BeyondGeography
BeyondGeography's Journal9-year-old kills self after racist taunts from class: family
McKenzie Adams relatives said she hanged herself Dec. 3 in her home in Linden, about 100 miles west of Montgomery, and was discovered by her grandmother, according to the Tuscaloosa News.
Since the start of the school year, the fourth-grader had been the target of bullying at US Jones Elementary School, where she was teased over her friendship with a white male classmate, according to her family.
Her aunt, Eddwina Harris, said the group of students taunted McKenzie by telling her to commit suicide.
She was being bullied the entire school year, with words such as kill yourself, you think youre white because you ride with that white boy, you ugly, black bitch, just die, Harris told the newspaper.
Harris said shes speaking out about her nieces death because she wants to promote anti-bullying...
https://nypost.com/2018/12/10/9-year-old-committed-suicide-after-classmates-taunted-kill-yourself-family/
OP link is to the NY Post because it's more to the point than local coverage:
https://www.dispatch.com/news/20181209/9-year-old-girls-suicide-shocks-small-alabama-community
GM Lordstown prayer service
The pain is deep and real. Please watch with respect and hold the snark.
Maria by Callas...Destiny is destiny; there is no way out.
Bernard Glassman, Zen Master and Social Activist, Dies at 79
The cause was sepsis, his wife, Eve Marko, said.
Contrary to the stereotype of a Zen practitioner lost in meditation, Mr. Glassman was deeply active in the world and in trying to address its ills. His activism was as much a product of his Buddhist spiritualism as it was of the liberal Jewish tradition into which he was born; the two remained inseparable throughout his life.
Mr. Glassman was one of the most important figures in Engaged Buddhism, which applies Buddhist teachings to what many Jews call tikkun olam, the project of repairing the brokenness in the world, Jay Michaelson wrote in a tribute in The Forward after Mr. Glassmans death.
Mr. Michaelson called Mr. Glassman a Zen mensch.
Mr. Glassman broke into pop culture, sort of, when he got together with the actor Jeff Bridges, a friend, to write a slim volume called The Dude and the Zen Master, published in 2013. Mr. Bridges played Jeffrey Lebowski, a California slacker known as The Dude, in Joel and Ethan Coens cult movie The Big Lebowski (1998).
When Mr. Glassman told Mr. Bridges that some Buddhists considered his character a Zen master, based in part on his enigmatic utterances (The Dude abides, The Dude is not in), Mr. Bridges agreed to collaborate with him on a book about the movies Zen lessons.
Not being in not being attached to Jeff or Bernie or whoever you are is the essence of Zen, Mr. Glassman explains in the book. When were not attached to our identity, it allows all the messages of the world to come in and be heard. When were not in, creation can happen.
...In 1982 he opened the Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, initially as a way to provide jobs for Zen students. He eventually hired anyone who wanted a job, regardless of employment history or arrest record.
The bakery was soon making brownies and supplying them to ice cream makers, supermarkets and restaurants; today its food processing plant turns out 35,000 pounds of brownies a day. Its slogan is We dont hire people to bake brownies. We bake brownies to hire people.
Mr. Glassman (whose first marriage ended in divorce) and his second wife, Sandra Holmes, founded the Greyston Foundation, sometimes called Greyston Mandala, in 1989 to address community needs in Yonkers. Its programs provide day care, job training, produce-growing gardens, medical care and housing for about 5,000 people a year.
More at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/obituaries/bernard-glassman-dead.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fobituaries&action=click&contentCollection=obituaries®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront
Marcia Fudge, Toying With Speaker Run, Slams Nancy Pelosi
While she stopped short of officially throwing her hat in the ring during a sit-down interview with HuffPost, Fudge said shes been overwhelmed by the number of people reaching out to support her potential speaker bid. She thinks the the opposition to Pelosi in the caucus is much greater than the 17 Democrats who have signed a letter saying they wont support Pelosi to be speaker, and Fudge said if the vote were held today, Pelosi would be well short of the numbers.
I dont hate Nancy. I think Nancy has been a very good leader, Fudge told HuffPost. I just think its time for a new one.
...Fudge pointed to Pelosis refusal to endorse in the race for Majority Whip, a race between current No. 3 Democrat ― and CBC stalwart ― Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), and Dianna DeGette (D-Colo.).
But she wants our endorsements? Fudge said of Pelosi. Who has she endorsed?
Were not feeling the love, Fudge added.
