Civic Engagement Headlines
First African-American Woman President of UNC System Association of Student Governments
In this role for the 2018-2019 academic year, Njaramba will serve as the chief executive officer of the organization and act as the official representative and spokesperson.
Read MoreWant to Help the World? Resolve Conflicts
In a world divided by tension, there’s one skill that stands above all others: the ability to resolve conflict. It is the paramount challenge of our time. There are so many divisions that fracture our communities, states, and nations…
Read MoreHuge Surge in Political Activism, Engagement Has Direct Ties to Trump Presidency, Poll Finds
The momentum shows no sign of waning as the 2018 midterm elections draw near. Eighty-three percent of those surveyed said they intend to vote on election day, and a third said they plan to work or volunteer for a political campaign.
Read MoreRep. Adams, HBCU Collective Leader Supports “A Call to Colors” for HBCU Civic Engagement – Part V
As we get closer to the crucial 2018 fall midterm elections, two new voices join the a “Call to Colors” civic engagement effort to register 100 percent of the students on historically black college and university campuses throughout the state…
Read MoreVoting Laws Roundup for 2018 – Changes to Voting Laws
Legislative sessions have either commenced or concluded in every state that is meeting thisyear, except North Carolina, and the most notable takeaway of this session so far is the remarkable momentum around automatic voter registration, or AVR. What follows is the Brennan Center’s analysis.
Read MoreN.C. Secretary of Veteran Affairs Larry Hall Supports a “Call to Colors” Part IV
N.C. Secretary of Veteran Affairs Larry Hall is fully behind a “Time for Colors,” a nonpartisan civic engagement action plan to implement 100% voter registration on all historically black college and university campuses across North Carolina.
Read MoreFormer Trump Fraud Commission Leader Peddles Voter Fraud Myths in Federal Court
Trump’s voter fraud commission was abruptly disbanded in January, but some of its veterans still haven’t dropped their pitchforks. The commission’s leader, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, was recently in federal court.
Read MoreFive Things to Know About the Teacher Strike in Oklahoma
Following the success of the West Virginia teachers strike earlier this year that led to a 5 percent pay raise, teachers throughout the nation are rising to demand better conditions and better pay.
Read MoreDefeating Voter Suppression Tactics Is Like Battling a Hydra
Throughout American history this ugly practice has endured and been employed generation after generation. Some of the historical schemes of voter suppression include the “grandfather clause”, literacy tests, poll taxes and constitutional quizzes.
Read MorePropaganda Machine: Video Reveals Power of Sinclair Media’s Fake News
It was the latest show of the vast reach of a company that owns local TV stations across the country and has long been criticized for pushing conservative coverage and commentary onto local airwaves.
Read MoreWinnie Madikizela-Mandela: A Spirited Revolutionary Who Kept Resistance Alive
It is in the smaller and more intimate stories of our stumbling to make a better world that we are best able to recognize and appreciate the meaning of the life of Madikizela-Mandela.
Read MoreNAACP Prince George’s County Sue Over Unconstitutional Census Preparations
The NAACP is committed to ensuring that the 2020 Census does not systematically undercount communities having large African-American populations …
Read MoreWatch Video of Powerful Speech At The March For Our Lives by Naomi Wadler
11-year old Naomi Wadler from Alexandria, Virginia said, “People have said that I am too young to have these thoughts on my own. People that have said I’m tool of some nameless adult. It’s not true.”
Read MoreSpecial Interests and the Indispensable Craft of the Politician
The best politicians understand that this requires inclusivity, that all groups in every part of the nation have to be taken into account, that many interests have to be balanced …
Read MoreThe Race Paper – Civil Rights Groups Sue Homeland Security over Targeted Surveillance
Forced release of the “Race Paper,” a secret government document that details the targeted surveillance of Black civil rights groups, like the Movement for Black Lives.
Read MoreStrongest of the Civil Rights Laws – The Fair Housing Act’s Unfinished 50-Year Journey
Unfortunately, 50 years of legal roots supporting fair housing has failed to deliver full justice. For many blacks and other people of color, fair housing today remains just as elusive as it was in 1968.
Read More$1.3 Trillion Budget Rammed Through the Senate, Headed for More War-Making
Alarmed anti-war advocates are calling it “outrageous” that nearly half of the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending deal rammed through the Senate in the early morning hours of Friday is heading directly to the Pentagon.
