Online organizing against new BET show

• Mirror on America reports on the controversial show set to premiere on BET next week, "Hot Ghetto Mess." Using viewer-submitted home videos and BET-produced man-on-the-street interviews, this reality show attempts to broadcast a side of the black community and hear people’s opinions on issues. “Hot Ghetto Mess” is based on a website with a purpose to showcase all parts of the black community, negative or not, in order to promote reflection on how this community is perceived. The online editor explains: “I want each and every person that reads these words to look at your life and ask how you can make yourself better, your community better or your kids better.” However, after many people expressed their offense to such a show, Gina McCauley, creator of the blog What About Our Daughters? (discussing how the black female community is represented in the media) turned to a coalition of religious and women’s groups to protest the show. The coalition targets advertisers for the show, and two companies (State Farm Insurance and Home Depot) have already asked BET to pull their ad time. At the premiere, this coalition has organized “watch parties” in many cities across the country to record which companies purchased advertisements, then plans to boycott these businesses or organize demonstrations. We’ll wait and see how effective their strategy is, but the approach - mixing blog outreach, new media, and good old fashioned boycotts - demonstrates a creative mix of action that could make a good model for future online/offline organizing. Racial justice activists could take a page out of McCauley’s book in their own campaigns
• The Washington Post reports on the resolution passed yesterday in Loudoun Country, VA that limits undocumented workers access to county services and penalizes employers who hire them (Thanks, ‘Just News’ blog!). This legislation is one of many strong statewide and countywide that have passed since the Senate’s failure to organize a comprehensive nationwide immigration policy. Without the national government setting the limits, we will be faced with different localized laws that will lead to an even more chaotic system. In addition, laws like these which focus on employer sanctions rather than face the problem, avoid the main issue - that of the rights of workers.
• DMI Blog reports on Massachusetts' decision to implement a new social welfare program called Choices.  The program allows people receiving welfare the option of receiving counseling about viable options for education and occupational advances. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research explains that for low-income students, higher education is the best way to acquire good jobs, and this positive step has a ripple affect in the students’ families and communities.