What are your experiences with Race?

What are your experiences with race? Regardless of your race, your honestly and anonymously reported experiences involving race can help in understanding how people conceive of race. You may comment from this page, or email me at mfbpa@wiu.edu

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Charities were picked based on two criteria. First, most of your money is used to support the Cause rather than for “Administrative Costs”. Second, listed charities are almost all rated A+, A, & A- with a few at B+. See web addresses at end of this blog entry. *Indicates Favorable Personal Experience; **Indicates a Special Comment. ALL CHARITY SITES CAN BE FOUND BY GOOGLING FUND NAMES.

ABORTION AND FAMILY PLANNING
International Planned Parenthood*
National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund

AFRICAN AMERICAN
Africa-America Institute
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund*
UNCF/The College Fund*

AIDS
AIDS Research Alliance

AMERICAN INDIAN
American Indian College Fund
Running Strong for American Indian Youth* **Did not receive a high rating. This category’s entries received few high ratings.

ANIMAL PROTECTION
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

ASIAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN
Asia Foundation
Asia-American Legal Defense and Education Fund

BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind
Helen Keller International/Childsight

CANCER
Breast Cancer Foundation
Cancer Research Institute

CHILD PROTECTION
Children’s Defense Fund

CHILD SPONSORSHIP
Christian Children’s Fund*
Plan USA*
Save the Children* **Featured on American Idol; one of the best.
World Vision*

CIVIL RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY
Center for Constitutional Rights
Amnesty International USA* **Not listed
Human Rights Watch* **Not Listed

DISABLED
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
Salvation Army (Eastern, Central, Southern * Western Territories)*

ENVIRONMENT
Conservation Fund
Greenpeace Fund, Inc.*
Rainforest Alliance
Sierra Club Foundation*

GAY LESBIAN
PFLAG Parents and Friends of Lesbians & Gays (FFLAG is the international version).* A couple of others have been recommended to me by a trustworthy source: Triangle Foundation and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. **There is no category for gay and lesbian people at the site-address below.

HEALTH, GENERAL
American Brain Tumor Association
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

HISPANIC
Hispanic Scholarship Fund

HOMELESSNESS AND HOUSING
Habitat for Humanity International – N.O.*
National Alliance to End Homelessness

HUMAN RIGHTS
Center for Victims of Torture*
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch *Not listed
Amnesty International* **Not listed

HUMAN SERVICES
American Red Cross*
Farm Aid*
YMCA of the United States – N. O.

HUNGER
Freedom from Hunger
Global Hunger Project

INTERNATIONAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT
Care*
Catholic Relief Services
Doctors of the World
Doctors Without Borders*
Oxfam-America*

JEWISH AND ISRAEL
Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger

LITERACY
Reading is Fundamental

MENTAL HEALTH AND RETARDATION
Mental Health America
National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression

PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Union of Concerned Scientists*

POPULATION PLANNING
Population Council

PUBLIC POLICY
Common Cause Education Fund*

VETERANS AND MILITARY
Fisher House Foundation
Army Relief Emergency
Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust
Homes for our Troops
Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
This category has many poorly run charities. The ones listed here all have four star ratings.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Global Fund for Women*

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Big Brothers and Sisters of American – N. O.

YOUTH RESIDENTIAL
Cedars Home for Children Foundation

http://www.charitywatch.org supplied most of the information for the above. http://www.charitynavigator.org supplied some others and is an outstanding site.

Right to Life? Whose life?

With the world population now between 6 and 7 billion and sure to reach 8 billion within a generation, I'm worried about in the order of 1 billion young human beings who are likely to live short and miserable lives. According to a probably conservative estimate, the number of children dying per day world-wide is between 27,000 and 30,000. That is 20 children dying every minute, 10-11 million children dying per year, and 50 million dead between 2000 and 2005. I'm betting that the Right to Life movement is doing something to save this huge group of newborns, babies, children, and teens, but what are they doing?

Can wannabes actually be what they want to be?

Could Germans who are fascinated with American Indian culture, and even speak a tribal language, ever actually be Indians? A quick answer may be a faulty one. How about white kids trying to be black? Is their desire "to be black" superficial and facilitated by the knowledge that they can retreat to being white at the slightest discomfort? I once heard a white Nun speak who had devoted her entire adult life to helping black kids. She was clearly identified with those kids and seemed in sync with black culture. Is it likely that she was accepted as part of the black community? Do people in culturally/racially mixed marriages fully partake of each other's culture? These are tough questions with no easy answers. What do you think? Pro and con examples would be welcomed.

Reparations for African Americans because of slavery?

There is a rationale for granting African Americans reparations because of slavery. There are also some precedents.

Let's ban booze at college student functions.

Binge drinking is too often behind rape and assault on college campuses. Is there a way to sell students on responsible drinking, or must booze be banned from college student functions?