History & Hope: Maine civil rights pioneer shares experiences with racism, renewed faith
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This month, Hearst Television is celebrating Black history by having courageous conversations. The fight for civil rights and justice goes back generations and has looked different each decade. We’re speaking with community leaders, elders – those who have lived through victories and troubled times, to talk about their experiences, and compare them with what we still struggle with today.
Maine civil rights pioneer Gerald Talbot shares his story of hope and renewed faith.
Talbot, 89, participated in the March on Washington in 1963 and became the president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP in 1964.
Committee endorses bill to require racial impact statements in all state legislation
The measure, sponsored by Assistant House Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross of Portland, would require bills be analyzed for how they might impact racial minorities and disadvantaged ethnic groups.
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A bill that would require all Maine legislation be evaluated for impacts on historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic groups made headway Wednesday.
Members of the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government voted 7-5 to pass L.D. 2, introduced by Assistant House Majority Leader Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland.
L.D. 2 “An Act to Require the Inclusion of Racial Impact Statements in the Legislative Process” will now be brought to the full House for a vote though it’s not clear when that might happen. The measure would require that racial impact statements be included with all bills before the Legislature.
Letter to the editor: Open Maine’s primary elections to unenrolled voters
Given the high percentage of uncompetitive legislative races and the fact that taxpayers foot the bill for primaries, something has to change.
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Maine has a tradition of civic duty and strong voter participation. However, there is one area where I believe we are falling short: Under current law, the 32 percent of Maine voters who are unenrolled in a party – often referred to as “independents” – are unable to participate in primary elections.
Portland election clerk Judy Smith checks in Caralee Oster at the Italian Heritage Center to vote in the July 14, 2020, Democratic primary. Rep. Grayson Lookner is sponsoring a bill this session that would allow unenrolled voters to cast one ballot in the primary of their choice.
Proposed law would require Maine schools to teach African American history
The measure, which would also require schools to teach about the history of genocide, comes as states across the U.S. are examining how they re teaching about racial and social injustice.
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A bill before the Maine Legislature would require schools to teach about African American history and the history of genocide as part of American history. The proposal comes as states and schools across the country examine how to teach Black history amid a national reckoning on issues of racial justice.
“Education is so important in stopping things like racism, discrimination and hate that in my view it’s serious enough to require it to be taught in the law,” Sen. Louis Luchini, D-Hancock, the bill’s sponsor, said Tuesday.
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