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September 5 -
September 18, 2008
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On
the Dock for this Snippet
Is
Every One in Your Family Registered to Vote? Call 1-866-MY-VOTE-1
to
Get the Job Done!
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AID
Institute Blasts Palin/McCain/Bush on Sex-Education
excerpted from a
release from the Black AIDS Institute
 Political
commentators are lining up to chime in on news that Republican vice
presidential candidate Sarah Palin's teenage daughter is pregnant. But
an important reality is quickly getting lost in the din of political
punditry: Too many young women like 17- year-old Bristol Palin are
forced to make choices about their sex lives without access to honest,
accurate, comprehensive information. And
Gov. Palin and Sen. John McCain support policies that will further
limit access to that information.
The
Palin family should be applauded for standing behind their daughter as
she becomes a new mother -and beyond that, everybody on all sides of
the political debate should stay out of their lives. But the
McCain/Palin position on youth sexual health is both appropriate and
crucial to discuss. In her 2006 gubernatorial run, Gov. Palin answered
a conservative advocacy group's questionnaire by saying she would not
support comprehensive sex education or access to contraceptives in
schools, and that she would support abstinence-only sex education.
Such
policies have already proven disastrous for the sexual health of our
youth. Funding for abstinence- only sex education skyrocketed during
the Bush administration, despite no evidence that it works. Study after study has since proven
abstinence-only education an utter failure.
Whatever
choices young Bristol Palin, her boyfriend, and their families make are
their own business. Sadly, these are choices that teens, often without
the support of their families, have to make every day. We hope and pray
that they have access to the information and support they need to make
wise ones.
But the policy choices Sen. McCain and Gov.
Palin make are everybody's business. We must demand that our
next president ensure access to comprehensive, accurate, science-based
information and to the tools necessary for all Americans to pursue
healthy sexual relationships.
Photo: Bristol
Palin and her baby's daddy.
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NEW SNIPPETS
COLUMN
Our British Cousin -
The American Presidential
Race
By
Paul Boakye
 No one who
understands the history of America and the fight for civil rights will
have failed to comprehend the magnitude of any prospect that in
November a Black family may move into the White House; a property
symbolic of the world’s foremost superpower; and built on the backs of
enslaved Africans between 1792 and 1800. That Mr. Obama should give his
stirring acceptance speech on the 45th anniversary of that famous
speech in which Martin Luther King, Jr., dreamt of a day when his
children would be judged, not by the colour of their skin, but by the
content of their character, is even more striking.
The initial Republican
response so far indicates clearly, I think, that they have NO serious
comeback for the blows that Obama has dealt them. The choice of
Sarah Palin – an obscure and inexperienced Alaska governor as McCain’s
running mate to try and win over the female vote – should be a huge
insult to every Hillary Clinton supporter. The idea that just about any
woman would do is simply laughable. It indicates that the Republicans
have not even listened to what their rivals had to say at the
Democratic National Convention and were unable to respond with anything
other than a pro forma script.
We may not be able to vote in your
forthcoming elections, but on this side of the Atlantic, at least, we
are watching and hoping that the Democrat’s forward momentum carries on,
and that Obama continues to be more aggressive in dealing with the
oppositional forces in his wake, if he truly intends to be the 44th
president of the United States of America.
___________________________________________
Paul Boakye, a UK-based writer,
who specializes in issues affecting the Black community.
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It’s Free to Treat your HIV!
To
qualify for free HIV medications, you must answer “yes” to all
four of these questions:
1. Do you or someone you know have HIV?
2. Can you provide proof of your HIV status? You will need a case manager or doctor to sign your application.
3. Can you prove you live in D.C. (electric bill, phone bill,
lease, etc.)?
4. Is your annual income less than:
Household Size Total Income in 2008
1 person
$ 52,200
2 people
$
70,000
3 people
$
88,000
4 people
$106,000
Call 311 or click here for more
information about free HIV drugs or to find a location near you for
free HIV testing.
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New Women’s Store in
Downtown Silver Spring
Downtown Silver
Spring has a new women’s store owned by Morgan State graduate, Sharon
Bulluck. Bulluck started Metamorphosis Wardrobe & Accessories
Boutique as Metamorphosis Jewelry Designs. The new well-appointed
store at 811 Wayne Avenue, next to Strosniders Hardware Store, includes
hats, belts, bags, and apparel.
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Zawadi
- DC Still Open for Business
Gentrification is taking its toll on
businesses that cater largely to Black consumers including Zawadi’s,
but owner Irene Whalen has no plans to close the 17-year-old
business. “My landlord, unlike some of the others in the area,
has not been exorbitant in his demands. He has been clear that I
can stay as long as I want and it is good to have that option,” she
told Snippets.
In the age of “Yes, We Can!,” Whalen
refuses to see herself as a victim, but she says do not expect Zawadi
to be around forever. “I, along with many of my cohorts, will be
reaching 60 and looking to take up a new chapter in life. This,
more than any other factor would propel any decision to
close.”
The biggest change gentrification has
brought says Whalen is that unlike her original customers who were
“baby boomers with a strong link to Africa,” her new clients have a
“global vibe and many interests.” She is leaving open the option
of selling the business. “I would be happy to mentor an interested
party as well as provide them with the contacts I have in Africa,” she continued.
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 Getonia Vincent of
Grenada won the Ms.
Caribbean Metro contest. The 22-year-old pre-med
student at the University of Maryland College Park wore the sash of Ms.
Island Style Ice-Cream, an ice cream parlor in Mt. Rainier, MD.
During her reign she will serve as the Y-Hope Foundation spokesperson.
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2008
Brooklyn Book Festival
The Brooklyn, New York Book
festival takes place Sunday, September 14 from 10a-6p at Borough Hall
Plaza, 209 Joralemon Street. The festival boasts five outdoor stages in
Borough Hall Plaza and Columbus Park, as well as “Reading Rooms” inside
beautiful, historic Borough Hall, and nearby at the Brooklyn Historical
Society and St. Francis College auditorium. Children of all ages
will also be entertained at the Target “Children’s Area,” whereby
kingpins of children’s lit like Mo Willems and Jane O’Connor will read
from their work.
An
outdoor literary marketplace will include more than 140 booksellers,
publishers and literary organizations. Darryl Pinckney and Terri
McMillan are among the author who have confirmed their appearance.
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Builders Risk Policy,
Life, Home, Flood, Umbrella Coverage, Auto insurance . . . how
much insurance is too much insurance? Rudy Alston III will
provide you the answers and answer your questions during Build/Renovate
Your Own Castle III.
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Save
the Dunes Dinner and Hike - Gary
The Save the Dunes Council will
hold is annual dinner and hike at the historic Marquette Park Pavilion
on the Lagoon in Gary, IN Sunday, September 14. The hike will
take place in the Dunes along Gary’s Lake Michigan shore line.
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