12 was designated “Black Lives Matter Day” by former Gov. “They need help I’m going to help them,” he said.įeb. Louis, Missouri _ another city marked by great ethnic diversity _ and had noticed activity in the shopfront on the way to school. McMillan had just moved to the Onion City two months ago from St. Ten minutes later, he was pressed into service as the event photographer. Jamil McMillan, a sophomore at Winooski High School, was the first visitor. Tables and walls were decked with donated art, all of it for sale all of which would help fund organizing and outreach, Jones said. The shelves were stacked with t-shirts, hats and purses, as well as an array of sweet and savory. Upstairs, at the office of the Somali Bantu Community Association of Vermont, Mohamed Abdi, the organization’s director, was helping Yussuf Olow fill out some forms.Ībdi said he would be down to join in the festivities when he was less busy.Īt 10 minutes before the hour, Jabari Jones, power driver in hand, attached and hoisted the colorful “open” flag at Shop 4 Change. grand opening, volunteers were hurrying to stock the wares, arrange hors d’oeuvre and crank up a fresh batch of Fair Trade coffee. “Then I realized, hearing the stories of many, many Chittenden County residents of color, that there was definitely a need for a place they could come to, and to tell their stories in a more purposeful way,” she said.Ĭreating a convergence at the new Shop 4 Change center on Main Street “is here to make the lives of people of color in Vermont more tolerable,” Nyoni added.Īn hour before the 5 p.m. Until a month and a half ago, Nyoni operated a beauty supply and hair braiding service here on Main Street. “To find otherwise would create unimaginable and unintentional consequences.Social change often firms up around a table, over cups of coffee, believes Ebony Nyoni, who on Saturday opened a new Black Lives Matter community center, safe space, fair-trade emporium and cafe in Winooski, Vermont. “Surely, the fundamental rights of parents do not include the right to choose a specific medical or mental health treatment that the state has reasonably deemed harmful or ineffective,” Wolfson wrote. The statute doesn’t restrict freedom of religion, she added, because it is neutral with respect to religion even if it “disproportionately affects those motivated by religious belief.”įinally, she cited numerous court rulings that have held that states have the right to regulate what medical or mental health treatments parents choose for their children. In her opinion, Wolfson wrote that the law doesn’t impinge on free speech because it covers conduct - the therapy, specifically - and not speech. The unidentified New Jersey couple claimed in their suit that the state’s law violated their rights to free speech and freedom of religion, as well as their 14th Amendment right to equal protection, by “denying minors the opportunity to pursue a particular course of action that can help them address the conflicts between their religious and moral values and same-sex attractions, behaviors or identity.” Supreme Court turned aside a challenge to that law in June. New Jersey was the second state to pass such a law California passed a similar law in 2012, and the U.S. Chris Christie signed a law last year banning the therapy in New Jersey, saying at the time that the potential health risks trumped concerns over the government setting limits on parental choice. Last November, Wolfson dismissed another challenge to the law filed by a group of plaintiffs that included two licensed therapists who practice what are called “sexual orientation change efforts,” referred to in court filings as SOCE. District Judge Freda Wolfson rejected the claims of a New Jersey couple who said their constitutional rights were being violated because the law prevents them from seeking treatment for their 15-year-old son. For the second time in nine months, a federal judge in New Jersey has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on gay conversion therapy.
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