Category Archives: Freedom

"It was a reasonable way to fight what I wanted to fight all along, but didn't know how," said Brown, now 67.

Brown and Zuchman, 70, reminisced on Saturday at a discussion and film screening about the Freedom Rides at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. The event was part of programming associated with an exhibit of 82 mixed-media portraits of Freedom Riders by New York artist Charlotta Janssen.

Four of the Riders recounted their protest experiences before an audience of 85.

In 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) challenged the segregation of transportation facilities in the South. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled the segregation illegal, but southern states continued the practice.

Thirteen protesters - black and white members of CORE and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) - boarded two buses in Washington, D.C., and traveled south.

One bus was firebombed. Riders were beaten with bats and denied treatment at hospitals. The violence ended the ride and President Kennedy sent federal officials to fly the demonstrators to New Orleans, their final destination.

News of the Riders' efforts inspired others and more Freedom Riders took up the cause. One of them was then college-student Terry Perlman Hickerson, of New York City.

"I'd seen the students on television and it just seemed like the natural thing to do. It was the sixties," said Hickerson, 70, now retired from a career working with at-risk youth and recently-released prisoners. "I went down to CORE's offices and said I wanted to be part of the Freedom Rides. They put me on a plane and I was in jail the next day."

Hickerson recruited fellow student Stuart Wechsler, who became a field officer for CORE. Between 1962 and 1968, he was arrested 30 times.

"It was the most vital and important time in my life," said Wechsler, 70, who now works in affordable housing finance with the state of Maryland.

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Freedom Rides remembered

The anger that led Lewis Zuchman and Luvaghn Brown to self-destructive moments as teenagers ultimately fueled their dedication to a movement.

Zuchman grew up white and Jewish in New York. He quit college and served time in jail before he was 19. Brown, an African American in segregated Mississippi, ran away from an abusive family life and was prone to raise his fists in an instant.

They met as teenage Freedom Riders in the early 1960s, part of a historic nonviolent movement that helped force the desegregation of transportation services in the South.

"It was a reasonable way to fight what I wanted to fight all along but didn't know how," said Brown, now 67.

Brown and Zuchman, 70, reminisced on Saturday at a discussion and film screening about the Freedom Rides at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. The event was part of programming associated with an exhibit of 82 mixed-media portraits of Freedom Riders by New York artist Charlotta Janssen.

Four of the Riders recounted their protest experiences before an audience of 85.

In 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) challenged the segregation of transportation services in the South. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled the segregation illegal, but Southern states continued the practice.

Thirteen protesters - black and white members of CORE and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) - boarded two buses in Washington and traveled south.

One bus was firebombed. Riders were beaten with bats and denied treatment at hospitals. The violence ended the ride and President John F. Kennedy sent federal officials to fly the demonstrators to New Orleans, their final destination.

News of the Riders' efforts inspired others and more Freedom Riders took up the cause. One of them was Terry Perlman Hickerson of New York City, then a college student.

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Former Freedom Riders remember the struggles

This spring, a UCLA professor was criticized by a faculty leader for linking an online syllabus for a World Arts and Cultures course to a website that called for a boycott of Israel. At the time, professor David Delgado Shorter reportedly was told that the link for his winter term class on Tribal Worldviews seemed to advance a political agenda that was inappropriate in the classroom.

Shorter, however, said his academic freedom was being violated and he questioned whether Andrew Leuchter, the chairman of UCLAs faculty Senate, should have responded to a complaint about the link from a group that seeks to fight anti-Semitism at UC.

Shorter said that the link to the Israel boycott was just one of a number of suggested links for the class to explore the rights of various groups around the world and that he also discussed in class the point of view of people who are against the boycott.

Now, Shorter has wonvindication.

The UCLA faculty senates committee on academic freedom last week said that Shorters use of the boycott link did not violate UCLA policy, which gives faculty the right to present controversial material relevant to the course as long as no student feels pressure to adopt a point of view.

Additionally, in a letter to Shorter, the committee said it was concerned that Leuchter looked into the matter at the behest of a group that was not directly affected by the course. We think that faculty members should be free of such scrutiny and should not have to answer to interest groups outside the university, the committee told Shorter in a letter.

Shorter said Friday that he was pleased by that finding but was still filing a grievance against Leuchter in another senate committee. He said he did not know whether he would again use that link but might if it proved relevant to future courses.

