Obama Unleashed New Regulations, with the Pecan Pie

Posted on November 24, 2015November 24, 2015 by Denise Simon

While you are working in the kitchen and setting the table, the Obama administration has just released thousands of new regulations hoping no one would really notice.

Obama Quietly Releases Plans For 2,224 Regs Ahead Of Turkey Day

Michael Bastasch on November 23, 2015

DCF: While millions of Americans prepare to stuff themselves with Turkey and pie, the Obama administration quietly released its plans for 2,224 federal rules Friday — a preview of just how many more regulations the president is attempting to issue before he leaves office.

President Barack Obama’s Unified Agenda for Fall 2015 is his administration’s regulatory road map and lays out thousands of regulations being finalized in the coming months. Obama has developed a habit of releasing the agenda late on Friday before a major holiday.

Indeed, Obama’s Spring 2015 agenda detailing the status of more than 2,300 regulations was released the eve of Memorial Day weekend. Obama’s Fall 2014 agenda featuring more than 3,400 regulations was also released the Friday before Thanksgiving.

While Obama’s latest release features fewer regulations than the last two, it shows the administration is determined to churn out as many rules as it can before the end of 2016. This includes major energy and environmental regulations coming down the pipe, like new rules for coal mines and rules banning common pesticides.

Obama has already put out several major environmental regulations this year, including limits on carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, more federal control over U.S. waterways, new hydraulic fracturing regulations and stricter smog rules.

In the last week alone, the Obama administration imposed $1.8 billion in regulatory costs, according to a new report by the right-leaning American Action Forum (AAF). This brings the total cost of regulation in 2015 to a whopping $183 billion — about half from final rules and the other from proposed rules.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new smog limits turned out to be some of the costliest ever proposed by a federal agency.

The EPA says tighter smog, or ground-level ozone, limits would only cost $1.4 billion and yield much more in health benefits from less pollution. But AAF found that the EPA’s smog rule could end up costing 40 times more than the agency predicted based on the experience of counties not in compliance with older agency smog rules.

“Observed nonattainment counties experienced losses of $56.5 billion in total wage earnings, $690 in pay per worker, and 242,000 jobs between 2008 and 2013,” according to AAF policy experts.

*** There is also the matter of popcorn and corporate food chains

NYT’s WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration announced sweeping rules on Tuesday that will require chain restaurants, movie theaters and pizza parlors across the country to post calorie counts on their menus. Health experts said the new requirements would help combat the country’s obesity epidemic by showing Americans just how many calories lurk in their favorite foods.

The rules will have broad implications for public health. As much as a third of the calories that Americans consume come from outside the home, and many health experts believe that increasingly large portion sizes and unhealthy ingredients have been significant contributors to obesity in the United States.

“This is one of the most important public health nutrition policies ever to be passed nationally,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Right now, you are totally guessing at what you are getting. This rule will change that.”

The rules are far broader than consumer health advocates had expected, covering food in vending machines and amusement parks, as well as certain prepared foods in supermarkets. They apply to food establishments with 20 or more outlets, including fast-food chains like KFC and Subway and sit-down restaurants like Applebee’s and The Cheesecake Factory. Much more here.

The Vatican, the White House, the Migrants, Millions

Posted on November 21, 2015November 21, 2015 by Denise Simon

Catholic Bishops Financial statement (see page 10 for description summary)

In an NTEB Special Report, we have recently received information that the Catholic Church received payments totalling $79,590,512.00 to facilitate the flow of undocumented and illegal immigrants into the United States in 2014. This is six million dollars more than they were paid in 2013. Now y0u know why Pope Francis is so eager to push Obama’s insane flood of illegal migrants, he’s getting paid millions to do it!

In the face of President Obama’s veto threat, the House passed a bill to slow Syrian refugees. But the Republican Congress also has the power to hold hearings into the millions of taxpayer dollars being funneled through Catholic and other church groupsto bring them here. Many Catholics and non-Catholics alike would like to know how “religious compassion,” using federal money, is increasing the potential terrorist threat to America.

You may recall that Pope Francis promoted the Obama administration’s pro-immigration policies during his visit to the U.S. Left unsaid was the fact that the American branch of the Roman Catholic Church is getting millions of taxpayer dollars to settle refugees. According to their financial statement for 2014, the latest year for which figures are available, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops received over $79 million in government grants to provide benefits to refugees.

