Okay normally I would have chucked this email in the ole’ annoying publicist email trash can of doom, but I am always surprised when publicists A) bother to address me by name (you’d be surprised how many do not in their mass emails and b) actually send me an email promoting something that my audience is interested in.
Today, June 30th, the Allstate Foundation is attempting to raise awareness of “Economic Abuse.” We’re all familiar with economic abuse already, we just didn’t give it a name. Its basically where an abuser controls you through finances.
As a child I remember quite clearly that my Mama had “HER” own credit union account She even took us to credit union meetings. The parental unit also had the joint banking account, but I think without intending to, she basically taught us to have a bank account that was OURs even when we got married. From the Allstate Foundation:
Economic abuse is a tactic commonly used by abusers to control their victims’ finances and
prevent them from leaving a dangerous relationship. However, the survey also revealed nearly
eight out of 10 Americans link economic abuse to Wall Street woes or irresponsible spending.
“Many people associate domestic violence with physical cuts and bruises, but bruises on your
credit score and being cut off from access to money, create lasting scars that make it hard, if not
impossible, for abuse victims to recover,” said Jennifer Kuhn, manager of the Economics
Against Abuse Program at The Allstate Foundation. “For victims of domestic violence,
economic abuse is much more personal – and dangerous.”
To better educate Americans about this often overlooked aspect of domestic violence, The
Allstate Foundation provides the following signs to recognize economic abuse:
• Taking money, credit card or property from a partner without their permission
• Racking up debt without a partner’s knowledge
• Purposely ruining a partner’s credit score
• Forbidding a partner from earning money or attending school
• Being forced by a partner to hand over paychecks
• Cancelling insurance or credit cards without the partner’s knowledge
• Harassing a partner at work to negatively impact a job
“A downturn in the economy impacts us all, but it disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable
members of society, including domestic violence survivors,” said Rene Renick, director of
program and operations at The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV). “Now
more than ever it’s important that domestic violence survivors build economic skills to overcome
financial instability, a major barrier to escape and stay out of an abusive situation.”
The Allstate Foundation, in partnership with NNEDV, recently developed a Financial
Empowerment Curriculum to help victims achieve financial independence. The Financial
Empowerment Curriculum includes financial tools and information designed to enable survivors
of domestic abuse to fully understand their financial circumstances, as well as engage in shortterm
and long-term
planning (e.g., budgeting tools, step-by-step planners, tips, etc.) to accomplish their personal
goals.
“Our goal is to raise awareness about how economic empowerment can lead to a safe and
financially secure future,” said Kuhn. “With resources like the Financial Empowerment
Curriculum, we’re providing tools to domestic violence survivors and others who may need
financial guidance in these tough economic times.”
The user-friendly curriculum is available in a variety of formats, including hard copy, Spanishlanguage,
DVD and downloadable versions at www.ClickToEmpower.org. Also available are elearning
modules to help people of all incomes and earning power work toward long-term
economic empowerment.
Other national survey findings include:
• More than three-quarters of Americans (76 percent) believe the poor economy has made
it more difficult for victims of domestic violence, and two-thirds (66 percent) believe it has
caused an increase in domestic violence.
• 44 percent say the most difficult barrier to leaving an abusive relationship is financial
security.
• Almost 60 percent of Americans don’t see a connection between harassing a partner at
work and economic abuse, even if it may cost the victim their job and ultimately limiting
income.
About the National Poll
The Allstate Foundation “Crisis: Economics and Domestic Violence” poll was a nationwide
telephone survey of 708 Americans conducted in May 2009 by Murphy Marketing Research.
The survey sample was generated by random digit dialing and represents a margin of error of
+/- 3.7 percentage points. The survey sample was designed to closely mirror the breakdown of
the current U.S. population with 10 percent African-American and 10 percent Hispanic
respondents. For the full survey results, please visit www.ClickToEmpower.org.
