Monthly Archives: November 2023

Published 11-17-23

Submitted by The PNC Financial Services Group

Were acutely focused on the impact were causing. How does this change lives and provide capital to own a home, start a business, stabilize or revitalize community, Richard Bynum

PNCs second annual Community Leadership Symposium brought together business, policy and community leaders from across the country for a full-day of networking, panel discussions and evidence-based learning at The Tower at PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh.

At last months invitation-only symposium, nearly 120 leaders from a diverse cross-section of industries gathered with PNC leadership and stakeholders to share data-driven insights and actionable solutions to elevate and advance economic opportunities for low and moderate-income communities and communities of color.

Forums like these offer our stakeholders a shared space to learn, network, and discuss the work we do to create a more inclusive economy, said Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer Richard Bynum. To drive real impact in our under-resourced communities, we have to continue to listen and to build on the transformational work were accomplishing with the Community Benefits Plan.

PNC hosted the annual gathering of community stakeholders as part of the companys broader pledge to provide $88 billion in loans, investments and other financial support to bolster economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals, communities, and people of color. During the event, Bynum shared an update on the Plans progress, noting that even in a difficult interest rate environment, PNC expects to outpace home lending goals outlined in the four-year plan.

New Community Stakeholder Assessment Shows Critical Need for Housing

Across the country, demand for affordable housing continues to exceed supply. And despite increased funding efforts like PNCs Community Benefits Plan, stakeholders expect the pipeline of future projects to continue to fall short as both developers and consumers face growing cost pressures.

Thats one of the key findings of new research unveiled by Community Development Banking Managing Director Reymundo Ocaas at this years event. An in-depth survey of nearly 1000 community stakeholders, PNCs inaugural 2023 Stakeholder Needs Assessment Survey examines the most pressing barriers, needs and trends among community economic development organizations serving LMI communities across PNCs footprint.

We received responses from nearly 500 community organizations and by far affordable housing emerged as the top ranked need for LMI members across our regions, followed closely by workforce development and neighborhood revitalization, said Ocaas These findings give us an opportunity to create intentional and actionable strategies to better support the communities that need it the most.

With a focus on creating measurable community impact, Ocaas noted that insights gained from the research study will support future implementation of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and Community Benefits Plan programming and strategies in PNCs markets and help strengthen the Banks existing community development efforts.

Panelists Share Actionable Solutions to Accelerate Community Impact

Leaning into a commitment to deliver evidence-based learning to advance economic opportunities in LMI communities, the Symposium included four discussions panels that offered attendees the opportunity to explore several challenges highlighted in the Community Stakeholder Survey.

Moderated by PNCs Chief Diversity Officer Gina Coleman, Retail Banking Alex Overstrom and head of C&IB Mike Lyons, a series of panel conversations centered around compelling community investment topics emphasizing best practices in economic inclusion, affordable housing, workforce development, small business, and climate resiliency.

From elevating entrepreneurship as a way to boost generational wealth to leveraging alternative credit history models to improve affordable rental and homeownership, experts from the Center for Economic Inclusion, Raza Development Fund, National Community Reinvestment Coalition and other noted community organizations shared experiences and actional solutions to support sustainable economic development within under-resourced communities.

As a Main Street bank, we are committed to delivering on each of our strategic priorities while looking out for the best interests of all of our stakeholders, including our customers, communities, employees and shareholders. Our focus on operating with integrity drives us to help our customers achieve their goals while also strengthening our communities, reducing our environmental impact and empowering our employees to grow.

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President Biden has said from day one that we needed a diverse coalition, including young people, to help us come up with the best solutions for todays challenges, EPA Administrator Michael Regan told theGrio.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the federal governments first-ever youth advisory council to help solve the global climate crisis and ensure equitable outcomes for Black and brown communities.

The National Environmental Youth Advisory Council comprises 16 members between 16 and 29 and includes diverse young leaders representing Black and brown communities in the environmental space.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan told theGrio that the historic advisory council was intentional for the Biden-Harris administration to bring young people and minority communities to the table as a brain trust to collectively address the rising threats of the climate crisis and other environmental harms.

President [Joe] Biden has said from day one that we needed a diverse coalition, including young people, to help us come up with the best solutions for todays challenges, said Regan.

I think we all can recognize that young people have been at the forefront of every major movement in society, whether it be political or social change, he continued, and the environmental movement is no different.

The advisory council represents 10 regions designated by EPA, including urban, rural, and tribal communities. Members hail from 13 states and Washington, D.C.

Weighing things such as race, ethnicity, gender, and even political views, Regan said the EPA was intentional about who was handpicked from the more than 1,500 applicants.

National Environmental Youth Advisory Council member Wawa Gatheru, a native of Philadelphia, told theGrio she is eager to get to work with her colleagues and Regan to represent the voices and concerns of youth of color, in particular, who have for so long been left out.

The 24-year-old entrepreneur got involved in environmentalism as a teenager after learning about the environmental justice movement from a curriculum created by her high school teacher.

[It] showed me that the climate crisis was not this far-off issue, but it was actually a lot more personal, and that it not only creates new problems but exacerbates every existing social ill, she said.

Gatheru is the CEO of Black Girl Environmentalist, an organization she created to empower and resource early-career Black women and Black gender-expansive folks in the climate sector and movement.

Black Girl Environmentalist began as an Instagram page in January 2021, but as it expanded its digital community, the Rhodes scholar decided to build out the national organization.

As the federal government makes historic investments and commitments toward environmental justice, Gatheru said communities need to know how to access the available funding. As a youth advisory council member, she also wants to ensure that Black and brown lives are centered, both in conversations and policy.

