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Friday, April 4, 2014
Community Forum on Confronting 
Racial Stereotypes in the Media
Wednesday, April 9th at 6:30 p.m. CT
Middle Tennessee State University

 

Join this Community Discussion sponsored by SOCM and the Muslim Student Association at MTSU. SOCM members will report on their research into patterns of racial stereotypes and bias in local media outlets and we'll hear from panelists Dr. Clare Bratten of the MTSU Electronic Media and Communications Department and Remziya Suleyman, the Director of Policy and Administration for the American Center for Outreach.

 

The Social Justice Committee has been researching instances of racial stereotypes in the media since last year. Click here to find out more about the Race in the Media project.

We will meet at the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building (Room 108) on the MTSU campus.

The event is free and open to the public. 

Public Input Needed for State Solid Waste Plan

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) announced the beginning of the process that will lead to development of the 2015-2025 Statewide Comprehensive Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan.

 

Last month, TDEC hosted a couple of focus groups to gather information about how to proceed in creating this plan. These will be followed by just a few public meetings, which haven't been announced yet and are likely to be in larger cities instead of rural areas where landfills are usually located.

 

There is very little opportunity for input in this process. Please let TDEC know that we need more opportunities for people who have landfills in their backyards to comment. You can send comments into [email protected] and ask to be notified of the public hearings.

Earth Day is Coming Up on April 22nd

 

SOCM members will be celebrating Earth Day all over the state. If you're out and about, please stop by the SOCM booth and say hello!

 

Nashville Earth Day

Saturday, April 19

11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Centennial Park

www.nashvilleearthday.org

 

Murfreesboro Earth Day

Saturday, April 26

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Historic Square

 

Knoxville EarthFest

Saturday, April 26

10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Worlds Fair Park 

www.knox-earthfest.org

We're Working On Our Archives and Help is Needed

Having been around for over 40 years, SOCM is a wealth of information, and we get lots of requests. We have a library of resources in the Knoxville office and we're working on organizing and archiving those resources. Special thanks goes to the Cumberland County Chapter members who have been volunteering in the office over the last couple of months to organize these archives.

 

We have several educational and informative videos on VHS tapes that we would like to digitize so we can share them more broadly. Do you have the technology to do this? We need your help!

 

If you can help, please contact Communications Director Casey Self at [email protected]. This is a project that can be done at home.

2014 Legislative Update

 

Well, it's been a hard legislative session, but we've had some successes.

 

Of big concern was a bill that would give oversight of coal mining permitting to the state, taking it out of the hands of the federal Office of Surface Mining. The bill has been dropped for now, but we're assured it will come back next year so keep the press up!

 

Two education bills that SOCM opposed that would have fundamentally changed our education system are dead for now. A bill that would establish a school voucher program in Tennessee, privatizing our schools and public education system, died in the Senate Education Committee. The bill that would have allowed publicly-funded charter schools to hire for-profit operators was struck down in the House Calendar and Rules Committee yesterday at the urging of House Speaker Beth Harwell.

 

SOCM followed 11 bills this year. To see the status of these bills, see our legislative page.

In This Issue
Community Forum
Solid Waste Plan
Earth Day Events
Help is Needed
Legislative Update
  Join SOCM!
  Your community needs you.
Mailing List

  

Bedford/Coffee Chapter Meeting
Tuesday, April 8
6 - 8 p.m. CT
Chamber of Commerce, Shelbyville
 
Community Forum on Racial Stereotypes in the Media
Wednesday, April 9
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. CT
MTSU

 

Maury County Chapter Meeting
Monday, April 14
5:30 - 7:30 p.m. CT
Shoney's Banquet Room, Carmack Blvd., Columbia

Rutherford County Chapter Meeting

Tuesday, April 15

6:30 - 8 p.m. CT

Unity Church, Murfreesboro

 

Knoxville Chapter Meeting
Monday, April 21
6:30 - 8 p.m. ET
TBD
 

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.'"

- Galileo Galilei

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