You Think What?

On Monday evening in Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida the local interfaith group known as F.A.I.T.H. , (Fighting Against Injustice Towards Harmony), held its annual Action Assembly hosted by First Baptist Church. (more…)

“To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from
intentional contamination, and for other purposes.”

H. R. 875 proposed February 4, 2009 to be enacted by the United States House of Representatives and the Senate.

Read the proposed “Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009” here.

This seemingly innocuous proposed bill, also known as the  “Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009”, has started a firestorm of controversy among many American citizens who are proponents of organic gardening.

The federal legislative bodies are in a rush to get this bill passed. It is has the support by major chemical companies such as ADM, Monsanto and about thirty other companies with a vested interest in making sure the nation continues to use the petroleum based fertilizers and growth chemicals already in use. Chemicals that have over a period of years have contributed to the erosion of the public health. (more…)

THIS IS NO APRIL FOOL’s DAY PRANK

Another insanely Orwellian titled piece of legislation will soon be presented to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate for a vote. It is a bill to ban organic farming.

Organic farming produces fruits and vegetables without pesticides or other harmful chemicals.

The House the proposal, known by the innocuous title “Food Safety and Modernization Act” (Bill HR 875), not surprisingly has the support of Monsanto, a giant American chemical and engineering corporation.

More on this potentially dangerous law in another post.

We treasure the wisdom of the elders. We hold in high esteem their life experience; that is why we celebrate the life of the late John Hope Franklin who departed this existence on March 25, 2009. He was 94 years old.

The late John Hope Franklin was a chronicler of American history and a civil rights activist.

He was president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association. He was Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University.

Franklin is probably best known for his work “From Slavery to Freedom”, first published in 1947, and regularly updated. This historic writing has sold an more than three million copies have been. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. (more…)

Recently John Hope Franklin the American historian and activist died at the age of 94. His life and times are a reminder to all of the complete history of the United States of America.

John Hope Franklin recorded the American experience from the black perspective in order to give the world and its future generations the full story of this incredible nation.

“My specialty is the history of the south. That means I teach the history of blacks and whites.”~  in a 1990 interview, John Hope Franklin , historian

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John Hope Franklin a revered American academic, teacher and historian died last week at the age of 94.

Among his academic achievements and scholarly awards:

The first black man to deliver a paper to  Southern Historical Association. In 1970 he was elected president of the previously segregated organization.

The first black president of the American Historical Association.

He was instrumental in the opening of the first chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa “honor society” – a national organization which inspires academic excellence – at  historically black university, Fisk University, where Franklin began his own higher education.

In Britain, he held the Pitt professorship of American history and institutions at Cambridge University.

Franklin taught all over the world – in China, the Soviet Union, Australia and Zimbabwe. (more…)

February is the month in which many Americans, especially Americans of African descent, celebrate the history of coming to America.

February was chosen , not because it is the shortest month, but because it is the month of the birth of Abraham Lincoln the president who emancipated all the slaves.  Not every person who was a slave was Black or Native American. Many whites were indentured slaves.  Today the  financial institution executives have made many of our citizens modern day indentured slaves.

Included in that history are the trials and tribulations of being enslaved; but the joyful part of the history is the celebration of the achievements of the progeny of former black slaves.

At YouThinkWhat we acknowledge the successes and the triumphs in the face of extreme adverse conditions faced by men and women who despite those obstacles have contributed to the culture that is known around the planet as being uniquely American in its style.

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The first piece of real legislation Barack Obama signed as the 44th President of the United States, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, is named for a woman who was paid less than her male co-workers at a Goodyear tire factory in Alabama.

Ledbetter’s intention was not to be an activist; hers was a personal quest at the start, but after the Supreme Court ruled against her, she decided it was time to become a labor activist for the sake of her daughters and the daughters of working people everywhere.

As you read this woman’s story keep in mind she was employed by
Goodyear an international company named by Fortune magazine as the World’s Most Admired Motor Vehicle Parts Company in its 2008 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. The publication also ranked Goodyear No. 1 in innovation, people management, use of assets and global orientation. The company is also listed on Forbes magazine’s list of the Most Respected Companies in America and its list of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America. CRO magazine–the publication for executives charged with Corporate Responsibility, ranks Goodyear as number 72 of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. Goodyear employs about 70,000 people and manufactures its products in more than 60 facilities in 25 countries around the world.

Ledbetter, a 70 year-old widow whose husband died last December, was hired in 1979 to work as an overnight supervisor from 7PM to 7AM at the Goodyear plant. She worked for nearly twenty years and says with reference to her work ethic,”There was nothing I wouldn’t do, no matter how dirty or hard.”

During her career at Goodyear, Ledbetter experienced (more…)

According to a news release from the Akron, Ohio based Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the world’s largest tire company, will report fourth quarter 2008 financial results before markets open on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 to be followed by an investor conference call at 9 AM on that date.

Despite the recent negative news coverage of the company’s role in the Lilly Ledbetter wage discrimination matter Fortune magazine named Goodyear the World’s Most Admired Motor Vehicle Parts Company in its 2008 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. (more…)

The very first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama will benefit those who believe they have been affected by wage and gender discrimination in the work place.

On Thursday, January 29, 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama signed legislation into law making it easier for employees to sue for wage discrimination, a measure he said is an important step toward “fundamental fairness” for U.S. workers.

At a White House bill-signing ceremony President Obama said:

“It is fitting that the very first bill that I sign … is an important step, a simple fix to ensure fundamental fairness for American workers.”

The bill known as the Lilly Ledbetter bill in honor of an Alabama woman who worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, passed the House in a largely party-line vote Tuesday. The bill was approved by the Senate last week. (more…)