Were all weathering the same storm that is a climate crisis, but were not all in the same boat, she explained. Its so important that environmental justice and participatory justice is emphasized in these processes.

Young people have been at the forefront of the climate and environmental movement, leading mass marches across the country and, at times, bringing them to the gates of the White House. Young activists have also been critical of the Biden-Harris administration, urging officials to do more to avert the continual warming of the planet as more natural disasters decimate Black, brown, poor, and rural communities.

Regan told theGrio he and the administration welcome the critical voices of young people.

We hope that the young people will challenge us in a way that produces better solutions, better products. After all, were solving the climate crisis; we are addressing climate anxiety for their futures, he shared. They should have a seat at the table, and they should be a part of this future vision that we are shaping.

The National Environmental Youth Advisory Council will meet at least twice yearly starting in 2024. Regan, who noted this will be a true partnership, said he would sit down with members to determine their first orders of business but shared that priorities will include climate change, environmental justice, conservation, air quality, and access to clean water.

The administrator shared that he will also rely on the young leaders to reach demographics and communities that he and Biden cant reach easily in helping to educate them about climate and environmental issues.

We hope to [rely on] not only their intellectual capacity but their social media prowess, their ability to communicate, educate, and disseminate information, he said.

Gatheru said forming the advisory council is a great step by the Biden-Harris administration and that she appreciates how intentional officials have been in engaging young people, including hosting various roundtables with youth across the country.

While youth washing is something she said often occurs in the climate space, so far, she said the administration has shown signs that they want to make sure our voices are actually influencing and that we have this reciprocal relationship where were all working together.

They have a lot of opportunities here to help the Biden administration really cement some of the ideas and efforts that were putting forth, said Regan, who noted that the president has not been shy about doing what is necessary to combat the climate crisis.

He has worked with Congress to produce the largest amount of resources ever put to tackling the climate crisis. Were talking about billions of dollars that will impact a trillion-plus dollar economy, he continued. Its vital that young people have a seat at the table as we implement our policies or regulations.

Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C.

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EPA centers diversity with first-ever environmental youth advisory council - Yahoo News

In July 2023, YCSC Assistant Professor Christina Cipriano, PhD, together with her colleagues and collaborators, launched a new, independent research lab, the Education Collaboratory at Yale. The lab is committed to advancing the science and practice of social and emotional learning in schools worldwide. In this Q&A, Cipriano shares some insight into her journey and about her teams work.

Growing up my parents instilled in me and my three siblings a deep commitment to education as a means of opportunity and access. My dad, who went to school through the 8th grade, would always remind us to stay in school, love learning, and when you have a question, ask your teachers! They are the experts and there to help you succeed. It's no surprise that all these years later, I am a champion of educators and their expertise!

Lately, I have been asked a lot how I got into the field of SEL. The truth is, the way I see it, the field found me.

I was fifteen years old and a sophomore in a large public high school in suburban Long Island when the Columbine school shooting happened on April 20, 1999. The first mass school shooting to make national attention, I was struck by how the school and community was responding to it. Our high school and many others nationwide quickly banned the wearing of leather jackets, trench coats, and studded belts, and started profiling students based on what they were wearing while working to install metal detectors. These reactionary behaviors were concurrent with the mass media blasting and damning certain types of rock music.

So, I wrote a letter to my local Congressman and asked why the schools on Long Island were profiling students rather than working to address the actual issues at hand restoring our safety. The letter, that included a snarky line that the gunmen were wearing underwear too, why arent you banning that, and why is it based on what you can see, won me an award, an invitation and the honor to meet then President Clinton, and to be an author of the first national Youth House Resolution Against Violence. I returned from Washington and spent the next two years of high school rolling out peace games, anti-bullying pledges and programming across the district and neighboring communities in the region.

Fast forward to September 11, 2001, I stood in the caf on campus at Hofstra University on the first day of my undergraduate education and watched the second plane crash into the tower live on a little square TV on CNN. After two weeks of shut down, as our campus became a hub for first responders going in and out of Manhattan for recovery efforts, I was struck by the racial and ethnic profiling I was witnessing in the media and in our community. I volunteered as a campus ambassador for Facing History and Ourselves and facilitated community building and bias training sessions to support healing and safety for all students and their families.

If space allowed, I could continue to share one experience after another across my life where I intersected with discrimination, bias, and hate and leaned into the discomfort to effect change and promote justice, equity, and inclusion through social and emotional learning. It was not until I was a doc student at Boston College that I had a phrase for the work I was deeply committed to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and from then on, across my development and life I have been invested in ensuring all students, families, and communities are safe to learn and thrive in school.

There is not a day where I am not grateful for the path I have traveled to the privilege I have today to learn and grow alongside students, teachers, and communities nationwide. The collaborative work of our team to advance the science and practice of SEL is our calling and evidenced by our deep commitment to build the fields way forward at this critical inflection point.

As an applied education scientist, Ive been learning and leading in the education field for nearly two decades. Most recently, I incubated the foundation for the Education Collaboratory for five years as Director of Research at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence under the frame of the Division of Research. During this transformational time for the field of SEL and our collective research, I supported the expansion and built out our rigorous and relevant research agenda. Now as a fully independent entity housed at Yale, the Education Collaboratory is built upon intentional collaboration with students, educators, leaders, and organizations to investigate, inspire, and address questions in the Who, What, and How of inclusive and equitable SEL.

Our science is leading the national discourse to evolve the definition of SEL alongside a burgeoning field by undertaking critical evidence synthesis, identifying promising practices for inclusive and equitable implementation and evaluation of SEL in school settings, and supporting the next generation of data practices through novel SEL assessments and community-based approaches to intervention science.