Steps of Screening Refugees

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015 by Denise Simon

WallStreetJournal: This week dozens of state governors said they would refuse Syrian refugees, citing national security concerns after the Paris attacks. The Obama administration pushed back on those announcements and stressed that the governors had little power to do so. But they also pledged to explain the program to those doubting it could screen out potential terrorists. Here’s a breakdown of how the program works.

* * *

Q: What kind of screenings do Syrian refugees go through?

A: Refugees from all countries receive “the most rigorous screening and security vetting of any category of traveler to the United States,” a senior administration official told reporters Tuesday. That process includes biographic and biometric security checks – i.e. checking records and doing fingerprinting. Law enforcement, the Pentagon and the intelligence community all vet information provided by and obtained about refugees to help make a determination about whether they will ultimately be allowed to come to the U.S. Syrian refugees go through an enhanced review process on top of that with extra national security checks. All Syrian refugees considered for resettlement in the U.S. are interviewed in person by specially trained staff, mostly in Amman and Istanbul, but also in Cairo and elsewhere. Refugees must also undergo health screenings and a cultural orientation before they arrive in the U.S.

Q: How long does it take?

A: The process usually takes between 18 to 24 months and generally begins with a referral from the U.N. refugee agency. Those referrals include biographic and other information that the Department of Homeland Security uses to determine if the cases meet the criteria for refugee status. If DHS decides a refugee qualifies on one of five protected grounds – race, religion, nationalist, political views or belonging to a certain social group, the extensive screening processes described earlier begin. For comparison, an international student seeking to study in the U.S., for example, usually schedules a consular interview three to five months in advance of beginning schooling.

Q: Who are the Syrian refugees coming to the U.S.?

A: Half of the Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S. so far are children, according to a senior administration official. Of the rest, 2.5% are adults over 60 and 2% are single men. The refugees are roughly half men and half women, with slightly more men.

Q: How many are here now?

A: Since the Syrian crisis began in 2011, the U.S. has admitted about 2,200 Syrian refugees. That’s a very small chunk of the more than 332,000 refugees who have come to the U.S. during the same period. The Obama administration has pledged to take in at least 10,000 in fiscal year 2016, which began in October. Over 4 million people have fled Syria since the crisis began in March 2011. Most are located in countries in the region.

Q: Where are Syrian refugees living in the U.S.?

A: The top resettlement states for Syrian refugees are California, Texas, Michigan, Illinois and Arizona. Overall 36 states have taken in Syrians since 2011.

Q: What happens once a refugee arrives to the U.S.?

A: Refugees are required to adjust their status to become legal permanent residents within one year of arriving to the U.S. Each week the nine networks of nonprofits that work with the State Department to resettle refugees meet to decide where to send refugees arriving here. Those decisions are based on where their family members might be located, which states have low unemployment rates and what cities might be able to provide specialized medical treatment, for example. Officials usually try to resettle refugees in medium-size cities like Nashville, Tenn., and Buffalo, N.Y. that aren’t too expensive. But once refugees get here, they are free to live wherever they wish, officials said.

*** Then there is the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a division of Health and Human Resources.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) gives new populations the opportunity to maximize their potential in the United States. ORR’s programs provide people in need with critical resources to assist them in becoming integrated members of American society, such as cash, social services, and medical assistance.

ORR benefits and services are available to eligible persons from the following groups:

Refugees

Asylees

Cuban/Haitian entrants

Amerasians

Victims of human trafficking

Unaccompanied alien children

Survivors of torture

ORR has five divisions and one major program area:

Refugee Assistance

Refugee Health

Resettlement Services

Children’s Services

Anti-Trafficking in Persons

Office of the Director

Division of Refugee Assistance:

The Division of Refugee Assistance (DRA) supports, oversees and provides guidance to State-Administered, Public Private Partnership and Wilson/Fish programs that provide assistance and services to refugees, asylees, certain Amerasian immigrants, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and Certified Victims of Human Trafficking (henceforth referred to collectively as refugees). DRA reviews and monitors state plans, budget submissions, service plans, and reports, while providing technical assistance to ensure that federal regulations are followed and adequate services and performance are maintained. The ultimate goal is to provide the types of assistance that will allow refugees to become economically self-sufficient as soon as possible after their arrival in the United States.

