Is Standardized Testing Good or Bad? Civil Rights Activists can’t seem to agree.

July 17, 2015July 17, 2015 lfparker1 Uncategorized

Standardized testing in schools has been a longstanding and much debated practice in education. Some argue that standardized testing is a way to bring attention to the achievement gap in schools and consequently bring about solutions. Others argue that standardized testing causes school systems to “teach the test,” which results in a decreased focus on the arts and creative thinking in schools. Read more about it here, and tell us what you think.

Voting Rights Legacy of the ’60s Heads to Court as North Carolina Law Is Tested – NYTIMES

July 12, 2015July 12, 2015 stevenramon Uncategorized

Days after South Carolina confronted its past and lowered the Confederate battle flag, North Carolina will grapple with its present-day rules that determine access to the voting booth.

A federal trial opening in Winston-Salem on Monday is meant to determine whether recent, sweeping changes in the state’s election laws discriminate against black voters. These changes were adopted by the Republican-dominated state legislature in 2013, immediately after the United States Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when it ended a requirement that nine states with histories of discrimination, including North Carolina, get federal approval before altering their election laws.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/us/a-voting-rights-legacy-of-the-1960s-heads-to-court-in-north-carolina.html?_r=0

CIVIL RIGHTS: Academy to focus on struggle

July 12, 2015 stevenramon Uncategorized

Participants in the Martin Luther King Jr. Association’s Civil Rights Academy hope the event will give young people a newfound appreciation of the struggle of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s.

Read more here: http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/local-news/civil-rights_participant_03681841

Watch: Civil rights leader John Lewis implores the US government to ban the Confederate flag on federal grounds

July 12, 2015July 12, 2015 stevenramon Uncategorized

US congressman John Lewis, famed civil rights activist, rose to the floor of the House of Representatives to call on his colleagues to ban the flying of the Confederate flag on federal grounds.

Watch Here: http://qz.com/450828/watch-civil-rights-leader-john-lewis-implores-the-us-government-to-ban-the-confederate-flag-on-federal-grounds/

Sacramento Schools Allegedly Discriminate against Latinos

July 6, 2015 lfparker1 Uncategorized

Five Families filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Latino students were excluded from a Sacremento Elementary school’s Gifted and Talented program and were referred to as the “ghetto class.”

Congress moves to restore the Voting Rig

June 30, 2015 GDaniels Uncategorized

Congress moves to restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA). 50th Anniversary of the VRA in August 2015. Stay tuned. http://www.thenation.com/article/210673/congressional-democrats-introduce-ambitious-new-bill-restore-voting-rights-act#

“If anybody thinks there’s not racial di

June 26, 2015 GDaniels Uncategorized

“If anybody thinks there’s not racial discrimination in voting today, they’re not really paying attention,” Senator Leahy said.

Baltimore Avoids Intense Civil Rights Investigations

May 3, 2015July 6, 2015 lfparker1 Uncategorized

Baltimore’s involvement with the Justice Department’s COPS program may keep the city out of civil rights litigation.

Dr. MLKing on riots. There is nothing ne

April 28, 2015 GDaniels Uncategorized

Dr. MLKing on riots. There is nothing new under the sun. Go to the 24 minute mark. http://ow.ly/Meyrp

Interview at ACS Convention

February 11, 2015February 11, 2015 GDaniels Civil Rights, Uncategorized, Voting Rights

A discussion on the impact of Shelby County v. Holder.

Gilda Daniels to Speak at Tedx Baltimore Jan. 30th 2015

October 16, 2014February 11, 2015 GDaniels Uncategorized

Morgan State University

About Tedx

Leading thinkers, activists, artists, philosophers and entertainers from the Baltimore area will get together this January for this forum for innovative change. TED conferences bring together the world’s leading thinkers and doers for a series of talks, presentations and performances. Learn more.

Restore Section 4

June 19, 2014February 11, 2015 GDaniels Uncategorized featured

In Shelby County, AL v. Holder, the Supreme Court found Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. Section 4 included the coverage formula for Section 5 of the Act which required certain jurisdictions to seek approval of any and all voting changes prior to implementation from the United States Attorney General or a federal trial court in Washington, DC. The court held that the coverage formula was unconstitutional, which essentially means that jurisdictions do not have to submit voting changes.

The Supreme Court’s opinion effectively put Section 5 on life support. While it did not rule on the constitutionality of Section 5, finding that Section 4 was unconstitutional means that no previously covered jurisdictions are mandated to submit changes. Those jurisdictions can now implement changes without federal oversight. Within hours of the Shelby decision, many of them did.

Texas announcedthat it would now require a strict voter id requirement to vote in person. This is the same requirement that was stopped under Section 5 and a federal court found intentional discriminatory and harmful to African Americans and Latinos in the state.
Mississippi’s Secretary of State announced that it would implement its voter id law that was pending before the Department of Justice immediately.
Virginia’s governor has already signed a restrictive voter id law that requires proof of citizenship that no longer needs federal approval.

While entire states were covered, so were the counties, cities, school boards and other elected bodies therein. Changes made to those bodies were also required to seek federal approval before implementation. Unless Congress acts, these jurisdictions can implement changes without federal authorization.

What’s Next?

You have the right to vote. The Supreme Court cannot issue an opinion that takes away the right to vote. It is protected in the United States constitution. The Fifteenth Amendment provides that the state cannot deny a citizen the right to vote based on race or color. More constitutional amendments have been added that address the right to vote, for example, changing the age of eligibility and expressly adding women, than any other right. The right to vote is safe.

Unless Congress devises a new formula for coverage (I’ll have another post on what that formula should include), then Section 5 is dead. Only Congress has the power to resuscitate.

As concerned citizens, we must demand that Congress act. State and local legislatures are making it harder to vote and Section 5 protection is desperately needed.

Contact your Congress person and tell them to Restore Section 4. Here’s a link to find out email and other contact info: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

New Report Analyzes Experiences of Minority Voters in 2012 Election

March 26, 2013February 11, 2015 GDaniels Uncategorized feature

BLOG.GILDADANIELS.COM: New Report Analyzes Experiences of Minority Voters in 2012 Election

For the first time, a new report released today by Advancement Project and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, comprehensively analyzes the experience of voters of color in the 2012 election.Entitled Lining Up: Ensuring Equal Access to the Right to Vote and authored by University of Baltimore School of Law professor Gilda R. Daniels, the report highlights the extensive efforts of the two civil rights organizations, from the courtroom to the streets, to combat restrictive voter ID laws, challenges at the polls, deception and intimidation, “show-me-your-papers” proof-of-citizenship practices, unacceptably long lines, and the troubling use of provisional ballots.

Civil Rights Today

Civil rights news and commentary for this century

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