LGBTQ teachers open up as their schools become next front in the culture war
Yesterday 

Last year should have been a great one for former English and French teacher Willie Carver Jr. After about a decade in the classroom, he was named the best educator in Kentucky -- but at the same time, he said, a small but vocal minority in his rural town in Montgomery County went after him.

Florida’s controversial, so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law takes effect
View on Watch  Duration 4:07

Carver, who is gay, told ABC News that he was singled out for actually protecting LGBTQ kids in his school and their families, which made him a target.

He said that earlier this year, a community member who was posting about him on social media also repeatedly went to county school board meetings to report predation and so-called child "grooming" -- a term that has become popular in conservative circles for allegations of adults sexually manipulating kids.

Carver said this person, who had not named him at the board meetings but repeatedly referenced him by name online, also "doxxed" him and some of his students on Facebook by sharing their private information.

When, according to Carver, he and some students' parents asked Montgomery County Superintendent Dr. Matt Thompson to step in, Thompson instead said that directly addressing every social media post in question was "not feasible."

"I've never felt more pushback … I've never seen conservatism so hell-bent on harming the rights of LGBTQ people and students," said Carver, who left his job at Montgomery County High for a non-teaching position at the University of Kentucky.


Willie Carver, Jr., 2022 CCSSO Kentucky Teacher of the Year, poses for an undated selfie in Greenwich Village, New York.© Willie Carver, Jr.

Thompson did not respond directly to Carver's account when asked for comment by ABC News and sent a summary of his recollection. But the superintendent said in a statement: "Mr. Carver is a wonderful English and French teacher. We wish him well in his new endeavor."

According to PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to free expression, more than 190 "educational gag orders" -- or bills designed to limit academic and educational speech or discussions -- have been introduced in at least 41 states since 2021.

"From the perspective of overall threat to public education, anti-LGBTQ+ bills are most common, followed by bills on race and then transparency bills," Jeremy Young, PEN America's senior manager of free expression and education, told ABC.

The policy changes have been fueled both by remote learning during COVID-19, giving families greater insight into what goes on in classes; and, separately, by conservative groups' focus on what they say are inappropriate topics being spread by teachers -- on LGBTQ identity, on racism and more – which, they say, requires a response.MORE: These prospective teachers could fill a critical shortage, but they're worried

Nearly 30 of the "gag orders" that PEN tracked deal with LGBTQ topics. Some orders could ban public K-12 schools from including certain ideas related to race or sex in their curricula. The most noteworthy is Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, barring discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade or in older grades where it would not be "age-appropriate" or "developmentally appropriate."

Many critics labeled it the "Don't Say Gay" bill. It was one of more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed in 2022, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

That "pushback" Willie Carver felt in Kentucky, as he called it, has had a chilling effect on teachers like him in other parts of the country.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill -- which doesn't specifically use the word "gay," though it broadly restricts talk of sexuality and gender -- into law earlier this year in response to "woke gender ideology." In his "Education Agenda Tour" in advance of the Aug. 23 primary, DeSantis, a Republican, contended the classroom was on the frontlines in a larger culture war and said it was "wrong to inject things like sexuality and transgenderism into the classroom."


Joshua Block, a staff attorney with the National ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Projects, is pictured in an undated official portrait.© aclu.org

"We need to be teaching them to read or write, to add, to subtract," he said -- adding that "the purpose of our schools is to educate kids not to indoctrinate them."

But for Carver and others critical of such changes, the new laws cannot help but feel more like a personal attack.

"There's this systematic targeting of the topic of LGBTQ people, just like they're having a systematic targeting of the topic of experiences of different racial and ethnic groups," American Civil Liberties Union attorney Josh Block told ABC.

"Focusing the attack on public schools is trying to keep people from being exposed to ideas or experiences that whoever's in power doesn't approve of," Block said.

'The message that this is … shameful'

Florida educators like Jonathan Kryk say they are frustrated that the LGBTQ discussion bill was signed into law over what he describes as more pressing concerns for most U.S. teachers.

"This is the exact opposite of what we need," Kryk, a gay fifth-grade teacher outside of Tampa, told ABC News. "What teachers have been asking for has been an increase in pay, better safety protocols in our schools to avoid mass shootings, better insurance benefits, lower class sizes," he added. "You know -- things that actually help."

Before its signage, the Parental Rights in Education bill's original sponsor Joe Harding, a Republican state representative, told ABC affiliate WPLG that he felt the legislation was necessary because there were stories that instruction mentioning sexual orientation and gender identity was already in existence.MORE: How schoolhouse culture wars may factor into the 2022 midterms

"You don't have to go very far -- just start listening to local school board meetings in counties like Palm Beach ... where they had an issue with this," Harding told WPLG.

As the law is now being implemented, it has left some districts in the lurch.

Earlier this month, the deputy superintendent of Palm Beach County, Edward Tierney, said they would be in "full compliance" with the new legislation but insisted that all students would be "educated in a warm, caring and supportive environment."