Program structures:

State Administered: Cash, medical, and social services are primarily managed by states as part of their social service or labor force programs. The program goal is to enable refugees become self-sufficient as soon as possible.

Public Private Partnership: This partnership provides States the option to enter into a partnership with local voluntary resettlement agencies to provide cash assistance to refugees. The objective is to create more effective resettlement, while maintaining state responsibility for policy and administrative oversight.

Wilson-Fish: The program is an alternative to the traditional state administered refugee resettlement program. This program provides cash, medical assistance, and social services to refugees. The purpose of the Wilson-Fish program is to increase refugee prospects for early employment and self-sufficiency, promote coordination among voluntary resettlement agencies and service providers, and ensure that refugee assistance programs exist in every state where refugees are resettled.

DRA is responsible for the following programs:

Cash and Medical Assistance: This program provides reimbursement to states and other programs for cash and medical assistance. Refugees who are ineligible for TANF and Medicaid may be eligible for cash and medical assistance for up to eight months from their date of arrival, grant of asylum, or date of certification for trafficking victims.

Refugee Social Services: This program allocates formula funds to states to serve refugees who have been in the United States less than 60 months (five years). Services are focused on addressing employability and include interpretation and translation, day care, citizenship, and naturalization. Services are designed to help refugees obtain jobs within one year of enrollment.

Targeted Assistance Formula: This program allocates formula funds to states that qualify for additional funds due to an influx of refugee arrivals that need public assistance. TAG service prioritize (a) cash assistance recipients, particularly long-term recipients; (b) unemployed refugees not receiving cash assistance; and (c) employed refugees in need of services to retain employment or to attain economic independence.

Cuban Haitian: This program provides discretionary grants to states and other programs to fund assistance and services in localities with a heavy influx of Cuban and Haitian entrants and refugees. This program supports employment services, hospitals, and other health and mental health care programs, adult and vocational education services, refugee crime or victimization programs, and citizenship and naturalization services.

Refugee School Impact: This program provides discretionary grants to state and other programs. Funds go to school districts to pay for activities that will lead to the effective integration and education of refugee children between the ages of 5 and 18. Activities include English as a second language; after-school tutorials; programs that encourage high school completion and full participation in school activities; after-school and/or summer clubs and activities; parental involvement programs; bilingual/bicultural counselors; interpreter services, etc.

Services to Older Refugees: This program provides discretionary grants to states to ensure that refugees aged 60 and above are linked to mainstream aging services in their community. ORR cooperates with the Administration for Community Living to reach this goal.

Targeted Assistance Discretionary: This program provides discretionary grants to states and other programs to address the employment needs of refugees that cannot be met with the Formula Social Services or Formula Targeted Assistance Grant Programs. Activities under this program are for the purpose of supplementing and/or complementing existing employment services to help refugees achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Technical Assistance Program: This program provides technical assistance grants to organizations with expertise in specific areas, such as employment, cultural orientation, economic development, and English language training.

Division of Refugee Health
ORR recently created the refugee heath program to address issues of health and well-being that are vital to refugees and other ORR-eligible populations. The refugee health program works on various projects including: collaborating with federal partners in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); administering the Survivors of Torture and Preventive Health programs; and providing technical assistance on medical screening guidelines, assessment and follow-up for contagious or communicable diseases, mental health awareness and linkages, suicide prevention, emergency preparedness and other health and mental health initiatives. It also coordinates with state and federal partners to advance ORR’s overall health initiatives.

DRH is responsible for the following programs:

Refugee Preventive Health: This program provides discretionary grants to states or their designated health agencies or other programs that facilitate medical screenings and support health services. The program aims to reduce the spread of infectious disease, treat any current ailments, and promote preventive health practices.

Services to Survivors of Torture Program: This program provides funding for a comprehensive program of support for survivors of torture. The Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 recognizes that a significant number of refugees, asylees, and asylum seekers entering the United States have suffered torture. The program provides rehabilitative services which enable survivors to become productive members of our communities.