We are a thought leader and catalyst for evolution in the fields of social and emotional learning, educational measurement, and implementation science. Our collaborative science is currently organized in three main areas:

1. We intentionally center the experiences of students, educators, and families that are marginalized in the school community in our collaborative research projects. Marginalized populations are students, educators, and families in the school community with minoritized racial, ethnic, linguistic, gender, sexual, or disability identities and the intersections there within. Our work seeks to support conditions for learning, teaching, and thriving for all marginalized students, educators, and families.

2. We are committed to advancing the science of evidence synthesis for the field of SEL. What counts as evidence? How do we understand and support access to contemporary evidence that is transparent, inclusive, and meaningful for the diversity of SEL stakeholders? What methods can be employed to support translational science for SEL to support the proliferation and evolution of evidence-based practices in SEL implementation and evaluation?

3. We are deeply invested in the co-design, building, and evaluation of meaningful measurements of discrete and necessary SEL assessments that support the SEL field in understanding and connecting the dots in their respective and collective SEL implementation journeys. Our measurement portfolio includes school-based assessments at the student, classroom, teacher, and school level, and utilizes web-based technologies and rigorous, equity forward methodologies that are anchored in feasibility and real-world utility to support classrooms, schools, and communities' data-driven decision making. All our assessments democratize the data collected and reported to ensure participant access, ownership, and application.

Our collaborative inquiries co-construct youth, educator, and family accounts of discriminatory, inequitable, or prejudicial practices, policies, and pedagogies and offers novel opportunities to improve, advance, or optimize accessible, inclusive, and safe experiences for marginalized student, educators, and families.

I think the future of the field rests in our ability to demonstrate our social and emotional skills in action through finding commonalities across different perspectives, increased heterogeneity of SEL as a construct, and the evolution of how we assess and evaluate it. To be more precise, its incredibly important that we attend to the evolution of SEL honestly so that it can be a truly inclusive and helpful support for all students, schools, and communities. Continuing to treat SEL as one thing, or as all things, or as all the same thing, will not be helpful to the field and will not support the fields necessary evolution in support of all students, schools, and communities.

Since January 1st 2020, the Education Collaboratory has produced more than 50 publications, reports, and commentaries, spanning top tier peer reviewed journals and media outlets, and more than 90 presentations at national and international conferences, agencies, and universities. Currently, the Education Collaboratory is learning alongside 64 school partners, in 22 states, and manages an active portfolio of $8 million sponsored project dollars. This work is generously funded by:

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Rigor, Relevance, & Reality: Education Collaboratory at Yale ... - Yale School of Medicine

GENEVA (16 November 2023) Grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the aftermath of 7 October, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making, UN experts said today. They illustrated evidence of increasing genocidal incitement, overt intent to destroy the Palestinian people under occupation, loud calls for a second Nakba in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, and the use of powerful weaponry with inherently indiscriminate impacts, resulting in a colossal death toll and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.

Many of us already raised the alarm about the risk of genocide in Gaza, the experts said. We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire. We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel's strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international system to mobilise to prevent genocide, they said.

The bombardment and siege of Gaza have reportedly killed over 11,000 people, injured more than 27,000 and displaced 1.6 million persons since 7 October 2023, while thousands are still under the rubble. Of those killed, about 41 per cent are children and 25 percent are women. On average, one child is killed and two are injured every 10 minutes during the war, turning Gaza into a graveyard for children, according to the UN Secretary-General. Almost 200 medics, 102 UN staff, 41 journalists, frontline and human rights defenders, have also been killed, while dozens of families over five generations have been wiped out.

This occurs amidst Israels tightening of its 16-year unlawful blockade of Gaza, which has prevented people from escaping and left them without food, water, medicine and fuel for weeks now, despite international appeals to provide access for critical humanitarian aid. As we previously said, intentional starvation amounts to a war crime, the experts said.

They noted that half of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed, including more than 40,000 housing units, as well as hospitals, schools, mosques, bakeries, water pipes, sewage and electricity networks, in a way that threatens to make the continuation of Palestinian life in Gaza impossible.

The reality in Gaza, with its unbearable pain and trauma on the survivors, is a catastrophe of enormous proportions, the experts said.

Such egregious violations cannot be justified in the name of self-defense after attacks by Hamas on 7 October, which we have condemned in the strongest possible terms, the experts said. Israel remains the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territory, which also includes the Gaza Strip, and therefore cannot wage a war against the population under its belligerent occupation, they said.

In order to be legitimate, Israels response must be strictly within the framework of international humanitarian law, the UN experts said. The presence of underground tunnels in parts of Gaza does not eliminate the civilian status of individuals and infrastructure that cannot be directly targeted nor suffer disproportionately, they said.

The experts also raised the alarm about the escalation of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, by soldiers and armed settlers. Since 7 October 2023, at least 190 Palestinians have been killed, more than 2,700 injured, and over 1,100 individuals displaced in the occupied West Bank. On 9 November, Israeli forces also bombed, for the second time, the Jenin refugee camp with heavy artillery and airstrikes, killing at least 14 Palestinians. The increasingly coercive environment has also led to forcible displacement of several communities of pastoralists and Bedouin People in the Jordan Valley and south of the Hebron Hills.

We are deeply distressed at the failure of Israel to agree to and the unwillingness of the international community to press more decisively for an immediate ceasefire. The failure to urgently implement a ceasefire risks this situation spiralling towards a genocide conducted with 21st century means and methods of warfare, the experts warned.

They also expressed alarm over discernibly genocidal and dehumanising rhetoric coming from senior Israeli government officials, as well as some professional groups and public figures, calling for the total destruction, and erasure of Gaza, the need to finish them all and force Palestinians from the West Bank and east Jerusalem into Jordan. The experts warned that Israel has demonstrated it has the military capacity to implement such criminal intentions.