Jonathan Kryk stands in front of a kindness board on the first day of school last year in which students leave notes of love and appreciation for others, Sept. 2021.© Courtesy Jonathan Kryk

The pattern of these education proposals is influencing LGBTQ teachers beyond Florida. Queer Utah educator Angelica Jones told ABC that she was torn about returning to her American Sign Language classroom because she said that the legislation was setting a bad precedent.

Jones' room was decorated with a cacophony of rainbows and a progress pride flag -- but now she fears that the trend of restrictions could make classrooms feel unsafe for students.

She said it is an "every day, every minute" battle whether she wants to return to education in this climate, amid a nationwide teacher shortage.

She ultimately left Corner Canyon High School last January due to a difference in values with her school district, which she says pulled some LGBTQ-themed books from its libraries. (The school district did not respond to a request for comment from ABC.)


Angelica Jones, a former teacher at Corner Canyon High School that left due to a difference in values with the school district, poses for a portrait in Salt Lake City, Utah, 2016.© Courtesy Angelica Jones

"It really is sending the message that this is something that is shameful, this is something that needs to be hidden -- this is not something that is for regular society to be shown and to be talked about," Jones said.

The term "discussion" in the Florida law about sexuality and gender in classrooms is also troubling teachers because they believe the word is too vague and could mean muting a variety of conversations. Before the bill was passed, some Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to make it more specific -- restricting instruction on sexual activity rather than orientation, for example.

Even though many who spoke with ABC News said they are disappointed in the law's lack of clarity, some gay teachers don't see an issue with it.

Washington, D.C.'s Boswain Shaw said he supports how, in his view, the policies draw a clear line for children.

"The bill might be beneficial -- similar to the separation of church and state," he told ABC News. "There's a time and place for everything. This is not the time and the place for it."

Florida's law, Shaw said, has the potential to streamline what kids are learning at school. But according to Block, the civil rights attorney, constricting students' scope of knowledge on any topic is contrary to the goals of education.


Boswain Shaw sets up his classroom earlier this year in Washington D.C., May, 2022.© Courtesy Boswain Shaw

Block feels recognizing LGBTQ experiences is vital in making them feel comfortable in society.

"That is the driver of equality and progress," he said. "I think the biggest driver of change for LGBTQ people has been people coming out of the closet, people being more visible and straight or cis people realizing that LGBTQ people are their friends, neighbors, families and coworkers."

LGBTQ books another source of conflict

Removing books is also a part of the movement to control content in grade schools. Ban advocates say parents have the right to oversee their kids' instruction and that raising gender and sexuality are tantamount to proselytizing to students over their families' wishes.

Tiffany Justice is a former Indian River County, Florida, School Board member and the co-founder of Moms for Liberty, which has almost 100,000 members across the country. The group believes that parents are the best experts on their children and advocates for parents to be involved with every decision being made for their kids in schools.

"We're talking about public education, libraries, public school libraries, we're not talking about ... Barnes & Noble or Amazon or anywhere else," Justice told ABC News. "If parents would like their children to be exposed to all different types of books, there are lots of ways to get access to them."


Tiffany Justice, a mother of four and a former Indian River County School Board member, co-founded Moms for Liberty, Treasure Coast, Fla., Dec. 9, 2021.© Treasure Coast via USA Today Network, FILE

PEN America tracked more than 1,100 unique book titles by more than 800 authors that were banned in schools over a nine-month period (from July 2021 to March 2022). In a report, PEN found roughly a third of the books explicitly address LGBTQ themes or include LGBTQ protagonists.

Maulik Pancholy is one such LGBTQ author fighting to keep his books in classrooms and on library shelves. Pancholy's Stonewall Honor-winning novel "The Best at It" follows 12-year-old Rahul Kapoor, who is not only figuring out his cultural identity as an Indian-American but is also just beginning to realize that he might be gay. But "The Best at It" was pulled in some districts across Florida and Texas, according to EveryLibrary, a political action committee for libraries that opposes such restrictions.

"This kind of censorship sends a message to kids that -- if they identify with this book -- then there is something wrong with them," Pancholy said in a statement to ABC News. "I know firsthand how damaging that is. It's an attempt to literally erase a human being's existence from the world."

However, Justice hopes to "redraw" the boundaries between school and home. She says one of her priorities is children's illiteracy, which she calls the biggest threat to national security, and she says she supports efforts to improve reading scores and combat pandemic learning loss.

But she believes exposure to various social concepts goes beyond good education.MORE: Teachers face mental health challenges dealing with school shootings

"If we did nothing else by the end of third grade, can we teach the kids to read?" she told ABC, adding: "What's happening now is that children aren't really taught to be literate -- they're taught to be politically literate, or racially literate, or divided in some way based on another person's worldview. But they're not being given the tools and skills they need to be successful independently in life."

Metro Detroit humanities teacher Patrick Harris II believes censoring stories and experiences is based on fear and is harmful for the next generation.

