https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/11/kamala-harris-woman-republicans-could-not-stop/
Kamala Harris victory is mine, l feel like l made progress today. Hallelujah!
The Lure of Study Abroad
As the next group heads overseas, CCNY Students share their insights It’s summer and the next crop of CCNY students is getting ready to travel to Morocco, Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, South Afr…
Source: The Lure of Study Abroad Program
Keep Abortion Legal! A Woman has the Right to Choose, It’s Her Body!
On October 15, 2015, – a naked 27 year old mother threw her 6-month old baby out of a Bronx 6th floor window. She told cops “the devil is in her,” said a neighbor who witnessed the awful tragedy. The mother, who seemed mentally disturbed, was charged with her daughter’s murder. Her 3 other children – a boy 10, and two girls, 8 and 4 had been safely removed and were placed with New York City’s child welfare agency. The mother lost another baby to SIDS in 2008 and is the victim of several domestic disputes, reported the New York Times. This was the 3rd time in recent months that babies in the city had been fatally thrown from a window of their own homes. The main reason abortion should remain legal, kids are being killed anyway.
Perhaps if she had chosen to have an abortion instead of the burden of raising unwanted kids she wouldn’t have gone insane or have been incarcerated for murder. Choosing abortion should not be limited by governmental or religious authority, which outweighs any right claimed for an embryo or fetus. Even if we disagree on the issue of abortion, we can agree that these are private decisions we all must be able to make based on our own circumstances, beliefs, and values. We should respect and support a woman and her family as they face the life altering decision of whether to have a child or not.
The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. Democrats recognize that health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortion.
In most cases, access to safe and legal abortion is an important aspect of women’s healthcare. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States. The risk of childbirth is approximately fourteen times higher than abortion. Over 90% of abortions in the United States are performed in outpatient settings and almost all complications that arise after abortion can be, and are, treated on an outpatient basis. Worldwide advocacy for women’s rights should begin with birth control and abortion rights.
Opponents insist that since the Supreme Court’s sweeping Roe v. Wade ruling overturned hundreds of laws in states across the country, more than 55 million unborn children have lost their lives to abortion. Yes, this may be true, but so are those who have killed during war and they’re considered heros. However, often time’s pregnancy is the result of rape and incest and women should not have to give birth to unwanted and unplanned children. Hunger, child abuse and human trafficking have grown into worldwide epidemics.
Pope Francis is one of the most influential and persuasive pope ever and leader worldwide. The US leads the world, it’s the most controversial and other countries follow. Pope Francis points out hunger which is a shared view and God forbids this horrific thing to happen in America. Who are we to judge? Make abortion accessible worldwide.
The Lure of Study Abroad Program
As the next group heads overseas, CCNY Students share their insights
It’s summer and the next crop of CCNY students is getting ready to travel to Morocco, Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, South Africa, South Korea and other countries around the world. By studying abroad, students have the opportunity to experience a foreign nation and take in the allure and culture of a new land while learning a subject and building their careers. CCNY students Esraa Elzin and Troy Blackwell recently studied in Africa capitalizing on what the CUNY Study Abroad Program has to offer. Here they share their insights.
Blackwell a junior MCA major, last year studied abroad in France and Spain, and spent four weeks in Senegal conducting service work over the winter semester this year. He worked under the leadership of Gaia Education a sustainable development educational program under UNESCO. “I love traveling and discovering new adventures,” says Blackwell who is minoring in Spanish and public policy.
While in Senegal, Blackwell traveled to four different villages and stayed with host families. With the help of a translator, he worked on sustainable implementation including building a high school for villagers, water filtration and teaching English to French and Pulaar speaking children.
After the program, Blackwell spent some time sightseeing in Morocco. “I have traveled many places but this trip in particular was life changing for me,” he says smiling. Many doors have opened-up for Blackwell as a result of what he’s learned overseas. He has been given The Art Stevens-PRSA Award and a Colin Powell Fellowship Scholarship, “I recently applied for the White House Internship Program which provides a unique opportunity to gain valuable professional experience and build leadership skills,” he adds.