That is why our early warning must not be ignored, the experts said.

The international community has an obligation to prevent atrocity crimes, including genocide, and should immediately consider all diplomatic, political and economic measures to that end, the experts said. They urged immediate action by UN Member States and the UN system as a whole.

In the short-term, the experts reiterated their call to Israel and Hamas to implement an immediate ceasefire, and:

They also recommended:

The international community, including not only States but also non-State actors such as businesses, must do everything it can to immediately end the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people, and ultimately end Israeli apartheid and occupation of the Palestinian territory, the experts said.

We remind Member States that what is at stake is not only the fate of Israelis and Palestinians, but a serious conflagration of the conflict in the region, leading to more human rights violations and suffering of innocent civilians, they said.

*** The experts: Francesca Albanese,** Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967; Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers; Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Chair), Claudia Flores, Ivana Krsti, Haina Lu, and Laura Nyirinkindi, Working group on discrimination against women and girls; Surya Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; Ravindran Daniel (Chair-Rapporteur), Sorcha MacLeod, Chris Kwaja, Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito, Carlos Salazar Couto, Working Group on the use of mercenaries; Barbara G. Reynolds (Chair), Bina DCosta, Dominique Day, Catherine Namakula, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Damilola Olawuyi (Chairperson), Robert McCorquodale (Vice-Chairperson), Elbieta Karska, Fernanda Hopenhaym, and Pichamon Yeophantong, Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; Siobhn Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing; Ashwini K.P. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Irene Khan Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression; Ms Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name of the Councils independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

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Gaza: UN experts call on international community to prevent ... - ReliefWeb

Fathering Together and City Dads Group Join Forces to Offer Essential Resources to Fathers Around the World

CHICAGO, Nov. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Two leading organizations dedicated to supporting and empowering fathers, Fathering Together and City Dads Group, are thrilled to create a stronger and more comprehensive platform to champion engaged fatherhood through local communities and provide vital resources and connections across the globe.

This new organization integrates the collective strengths and expertise to advance the work of promoting active and engaged fatherhood. This strategic partnership will result in a broader network, enhanced programming, and a more significant impact on the lives of fathers, families, and communities.

Cordan James, a respected leader in the field of fatherhood advocacy, will lead the combined organization as Executive Director. Cordan states, "I'm honored to step into this role. As a dad of three kids and as a child of adoption, I understand the important role and influence dads can have on creating positive change in the lives of their children. My goal is to build on the past success and create a movement that brings about a more equitable and inclusive world for all."

Key benefits of the partnership include:

Commenting on the partnership, Matt Schneider, Co-Founder of City Dads Group, said, "We are thrilled to join with Fathering Together to strengthen, sustain and expand our communities. We have a real opportunity to positively impact the way we view and value fathers as a society."

Brian Anderson, Co-Founder & Board President of Fathering Together, added, "We are honored that City Dads Group places their faith in us to continue advocating for fathers worldwide. We look forward to bringing the City Dads Group community into ours so we might empower dads to be emotionally courageous, connected, and committed to their families."

As Fathering Together integrates City Dads Group's operations, it will continue to reimagine fatherhood through intentional communities, championing new narratives and implementing school-based programs for dads.

About Fathering Together:

Fathering Together is a global network of over 125,000 fathers and allies around the world dedicated to promoting active fatherhood and providing support, resources, advocacy, and education for dads. Established in 2018, Fathering Together is passionate about challenging stereotypes and advocating for equitable parenting. Their work has touched the lives of countless dads, offering guidance on parenting, relationships, and personal development. Fathering Together has also been a leading voice in promoting equality in caregiving responsibilities and emphasizing the importance of fatherhood as a cornerstone of healthy societies through virtual panels, workshops, and digital stories. To learn more, visit http://www.fatheringtogether.org.

About City Dads Group:

City Dads Group is a diverse community of fathers dedicated to being actively involved in their children's lives. Founded in 2008, City Dads Group has chapters in 41 cities across the United States and Canada and is committed to redefining and promoting modern fatherhood. Their commitment to breaking down stereotypes about fatherhood and fostering inclusive communities has made them a recognized force for positive change. To learn more, visit http://www.citydadsgroup.com.

Media ContactRebecca Hochreiter, Fathering Together Board Member, 1 718-909-8923, [emailprotected]

SOURCE Fathering Together

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Fathering Together Announces Acquisition of City Dads Group - PR Web

In the largest environmental lawsuit settlement in Washington, D.C. history, the Potomac Electric Power Company (commonly known as Pepco) will pay out more than $57 million over $47 million to clean up the river it polluted and another $10 million in fines.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb recently announced the settlement, saying that Pepco would pay for persistent toxic pollution of the Anacostia River, which runs through D.C. and Maryland.

CBS News reported that Pepco, which has operated in the area for a century, previously ran two facilities on the river, Buzzard Point and Benning Road, that, according to the Attorney General, resulted in spills, equipment leaks, and intentional releases of petroleum and hazardous substances.

Those other hazardous substances included polychlorinated biphenyls, which were banned in 1979, per CBS, and which the Environmental Protection Agency considers probable human carcinogens.

The Benning Road Facility was operational from 1906 to 2012. The government began overseeing an investigation of the facility in 2011, shortly before it shut down. The other facility, Buzzard Point, was accused of spilling or intentionally discharging its pollutants into the river.

It is certainly a good thing that Pepco is being made to pay to help clean up the river it intentionally (per the attorney generals office) discharged toxic chemicals into (going against its own stated policy in the process). Unfortunately, though, none of that money will go to the human victims of its crimes.