I know this goes without saying, but I just want to stipulate the following requests for the record. In the event that I should predecease you:
Under no circumstances is any preacher by the last name of Sharpton or Jackson to be in the general vicinity or camera shot with you at any Posthumous Press conference.
Under no circumstances are more than one lawyer allowed to speak on behalf of the estate.
Last but certainly not least, under no circumstances are you to use said posthumous Press Conference to promote a record label, a clothing line, fragrance, deluxe grill, bootleg DVDs, rental property, fruit, inkjet toner refills or any other commercial venture.
Eternally Your Child,
The What About Our Daughters Commissioner of Chicanery & Foolishness Prevention.
PPS. Don’t let me see y’all in the audience at the BET Awards either!!! (**leaves to make some revisions to the will regarding disinheritance upon appearance on any BET-related show.**)
I thought these things went without saying, but Joe Jackson, Father of Micheal Jackson, has ruined it for all parents hoping to use a press conference regarding the mysterious death of their children. Katherine Jackson, it ain’t 1975 anymore, get cha’ boy PLEASE!
Every time I do a “Detroit” post, I lose readers How do I know? Because they take the time to email me to say they are NEVER reading this blog EVER AGAIN! EVER! Because I have repeatedly pointed out that the voting populace is glutton for punishment. They keep electing embarrassments like Kwame Kilpatrick and then get mad when I point out, they ought to be embarrassed.Well prepare to stop reading this blog again, because our second most favorite Detroit politician, second only to Mama Kilpatrick, is in the news AGAIN. I’m shocked. In fact some readers tried to clown me last week about not posting this as soon as I learned about it. I’m still recovering from BWB and was out of town.
As you know, THIS BLOG was the first to offer up an unsolicited endorsement of Detroit Councilwoman, Monica Conyers to be Mayor.
We even printed up these nifty Monica Conyer’s t-shirts.
Quite frankly after reelecting Kwame “textual healing” Kilpatrick we think MOCO, our affectionate name for Monica Conyers is the leadership Detroit deserves, not to mention that she’s a boatload of trainwrecky goodness that bloggers LOVE. LOVE. LOVE!!
I mean she got clowned by an 8th grader after she referred to the Detroit Council President, Ken Cockrel as “Shrek.”
While her description of Cockrell might have been dead on, it was not something one would expect from a sitting councilwoman. MoCo got into at a hotel in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. She’s allegedly been in bar fights, threatened to shoot someone and threatened to have someone killed. She’s fought LOUDLY with other council members and mayoral staffers and generally been an undignified MESS, yet none of this placed her political future in jeopardy because this is DETROIT!
From tawdry text messages and a mayor resigning in disgrace to the 0-16 Detroit Lions and the collapse of the auto industry, it had been a tough year for Detroit’s image even before Friday. So tough, in fact, that the corruption plea by Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers was met by some with a shrug. For scandal-weary Detroit, where residents are becoming inoculated to the jokes of late-night comedians and the scoldings of Washington politicians, Conyers’ plea was just a “part of a long line of abominations,” said Michael Bernacchi, professor of marketing at the University of Detroit-Mercy. “We’ve been in a cesspool for so long, laden with so much bad imagery, this doesn’t change the image.” Freep
The only way to get rid of a political leader with no discernible leadership qualities other than the ability to get elected is to have them plead guilty to a FELONY and have the prosecutor demand that they resign. Oh did I mention that she hasn’t resigned and it is unlikely that the citizens of Detroit will force her to resign.
Conyers has now admitted to taking a paltry $6,000 in bribes in connection with a $1.2 billion sludge contract. She faces five years in prison, which should leave her with plenty of time to draw up those bras. But I’m going to miss her in public life. She is an enigma wrapped up in a Sam Riddle.