Elzin another MCA student, spent the winter semester abroad studying at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She studied anthropology with specialization in humans and animals. Elzin, a tall, beautiful and slender African Arab American senior, discussed the importance of building your resume using CUNY Study Abroad Program. “You can start on your career and not focus as much on your debt because financial aid covers the program’s tuition,” she says. National and local scholarships are also provided for those who qualify.
Elzin prides herself on all she learned about human and animal anthropology, with photos of South Africa to prove it. She advises other students, “learn how to market the unique college experience you did receive.”
When you finish your study abroad program and return home, you will return with a new perspective on culture, language skills, a great education, and a willingness to learn. Needless to say, all of these are very attractive to future employers.
CUNY Study Abroad has 166 programs in 51 countries, to learn more go to: http://www1.cuny.edu/sites/studyabroad/programs/
City College Study Abroad https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/studyabroad
Gaia Education, go to: http://gaiaeducation.org
Viewers and Others Voice Strong Reactions to the Republican Debate
Dan Roberti, who once ran for Congress, watched the recent Republican debate with great interest –and he has strong opinions about the performance of the candidates. “Rubio is emerging as the Republican candidate but that doesn’t mean Bush won’t recover because he still has access to deep pockets although the establishment is fickle,” said Roberti, who lives in Connecticut. “Carson is a current fad, like all fads in presidential Republican politics, he will fade, and he’s leading the polls.” Like Roberti, many viewers weighed in about the candidates and also the media and had plenty to say.
On Wednesday, October 28, Republican candidates stumbled on tough questions from the moderators and complained that they were designed to provoke confrontation rather than genuine policy discussion. “The questions were antagonizing and disrespectful, particularly with the one asking Trump, ‘if it’s a comic campaign,” said Kerel Cain, a PR student referring to Ted Cruz statement who was very offended with the moderators for asking whether his opposition to raising the debt ceiling indicates he may not be “the kind of problem-solver American voters want.” However, Cruz wasted his time firing back at moderators repeating questions asked to other candidates and never answered his question.
On Twitter, moderators were ridiculed as bias and condescending. “The moderators had a worse night than the New York Mets who lost game 2 at the World Series,” said a tweet which caused a roar on social media. At varying times, the audience booed the moderators, giving the candidates space to draw together for the attack against what they said was their common enemy, “the liberal media.”
Rubio tells his story of living the American dream and shines as humble when he talks about his mother working as a maid and his father as a bartender. “I like Rubio because he seems the most presidential. He was very composed, he responded to Bush criticism very well” said Smith. Analysts were divided about who really won the debate. Senator Rubio took the lead with Cruz behind, Trump followed.
Roberti continues, “Trump has shown in last debate he’s taking this campaign seriously and not relying on just being bombastic and throwing darts. He clearly calculated his importants, the need to alter his handling of Carson going from attacking him to treating him with kid gloves.” The Republican candidates each took shots at Democratic front runner Hilary Clinton. Maybe the moderators will do better at the next Republican debate.
Women Speak Out Against Gender Pay Gap
Women have fought great strides in the workforce over the years, however, gender pay inequality still persists today in the 21st century and the number has not lowered significantly since the nineteenth century. Men are still hired over women and receive a larger salary in almost every profession including acting with an exception to the model industry where women dominate that field and earn a higher salary rightfully so. However, short live because of the youthful requirement and high maintenance.
The federal law prohibiting sexual discrimination in the workplace is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (often referred to as “Title VII”). Title VII applies to private employers, state and local government employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, and joint employer-union apprenticeship programs with 15 or more employees.
Patricia Arquette, a 46-year-old actress who took home the Academy Oscar Award for her performance of Olivia, a single mom fighting to raise her children on a very low income in Richard Linkater’s “Boyhood.” Making it her first Oscar win said during her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress during the Oscars. “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.” After thanking many of her colleagues, Arquette used the podium to send out a message about gender equality.
In 2014, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 79 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 21 percent? The gap has narrowed since the 1970s, due largely to women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate. But progress has stalled in recent years, and the pay gap does not appear likely to go away on its own.