A 2012 study partially funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that nearly half of the people living near the Anacostia were unaware of the dangers of eating fish from the river and that about 17,000 could be eating the contaminated fish.

The report uncovered further evidence that many local fishermen who were disproportionately African American, Latino, or Asian are catching, eating, and sharing potentially contaminated fish with family, friends, and others, greatly expanding the possible long-term health risks to the public, a website summary of the study read.

This is yet another example of environmental racism, which the Natural Resources Defense Council defines as the intentional siting of polluting and waste facilities in communities primarily populated by African Americans, Latines, Indigenous People, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, migrant farmworkers, and low-income workers.

While this settlement goes toward fighting environmental racism in the future, to many of its victims, immense harm has already been done.

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Company to pay over $50 million in largest environmental lawsuit settlement in D.C. history: Health risks to the public - Yahoo News

Ivan Valerio 26 passed away last Tuesday. Evelyn Mae Sorensen 25 passed away in mid-September. Yan Zhou 23 passed away of apparent suicide on Oct. 20, 2021.

After three deaths in two years, student death on campus is beginning to feel like a normal part of life at Middlebury.

While the causes of Ivans and Evelyns deaths apart from the fact that there was no foul play involved have not been shared, it is clear that the deaths themselves have affected the mental health and well-being of the larger student body. We call on the administration to make a more concerted effort to support students and faculty following a tragedy, but not only in the days immediately following such a tragedy. The college must commit resources, funding and attention to mental health on campus through expanding access to a variety of counseling services.

Similar to their responses following Evelyns and Yans deaths, the administration said in their initial email notifying the student body of the student's death on Tuesday morning that they plan to continue classes and other activities as usual so that the community can remain connected. We understand that this approach is grounded in community and public health best practices, but such an attitude inevitably contributes to moving on from the tragedy before processing its weight and normalizing student deaths as a routine part of life at Middlebury.

When students were in the midst of the vibrant and lively student activities fair in September, the college released Evelyns name as the student who had passed away in Forest Hall. This experience encapsulates how normalized these events have become. The college has begun to act as though student death is an acceptable topic for a mid-afternoon email, rather than a tragedy. The initial email announcing a student death last Tuesday came at 11:13 a.m., and students were expected to begin their 11:15 am. lectures a mere two minutes later.

Professors with classes scheduled for late Tuesday morning or afternoon had to act on their feet to comfort their students in the wake of the tragic news, and they did so in varying ways. Board members noted everything from professors breaking down and crying in front of their students to professors telling personal stories about dealing with loss to some not acknowledging the news at all.

There is no good way to announce a student has died on campus. But there are far better ways to support a community. We need more than a bulleted list of the same six resources over and over again: TimelyCare, College Counseling, Scott Center Chaplains, the Abernathy Room gathering space, Care Management and the Department of Public Safety. These are merely the standard mental health resources on campus, but student deaths should not be treated as standard occurrences. Tragedies like these call for more intensive support.

We all feel the pain of these deaths in different ways. We do not know exactly what the student body needs at this time of mourning, and we are not really sure how we would benefit as a community from temporary dean drop-in hours or one-time offers to write notes to our loved ones. Many professors have opened their doors to students, but they were not trained in graduate school to support their students through a death on campus. The administration must provide professors with more guidance and support in dealing with tragedy in the community.

Middlebury is prepared to support students who need to drop in to de-stress for 20 minutes, but it is not prepared for students who are in crisis, or undergoing serious challenges. We call for specialized professionals to be available for students in need of intensive support, such as external grief counselors and a more diverse staff of long-term therapists. Middlebury must raise the entry-level salary for college counselors from the listed starting salary of $60,000. Doing so would attract and retain more high quality counselors at the college. It is appalling that mental health resources were not even mentioned in the colleges recently launched For Every Future campaign. Funding assistant coach positions and building renovations are a higher priority than mental health resources to the administration, and we have clearly seen the results this semester.

We need to consider how our long-term community can be unified and built on campus. The Commons System once provided students with an assigned Dean who was on campus and available to meet with students in a comfortable, unforced environment. It also established defined communities outside of individual friend groups, classes and clubs, which benefited students who otherwise may have felt isolated. We now struggle to name a specific person or resource where students are supposed to turn when experiencing a mental health crisis or personal struggle. Likewise, Deans no longer remain with one group of students throughout their time here, weakening connections and relationships. This is especially true for junior and senior students, who belong to some of the largest classes in Middlebury history yet share only one dean among the two class years. We call for the intentional creation of such communities with ties to specific people as designated available resources to fill this gap in Middlebury life.

In a time of grief where the college has proven unable to support us, it falls on students to support one another. It can be uncomfortable to talk about mental illness, but we must foster an environment that is genuinely dedicated to supporting one another. While it is devastating that we have to support each other through such horrific events, students have shown remarkable strength and care so far. Keep your hearts open, and keep your friends close. Though Middleburys insularity can be frustrating at times, its closeness is an important strength of our community when faced with tragedy.

The aforementioned For Every Future campaign was launched by the college in between two student deaths, brushing past the obvious deficit in mental health resources on campus with glossy, full-page spreads of Middlebury students thriving at the college. Millions of dollars will go to professional development and sabbaticals; new residence halls and architectural classrooms; and student internships and experiential learning but nothing for mental health. If the colleges allocation of money reflects its priorities, we are forced to consider the underlying question: for whose future?

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Student death is now part of the routine at Middlebury - The Middlebury Campus

In early October, I went outside the house to check on an outbuilding shed door. The Kansas wind had been howling and the door had blown open.

Something that looked like a white sheet of plastic had blown up against the fence by our gate. I walked out to the gate and about 10 feet from it, a large dog head popped up.

The look on his face said, Where you been?

