Category: Diversity / Inclusivity
Field Trip To The Rosie The Riveter/WWII Homefront National Park
What are you willing to sacrifice to protect kids?
Thurgood Marshall, Lech Walensa, & Much More, In Peace & Justice History for 8/30
| August 30, 1963 A “hotline” telephone link was installed between the Kremlin in Moscow and the White House in Washington, D.C. The intention was to allow direct communication in the event of a crisis between the U.S. president and the leader of the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). It had been agreed to following the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
| August 30, 1964 The Democratic Party National Convention refused to seat any delegates from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). The Credentials Committee chose to seat the all-white delegation from Mississippi’s regular Democratic Party despite overwhelming evidence of the state party’s efforts to disenfranchise Mississippi’s Negro citizens. A proposed compromise of two non-voting guest delegates from MFDP was rejected by its leaders. The dispute, the political intrigue, and the long-term effects |
| August 30, 1967 The Senate confirmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first Supreme Court Justice of African-American descent. Marshall had been counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and had been the lead attorney in the Brown v. Board of Education case. He was appointed to the Court by President Lyndon Johnson after having served as Solicitor General of the U.S. for two years, and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for four.  Thurgood Marshall Who was Thurgood Marshall? NAACP |
| August 30, 1971 Ten empty school busses were dynamited in Pontiac, Michigan, eight days before a school integration plan was to begin. Following Federal Judge Damon Keith’s finding that Pontiac’s school board had “intentionally” perpetuated segregation, a plan was developed by the board that included bussing of 8700 children.  The bombers were later identified as leaders and members of the Ku Klux Klan, arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned. |
| August 30, 1980 Striking Polish workers, their numbers approaching 150,000, won a sweeping victory in a battle with the Polish Communist government for the right to independent trade unions and the right to strike. Their lead negotiator was Lech Walesa, head of the union, Solidarnos´c´ (Solidarity).  Lech Walesa announces the deal to cheering crowds of shipyard workers. |
| August 30, 1999 Residents of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in a U.N.-sponsored election. More about the East Timor election |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryaugust.htm#august30
Reblog Of A Reblog: Resist!
I’m Sorry To Read This:
Celeste Yim Made Trans History on SNL. Now They Are Leaving
“I always felt honored to be working within the long tradition of queer writing at the show.”
Celeste Yim, the first out nonbinary writer for Saturday Night Live, announced they are leaving the show this week after five years.
Yim, who was hired as an SNL staff writer in 2020 and promoted to writing supervisor in 2023, announced their decision to leave the show after its 50th season in an Instagram post late Sunday night.
“Lorne [Michaels] hired me over the phone when I was 23 and the job literally made all of my dreams come true BUT it was also grueling and I slept in my office every week BUT my friends helped me with everything BUT I got yelled at by random famous men BUT some famous girls too BUT I loved it and I laughed every day and it’s where I grew up,” Yim wrote in the post.
(snip-embedded Instagram on the page)
“I hate when other people say this but it’s true that I was the first ever out trans person to be a writer for SNL,” the scribe wrote. “I always felt honored to be working within the long tradition of queer writing at the show,” Yim added, joking that “Chevy [Chase] is nonbinary!” (Chase was a cast member and hosted Weekend Update in the first season of the long-running series.) Yim also vowed to keep writing comedy in the face of anti-trans oppression. “I feel so powerless to protect trans people in the world but writing connects us and makes us permanent, so it’s what I will continue to do,” they wrote.
Yim wrote numerous iconic SNL sketches during their tenure on the show, perhaps most memorably their sendup of the “It Gets Better” project in 2021 (featuring Kate McKinnon and an iguana). They were also behind the delightfully surreal L’Eggs parody, and often partnered with Bowen Yang on material like Yang’s Weekend Update monologue about anti-Asian hate crimes.
“Thank you Bowen for changing my life and for making me feel normal,” Yim wrote on Instagram this week. (Yim also recently wrote for Yang and Matt Rogers’ Las Culturistas Awards, held earlier this month.) Their statement also thanked “every SNL assistant and production crew member who ever made any part of anything I ever wrote.”
