Tag: justice

APR 25, 2014 - Rapper-Activist Common has formed a great non-profit called "Common Ground Foundation" aimed at helping young people "realize their self-worth and become resilient, thriving members of our community." In a statement on his website Common said "I started the Common Ground Foundation because I wanted to help. Most of all help people help themselves. I always believed that if we started with the youth then we would be planting the seeds for our future to blossom. Give the children a sense of hope, self -esteem, and love that will better the world...I think making a difference in the lives of others is life's greatest purpose. I walk this path with faith knowing that the Common Ground Foundation will Change the World."

This is great. I always believed just waiting around for the government to fix everything is a mistake. We need to form more non-profit foundations like this to empower our youth and poor, and help them realize their potential and to seize the day and Rock Your Rights! I urge all young kids and inner-city poor to do what Common suggests: Start eating healthy, have a better attitude, make better financial decisions, get an ID card (free in many states), get a bank account, register to vote, vote, get on a lease or a deed, take a vocational class. Doing all this and more will empower yourself to better places in life. Common Ground also holds summer camps, mentoring sessions, school art productions, and more; and Common himself spends significant time with the youth. Read more about Common Ground Foundation on their website here, and watch Common in a CNN video below talk about his work and passion.

APR 17, 2014 - John Mellencamp, a strong musical-activist and supporter of unions, was worried the union-busting, corporate tax-cutting Scott Walker might start using his music again at his rallies for his re-election, and Tuesday he did. Mellencamp has repeatedly told Walker to not use his music, for Walker has tried to use his songs "Pink Houses" and "Small Town" that have strong American imagery in their lyrics in his previous campaigns.

Mellencamp's publicist Claire Mercuri told Scott Bauer of HuffPo and Dinesh Ramde of AP in an email that after becoming aware that "Pink Houses" was used last Tuesday to launch Walker's re-election bid, John felt he wanted to strongly reiterate his support of unions and collective bargaining, and to tell Walker to stop using his music...AGAIN. Read more on HuffPo here.  (photo credit: Fred W. Baker/CC)

APR 8, 2014 - JTMP attended the National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference 2014 here in DC sponsored by Americans for Safe Access and a few others to bring together medical cannabis patients, activists, doctors, botanical experts, food and drug law advocates, medical cannabis business industry representatives, and others to form a plan on how we move forward to expand the rights of patients nationwide who will benefit from medical cannabis treatment. Although things are moving "fast", Maryland passed a Medical Cannabis Program Bill yesterday while the conference was happening, there are still a lot of battles to fight. 48 of the 50 states (and DC, territories, etc.) remain in the insane 1920's prohibitionist mode and deny millions of patients the medicine they need to ease their suffering, and in some cases HEAL. JTMP will have a video of a man whose wife was HEALED by medical cannabis, and he has the lab test results to prove it, so stand by for that also. This is an exciting week.

I haven't yet finished the Unity Conference 2014 video series I am going to be releasing this week of panels discussing botanical medicines, cannabinoids and other exciting topics at the conference (stand by!); but we did an interview with TJ Thompson, a Navy vet who uses medical cannabis to treat his PTSD, and it was so moving I just had to get it out. TJ lives in Virginia, and even though a recent Quinnipiac Poll shows 84% of Virginians want this vet who has served his country to have his medicine available to him, many elected officials continue to resist enacting a medical cannabis program. Which brings me to the topic of my blog. Last week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel raised the hackles of many by suggesting (gasp!) that the US government not sell poison (cigarettes) through the PX and commissaries on US military bases. (I am an army brat so I know what those are, but for those who don't know they are basically the grocery and drug store on base) Secretary Hagel pointed out that tobacco related illnesses cost the military well over a billion dollars a year in health care costs to treat. So fiscal conservatives who hate wasteful government spending rallied behind him right? Well, not quite. People started screaming that the "freedom for the soldier to buy cigarettes is being infringed!" and foam came out of their mouth. When I saw how medical cannabis is helping this vet TJ below treat his PTSD I thought: Will these same people fight for this and other vets, active duty, and even regular citizens the freedom to have safe and easy access to legal medical cannabis, as hard as they fight for that soldier or vet to have poison (cigarettes)? (Spoiler: They won't) What are your thoughts? Start up a discussion on our JTMP Facebook Page! Watch our interview of TJ Thompson below.

APR 5, 2014 - Americans For Safe Access, together with medical marijuana patients and activists, cannabis industry representatives, and experts kicked off the 2014 National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference in Washington, D.C. today, and JTMP attended. From the feel of the crowd and the energy, medical cannabis advocacy may have some problems and issues to work out, but I can tell you that the movement has a tremendous amount of energy and momentum right now. Things are happening fast, and there was a lot of information to take in just the first day. There were people from Tennessee, California, South Carolina, everywhere. There were panels and meetings, and there will be a citizen lobbying day on Capitol Hill on Monday to cap it all off. [Click Read More for rest of blog...]

MAR 31, 2014 - EasternEcho.com from Michigan reports on Daniel "Hush" Carlisle, a rapper musical-activist who is behind a cool new dog shelter opening up. The stray dog problem in Michigan is pretty bad, so this should help out. Read more about this awesome work by Hush on EasternEcho.com here.  (photo credit: Hush)