When the spotlight is elsewhere, Conyers can be a bright, intelligent, well-spoken woman. But when the camera is trained on her — and Conyers can’t resist a camera — her personality veers toward the erratic and infantile. Freep
On a serious note. When will out politicians stop selling their freedom for a two piece and a biscuit? $6,000?? $6,000??? Are you serious? $6,000??? If you are going to risk your liberty and your political future, can it be for six figures instead of 5? Why sell yourself and your community so short. If you are going to be corrupt go ALL THE WAY like Blago! Two payments of $3,000 on a billion dollar contract? Definitely a two piece and a biscuit alert.
Now this is why I blog. This lurker sent me an email asking what she could do to help in a case we covered a few weeks ago in her area of the country. I made a few suggestions about making contact with a local organization on the ground and instead of sitting back and telling me what else I needed to do, like some sad souls, she TRIED what I suggested. I can feel her beaming through the email. I told y’all the WAOD lurkers are the bestest lurkers ever!:
Hi Gina,
I hope that this email finds you well and refreshed from your BWB conference. I just wanted to let you know that you ARE an inspiration. So I took your advice and talked to one of my friends my congregation (she has tons of experience with Victim Assistance and she is a former Domestic Violence victim herself).
I believe that we are going to begin some type of program or ministry dealing with these issues because she says that she has already talked to the Congregational Leader about it and he was cool with it. However, I believe the focus will be on minority women in general because I don’t attend a “Black Church” (left them eons ago). The Messianic Jewish Congregation that I attend is extremely diverse (read: Spanish, West Indians, black s, whites, etc.), so it would be very difficult to get just a black group, although my friend with the experience is black and she will probably be heading the program – so I’m sure that’ll make a difference too.
Anyway,said all this to say that I wanted to thank you for being my inspiration to do something, however small it may be.
p.s. I’ll keep you posted
I’m so proud of you zoe1231! You get it! You have figured it out! That each of us in our own small ways can make a difference in our local community. You didn’t wait on some charismatic leader to show you the way. You reached out within your own local community and found someone doing important work on the ground. Let us know if we can support you from 35,000 feet in the air. I know that your service in your community will do as much for you as it will for the women and girls you help. Definitely keep me posted. YOU inspire ME
I’m in meetings all week. Here is your open thread. I’mma keep my mouth shut. If you want to know some of my contemporaneous thoughts, follow my Black ops twitter account
Nothing is impossible. be careful about giving up young women because of their circumstances. Roslyn sent in this story about Khadijah Williams. She’s 18 years old and she’s headed to Harvard:
Around here, Khadijah is known as “Harvard girl,” the “smart girl” and the girl with the contagious smile who landed at Jefferson High School only 18 months ago. What students don’t know is that she is also a homeless girl.
As long as she can remember, Khadijah has floated from shelters to motels to armories along the West Coast with her mother. She has attended 12 schools in 12 years; lived out of garbage bags among pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. Every morning, she upheld her dignity, making sure she didn’t smell or look disheveled. LA Times
Khadijah was born to a 14 year old mother. Who dragged her from place to place. Khadijah, understandably is reluctant to criticize her mother even though the woman packed up and left with Khadija’s sister when she was in the 11th grade:
When her college applications were due in December, James and Patricia London of South Central Scholars invited Khadijah to their home in Rancho Palos Verdes to help her write her essays. When they went to return her to skid row, her mother and sister were gone. Khadijah accepted the Londons’ invitation to spend the rest of her school year with them. LA Times
Its a poignant story. I emailed the reporter to see if she has a scholarship fund.
Next Gen Web, one of the conference sponsors has placed the full video of all of the conference workshops and panels online. You will likely find panel IV of interest. its a panel featuring Monroe Anderson, Bruce Montgomery, and Eric Easter of EbonyJet. com. From Regina Hopper of NextGenWeb:
Overall the conference was terrific; full of passion, information and great people. Congratulations to the Blogging While Brown Conference host committee! NextGenWeb
Thank you! You can see all the panels over at NextGenWeb, but I’ve embedded the most “lively” one here. They all were good and I learned something life changing from everyone. Y’all will be particularly interested in what I learned about Buddy Press as it will be changing your reading experience here.
