WASHINGTON - A federal jury in Scranton, Pa., has convicted Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, both of Shenandoah, Pa., of a hate crime arising out of the fatal beating of Luis Ramirez. The jury found the defendants guilty of violating the criminal component of the federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it a crime to use a person’s race, national origin or ethnicity as a basis to interfere, with violence or threats of violence, with a person’s right to live where he chooses to live. In addition, the jury found that Donchak conspired to, and did in fact, obstruct justice.
Continues -- http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/October/10-crt-1154.html
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ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- The US Department of Education has received nearly 7,000 complaints this fiscal year--an 11 percent increase over last year and the largest year to year increase in more than a decade.The source of the jump can be attributed to issues like the disciplinary rate between ethnic groups.
Continues -- http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/National_Spike_in__105149979.html?ref=979
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CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga-- About a dozen civil rights activists met in front of the Clayton County courthouse Sunday night singing and praying on the eve of the much anticipated trial of Troy Dale West, Jr. The 47-year-old auto body shop owner from Poulan, Georgia is accused of punching and kicking Army Reservist Tasha Hill outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Morrow last September.
The 35-year-old says as she and her 7-year-old daughter were leaving the restaurant she cautioned West to be careful after the door almost hit them. She said West went ballistic and started beating her and using racial slurs
Continues -- http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=158751&catid=40
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Two remarkable women served on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement in Richardson ... Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC, intense stories of 52 courageous women in this monumental struggle for social change.
Continues -- http://www.fenwaynews.org/announcement/women-in-the-civil-rights-movement/
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US DOJ and LGBT Civil Rights -- Last week, Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez joined the Mayor of Cleveland, Frank Jackson, and U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach, to celebrate LGBT Heritage in Cleveland. During remarks delivered at the celebration and awards ceremony held in the City Hall Rotunda, Assistant Attorney General Perez said:
“From our nation’s founding, individuals have fought for their rights, facing dozens of defeats for each victory. Progress has so often been painfully incremental. But each victory, however small, was motivation enough to keep moving. And so it has gone with the fight for LGBT equal rights. For decades now you have stood up to challenge discrimination, misconception and sometimes hatred. And hard-fought victories have been won. But the people in this room know that we have not yet reached our goal.”
Continues -- http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1014
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A woman wearing hijab enters the 7 train. She glances around and smiles, searching for a friendly face. Heads turn and eyes stare back. A strange silence envelopes the subway car. The woman walks towards an empty seat and sits down, selects a new song on her IPod, sips from her coffee and closes her blue eyes. She pretends she doesn't notice the stares, the tension and the energy in the air.
Continues -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-joseph/islam-convert-discrimination_b_765983.html
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NEW YORK, N.Y. — This election will be the first since the 1990s without a measure to ban gay marriage on any state ballot, yet the divisive issue is roiling races across the U.S. during a time of tumult for the gay rights movement.
Continues -- http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jeWJeyT1saY5BgJal2cra7I6Ddug?docId=4862715
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On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed into law the Veterans’ Benefits Act of 2010, which was passed in Congress prior to the election break. Through the new law, disabled veterans and their families can expect positive changes, as shared in a Navy Times feature by the two committee chairmen who were responsible for the passage of the bill.
Continues -- http://blog.usnavyseals.com/2010/10/changes-come-for-disabled-veterans-and-their-families-through-new-veterans%E2%80%99-bill.html
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WASHINGTON — Military recruiters have been told that they must accept gay applicants, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Tuesday, following a federal court decision striking down the ban on gays serving openly in the military.
Continues -- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39743668/ns/us_news-life/
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According to new research from Canadian psychologists, people apologize about four times a week. But, on average, they offer up these apologies much more often to strangers (22% of the time) than to romantic partners (11%) or family members (7%). The only folks we apologize to more? Friends (46%).
Continues -- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304410504575560093884004442.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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Last month, roughly 350 participants came together for the 2010 World Diversity Leadership Summit at the Harvard Medical School in Boston. Attendees, who represented sectors ranging from technology to entertainment to government, came from as far west as Seattle and as far east as Austria. During the two-day event, everyone agreed on one thing: the traditional ways to address diversity in the workplace and marketplace are no longer effective. Three themes emerged from workshop discussions and keynotes inviting the audience to create a new version of diversity - a 2.0 of sorts - that fosters innovation, advocates for inclusion and promotes interdependence among constituencies.
Continues -- http://www.colormagazineusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=441
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