The Women’s Issues and Transportation committees have teamed up with New Yorkers for Safe Transit, a coalition of organizations and advocates dedicated to eliminating harassment and assaults, particularly gender- or discrimination-based, on public transportation in New York City. On Sunday, May 20th, we will be at subway stops along the 4/5/6 in East Harlem from 2-5 p.m. collecting survey data from straphangers on experiences with harassment in transit. This survey will help New Yorkers for Safe Transit understand the types of violence and harassment that are happening in our communities.

Join us! Email women@gomyd.com and transport@gomyd.com to volunteer. Can’t volunteer but still want to help out the cause? You can take New Yorkers for Safe Transit’s survey and share your stories here: www.nyfst.org/survey

In related news, at Engendering Progress, Emily May of Hollaback! announced she was working with members of the City Council to create a new app for iPhones and Androids that will allow New Yorkers to report street harassment directly to 311, and they are one step closer to this goal! Speaker Quinn’s office has donated $20,000 to the development of this app. According to May’s op/ed in the Daily News, once the app is created, the information collected will be publicly available on ihollaback.org, for a first-ever full portrait of harassment in NYC.

Want to get involved? Join the Women’s Issues and Transportation Committees! Check the MYD calendar for upcoming meetings and events.

On Monday, MYD is teaming up with Environmental Advocates of NY and concerned imbibers for “Save Our Beer,” a spring social at the Brooklyn Brewery to highlight the potential threat fracking poses to our pristine water supply –and therefore, our local beer supply.

So ford the East River by ferry or “L” and have a pint or two in support of the cause. The beer you save could be your own.

Reserve your space HERE
Monday, April 30th
7:30pm-9:30pm
Brooklyn Brewery, 79 N 11th St. Brooklyn, NY
$5 suggested donation
(all proceeds go to Environmental Advocates of NY)

What the “84%” figure really means is that roughly 8 out of 10 checks received by the Romney campaign were $250 or less, not that 84% of the campaign’s total fundraising came from checks of that size. The press release says these donations have totaled $11.6, or 13% of the nearly $87M the campaign has raised so far.

I’m no expert, but this seems like it goes way beyond just massaging the facts.  I mean, it sounds like a blatant lie.  Clearly 84% of your donations did not come from small donors if it was only 13%, right?  As a comparison, the article points out that using that same metric, small donors accounted for 49% of President Obama’s fundraising.

Added pressure for Team Romney is that nearly two-thirds of his money is from supporters who have maxed out their contributions. Not only does the President hold a tremendous advantage in tapping small donors, but just 16% of his cash has come from those who have given the full $2,500.

The most common misconception about 2008 is that Obama grew the youth vote — defined for our purposes as those between 18 and 29 years old — by any significant measure as compared to past elections. He didn’t.

Take a look at this chart, which details the percentage of the overall electorate 18-29-year-old voters comprised in every presidential election since 1980:

Young voters comprised 18 percent of the electorate in 2008, a one-point improvement from their share of the electorate in 2004, 2000 and 1996, but nowhere near the heights they reached in the 1980s.

What Obama did do — good grammar! — is win young voters by a far greater margin than any Democratic presidential nominee in modern times.

Again, we turn to a chart looking at the percentages the Democratic and Republican nominees won among 18-29-year-old voters:

Each year, YGID honors 5 leaders under 35 who have kicked ass, and made a successful contribution to our communities.

As YGID continues to establish itself as the marquee Young Democrats event of the summer, we thought it would be a great idea for our readers, members, and friends to submit nominations for this year’s Top 5 Leaders Under 35. All submissions are Anonymous (link below)

Submit your choice here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N72QB6X

Our past nominees have been:

2009: Lt. Dan Choi, Hon. Micah Kellner, Justin Krebs, Hon. Jessica Lappin, Hon. Daniel Squadron

2010: Hon. David Carlucci, P.J. Kim, Micah Lasher, Ari Melber, Hon. Jumaane Williams

2011: Marvin Bing, Natasha Dillon, Ava Farkas, Lincoln Restler, Jose Luis Zacatelco

This is also the third anniversary of the signing of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.  If you haven’t read it yet, check out a recent blog post – A Call to Serve (ow.ly/1Ju09h) – on the significance of this day.

Our team site for this day of service is the Friends of Dag Hammarksjold Plaza, the “Gateway to the United Nations” (ow.ly/1JUnvv).  We’ll be rolling up our sleeves to get this historic space ready for the summer.  More details to follow about the project.

Would you like to join us?

· Visit www.newyorkcaresday.org
· Select “Register”
· Choose “Join a Team” and select “Manhattan Young Democrats” from the drop down menu

As MYD is a past participant, the registration fee to join the team is half price ($10).  When signing up, use discount code NYCDS12HALF.  The funds defray the considerable costs that go into the day.

Team registration is underway and will last through next Friday, April 13th.  Sign up soon to get your spot.

Would you like to be our team leader?

On New York Cares Spring Day, team leaders work with the Site Captain to setup supplies, keep the team on track and coordinate post-volunteer drinks.

This is open to anyone and will be a great opportunity to come together as a team to give back.

I hope to see you on April 21st!

So imagine our delight to read this headline in today’s Politicker:

Stringer Adds Youngsters To Community Board

Earlier this year, Manhattan BP Scott Stringer announced a plan to infuse the stodgy community boards with new members in their 20?s and 30?s, and today he announced that half of the 82 new members of the community board fit that demographic.

