Ben Jealous

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Posts by Ben Jealous

• Whitewashing History and Suppressing Voters Go Hand In Hand

  There’s been a lot of news about the Democratic legislators in Texas who fled the state to prevent Republicans from pushing through sweeping new voter suppression laws.

• Policing Changes When States and Cities Take the Lead

  In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Biden spoke forcefully about the need to fight police violence and systemic racism in policing. 
  

• D.C. Statehood A Voting Rights And Racial Justice Issue

  Washington, D.C., has a higher percentage of Black residents than any state in the country, and they have no voting representation in Congress.

  This is systemic racism in action.

• Politicians Can Stop Police Killings, by Ben Jealous

  In presidential election years, most of the energy and focus goes to the top of the ticket. And that’s essential this year. But we can’t ignore the fact that we have been through a spring and summer of traumatizing televised murders of Black people.

• What’s at stake, by Ben Jealous

  The push by President Trump and Senate Republicans to pack the U.S. Supreme Court while ignoring the urgent needs of our community and our demands for justice is the ultimate evidence of how important this election is to America, especially to Black America.

• Meet the Reformer: Ben Jealous, Who's Back to Lead a Second Premier Voting Rights Group

  Few advocacy leaders can say they have led two of the more storied progressive organizations fighting for civil rights and voting rights. Ben Jealous now counts himself a member of that select cohort. In this Q & A, Jealous answers some serious and not so serious questions.

• Former NAACP President Ben Jealous Calls for National Policing Standards

  Carlo Versano summarises Jealous’ interview with Cheddar on Tuesday [June 2, 2020] as cities across the country awoke from another night of civil unrest over the police killing of George Floyd, Jealous said that the anger that sparked the current wave of protests is as old as the country itself.

• Ben Jealous on The 11th Hour With Brian Williams

  Jealous argues that the fight against police brutality has been a multi-racial fight for generations and while the “spark” of these protests is police brutality, the “tinder” is economic injustice.

• Former NAACP President Ben Jealous Raises $1M Fund to Support Out-of-Work Baltimoreans

  Morgan Eichensehr of the Baltimore Business Journal interviews Jealous about his newly launched relief fund aimed at supporting Baltimore-area workers that are struggling or have lost their jobs amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

• Drug Pricing Legislation Will Save Lives

  Jealous argues that H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Prices Now Act would benefit millions of people who currently cannot afford prescription drugs due to drug corporations’ power to price-gouge and hike costs.

• Ben Jealous Talks Run For Governor Of Maryland, NAACP Presidency, Funding Education & More

  In a wide-ranging interview on Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, Jealous discusses his campaign for Governor, properly funding education, and the role of the NAACP.

• Beyond 'The Talk': How I Plan To Address Police Violence in Black Communities

  My son is only 5 years old and we’ve already had “the talk.” I can recall being a little older when my grandfather, a probation officer, had the same talk with me. It’s the same talk that has been given time and again in black families following the deaths of Eric Garner, Terence Crutcher and Michael Brown, all unarmed black civilians who lost their lives at the hands of police.

• Student Activism: A Force for Change

  This month, a school full of children suffered an enormous tragedy. Again.

  Seventeen young people were gunned down inside a Florida high school but instead of devolving into the same cycle of meaningless debate, we’re seeing a new moment of student leadership. In a time of crushing grief and anger and fear, these students have chosen to rise up and fill the vacuum of leadership that many of our leaders have created. And they’ve been joined in their activism by their peers all across the country.

• Ben Jealous Reminds Us to ‘Agitate!’ on Frederick Douglass’ 200th Birthday

  A few weeks before his death, 77-year-old Frederick Douglass was asked what advice he would give to a young black American.

  “Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!” was his reply.

• In the News: Ben Jealous on Single Payer Health System

  In this interview with Thomas Roberts of MSNBC, Sanders Institute Founding Fellow Ben Jealous discusses the importancee of protecting families from the AHCA and standing up for single-payer healthcare.

• Ben Jealous On Race Relations In The U.S. Today

  In this interview with CBSN, Ben Jealous reacts to some of the prominent events and issues around race relations in the United States.

  First, he is questioned about a recent poll that indicates that almost seven-in-ten Americans think that race relations in this country are bad. Jealous points to the unprecedented sadness and rawness that characterized the 2016 presidential debate. 