Shorter was not formally disciplined in the matter. But in April,Leuchter said he had asked the department chairman to informally tell Shorter not to post the link anymore on the syllabus.

On Friday,Leuchter releaseda statement that said: As a faculty member and in my role as chair of the UCLA Academic Senate, I strongly support academic freedom. I thank the Committee on Academic Freedom for their perspective on this matter. He declined further comment.

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UCLA professor wins fight over academic freedom

July 20, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom O'Fallon,MO - The Florence Freedom shutout the River City Rascals Friday night with a 7-0 win. With the victory, the Freedom improved to 29-27 on the season and ended their five game losing streak.

The Freedom jumped out to a 2-0 lead, thanks to a pair of solo homeruns by Eddie Rodriguez and Jim Jacquot. Rodriguez hit his 7th of the year in the 2nd inning while Jacquot launched his 5th long ball of the season in the 4th. Andres Caceres improved to 5-2, as the Freedom starter went 5.1 innings, yielding only 3 hits, while walking 5 and striking out 2.

The Freedom added to their lead in the 8th inning sending eight men to the plate as Esteban Meletiche scored from 3rd on a wild pitch, Peter Fatse hit a bases clearing three run triple, and Rodriguez added a SAC Fly. Victor Gomez led the Freedom offense going 3-3 at the plate. The Freedom got 3.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen from Jose Velazquez, Brennan Flick, and Matt Kline.

The Freedom will go for the series win, as they wrap up their 9 game road Saturday night against the Rascals. Saturday's game can be heard with Steve Jarnicki starting at 7:50 pm on Real Talk 1160 and realtalk1160.com.

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Freedom Post Shutout to End Losing Streak

by Kyle Szymanski Thepress.Net

Freedom freshman Kelsey Almassey painted the press box in Freedom High Schools football stadium as part of her end-of-the year leadership project.

So when freshman Kelsey Almassey came to him and said she wanted to leave her mark on the school as part of her end-of-the year leadership project, he was hesitant. But when she showed him some of her old drawings, and a design to paint the press box in Freedoms football stadium, he was sold.

Here at Freedom, we try to enable the students to do the best they can, Amaro said. If all of a sudden we realize a project is going to take place that would benefit the entire campus, the best thing we can do is try to eliminate any obstacles.

After 15 hours of work, the press box now reads Freedom Falcons.

I just wanted to make my mark on Freedom, Almassey said. I thought: what better way to do it than to add some school spirit?

Now that the project is complete, and receiving rave reviews from the schools administration, Almassey isnt afraid to admit it was the first time she used outdoor latex paint. It was a lot of work, but it wasnt too awfully difficult, said the student who carries a 4.0 grade point average. After she convinced Amaro and later Principal Erik Faulkner to allow her to carry out the art project, the hard part was over.

To start the project, Almassey laid out the letters on her computer. After enlarging the letters to scale, she stenciled them onto the press box and painted them.

Im proud of her for wanting to add some school spirit to the school, said Nicole Almassey, Kelseys mother. I try to support anything that has to do with school.

Almasseys idea came to life while she visited other schools during her middle school track career. She noticed that most of the tracks press boxes were decorated.

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Freedom freshman leaves indelible mark

Freedom from Religion, an atheist group based hundreds of miles away in Wisconsin, is making waves in East Tennessee.

It's a name you have likely heard recently. They have made themselves known by questioning prayer at school events and public meetings, Ten Commandment statues, and police patches in East Tennessee.

This year alone, Freedom from Religion has written 39 letters to Tennessee government bodies and school systems asking them to stop their practices and threatening lawsuits. The foundation's focus is to remove religion from government.

Freedom from Religion has more than 19,000 members with 300 of them in Tennessee.Co-president Laurie Annie Gaylor said they have had much success in their more than 30 years of existence. But some East Tennessee governmental bodies seem unfazed by their demands.

They succeeded in getting Lenior City schools to stop praying before school board meetings and football games, but this week the city refused to remove the word religion from their police patch.

Thursday morning, Knox County Commission also rejected their request to stop praying before the meetings. Instead, the Rules Committee recommendeded a written prayer policy to the full commission that Knox County's Law Director, Joe Jarret, said would protect them in a lawsuit.

"I'll have to disagree with their [Freedom from Religion's] interpretation of the law. It is certainly legally permissible for the commission to do so, especially in the matter in which they have done it in the past," said Jarret. Jarret said the law however does draw a line of distinction with schools.

