Thursday, January 10, 2013

New Exhibition Tracks Progress of Civil Rights in America


http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/01/20130107140675.html?CP.rss=true#axzz2HYWnNiCu

By Lea Terhune | Staff Writer | 09 January 2013
Civil War-era family portrait (Library of Congress)
An unidentified Union soldier poses with his wife and daughters. Many African Americans celebrated emancipation by formalizing their marriage — an act denied under slavery.

Washington — The Smithsonian’s national museums of American History and African American History and Culture have teamed up again to mount a thought-provoking exhibition, Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and The March on Washington, 1963. The exhibition will run for most of 2013, an important anniversary year for both events.

“You have two pivotal events that are linked together in many ways. They are linked together in this long trajectory of a struggle of people seeking justice, freedom and participation in the American experience,” exhibition co-curator Harry Rubenstein said. The events are linked, he added, because the leaders of the march “took advantage of the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation to make their point ever stronger.”

The exhibition entrance features dramatic, life-sized photographic murals. An 1863 crowd of African Americans faces a similar group at the 1963 march, several generations and a few feet distant. The intention of the curators was to “put the two snapshots of the two moments together and let the visitor fill in the in-between,” according to Rubenstein.

Ample stimuli for thought are on display. The Emancipation Proclamation component offers powerful, evocative artifacts: advertisements for slave auctions; shackles that were used to chain child slaves; the Bible of 1831 slave rebellion leader Nat Turner, opened to a page in Revelation; abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s belongings; and the ivory cane admirers presented John Quincy Adams for his ultimately successful opposition to the “gag rule” prohibiting discussion of slavery abolition in Congress.

Lincoln memorabilia include his black suit, frayed at the cuffs from signing hundreds of documents, and the top hat he wore to Ford’s Theatre the night he was assassinated. More important to scholars is a letter in which he declared his support for black suffrage, written to Michael Hahn, newly elected governor of Louisiana after that state applied for readmission to the Union. Lincoln publicly aired this view in his last speech, three days before his assassination.

Photos and artifacts illustrate how a backlash to slavery’s abolition in the Southern states came through the passage of discriminatory, segregationist “Jim Crow” laws and violence against African Americans by such groups as the Ku Klux Klan. Poll taxes barred the poor from voting. Yet abolitionists continued to press for civil rights. New Year’s Day became Emancipation Day and commemorative parades kept the spirit alive.

Videos made in collaboration with the History Channel explain the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington through the words of historians and participants.

The March on Washington element of the exhibition introduces the visitor to the tumult of political action. A continuous video plays clips of speeches and performances given at the march. The curators wished to recreate the sense of being in that diverse crowd of 250,000 people on August 28, 1963.


Vast crowd with Washington Monument in background (Warren K. Leffler/Library of Congress)
A multiracial crowd surrounds the Reflecting Pool from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.

“When you go to a big demonstration like that … you don’t hear all the speeches, you come and you go,” Rubenstein said. “We wanted to create an environment that somehow made you feel as if you were there. The other thing we really wanted to do with this exhibition is emphasize that it’s a combination of … inspirational leaders; at the same time this is a movement of people.”
 
By holding the march at the Lincoln Memorial, the leadership significantly linked the event to the Emancipation Proclamation in its centennial anniversary year.

Civil rights leaders on that podium had steered the movement through long and difficult decades of activism. A landmark was the successful, yearlong Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott led by a young Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. He delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Washington march. Seasoned activists A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins and James L. Farmer Jr., among others, spoke.

The exhibition acknowledges the efforts of pacifist Bayard Rustin, a key civil rights activist and gifted organizer who masterminded the March on Washington. His vital role was long underplayed because he was openly gay and a former member of the Communist Party. A touching relic on display is the gold pocket watch given to Rustin by King, inscribed “From Martin to Bayard for Aug. 28, 1963.”

Civil rights marches were occurring all over the United States. Memorabilia from these and the Washington march — buttons, posters, signs — bring these events to life.

Despite successes, there was still far to go. Testament to that are stained-glass window shards from the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where four young girls died when the church was bombed two weeks after the march.

By 1964 the civil rights movement had enough momentum to ensure passage by Congress of the Civil Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. The Voting Rights Act followed in 1965.

Years of organizing culminated in the successful civil rights movement. Similarly, an exhibition of this scope took decades of dedicated collecting. Rubenstein said, “For an institution to pull this off requires generations of curators who had the vision that this material was important.”


Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/01/20130107140675.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz2HYWtYymG

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

FYI: Minority Resources...Money & More

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The Office of Minority Health - 1800-444-6472



FYI: Minority Resources...Money & More

Provided by the Office of Minority Health Resource Center's Information Services Team
January 09, 2013

  In This Issue ...


Funding

Federal Grants

  • HHS/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality/National Institutes of Health: Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy (R01). View Full Announcement
Minority Population Specific: $500k or more . . .  
  • HHS/National Institutes of Health: Behavioral and Social Science Research on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities (R01). View Full Announcement
Minority Population Specific: $500k or less . . .  
  • HHS/National Institutes of Health: Small Grants for New Investigators to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (R03). View Full Announcement
$500k or more . . .  
  • HHS/Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Connecting Kids to Coverage Outreach and Enrollment (Cycle III) Grant. View Full Announcement
$500k or less . . .  
  • HHS/Health Resources & Services Administration: Telehealth Network Grant Program. View Full Announcement
  • HHS/National Institutes of Health: Leveraging Existing Natural Experiments to Advance the Health of People with Severe Mental Illness (R24) Grant. View Full Announcement
  • Bureau of Health Professions: Grants to States to Support Oral Health Workforce Activities. View Full Announcement

Non Federal Grants

$500k or less . . . 

Scholarships/Fellowships

  • Institute for Asian American Studies at University of Massachusetts-Boston: 2013 Research Fellowship Program. View Full Announcement Exit Disclaimer
  • HHS/National Institute of Health: 2013 National Institute's of Health (NIH) Clinical Center Summer Internship Program. View Full Announcement

Resources

  • OMHRC: January is recognized as Thyroid Awareness Month. Get the latest resources, multi language consumer brochures and more. Learn More

American Indians/Alaska Native Health

  • SAMHSA: New data report released. Addressing Substance Use in Tribal Communities. Read Full Report

Events

  • The American Indian Institute at the University of Oklahoma: Conference. 12th Native Women and Men's Wellness Conference. March 17 - 21, 2013 in San Diego, CA. Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Asian/Pacific Islander Health

  • Institute for Asian American Studies at University of Massachusetts-Boston: New report released. Information on Small Populations with Significant Health Disparities: A Report on Data Collected on the Health of Asian Americans in Massachusetts." Read Full Report [PDF | 782KB] Exit Disclaimer

Cancer

  • National Cancer Institute: New consumer health guide report released in recognition of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Understanding Cervical Changes: A Health Guide for Women. Read Full Report

Diabetes

Events

  • The Endocrine Society: Summit. Reducing Health Disparities in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Summit. March 22 - 23, 2013 in Baltimore, MD. Learn MoreExit Disclaimer

Emergency Preparedness

  • Silent Spring Institute: New prevention factsheet for consumers released. Tip Sheet: 5 Tips to Reduce Toxic Flame Retardants at Home. Learn More Exit Disclaimer
Health Care
  • HHS: Press Release. States move forward to implement health care law, build health insurance marketplaces. Learn More
  • HHS: New guidance report released. Guidance on the State Partnership Exchange. Read Full Report [PDF | 222KB]
  • National Association of County and City Health Officials: New online resource tool available. Resource Center for Community Health Assessments and Community Health Improvement Plans. Read Full Report Exit Disclaimer
  • AHRQ: A new online toolkit released to make care safer by improving the foundation of how physicians, nurses and other clinical team members work together. CUSP Toolkit. Learn More
  • OMHRC: Virtual self health tool available. Health Assessment Find out what your health score is telling you. Learn More
  • AHRQ: Effective Healthcare Program released a new report. Outpatient Case Management for Adults With Medical Illness and Complex Care Needs. Read Full Report

Events

  • HHS: Webinar. The Health Care Law 101. A presentation on the main provisions in the Affordable Care Act, the health care law, and how to access care in your community. January 10, 2013 at 2:00 pm ET Learn More Exit Disclaimer

HIV/AIDS-STDs

  • HHS: New factsheet available. The Affordable Care Act helps People Living with HIV/AIDS Learn More [PDF | 71.2KB]

Events

  • ETR Associates and Monarch Media: Webinar. Focus on Youth 24/7 Project, a new HIV, STI & Pregnancy Prevention curriculum and project. Learn about what will be expected of study participants and about the project incentives. Thursday, January 10, 2013 1:00 pm PT; 4:00 pm ET. Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Immigrant Health

  • Ethnomed: A new report released. Developmental Screening with Recent Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Preliminary Report. Read Full Report Exit Disclaimer