"To take away those stories for them -- folks who really need them, folks who want to and deserve to see themselves -- is a crime to me," he said.

Harris II released a memoir, "The First Five: A Love Letter to Teachers," earlier this year. He is an award-winning teacher and author who finds himself caught in the middle of the heated book debates. Harris II dedicates an entire chapter in his book to his own "queer identity."


Patrick Harris II, a queer middle school humanities teacher and author of "The First Five: A Love Letter to Teachers", is pictured in an undated portrait.© Ian J. Solomon Photography

"I have developed a queer studies elective for middle schoolers [and] I talk about my experiences as a queer kid growing up and how that impacts the way that I show up in the classroom," Harris II said. "My book could be a part of this roundup of, you know, book banning, once folks continue to read it and spread it and find out about what's in it. Does that make me scared? Absolutely not. I'll continue to be myself and I'll continue to speak the truth and write what I think is necessary."

But he worries about the impact that censorship may have in other areas moving forward.

"Books are just the beginning," he said. "It may be books now and we're seeing right now, you know, banning trans kids from sports is on the docket, that has happened in several states. And so what's next: gay marriage? It never stops at just one thing. We're seeing a real dissonance between America's values and in their actions."

ABC News' Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.

This Soap Brand Is Sharing the Healing Power of Inuit Tradition

Meaghan Wray - 


This story is part of Best Health’s Preservation series, which spotlights wellness businesses and practices rooted in culture, community and history.

Bernice and Justin Clarke make body care products that heal.

With their Iqaluit-based company Uasau Soaps, the couple crafts body products like soaps, oils, creams using Inuit traditions and native-to-Nunavut ingredients, like bowhead whale blubber and bearded seal oil. These methods have been used for generations to reduce symptoms of eczema, a prevalent issue among northern communities, and bring life back to tired, dry skin.

Using and making these soaps doesn’t just offer physical benefits. For Bernice, it is a way of healing herself and the Inuit community.

Bernice’s mother is a residential school survivor. Bernice carries with her the intergenerational trauma and cultural erasure caused by these schools run by the Catholic church and the Canadian government from 1983 to 1996. These atrocities have yet to be reconciled—not even close—but Bernice finds her way through by creating traditionally-inspired wellness products, unearthing knowledge of the land she is connected to and sharing it with her community and her customers.

What started as a way to achieve soft skin took on a whole new life. Her body butters are a balm to deep wounds.

"As Inuit, we are emerging from a dark chapter in our history,” Bernice shares on the company’s website. “We are washing off the shadows and pain of the colonial legacy, reclaiming our traditional wisdom and strength and reconnecting with our ancestors in the modern world. Healing ourselves includes sharing our story and ways of life with you."

Here, Bernice talks about how Uasau Soap (pronounced ooh-ah-sow) fights back against colonialism and cultural erasure, the healing power of sharing Indigenous knowledge and the magic ingredient that sets her apart from any all other wellness brands.


Image credit: Uasau Soap© Image credit: Uasau Soap

What was the inspiration behind starting Uasau Soap?

I always want soft skin and I live in a dry climate, so I was always trying to find a way to fix this. I wanted to go the more natural route. About 9 years ago I started learning [how to make soap] from friends and from my cousin. I started gifting it as birthday presents, which everyone loved. Everyone started letting me know this product was really good.

(Related: Antibacterial Soap vs. Regular Soap: Which Should You Be Using?)
How did you decide to incorporate bowhead whale blubber into your products?

There is something different about my product. I firmly believe that it’s the bowhead. It is my magic. This is thousands of years old knowledge that was handed to me by my friend. She came to me after her brother said my products helped with his eczema. She said, “I want you to try the bowhead.” My husband and I were not believers. We didn’t think it would work—but it did. The blubber didn’t separate from the oil; the ingredients mixed well. Things changed in that moment, and my business took off in a new way. There’s nobody in the world who does what I do.


Thumbnail Uasau Body Butter

So, Uasau Soap was born from your own desire for soft skin, but it’s evolved into something much more because of your ingredients and methods…

My business fully incorporates my culture, in every form and every way. I am people first, so I ask, “How can I help? Is there an issue you want me to try and figure out?” So the Inuit belief, or the way of the IQ [Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, traditional knowledge of Inuit passed on through generations], comes from that—we are connected. This takes me from being just a regular bath and body care business to traditional healing. Healing becomes more than skin deep.

The bowhead, for example, has created healing for my people. I have been told stories members of my community that [our soaps] healed them, that I took back the bowhead from [commercial] whalers. That’s so powerful that I can take something that was and bring it back in a new way.

[Editor’s note: Bowhead whaling is illegal for commercial entities. Fisheries and Oceans grants licenses to Inuit communities within set quotas that help conserve the animals. Bernice gets her bowhead from Coral Harbour, Nunavut, one of three Nunavut communities with approval for bowhead hunting. The entire whale is used and respected within these traditional, historical practices that honour Inuit culture.]
The concept of Nanu, your connection to the Earth and to each other, is inherent in all your products. Your clay comes from a river in Iqaluit, your seaweed from Frobisher Bay. How about your latest soap made with lichen?

