Month: June 2013

Texas to have special session after successful filibuster of abortion bill

June 28, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:15:17 0 Comments

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is calling for a second special session of the legislature to try to pass restrictive abortion regulations after the successful filibuster of Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis.

Davis filibustered for more than 10 hours on Tuesday night to delay the senate vote on the SB 5 Pro-Life Omnibus Bill, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and shuttered most of the state’s abortion clinics due to more stringent requirements.

While the events in Texas were watched around the world, other states watched in hopes of learning how to successfully pass similar laws.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Jodi Jacobson, editor-in-chief of RH Reality Check, and Austin-based journalist Jessica Luther to talk about Texas and the potential encroachments that would restrict care to all American women.

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Stories from the press focused on many aspects of her filibuster, including what was to some a distressing focus on her “pink tennis shoes.”

Bey also spoke with freelance journalist Tracie Powell and Rachel Larris of the Women’s Media Center to talk about the coverage of the story and how mainstream media was flat-footed in running down the details of the evening.

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GOP-sponsored abortion bill will hurt Texas women, protesters warn

June 25, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:18:06 0 Comments

The Texas legislature has essentially banned abortions, passing a stringent set of restrictions on Monday morning that would require all abortions be attended by a medical doctor and that the doctor hold admitting privileges to a nearby hospital, among others.

The Republican-controlled House voted 97-33 to pass the bill, known as the SB 5 Pro-Life Omnibus Bill, which is “aimed at preserving unborn life and improving safety standards for abortion providers in the State of Texas,” according to a release by Rep. Drew Springer, a Republican.

The bill will go to the Senate where officials have a Tuesday night deadline to vote on the measure.

However, numerous groups have protested against the bill, saying the measure isn’t based in science. Some are calling it medically unnecessary and overly restrictive.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Beth Presswood, host of the Godless Bitches podcast, and journalist Jessica Luther to discuss the story.

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What’s at stake for DOMA, Prop 8 Supreme Court decisions?

June 19, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

The U.S. Supreme Court is days away from announcing some of its last and its biggest decisions of the term, Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Ed Brayton, a journalist and head of the Freethought Blog network, to discuss the cases.

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Atheist billboard sparks debate on issues of bible, slavery and race

June 18, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

African-Americans have charged that the country’s leading civil rights organization for atheists is tone-deaf in terms of its messaging about Pennsylvania’s “year of the Bible.” American Atheists erected a billboard quoting the bible verse “Slaves obey your masters!” depicting an enslaved man with a barbed metal collar around his neck.

A number of African Americans say the campaign was ill-advised and illustrates the disconnect between the organization and people of color. American Atheists counters that the ad was intended to provoke and to show that the bible does promote racist ideals and that viewers’ anger is misplaced.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with AJ Johnson, development director of American Atheists, and Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson, author of “Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars,” to discuss the campaign.

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New book teaches citizens how to better get the government’s attention

June 14, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:14:51 0 Comments

Congress today has a lower approval rating than most teenybopper bands and Americans of all political leanings report feeling that their elected officials are out of touch with the concerns of the average person.

A new book goes into how citizens can be effective in bringing concerns before the government in an attempt to bring elected officials closer to reality.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Amanda Knief, a public policy and constitutional expert on religious freedom and civil liberties, to discuss her new book, “Citizen Lobbyist: A How-to Manual for Making Your Voice Heard in Government.”

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NSA surveillance programs ‘no laughing matter’ for US, reporter says

June 12, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:16:07 0 Comments

U.S. citizens learned last week from reporting by The Guardian newspaper that for the better part of the last decade the U.S. government has been spying on millions of citizens who are not suspected of terrorism.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with reporter Ed Brayton and security and civil liberties investigative journalist Marcy Wheeler to discuss the two known programs which let have allowed the government to look in to private phone and computer records.

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Exhibit on African American hair draws supporters, detractors and more

June 11, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:15:26 0 Comments

The hair of African-Americans who choose to wear their hair in its natural, coiled texture can often be a thing of great beauty and great interest.

