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Announcement: Refinery29’s Ask Box is now open for the next round of Tumblr’s IssueTime on Abortion Access and Reproductive Rights

Refinery29 is so excited to work with Tumblr and the wonderful activists, scholars, lawyers and doctors who’ve agreed to be on our panel so that you can learn more about the real issues facing people who are considering getting an abortion, have had an abortion, or simply want to preserve the option to do so. We put this panel together with particular attention to the practical problems facing people who want abortions (like how the heck do you pay for it??) so send our panelists your toughest questions.

The panelists:

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MTV’s Elect This’s Ask box is open for Tumblr and Elect This’ second IssueTime. Two years have passed since Ferguson, has anything really changed? A panel stacked with experts on police brutality and racial justice activist will be answering your burning questions on topics we’ve all been thinking about since Ferguson, like reforming officer training, dealing with institutional racism, and improving relationships between communities of color and the police. Join us in discussion on how far we still have to go (allies included) in the fight toward racial equality since protests in Ferguson shocked the nation two years ago. We’ll be accepting questions until Wednesday, August 24 and publishing the responses here on Saturday, August 27. 

Panelist bios:

Jamil Smith

Jamil Smith is a Senior National Correspondent for MTV News. Previously, Jamil was a Senior Editor at New Republic, as well as the host of the magazine’s first podcast, INTERSECTION. He also served previously as a producer for MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “Melissa Harris-Perry,” and won three Sports Emmy Awards during his six years with NFL Films.

Elle Hearns

Elle Hearns is a revolutionary organizer, freedom fighter. She has spent a lifetime being committed to making sure that marginalized voices are centered and reflected in social justice movements.  Elle served as a lead organizer of The Movement for Black Lives convening held in Cleveland, Ohio while also consulting on the Movement for Black Lives policy platform. Elle is currently an organizing coordinator for the Black Lives Matter Global Network. Elle’s writings have been featured in TruthOut, Huffington Post, and Ebony. Her remarkable work has been chronicled by several publications including Time, CNN, MTV, The New York Times, Alternet, Democracy Now, The Daily Dot, Fusion, Essence Magazine, and The Washington Post. 

Andre C. Anderson

Andre is the Special Assistant to the President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) 2016-17, tasked with working to engage national community dialogue and working with others to usher in methods designed to build trust and legitimacy from lessons learned from the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Andre is most known for serving as the Interim Police Chief for Ferguson in the wake of the Mike Brown JR shooting. During his tenure, he led a new approach to civil unrest which eased tension and created better relationships in the community. He introduced and led modern day evidence based community policing, and was the lead policing expert to negotiate with the Department of Justice Consent Decree levied as a “Pattern or Practice of Discriminatory Policing.

Rashad Robinson

Rashad is the Executive Director of Color Of Change, the United States’ largest online racial justice organization. As a force driven by over one million members, Color Of Change moves decision makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people, and for all people. Rashad has developed winning strategies to change the rules of many fields affecting Black people’s lives: employment and the economy, voting and politics; news and entertainment; and criminal justice. 

Rashad has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including ABC, CNN, MSNBC, BET, NPR, the New York Times and the Huffington Post.

Martese Johnson

Martese Johnson is a Strategist at Sylvain Labs, and a recent graduate of the University of Virginia. He is a South Side, Chicago native and the first in his family to graduate from a four-year university. In his third year of college at UVA, Martese fell victim to excessive force by Alcoholic Beverage Control officers near his campus. Since state investigators dropped the charges against him, Martese has spent much of his time advocating for minorities who experience police brutality and various other forms of social injustice. Martese has appeared on various media outlets (CNN, CBS, ABC, etc.) and spoken at the National Urban League and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conferences.

Holly Fetter

Holly is passionate about organizing young people to leverage their resources in support of social movements.  Holly was awarded the Tom Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy which enabled her to work at the Ford Foundation in the program area that funds social movement infrastructure. She designed and taught a course on whiteness as an undergraduate, created a platform to field questions from curious white people (TokenWhiteFriend@gmail.com), and serves as a consultant and commentator for MTV.