Wow! This may be the first video of the President since the inaguration. yes, i was burnt out by all of the election coverage in 2008 and yes, I think Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers are going to lead the nation right over the side of a cliff so I am busy preparing my escape pod and try to ignore most things happening in DC that don’t have to do with First Lady Michelle Obama, but I saw this over on the White House website when I was looking for some free public domain photos of the First Lady, and thought it was interesting.
The President also wrote an open letter to fathers in PARADE magazine:
As an adult, working as a community organizer and later as a legislator, I would often walk through the streets of Chicago’s South Side and see boys marked by that same absence—boys without supervision or direction or anyone to help them as they struggled to grow into men. I identified with their frustration and disengagement—with their sense of having been let down.
In many ways, I came to understand the importance of fatherhood through its absence—both in my life and in the lives of others. I came to understand that the hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill. We can do everything possible to provide good jobs and good schools and safe streets for our kids, but it will never be enough to fully make up the difference.
That is why we need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one.
As fathers, we need to be involved in our children’s lives not just when it’s convenient or easy, and not just when they’re doing well—but when it’s difficult and thankless, and they’re struggling. That is when they need us most.
Did Bush, Clinton, Bush or Reagan have a Father’s Day event at the White House? I wonder if there are going to be any policy goals to coincide with the initiative? You say what?
My brain is completely fried right now trying to recover from a very successful Blogging While Brown conference, but apparently Rihanna is going to testify today at a preliminary hearing involving Chris Brown. The folks at The New Agenda Report did a post analyzing the media’s coverage of her. Please stay on top of this and email me your thoughts if you would like to do a post.
Here is a portion of the post from The New Agenda:
Tonight, my thoughts are with Rihanna, who is scheduled to testify tomorrow morning at a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles against Chris Brown, charged with felony counts of assaulting her. It must take immense bravery for Rihanna to testify in the face of not only the hurdles that any abused woman faces, but also intense scrutiny from tone-deaf media. For example in the CNN Showbiz Tonight clip below, host AJ Hammer says:
I’d have to believe that she’d rather have this whole thing just kinda go away so she can get on with her life.
Really? Are you saying, AJ, that you believe she should just “get over it?” Pat LaLama then says:
They [the court] only care about the seriousness of the charge and whether he’s responsible, not whether she wants to blubber on the stand and talk about how she still loves him.
How sensitive. It got worse. Hammer read the LAPD statement:
[Rihanna] turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused [Rihanna's] mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle. Brown looked at [Rihanna] and stated, “I’m going to beat the s*** out of you when we get home! You wait and see!”
The reaction of Ben Widdicombe, Celebrity Editor of Stylist.com:
That is such a hard statement to hear read, isn’t it, when you imagine what happened to Rihanna that night.
Hard statement to hear? Poor Ben Widdecombe, to have to hear it read. How about what a horrific night it was for Rihanna to endure??? Read the rest at The New Agenda
I’ll be asleep (I hope) and unplugged all day so I won’t be able to keep up with the happenings, feel free to use this as an open thread for those of you already approved to comment. New commenters will have to wait until this evening for their to post unless you beg attorneymom to log in and start moderating since she has the ability to do so. In addition, if some folks want to guest blog to follow the coverage of the trial, let me know and we can make that happen.
PPS. I’m far more likely to post an item is A) its relevant to my audience, which this is and B) if you make my life easier by already having your content ready to go, which they did. G’night. I mean Good morning.
Happy Father’s Day from your favorite Daughter. Your reward is in heaven
Point of clarification… my Daddy is very much alive. I just thought this was a nice video. Hat tip to my Tweeple for passing it along. Are you following me on twitter @bwbconference.
She even took us to credit union meetings. The parental unit also had the joint banking account, but I think without intending to, she basically taught us to have a bank account that was OURs even when we got married. From the Allstate Foundation:
