Notes from Susan: Proud to Live in Jersey

Notes from Susan: Proud to Live in Jersey

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Notes from Susan: Proud to Live in Jersey

By Susan MacLaury

I grew up on the other side of the Hudson River, in Huntington, NY. I’ve always loved NYS and indeed my husband and I still own a home on Long Island. But 27 years ago we left our Manhattan apartment to move to New Jersey, days after our oldest child, Kay, graduated from Bronx High School of Science, and 3 months before Alex, twelve years younger than his sister, began kindergarten.

We moved to Montclair, a town I love dearly. Learning to love New Jersey came more slowly. Although I appreciate the Jersey shore and have come to truly admire Bruce Springsteen, my state sympathies have always been divided. (The beaches I grew up with were Long Island’s north shore’s harbors and the LI sound. For several years my family also co-owned a tiny cottage on the bay side of Dune Road in Westhampton, across the street from the ocean. That, to me, was the best of all possible worlds.) It’s all what you know, I guess.

This month, though, I am very proud to be a New Jerseyan as it is March 2020 that the bill Governor Murphy signed in December, A8523, comes into effect making New Jersey the 17th state, along with the District of Columbia, to enable formerly incarcerated people on probation or parole to vote. Governor Murphy also introduced another law that creates an automatic expungement process for those convicted of less serious effects with a clean slate for 10 years.

Having recently completed Shine Global’s forthcoming short documentary, Virtually Free, about three Richmond, VA teens in detention who work with artists to create art used to educate law enforcement about the impact of incarceration on kids, I’ve come to understand much better what Michelle Alexander described in her 2010 book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness, recently re-released with a new introduction by the author.

She states eloquently how badly the decks are stacked against those who’ve been incarcerated. – from the jobs they can take, to where they can live, to whether they can get motor vehicle licenses… the list goes on. What’s miraculous is that any survive, let alone thrive, upon release. I learned from Ms. Alexander that those released from jail and prison are saddled with horrendous – and dubious – debts that many simply can never pay off, that effectively short-circuit any serious efforts to rejoin society.

I’m proud to live in New Jersey where the playing field has been leveled in a significant manner and I’ll watch eagerly as the other 33 remaining states hopefully move to join this movement.

Shining A Light Episode 4: Olivia Wilde, Women in Film, and Why Representation Matters

Shining A Light Episode 4: Olivia Wilde, Women in Film, and Why Representation Matters

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Shining A Light Episode 4: Olivia Wilde, Women in Film, and Why Representation Matters

 

By Sean Conrad

Before covid-19 took over, we filmed episode 4 of Shining A Light celebrating Women’s History Month. This week we look at representation in media and how it affects real world change, specifically through our films Inocente and The Eagle Huntress.

 

Subscribing to Shine Global on YouTube is one of the easiest, most helpful ways to support us in our mission of making films about underserved youth and their families. Thank you so much for your support!

Notes from Susan: Proud to Live in Jersey

Notes from Susan: American Children Going Hungry during Coronavirus

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Notes from Susan: American Children Going Hungry during Coronavirus

By Susan MacLaury

I was speaking to our son, Alex, the other night. He’s a research analyst at 32BJ, a local NYC union that’s a part of SEIU, the Service Employees International Union. He described a conversation he’d had a few days earlier with a cafeteria worker at a West Orange, NJ school. She told him she was friendly with many of the students and had learned that several of them rarely had enough to eat over the weekends. This probably comes as no surprise to many teachers and school administrators already struggling to help.

In the US, approximately 22 million kids get free or reduced-price lunches during the school year, thanks to funding from the National School Lunch program, according to Business Insider. (Unfortunately, for various reasons, this number drops to only 4 million over the summer, despite efforts by the USDA, which funds the Summer Food Service Program that allows meal delivery sites to be set up around the country.)