It’s been a year since the Sony Pictures hack brought a throve of internal emails to light. That hack revealed a number of uncomfortable details from Sony, including the fact that Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were paid far less than their male co-stars in the 2013 film “American Hustle,” brings the gender pay inequality statistics to life. “When the Sony hack happened, I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early,” said Lawrence in an interview with Charlie Rose. Since then Lawrence has been fighting for equal pay in Hollywood.
The South African Oscar Award winning actress Charlize Theron for the film “Monster” proved you’re better off when you know your co-workers pay. Theron reportedly used the hack against Sony late last year to negotiate a deal worth more than $10 million in order to get paid the same as her male co-star Chris Hemsworth, for their upcoming film “The Huntsman.” Though the hack revealed nothing about her or Hemsworth’s pay for the movie, it did show how women in Hollywood often earn less than their male counterparts, reportedly inspiring Theron to demand equal pay.
If a strikingly beautiful white actress who’s a movie star can be discriminated against because she’s female, then there isn’t much hope left for an unknown African American upcoming actress such as me or other CCNY students.
This is a prominent example of something lawmakers, experts and advocates have been saying for years: When women know how much their co-workers are getting paid, they’re more likely to be paid fairly. “It’s a very basic check on discrimination,” said Ariane Hegewisch, the study director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank. “If you don’t know whether you’re paid equally you can’t enforce your right.” Unfortunately, this type of discrimination goes on in almost every industry.
Perhaps the most famous advocate for her right to equal pay, Lilly Ledbetter, didn’t start fighting for more money until an anonymous note tipped her off to the fact that she was making less than her male colleagues. Her demand for more pay eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court, which rejected her claims, saying she had filed them too long after the discrimination against her began. The first piece of legislation President Obama signed into law bears her name and ensures that workers can bring discrimination claims well after the first evidence appears, by arguing that discrimination accrues over time.
The gender pay gap persists across educational levels and is worse for African American and Hispanic women, even among college graduates. As a result, women who complete college degrees are less able to pay off their student loans promptly, leaving them paying more and for a longer time than men.
Despite the gains women have made in the workforce, the pay gap persists. One big reason why the gender pay gap persists is because women are often steered into fields that typically pay less — about two-thirds of low-wage workers are women. Individuals in the workforce, community, and government have the ability to help chip away at the pay gap.
Photo Courtesy credits:
Ledbetter with Obama – Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act
Jenifer Lawrence & Amy Adams – American Hustle film
Patricia Arquette – Academy Oscar Awards
Grit . . . to Sweet Success
Advertising hall of famer alum Linda Kaplan Thaler visits CCNY
Linda Kaplan Thaler, a City College graduate and superstar in the advertising field, didn’t take a direct route to her chosen career. “I wasn’t accepted to the clinical psych programs I applied to and I had enough credits as an undergrad to get my MA in musicology. It was tough, but I plowed through it,” said Thaler, chairman of the ad agency Publicis New York. “I attended a summer program to get my teacher’s license; I didn’t know if I’d ever need it but I wanted to make sure I had some income if nothing else panned out.”
Perseverance, passion, and pluck finally helped Thaler land a job in advertising. Last week, Thaler spoke to a group of communications major students and faculty from CCNY about her success in advertising and her new book Grit To Great. Thaler appeared as part of the ad/PR program’s Lunch w/Leaders series, co-sponsored by the Branding + Integrated Communications master’s program CCNY AAF club.
She broke through at first job at JWT Ad agency as a copywriter on the Kodak account. “That was the luckiest break of my life because within my first month there I sold a national TV spot I wrote for a Kodak camera,” she said. “Very exciting to see it air on TV!”
Thaler spent the next 17 years creating notable campaigns including the famous “Yes, Yes, Yes” ads for Herbal Essence shampoo and AFLAC duck commercials. In 1994, Thaler was named one of Ad Age’s 100 most influential women in advertising for her innovative work.
Thaler would agree her natural ability to bounce back from client rejections, and thousands of rewrites took her the rest of the way. That skill has helped her handle some high-profile clients: Hillary Clinton and the Bill Clinton-Al Gore 1994 campaign. “He really understood the magic of branding and the importance of connecting to voters,” said Thaler of Clinton. “One of my proudest accomplishments was writing and producing the Clinton biographical spot that aired a couple of months before the election. One of the staff members called me after the Clintons had seen the rough cut and said they were so moved by it they were crying! And then they kept watching it over and over and over again,” added Thaler smiling.
