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The Daniel K. Inouye National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (Democracy Center) at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) announces the second annual Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers Fellowship (Yamamoto Fellowship) with a focus on theater, dance, and performance art.

The fellowship encourages emerging arts writers of color to write about works from their own cultural and political perspectives, enriching and broadening cultural criticism as a practice and profession.

The Yamamoto Fellowship will focus on a different artistic discipline each year. Theater, dance, and performance art were selected for 2024 because these art forms are still struggling in the wake of setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Yamamoto Fellowship will award two $5,000 unrestricted awards to two emerging arts writers of color who write critically about theater, dance, and/or performance art. Each writer will receive a $5,000 award to be spent over six months. Submissions will be open from Feb. 1 to March 18 and selections will be made in June.

This fellowship gives theater, dance, and/or performance art writers the power to fight erasure of contributions and accomplishments by people of color in America, said James E. Herr, director of the Democracy Center. It also gives them the opportunity to shape how art created by their own communities is represented today and throughout American art history. By highlighting their voices, this fellowship strengthens ties within diverse communities and expands public discourse around art.

This award serves as a vote of confidence for emerging writers, a way to say keep going! despite the challenges they face, said Sharon Mizota, who funded the fellowship through a gift to honor her late aunt. I received a similar award as a young art critic and it helped me to take myself more seriously as a writer and encouraged me to take bigger risks and grow. It also convinced me that there is an audience for arts writing that recognizes and supports social justice. I hope this fellowship rewards a writers potential as much or even more so than their previous accomplishments.

Eligible applicants must:

Reside in or be a citizen of the U.S.

Be at least 18 years of age

Identify as a member of a community with ancestry in one of the original peoples of Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, or Pacific Islands

Have less than two years of publication experience, which may include a blog or self-publishing

Have demonstrated a commitment to writing about theater, dance, or performance art

All eligible applications will be reviewed by a panel of professional writers and editors who cover the performing arts. More information will be available at http://janm.org/democracy.

The Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers Fellowship is made possible through a gift from Sharon Mizota to honor Irene Yamamoto. This project is also supported by Critical Minded, an initiative to invest in cultural critics of color cofounded by The Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Irene Yamamoto (1937-2020) was a lifelong lover of the arts. Born in Los Angeles, she was incarcerated with her family during World War II in Gila River, Ariz. Upon returning to Los Angeles, she attended UCLA and had a long career as a production artist for several design and advertising agencies. In her free time, she loved to draw, learn new languages, visit museums, and travel.

Original post:
Democracy Center Announces 2nd Annual Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers - The Rafu Shimpo

Dear Editor: Recently, I asked family members and friends: What are your main concerns in 2024?

The concerns centered around: climate change and the environment; support for public schools; gerrymandering and redistricting; the slaughter of children by high-powered rifles; Social Security and Medicare; increasing the number of charging stations; using money from the military budget for people programs like education, health care and child care; disinformation and lies; Citizens United decision; and much more.

One person mentioned rights: for women to make their own decisions regarding their bodies; for children to have adequate food, shelter, education, medical care, to be free from violence of any kind; to grow up in a country that respects the laws and the Constitution.

Another person mentioned the survival of our present form of government (democracy, aka republic) and Project 2025.

What is Project 2025?

The Heritage Foundation, along with about 70 other wealthy think tanks, has written a 1,000 page handbook that will be put in place on Day One should Donald Trump or another Republican be elected in November 2024.

The goal includes: firing 50,000 federal workers and filling these positions with "like-minded officials eager to fulfill the new executive's approach to governing."

The plan includes: defunding the Department of Justice; dismantling the FBI; breaking up the Department of Homeland Security; eliminating the departments of Education and Commerce; deregulating targeted industries; privatizing government functions at the expense of the middle class, not the very wealthy. This is a short list of what will be done.

What will we do in the next eight months to assure our present system of government survives?

Joyce Luedke

Weston

Send your letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.

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Letter | Eight months to save democracy | Letters to the Editor | captimes.com - The Capital Times

Vice President Kamala Harris told voters to see the profound threat former president Donald Trump poses to democracy and stressed the urgency to vote in the upcoming presidential election during her visit to Las Vegas on Saturday.

As early voting started in Nevada for the upcoming presidential primary election on Feb. 6, Harris spoke at a Get Out the Vote event at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Though she spent much of the time boasting about the legislative accomplishments of President Joe Bidens administration over the first term, she warned against putting Trump back in the White House.

The former president, she said, has not only inspired, encouraged and even empowered far right extremists, but also openly talks about his intention to weaponize the Department of Justice.