Read MoreVoter Suppression Tactics: Is it Partisan?
The right to vote is essential to the existence of the United States as a free and open society and shouldn’t be viewed in a partisan prism. The right to vote should be an issue of citizenship, not partisanship. Unfortunately, voter suppression appears to be a partisan pursuit.
Read MoreButterfield and NC NAACP Supports ‘Call to Colors’ To Achieve One Hundred Percent Civic Engagement at HBCUs – Part III
Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1) And Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of the NC NAACP have joined black leadership in NC endorsing the Time for Colors civic engagement action plan.
Read MorePrince Hall Masons Support Civic Engagement Action Plan a ‘Call to Colors’ Part II
A non-partisan civic engagement action plan to register to vote 100% of eligible students on North Carolina HBCU campuses in the 2018 midterms this fall by engaging fraternities, sororities, and student organizations.
Read MoreLeaders Endorse Civic Engagement Action Plan a ‘Call to Colors’ Part I
With crucial 2018 mid-term elections looming large, and 2020 presidential and gubernatorial contests not long after, leaders in North Carolina are joining together to implement a non-partisan civic engagement action plan, Time for Colors, to promote 100% voter registration at HBCUs.
Read MoreFormer Executive Director Of North Carolina NAACP Challenges Incumbent Price for U.S. House of Representatives
Rev. Dr. Michelle Laws will make history as the 3rd African American and woman of color to represent North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Read MoreWhat We Can Learn from Indigenous Women at the Ballot Box
With the first year of Trump’s presidency behind us and midterm elections fast approaching, progressive women are faced with the looming question of what comes next. How can we go beyond resistance to advance our progressive vision, especially in this difficult moment in history when the right is on the rise?
Read MoreCambridge Analytica Scandal Is a Drop in the Bucket not the Big Picture
Cambridge Analytica story is missing out on the big picture. The scale of the operation was only possible because Facebook has too much data about too many people. The company managed to get hold of millions of data points of very sensitive data from Facebook users.
Read MoreAmerican Political Strategist Donna Brazile: Engaging African American-owned Media – the Forefront of Change
“You are carving out stories that the mainstream [media] won’t. You’ve been at the forefront of change, even before change was in vogue,” Brazil said. “That’s why I’ve always supported the Black Press.”
Read MoreNAACP Joins Campaign to Increase Affordable Housing across America
The NAACP, the nation’s foremost civil rights organization, has joined a coalition of other social justice organizations to push for more affordable housing policies across the country through the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign.
Read MoreU.S. Supreme Court Upholds Pennsylvania Congressional District Map
In a 5-2 vote in January along party lines, the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court ruled the Republican-controlled legislature designed the old boundaries to hurt Democratic voters, violating their constitutional rights.
Read MoreAnother Victory for Democrats in Trump Land: Lamb Prevails in Pennsylvania
The primary takeaway for Democrats, they argued, should be that it was Lamb’s fervent support for unions and the safety net—and not his centrist positions on other issues—that ultimately put him over the top.
Read MoreNew EPI Study Shows No Black Progress in 50 Years
Late last year, “The Washington Post” wrote that African Americans were the only group that showed no economic improvement since 2000. They based their conclusions on Census data. This year, there was even more sobering news …
Read MoreVoter Purges: The Risks in 2018 of Removing Voters From Registration Lists
Activist groups and some state officials have mounted alarming campaigns to purge voters without adequate safeguards. If successful, these efforts could lead to a massive number of eligible, registered voters losing their right to cast a ballot this fall. Download the report here.
Read MoreTillerson Out and Pompeo In: ‘From Exxon’s CEO to the Koch Brothers’ Most Loyal Lapdog’
“We’ve gone from Exxon’s CEO to the Koch Brothers’ most loyal lapdog,” said Boeve in a statement. “Pompeo received over a million oil and gas dollars during his political career, has deep ties to the Kochs, and is a climate denier to the core.
Read MoreNAACP Joins Civil Rights Groups Urging Attorney General Sessions to Include Civil Rights in DOJ’s Priorities
The NAACP, the nation’s foremost civil rights organization, along with other prominent African-American civil rights organizations, has sent a joint letter strongly advising U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions …
Read MoreSilence of Modern Day Black Republicans – Aiding and Abetting Voter Suppression
There is a deafening silence in the ranks of modern black Republicans who stand mute as their party of choice relentlessly attacks the civil right that is most responsibile for the rights and privileges of democracy, the right to vote.