Thaler appeared on The Apprentice with Donald Trump. “It was exciting and fun! Lots of cameras following us everywhere and it was terrific advertising for our small fledgling Ad agency, said Thaler. “Trump was great and said amazing things about us on camera because he loved the way we treated his wife when she appeared in one of our AFLAC commercials. See, always be nice!”
Life has been rough for Thaler at times. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39. “Fortunately, after my mastectomy, I did not need treatment,” said Thaler, who is 64 and lives in New York with her husband and two daughters. “In fact, perseverance and the value of hard work have been always considered to be core elements of raising and educating the next generation.”
Grit To Great is on sale at the CCNY bookstore.
Discover Harlem’s Hidden Treasures
Historical Culture in Harlem Museums
El Museo Del Barrio and the Hispanic Society of America museum offer exhibitions of art pieces and artifacts that depict a cultural history ranging from Latin America to Spain and Portugal. Together, they present the past and present of a culture that has transformed over the course of centuries. Both located in Harlem, each of these museums is an invaluable resource for those looking to discover the world of Latino culture through art and history.
El Museo del Barrio not only displays art, but hopes to actively inspire its creation by hosting a program titled Back in Five Minutes that is aimed at giving studio space within its galleries to artists. This program offers art students the opportunity to showcase their work and take inspiration from other artists who have their work exhibited there. One of the newest artists collection, Rodriguez Calero works with both classical and deeply contemporary elements, from surrealist collage to Catholic iconography, medieval religious painting, and hip hop street culture. Her work incorporates the traditions of her background, one which is equally vibrant and spans Puerto Rico, New York City, France, and Spain.
Just as El Museo del Barrio embraces a diversity of style and skill level, its collection spans centuries of history. The museum’s permanent collection contains over 6,500 objects, and spans more than 800 years of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino art. From pre-Columbian Taíno artifacts to twentieth-century drawings, El Museo Del Barrio is the only museum in New York City with the preservation and celebration of these cultures as its primary focus. In addition to its extensive fine arts collection, El Museo del Barrio hosts a series of cultural festivities, youth and educational programming, and literary discussions.
On the northern edge of Harlem is the Hispanic Society of America. Free to the public at its original location more than a century after its foundation, the Society promotes the study of the rich artistic and cultural traditions of Spain and Portugal as well as their areas of influence in the Americas and throughout the world. Despite its name, the museum primarily celebrates the Old World cultures of Spain and Portugal, and its collection features works by Francisco de Goya, El Greco, and Diego Velázquez. From its panoramic survey of Spanish paintings and drawings, which dates from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, to its collections of ceramics, silver, glassware, ironwork, and textiles, the Society functions as a museum and reference library, and is an invaluable resource for historical and artistic study.
Each of these museums are ensured to introduce visitors to a rich artistic and cultural tradition with which they may not have been previously familiar. Just a stone’s throw from City College, both are well worth a visit.
Locations:
El Museo Del Barrio is located at 1230 Fifth Avenue and East 104 St., and is open weekly from Tuesday to Saturday, with a suggested student admission of $5. The Hispanic Society of America is located at Broadway between 155th and 156th Street, and is open weekly from Tuesday to Sunday, with free admission.
Tex Allen, Passionate Jazz Musician’s Struggle
Tex continued love for jazz despite a rocky career
Tex Allen born Andrew Arthur Allen Jr, is without a doubt one of America’s living treasures. He is a master musician, composer, arranger, and contributor to the world of jazz for over 50 years who has struggled throughout his career span.
Tex started playing the piano at 6, the trumpet at 10, and the following year he stood, baton in hand, onstage with the Houston Symphony, having won a citywide contest to conduct the orchestra. They played The Stars and Stripes Forever. “That was very inspirational to me as a kid,” Allen says. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a Tex Allen CD in a Midtown record store.
