Displaying 81 - 90 of 149
Making DREAMs a reality
By Jenny Swift
When I was a senior in high school, the question I was asked by family and friends more times than I would like was where I would be attending college next year. For students who are undocumented the question might be different: what will you be doing next year? It’s a small difference, but a noticeable one. Tens of thousands of children who have grown up in this county and have attended and graduated from public schools are stuck, without the opportunity to advance, because the documentation required to apply to college, and more importantly, federal aid, is often out of the grasp of students whose parents brought them to this country when they were small children. Future doctors, lawyers, teachers, and the scientist who will cure cancer are all unable to reach their true potential due to immigration laws that keep children down, not raise them up to achieve the American dream.
167 Years Later, Celebrating the Seneca Falls Convention
Today marks a major anniversary for women’s rights: on July 19-20, 1848, advocates for equality for women gathered in Seneca Falls, NY., Event leaders advertised the first women’s rights convention, organized by women, as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of Woman." Today, we celebrate the Seneca Falls Convention as a major milestone for women’s equality, both in its time and as the beginning of the women’s movement, sparking the monumental change that has occurred in the 167 years since.
As the Ink Cools on the Iran Nuclear Agreement, Debate Heats Up
Negotiators from the P5+1 and Iran have concluded their 20-month long negotiations process with an agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program, but the agreement still faces major hurdles and a divided country as it moves towards implementation. Chief among these is the 60-day review period mandated by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (often known as the Corker-Cardin bill), which the Reform Movement supported.
Continuing the Call for Pregnant Workers’ Rights
In June, we applauded the reintroduction of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, or PWFA (S. 1512/H.R. 2654), which gained bipartisan support for the first time since it was originally introduced in 2012. When the bill was reintroduced in June, only the Senate version of the bill was bipartisan—but now, the House bill is bipartisan as well!
Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO-06) joined the House bill as its first Republican co-sponsor. In the Senate, Senators Ayotte (R-NH) and Heller (R-NV) joined Senators Casey (D-PA) and Shaheen (D-NH) as lead sponsors, helping to lead the way in support of pregnant workers. This bicameral, bipartisan co-sponsorship is significant progress, meaning PWFA has a much stronger chance of moving forward in this Congress.
Celebrating the Progress and Promise of the ADA
by Curtis Ramsey-Lucas
Twenty-five years ago, on July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA and the subsequent ADA Amendments Act, signed in 2008 by President George W. Bush, expanded opportunities for Americans with disabilities by reducing barriers and changing perceptions. As a result, our society is more open and accessible to people with disabilities today than it was just a generation ago.
There’s a Place for Us in Israel
Reform Jews in Israel and around the world are still feeling the wounds of a string of hurtful comments by Israel’s Minister of Religious Affairs, David Azoulay. In June, Minister Azoulay called Reform Judaism “a disaster for the nation of Israel,” and earlier this month, stated that Reform Jews were really not Jews at all. The comments have been met with widespread condemnation, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but we know all too well the parable of the feather pillow: once something is said, the hurt never fully goes away.
Learning from the Past to Create a More Economically Just Future
In this week’s Torah portion, Devarim (and the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy), Moses begins his recounting of the Israelites’ forty-year-long journey in the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 1:1-21). Moses’ reflection on the past as the Israelites’ time of wandering comes starts to end offers a timely lesson for us to take stock of where we are in our journey towards economic justice.
Historic Bill to End LGBT Discrimination Introduced
When I came out to my parents in high school as gay, I was fortunate enough to have their full acceptance and love. However, I remember my mom saying early on that she was saddened to know the difficulties I would now have to face because of my identity. But I was already aware of some of those challenges: bullying and homophobia, the inability to get married in most states and a ban on serving in the military.
A Feminist and the Wall
By Joelle Leib
During my time at Scripps College, a women’s college in Claremont, California, I have learned much about feminism and the critical fight for gender equality. Luckily for me and my female millennial peers, American women have made tremendous strides in the past few decades, so much so that Hillary Clinton is now a frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary. Yet as someone who also identifies as a Zionist as well as a feminist, a great deal must still be accomplished before these two identities can be completely reconciled.
Update on the State(s) of Abortion Access
Over the past year, I’ve followed a slew of state-level abortion laws, which are advancing and passing at alarming rates. In the first half of 2015, states enacted 51 new abortion restrictions, bringing the total number of restrictions passed to 282 in the past five years.
Though legislative activity is generally quiet in the states in July, with most state legislatures having completed their session for the year, it’s still an important time for state-level abortion policy. In many states, the new fiscal year begins July 1, meaning that any new abortion laws—or anti-abortion laws, in most cases—passed in the most recent legislative session were set to take effect earlier this month.