The fact that so many kids come to school hungry every day is fairly well known. No Kid Hungry, a national advocacy organization, reports that 76% of public school teachers work with students coming to school hungry on a regular basis. Indeed, they try to intervene personally. The average US teacher spends $300 a year of his/her own money buying food for students. And students and teachers alike attest to the fact that kids feel and perform far better when they’re well fed. Seventy-three percent of teachers say kids pay better attention and 77% of kids say school meals help them feel better physically, pay attention more, and perform better academically.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, many of us are spending a tremendous amount of time watching health reports on the https://somabest.com news. As we know, one of its greatest impacts has been the closing of thousands of schools across the country. And one of the immediate concerns of educators and legislators alike has been not only the disruption to learning these closings will cause, but also the number of kids normally in school programs providing free or reduced breakfasts and lunches who will go hungry.

Over the weekend the House of Representatives, with strong support from 140 Republican members, voted to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that – among other measures – provides for the distribution of lunches at non-school sites. This was already being made available by the USDA using waivers on a state-by-state basis. The Families First act expands that program – Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). It now goes to the Senate for confirmation. The bill was passed by President Trump and indeed provides relief but not as much as is needed as SNAP centers are not found in all districts.

The problem of child hunger is not unknown to the media. In 1968, CBS News produced a documentary called Hunger in America. Much more recently, in 2013, top Chef judge Tom Colicchio partnered with his wife, Lori Silverbush, and Kristi Jacobson, to make A Place at the Table, a documentary updating the urgency of the problem. And local news shows report on this issue with reliable consistency.

Thus, we cannot claim ignorance of the problem, and we certainly can’t use it as an excuse not to act. The problem clearly goes much deeper than the band aid this legislation will provide. We are in an election year, poised to work for far more fundamental legislative change that can create a safety net for America’s neediest families. Let’s all find out all that we can and vote our support for those who need it the most.

Shining A Light Episode 3: New Yorkers & Women’s History Month

Shining A Light Episode 3: New Yorkers & Women’s History Month

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Shining A Light Episode 3: New Yorkers & Women’s History Month

 

By Sean Conrad

Hi everyone, hope you are staying safe and are surrounded by loved ones. Before all of this madness broke out, I spent a day at the Oculus for Women’s History Month and asked New Yorkers “If you could celebrate any woman from history who would it be and why?” This video documents their answers. I hope you find this video as uplifting and fun as I did.

 

Subscribing to Shine Global on YouTube is one of the easiest, most helpful ways to support us in our mission of making films about underserved youth and their families. Thank you so much for your support!

Shine Global Mourns the Loss of Hiry Booker West III

Shine Global Mourns the Loss of Hiry Booker West III

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Shine Global Mourns the Loss of Hiry Booker West III

 

We are sad to announce that on February 23, 2020, at the age of 61, Hiry Booker West III, member of the Shine Global board of governors, passed away.

Hiry was born and raised in New York City. He attended the University of Rochester and graduated with a BA in History. He began his business career as a Financial Advisor and for the past twenty years he was involved with a number of different entrepreneurial ventures including as a private investor and a co-Founder of Medicaid Advisory Group and Zwoosh Media.

Hiry was always dedicated to charitable causes and was a passionate advocate for children. In addition to his work with Shine Global, he also sat on the Board of Directors of Gladney Center for Adoption, was a member of the Board of Trustees for Saint Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church, Chiaravalle Montessori School and the Rush Neurobehavioral Center. He also was an active volunteer with Off the Street Club, the largest boys and girls club in Chicago and the Fredrick Douglass Community Center in New York.

Shine Global Executive Director Susan MacLaury said “Shine Global’s staff, boards of directors and governors join me in expressing our profound sadness at Hiry‘s death. Beyond his generosity toward children’s causes, he was first and foremost a good man. He loved his family deeply. I considered him a friend and will miss him very much.”

Hiry leaves behind his wife Mary Beth and their four children along with many friends and admirers.