MTV’s Elect This’s Ask Box is open for Tumblr and Elect This’ first IssueTime. Leading LGTBQ advocates will be answering your questions on the history and future of the LGBTQ movement from Stonewall to Orlando, deconstructing how far we’ve come, and how far there still is to go. We’ll be accepting questions until Saturday, June 25th and publishing the responses here on Sunday, June 26th.

Today on World Refugee Day, we commemorate the courage, strength, and perseverance of refugees, asylum seekers, and internaly displaced people. There are currently over 65 million refugees in today’s world–the highest number in recorded history. They have been forced to flee their home due to life threatening conditions ranging from drought and famine to religious persecution or war. Now, more than ever, it is time to #StandWithRefugees and raise awareness to the plights and obstacles they face.

We hosted our first Issue Time dealing with how the global community can support, improve the position of and stand in solidarity with refugees, and communicate how and why refugees are human beings, just like us, first and foremost. Our panel, Madge Thomas, Deputy-Director of Global Policy and Advocacy, Global Citizen, Piper Perabo; Actress, Activist, and IRC Voice; International Rescue Committee, Elmo, Sesame Street Muppet, Sherrie Westin, EVP for Global Impact and Philanthropy, Sesame Workshop and Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, answered your questions here.

Looking for for some actions you can take right now?

- Millions of children around the world are in crisis – because of conflicts and disasters, many of them will never learn to read or write, or even enter a classroom. Ahead of World Refugee Day, Global Citizen will host our first Issue Time panel on our Tumblr page. Sign the petition to ask world leaders to pledge to the Education Cannot Wait fund for kids in crisis.

- The worst humanitarian crisis since World War II has ripped apart families, left children out of school, destroyed homes and revealed some ugly sides of humanity. But many people around the world have continued to support and provide for refugees with open arms, whether they’re individuals or governments. Write a letter to a refugee to show your support.

- Globally over 65 million people are forcibly displaced. They have left everything behind, fleeing from conflict, violence and natural disasters. Ahead of World Refugee Day, Global Citizen will host our first Issue Time panel on our Tumblr page. Sign the petition to urge the 20 most powerful countries to protect and support refugees everywhere.

This is Kylie Jean ❤️
Kylie was born with a pretty common heart defect. We were assured that most children grow out of it by the time they are 2 and those ones that don’t, usually always grow out of it by the time they are 4.
Unfortunately, the valves pumping blood to Kylie’s heart have not grown in they ways we have hoped and now almost 5 and a half, we start our journey to find the best solution for Kylie and will see just what her diagnosis is for the future.

We are able to double insure Kylie due to the protections pre-existing conditions have under the ACA. Without insurance, a heart surgery will bankrupt not only my husband and I but her father and step-mother as well. There is no reason why 4 hard working people should be forced to loose their homes in order to save their child. We would gladly give our home to save her life, but it’s pretty awful when you have to choose to be homeless to save your child in this country.

The election of Donald Trump has been met with a mix of caution and fear from minorities in our communities—with good reason. The normalization of xenophobic rhetoric coincided with an increase in hate crimes, bullying, and violence. This week’s Issue Time is led by three people whose organizations work to counter xenophobia and bring people closer together:

Riham Osman is the Digital Media & Communications Strategist at the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s (MPAC). Riham works to protect the civil rights of American Muslims through the use of digital media public affairs and advocacy.

Jessica Reeves is the Chief Operating Officer at Voto Latino. In her role, she is responsible for developing and managing key partnerships and programs that help to advance the organization’s mission to bring new and diverse voices into the political process by engaging youth, media, technology and celebrities to promote positive change.

Ann Burroughs is the Interim President and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum and Chair of the Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA.

The Action ask box is open.

Send in your stories, questions, concerns—whatever. Our panel will start responding on Saturday January 21st.