Trump was also campaigned in Las Vegas earlier in the day.

Harris said that in his comments he made clear his fight is not for the people adding that his fight is for himself.

He openly talks about his admiration for dictators and has vowed he would be a dictator on day one, she said. Understand what dictators do. Dictators jail journalists. Dictators suspend elections. Dictators take your rights.

The comment Harris was referencing was from an interview in December when Trump was asked if he was going to be a dictator and responded: No, other than day one. Were closing the border. Were drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, Im not a dictator.

The visit is Harriss second stop in Las Vegas in January.

She spoke to the Culinary Union earlier this month to congratulate them on securing a new contract and fighting for wage increases but declined any mentions of the 2024 presidential election or Trump.

Trump has since then won two presidential preference contests, the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary, and all but clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

Harris told the crowd that democracy is fragile and the upcoming election will determine the kind of country we want to live in.

She said the nation is currently witnessing a full on attack on hard-won, hard-fought freedoms and rights, citing assaults on voting protections, LGBTQ rights and gun violence prevention measures.

And she honed in on the erosion of abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court, with the votes of three Trump-appointed justices, overruled the constitutional right to abortion in 2022.

(Trump) openly says that he is proud he overturned Roe v. Wade, she said. Proud of taking the freedom of choice from millions of women.

In paraphrasing a quote by the poet Maya Angelou, Harris told the audience, When someone tells you who they are

Many in the audience responded in unison: Believe them the first time.

Harris said if they are able to win a majority in the House and retain the White House and Senate, Biden would sign a bill that reinstates the protections of Roe v. Wade.

Even with Democratic majorities in Congress, Democrats in the Senate would need a 60-vote majority to overcome a Republican filibuster, or enough Democrats willing to vote to change the procedural rules to bypass a filibuster in order to pass potential legislation enshrining abortion protections.

Ahead of Harris speaking, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto admonished far right extremists as well, while also touting legislative victories under the Biden administration, including the American Rescue Plan Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Titus said as the election nears Democrats need to do a better job at drawing distinctions and talk about the contrasts, talk about the accomplishments, and talk about the other side.

(Republicans) will roll back the progress we have made, Titus said. Theyve said it. They dont even pretend they wont. My advice to you is dont let them sell that same old shit and call it sugar.

See the article here:
Harris in Las Vegas warns Trump poses 'profound threat' to democracy, individual rights - Nevada Current

By Nancy Marr

An Equal Rights Amendment for the United States was first drafted in 1923 by two leaders of the womens suffrage movement, Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, who believed that the ERA was the next logical step following the campaign to win access to the ballot.

While the text of the amendment has changed over the years, its focus has remained the same. Article V of the U.S. Constitution requires that a proposed amendment be passed by the Senate and the House in a two-thirds majority in two consecutive legislative sessions in order to be sent to the states for ratification by their legislatures or conventions.

Theversion approved by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states with a deadline of 1979 reads: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.Although the deadline was extended to 1982, only 37 of the required 38 states ratified the amendment.

Opposition to it came from conservative Phyllis Schlafly, saying it would require women to serve in the military or lose protections for alimony or child custody cases. The result? Five states voted to revoke their ratifications, but these reversals were not counted as part of the result, and the count of ratifications remained at 37. The amendment was not passed.

In the absence of a national equal rights law, the constitutions of twenty-five states now do provide guarantees of equal rights on the basis of sex. The New York State Legislature, in 2022 and 2023, passed an ERA bill that has looked further. Currently, our state constitution only protects against racial and religious discrimination.

The proposed bill would protect all those who have been discriminated against based on ethnicity, national origin, disability, age, and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, and a persons reproductive autonomy or access to reproductive care. The new ERA bill explicitly includes language to clarify that discrimination based on a persons pregnancy or pregnancy outcomes would be sex discrimination, protecting women from punishment. It will also ensure comprehensive and inclusive equal protection that will guard against attacks on our rights from the federal government or federal judges, including threats to the legal equality of LGBTQ1+ people.

Do we need protection if the Fourteenth Amendment already guarantees equal protection of the laws? The Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868, added the word male to the Constitution but failed to include women in the right to vote. The proposed New York State ERA is not a womens equality amendment but seeks to protect women as a class and men as a class against discrimination under the law for any reason.

The Brennan Center has commented that the amendment process is an ineffective way to correct shortcomings in our United States Constitution. Given the difficulties and delays that have been faced by those who have fought for amendments, is our Constitution unamendable?

Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is the leading constitutional scholar serving in Congress today. Reflecting on the progressive activism that built the modern Constitution, Raskin urges reform-minded Americans to shed their fear of advancing reform through Article V. Its a betrayal of our history if we dont talk about amending the Constitution in order to create a more perfect union, he says. We need to be planting flags in the unfolding history of democracy. Thats what the constitutional amendment process is all about.

Voting to amend the New York State Constitution with the New York State ERA will provide protection for New Yorkers who have faced discrimination through the years. Make a plan to turn your 2024 ballot over and vote yes on the proposed amendment.

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit http://www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

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Making Democracy Work: Passing the NYS Equal Rights Amendment will protect all New Yorkers - TBR News Media

CARACAS, Venezuela Dj vu? Feels like it.

Assassination plots, arrest warrants for journalists and human rights defenders, attacks against adversariesfrom the belittling kind to the judicial type and other associated government actions have marked the start of 2024 for Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro and his allies. Add international condemnation and economic sanctions, and the reality of a presidential election year in the South American country becomes clear.

Opposition coalition presidential hopeful Maria Corina Machado speaks to supporters at a campaign event Jan. 23 in Caracas, Venezuela. Condemnation against the government is growing after her candidacy was blocked.

And, once again, the question is: How democratic will the election be?

Venezuelans were promised a presidential election in the second half of 2024 after Maduro and the faction of the opposition backed by the United States government reached an agreement in October. The opposing sides also agreed to recognize and respect a partys right to choose a candidate freely; take steps that would reverse government decisions blocking politicians from running for office; and invite international electoral observers.

The government over the past three months has shown it is willing to test the limits of the agreement, discrediting the opposition's presidential primary, arresting numerous perceived or actual adversaries, and repeatedly characterizing members of the opposition as hate-spewing criminals.

But the biggest test came recently when Venezuelas highest court aligned with Maduros government blocked the presidential candidacy of Mara Corina Machado by upholding an administrative decision that bans her on running for office for 15 years.

I dont think we have any evidence that Maduro plans to allow a competitive election so far, said Geoff Ramsey, senior analyst on Venezuela at the Atlantic Council think tank. What we are seeing is the government making clear that they dont plan on going anywhere any time soon.

Supporters of opposition coalition presidential hopeful Maria Corina Machado attend her campaign event Jan. 23 in Caracas, Venezuela.

The ban has not sidelined Machado so far. The former lawmaker on Monday told supporters and reporters that Venezuela will have a presidential election in 2024 in which she will defeat Nicols Maduro. A date for the vote has not been set.

But Jorge Rodrguez, Maduros chief negotiator and the leader of the countrys National Assembly, quickly dismissed the challenge.

How can a human being who is one of 30 million Venezuelans going to say that Without me, there will be no elections, Rodrguez said. That matter has been settled.

Thats also how the government saw similar disputes in the leadup to the last presidential election, which resulted in Maduros reelection.

At the time, Maduro and the opposition had also agreed to work on electoral conditions. But the talks ended in February 2018 after the government was not willing to commit to free and fair conditions and its opponents refused to recognize a parallel congress devised by the ruling party after it lost the majority of the National Assembly during the 2015 election.

President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores stand before government supporters during a Jan. 23 event marking the anniversary of the 1958 coup that overthrew dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela.

Shortly after, the government scheduled the election for May 20, and major parties chose to boycott the contest as prominent leaders were barred from office or forced into exile after authorities opened judicial proceedings against them following a deadly protest movement seeking the presidents removal.

That election is widely considered a sham by the international community. It further alienated Maduro and drew economic sanctions against his government.

Years went by until Maduro and the U.S.-backed faction of the opposition, known as the Unitary Platform, appeared to have finally had a breakthrough, reaching a deal in October to work toward leveling the playing field for the 2024 election. Such was the progress that the U.S. granted Maduro some of his much-sought sanctions relief, and the opposition's negotiating bloc held its primary election days later.

Machado, the clear frontrunner for months, unsurprisingly won the contest. But the participation of more than 2.4 million voters stunned opposition adversaries and allies, who had expected roughly about a million people to cast ballots due to organizational challenges and government obstacles.

Machado's victory, with more than 90% of the vote, came despite the government announcing a 15-year ban on her running for office in June. She was able to participate in the primary because the effort was organized by a commission independent of Venezuelas electoral body, the National Electoral Council.

Machado in December filed a claim with Venezuelas Supreme Tribunal of Justice arguing the ban was null and void and seeking an injunction to protect her political rights. The court on Friday upheld the ban, which alleges fraud and tax violations and accuses her of seeking the economic sanctions the U.S. imposed on Venezuela over the past decade.

