Tag Archives: U.S. Supreme Court

Lin-Manuel Miranda & His “Hamilton” Musical Team Up with Prizeo for Fundraising Campaign to Support Abortion Access

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is taking a stand for women’s reproductive rights…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican actor, rapper, songwriter, playwright and filmmaker and his Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton are teaming up with Prizeo on Ham4Choice, a fundraising campaign to support organizations providing abortion access and other reproductive health services.

Lin-Manuel Miranda“We are devastated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling eliminating the right to abortion which has been a right since 1973,” the production said in a statement. “In response, we are teaming up with organizations providing support, access and travel expenses to those seeking these services.”

The effort is part of the show’s larger Ham4Progress philanthropic platform, run by a collective of Hamilton cast members and staff.

Launched in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in June, the show — which has its own constitutional connection — said funds raised through Ham4Choice will support the Abortion Support Network, ARC Southeast, Ciocia Basia, Deeds Not Words, Planned Parenthood, Profamilias Puerto Rico, The Brigid Alliance, The National Network of Abortion Fund and The Tuscan Abortion Support Collective.

“We’re stronger when we work together,” the statement, which urged fans to support reproductive access and reproductive choice, continued. “We can stand up for every person’s right to make decisions about their own body and their own lives.”

Ham4Choice asks fans to donate funds — as little as $10 — from Aug. 9 to Sept. 22, which will automatically enter them for a chance to win a special Hamilton package. The grand prize winner and a guest will be flown out to Hamilton‘s opening night in Hamburg, Germany, where the musical will be performed in German in its first non-English translation.

While there, they’ll meet Miranda at an exclusive pre-show reception and attend the post-show celebration before being flown out, along with tickets and hotel accommodations, where they’ll get to watch and meet the casts in London and New York. Signed memorabilia will be given to the winner to help commemorate the experience.

Each donation serves as a single entry, with no limit on the number of donations, which can be made at Ham4Choice.com. The fundraiser is just the latest Ham4Progress initiative, the collective focused on highlighting social justice causes, serving as a gathering place for discussion and acting as a platform for progress and organizations the group wants to support.

Miranda has worked with Prizeo in the past on similar efforts, including a 2017 fundraising campaign for Planned Parenthood that gave winners tickets to the Broadway show.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to Swear in U.S. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris

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Sonia Sotomayor will make a special appearance at this week’s inauguration…

The 66-year-old Puerto Rican Supreme Court Justice will swear in U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Wednesday, January 20, a ceremony in which the first woman of color to become vice president will take her oath of office from the first woman of color to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sonia Sotomayor

Harris chose Sotomayor for the task, according to a Harris aide who was confirming a report by ABC News. The vice president-elect and Justice Sotomayor have a shared background as former prosecutors. And Harris has called the justice a figure of national inspiration.

“Judge Sonia Sotomayor has fought for the voices of the people ever since her first case voting against corporations in Citizens United,” Ms. Harris wrote on Twitter in 2019. “As a critical voice on the bench, she’s showing all our children what’s possible.”

Justice Sotomayor, who was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed to the Supreme Court in 2009, swore in Joseph R. Biden Jr. for his second term as vice president in January 2013 (first in a private ceremony and again in public the next day because of a quirk of the calendar).

Sotomayor was born in The Bronx, New York City, to Puerto Rican-born parents. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for four and a half years before entering private practice in 1984. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board.

Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush in 1991; confirmation followed in 1992. In 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her nomination was slowed by the Republican majority in the U.St Senate, but she was eventually confirmed in 1998. On the Second Circuit, Sotomayor heard appeals in more than 3,000 cases and wrote about 380 opinions. Sotomayor has taught at the New York University School of Law and Columbia Law School.

Jesse & Joy Release Star-Studded “Love (Es Nuestro Idioma)” Music Video in Support of LGBTI+ Community

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Jesse & Joy are spreading the love with some all-star assistance…

The Mexican Latin Grammy-winning brother and sister duo has released the official music video for “Love (Es Nuestro Idioma)” and it features appearances by nearly 200 people from around the world, including artists like Thalía, Juanes and more.

Jesse & Joy

The music video speaks out against violence toward the LGBTI+ community and raises awareness about conversion therapies that to this day take place in Mexico and other parts of the world.

“Our music will always be there to remind you that you are beautiful just as you are,” the Mexican previously said about the song, included in their recently-released album Aire. “It’s called ‘Love’ and talks about love being the universal language, the language that all of us should speak.”

Toward the end of the video, the message is loud and clear: “A sexual orientation is nothing something that should be cured. Conversion therapies are acts of torture and violation of privacy.”

Featuring cameos by Latin artists like Mon Laferte, Natalia Jiménez, Ángela Aguilar, Alejandro Sanz, Laura Pausini, Kany García, Ana Bárbara, Tommy Torres, Sofía Reyes, Luis Fonsi, among others, the video was directed by Kacho López and Joy. 

The release coincides with the landmark ruling officially protecting LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination issued by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Profits from the video will be donated to the YAAJ MEXICO Foundation to help the organization continue their social work in Mexico and for their work supporting sexual violence young victims.

Sonia Sotomayor Helping Develop Civics Education-Related Video Games

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Sonia Sotomayor is raising the game of children nationwide…

The 63-year-old Puerto Rican Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, the first Latina to serve in that role, is helping develop video games to mold the minds of young students.

Sonia Sotomayor

Sotomayor – who sits on the board of iCivics (a nonprofit that promotes civics education) – envisioned a Spanish-language computer game that could make the subject more accessible to English learners.

The topic is often difficult for English learners, because the books are dense and written in academic language. In 2011, her idea became a reality with a game titled Do I Have a Right?, which has a Spanish-language version, ¿Tengo Algún Derecho?

Since its launch, it’s successfully helped English learners connect with civics material, according to NBC News.

Research shows that knowledge of civics leads to more engaged citizens. This means they’ll be more likely to vote and to understand what their rights are. In Do I Have a Right? players run their own law firms and take on pro-bono cases for clients who believe they have had their rights violated. Each game is about a half an hour long, and doesn’t feel as laborious as reading a chapter of a textbook.

Students have vouched for the game. For 12-year-old Yosviel, who arrived to the United States in March 2016, it allows him to learn about his rights in a fun way. “The games allow me to learn about the rights that I have as a citizen; to me that is important since I am a new immigrant,” he told NBC News. “The games are also very entertaining and much more fun than traditional homework.”

Teachers have similarly seen how this game makes a difference, which is what Sotomayor was shooting for. “Supporting students is a cause very near to my heart,” she said. “We need all young people engaged in the future of our democracy. Initiatives such as this one mark an important step towards ensuring that, no matter what language they speak, all young people have access to the knowledge and skills they need to fully participate in those important conversations.”