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MW Voice FEATURE Letters to the Editor War Editor's Tidbits
Did You Know? Corporate War on the People Youth/ Disabled/ Gay news Resistance in the War OTHER SPRING 2008 ARTICLES
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Mothers News from Around the WorldMother’s Day Protest Hits Police Murders On Mother’s Day, moms whose children were killed by New York cops went to see Gov. David Patterson. The moms are members of the Justice Committee and Parents Against Police Brutality. They demand an end to NY police killing of innocent people. And they demand justice for Sean Bell and their own children, Their supporters wore bloodstained T-shirts. They had the names of police victims written on them. NY police shot Margarita Rosario’s son, Antonio, 14 times in 1995. At the same time they shot her nephew, Hilton Veg, eight times. The boys were lying down when police murdered them. Two bodyguards for ex-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani killed them. Neither cop was ever charged Cops killed Allene Person’s 10-year-old son, Timur, in 2006. His hands were in the air. Plainclothes officers shot Joann Mickins son, Corey, 12 times in a restaurant in 2007. Loretta Cerbelli’s Son, Kevin, was on the ground in a police station in 1998. Cops shot him in the back. A cop killed Nicholas Heyward’s 13-year-old son Nicholas Jr while playing cops and robbers in 1994. Cops shot Doris Bush Boskey’s son, Gidone, 12 times in 1999. Witnesses said he didn’t pose a threat to anyone. A white lynch mob chased Altagracia Mayi’s son, Manny, 16 blocks in 1991. Then they killed him. None of the members of the gang were indicted. One was later admitted into the police academy. Juanita Young has never stopped fighting for justice for her son, Malcolm Ferguson. Ferguson was unarmed when Officer Louis Rivera killed him on March 1, 2000. Five days earlier police had arrested him. Why? He was protesting the acquittal of four cops who shot Armandou Diallo 41 times. Last year a civil court ruled Officer Rivera was 100% responsible for Ferguson’s death. It awarded Young $10 million. The Bronx DA is appealing this verdict. Police continue to threaten and abuse Young and her family. She faces criminal charges of assaulting police who invaded her home. Cops claim the legally blind mother threw a box of cake mix at them. Young told the crowd. “Either we bury this system or we bury our kids. No justice, no peace.”
Black Mothers Taking Action Finding
organizations started by or specifically for Black moms is a hard
task. Philena Rush, www.sistermoms.com SisterMoms is a network of mothers who get together every other month on the second Sunday. It facilitates a nationwide discussion list of over 150 mothers. They share ideas and thoughts about motherhood and resources. Members have been known to post 32 responses to a single question in one hour. www.coabode.org CoAbode offers a match-making service to provide single moms the opportunity to share housing. They can pool resources and finances with another single mom of their choosing. www.sistasontherise.org Sistas on the Rise is a space for young women of color, ages 13 to 21. It helps them take ownership and power over their lives and create a healthy community. They offer a safe space to develop leadership skills, socio-political analysis and organize without being marginalized. Many young women who became pregnant dropout of existing youth programs. They do not receive the support necessary for their continued participation. One of the goals is to build sisterhood among young women who have children and those who do not. If you are interested in starting your own organization for mothers, find guidelines online at blackwomanandchild.com.
The Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association This organization advocates for breastfeeding in the African American community. It wants to improve the quality of life and enhance self-reliance. It educates, provides resources, offers on-going support and joins with other organizations that share their interests. In October, BMBFA is hosting a seminar “Breastfeeding: How to Reach the Goals of Healthy People 2010 in Minority Communities” in Detroit. Contact: Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Assoc., Kiddada Ramey, 19436 Packard, Detroit, MI 48234, (313) 366-5996, k.ramey@blackmotherbreastfeeding.org
Moms Hit McCain on Sex Discrimination Bill In June, employed moms, some with babies in strollers, went to John McCain’s DC office. McCain’s aides accepted a petition signed by 29,000 women. The women were from MomsRising.org. The petition blasted McCain for his stand on the Lilly Ledbetter pay discrimination bill. McCain supported the Supreme Courts decision. So he failed to vote. The Supreme Court ruled that women must sue within 180 days of their hire date--even if they didn’t discover the discrimination until much later. The Lilly Ledbetter bill would increase the time limit for suing a company for pay discrimination. “Through the years McCain has voted wrong on anything that would help women to be treated more equally,” said Liz Hourican. She has spent 18 months in DC protesting McCain’s support for the war in Iraq.