Division of Resettlement Services
The Division of Resettlement Services (DRS) provides assistance through public and private non-profit agencies to support the economic and social integration of refugees. DRS is responsible for the following programs:

Matching Grant Program: This is an alternative program to public assistance designed to enable refugees to become self-sufficient within four to six months from the date of arrival into the United States. Eligible grantees are voluntary agencies able to coordinate comprehensive multilingual, multicultural services for refugees at local sites; the same agencies are under cooperative agreements with the Department of State/Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).

Refugee Agriculture Partnership Program: The Refugee Agriculture Partnership Program (RAPP) involves refugees in the effort to improve the supply and quality of food in urban and rural areas. Refugees are potential farmers or producers of more healthful foods, as well as consumers whose health and well-being are affected by diet. RAPP has evolved into a program with multiple objectives that include: creating sustainable income; producing supplemental income; having an adequate supply of healthy foods in a community; achieving better physical and mental health; promoting community integration, and developing the capacity of organizations to access USDA and other services and resources. In cooperation with the USDA, ORR helps develop community gardens and farmers’ markets.

Preferred Communities Program: This program supports the resettlement agencies of newly arriving refugees by providing them additional resources to help refugees to become self-sufficient and to integrate into their new communities. The program also assists service providers that assist refugees with special needs that require more intensive case management.

Ethnic Community Self-Help Program: This program provides assistance to refugee ethnic community-based organizations (ECBOs) that address community building and facilitate cultural adjustment and integration of refugees. The program’s purpose is to promote community organizing that builds bridges between newcomer refugee communities and community resources.

Microenterprise Development Program: This program enables refugees to become financially independent by helping them develop capital resources and business expertise to start, expand, or strengthen their own business. The program provides training and technical assistance in business plan development, management, bookkeeping, and marketing to equip refugees with the skills they need to become successful entrepreneurs.

Microenterprise Development – Home-Based Child Care Program: This program is designed to enable refugee women to become entrepreneurs while simultaneously caring for their own children.

Individual Development Accounts Program: Individual development accounts are matched savings accounts available for the purchase of specific assets. Under the IDA program, the matching funds, together with the refugee’s own savings from his or her employment, are available for one (or more) of the following: home purchase; microenterprise capitalization; post secondary education or training; and in some cases, purchase of an automobile if necessary to maintain or upgrade employment. Upon enrolling in an IDA program, a refugee signs a savings plan agreement, which specifies the savings goal, the match rate, and the amount the refugee will save each month. Refugees also receiving training in navigating the financial system, budgeting, saving, and credit.

Division of Children’s Services
The Division of Children’s Services (DCS) recognizes the importance of providing a safe and appropriate environment for unaccompanied alien children during the interim period between the minor’s transfer into ORR care and reunification with family or other sponsors or removal from the United States by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DCS strives to provide the best care and placement for unaccompanied alien children (UAC), who are in federal custody by reason of their immigration status, while taking into account the unique nature of each child’s situation in making placement, case management, and release decisions. DCS also oversees the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) program, which connects refugee minors with appropriate foster care services and benefits when they do not have a parent or a relative available and committed to providing for their long-term care.

Unaccompanied Children’s Services: This program makes and implements placement decisions in the best interests of UAC to ensure that they are in the least restrictive setting possible while in federal custody. The majority of UAC are cared for through a network of state licensed ORR-funded care providers, which provide classroom education, mental and medical health services, case management, and socialization/recreation. ORR/DCS funds programs to provide a continuum of care for children, including foster care, group homes, and residential treatment centers. The division also coordinates a legal access project assuring that these children have information about their legal rights and receive an individual legal screening to assess their chances of legal relief. Finally, ORR/DCS provides family reunification services to facilitate safe and timely placement with family members or other qualified sponsors.

Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program: This program ensures that eligible unaccompanied minor populations receive the full range of assistance, care, and services available to all foster children in the state by establishing a legal authority to act in place of the child’s unavailable parent(s). Our programs encourage reunification of children with their parents or other appropriate adult relatives through family tracing and coordination with local refugee resettlement agencies. However, if reunification is not possible, each program works to design a case specific permanency plan for each minor or youth in care. Additional services ORR provides include: indirect financial support for housing, food, clothing, medical care, and other necessities; intensive case management by social workers; independent living skills training; educational supports including educational training vouchers; English language training; career/college counseling and training; mental health services; assistance adjusting immigration status; cultural activities; recreational opportunities; support for social integration; cultural and religious preservation.

Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division
The Division of Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ATIP) helps certify victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons, as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. These individuals are eligible to receive federally funded benefits and services to the same extent as refugees, and can begin to rebuild their lives in the United States. ATIP is committed to promoting public awareness and assisting in the identification of trafficking victims by educating the public and persons likely to encounter victims. These organizations or persons may include: social services providers; public health officials; legal organizations; as well as ethnic, faith-based, and community organizations.

ATIP is responsible for the following programs:

Victim Identification and Public Awareness

• Rescue and Restore Campaign: This program is a public awareness campaign that established Rescue and Restore coalitions in 24 cities, regions, and states. These community action groups are comprised of non-governmental organization leaders, academics, students, law enforcement officials, and other key stakeholders who are committed to addressing the problem of human trafficking in their own communities.

• Rescue and Restore Regional Program: This program serves as the focal point for regional public awareness campaign activities and intensification of local outreach to identify victims of human trafficking. Each Rescue and Restore Regional partner oversees and builds the capacity of a local anti-trafficking network, and sub-awards 60 percent of grant funds to local organizations that identify and work with victims. By acting as a focal point for regional anti-trafficking efforts, Rescue and Restore Regional partners encourage a cohesive and collaborative approach in the fight against modern-day slavery.

Assistance for Victims of Human Trafficking

Certifications and Eligibility Letters: HHS is the sole federal agency authorized to certify foreign adult victims of human trafficking. Similarly, it is the sole federal agency authorized to make foreign child victims of human trafficking eligible for assistance. ORR issues all certifications and eligibility letters. Certification grants adult foreign victims of human trafficking access to federal benefits and services to the same extent as refugees. Likewise, eligibility letters grant minor foreign victims of trafficking access to federal benefits and services to the same extent as refugees, including placement in the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors program.

National Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Program: This program provides funding for comprehensive case management services to foreign victims of trafficking and potential victims seeking HHS certification in any location in the United States. The grantees provide case management to assist a victim of trafficking to become certified, and other necessary services after certification, through a network of sub-awardees in locations throughout the country. These grants ensure the provision of case management, referrals, and emergency assistance (such as food, clothing, and shelter) to victims of human trafficking and certain family members. Grantees help victims gain access to housing, employability services, mental health screening and therapy, medical care, and some legal services, enabling victims to live free of violence and exploitation.

National Human Trafficking Resource Center: This program is a national, toll-free hotline for the human trafficking field in the United States. It is reached by calling 1-888-3737-888 or e-mailing [email protected]. The NHTRC operates around the clock to protect victims of human trafficking. It provides callers with a range of comprehensive services including: crisis intervention; urgent and non-urgent referrals; tip reporting; anti-trafficking resources; and technical assistance for the anti-trafficking field and those who wish to get involved. To perform these functions, the NHTRC maintains a national database of organizations and individuals, as well as a library of anti-trafficking resources and materials.

Office of the Director
The Office of the Director responds to overall ORR operations and special projects, including communications and outreach, media relations, and the federal government’s U.S. Repatriation Program. The Budget, Policy, and Data Analysis (BPDA) team is also located within the Office of the Director, and is responsible for the allocation and tracking of funds for refugee cash and medical assistance, as well as state administrative costs; forecasting and executing ORR’s annual budget; developing regulations and legislative proposals; and routinely interpreting policy. BPDA also coordinates preparation of the ORR Annual Report to Congress.

Mizzou: White House, “Its on Us”

Posted on November 12, 2015November 12, 2015 by Denise Simon

Fabricate a problem and then ride in on a white steed to solve the problem and those invited to the White House and willing accomplices or rather useful idiots to have their own individual moments in the sun.

There are countless moving parts including ‘The Hunting Ground’.

UMN student govt: 9/11 remembrance would violate our safe space

From the White House press office: FACT SHEET: Launch of the “It’s On Us” Public Awareness Campaign to Help Prevent Campus Sexual Assault

Proof this is the White House when it comes to Mizzou and other campuses? It also involves the NCAA, meaning football hence the reason the football team went on strike an did not practice.

