Minnesota Passes Gay Marriage

Mother Jones Website — by Time Murphy

At 5 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Minnesota will become the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage when Gov. Mark Dayton (D) signs into law legislation that just passed the state Senate on Monday. It’s a remarkable turn of events for a state where conservatives spent much of the last decade trying to pass a Constitutional amendment to put marriage equality out of reach. (A referendum narrowly failed last November.)

This is bad news for the politician who, perhaps more than anyone else in the state, has built her career on denying full rights to same-sex couples—Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). Bachmann’s influence in her home state has been fading since her GOP presidential bid failed spectacularly in 2011. In a solidly conservative district, she squeaked past her Democratic challenger last fall by just 4,300 votes, and is now in the crosshairs of the Office of Congressional Ethics over charges that she improperly used campaign funds to promote her memoir. What political currency she has left may as well be in Bitcoin.

sexual assault prevention chief arrested for sexual assault

Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski was head of the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention program prior to being “arrested and charged with sexual battery,” according to the Arlington, Virginia police department. Krusinski drunkenly “approached a female victim in a parking lot and grabbed her breasts and buttocks.”(1)

It’s become clear that the military is not capable of solving its epidemic of sexual violence. Despite years of studies and empty talk, there were 26,000 sexual assaults in 2012 — more than 71 per day — and up from 19,000 in 2011.

We have to do something about those numbers. A proposed bill in Congress called the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act, or STOP Act, would create an independent, professional office in the military to investigate, and prosecute sexual assault cases. Urge your representative to cosponsor the STOP Act (H.R. 1593) and fundamentally change how sexual assault is handled in the military by clicking HERE.

THE CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE & CIVIL LIBERTIES

By Luisa Tassan

On April 24th AAUW members enjoyed an Out & About tour of the newly renovated and restored Citrus Belt Savings & Loan Building which is now home to The Riverside Community College District’s Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties located at 3855 Market Street, Riverside. Best known for its collection of the art work and humanities collection of Riverside Community College alumna Miné Okubo, whose works played a significant role in documenting the history of Japanese Americans in the United States including her own experiences in an internment camp during WW II in Utah, the Center is a testament to Riverside’s commitment to honor its multicultural history.

The first floor exhibition entitled Riverside Stories highlights the good and the bad side of Riverside’s social justice and civil rights history through the stories of seven residents: The Harada family, who challenged the Alien Land Act in the courts on behalf of their American born children; Frank Johnson, who fought to integrate a public swimming pool in the 1920s; Native American Rupert Costo, Riverside Community College alum, who went to Washington, D.C. to fight for tribal water rights and with his wife, Jeannette Costo, were prominent national leaders in the fight for the economic and social rights for Native Americans; John Sotelo, the first Mexican American to be elected to Riverside’s city council, worked to secure equal treatment for minority groups by ensuring representation in city government and securing community facilities for underserved neighborhoods; Thomas Rivera, an author, migrant rights supporter and educator who became the first Mexican American chancellor of UC Riverside; original owner of the Mission Inn and stalwart supporter of civil rights. The first floor also houses the Digital Media Resource Center which holds a repository of video, film, photographs and personal documents for more in depth study of Riverside’s significant cultural history.

The second floor houses the rich and varied works of Miné Okuba who over her lifetime experimented with cubism, charcoal drawings, watercolor and tempera to ink on paper. As viewers of the vast collection (8,000 pieces of art, professional papers and personal memorabilia), a large portion of which is still being archived, one is struck by the breadth of her artistic ability to change styles and mediums.

The Center also houses a temperature controlled archive and storage room complete with a scholar workroom for visiting scholars, graduate students and experts who wish to pursue more a more in-depth understanding and further development of Mine’s vast collection. Through NEA grants graduate students are welcomed to further develop Mine’s collection.

The Center can only be seen through pre-arranged visits by calling or contacting the center at (951) 222-8846 or socialjustice@rccd.edu. There are also opportunities for support and named gifts (naming the building, a floor level, etc…) if you wish to contribute towards supporting the exhibitions and operations of the Center through the RCCD Foundation (951)-222-8627 or rccd.edu/foundation). For more information on the Center, to see samples of the artwork and displays and speakers at the preview opening held in June 2012 go to socialjustices.rccd.edu/foundation/Pages/Exhibition.

In Honor of Francis Perkins

Francis Perkins was born on April 10, 1880, and this post is in honor of her 113th birthday.

In 1933President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Francis Perkins as Secretary of the Department of Labor, a position she held for twelve years, longer than any other Secretary of Labor. She became the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States and thus, became the first woman to enter the presidential line of succession. Perkins played a key role in the cabinet by writing New Deal legislation, including minimum-wage laws. Her most important contribution, however, came in 1934 as chairwoman of the President’s Committee on Economic Security. In this post, she was involved in all aspects of the reports including her hand in the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps which ultimately resulted in the Social Security Act of 1935.

Perkins would have been famous simply by being the first woman cabinet member, but her legacy stems from her accomplishments. She was largely responsible for the U.S. adoption of social security, unemployment insurance, federal laws regulating child labor, and adoption of the federal minimum wage. The Frances Perkins Building that is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. was named in her honor in 1980.

Rape Culture

Pretty shocking !

What is rape culture? It’s a set of attitudes that excuse or tolerate rape. Rape culture is when the media sympathizes with the attackers instead of lifting up the courage of the survivor. CNN’s awful coverage of the Steubenville verdict is one example. Rape culture is when we ask “Why did she drink so much?” or “What was she wearing?” instead of stating clearly that rape is never, ever okay. It is always, always, always unacceptable. A change in the culture is needed. The rampant rape of women (and men) in the military as depicted so well in the movie, “The Invisible War,” demands a change in the culture.