Tex has three soundtracks from his 2013 live performance, and two CDs, The Tex Allen Songbook, and No Room for Pain featuring Janice Dempsey. However, gigs are too far, few, and in between; too many lows compare to highs. At this stage of his career he hoped to sell out concerts but that’s not the case.
Despite his early success and his legacy as a member of one of America’s foremost showbiz families (his younger sisters are Phylicia Rashad of The Cosby Show, and Debbie Allen, the producer and choreographer and actress on the TV Show Fame), Allen’s name this far has appeared more often in the fine print than on the marquee. Dozens of other musicians have recorded or performed his works, but Allen himself is still pursuing the elusive goal of a wider audience
However, bad luck seems to follow him wherever he goes. Tex was cut from playing in a Broadway production because the father of one of the kids in the show didn’t approve of his affection towards his son. Tex has a strong character to overcome difficulties. His love for jazz keeps him moving forward despite the turbulent journey.
“I taught Deborah her first few steps, “he says. “I studied tap and ballroom dancing and a little bit of ballet. We all studied the same things.” Even as a child, he had a flair for the technical aspects of music: “I did arrangements, complete orchestrations off of records with my trumpet; I’d take all the parts off and write them out for all the instruments.”
Tex is perhaps Roosevelt Island’s best-known musician. He has been an important part of the New York music scene for more than 41 years, playing in jazz clubs, forming his own groups, helping write the script for what he calls America’s native or classic music. And in the past he’s been a musical ambassador, making two trips to Beirut, performing at a jazz festival in Oslo, and traveling to Paris and Hamburg. He performed and wrote the soundtrack for Broadway play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring his sister Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones.
New Documentary Takes Aim at Campus Sexual Assault
A screening of The Hunting Ground sparks conversation by Carol Commissiong
Rape and sexual assaults on college campuses have reached a record high 31,300 for the period 1995–2013, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary film that aired on CNN recently, brings the statistics to life.
MCA’s Documentary Forum, the Colin Powell School and the Women’s Studies Program hosted screenings last week at CCNY. A panel of experts led a community conversation after one of the screenings.
The film hits some heart wrenching notes and brought back memories to victims who have been sexually assaulted and date raped. Only 1 out of 300 rapes gets indicted. The film documented testimonies of victims, attorneys, detectives and some school employees from numerous schools throughout America. Two of the survivors Andrea Pino, a University of North Carolina student who lost her virginity when she was raped on campus, and Annie Clark another UNC student, created the Courage Project as a stand against rape on campus across America.
The documentary mentions several high-profile cases of Ivy League schools, including Columbia University and Harvard Law School. At Florida State University, football star and accused rapist Jameis Winston’s lawsuit kept the topic in the national media spotlight. The DNA sample from perpetrator Winston matched the sample taken from the victim Erica Kinsman’s rape kit. However, Winston claimed sex was consensual. Winston won the Heisman trophy in 2013 and wasn’t prosecuted for his 2012 alleged rape and is now NFL star. Most of these cases found no justice for their victims.
“The Hunting Ground” notes that many layers and complexities hinder survivors from receiving the justice they deserve. In the film, rapes reported to school administration never reach law enforcement, and victims are told it’s their fault. “Rape is like football, what would you have done differently? How much did you have to drink?” said a female school counselor to Pino. Two male students reported sexual assault, but one was told, “Take some time off to forget about it and then come back,” and another committed suicide.
At fraternities, sexual assaults and date rapes happen far too frequently. The documentary captured Yale University frat members chanting outside female dorms, “No means yes, yes means anal.”
The film maker Kirby Dick, who was nominated for “The Invisible War” a film on rape in the military, did a great job documenting victims and using real news footage of actual events which showed some perpetrators during trials. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to speak to the accused. Most university’s staffs refused as well. Some college officials at Harvard and Florida State are fighting back against this documentary which serves as an awareness of what goes on at some of the biggest and most sought after universities and colleges nationally.
CCNY offers ProtoCall, a crisis hotline offering free, confidential counseling to students reporting sexual assault; the number: 855-582-6069. This crisis hotline has been available to residential students at the Towers for more than a year and has recently been extended to all students on campus. Students can also communicate with a trained crisis counselor by texting GO to 741-741.
carolcommissiong 