Women’s Groups Teach Safe Self-Help Abortions
Women on Waves, a Dutch group, carried out the action with Ecuador’s Coordinadora Juvenil. Both groups work for legalization of abortion. Women who have an abortion in Ecuador can be jailed for one to five years. Those performing an abortion face two to five years. See www.womenonwaves.org.
In Nepal: All-Women Protest to Free Tibet Over 500 Tibetan women protested outside the Chinese Embassy in Nepal on May 10. They demanded a free Tibet. About 20,000 Tibetan refugees live in Nepal. Tibetan exiles have protested outside the Chinese Embassy and UN offices for two months. They demand respect for human rights in Tibet. And they want a UN investigation into the deaths of protesters in Tibet.
California: Billboards Get a Makeover The California Department of Corrections is modifying billboards in California. They are an anti-consumerist group. One of the modified billboards reads “Sexism is Hell. Fashion is Fraud.” Another billboard appeared outside a Lucky supermarket chain store. It described working conditions for strawberry pickers. It reads “Freshness First. Farmworkers last. Lucky you’re middle class.”
Massachusetts: to Ban Height/Weight Discrimination Massachusetts will soon be the second state to ban height and weight discrimination. Bill H.1844 will include “height” and “weight” with all other groups protected from discrimination. (Sex, race, disability, gender etc). Massachusetts’s residents should still ask their elected officials to support Bill H.1844. People who have experienced size discrimination in employment, education, public accommodations or health care are needed to share their experiences. A representative filed a similar bill a few years ago based on one discrimination complaint from a constituent. Contact National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance Board Member Jeanne Toombs at steinwaytoo@verizon.net.
Philly: Honey from the Hood
Greensgrow is a one-acre plot of raised beds and greenhouses in a big city. It grows and sells its own vegetables, herbs, plants and seedlings. It sells peaches from New Jersey and tomatoes from Lancaster County. Breads, meats and cheeses come from small local growers within a few hours of Greensgrow. The tiny farm is on the site of a former factory in the low-income Kensington section of Philadelphia. The mission it accomplished was to take postindustrial land and turn it into a green business. At Greensgrow a colony of bees produces about 80 pounds of “Honey from the Hood.” Greensgrow also makes biodiesel for its vehicles. They use the waste oil produced by restaurants that buy its vegetables. Mary Seton Corboy co-founded Greensgrow in 1998. She persuaded the local Community Development Corporation to buy the site. They bought it and now rent it to the Greensgrow farm for $150 a month. Coreboy made an initial investment of $25,000. She and her partner have spent $100,000 over the years on items like plastic covered greenhouses and trucked-in soil. Soil was used to cover the steel and concrete foundation of the factory. The farm earned about $10,000 on sales of $450,000 last year. They hope to make $33,000 profit on $650,000 in sales this year. Then they will be able to open another farm elsewhere in Philly. Corboy makes $65,000 a year. Customers say the farm is a “little bit of heaven” in a very poor neighborhood.
Sources: New York Times, People’s Weekly World, Workers World, Rain and Thunder, Black Woman and Child, Compleat Mother
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Summer
2008
administrator for blackworkathomemoms.com, said “We have a
very bad image in our videos, movies and the internet. I just want
something out there for the small percentage of us that decided to
make a difference in our community and be home for our kids and keep
them off the streets.” Here are a few organizations they found:
Two
women’s rights groups unfurled a banner on a statue of the
Virgin Mary in Quito, Ecuador. The banner reads “Safe
abortion, 09-900-4545.” The number is a hotline. The hotline
teaches women how to perform a safe abortion themselves. It involves
using pills at home.