...Fudge offered that one of the reasons people dont like Pelosi is because they see her as an elitist.
And I think to some degree she is, Fudge continued. Shes a very wealthy person, she raises a lot of money from a lot of other wealthy people.
Everybody wants to give her such big credit for winning back the House, and she should be here because she won. She didnt win it by herself, Fudge said.
If were going to give her credit for the wins, why is she not responsible for all the losses, Fudge asked, specifically pointing to the 63 seats Democrats lost in 2010 and the large majorities Republicans held in 2012, 2014, and 2016.
...Fudge also said she would be more bottom-up in her procedural approach than Pelosi. Just think about what happened, Fudge said. One day after we win back the House, leadership comes out and starts talking about whats going to be our first bill, what were going to do first. Did they talk to anybody?
Team means doing What I want you to do, she said.
She offered that the top priority of Democrats might be protections for people with pre-existing conditions, it might be student debt, or infrastructure, or job creation. But nobody, none of the doors I knocked on, none of the peoples hands I shook, said, You should make campaign finance reform your No. 1 issue, she said.
More at https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marcia-fudge-speaker_us_5bed9033e4b03af89267a979
Democratic Rep. Fudge says she's 'overwhelmed' by support as she weighs speaker bid
Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said in an interview with The Washington Post, adding that there are probably closer to 30 Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi.
Things could change rapidly, Fudge said with a smile as she sat in her office, with her phone buzzing nearby.
Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies on the CBC, moderate Democrats, and newly elected members.
...Fudge has been criticized by Pelosi allies and other Democrats for not co-sponsoring the Equality Act, which focuses on civil rights protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.
When asked on Thursday about her position, Fudge said, They cant find one vote, not one vote, thats anti LGBT rights. I just dont want to insert it into the civil rights bill. It should be a stand-alone bill and Id support that.
More at https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/democratic-rep-fudge-says-shes-overwhelmed-by-support-as-she-weighs-speaker-bid/2018/11/15/01ae4dea-e8ea-11e8-bbdb-72fdbf9d4fed_story.html?utm_term=.995ef7e6f603
Rep. Marcia Fudge weighing a bid for House Speaker
Source: Cleveland.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge says she's considering challenging California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker.
Fudge said she does not believe Pelosi has enough votes to win the job, as many newly elected Democrats promised not to support her. Opponents to Pelosi are seeking an alternative candidate and have approached her about the job.
"People are asking me to do it, and I am thinking about it," Fudge told cleveland.com. "I need to give it some thought and see if I have an interest. I am at the very beginning of this process. It is just in discussion at this point."
Fudge said voters backed Democrats because they wanted a change, and Pelosi doesn't represent that. Fudge is also dismayed that neither of the party's two top leaders, Pelosi and Maryland's Steny Hoyer, is a minority, and said an African American woman should be in leadership.
"When you look at the people who support this party the most, they are women and African Americans and especially African American women," said Fudge. "We keep talking about diversity, but there is nothing diverse about the top of our ticket. We have to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk."
Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/11/rep_marcia_fudge_weighing_a_bi.html
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Joins Protestors At Pelosi's Office
NY-19: Hello Delgado, goodbye Faso
https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1060019052960272385Are worries over Latino turnout in the midterms too little, too late?
A woman wearing a T-shirt promoting Beto ORourke, the Democrat running for U.S. Senate, handed out fliers with polling location information and told the children sitting on the curb in front of Resendez: You get all of these people out to vote, okay?
Resendez, 34, laughed and said, Tell her you shouldnt be doing her job!
Amid the laughter came a sober reality, particularly for Democrats trying to reverse the Republican hold on Texas: That back-and-forth was Resendezs first interaction with a campaign this year and it came just 10 days before the election, and after the deadline to register to vote.
...This year, the countrys growing Latino population could again play a deciding role in races in Texas and elsewhere and, once again, Latino activists say that Democratic and Republican campaigns have neglected to spend enough time and money directly encouraging Latinos to register and vote.
Latinos have long voted at lower rates than whites and African Americans. Only 45 percent of Latinos who are eligible to vote turned out in 2016, compared to 65 percent of whites and 60 percent of blacks. The rate was even lower during the two previous elections: 21 percent of Latinos voted in 2014, and 43 percent did so in 2012.
More at https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/are-worries-over-latino-turnout-in-the-midterms-too-little-too-late/2018/11/01/c3fa1f06-dcf5-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html?utm_term=.52cbee71e1cb
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