matter – Page 2

Sports Teams Sustainability Efforts, Does It Matter To Fans?

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS, IN OTHER NEWS, SPORTS, VIDEO REELS

Sports Teams Sustainability Efforts, Does It Matter To Fans?

While the sport sector’s environmental impact is not fully understood, it has a social platform and reach to influence a significant number of people worldwide to choose more sustainable behaviors. Brian McCullough, associate professor of sport management at Texas A&M University, says that sport organizations should be proactive in becoming more sustainable to increase business performance, deepen connections with fans and attract new ones. Do fans care about sports teams’ sustainability efforts? How are sports being affected by climate change? And how might they be affected in the future? To use a sports analogy, there will be winners and losers as a result of climate change. Certain sports, like outdoor winter sports and even surfing, are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. ...

What Is COVAX And Why Does It Matter For Getting Vaccines To Developing Nations?

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

What Is COVAX And Why Does It Matter For Getting Vaccines To Developing Nations?

There is a global effort to distribute vaccines to poorer countries, but some of the world’s largest countries, including the U.S., Russia and China, do not intend to support the effort. That lack of backing could have devastating consequences for accessing a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. and many poor countries around the world. That is because the U.S. will not have access to vaccines secured by the initiative, called COVAX. Also, COVAX may lack the funding it needs to help poor countries control their epidemics, enabling the virus to continue to circle the globe. I am an ethicist at Binghamton University and am interested in COVAX because I work on global health and justice. What is the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility? COVAX, formally known as The COVID-19 Vaccines Glo...

Far from being anti-religious, faith and spirituality run deep in Black Lives Matter

14Sep

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Religion

Far from being anti-religious, faith and spirituality run deep in Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matters (BLM) has been portrayed by its detractors as many things: Marxist, radical, anti-American. Added to this growing list of charges is that it is either irreligious or doing religion wrong. In late July, for instance, conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan tweeted that BLM was “incompatible” with Christianity. He isn’t alone in that belief. Despite receiving the backing of diverse faith leaders and groups, BLM has been attacked by sections of the religious right. One evangelical institution felt compelled to issue a statement warning Christians about the movement’s “Godless agenda.” Other evangelicals have gone further, accusing BLM founders of being “witches” and “operating in the demonic realm.” Joining conservative Christians are some self-proclaimed liberals and ...

Why companies were so quick to endorse Black Lives Matter

21Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Why companies were so quick to endorse Black Lives Matter

It’s not every day that you see companies switch gears on a dime. Not too long ago, few companies paid much attention to Black Lives Matter. Today, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, it seems as if most major companies including Apple, Amazon and Facebook have endorsed the movement – or at a minimum pledged millions of dollars to fight racism and vowed to do more to end discrimination in their workplaces. CC BY-ND So how did companies so swiftly decide to align with Black Lives Matter? As with anything, there usually are lots of reasons. But, as a scholar who studies the psychology of consumer behavior and how companies respond to it, I believe that one stands out: young people. A post-Floyd poll found that nearly 90% of members of Generation Z – those born from 1997 to 2005 – b...

What is intolerance fatigue, and how is it fueling Black Lives Matter protests?

2Apr

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VIDEO REELS

What is intolerance fatigue, and how is it fueling Black Lives Matter protests?

Protesters remain on the streets demanding equality and justice for Black Americans. What they’re feeling, I believe, is something I call “intolerance fatigue.” As a race scholar, examining the history of social justice movements, the phrase is new, but the concept isn’t. In 1962, during the civil rights movement, activist Fannie Lou Hamer sought to register to vote in her home state of Mississippi. When she was allowed to address the Democratic National Convention in 1964, Hamer told how she and her fellow activists were shot at, fined, arrested and brutally beaten in jail simply for trying “to register to become first-class citizens.” Fannie Lou Hamer’s powerful testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She spoke for millions in another speech that year, in which she declar...

Instead of demonising Black Lives Matter protesters, leaders must act on their calls for racial justice

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

Instead of demonising Black Lives Matter protesters, leaders must act on their calls for racial justice

The intensification of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US in recent months has led to radical reform and action. The police officers responsible for the killing of George Floyd were all charged with serious offences, including one with second-degree murder. The city of Minneapolis voted to replace its police force with a “new system of public safety”, while other cities have slashed their police budgets. Demands for judicial and police reform in Australia The BLM and Stop First Nations Deaths in Custody protests across Australia since early June have similarly called for charges against police officers and prison guards responsible for deaths in custody, as well as an end to racialised police violence. Another major protest is scheduled for today in Sydney amid warnings from Prime...

Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, Trump: The risks and rewards of corporate activism

17Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, Trump: The risks and rewards of corporate activism

The big idea Companies and CEOs are increasingly wading into political issues. My latest research suggests that such corporate activism can come with high costs if it doesn’t align with the political values of a company’s customers, employees and local lawmakers — or big gains when it does. Dozens of companies have recently expressed support for Black Lives Matter. Jessica Felicio via unsplash, CC BY-SA The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. In what we think is the first study to examine how corporate activism affects financial performance, three co-authors and I built a database of decisions by publicly traded companies that took a stand on polarizing issues such as LGBTQ rights, abortion, immigration and gun control over a five-year period. We then looked at...

Black Lives Matter must avoid being co-opted by American corporate philanthropy

15Jul

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POLITICS

Black Lives Matter must avoid being co-opted by American corporate philanthropy

US corporations including Walmart, Nike and Sony Music pledged up to US$450 million for social and racial justice causes in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The sudden outbreak of brand activism among major corporations in recent months is likely to be related to surveys which suggest consumers shift spending according to the political and social stands that businesses take. But this raises significant concerns in the wake of a longer pattern of philanthropy through foundations attached to American corporate wealth that has focused on racial equality and civil rights causes. Black Lives Matter emerged in 2013 but gained national attention from 2016 as the effective face of the Movement for Black Lives. It has expanded to local chapters across the US, Canada and the...

Black deaths matter: The centuries-old struggle to memorialize slaves and victims of racism

4Apr

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IN OTHER NEWS

Black deaths matter: The centuries-old struggle to memorialize slaves and victims of racism

In an open lot just a block or so from where George Floyd was killed while being detained by officers, 100 plastic headstones were carefully placed. Created by artists Anna Barber and Connor Wright, the “Say Their Names Cemetery” sprung up in south Minneapolis in early June, as protests over police brutality prompted a more wide-ranging conversation over the legacy of slavery and racism in the United States. Each headstone documents a victim of police violence – their name, age, date and location of death. Accompanying the biographical information reads a simple epitaph: “Rest in Power” – a reworking of “rest in peace” that has gained popularity among Black Lives Matter activists and supporters to commemorate the dead. #SayTheirNames The cemetery forms part of a wider #SayTheirNames camp...

Muslim Americans assert solidarity with Black Lives Matter, finding unity within a diverse faith group

1Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Muslim Americans assert solidarity with Black Lives Matter, finding unity within a diverse faith group

The killing of George Floyd took place at the doorstep of Muslim America. He was killed in front of Cup Foods, a store owned by an Arab American Muslim, whose teenage employee – also a Muslim – had earlier reported to police that Floyd tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Muslim American businesses are common in lower-income areas, such as the part of Minneapolis where Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck. And as the writer Moustafa Bayoumi has noted, this puts stores in a precarious position – catering for the community while also duty-bound to report crime to the police, sometimes under the threat of being closed down if they don’t comply. As a Muslim scholar of Islam who has written about the role of Muslims in the making of the United States, I recog...