Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 49 (239 total reports)
09.01.20245-14.01.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
John Lewis, the former congressman from Georgia, who was badly injured on Bloody Sunday, tells us to get in “Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble. As the Felon from Mar-A-Lago prepares to take office, we each need to examine what kind of “Good Trouble,” will be necessary to uphold our fragile democracy.
Song of the Week
This compilation is filled with songs about dissenters like John Lewis. Please take a moment to listen to the 10 songs that are biopics of human rights activists.
Top Links of the Week
14.01.2025
Jack Smith in Jan. 6 report says Trump would have been convicted if he hadn't won in November
The First Felon to serve as President got his wish. He didn’t really run FOR office as much as he ran FROM prosecution. Jack Smith’s report, that was held in court for years by a Trump-appointed Judge in Florida, was released in part today and it is damning. So this is the US now? I side with Adam Cohen, who said in his Bluesky account this morning, ““The sorrow I feel is that not only did Donald Trump attempt a violent coup, wherein 140 police officers were injured and 5 died as a result, but millions of people ignored it for the chance to save a buck or two on eggs and gas-even as prices on consumer goods were starting to fall.”
13.01.2025
Why the Christian Right Demonizes Discourse
The surest sign that a parent lacks confidence in themselves is that they attempt to prevent their children from asking, “Why?” It is not different from paternalistic organizations like religion. The Christian Right is similar to the Taliban and wants to justify their misogyny, rather than have people question their injustices. Like the Taliban, the Religious Right seeks control over women and their bodies. They objectify women instead of honor them. Also like the Taliban, the Religious Right wants to control the government and use them towards their own ends. They would be overjoyed to undermine the constitutional separation of Church and State by becoming a theocracy. With little insight, they are not seeing that—when the pendulum swings back to sanity—people are finally going to tax churches as crass lobbyists and political organizations.
12.01.2025
Brooks and Capehart on Trump’s sentencing and what’s coming in his 2nd term
The balanced reporting of the actually “sane” conservative, David Brooks, and the liberal counterpoint of Jonathon Capehart, always engages me. In this rational look at the irrational President-Elect, we are reminded that so many of the completely brainless meanderings of the First Felon of Mar-A-Lago are a total distraction to keep us from focusing on the real actions that Project 2025 and he are taking to undermine the US democracy and constitution. The Far Right loves it when they get under the skin of Liberals, but we mustn’t let our guard down and should continually ask, “What is the deception?” “What are they trying to keep us from seeing?”
11.01.2025
Malala Yousafzai Honored for Her Efforts to Combat Gender Apartheid Ten Years After Receiving the Noble Peace Prize
Religious fundamentalists in Pakistan tried to silence Malala Yousafzai by shooting her in the face. As the religious right fundamentalists try to establish their own Christian Taliban in the United States in relationship with the GOP and their Orange Leader, it is important to remember Molala’s story and her consistent resistance to undermining women’s rights around the globe. Please take a moment to read about the history of her struggle and immense courage. I think you will find it inspiring and a platform for your own resilience. I have dedicated a song to Malala on my upcoming compilation, “Say Her Name,” you can find it at this link: Malala Yousafzai; Tell Her Story.
10.01.2025
Emperor Trump Has No Train of Thought
Be prepared for an era of promises unkept, projects unfinished, and alliances destroyed. This will be the legacy of the next President and the egomaniacal Oligarchs with whom he has surrounded himself. Promises will be unkept, because they were never based upon honest commitments to begin with and because it takes truly strong resilience and values to push an agenda through the government system today. 47 has neither of those values and has surrounded himself with egocentric children who are more proficient at throwing tantrums than leading teams, delegation, or actual governance. Unfortunately, Project 2025 has the stamina that the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago lacks and are patiently waiting for him to either die or be replaced through the 25th Amendment.
09.01.2025
Why Poor American Kids Are So Likely to Become Poor Adults
Poor children in America are more likely to become poor adults than a similar grouping of children in other wealthy countries. This well-researched article points out that this is largely due to how we treat impoverished adults in America rather than how we treat impoverished children. Despite what the GOP will tell you, this is not a genealogical issue (people aren’t born lazy and less desirous of meaningful employment), it is a matter of wealth distribution and taxes. As the US increasingly becomes an oligarchy, governed by an extremely wealthy small minority, poverty will increase over the years of the GOP’s budgetary decision-making. The Expanded Child Tax Credit (which ended in 2022) significantly decreased poverty in the US. We are unlikely to see it—or any similar policy—return while E. Musk and his cronies direct the government of 45 and his GOP puppets.