I have a partnership with my friend named Louisa Tukkiapik [to make “i lichen you” hand and body soap]. It’s a bartering system, me and her. It’s not a signed agreement. After I visited her one day in Kuujjuaq [Nunavik], and we collected lichen together, I asked her if she could send me some in exchange for soap.

All of our ingredients [seaweed, clay, bearded seal oil] are medicine that Inuit have told me about. I have often been pulled aside and asked, “Have you heard of this?” Because as we go down the healing path, we start to share more and more.

(Related: The Best Natural Hand Sanitizers Available in Canada)


Image credit: Uasau Soap© Image credit: Uasau Soap

Why is it particularly important for consumers to shop Indigenous-owned brands?

We’re always pushed to the back into the corner. We are not being promoted. It’s very important for me to represent a minority group that is not celebrated. I ask people: How much money do you invest in Indigenous-made products? Can you put a dollar amount on it on a year basis? And how else can you support Indigenous? We are underrepresented and I will advocate for my people.
Uasau Soap makes body products, but it sounds like your business is really about healing.

I have a lot of hurt, and the hurt comes from colonization, from the Catholic Church. I am a survivor. My mother went to a residential school, and I felt the effects of residential schools. I’ve been in therapy for 15, 20 years. I want to be seen—where I came from, and my pain. I want to show people what happens when you heal yourself, because you’re then able to do those extra things that people without trauma are able to do.

My healing comes through my business. I want to heal my pain so I can show others this is how we did it.

If you are a residential school survivor who is experiencing pain or distress, call the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. Support is available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

This story is part of Best Health’s Preservation series, which spotlights wellness businesses and practices rooted in culture, community and history. Read more from this series here:
Meet Sisters Sage, an Indigenous Wellness Brand Reclaiming Smudging
This Canadian Soap Brand is Rooted in Korean Bathhouse Culture
Sharing Chinese Herbal Soups and Teas, Steeped in Tradition

Putin's propagandists are promoting Breitbart's Hunter Biden film, saying they hope it helps 'bring our beloved Trump back into power'

ngaudiano@insider.com (Nicole Gaudiano,John Haltiwanger) - Yesterday 

Russian President Vladimir Putin toasts during reception for military servicemen who took part in Syrian campaign on December 28, 2017 in Moscow, Russia. 

Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

A right-wing film attacking Joe Biden and his son Hunter is getting attention on Kremlin TV.

Numerous programs have broadcast the promotional trailer in its entirety, The Daily Beast reported.

One host said she hopes the film will help in the US "to bring our beloved Trump back into power."

Russian state media propagandists are aggressively promoting "My Son Hunter," a film attacking President Joe Biden and his son that will be distributed by the far-right Breitbart when it premieres on September 7.

Numerous Russian state television programs have broadcast the promotional trailer in its entirety, The Daily Beast reported. The trailer hints at drug abuse and allegations of illegal activity by Hunter Biden and attempts to draw connections to the president.

There are also references to a laptop, allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden, that became the subject of a highly controversial New York Post story with several red flags that raised questions about its authenticity.

One Russian state media show host who is also a deputy of Russia's State Duma, Evgeny Popov, said Republicans produced the "scandalous" film because "they got tired of waiting for justice," The Daily Beast reported. He suggested the film is intended to help them during the midterm elections, and called the laptop former President Donald Trump's "main 'trump card.'"

Co-host Olga Skabeeva said, "We're waiting for the premiere and hoping for a big success in the United States, to bring our beloved Trump back into power."

Another seven-minute segment on the state TV show Vesti at 20:00 included the promo and clips of Fox host Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, accusing the FBI of "interfering in elections" by not investigating the laptop, The Daily Beast reported.

Republicans are itching to ramp up investigations of Hunter if they win control of Congress in November. They hope to find wrongdoing they can link to the president ahead of the 2024 election, in case he chooses to run again.

Breitbart says the film marks its expansion into film distribution. The trailer was released on Truth Social last week.

Hunter Biden has previously disclosed a federal investigation into his taxes. No evidence has suggested that his work influenced Joe Biden's policy decisions.

On Monday,Trump demanded reinstatement as president or "a new Election, immediately" after news that Facebook temporarily limited a controversial story about Hunter Biden's laptop in users' news feeds before the 2020 election.

With the war in Ukraine raging on and the Biden administration firmly backing Kyiv as both sides experience heavy losses, the Kremlin's propagandists have ramped up rhetorical support for Trump — particularly in the wake of an FBI raid on his Florida home. Russian state news has parroted talking points of the far right in the US, baselessly presenting Trump as the victim of a politically motivated investigation. Like prominent figures on the far right, the Kremlin's mouthpieces have suggested that the raid could spark civil war in the US.

