Reform



Terrance Maisonneuve 3-6-12 __JOHN BROWN BIO __ John Brown was an abolitionist in the 1800s. John Brown was born in Connecticut to a family that was opposed to slavery. John Brown is unique because he was a white man who did not __agree__ with slavery and took drastic actions against it. Even though John Brown did not have a lot of money he did what he could to support the abolition movement. John would help parent ex enslaved children as if they were his own. Also he would give land to slaves who were fugitives of the unjust practice of slavery. John Brown even worked on the famous Underground that Harriet Tubman started. Even though he was a white man he still fought for his beliefs and even was respected by a prominent black figure such as Frederick Douglas. “Though a white gentleman, [Brown] is in sympathy a black man.” This quote was said by Frederick Douglas. Among the things he did for slaves John Brown also helped establish the League of Gileadites which was an organization that helped protect slaves that had escaped from there inhumane slave masters. John Brown was essentially a savior for some slaves. In 1855 John Brown went to Kansas with his sons and fought violently against people who were pro slavery. John Brown began to show his stance on slavery by violent acts. These acts eventually got him arrested and executed by the government when he was seized at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. John Brown, even though he was never enslaved and not African was a hero amongst them because of his daring actions. He is extremely significant for fighting in Kansas because he tried his best to help prevent the inhumane act of enslaving humans. A lot of men his color agreed with slavery and looked at it as a way to __make money__ and help the economy. He looked at it as wrong and did what he had to do to stop it.



__ How Movement Changed America __

The Abolition reform changed America in a major way. Slavery was a big issue at the time in America. In the south slavery was widely practiced. Slavery was part of the economy in the south. In the north there wasn’t a lot of slavery and it was widely looked at as unjust. There were strong feelings of sectionalism at this time in America. The south started to secede from the Union because of disagreements. The abolition reform put pressure on people who were pro slavery. The abolitionists protested and did what they could to stop the malicious act. The abolitionists sparked strong feeling against slavery. This was beneficial for the cause because the movement grew and some prominent politicians ended up voicing their __opinions__ on the controversial issue. The positive effects were that these people were helping to end slavery. The abolitionists fought hard for these human rights. Also the movement grew bigger and people started to come together. The negative effects of the movement were that slavery became a strong issue in the country and a war was partly fought over it. The war ended up in a lot of bloodshed and America’s only civil war. Even after the war when slavery was outlawed, there were still bad feelings about the north from the south. If the abolitionists had not done what they thought was right there possibly would have been no war between the south and the north. But a positive about the war was that slavery eventually ended. Another negative was that the movement reached half the goal. The part of the goal they were not successful in was ending the discrimination and segregation of the extremely racist south. It was great to have enslaved Africans now free but, if the movement had got African Americans equal rights just like a Caucasian had, then the movement would have been very successful. The effort and sacrifice that was put into the movement was immense and in a way paid off at the end when Africans were freed.

__Important Reformer: Al Sharpton__ Al Sharpton was a reformer who advocated for civil rights. He was born in Brooklyn, New York which has a prominent African-American community. He grew up in a time where America was very prejudice and racist towards people of his color. Even at a young age Al Sharpton was very involved in his community. The young man went to a church a lot and became a Pentecostal minister at the age of ten. In the late 1960s Al got into the civil rights movement which was to get civil rights for African Americans and people of color. Al was a member of SCLC or Southern Christian Leadership Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC had an operation called Operation Breadbasket which goal was to try to get more diversity in the workplace instead of the workplace consisting of mostly Caucasian people. In 1969 Al Sharpton became the leader of the youth part of SCLC. He got involved in a significant protest against a supermarket chain at that time. Al Sharpton was such a great leader and reformer that he went on to create his own organization called the NYM or National Youth Movement. In the 1980s Al began to get involved in major cases that involved racially prejudiced, discrimination, or cases that racism was perceived from. He also got involved in protests too. Such cases he was involved in were the Tawana Bradley and Michael Griffith case. The Tawana Bradley case was about a girl who claimed that she had been raped by white men and some of them were police officers. The case was dismissed because the grand jury that the story was fake. Al Sharpton sparked a lot of media frenzy which gave the case more attention. Al advocated for the girl and wanted the injustice to be solved. The Michael Griffith case was about a black teenager who was murdered. He helped by getting the media really involved so he could show the injustice. Al even ran for office in government but was unsuccessful. He tried to run for the senate, mayor of New York, and even tried to run in the presidential race. He was a bold man who had great ambitions Al Sharpton nowadays is still an activist and reformer. He can be seen on news shows on TV nowadays. Al sharpton works for CNN and he unleashes his great insight on the television channel. I look to Al Sharpton as a great reformer for the black community and his work means a lot. As a Haitian-American I admire that he advocated for Haitians who were trying to get into the country.