Read MoreOur Congress Is in Deep Trouble – But Does It Care?
We’re at a watershed moment in American political history. Our Congress — I’m talking about the people’s body, the institution created by our founders, and not just the men and women who currently inhabit it
Read MoreGun Safety Is About Freedom, NAACP Is Committed to Fighting for Gun Control
The disproportionate impact on communities of color does make gun control a civil rights issue, but gun violence is a national issue and should be a matter of national concern. It is also a matter of freedom.
Read MoreTeacher Protest – Rising Up as West Virginia Strike Hits Eighth Day
Currently, the governor of the state is proposing an increased tax on natural gas to pay for that. However, the Republicans in the state Legislature and their allies in the fossil fuel industry are dead set against it …
Read MoreGary Cohn Calls It Quits After Massive Tax Cuts for Wealthy Friends and Corporate Raiders
Gary Cohn, a registered Democrat, the final straw in leaving was not Trump’s horrifying response to the Charlottesville white supremacist uber-hate fest or endless attacks on Mexicans and Muslims …
Read MoreWhat Dreams May Come – A Small Glad Moment Away From the Madness
She went on to explain her pride in helping make history: “I’m also thinking about all of the young people, particularly girls and girls of color, who, in years ahead, will come to this place and they will look up and they will see an image of someone who looks like them hanging on the wall.”
Read MoreClean Dream Act – With #HereToFight Declaration, Dreamers and Allies Mobilize Across Nation
Under the banner #HereToFight, rallies took place across the nation on Monday to ramp up pressure on lawmakers to enact a permanent solution to protect Dreamers and insulate immigrant communities from further attack.
Read MoreAmerica Needs Union Jobs – The Struggle for Equality and Justice Not Limited to Civil Rights
Powerful anti-union organizations work to hold a Supreme Court seat open … The fight to protect and to grow the labor movement is about strengthening America’s middle class and building opportunities for all our families.
Read MoreCongressional Review Act (CRA) Needs Your Vote to Save Net Neutrality
We know our democracy depends on freedom to communicate and connect without barriers. Reserving a faster, better internet only for the wealthiest corporations and individuals is an affront to our country’s core values.
Read MoreFight the Digital Divide, Stop FCC’s Move to End Net Neutrality
With wide-ranging support across the country and across the ideological and political spectrum, says the ACLU's Jay Stanley, “It's hard to imagine a better or more popular use for the CRA than restoring network neutrality.”
Read MoreWhite House Advisor Ivanka Trump Says Questions About President/Father’s Female Accusers ‘Inappropriate’
“You can either be the dutiful daughter and stay out of politics or you can be the White House advisor who gets (and must answer!) the tough questions. You don’t get to switch back and forth at your leisure.”
Read MoreBeyond The Vote: A Growing Moral Movement Against American Violence
Violence in American life – As we’ve seen with the corporate firings of sleazebag movie moguls and predatory television personalities, nothing concentrates the minds of CEOs like a moral protest that’s gaining traction.
Read MoreForgiving Student Debt Benefits Explained as Trump Bolsters Predatory Lenders
Trump’s Education Department may undermine those regulatory efforts—researchers at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College recently explored an even more ambitious proposal for fixing the national crisis …
Read MoreStrengthen the Economy with Alliances Between Black and White Working Class
Economists and labor activists call for working class alliances between blacks and whites around their common interests, as a way to strengthen labor demands and decrease racial animosity.
Read MoreEncouraging Millennials to Vote for the Issues That Unite Them
Election experts from government, academia, and the private and nonprofit sectors will weigh in on important questions, including: What can the social sector do to improve voter turnout in the United States?
Read MoreVoter Mobilization for 2018 Midterm Elections – NAACP Announces Key Partnerships
The NAACP announced several key partnerships designed to expand the reach, impact and effectiveness of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations.
Read MoreCourts Ordering Consumers Be Arrested at the Bidding of Debt Collection Companies
The ACLU found courts in 26 states in which judges issued arrest warrants for alleged debtors at the request of private debt collectors.
Read MoreTrump ‘Blatantly Backs Gerrymandering’ in Call for GOP to Fight New Pennsylvania Maps
It’s not surprising that the most unethical president in American history would support partisan gerrymandering that erodes everyday people’s choice, voice, and vote.
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