In an effort to spark some discussion and dialogue, Antonia Opiah, entrepreneur and founder of the Web site www.un-ruly.com, decided to explore the reasons that some people are so interested in black hair with an exhibit at New York City’s Union Square.

She held an interactive public art exhibit in New York City last Thursday and Saturday. The “You Can Touch My Hair” exhibit drew a crowd of supporters and hair-feelers.

But there were also detractors who called the display a “Human Petting Zoo,” while others took to social media to claim that this exhibit fetishizes and celebrates the legacy of a time when black people were displayed as oddities and curiosities for their natural-born characteristics.

Host Jamila Bey hosted a round table discussion to recap the exhibit and touch on the issue at hand.

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Panelists

Jamila Bey, host of SPAR With Jamila Bey

Antonia Opiah, founder of “You Can Touch My Hair”

Crystal Blanton, blogger

Angela Brown, a health care worker who just did the “Big Chop”

Denise Clay, a journalist in Philadelphia

Victor Harris, Jr., a California restaurateur

Ronnelle Adams, a D.C. author

You can watch a video of the exhibit here:

Atheists unite behind Kickstarter campaign to support victim of Oklahoma tornado

June 7, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:17:38 0 Comments

When CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked atheist mom Rebecca Vitsmun if she thanked the lord that she survived the tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., foul-mouthed misanthrope Doug Stanhope had an idea: unite the atheist community and support this particular victim.

Through a Kickstarter campaign, Stanhope has raised more than $100,000 to help the Vitsmun family “get out of hell free.”

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Stanhope, who has built a career on knocking on all things sacred, to discuss the campaign and how he is proud of proving that atheists can be remarkably kind, generous and caring.

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Nonprofit starts hotline to answer questions about faith

June 7, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

A nonprofit organization called Recovering from Religion is starting a helpline for people who have nowhere else to turn with questions about their faith and traditions.

Host Jamila Bey spoke with Sarah Morehead, the executive director of the group, to talk about the new service they’ll be providing, the 120 partner groups who are on board and why it’s a hotline for even folks who are still religious.

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Wolf Blitzer’s ‘thank the Lord’ inspires Okla. atheist convention

June 4, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

Ever since CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said “You have to thank the Lord,” to an atheist when she was interviewed about nearly being killed in the tornado that leveled her home, atheist philanthropists have donated their money and their time to let the whole world know that they exist and they, too, deserve consideration.

Ty Tancredi joins Jamila Bey to talk about the upcoming convention, and other Oklahoma Freethinkers news:

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Opinion: Furor over women breadwinners obscures need for early childhood education

June 4, 2013 Carmen Russell 00:13:56 0 Comments

While the country considers the role of women in the workplace and what that means for single-parent households, women’s earning and retirement, and the future of the labor force itself, early childhood care is too often expensive, too limited in the number of children it serves, and too often, ignored in terms of federal policy.

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising.org and Vice President of First Focus, Ed Walz, join the Sex Politics And Religion Hour to talk about how the littlest Americans can better be served by their government, and the myriad benefits that come in the short and long term when that happens:

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From Emmett to Trayvon, cases of civil rights draw filmmaker’s attention

June 3, 2013 Carmen Russell 0 Comments

WASHINGTON (VOR) – For many, the trial of George Zimmerman, the Florida man facing second-degree murder charges after shooting unarmed teen Trayvon Martin last year, has raised a number of questions, including on the issue of race and civil rights. Zimmerman has maintained that he shot Martin, who is African American, in self-defense. The case has garnered considerable attention from Keith Beauchamp, filmmaker and host of Investigation Discovery’s show “The Injustice Files,” who says that the trial, for the better, has been dissimilar from earlier cold case files of civil rights era murders he has investigated. Host Jamila Bey spoke with Beauchamp to discuss the Zimmerman trial and more.

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