"They pray in the federal House and Senate and in the state House and Senate. It's been a tradition and I don't think we should change it," said Knox County Commission Vice Chairman Brad Anders.

Anders doesn't understand why the group is involved in local affairs.

"I think they need to let communities be the community that they are," he said.

Originally posted here:
Who is Freedom from Religion?

July 20, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom O'Fallon,MO-The Florence Freedom took an early 2-0 lead against the River City Rascals Thursday night, but the Rascals offense proved to be too powerful, coming away with a 10-7 win over the Freedom. The Rascals improved to 29-26 on the season, while the Freedom fell to 28-27 with their fifth straight loss.

John Malloy started the game off well for Florence, launching a game opening solo homer over the 38 foot wall in right field to put the Freedom ahead 1-0. It was Malloy's 6th homerun of the season. In the same inning, Junior Arrojo doubled, which was one of his three hits on the night. Two batters later, Eddie Rodriguez hit an RBI double scoring Arrojo which gave the Freedom a 2-0 lead. Rodriguez finished the game 3-4 with 2 RBI.

Maxx Catapano who was fresh off the 7 day DL, couldn't maintain the early lead that his offense provided him. In the 1st inning, a wild pitch allowed one run to score, and a throwing error by catcher Jim Jacquot allowed another one to come home to tie the game at 2-2. A two run double by Matt Serna later in the inning extended the Rascal lead to 4-2.

The Rascals built an 8-2 lead against Catapano(4-2), who only went 3.2 innings giving up 10 hits, on 8 earned runs. The Freedom battled back though in the 6th inning. After Rodriguez and Drew Rundle singled, Jacquot walked to load the bases. David Harris then hit one deep into right center field as right fielder Jeremy Synan dropped the ball on the run which allowed Rodriguez and Rundle to score to cut the deficit to 8-4. The Freedom then made it closer in the 7th on a SAC Fly by Peter Fatse, and an RBI single by Rodriguez. The Rascals however, scored twice in the their 7th, as Chris Andreas scored on a wild pitch from Brandon Mathes, and Curran Redal provided an RBI single to push the lead to 10-6.

In the 9th, the Freedom made it interesting against Brandon Cunniff. Arrojo lined a double down the left field line which he later scored on a Rundle RBI single. With two runners on, and with only one out, Cunniff then buckled down to strikeout Jacquot, and get Harris to bounce out into a game ending fielder's choice.

The Freedom and Rascals will continue their series Friday night as Andres Caceres will start for Florence, while River City sends Keli'I Zablan to the mound. Friday's game can be heard with Steve Jarnicki starting at 7:50 pm on Real Talk 1160 and realtalk1160.com.

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Freedom's Late Rally Comes up Short

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Citigroup today announced that it has been selected to receive the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense (DoD) agency. Fifteen employers will be honored with this year's Freedom Award, the DoDs highest recognition given to employers for exceptional support of Guard and Reserve employees. Citi is the only bank to receive the 2012 Freedom Award. These recipients distinguished themselves among the 3,236 nominations submitted earlier this year by Guardsmen and Reservists, or family members acting on their behalf. Thirty employee-service members nominated Citi for the award.

Citi is honored to receive the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, said Vikram Pandit, Citi CEO. The Guard and Reserve are essential to the strength of our nation and the well-being of our communities. We currently employ nearly 2,000 self-identified veterans across our business, and were dedicated to their professional development. In addition, we are working with our businesses and community partners to promote and preserve homeownership for military families and empower them to manage their finances. We are committed to providing Americas veterans and men and women in uniform with professional opportunities and to ensuring that military families around the country have the support they deserve."

Freedom Award recipients go above and beyond what the law requires of Guard and Reserve employers. The nominations for Citi reported that Citi has distinguished itself in supporting members of the Guard and Reservists through its Citi Salutes initiative, which includes employee networks and hiring commitments, including onboarding an additional 1,000 veterans by the end of 2012. In 2011, Citi hired nearly 700 veterans, became a founding member of Veterans on Wall Street and continued its leadership in Joining Forces. Citi also joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Veterans Employment Advisory Council and developed a training program to ensure recruiters and hiring managers are equipped to translate military experience into job-specific qualifications.

