Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 4, Week 30 (280 total reports)
17.09.2025-23.09.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel
The attack on Jimmy Kimmel, the efforts to undermine the courts, and the disregard for Habeas Corpus. This administration is bent on dismantling democracy and installing an autocracy. Show up on October 18 to support “No Kings Day”
Visual Stories!
We need everyone to show up and support the upcoming “No Kings Day” on October 18. This latin rap song states clearly, “No Kings for Me!”
Top Links of the Week
23.09.2025
The deeper story behind America's pending loss of free speech
Trump has two priorities: tribute and retribution. If you aren’t going to pay him tribute (like Charlie Kirk), expect retribution (like Jimmy Kimmel). And, as I say this, it is always important to remember that this is about more than the Orange Clown of Mar-A-Lago; this is the goal of the insidious Project 2025. They are the kingmakers behind this Administration, seeking to undermine the Constitution and democracy so they can have a permanent radical right-wing government. We must also remember those who want such a government by either voting for this Administration or staying home instead of exercising their voting rights. But now is the time to step out, step up, and march against this overthrow of the U.S. government. This week’s blowback against Disney, Hulu, and ABC is proof that it can work. Look for your local “No Kings Day” march; prepare to show up and encourage others to make their voices heard as well. Now is the time, and the pendulum is swinging.
22.09.2025
‘2026 Is the Battlefield’
Even many conservatives like David Brooks are saying it is time to take to the streets. 2026 and the mid-term elections are truly our last chance of stopping the autocratic takeover of the United States. No longer thought of as hyperbole, it is more evident daily that this administration plans to silence free speech, take over the media, and upend the courts. For those of us who do not want our children to grow up in a dictatorship, it is now or never. This administration must be defeated in the 2026 mid-term elections, and now is the time to take to the streets to show both those in power and those too timid or undecided to make a stand that these actions are unacceptable. The next No Kings Day is October 18. Find a march near you and either march or encourage those you know to attend.
19.09.2025
American Democracy Might Be Stronger Than Donald Trump
This essay by Jonathan Schlefer, in Politico Magazine, is a ray of cautionary hope for those of us committed to resisting the regime of this President and Project 2025. Schlefer is a former senior researcher in political economy at Harvard Business School. He also served as editor-in-chief of MIT Technology Review and is the author of two books, Palace Politics: How the Ruling Party Brought Crisis to Mexico, and The Assumptions Economists Make. This essay is thought-provoking and hopeful, in a sobering way. It points out how the U.S. is different from other countries that have succumbed to authoritarian rule and especially points out the role of public protests. Let that be an encouragement for the upcoming “No Kings Day” on October 18. To quote Schlefer, “Erica Chenoweth of the Harvard Kennedy School has estimated that when 3.5 percent of the population has risen in nonviolent protest against autocrats, almost 90 percent of them (authoritarians) have failed.” Schlefer points out it may take as little as 1% to make those in power take note. He says, “citizens may not be aware of others’ thinking.” Protest makes known resistance that would otherwise remain merely private and implicit.”
18.09.2025
California Lawmakers Pass Bill Banning Law Enforcement From Wearing Masks
California has passed a new law (and hopefully other states that have been invaded by the Trump Administration will follow suit) banning this administration’s “Brown Shirts” from wearing masks while terrorizing the public. I’m sure the legal wrangling has just begun, and this administration will attempt to end-run this decision. It seems imperative to the Federal Government at this time that their ICE agents remain anonymous. After all, who would want their neighbors to know the deeds they perform while behind those masks?
17.09.2025
Racism isn’t innate – here are five psychological stages that may lead to it
This article in “The Conversation” by Steve Taylor reports on research reminding us that racism is not innate; it is learned. Diving deeper, Taylor examines the roots of racism and how it is taught. Taylor also explains that most minorities around the world report that racism is intensifying and expanding. In this article, Taylor points to evidence that racism is linked to both poor psychological functioning and when people are made to feel anxious or insecure. It is imperative that we ask ourselves in this political climate, “Who benefits by increasing anxiety and insecurity in the general population?” As we watch this administration respond to the murder of Charlie Kirk by threatening freedom of the press and the right to free speech while simultaneously feeding the fires of immigrant typecasting and denigration, we are observing how autocratic regimes increase their power through fostering racism. If there is a hopeful side, it is in asking the question that, “If racism is learned, can it also be unlearned?” Can people learn how to stop hating each other? What can you do this week to confront racism and other forms of hatred spawned by those who are seeking greater governmental control of the press and the population?