In recent years, the national security community in the US has repeatedly warned that the Kremlin wants to sow divisions in the US.

"The Russians are trying to get us to tear ourselves apart," FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a cybersecurity conference in New York City last month, per the New York Times.

The US intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 and 2020 elections to boost Trump's chances of winning, though it's underscored that none of these efforts altered final results. With midterms on the horizon, US intelligence agencies and congressional lawmakers continue to express concerns about Russian election interference.

The Department of Homeland Security in June warned that Moscow will "probably" attempt to undermine the November elections as retribution for US support for Ukraine, according to a report obtained by CNN.

"We expect Russian interference in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, as Russia views this activity as an equitable response to perceived actions by Washington and an opportunity to both undermine US global standing and influence US decision-making," the report said.

Union chief warns of potential threats in wake of Mar-a-Lago search

Scott MacFarlane - Yesterday 

The leader of the nation's largest federal government employees' union is warning of the potential for threats and harassment against civil servants who work for the National Archives and federal law enforcement agencies, in the wake of the search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Largest federal employee union warns of threats against members

View on Watch Duration 5:28

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents approximately 700,000 workers including employees from the National Archives, said union members are reporting worries about menacing and potential violent threats, amid reports of violent rhetoric on some social media platforms and chat groups.

"Certainly we have heard from (members)," said AFGE president Everett Kelley in an interview with CBS News.. "I've been very disturbed over the past few weeks to hear about violent threats against federal law enforcement and most recently those at the National Archives."

Kelley continued, "It's a shame that they continue to be at the receiving end of this kind of treatment, simply for doing their job."


The United States National Archives building is shown on October 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. Later today the National Archives will release more than 3,000 classified files on the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. / Credit: Mark Wilson / Getty Images© Provided by CBS News

"Any number of federal employees could be subject to harassment," Kelley said, citing increasingly toxic and heated rhetoric. AFGE said it is urging all federal agencies to increase security for employees who are subjected to threats and to ensure federal workers are notified if a threat is made or detected by the agencies.

Kelley reminded union members in a statement earlier this month that "attempts to influence the legal process through intimidation, violence, and terror undermine the rule of law, compromise the security of law enforcement and government officials, and make all Americans less safe."

"Attempts to influence the legal process through intimidation, violence, and terror undermine the rule of law, compromise the security of law enforcement and government officials, and make all Americans less safe," Kelley said in a statement to union members earlier this month.

Last week, the head of the National Archives sent a memo to employees encouraging the staff to continue its "fiercely non-political" work, as the normally low-profile agency receives threats from some and praise from others — neither welcome — over its role in the federal investigation into Trump.

A CBS News review of federal court cases and transcripts shows federal judges have also experienced a series of death threats, including judges handling the high-profile criminal cases of U.S. Capitol riot defendants. During a sentencing hearing earlier this summer, U.S. District Court judge Tanya Chutkan mentioned there had been a series of threats received by Washington D.C. judges overseeing cases involving Jan. 6 defendants.

Earlier this month, an Ohio man died in a standoff with police, after attempting to breach an FBI field office in Cincinnati. The standoff occurred less than a week after the FBI executed its search of Mar-a-Lago.

China Evergrande bondholders push own plan for debt restructuring - FT

Yesterday 

(Reuters) - Global funds that invested in China Evergrande Group's bonds have come up with their own debt restructuring plan for the property developer and demanded that its chair repay liabilities with his own fortune, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.


The China Evergrande Centre building sign is seen in Hong Kong

© Reuters/TYRONE SIU

With more than $300 billion in liabilities, Evergrande, once China's top-selling developer, has been at the centre of the crisis and its debt restructuring plan is seen as a possible template for others.

Bondholders submitted a proposal that laid out a framework to restructure Evergrande's $20 billion of offshore debts in recent days after the company missed a deadline in July to present a plan to meet its colossal liabilities, the report said.

Related video: Chinese developer Evergrande's unit ordered to pay out $1.1 billion

Duration 1:13  View on Watch

The foreign creditors also proposed that Evergrande chair Hui Ka Yan buy new shares issued by the company and use the capital to repay part of its offshore debts, the report added. (https://on.ft.com/3TrZOcY)

Evergrande said in July it would offer its offshore creditors asset packages that may include shares in two overseas-listed units as a sweetener.

Evergrande could not be immediately reached for a comment.

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

NCN’s first female chief wants to focus on housing, healing and opportunity

Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative reporter 

A northern Manitoba First Nation has elected its first female chief and the community’s new leader says she plans to get to work immediately looking for ways to improve the lives of those living in her community.


The Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) has voted in Angela Levasseur as the community’s newest Chief, and Levasseur will be the first female to ever hold that position in NCN, when she is officially sworn in on Sept.6. 

Handout photo© Provided by Winnipeg Sun

“I want to help our people achieve self-sufficiency,” newly-elected Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) Chief Angela Levasseur said on Tuesday.

