The Gratitude Campaign

I got this from my friend, Nettie...This is pretty neat.....(30 second video)... Have you ever seen one of our military walking past you and wanted to convey to them your thanks, but weren't sure how or it felt awkward? Recently, a gentleman from Seattle created a gesture which could be used and has started a movement to get the word out. Please everybody take just a moment to watch.... The Gratitude Campaign; ......and then forward it to your friends! THEN START USING THE SIGN. click the link below


http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/shortmovie.php

Outside My Bubble

It's been over 3 years now. I'm shame for not knowing of this. I actually happened to hear her name on a podcast. Too bad this isn't powerful, motivational, inpspiring news for our african american girls. They really should know about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. But then, I didn't know about her. How can we pour into our future if we don't know anything about the past or current?
I picked up a new saying from somewhere in print. It fits this incidence as well as others....
You Get What You Give.

Help transform California's youth prisons

Currently, California's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) spends a whopping $234,000 a year to lock up each youth. One third of the time spent in DJJ is based on "time adds" -- a disciplinary measure that extends a youth's time in prison. Youth stay an average of three years in the DJJ, costing taxpayers more than $700,000 for each youth -- and causing an immeasurable amount of harm to the young people inside. Books Not Bars has teamed up with Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) to sponsor a bill to change this. AB 999 proposes to eliminate time adds and reduce the amount of time youth spend in the DJJ. It will implement an incentive program that would allow youth to go before the parole board earlier, based on good behavior and positive program participation.
The bill has just been introduced and needs all the support it can get. If other Assemblymembers co-sponsor the legislation, it has a much better chance of passing. Click here to ask your Assemblymember to co-sponsor AB 999.Incentives -- not punishment -- have been proven to increase institutional safety and reduce recidivism. Adult prison systems around the country have long used a time-reduction-for good-behavior model, but California's youth prisons do the opposite -- adding time as a disciplinary tool. AB 999 will fix this. Specifically, AB 999 will:
Eliminate the use of time adds as a disciplinary measure and encourage rehabilitative practices -- rather than punitive ones -- to address misconduct.
Implement an incentive program where youth can earn program credits based on their behavior and participation in programs. The program credits will help advance a youth's appearance before the parole board.
In this economic climate, time adds are costly, harmful and just don't make sense. Locking up youth for a long time with no real opportunities for rehabilitation is poor policy and an inefficient use of our money. We need a change. Click here to encourage your Assemblymember to co-sponsor AB 999:http://www.ellabakercenter.org/?p=bnb_cosponsor_ab999

Jet Magazine Archives

You can ACTUALLY see every edition of JET AND read them !!!! This is Black American History at its best!!! This was forwarded to me and I knew I had to share. Check it out when you have time. This e-mail contains copies of Jet Magazine going all the way back to 1950s copies. Not only do you get the covers of all the issues of Jet Magazine, but you can actually read the issues. Good tool for your children and grandchildren.This is definitely a keeper
http://books.google.com/books?id=Db4DAAAAMBAJ&hl=En&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=2_2&atm_aiy=1950#all_issues_anchor

http://books.google.com/books?id=Db4DAAAAMBAJ&hl=En&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=2_2&atm_aiy=1950#all_issues_anchor

Update!

Children are the nation's most impoverished group
One in five children in this country lives in poverty.
Children are two times more likely to be poor than the elderly.
More than 5 million children live in families with less than half the income that officially qualifies a family as "poor."

Sentenced to Life Without Parole at Age 16

http://www.youthlaw.org/press_room/video_sarah_kruzan_sentenced_to_life_without_parole_at_age_16/

South Africa's Play Pumps

South Africa: The Play PumpTurning water into child's play
Click button to Watch Video
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/10/south_africa_th.html