"On behalf of the Secretary of Defense, I thank the 2012 Freedom Award recipients for taking such exceptional care of the Guard and Reserve members they employ," said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Jessica L. Wright. "Our military could not meet todays national security demands without the Guard and Reserve, who in turn could not provide such dedicated service without the cooperation of their employers at home. These Freedom Award recipients have distinguished themselves nationally for their remarkable efforts, and we greatly appreciate their unwavering support."

A selection board comprised of senior DoD officials, business leaders and prior awardees selected the 15 recipients. Out of the 30 nominations for Citi, a specific nomination from an Air National Guardsman employed by Citibank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was highlighted by the selection board in naming Citi a Freedom Award recipient.

Since 1996, only 160 employers have received the Freedom Award. The 2012 honorees will be recognized at the 17th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on September 20th.

Citi is an official partner of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, and in 2011 Vikram Pandit signed the Department of Defenses Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve Statement of Support. Citi was also named among the top ten Best for Vets Employers for 2012 by Military Times EDGE.

For more information about the Freedom Award and this years recipients, visit http://www.FreedomAward.mil. For more information about Citis work to support U.S. Armed Service members, veterans and their families, visit http://www.citisalutes.com.

About Citi

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DoD Names Citi as 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Recipient

On New Year's Day 1975, Elton John released the single "Philadelphia Freedom." The song was a hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and in 1995 the Recording Industry Association of America certified it platinum, marking more than one million records sold.

John penned the song in homage to his friend Billie Jean King. The singer followed King's career, including her time in 1974 with the Philadelphia Freedoms in the World TeamTennis league. John was such a fan that he would dress in the team's uniform and sit on the bench.

He'd be sitting on the bench screaming, "Come on!" He's a maniac.

So anyway, we're going to a concert of his one night, because I used to go with him a lot. I just remember him in this car, in this shell, in this bubble. He can't go anywhere without five bodyguards. One night he's in the back seat and he goes, "I want to write a song for you." I'm looking at him like he's kidding me for sure. Yeah, right. What is he smoking?

"No, no," he said. "I'm serious. I want to write a song for you"

"You're serious?"

"Yes," he said. "I'm very serious. What are we going to call it?"

He goes like this: Clap-clap-clap. He makes decisions quickly. He's just like, "Go! Take no prisoners!"

"What are we going to call it?" he asks. "What are we going to call it? What are we going to call it?"

Link:
Philadelphia Freedom: The story behind the song

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense agency, announced today the 15 recipients of the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The Freedom Award is the DoDs highest recognition given to employers for exceptional support of Guard and Reserve employees. These employers distinguished themselves from the 3,236 nominations received from Guardsmen and Reservists, or family members acting on their behalf.

The 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award recipients are:

Employer

Freedom Award recipients stand out by going above and beyond what the law requires of Guard and Reserve employers. They go to extraordinary lengths to support their military employees through both formal and informal initiatives. The 2012 recipients have provided such outstanding support as special hiring and career development programs for Guard and Reserve members; maintaining an open door policy for deployed employees family members in need of assistance; and forming internal veterans networks that maintain contact with deployed colleagues, organize care package drives, and advise managers on issues related to employing members of the military.

"On behalf of the Secretary of Defense, I thank the 2012 Freedom Award recipients for taking such exceptional care of the Guard and Reserve members they employ," said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Jessica L. Wright. "Our military could not meet todays national security demands without the Guard and Reserve, who in turn could not provide such dedicated service without the cooperation of their employers at home. These Freedom Award recipients have distinguished themselves nationally for their remarkable efforts, and we greatly appreciate their unwavering support."

A selection board comprised of senior DoD officials, business leaders and prior awardees selected the 15 recipients. Since 1996, only 160 employers have received the Freedom Award. The 2012 honorees will be recognized at the 17th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on September 20th.

For more information about the Freedom Award and this years recipients, visit http://www.FreedomAward.mil.

About ESGR and the Freedom Award:

The Freedom Award was instituted in 1996 under the auspices of ESGR to recognize exceptional support from the employer community. In the years since, 160 employers have been honored with the award. Established as a DoD agency 40 years ago, ESGR develops and maintains employer support for Guard and Reserve service. ESGR advocates relevant initiatives, recognizes outstanding support, increases awareness of applicable laws, and resolves conflict between service members and employers. Paramount to ESGR's mission is encouraging employment of Guardsmen and Reservists who bring integrity, global perspective and proven leadership to the civilian workforce.

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Department of Defense Announces Recipients of 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award