The U.S. responded to to the recent court ruling by revoking the relief it granted in October to Venezuela's state-owned mining company, Compaa General de Minera de Venezuela, C.A, known as Minerven. It also gave Maduro until April to meet conditions of the electoral agreement to avoid losing additional relief.

The moves by the Biden administration drew the rage of Rodrguez and prompted the government to warn the Biden administration that it will stop accepting deportation flights Feb. 13, the deadline for U.S. mining companies to wind down operations tied to Minerven.

To describe the United States as "breathtaking" would be putting it mildly. There's an enormous variety of natural and human-made wonders alike contained within the country's borders. But those borders span some 3.8 million square miles, and unless you have a few months to spare for a serious road trip, it can be tough to see as much of the U.S. of A. as you might like.

With that in mind, travelers tend to choose carefully, prioritizing states where they can get the most out of a short jaunt, and a few states consistently top the ranks in terms of things to see and do. As a result, these locations tend to draw the highest percentages of international visitors every year, and it's not hard to see why. With unique terrains, one-of-a-kind cultural landscapes, delicious eats, and much more, these states represent some of the most diverse and fascinating parts of the country.

Airalo sorted through data collected by the International Trade Administration to learn which states were most visited by international travelers in 2022. For additional context, data on how much of the international travel market each state makes up was also included, plus how much these numbers have changed since the previous year.

From Texas to Florida, the top five states to visit for international travelers account for a whopping 90.8% of all international travel to the U.S. Whether you're visiting from abroad or from within the country, these states should be on just about everyone's travel radar.

- International visitors: 1,289,000

- Market share: 5.4%

- Volume change since 2021: 107.5%

Everything is bigger in Texas, as they say, and that includes the number of international visitors in 2022, up more than 100% since 2021. Within its 268,597 square miles, the Lone Star State encompasses everything from dense forests to deserts and prairies, as well as thriving metropolises like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.

Visitors come for attractions like the Alamo and Space Center Houston, but Texas has so much more to explore. You can canoe the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park, swim in the Gulf of Mexico, and venture deep belowground in natural caverns, all while getting a true taste of the American West. Just don't forget to grab a few slices of Texas brisket along the way (with some white bread, pickles, and onions on the side, if you want to blend in with the locals).

- International visitors: 4,455,000

- Market share: 18.6%

- Volume change since 2021: 300.3%

In 2022, California drew close to 4.5 million international visitors (a roughly 300% increase from 2021) looking to explore the state's beaches, rugged mountains, and bustling cities. From iconic parks like Yosemite to major urban hubs like Los Angeles and San Francisco, California will more than satisfy visitors seeking a balance of scenery and city life.

With so many different things to do all over the Golden State, most travelers will need to spend a significant amount of time here to see the best of California. Whether you want to hike the great outdoors or ride roller coasters at Disneyland, you'll have no shortage of different areas worth visiting. Since the state receives an average of 258 clear days per year, it's almost always sunny and warm, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to go out and about.

- International visitors: 7,133,000

- Market share: 29.8%

- Volume change since 2021: 239.8%

In 2022, just over 7 million international travelers came to New York, and almost all of them stopped by New York City. In fact, NYC had the most overseas visitors out of any city in the country. This sprawling metropolis sees so many international tourists thanks to its world-famous dining scene, cultural sites like the Statue of Liberty, and so much more.

The public transportation system here is also considered among the best in the country, so you can get around quite easily without needing to drive a car (unlike most destinations in the rest of the U.S.). Beyond the Big Apple, visitors to New York also flocked to Niagara Falls. These famous cascades lie on the state's northern border with Canada and receive upwards of 20 million visitors each year.

- International visitors: 7,145,000

- Market share: 29.8%

- Volume change since 2021: 74.6%

Florida saw just a nearly 75% increase in overseas travelers between 2021 and 2022, but it consistently ranks as one of the most popular states in the U.S. for international visitors. That's mostly due to the cities of Miami and Orlando, the latter of which hosts both Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. Featuring thrilling rides, food, and other attractions, these globally renowned theme parks typically get tens of thousands of visitors per day.

Outside of Orlando and Miami, Florida also has the major tourist draws of Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, as well as 825 miles of sandy coastline. The weather can get humid during the summer months, but in the winter, visitors are more than happy to soak up Florida's famous warmth and sunshine.

Data reporting by Luke Hicks. Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.

This story originally appeared on Airalo and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

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Violence-plagued Venezuela race tests limits of democracy - Ravalli Republic