  Next, Jealous addresses the Black Lives Matter movement. He sees BLM as a continuation of many of the early civil rights movements - with a tradition of truth telling and shedding light on localities that are not performing morally in order to "take our country to a higher and better place." When asked why BLM does not have a unified message, Jealous points out, that when you step back from the individual protestors and individual tweets, the BLM movement has a very strong message: that "Black Lives Matter" and that the police killings have to stop. 

  When asked about celebrities talking about this issue, Jealous supports their actions. Many people, especially children, look to athletes and celebrities as their heroes. Jealous states that for these "heroes" to come out and say "I am afraid too" can help galvanize people who look up to them - "I am your hero and now I need you to be my hero and join with all of us to help move this country forward."

• No More Fear: It’s Time To Reform Policing In Baltimore

  In this article, Ben Jealous looks at a specific encounter that an African American woman, Ashley Overbey, had with the police in Baltimore. He uses it as an example of why the police system in this country, and particularly in Baltimore, needs to be changed. 

  Jealous points to a report released by grassroots activists and community organizations in Baltimore that suggests six reforms for policing in Baltimore:

  1) Fire police officers who have demonstrated corruption or unnecessary violence

  2) Remove the “gag order” on victims of police misconduct that silenced Ashley Overbey

  3) Speed up the distribution of body cameras

  4) Promote community policing; publish all police department policies online

  5) Improve de-escalation training

  Jealous uses Cincinnati as an example that this sort of reform can happen. "In response to community demands, the department shifted to a community-policing model, encouraged officers to interact more with community members, started tracking officers who received an abnormal number of complaints and took steps to improve transparency." He states that "Over the next 15 years, Cincinnati saw a 69 percent drop in police use-of-force incidents, a 42 percent drop in citizen complaints and a 56 percent drop in injuries experienced by citizens during encounters with police. Importantly, violent crime dropped from a high of 4,137 incidents in the year after Timothy Thomas’ death to 2,352 incidents in 2014."

• The Battle To Protect The Vote

  In this report, Ben Jealous and his colleague Ryan Haygood investigate the effects of the Supreme Court's 2013 decision Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder that "invalidated core protections in the Voting Rights Act"

  They specifically look at 5 states that enacted laws that would have been, or were, considered discriminatory and therefore would not have been put into effect for the 2014 elections. These states are: Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia

  The report finds that "it is clear that the number of people predicted to face increased difficulties in voting during this election either approaches or exceeds the margins of victory for competitive statewide races." In addition, "Consistent with a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO, finding that photo ID laws lower voter turnout, especially among voters of color."

  

• Less For The State Pen, More For Penn State

  The human result of our nation's decades-long obsession with "tough-on-crime" policies is clear as day: one in three black men will spend time in prison at some point in their lives, many of them for non-violent offenses.

• 60 Years Later, Education Inequities Remain

  In this article, Ben Jealous looks at the Common Core State Standards as another step towards equal access to high-quality education.

  He states "The educational landscape today is defined by its harsh inequities. Students of color lag behind their white peers in test scores and graduation rates on nearly every indicator." Rather than this being an an indication of ability or desire, "African-American and Latino students tend to live in poor neighborhoods with underfunded schools, and these schools lack the experienced teachers, extracurricular activities, and access to college courses that help students thrive."

  While Jealous states that the Common Core state standards are not perfect, and there are legitimate criticisms from both sides, "The first step to solving a problem is identifying it correctly. The Common Core standards offer clear, consistent and high expectations for what children should be learning at each grade level. Although the new tests are often more difficult, they also offer a more accurate portrait of student achievement."

• It’s Time To End Profiling Of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender People Of Color

  The fight against profiling by law enforcement is at a critical moment. Ben Jealous talks about racial profiling, the steps that have been taken to mitigate it, and the steps that still need to be taken to get rid of it. 

  Jealous states that "Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are significantly overrepresented in all aspects of the penal system." The problem is even worse for LGBT individuals of color who face multiple types of discrimination. Jealous believes that this racial profiling demands a response from the federal government. He suggests that that the federal government:

  1) Ensures that protections against all forms of profiling extend across the country by linking funding to the adoption of bans on profiling.

  2) Encourage prosecutors to stop confiscating and citing possession of condoms as evidence.

  3) End immigration-enforcement programs that encourage and expand the consequences of discriminatory profiling. 

  Jealous ends with the statement "We need to end institutionalized homophobia and transphobia, just as we need to end institutionalized racism. Let us be sure to leave no one behind."