From the White House website: President Obama Launches the “It’s On Us” Campaign to End Sexual Assault on Campus

It’s on us — all of us — to stop sexual assault. Here are a few tips on what you can do to be part of the solution:

Talk to your friends honestly and openly about sexual assault.

Don’t just be a bystander — if you see something, intervene in any way you can.

Trust your gut. If something looks like it might be a bad situation, it probably is.

Be direct. Ask someone who looks like they may need help if they’re ok.

Get someone to help you if you see something — enlist a friend, RA, bartender, or host to help step in.

Keep an eye on someone who has had too much to drink.

If you see someone who is too intoxicated to consent, enlist their friends to help them leave safely.

Recognize the potential danger of someone who talks about planning to target another person at a party.

Be aware if someone is deliberately trying to intoxicate, isolate, or corner someone else.

Get in the way by creating a distraction, drawing attention to the situation, or separating them.

Understand that if someone does not or cannot consent to sex, it’s rape.

Never blame the victim.

If you are a victim or survivor, or helping someone in that situation, go to notalone.gov to get the resources and information you need. You can also call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.

The NCAA, Big Ten conferences, MTV, VH1, and a few others you might recognize have already made a personal commitment to help stop sexual assault. See why — then join them in taking the pledge at ItsOnUs.org. The full document is here.

Summary:

Our responsibility is to get off of the sidelines. Don’t just be a bystander: Intervene when you see someone who might be at risk of sexual assault. That’s what this It’s On Us message — narrated by actor Jon Hamm — is all about.

It’s estimated that one in five women is sexually assaulted while she’s in college. It most often occurs in her freshman or sophomore year, by someone she knows.

And it’s on every one of us to stop that trend.

Our responsibility is to get off of the sidelines. Don’t just be a bystander: Intervene when you see someone who might be at risk.

That’s what the new It’s On Us message — narrated by actor Jon Hamm — is all about. Watch the video, then take the pledge to help prevent campus sexual assault. The full document is here.

‘overthrow the Constitution,’ ‘stop white people’

Posted on November 11, 2015November 11, 2015 by Denise Simon

Campuses across the country had better understand the movement or they will all become Mizzou. There is little time left for the Obama administration and the chilling fear is what is left to do. Here is but one that no one is going to address such that the White House endorses this movement as noted here.

The multi-university Afrikan Black Coalition is calling for black people to engage in revolution and overthrow the Constitution, citing the need to “stop white people” in the “white supremacist world” of America.

The Coalition declares, “White people have historically had problems making too many “mistakes.” White people need to be stopped. Period.”

The multi-university Afrikan Black Coalition is calling for black people to engage in revolution and overthrow the Constitution, citing the need to “stop white people” in the “white supremacist world” of America.

“It is our human right to overthrow a government that has been destructive to our people,” the Coalition claimed in a November 4 post titled “A New Constitution or the Bullet.”

“It is our human right to overthrow a government that has been destructive to our people.” Tweet This

“If America fails to allow all people of this nation to write a new constitution, then it will be the bullet. Revolution is inevitable in a society that does not value the lives of all people,” the Coalition threatened.

The Coalition goes on to declare that institutional racism (the same ‘evil’ the student protestors at the University of Missouri claimed to be combatting) can’t be overcome unless the Constitution is overthrown.

“A Constitution written by only white men will never serve the interests Black [sic] people. The Constitution was written for the ruling class of white men which constructed whiteness to be more valuable than any other race,” the Coalition argues. “When we discuss institutional racism, it is essential that we realize the Constitution created it.”

A November 9 post from the Coalition called for white people to be stopped at all costs and accuses whites of “stealing from other people,” having trouble “minding their own business,” and “respecting boundaries.” According to the Coalition, the “religious indoctrination” engaged in by whites is an example of white people’s failure to respect boundaries.

The Coalition goes on to declare that “White people have historically had problems making too many “mistakes.” White people need to be stopped. Period.”

The Afrikan Black Coalition is comprised of black student organizations across California and “was created in 2003 by Black students within the University of California system who found the low admittance and retention rates of Black students intolerable,” according to the organization’s website.

The Coalition hosts an annual Afrikan Black Coalition Conference at one of its “partner schools such as UC Santa Barbara (which is hosting the 2016 conference in February). Several taxpayer-funded universities including UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and San Diego State University openly show their support for the Afrikan Black Coalition Conference on their websites and UCLA’s African Student Union is openly recruiting students to join the university’s “delegation” to the conference. A website advertising the conference claims to have been paid for by UCSB’s student government.