“I don’t want to see the continuation of First Nations people and Indigenous people depending on the government. I believe we are capable of producing our own revenue and I want to see a community where no one is left behind.”

Last week voters in NCN, a remote First Nations community more than 850 kilometres north of Winnipeg and about 65 kilometres west of the city of Thompson, voted in Levasseur as chief, and she will now step into the role with an impressive background and resume.

Levasseur recently completed a law degree, specializing in Indigenous Law, at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Minnesota, while she also holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Education, and a Post-Baccalaureate degree in education from the University of Manitoba.

She said she believes that education is very important for helping people in her community and other First Nations to succeed.

“I really strongly support education for my people,” Levasseur said. “I do believe education and training are keys to improving conditions for First Nations people.”

Related video: Southern Manitoba First Nations walk to raise support for new health authority

Duration 2:01  View on Watch

According to Levasseur, the biggest problem facing NCN community members currently is a lack of quality and affordable housing, which she said often forces multiple people and multiple families to live under one roof in the community that is home to approximately 3,000 on-reserve members.

“The most pressing need is housing for sure,” she said. “Things have really not changed in a very long time. In many ways, the conditions have gotten worse because our growth is happening exponentially and the building of homes does not match that growth.

“There is severe overcrowding and for most people, the most important thing in their lives is their home, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep, it’s important to be able to take care of your family, and give people a safe space to raise children, and a lot of people just don’t have that.”

Levasseur said she also knows there needs to be a focus on supporting the community’s children and youth, as she said when she worked as a teacher she would sometimes visit student’s homes in NCN, and see as many as 16-20 people living in one small house, and she saw how those living conditions affected students.

“I found some kids were really struggling because of their living conditions and dealing with a lack of sleep or often not even having their own bed, so I also really want to have our community work together to build pathways for our children,” Levasseur said.

According to Levasseur, she would like to see more NCN residents trained in skills that would allow them to build homes and work on other construction-related jobs and projects in the community, as there is a need for homes, but also for jobs and employment, and for people to build those homes.

“Let’s get people trained and trained in trades that can be used in the community, because we need to bolster employment, “she said. “And when we do, that is how we create that self-sufficiency.”

In her community, and in First Nations communities across the country, Levasseur said there is also a great need for healing from the many traumas that many Indigenous people have faced over successive generations.

“Empowerment is very important as a result of the many traumas brought on by colonization,” Levasseur said. “Many of our people are suffering from collective historical and intergeneration trauma.

“I want to focus on having our people heal, and focus on reconciliation, so we can move forward in a good way.”

Levasseur will be officially sworn in as Chief of NCN on Sept. 6.

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

Reflections on the Pope’s Apology – Another perspective on Healing

Yesterday 

(ANNeww) – On June 24, Pope Frances came to Maskwacis, to deliver an apology on indigenous soil at the former site of one of Canada’s largest Indian Residential Schools on Ermineskin Cree Nation.

The visit stirred up a lot of mixed emotions within the four nations of Maskwacis and many people were conflicted about attending; a lot of their seats were empty during the Pope’s visit. Maskwacis is in many ways still on a very active healing journey. On the morning of the Papal Visit, a young man was brutally murdered in Montana First Nation. Intergenerational trauma continues to play havoc in the community. If you dig into the background of most of the crimes, violence, trauma, and murders, the root cause is often residential schools and aggressive programs of forced assimilation.

Patrick Buffalo is a former leader of the Samson Cree Nation, and he is a well-respected member who has dedicated his life to healing and wellness through his therapy ranch where agencies and people with post-traumatic stress come to be helped with their relationship building.

In an interview, Buffalo offered his insights on the Papal visit. “I started my healing journey years ago and I didn’t need the Pope’s apology,” he said. First and foremost, the apology is about healing, he explained, and some people believe they need somebody else to feel better.

According to Buffalo, the messaging behind the Pope’s visit, was that now that an apology has been delivered, Indigenous peoples of Canada can start healing, but for some, like him, it started 30 years ago.

Buffalo says that the healing journey is a personal choice that each Indigenous person must make for themselves.

“Some people believe in forgiveness; some people believe in making amends and some people believe in an apology,” said Buffalo. “They believe somebody will make them feel better and they need others to make them feel better.”

“It’s all a choice.”

For him, the Pope represents The Catholic Church and a Christianity-led colonization, that enforces rigorous efforts towards forced assimilation.

Related video: Residential school survivor, Indigenous leader respond to Pope's use of word genocide    Duration 2:21  View on Watch

“Many of our people in Maskwacis spoke about decolonization, and some of our leaders and members are so colonized that they do not recognize that Christianity is the core of colonization,” said Buffalo.

“Some of our people’s colonization mindset still honours and believes in a Great White Pope, and that it takes a Great White Pope. That reflects where the community is in terms of colonization and decolonization.”

“We have leaders who go to church and do the rosary once a week – they are colonized. That’s what the residential schools were designed for to kill the Indian and save the child,” explained Buffalo.

