As soon as tomorrow, Congress will have the opportunity to do something about it, as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee begin making changes to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2014. They can do the right thing by improving the military justice system in ways that will deter perpetrators and send a strong message that sexual assault will not be tolerated. This can be accomplished by moving decision-making on whether and how to prosecute serious offenses like sexual assault out of the chain of command — and by giving decisions to prosecute to trained, experienced military prosecutors, creating a specialized office to convene courts and appoint judges and juries, and prohibiting commanders from overturning guilty verdicts.
Separating military justice decision-making from the chain of command will put decision-making into the hands of those who have legal expertise and make it possible for commanders to concentrate on the areas in which they have expertise, including improving the climate in their commands to prevent sexual assault.
It’s time to fix this broken system. Take action and stand up for survivors of sexual assault in the military.
Congress has a responsibility to members of the military and survivors everywhere to ensure that perpetrators of sexual assault are held accountable for their actions and not allowed back into the ranks. We must work together to make sure that happens.
Sincerely,

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Opposed to birth control ?

02/11/2013 Nativegrl77

President Obama is leading our nation one step closer to near-universal contraceptive coverage!Now we need to get his proposal adopted.Add your support to a critical 60-day comment period.

Last Friday, President Obama took an important next step to make sure that most American women can get their birth-control coverage at no personal cost.

The Department of Health and Human Services released a draft regulation that ensures that women who work for faith-based organizations don’t lose rights guaranteed to the rest of us under Obamacare.

The President went to extra lengths to protect these women while taking into consideration concerns of religious leaders. Still, there are some opponents to women having contraception at all who just can’t take yes for an answer.

Just yesterday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said they oppose the regulation and will use a mandated comment period to try to stop these protections from moving forward.¹

So, it’s up to us to help secure this big win for women and families and make near-universal birth-control coverage a reality.

A 60-day comment period just started. If enough of us weigh in, we’ll drown out the anti-women, anti-choice forces. Will you add your comment in support of the regulation?

By improving access to birth control, the Obama administration is working to give women the tools they need to prevent unintended pregnancy – a goal on which both pro-choice and anti-choice people ought to agree.

The Catholic Bishops are not alone in mobilizing to stop this rule from taking effect. Susan B. Anthony List called it “unacceptable.”²

Please add your comment supporting this important policy today. Make sure the Obama administration hears loud and clear from people who support birth-control coverage.

Thanks. Together, we can get to a world where choice is real for all women.

Ilyse Hogue

Ilyse Hogue
President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

1 – “Catholic Bishops oppose revisions to contraception mandate,” The Hill, February 7, 2013
2 – “On contraception, White House tries to balance the rights of access and of conscience,” MSNBC, February 1, 2013