I opened the gate and moved outside gingerly. This dog didnt know me, and I didnt know he/she/it. The dog was large, at least 90 pounds. White all over. Tail wagging. About a year old, the vet told us later, so he was just an overgrown pup. He was an intact male and originally, we thought he was a Great Pyrenees. Weve had other Pyrs, but the new dogs head was different.

The dog came over, sniffed me once, and without me saying a word, sat down, looked me in the eye, and lifted one big front paw to be shaken.

Lord. Have you ever had a strange dog youve never seen before who doesnt know you from Adam raise a paw to be shaken at your first meeting?

The craziest thing about that Sunday was the dog was chained to our fence. Someone in broad daylight had parked behind our shop where we cant see the road, brought the dog over, clipped him to the gate, and drove away. Weve had large white dogs in our place. Perhaps someone had driven by, seen our bigger white dogs, and decided to unload him with us.

The more I think about it, the dog was abandoned and dumped on us, but Im hoping it was an abandonment of love. This dog is hard not to love.

My wife is an expert. Shes had lots of different breeds of dogs. My dog experience was limited to my early youth with mutts who chased trucks on a two-lane highway in Jewell County. We buried most of them. When my wife and I married, I wasnt used to domestic animals. And those we had were fenced into my wifes one-and-a-half-acre curtilage, so they have plenty of room to ward off coyotes and track the nightly deer herd movement from behind a six-foot fence.

I named him Ollie. My wife prefers Oliver. He acts like an Ollie, not an Oliver. When I brought him inside the fence for the first time, he did some zoomies in the yard and crouched playfully in front of me, a tongue-hanging dog smile on his face, waiting on my next move.

Someone has trained him. And loved him. I wish I knew Ollies backstory.

Folks dont realize dog dumping or a host of other unpleasantries to animals is a misdemeanor. Even abandoning an animal is a crime, the knowing abandoning of any animal in any place without making provisions for its proper care. Fines and possible jail time for intentional conduct doesnt seem to deter dumping. A lot of dumping happens at night or in rural areas, with few witnesses. But it is certainly not a victimless crime.

The victim is the animal.

All sorts of reasons exist why Ollie might have been dumped. He might have been an elderly couples dog and the primary caregiver died. Or someone lost a job and couldnt afford him anymore. COVID-19 is over, and perhaps someone didnt need the companionship anymore. Or someone had to move to a place where bigger dogs were not allowed.

Humane societies noticed an initial increase in dumping in 2008, during the mortgage crisis. People lost their homes and couldnt keep their pets. Some were abandoned and left in the homes that were angrily trashed as the previous owners moved out, leaving the dogs or cats to starve.

The pandemic also saw dog dumping. People lost jobs and couldnt support animals any more. But the pandemic is not a factor now, and jobs are out there. Millennials are the largest generation of pet owners in America and the UK, and they abandon a lot of dog breeds. Certain stylish breeds (i.e. French bulldogs) are touted by the Hollywood types on Instagram. But millennials dont like the medical costs and problems presented by certain breeds.

Dumping is becoming a worldwide problem. And those of you who think you love cats more than dogs and thus cat people would never do cat dumping, think again. In Australia, cats get abandoned quickly if the female has unwanted kittens. One litter of cats was found locked inside a suitcase with a note requesting they be cared for. They were dead, and there were scratches on the inside showing they were desperately trying to get out.

Dumping is becoming a worldwide problem. And those of you who think you love cats more than dogs and thus cat people would never do cat dumping, think again.

They were treated like garbage with a total absence of compassion, said South Australias chief RSPCA inspector, Andrea Lewis.

In rural Texas outside Houston, the city folks bring their pets to the country to dump them, assuming the dogs will be invited to live on a farm. Thats the cowards way of saying they dump their dogs, writes Lisa Seger.

In Texas, a dumped dog is often shot. In rural communities with no animal control office, the sheriff is also the dogcatcher. With few alternatives for the dogs, the sheriff often gets the inglorious job of executioner. Its called SSS. Shoot, shovel and shut up.

A dog brought up in the city with regular meals abandoned in the rural countryside endures hunger and turns predator to survive. Chickens, domestic cats, goats, sheep, calves virtually anything that moves are at risk. Then the predator dog has to be SSSd, just like a wolf or coyote.

The most likely outcome for any dumped dog is death, sometimes in gruesome ways. Food laced with antifreeze or rat poison. Guard dogs protecting the farms livestock will attack a stray dog, doing what training and instinct tells them to do. Others are killed by coyotes or mountain lions. In Texas, wild boars can attack humans in their homes let alone a dumped city dog in the thickets.

The chances of city dogs finding a home on a farm in Texas or Kansas or anywhere else is slim to none.

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Some folks have reasons why they can no longer care for a dog. Humane societies then try to rehome a dog. Friends or family are the best options. Facebook discussions and pictures can excite local folks about pets. If the dog is injured or severely malnourished, sometimes the best thing that can be done is euthanize them, but they need not be dumped and abandoned.

The worst thing about pet dumping is the impact on the family who abandons the animal. I can only imagine that impact on me if I took Ollie some place and dumped him. Children especially cannot understand when a pet is suddenly taken out of the house. The most common feeling among owners is betrayal, especially those families who didnt want to lose the dog but had no choice.

No animal deserves to be hauled miles from home, pushed out of a car in an unfriendly place and left to find food and avoid the labyrinth of lethal varmints that do not appreciate dogs or cats being in their neighborhood. Thankfully, Ollie did not suffer abandonment. But our priorities are screwed up.

Obviously, our tiny farm is not a private humane society. But there is one great thing about Ollie. He recognizes a good deal when he smells it. Someone gave up a healthy, excellent super dog. He was dumped and pinned to my gate.