And yet so many people are stuck in that mindset of our victimhood, he added, noting that his definition of healing is taking ownership of who you are and what you create, making positive choices.

There is no room for victimhood, said Buffalo. No room for blame – just ownership and choices.

The purpose of the Pope being here was for healing, he added, and what we need to do is let go of the heaviness that we carry based on past experiences.

Buffalo offers advice on letting go of past trauma, and that’s recognizing that anger is a secondary emotion, don’t hide it, bring it front and centre, feel it, and decide if you can let it go. Verbalize what hurt you and say I let this hurt go, I let this disappointment go.

There are many paths to wellness and Buffalo, a facilitator of healing, does this work on his ranch in Maskwacis with horse therapy, based on the therapeutic power of communing with horses.

He also offers this program through Maskwacis Mental Health; he recommends it for people in active addiction, PTDS, childhood abuse victims, abuse victims, and people who have experienced trauma in their lives.

Buffalo invites our readers to watch Breaking Stigmas, at

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=iCrU-YshDUU

Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News

Who is Mary Peltola? The Democrat leads Sarah Palin for Alaska's House seat

Merdie Nzanga, USA TODAY - Yesterday

Mary Peltola is the only Democrat running to replace the late Republican Rep. Don Young for the state's at-large congressional seat, which he held for nearly 50 years.

If Peltola wins, she will be the first Alaska native to serve in Congress.

Alaska primaries: Liz Cheney, Trump foe, loses Wyoming primary; Murkowski, Tshibaka to face off in Alaska: primary recap

Peltola, former Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich are running in both a special election to fill out the rest of Young's current term and in the general election for a new term. All three candidates advanced out of the primary to the election in November.


Mary Peltola, a Democrat seeking the sole U.S. House seat in Alaska, speaks during a forum for candidates on May 12, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska.© Mark Thiessen, AP

Alaska's new ranked-choice voting system allows the top four candidates to proceed to the general election, regardless of a political party.

Here is what to know about Peltola.

 
Who is Mary Peltola?

Mary Sattler Peltola was born in Anchorage, Alaska. Peltola, 48, went to the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Alaska. She established the lobbying firm Sattler Strategies.

Peltola is a Yup'ik woman, and if she is elected, she would be the first Alaska native in Congress.

She served as the executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and a councilwoman in Bethel, a small city in Alaska, from 2011-2013, according to the New York Times.
Peltola's political beliefs

Peltola said in an interview with Anchorage Daily News that Congress should act to preserve abortion access and codify Roe v. Wade.

While she said that guns are part of Alaskan culture, she said she wants commonsense actions to be taken on guns. Provisions such as "secure storage laws, reasonable waiting periods, and universal background checks can make all of us safer while still preserving the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment," Peltola told Anchorage Daily News.

Alaska special election results

Unofficial results in the special election are expected Aug. 31.

The latest results of the special election show Peltola leading the race at 39.6%, Palin is behind at 30.9%, and Begich in third place at 27.8%, Anchorage Daily News reports, based on a new batch of results released Friday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Mary Peltola? The Democrat leads Sarah Palin for Alaska's House seat

Tesla faces proposed class action lawsuit in the U.S.

MobileSyrup - Yesterday


Tesla is facing a proposed class action lawsuit over a phantom braking problem.



The California-based Tesla Model 3 owner who filed the suit states the problem causes vehicles to abruptly stop without any obstacles in their way and is a “nightmare,” according to Reuters.

The complainant, Jose Alvarez Toledo, states the automaker rushed its vehicles to market with technology that isn’t safe.

“When the sudden unintended braking defect occurs, they turn what is supposed to be a safety feature into a frightening and dangerous nightmare,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit, which covers U.S. Tesla owners facing the same issue, also states Tesla didn’t disclose safety risks related to Autopilot.

The California-based Tesla Model 3 owner who filed the suit states the problem causes vehicles to abruptly stop without any obstacles in their way and is a “nightmare,” according to Reuters.

The complainant, Jose Alvarez Toledo, states the automaker rushed its vehicles to market with technology that isn’t safe.

Related video: Tesla hit with proposed class action over phantom braking issue
Duration 1:47  View on Watch

“When the sudden unintended braking defect occurs, they turn what is supposed to be a safety feature into a frightening and dangerous nightmare,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit, which covers U.S. Tesla owners facing the same issue, also states Tesla didn’t disclose safety risks related to Autopilot.

MISSISSIPPI

Everyone knew Jackson's water crisis was coming

Zachary B. Wolf - Yesterday 

While drought has parched the West and threatens the region’s water supply, in Jackson, Mississippi, it’s deluge that’s overwhelmed the water system and threatens normal life.

Flooding taxed the city’s frail water system, leaving many unable to flush toilets.

What’s more shocking is that this is becoming a routine occurrence in Jackson. Residents had already been under a boil-water notice since late July. It wasn’t the first time.

