This week our students took part in an advocacy campaign for increased state funding for adult literacy programs. Our students met with Alex Flood from Assemblymember Patricia Fahy’s office and Patrick Cronin from Senator Daphne Jordan’s office and talked about what effect their classes have had on their lives. Screenshots from the meetings are above.
Additionally many of our students made short videos to be share on social media talking about the important of their English classes – watch one example below or visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to watch more.
A special thank you to the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy as well the University Settlement’s Advocacy Director, Veronica Wong, for helping our staff and students prepare for this campaign!
We’re asking for $25 million in state funding per year for adult literacy classes – to learn more, click here!
Would you be OK with only 56% of your income? Would you be OK with having electricity only 56% of the time? What about garbage pick-ups? Healthcare?
As of today, 56.4% of households in NYC have completed the census and we need everyone’s help to raise our response rate. It’s not too late to respond. If everyone who already completed the census also got a friend, neighbor, or family member to complete it, we would already be at 100%!
THE WAYS YOU CAN PROMOTE A COMPLETE COUNT:
Do you know someone who left NYC due to Covid-19? Contact them and make sure they counted themselves at their New York City address, where they live most of the time.
Encourage 100% participation from your coworkers or extended family.
It’s so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so important to fill out the Census, and here are University Settlement Adult Literacy Program students Lifen Wu (aka Stephanie) and Si En Wen (aka Wilson) to tell you why.
In addition to George Floyd, you may have heard the name Breonna Taylor in connection with recent Black Lives Matter protests. Read the brief summary of her case in English and traditional Chinese below, courtesy of Send Chinatown Love:
Justice for Breonna Taylor | Traditional Chinese/English
According to the search warrant, police believed a suspected drug dealer named Jamarcus Glover – who did not live with Breonna – was keeping drugs or money at her house. Glover was already in police custody at this time.
The police were not in uniform. According to Breonna’s boyfriend and neighbors, they did not knock. They simply forcibly entered Breonna’s house.
Her boyfriend, thinking they were intruders, called 911 and pulled out a gun. He shot at one officer’s leg. Kenneth has a license to carry a gun and lives in a state where it is legal to shoot at intruders if they are breaking into your home.
記住，當時警方也沒穿制服，也沒敲門解釋自己為警方。
Remember, the cops were not in uniform, and neighbors and Kenneth say that they did not announce themselves when entering.
The officers responded by shooting more than 20 times, fatally striking Breonna. Bullets also flew into the adjacent home, where a pregnant woman and a five-year-old were sleeping.
The police charged Walker with attempted murder (the charges were since dropped). No drugs were found in their house. As of today, no one has been charged with Breonna’s murder.
Here’s a video for you explaining systemic racism. You might need to watch it more than once – and if you need to slow it down, remember you can change the Playback Speed when you click on the Settings icon. In the Settings there are also subtitles in Spanish and Japanese, and you can click here to watch a version with Chinese subtitles. After you watch, take the quiz to test your understanding!