For the time he has been with us, a growl has not been in his vocabulary. Ollie scarfs down chow to indicate he is not interested in being returned like a carton of empty milk bottles.

Thats fine with us.

Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian.Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary,here.

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We welcomed an abandoned dog into our family. But dog dumping ... - Kansas Reflector

By Willy Blackmore

Originally appeared in Word in Black

Whenthe first National Climate Assessmentcame out 23 years ago, global warming was, in so many ways, still a very far-off notion. While there was mounting scientific evidence that average global temperatures were on the rise, and a consensus that the increases were the result of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, it was not yet an era of what can feel like back-to-back-to-back historic natural disasters like the one we live in now. As such, there was less of a deep sense of who would be affected by climate change.

The prosperity and structure of the economy, the technologies available and in use, and the settlement patterns and demographic structure of the population, are all very likely to contribute to how and how much climate change will matter to Americans, the assessment from 2000 reads, and what they can and might wish to do about it.

But racial demographics didnt get any kind of in-depth exploration in the document. For example, when discussing how climate change could increase urban heat in the Midwest, the report referencesthe 1994 Chicago heatwave that killed at least 500 people but does not delve at all into how disproportionately it affected Black people.

Contrast that with theFifth National Climate Assessment, published this Tuesday, which includes an entire chapter on climate justice.

Instead of some vague gestures about socioeconomic factors, the new assessment is, at times, quite radical on the questions of what brought us to this moment and who is being most affected.

If climate change is understood as an outcome of socioeconomic and ethical arrangements that resulted in exploitation and discrimination, then reexamining those arrangements also becomes necessary, the fifth assessment reads.

In other words, its not just a matter of acknowledging that Black and Brown people are on the frontlines of the climate crisis we need to both understand and actually do something about the systems that put them there in the first place.

Twenty-three years is a long time, of course, but the report marks a huge shift from how more recent administrations have talked about climate change too. According toInside Climate News, the last two assessments released by the Obama and Trump administrations often approached the inequitable outcomes of the climate crisis as an afterthought, mentioning social justice, climate justice or environmental justice just a little over a dozen times total in documents that were hundreds of pages long.

The new tact for the National Climate Assessment joinsa growing list of climate measures from the Biden Administration that center climate justice but when huge natural gas export projects are still in play too, the shifts in language can seem more like platitudes than anything else. Because while the National Climate Assessment can guide political debates about climate change, its not policy.

There is a certain pleasure in seeing the federal government say things like social systems inequitably distribute harm to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), low-income, and rural communities; women and gender minorities; and other racialized or overburdened peoples, or, in part, beliefs and concerns about climate change have been shaped by well-documented, intentional efforts by industry groups supportive of the continued use and promotion of fossil fuels to misrepresent the uncertainty and knowledge about climate change and downplay the risks to society. But so much more still needs to actually be done.

The Biden Administration did announce$6 billion worth of new climate programsalongside the release of the new assessment, including $2 billion from the Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants for community-driven projects that deploy clean energy, strengthen climate resilience, and build community capacity to respond to environmental and climate justice challenges.

The funding for the grants comes from Bidens signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, while most of the other $4 billion comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (which is to say, it was all allocations of existing funds).

The electric grid certainly needs updating, but it feels a little mismatched with a report that highlights how individuals and communities that have lived at the margins of, or have been purposely excluded from the benefits of, industrialization have a greater probability of exposure to pollution and negative environmental impacts.

But its at least moving in the right direction.

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The National Climate Assessment Goes Woke - Dallasweekly

Editors Note: Philanthropy Roundtables True Diversity initiative offers an equality-based, holistic framework for embracing diversity. We support efforts that value every person as a unique individual and empower charitable organizations with the freedom and flexibility to advance their missions. Learn more at TrueDiversity.org.

Cleveland, Ohio native JaRon Smith and Washington, D.C.-raised Chris Pilkerton are two men of different races and backgrounds united by their faith and purpose to help the underserved. They both rose to become policy advisors to President Trump, where they advanced solutions for economic mobility of Black, white and all Americans. In a new book titled Underserved: Harnessing the Principles of Lincolns Vision for Reconstruction for Todays Forgotten Communities, they offer a prescription for rebuilding underserved communities by drawing upon President Abraham Lincolns vision for reconstructing the nation after the Civil War.

I spoke with Smith, a policy expert on regulatory affairs, economic mobility, social justice, finance, banking and housing and urban development about his personal experience, new book and how he views true diversity.

The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Tell us about your background and how it shaped your approach to work and life.

Smith: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in a lower middle-class community. My early years were similar to that of many people: parents struggling with drug addiction and alcoholism. My parents were both blue-collar workers and their parents were poor. They did what they needed to do to survive.

My dad sent me to a Catholic high school. That education gave me my first experience with religion and created an environment to help me. I wasnt a good student until age 14 or 15. Despite their addiction, I was anchored with two parents that loved me and a grandparent that loved me, which made me a resilient person and gave me the courage to be curious. As I set out to be my best self, I had to do service projects to graduate and thats where the passion developed for helping people.

My generation was the first generation to start going to college.

My background planted the seed of wanting to help change our community and empower people. From that experience you learn that people go into drugs and self-destructive behavior based off trauma or traumatic experiences. It can be hard to try to figure out how to become your best self and put food on the table.

I attended Howard University and during college interned in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill, which got me interested in politics and policy as a way to positively impact people.

Q. Coming out of your background and work at the highest levels of government, why did you decide to write this book?

Smith: I wrote this book along with my colleague, Chris Pilkerton, because working together in the White House, we realized there were so many challenges in underserved communities. Because of the pandemic, we werent able to finish some of the work we had begun on issues ranging from criminal justice reforms to workforce development. It became apparent that the work we were trying to accomplish was more important than ever. Some communities will be set back even further because of COVID.