Not only are there more young people on the Manhattan Community Boards than ever before, but we are proud to say that several MYD members were included in that list, including our Secretary, Cory Evans.

For more information about Community Boards, you can check out Borough President Stringer’s website.

Nearly 200 people packed into Greenhouse on March 21st to join MYD in honoring some amazing women and their inspiring work: Pamela Barnes, President and CEO of EngenderHealth; Rachel Soares, Senior Associate of Research at Catalyst; and Emily May, Co-founder and Executive Director of Hollaback!, who is working with the City Council to connect Hollaback! apps to New York City’s 311 system.

We also got to hear from another great advocate for New York City women, City Councilmember Jessica Lappin, who was our keynote speaker.

You can see all of our photos from Engendering Progress, courtesy of MYD New Media Director Jon Reznick, here.

Thanks to everyone who attended, our amazing honorees, Councilmember Lappin, the host committee and all of our co-sponsors: Brooklyn Young Democrats, Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, Greater NYC for Change, NARAL Pro-Choice NY, NYSYD Caucus of Color, NYSYD Women’s Caucus, Paradigm Shift, Richmond County Young Democrats, Tall Girl Productions, WomenElect, W-Spin

See you next March!

Interested in getting involved? Join the Women’s Issues Committee! Email women@gomyd.com.

MYD has been responding to President Obama’s call to serve in our community.  Service is integral to our mission addressing social and economic issues, raising awareness about civic engagement and expanding volunteer opportunities for our members.

We had our first community service project of the year on Saturday at a City Harvest Mobile Market in Washington Heights distributing fresh produce to pre-qualified community residents.  The Mobile Market is part of City Harvest’s Healthy Neighborhoods  strategy increasing healthy food knowledge and access to affordable options in low-income neighborhoods.  Here are the pictures!

There is strong consensus that service is a powerful response to social and economic issues.  In our community, there is so much that we can do right now, this year, to make positive contributions on a range of issues through service projects.

Want to get involved?  If you are interested in volunteering with us, have ideas and suggestions about service projects or would like to lead a project, shoot me an email at service@gomyd.com.

February 26, 2012 started out as any ordinary day for Sabrina Fulton.  Little did she know that her life had already taken a turn towards a dark place of no return.

Ms. Fulton’s 17 year old son Trayvon Martin lying dead in a morgue in Florida was about to become another face of what is still very wrong and unjust with our society and criminal justice system.   When the tragic news of my fellow fallen brother finally swept the national headlines, I couldn’t help but wonder if my own mother would someday be confronted with a similar horror.  After all, she has definitely expressed those concerns with me on numerous occasions.

It’s certainly feasible – I’m young, Black, and often walk through city streets – sometimes while wearing a hoodie.  I even have the audacity to travel throughout my America!  Why should my mother have to wonder and worry that I could be next?  For that matter, why should I?  Unfortunately, it’s because we both know that it doesn’t matter what I wear, how many degrees I earn, or polite gestures I extend–the bottom line is, I’m Black.  What does matter is attitude about race.

Individuals who are convinced that my life is of lesser or of no value, and those who believe in the stereotypes and lies perpetrated within politics, media and entertainment might easily make me the next Trayvon, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo or 16 year old Ramarley Graham who was gunned down a little over a month ago in the bathroom of his home in the Bronx, which is also my birthplace.

The deck is stacked heavily against us at every turn.  And while this dangerous “Stand Your Ground Law” can be used as a defense for the killing of anyone, Blacks are particularly vulnerable.  For this reason, I’m really interested to know how Democrats allowed it to slip through the cracks in so many states around the nation.  If the Democratic party wants the Black youth vote, they are going to have to do a much better job protecting our interests and our lives.  Both parties need to come together to overturn “Stand Your Ground” as well as “Stop And Frisk.”  These unconscionable laws should never have been enacted in the first place.

Let me be clear, I don’t want to be next.  I want what all of my peers want, to live and grow old in the America most politicians and citizens pretend exists.  My generation wants and deserves to be the living manifestation of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream that he shared with the world just before he himself was killed by an assassins bullet.

It’s time for real change.  As the 2012 elections rapidly approach, I intend to use every opportunity to join forces with seasoned leaders, concerned citizens and my peers whose mission it is to bring this madness to a long overdue end.  George Zimmerman, judge, jury and executioner, stalked and senselessly murdered young Trayvon Martin as he pleaded for help in the community his father, Tracy Martin, believed was a safe place.  As if that weren’t enough, the police failed to act at every level except to protect the assailant.

Anyone who thought that racism was officially over with the election of President Obama, just ask the parents of that innocent teenager with ebony skin who paid the ultimate price for walking to a nearby store to purchase Skittles and ice tea.

Roy Paul is a fast emerging and important political commentator, journalist, and analyst. His focus is on youth education, social and economic justice, and the advancement of African Americans in modern pop culture and politics. Recently he has interviewed the likes of Dr. Maya Angelou, former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, Lilly Ledbetter, Bertha Lewis, Dr. Elsie Scott, and has done features on Eartha Kitt, Madam C.J. Walker, Percy Sutton, and Marcus Garvey. He is a native New Yorker with an affinity for the arts and culture. He resides in Southeast Queens.