Freak storms. In February 2021, it was a freak winter storm that froze and burst pipes and left many residents without water for a month.

A broken system. In January of this year, the Clarion Ledger published a report from Jerry Mitchell of the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting that detailed the problem: erupting sewer lines unable to deal with rainstorms, leaking 100-year-old pipes, faulty meters, malfunctioning water treatment plants, an understaffed water utility unable to keep up and a lack of money devoted to any one problem, much less all of them.

A visit from the EPA. Back in November, when the Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael Regan visited Jackson to talk about water equity, he saw the city’s issues for himself.

A local school he visited was cleared out earlier that morning due to low water pressure, and that same evening, officials issued a boil-water notice due to what they said was a “bad batch of chemicals” used to clean the water, according to a local report.

Soon after, Regan referenced Jackson when he announced the EPA would give Mississippi $75 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law for water projects. The money is to be split across the state.

“We have been actually lifting up our persistent water challenges for the better part of two years, crying out for any assistance that we could get,” Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, a Democrat, said on CNN on Tuesday.

Jackson resident and Mississippi state Rep. Ronnie Crudup Jr. told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on Tuesday that his family couldn’t boil water Monday night because there was nothing but air coming out of the faucets.

By Tuesday morning, discolored water was coming out of his faucets, which he could use to flush his toilets. But the discolored water is unsafe to drink.

“This is something that has been occurring for years, but sometimes it takes these catastrophes to make sure that this disaster comes to light,” he said.

The state steps in. Concerned there’s not enough water pressure to fight fires, the state’s governor stepped in on Tuesday to activate up to 4,500 members of the National Guard. Read CNN’s full report.

“We will do everything in our power to restore water pressure and get water flowing back to the people of Jackson,” the state’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday.

Related video: South Jxn Water Problems

ONGOING WATER CRISIS NOW IN IT'S 28TH DAY.

Duration 0:55 View on Watch

But the state did not help earlier. The city asked for $47 million to get ahead of the crisis with water and sewer repairs after the 2021 storm. The state’s legislature gave Jackson only $3 million, according to a report from CNN in April.

Help for crumbling infrastructure. The need to address the problem of crumbling infrastructure is something that has bipartisan agreement. Republicans and Democrats in Washington came together to pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law last November.

Of Mississippi’s four US House members, only one, Rep. Bennie Thompson, voted to spend money on things like water resources. In the Senate, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi was among the Republicans who helped the bill defeat a filibuster to become law. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith opposed the spending. See how your senators voted for the infrastructure package.

It’s probably not enough money. The infrastructure law dedicates $283 million for water infrastructure, according to Wicker, but as of July, a White House information sheet lists $75 million in this type of funding for the entire state for fiscal year 2022, most of which is focused on lead pipe replacement.

Jackson’s mayor has said his city “literally” needs $1 billion for its entire water system to be replaced.

A disagreement on funding. A separate bill, the American Rescue Plan, passed by only Democrats during the pandemic, also created funding for water programs. Mississippi is making these funds available through a grant program in which it will split costs with cities like Jackson, according to the nonprofit Mississippi Today.

Lumumba and Reeves have previously disagreed on exactly how much money Jackson got from the American Rescue Plan: In early August, Reeves accused Lumumba and the city of squandering $90 million in Covid-19 relief funds. Lumumba said the city got only around $44 million and that the money went to the water system and public safety, according to a WJTV report from before the floods but during the boil-water notice.

Splitting costs. Reeves also made clear in his disaster declaration statement that he would be splitting costs for the emergency actions with the city.

Problems for a decade. The EPA has cited Jackson multiple times over the past decade, including most recently in July 2021 demanding plans to fix the water system.

Camerota asked Crudup Jr. whom he would blame for the situation.

“I’m not here to play the blame game right now. We’ve been passing this buck around for years. This thing has been decades in the making,” Crudup Jr. said. “Even the last two years, we’ve been dealing with things over and over again, and so I’m just glad right now that the governor has decided to go ahead and step up to the plate and help us out right now.”

A lot of people worry about drinking water. Clean, safe drinking water is a top environmental concern of Americans.

A majority, 56%, said in a 2021 Gallup survey that they worry a great deal about pollution of drinking water. An additional 24% worry a fair amount about drinking water.

But people are not as worried as they used to be – 72% said they were worried a great deal about pollution back in 2000. Democrats tend to be more worried than Republicans.

In separate polling in May of this year, Pew Research Center’s director of political research Carroll Doherty notes that lower-income adults were more likely to cite the safety of drinking water as a problem for their local communities. Black Americans were also more likely than White and Hispanic people to cite the safety of drinking water as a problem.

That communities of color are more likely to be affected by water issues is a well-documented and sad phenomenon.

A government-appointed civil rights commission in Michigan found that systemic racism helped contribute to the Flint water crisis. Read more from CNN’s reporting in 2017.

Years later, as Politico reported in 2020, many Flint residents still don’t trust the water.