 Posted on [|March 12, 2012] by[|zlangway]| [|Leave a comment] Hundreds gathered in the state of Kansas this month to hold Secretary of State, Kris Kobach accountable for his anti-immigrant and pro-corporate bent, which is to say nothing of his general neglect for the people of the state he purportedly serves. On February 15, three state-wide coalitions—Kansans United in Voice Spirit, Kansas Stronger Together, and KanVote—came together at the steps of the state capital in Topeka to request Kobach’s time-sheets. “If Mr. Kobach thinks that we are going to sit back and let him do this, we are here to tell him that we will not stand for it,” said Sulma Arias, executive director of Sunflower Community Action in Kansas. The turnout for the demonstration was larger than expected. Signs could be seen from inside the state capital that read, “No Hate in Our state,” “I am Kansas,” and “We Demand Democracy.” Hundreds gathered on the steps, and loud chants of both “si se puede” and “yes it can be done” reverberated. One of the primary organizers of the day’s event, Sunflower Community Action, identified Kris Kobach years back for his close ties to the bigoted Federation for American Immigration Reform, the centerpiece organization of the John Tanton Network of anti-immigrant groups. More recently, Kris Kobach has taken national heat from civil and human rights organizations for his role in drafting Alabama’s stringent anti-immigrant law HB-56. But beyond his ties to hate groups and his role in making immigrants’ lives across the country miserable, recent coalitions in Kansas have rallied together against him, and together have started demanding that Mr. Kobach account for his time in office. One organizer of the day’s action, Angela Ferguson, a lawyer with Sunflower Community Action, mentioned the following while speaking to the crowd: “We have delivered an open records request to the Secretary of State, and we asked for all of his time records, all of his travel schedule, and all of his __phone__ records because we don’t believe our Secretary of State is doing his job.” Activists then hand delivered Kansas Open Records Act requests for all __timesheets__, calendars, schedules, and phone records kept by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. One point of concern, according to an article covering the day’s events, is that Kobach has recently been pushing the legislature to adopt proof of citizenship requirements for new voter registration. His efforts, in fact, are rooted in US history, as racial minorities have been banned or pushed to the side when it comes to voting. Kris Kobach’s attempts in Kansas are part of a larger effort to curb black and brown voting power in this country, and many people in Kansas will not stand for it. While serving as the Secretary of State of Kansas, Kobach continues to maintain his position at theImmigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), the legal arm of the John Tanton Network. Through his position with IRLI and his connections to FAIR, Kris Kobach has helped draft and defend anti-immigrant policies in Arizona, Alabama, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, California, and Texas. The legislation that he drafts prohibits undocumented residents of communities from obtaining any form of social services, bars them from public institutions, and puts pressure on common workers in the public sector to become informants for the INS. Not surprisingly, hundreds of people across the state of Kansas are fed up with him. One of the lead organizers of the day’s successful action against Kobach, Sulma Arias of Sunflower Community Action, stated the following: “Dignity is denied to millions of us by immigration laws that are antiquated and need to be revised in order to accommodate the needs of all Americans. If the law is making ‘illegals’ out of innocent people then let’s change the law, so that we can stop the oppression and persecution that our families are facing.” Meanwhile, Kris Kobach continues to introduce bills in Kansas, including one that would compel local law enforcement to detain those they believe may be in the country without documentation until those individuals can provide documentation. Another would enact stiff penalties for “harboring” undocumented immigrants. Kobach and his anti-immigrant agenda must __continue__ to be met with staunch, active opposition. The demonstration against him on February 15 highlights the inevitable backlash that he will continue to endure from hundreds and thousands of people so long as he continues his battle against everyday people of all backgrounds. Our communities in Kansas will keep fighting until Kobach is held accountable for his failure to adequately serve the people of Kansas before his own devotion to the John Tanton Network and the anti-immigrant movement en masse.
 * Marked Up News Article **
 * [|Kansas Coalitions Gather, Protest to Demand Kris Kobach “Account for His Time”] **

__ Explanation of Current Reform Movement Influencing America __ The Immigration reform has influenced America significantly. Immigration is a big issue in America because of multiple factors. The factors are drugs, human trafficking, and just Mexican citizens trying to get into the country. A lot of Americans want to have the laws reformed to allow that more people from other countries could come in. But also on the other side there are the people who want the laws to be stronger in favor of anti-immigration because of drugs or job opportunities diminishing. They also don’t want to have some of their taxes being paid for these immigrants who are here illegally. The positive side of immigration reform is that the goal is to have the laws become more unjust and fair for Americans. The negatives are that while some Americans want there to be more immigration that can also hurt the country. More immigration could result in more drug trafficking and lost job opportunities to people who are not originally American. But the negative effects of anti-immigration are that it would make it harder on people from other countries who want to come to America for a better life and opportunity. The country of America was built on immigrants and it would unjust for the Americans to not let others come in. For the anti-immigration side their goal is to have the benefits of America to themselves and protect the country against drugs. The goal for the immigration side is to truly make this country the land of opportunity by allowing immigrants to come in more easily. As a country we are still not seeing eye to eye on the issue. Some states agree with the anti-immigration laws while others do not agree. What is left to do is to keep talking about it in congress and try hard to come up with a compromise to this very controversial issue. Protesters and reformers are helping this issue a lot by showing their support for the side they agree on. By protesting and showing what they want, the government recognizes this and will act on it if there is enough support for it.

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