My north star and mission has been figuring out solutions for underserved communities. When I came back to D.C. in 2008, I gave my life to God and He has positioned me through relationships to accomplish this mission. We talk about our faith journeys in this book, but this book provides a blueprint to complete our unfinished work.

Q. Underserved focuses on the post-reconstruction era in the United States. There was so much opportunity for Black folks: in politics by becoming legislators, starting businesses and creating economic centers, creating a new middle class and creating greater Black wealth. What didnt happen following Reconstruction that led to issues were still dealing with today?

Smith: Abraham Lincoln grew up on a prairie, he grew up poor, was self-educated and he learned the importance of earning a living for yourself and being able to leverage that to empower oneself through economic empowerment.

Lincolns vision for Reconstruction highlights that economic empowerment is a core part of America. America is a capitalist country; the whole notion of capitalism is based on the concept of mutuality and mutual benefit. It has lifted so many underserved communities around the world in ways that other systems havent. The challenge is that slavery raised the question of whether capitalism was exploitative. Capitalism doesnt have to be.

Unfortunately, Andrew Johnson worked with the privileged class of the South (former plantation owners) and the creation of Black Codes created a dual system that Black Americans lived in for about 60 years until the Civil Rights Movement. Despite all of that, Black Americans in segregated communities were still able to foster economic empowerment and build robust communities. But the government and racist factions tore that apart. That has happened several times. In our book, we mention the Freedmans Bureau, race riots and Black Wall Street.

Ultimately, you still did not have a breakthrough with those communities. Laws from the 30s created redlining and concentrated poverty and race. Then the presence of Great Society programs at the same time as the post-Integration movement led to Black flight. Upper class and middle-class Blacks left those communities. When affluent peopledoctors and lawyersleft the community, those left behind were left with no real role models or high earners which led to concentrated impoverished communities. Its similar in some white communities too. The reason we called the book Underserved is because we talk about poverty in white communities as well.

Lincoln saw the importance of investing in poor white communities as well as Black communities. His assassination cut short this work which could have helped in the Jim Crow South where poor whites were pitted against poor Blacks. A century later, the race and class warfare was something Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about during the Civil Rights era.

Q: Can you talk about the role of the church, particularly of the Black church, then and also today in driving outcomes that go toward economic opportunities?

Smith: First of all, the movement to free the slaves was undergirded by the Great Awakening, which created the abolitionist movement. The emergence of the Republican Party was anchored in religion. When we went into Reconstruction, many of the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) that were launched were financed by religious organizations and invested in training preachers. The early leaders who went to Congress, like Hiram Revels, were ministers and the church became a safe place for individuals in the Black community to mobilize, organize and educate themselves.

New Black churches emerged out of that. Different denominations undergirded the Civil Rights Movement. The church has historically for the Black community been an anchor for change in our communities. However, over the last 40 yearsand not just in the Black communityinstitutions overall including the church have lost the trust of the community.

Throughout America, people are less religious. Some people on the right blame taking prayer out of public schools, but it goes back to the methodology of trust. Some churchesnot all of themhavent been the anchor that they used to be because trust is not there in the community. You might have a number of different churches in any underserved community. They are not all places that people go to or frequent. After being in seminary, I learned that in many cases churches have become more of a social club rather than an anchoring or change agent for society.

We need that anchoring because the church and faith communitys help in figuring out who you are as a person is extremely important in behavioral health. So many communities have dealt with the trauma of the pandemic and historic trauma. Being able to navigate the nuances of life is hard when you come from broken families. Thats a mission I have been on. We need the church and civil society more than ever.

Aside from the Black households, in which you see 70% are single-parent households, 50% of white households are single parent or divorced households.

Q: How can True Diversity or other equality-based, holistic frameworks for embracing diversity contribute to economic mobility?

Smith: Different perspectives help you to be competitive. Many other countries dont necessarily have the model of diversity that America has and if were in a global competition of ideas, we are far ahead of people by celebrating our shared diversity. Celebrating that we are a melting pot is in the American DNA. We became a place where people came from all different walks of life to be able to participate in the American experience, which is based on individuality, ideas, freedom and liberty. That undergirds everything.

Companies and organizations that decide not to be intentional about thought diversity are losing the opportunity to benefit from that market share. But it has to be genuine, it has to be intentional. It cannot be virtue signaling. What the workplace is trying to do is to harness our best asset which is the diversity of opinions and backgrounds. No one has the same experience. We celebrate that uniqueness that you can bring to the table and that uniqueness drives different ideas that an organization would never have thought about.

Im not sure that designating a role for Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is right. If you have a C-suite, a better approach is having more COOs from different perspectives, more CFOs and CEOs. If you lean into being intentional about bringing in the best talent from diverse perspectives, you will get individuals in leadership roles who will commit to bringing other individuals with diverse perspectives along. For me working at the White House (and every organization Ive been in), Ive been able to identify individuals with different backgrounds that other leaders may have overlooked and theyve ended up adding value.

It hasnt been based on race but comparative advantage. Everyone brings different skills to a situation and its figuring out what comparative advantages individuals have that can make us more competitive. You want businesses or organizations to be intentional about what their talent needs are and to lean into those, not just check demographic boxes.

In the current landscape, DEI has become a talking point instead of looking at the most unique capabilities people bring to the table and what we can learn from them. We put blanket approaches in place that are not effective, when the unique qualities that people have because of their backgrounds is what we should focus on.

Click here to learn more about True Diversity.

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A Conversation about History, Race and the Meaning of True ... - Philanthropy Roundtable