Historic Thousands on Jones Street: New Date, Same Place! Get Excited!

Due to bad weather, Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HK on J) has been rescheduled for Saturday February 27. This time extension should give everybody plenty of time to get energized and invite a friend to join!

The focus of HK on J is the People's Agenda, which is a list of 14 Points pertaining to social justice issues central to North Carolina. Here is a brief summary of each point:

The People's Agenda: 14 Points

1. All Children Need High Quality, Well-Funded, Diverse Schools

2. Livable Wages and Support for Low Income People

3. Health Care for All

4. Redress Two ugly Chapters in N.C.'s Racist History

5. Expand and Improve Same Day Registration and Public Financing of Elections

6. Lift Every Historically Black College and University (HBCU)

7. Document and Redress 200 Years of State Discrimination in Hiring and Contracting

8. Provide Affordable Housing and Stop Consumer Abuse

9. Abolish the Racially-Biased Death Penalty, Mandatory Sentencing Laws; Reform our Prisons

10. Ensuring environmental Justice

11. Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Worker Safety

12. Protect the Rights of Immigrants from Latin America and Other Nations

13. Organize, Strengthen, and Provide Funding For Our Civil Rights Enforcement Agencies

(Last but not least...)

14. Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq Now

The march will begin at 9:30 AM at Estey Hall on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh. The plan is to march from the campus to the N.C. Legislature on Jones Street, which will culminate into a epic gathering of historic proportions. But only if YOU COME! Bring a friend, and come dance in the street. HK on J should be more than just a moment; it should be a historic movement.

For more information, please visit the HK on J website: www.hkonj.com

Hope to see you there!

Peace,

Airlie and Caitlin

AFSC Interns

Economic justice news on the Internet

Here at AFSC, one of our main iniatives is the NC Peace and Justice Program.  To keep that going, we have to know what's up in the area of economic justice!  We thought we'd share where we get some good information and commentary on economic justice, and a few other websites worth reading.

The American Prospect covers all kinds of politics in both its print and online edition.  Some great commentary on economics in the media comes from the Beat the Press blog, written by columnist Dean Baker.  He engages some of the popular media's approaches to economic issues and especially tries to debunk misconceptions about how policies would and do affect people.

Another informative blog comes from NC Policy Watch, a website that covers changes in state policy.  Chris Fitzsimon, director of NC Policy Watch, publishes the blog Fitzsimon File.  One of its regular features is the weekly Monday Numbers, done in the format of the famous Harper's Index.  A recent edition of Monday Numbers addressed immigration, and also included some interesting tidbits about the economics of reform, like the Cato Institute's estimate that comprehensive reform would add $80 billion to the US economy per year.

For general news, this intern reads the The New York Times, BBC News, and The Christian Science Monitor.  I like the BBC because it divides news up by continent, and does a good job covering world news.  The Christian Science Monitor, despite being founded by a religious organization, is remarkably even-keeled in its reporting and though it does not publish daily anymore, now focuses on its insightful commentary and analysis.  What did we miss?  Do you have a favorite source of news, especially for news related to economic justice?  Post in the comments section!