http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/when-i-rise/ Premiering Tuesday, February 8. Check local listings: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/broadcast.html Conrad's classmate, Robert Mims, believed students generally approved of desegregation.
In 1957, Barbara Smith Conrad, a gifted University of Texas music student found herself at the epicenter of racial controversy, struggling against the odds and ultimately ascending to the heights of international opera.
Find out more about When I Rise: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/when-i-rise/ Learn more about "Independent Lens": http://www.pbs.org/independentlens Watch "Independent Lens" films online: http://video.pbs.org/program/1218239994/
2008: The Year In Review – NORML’s Top Events That Shaped Marijuana Policy
#1 Landslide At The Ballot Box: Election Day Voters Reject Bush War Doctrine Millions of Americans nationwide voted on Election Day for marijuana law reform, approving nine out of ten ballot measures to liberalize penalties on cannabis use and possession. In Massachusetts, where 65 percent of voters decided to reduce marijuana possession penalties to a $100 fine, and Michigan, where 63 percent of voters approved legalizing the medical use of cannabis, supporters for pot law reform outnumbered supporters for President-Elect Barack Obama.%Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 nbsp; Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7742.
#2 Members Of Congress Demand An End To Federal Pot Possession Arrests Members of Congress convened a Capitol Hill press conference in July to demand lawmakers enact legislation to eliminate the government’s authority to arrest and prosecute adults who possess marijuana. Lawmakers called on colleagues to endorse HR 5843, which sought to remove federal penalties for the possession and non-profit transfer of marijuana by adults. The legislation was the first proposal introduced in Congress in 30 years to eliminate criminal marijuana penalties. Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7670.
#3 California Courts Rule: Medical Pot Statutes Don’t Conflict With Federal Anti-Drug Laws State provisions allowing for the possession and use of medical marijuana do not conflict with federal anti-drug laws, according to a series of California court rulings. In two separate cases, the California Supreme Court refused to hear challenges to the state’s 12-year-old marijuana law – finding that counties are obligated to issue identification cards to qualified patients and that police cannot seize marijuana from state-sanctioned medical pot users. Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7678.
#4: Marijuana “Exceptional” At Reducing MRSA The administration of natural plant cannabinoids significantly reduces the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (aka MRSA), according to a study published this fall in the Journal of Natural Products. MRSA is responsible for over 18,000 hospital-stay deaths each year. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7687.
#5 Marijuana Arrests For 2007 Reach All-Time High Police arrested a record 872,721 Americans for marijuana violations in 2007, the highest annual total ever reported by the FBI. Since 1965, over 20 million Americans have been arrested for violating state or federal marijuana laws. Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7698.
#6 Cannabis Determined To Be Less Harmful Than Alcohol The potential health risks associated with cannabis are less than those associated with alcohol and do not justify the continued criminalization of the plant or its users, according to a report published in October by The Beckley Foundation – an independent British think-tank that analyzes drug use and drug policy. Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7723.
#7 Teen Pot Use Declines In States With Medical Cannabis Laws States that have enacted legislation authorizing the use of medical cannabis by qualified patients have not experienced an increase in the drug's use by the general population, according to a comprehensive report issued in June by the Marijuana Policy Project. Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7638.
#8 Medical Marijuana Use Not Associated With Adverse Side Effects The medical use of cannabis is not associated with serious negative side effects, according to a meta-analysis published this summer in the journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMAJ). Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7639.
#9 California Attorney General Issues Guidelines Recognizing Patients’ Medical Cannabis Use State and local law enforcement should not arrest state qualified patients who possess, cultivate, or travel with medical marijuana, according to guidelines issued in August by the California Attorney General's office. The guidelines also permit for the distribution and non-profit sales of medical cannabis is permitted by qualified “collectives and cooperatives.” Read the full story at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7689.
My Daughter and I recently encountered, as we often do, in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, a Homeless man, who was hunkered down for the night, under a few sleeping bags with his book and all of his belongings. We encountered him as we were walking home after dinner.
We had been so hungry at dinner, after a day of touring colleges, that our eyes were too big for our stomachs and we ordered too much. The appetizer ended up being enormous, and ravenous as we were, we ate it hungrily. There was still some to spare. When our meals arrived, we picked at them, out of obligation, but decided to take the whole portions home, although we were staying in a hotel, and leaving early the next morning, and likely wouldn't have even eaten it.
As we were walking home from dinner, we passed the homeless man and he made some gesture to us, to alert us he was there. We kept walking as I normally would do (I usally feel quite apprehensive in these situations) but then suddenly, together, my daughter and I looked at each other and had the same though, "Should we give him our left overs?" I have never done that before, in all of my opportunities.
We walked towards him, and said, "Are You hungry?" He replied, "I never turn down food," and graciously accepted it, thanking us, as a neighbor might do when you loan him your ladder. I told him what was in the bag and how good the food was and said I hoped he enjoyed it. As we left, a local walked by, coming from the opposite direction, and acknowledged the homeless man, calling him by name.
We felt good. But I admit there was some apprehension, as I approached him. But, I believe, that if my daughter has an opportunity, Yes, an Opportunity, in the future, to help someone in need, she will do so with less apprehension than we had on this day. I will too.
For we have innumerable opportunities for giving and for sharing what we have. We always have more than we really need don't we?
I believe in 'The Loaves and The Fishes', for even if we give what we have and we are left with less than enough, we receive so much more: satisfaction in having shared, satisfaction in having given a fellow human
something that made his existence a little more comfortable. Satisfaction in doing unto others. And that kind of satisfaction can provide more nourishment than any loaf or fish could ever give.
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