An oral history of the Stonewall Rebellion

SAGE is teaming up with StoryCorps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion. The nonprofit and podcast producer are looking for volunteers to record the personal stories of people within the LGBT community, especially those who were born before the gay rights movement milestone. Interviews will be submitted for inclusion in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, according to a press release.

Participants have to download the StoryCorps app and then record conversations with people who have LGBT stories to tell. Ambitious chroniclers can pledge a number of interviews for inclusion on SAGE’s Wall of Pride webpage.

Citizens Committee for Children of New York has five reasons why the city needs to fix its “Birth to Five” RFPs. The city Department of Education released the RFPs as part of an effort to consolidate the early childhood education system. An analysis of the RFPs by a coalition of 70 groups shows they would “harm teachers, service providers, children and families, and communities,” according to a post on the nonprofit’s website.

Here are the five reasons the city should rethink its approach, taken from a post on the CCC website.

1. It would allow the DOE to pay providers less than what is needed to cover all costs by penalizing providers if enrollment dips. Yet, DOE will handle all enrollment centrally, taking recruitment power out of the hands of the service providers.
2. It would reduce the quality of services for families whose children rely on extended day and summer programming by creating a new distinction between “core” and “non-core” hours.
3. It does not provide funding for indirect costs such as program management and oversight, administrative operations, facilities, and organizational insurance policies that are critical to keep programs running.
4. It keeps program reimbursement flat for five to eight years, thus setting providers up for major budget gaps.
5. It perpetuates salary disparities by failing to close the wage gap between early education teachers at CBOs and their peers at DOE schools.

The Daily News has the story of a mother and daughter helped by the nonprofit Women In Need. Brianna Watts, 18, spent part of her childhood in city homeless shelters with a drug-addicted mom. But that did not stop Brianna from pursuing a better life. With the help of WIN, she moved into supportive housing with her mom, who is now drug-free.

While the future remains uncertain, Brianna has been accepted to a dozen colleges and has a powerful friend in a high place; WIN CEO and former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “Getting into one college is something to have a celebration about,” Quinn told the Daily News. “Getting into 12 is something where you have a parade or band. She’ll get to go. If I have to call the president of the college and shame them, she’ll go. She’s a shining example of what you can accomplish if you believe in yourself and ask for help.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union had a busy day in the state Capitol on May 13. Following legislative victories earlier this year on voting rights and other issues, the nonprofit is pushing for passage of reforms on five big issues this year: marijuana legalization, driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, labor rights for farmworkers, biometric surveillance in schools, and comprehensive sex education in schools.

New York schools aren't required to teach sex ed.

That means the lessons that schoolchildren receive could be like the one from this 1953 film—or they may not receive sex ed at all. pic.twitter.com/UaJzPdcmik

— NYCLU (@NYCLU) May 9, 2019