Infant/Child Health

  • OMHRC: January is recognized as Birth Defects Prevention Month. Get the latest resources and more. Learn More

Events

  • HHS: Webinar. Introduction to Text4Baby. The presentation will highlight how Text4Baby works, why it is effective and how to share this resource with others. January 16, 2013 at 12:30 pm ET Learn More Exit Disclaimer

Vision

  • OMHRC: January is recognized as Glaucoma Awareness Month. Get the latest resources, articles and media tools. Learn More

Opportunities for Public Comment

  • AHRQ: Effective Healthcare Program (EHC) welcomes clinicians to openly participate on EHC research. Opportunity to suggest topics and comment on ongoing research. The EHC Program Research Process & How You Can Participate. Learn More

Report Released on Statewide Efforts to Improve Law Enforcement Responses

Justice Center
January 8, 2013
Martha Plotkin: 202.577.9344, mplotkin@csg.org
Robert Coombs: 916.743.6069, rcoombs@csg.org

Report Released on Statewide Efforts to Improve Law Enforcement Responses 
to People with Mental Illnesses

New York—The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center released a new report today that highlights statewide initiatives for supporting local-level specialized policing responses (SPRs) for people with mental illnesses.

SPRs are designed to help individuals in crisis connect to community-based treatment and supports, when appropriate, instead of becoming involved in the criminal justice system.
Statewide Law Enforcement/Mental Health Efforts: Strategies to Support and Sustain Local Initiatives is the result of a project supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice.

It examines how individual states have developed structures and standards to make police encounters with people with mental illnesses safer for all involved and to produce better mental health and criminal justice system outcomes.

“This report is a much-needed resource for anyone interested in seeing consistently high-quality law enforcement/mental health programs created, enhanced, and sustained across entire states,” said Denise O’Donnell, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance. “It complements the strong technical assistance and many published tools that BJA’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program has produced to date.”

Statewide Law Enforcement/Mental Health Efforts focuses on Connecticut, Ohio, and Utah, which represent three differently structured initiatives with extensive experience with SPRs. It also includes program examples from other states with established initiatives, such as Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Maine.

“This report reflects the reality that to significantly increase the number and quality of SPR programs in the nation some states may need to shift from a one-jurisdiction-at-a-time approach to a more structured and coordinated statewide effort,” said Mike Lawlor, Connecticut Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning and Justice Center board member. “The report recognizes that states are able to successfully incubate and support collaborative mental health/law enforcement responses that align with evidence-based practices and can be tailored to distinct jurisdictional needs.”

The report is intended to offer a starting point for policymakers, practitioners, and others interested in planning or enhancing a statewide initiative. Among the issues addressed in the report are
  • leadership (the strengths and weaknesses of advocacy-, law enforcement- or mental health-led efforts);
  • staffing (the use of full-time, part-time, and in-kind personnel resources);
  • partnerships (family, consumer, university and cross-disciplinary linkages);
  • agency recruitment (regionalized or centralized network models created to unite active SPR jurisdictions and to encourage the creation of new programs);
  • fidelity to the core elements of evidence-based mental health/law enforcement responses (oversight that results in effective collaborations, consistent training on essential topics across jurisdictions, and clearly articulated policies for crisis intervention or co-response teams); and
  • sustainability (expertise-sharing, staff turnover planning, government official engagement, and evaluations).
Statewide Law Enforcement/Mental Health Efforts: Strategies to Support and Sustain Local Initiatives is available as a free download at www.csgjusticecenter.org/law-enforcement/projects/statewide-le-mh. It is one in a series of BJA-supported reports that addresses law enforcement and mental health issues, including Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program, Strategies for Effective Law Enforcement Training and Tailoring Law Enforcement Initiatives to Individual Jurisdictions.

Additional resources can be found at http://www.consensusproject.org/issue_areas/law-enforcement.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. The Justice Center provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies, informed by available evidence, to increase public safety and strengthen communities (see www.justicecenter.csg.org).

White House Petition Submitted for Exemption of Military Retirement Pay.

White House Petition Submitted for Exemption of Military Retirement Pay.

Exempt all military retirement pay from Federal and State income taxation.

Petition for the Federal Government to exempt all military retirements from federal and state income taxation. The Federal Government can set the example to support no income taxation on military retirements. Some States already exempt all or a portion of retired pay from income taxation. States Without income taxation Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming do not have a personal income tax. Two others, New Hampshire and Tennessee, tax only dividend and interest income.

Created: Dec 27, 2012

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