Racial Justice

PLEASE COMMENT WHY YOU WANT AFROMOJI! Let's tell Unicode that #AfroHairMatters!! Emoji are a universal language of self expression. Afro-haired users like myself, however, don’t have any emoji that reflect our hair or cultural identities. Everybody should be able to see themselves in the digital conversations they're having. Our hair and our stories matter. I am submitting an official Afro Hair Emoji proposal to Unicode March 31, 2019 for potential acceptance in their 2020 selection. Currently, emoji hair is straight and Eurocentric, and fails to represent the diversity of Black, Afro-Latinx and other Diasporic communities with kinkier, spherical, coily hair. Afro hair has been long neglected in universal beauty norms, which you see globally from actors and newscasters told their natural hair is unprofessional to children being sent home from school for natural hairstyles. We should feel celebratory of the cultural and historical richness of our roots, onscreen and IRL! The addition of the Afro Hair Emoji would help diversify cultural representation and provide a more inclusive experience for emoji users. Our proposed range is inclusive of all skintones, ages and gender identities! Sign our petition to support the natural hair movement and empower more users to celebrate not only their skin, but the hair that they’re in. This petition will prove the urgency and value of an Afro Hair emoji. Thank you for your support! Sign, share and tell your friends why #AfroHairMatters! ❤️ xx, Creator Rhianna Jones @xx_rhiannajones  and Designer Kerrilyn Gibson @kerrilynnoelle

This is a call for LA Councilman Harris-Dawson to name the intersection of Crenshaw and Slauson. Nipsey Hussle Square In honor of a community icon.Please call or email Councilman Harris-Dawson to let him know you support this effort.I started this petition because...I knew Nipsey Hussle personally. He wasn't just a rapper. He was a gentrification fighter, entrepreneur philanthropist and community icon, 

For years, public school students in Benton Harbor, Michigan have endured constant turmoil under Betsy Devos influenced policies. Michigan's failed education policies have driven high turnover, unfair testing practices, and cuts to essential programs. Marginalized communities have suffered the most. Ironically, the majority of the students here are descendants of slaves who never received promised reparations, yet their daily journey is darkened by a cloud of debt from which they never profited.  Under extreme debt, students and staff in cash strapped districts have functioned under the threat of shutdown nearly every year for nearly a decade. Imagine the stress of going to school not knowing if your school will even make it from one year to the next? Imagine your children's classes closing midyear and receiving incompletes though no fault of their own? Field trips cancelled, beloved teachers layed off, and the consistent trauma of staff trying to manage a district on a shoestring budget? It is time to give the children a fresh start and a fair chance. You can help. Since schools also serve as voting polls, closing targeted schools is a creul form of voter suppression that sacrifices school children as political casualties of war. Although strategists have fought to push through takeover strategies that mimic corporate level political sabotage, our children and schools may not be able to survive much longer unless the debt against them is completely forgiven. Our babies need this fresh start. Once the debt is forgiven, under our new state level administration that values public education and equity, our district will be able to bring back important student centered programs designed to help students thrive. Incoming dollars will go directly to educating students. To ensure fiscal responsibilty moving forward, we also encourage the state to require the district to use an online financial accounting dashboard that will enable the public to track financial progress dollar for dollar. I am a product of Benton Harbor public schools, a parent and a former teacher. My son graduated from Benton Harbor High School last year and I have another child entering next year. With the exception of the high school which hangs in the balance, I inconsolably watched every school I attended in this community forced to shut down at the most inhumane moments of the school calendar. I love my community and I believe that my children deserve a fair chance at education in our neighborhood schools. Please help us by signing the petition to call for a way overdue new beginning. Click here to view further details regarding issues relating to the previous administration's decisions and mandates.  Click here to view video of students advocating for a fresh start for better schools.

The record store and cell phone carrier at the corner of Georgia and Florida Avenue NW (U Street) has been playing D.C's indigenous Go-Go Music since the late 1990s. Neighbors in newly constructed condos across the street pressured the city and then T-mobile, to force the owners to stop playing the music. Tell T-mobile, the city, and residents who don't understand the cultural significance and history of go-go music in Washington, D.C. that this is unacceptable. Bring back the music! I started this petition because...Ronald Moten is a longtime peace activist, go-go promoter and a DC Native. Dr. Natalie Hopkinson is the author of "Go-Go Live" a book published in 2012 by Duke University Press that chronicles the history of Black Washington DC through its music. Go-go is the soul and heartbeat of Washington, and we refuse to be silent as gentrifiers malign, assault and attempt to erase this culture. #DontMuteDC