UC Berkeley also allowed the Afrikan Black Coalition to publish a statement on the university website after the George Zimmerman trial. The Coalition also used the university website to announce their “plan to deconstruct and dismantle America’s racist institutions.”

The Afrikan Black Coalition did not respond to Campus Reform’s request for comment in time for publication.

A New Constitution or the Bullet

Posted by Afrikan Coalition dot org demanding a new Constitution

I never thought I would be in the place I am in right now. About two months ago, I was in Oakland at a “Say Her Name” protest and was being detained by about 25 cops in riot gear. I had a text message ready to send to my lawyer that I was about to be arrested. Luckily, myself and other protesters were let go. The next day as I was in my kitchen doing dishes and I began singing the freedom song passed down to our generation by elder community activists, “Which side are you on?”. After organizing and participating in numerous protests, cries for freedom rang through my mind. However, I began to feel hopeless.

After what has felt like endless hours of Black protest and uprising throughout the United States, I felt like our progress was moving in circles. Instead of police killings decreasing in the Bay Area, I witnessed an increase in killings of Black men in Oakland. Five Black men have been executed by in OPD this summer alone. I am tired of waking up and checking twitter to see another Black body as a hashtag. Our Black Lives Matter protests have stormed the country, yet cops continue to kill us daily, and the and the judicial system continues to justify our deaths with acquittals, non-indictments and light sentences-all in the name of upholding the Constitution.

I have come to realize that the Constitution is the root of virtually all our problems in America. In order to understand the injustices against Black folks in United States, we must look back to its foundation. The U.S. is a country that was founded on slavery, genocide, rape, and white male patriarchy. The colonizers that we condemn for enslaving Afikans and murdering indigenous peoples are the same people that produced and upheld the document we use to govern our nation to this day. Our bloodshed is rooted in this nation’s founding document, The Constitution. A body cannot be separated from its head and remain living. The Constitution and all the evil that it allows to be perpetuated are the head of White America, or more so corrupt America. Racist America. If you separate the head the racism will die.

This constitution was written for “all men to be equal”, yet these same white men who cried out for equality and freedom from persecution owned Black people as slaves and participated in calculated genocidal tactics against the Black race. In addition, only white men wrote the Constitution. A Constitution written by only white men will never serve the interests Black people. The Constitution was written for the ruling class of white men which constructed whiteness to be more valuable than any other race. When we discuss institutional racism, it is essential that we realize the Constitution created it.

The Constitution has created a system of governance that has been executing Black people everyday. From slavery, to sharecropping, to debt peonage, to chain gangs, to gentrification, to the for-profit prison industry that is upheld through the 13th amendment which allows for slavery if one has committed a crime. From Emmett Till, to the four little girls, to Mike Brown, to Rekia Boyd, to Maya Hall, to the Charleston nine, and to Sandra Bland. America has not protected us. On the contrary, it seeks to destory our very own humanity. We live in a society that is not safe for us. And as the Declaration of Independence says:

whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness

Do we not have the right to abolish the laws that oppress us? It is time to claim the Declaration of Independence and apply it to our struggle as colonized Black people in America. The United States has us; it is time we demand a new constitution or tell America that she will get the bullet. White supremacy’s bullets are killing Black people every day. If America does not protect us, then it is our human right to defend ourselves by any means necessary. It is our human right to overthrow a government that has been destructive to our people. This is why we must rise up and let all people come together and write new constitution to serve ALL people.

The idea for a new constitution is not a new idea, rather an old one that was developed by the Black Panther Party. In 1970, the Black Panther Party organized a Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention, however, after infiltration by the illegal COINTELPRO the idea never came into fruition. We must pick up where the Black Panthers left off and declare a new constitution or it will be the bullet.

If America truly wants to be a nation that values the lives of all people, it has one option, and the option is a National Constitution Convention. This is the last hope America has to become whole. If America fails to allow all people of this nation to write a new constitution, then it will be the bullet. Revolution is inevitable in a society that does not value the lives of all people.

Let the bells of freedom ring…

In struggle,

-Blake

@BlakeDontCrack