Director D. W. Griffith’s 1915 silent drama, Birth of a Nation, was one of the first major depictions of African Americans on film (actually, white actors in blackface).

Yet the movie portrayed slavery as “civilizing” blacks and made it seem as though African Americans were happier in servitude. Not until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s-60s was Hollywood making an effort to include more African Americans in its movies and television shows.

But it was last year that director Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave brought the full horror of Southern plantation life to the American people.

It is stories like these that we will tell at the new National Museum of African American History and Culture — stories that reflect the full range of the African American experience from great pain to soaring triumph.

Please join as a Charter Member today so that we can finish building the Museum that will tell these stories and countless others.

Hollywood’s portrayal of the African American experience in the movies is only one of the major cultural themes that the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture will confront, openly and intelligently, to shatter myths and to educate all Americans about the history we all share.

We are not building the Museum to celebrate black history solely for African Americans. Rather, the Museum will be a place for all Americans. A place where everyone can see how the African American experience has affected and shaped the lives of anyone who calls themselves an American.

You have been among the very first Americans to step forward and offer your support to help us construct this new museum. I cannot thank you enough for your generous contribution.

None of this is possible without support from friends like you. Your tax-deductible donation will ensure that our construction continues to progress and ensure that other elements of this grand project stay on track, too.

Together, you and I are creating a center of learning and inspiration that will attract millions of visitors from across the country and around the world. It is here they will come to understand the African American story in full — the moments of great pain and the moments of soaring triumph.

We’re moving closer to reality with each passing day!

Thank you for your support.

Sign Emi’s Petition

My beautiful daughter Vivian was born 3 months premature and spent 4 months in the NICU. She survived, but never learned to eat and requires a special formula that costs $290 a case. Our insurance company, United Healthcare, refuses to pay for this.

Vivian was diagnosed with dysphagia and reflux and had to undergo multiple surgeries – including having a g-tube inserted.  She gets 100% of her nutrition through the g-tube and due to absorption and food tolerance issues, the formula that works best for her is “Pediasure Peptide 1.5.”

We thought our insurance would cover it – but after months of purchasing the formula, we received news that United Healthcare was not paying for it – in the form of an $8,000 bill. My family is now in a panic worrying about how we are going to feed our daughter. She needs 6-7 cases a month – about $2,000. That is my entire paycheck.

Just a few years ago, United Healthcare posted a net earnings of $5.142 billion – they can afford to cover this for families that need it. Health insurance companies are susceptible to public pressure — and we believe that with enough signatures, United Healthcare will change its policy — not just for our family but for others, too. Thats why I need you to sign my petition.

Vivian is the most grateful little girl you could ever meet. She is so sweet to everyone and it breaks my heart to see her so physically delayed because she is not getting the medical care she needs and deserves.

Please sign our petition to United Healthcare demanding they cover special formulas like the one that Vivian and other children like her need to survive.

In this week’s address, the President discussed his recent trip to Minneapolis where he met a working mother named Rebekah, who wrote the President to share the challenges her family and many middle-class Americans are facing where they work hard and sacrifice yet still can’t seem to get ahead. But instead of focusing on growing the middle class and expanding opportunity for all, Republicans in Congress continue to block commonsense economic proposals such as raising the minimum wage, extending unemployment insurance and making college more affordable.

The President will keep fighting his economic priorities in the weeks and months ahead, because he knows the best way to expand opportunity for all hardworking Americans and continue to strengthen the economy is to grow it from the middle out.

Click here to watch this week’s Weekly Address.

A Day in the Life: Rebekah from Minneapolis

This past March, a mom from Minneapolis named Rebekah wrote the President a letter about the increasing costs of taking care of her family. She told him about her day-to-day struggles, and let him know what she thinks needs to change. This week, the President traveled to Minnesota to spend some time with her. Check out the live-blog from President Obama’s trip.

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West Wing Week 6/27/14 or, “POTUS Replies”

This week takes us south of the border with the Vice President, to our nation’s capital for the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families, and along for the ride as Rebekah gets a reply… in person.

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“You Can Ignore the Facts; You Can’t Deny the Facts” — President Obama on Climate Change

President Obama addressed the League of Conservation Voters at their annual Capital Dinner. In his remarks, he commended them on their work to protect the planet, and emphasized that the work is “even more urgent and more important” now than when he last spoke to the League in 2006, due to the rapidly growing threat of climate change.

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Tell the Banks to Stop Financing Mountain Destruction

This could be the tipping point for the horrific practice of Mountaintop Removal coal mining.

Just this week, JPMorgan Chase updated its environmental policy, revealing that it will be ending financial relationships with Mountaintop Removal coal mining companies.

Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas/Bank of the West have recently taken similar steps. If the other major banks commit to stop financing mountaintop removal, fossil fuel companies will have no choice but to end the obliteration of mountains and poisoning of communities for coal.

tell Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to stop financing Mountaintop Removal coal mining!

Mountaintop Removal (MTR) is a mining practice that uses explosives to literally blow the tops off mountains for the coal inside. The rubble is then pushed into streams and poisons the water supply for thousands of people. This is morally unacceptable and why many, many local communities in Appalachia, along with activists around the world, are taking a stand against MTR.

For more than five years, Rainforest Action Network members like you have demanded JPMorgan Chase and other banks drop MTR financing. And while we’ll have to remain vigilant to ensure JPMorgan Chase stays on the path away from MTR, the bank’s new policy demonstrates that your activism is working.

JPMorgan Chase will no longer be doing business with companies like Alpha Natural Resources—the worst of the worst when it comes to MTR. Last month, the EPA issued Alpha the largest water pollution discharge penalty in the history of the Clean Water Act. The company also faces ten lawsuits over water pollution at its MTR mines.;

JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, shows that the smart money is leaving companies like Alpha Natural Resources. Other major banks do not want to be singled out for continuing to support environmental destruction and poisoning communities.

Tell the banks to drop Alpha Natural Resources and adopt a policy to phase out MTR financing.

Our movement is truly turning the tide against MTR. Companies like Alpha Natural Resources need financing from big banks to continue the destruction. If we make sure the banks can’t hide their responsibility for keeping MTR alive, we can force them to act to protect their image.

JPMorgan Chase is acting to protect its image right now by moving out of MTR financing. Let’s use that momentum. Send the banks a message today and help end Mountaintop Removal coal mining once and for all.

		For healthy communities and a healthy ecosystem,
		Amanda Starbuck Energy and Finance Program Director Twitter:@starbuck

Photo Credit: Kent Kessinger/Appalachian Voices