Yim’s time on SNL saw an influx of queer and nonbinary cast members like Molly Kearney and Punkie Johnson, both of whom have since left the show. At the same time, SNL also earned backlash from LGBTQ+ viewers by inviting hosts like Shane Gillis and Dave Chappelle, both of whom have made homophobic and transphobic comments on stage; when Chappelle hosted SNL in 2022, a nonbinary writer — widely believed, but not confirmed, to be Yim — asked to sit out for the week, after which Chappelle made a joke calling the writer “a they” during dress rehearsal (which did not appear in the final show).
“Thank you to my family and friends who love me still even though I did not see them very much,” Yim wrote in their departure announcement. “And thank you all for your support. For writing to me and for wearing my sketches as Halloween costumes. […] I try to imagine my younger self learning about me. I would be amazed. But then I’d be like…Wait, why are you dressed like that…”
Yim’s comments were full of current and former SNL cast members and writers expressing wholehearted support, including Yang, Ego Nwodim, and Jane Wickline, as well as non-SNL celebs like Padma Lakshmi, Jeremy O. Harris, and Ziwe.
“My baby,” cast member (and L’Eggs icon) Aidy Bryant wrote simply, summing it up.
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Classic Tom The Dancing Bug
Two clips from The Majority Report on the democratic leadership.
The Breakfast Club’s Charlemagne Tha God delivers a devastating new nickname for Hakeem Jeffries. We explain why the Jeffries and the Democratic establishment are so afraid of being challenged from the left, especially on issues like Israel and the influence of AIPAC.
The 2025 Netroots conference is over and David Weigel joins to break down the key takeaways, from a surprising lack of donor support to the crucial debate over how politicians should communicate their message.
National Guard On Trash Duty After Trump’s Budget Cuts
Why is the National Guard on trash duty in Washington, DC? While the Trump administration claims the troops are needed to combat crime, we examine what this says about the true agenda behind the deployment and break down how this costly, aesthetic-focused mission is not about public safety but about political aesthetics.
Some News Of The World
Because it’s really not all about US.
Little legs, big dreams: More than 100 teams compete in Lithuania’s international Corgi race
(video on the page)
By LIUDAS DAPKUS Updated 7:46 PM CDT, August 24, 2025
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Cute and adorable Welsh corgis, widely known for their association with the British royal family, are in fact a breed of passionate racers.
That’s at least according to the 120 teams from around Europe taking part in the Corgi Race Vilnius, in Lithuania’s capital, which drew an international bunch of furballs and their owners from countries including Poland, Latvia, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Thousands of Lithuanians gathered in the capital’s largest park on Saturday and Sunday to watch the events — a solo sprint, a contest for the “mightiest voice,” costume challenges, and group racing.
The event is set to culminate on Sunday with the so-called World Corgi Meetup, where dogs in Lithuania will be connected via a live broadcast with their peers in the United States, Ireland and Poland.
“This is so much fun and great emotion for the entire family, something bright that many people are craving for these days,” said retired teacher Janina Stoniene, who attended the race with her three grandchildren. The children said they admired the costume challenge as dogs were dressed in eye-catching outfits like Batman, a princess or an airplane.
A corgi named Amigo, sporting a factory-themed costume complete with two tiny chimneys and “Fur Factory” lettering, was named the proud winner of that contest.
Another called Mango, whose owners are from Lithuania, was the champion of the solo race.
“So this is a mango, like a fruit mango, and we are participating (for the) second time in Corgi Race 2025,” said Ignas Klimaika, a proud corgi lover from Vilnius. “Last year we didn’t manage to end the race perfectly. We had a really good training. We had trained every day, but this year we decided we just go without training, just to participate, just to enjoy all the lots of corgis,” he said.
But this year, Mango won the racing competition, while his owners screamed and waved to try to inspire him to triumph.
“He knows what he did and he’s really proud of himself,” said Ignas, who is already planning for 2026.
Scottie's Playtime 