WICHITA, Kan. - The following was distributed on the Kansas Equality Coalition email list today:

Dear Friends, as many of you know, one of our Equality Coalition members, Dan Manning, is running for Kansas House of Representatives in Wichita. Originally from southern Georgia, Dan is a West Point graduate who served for 8 years in the US Army before being discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Dan has since made Kansas his home and directed his passion for serving our nation in to a campaign to serve in the state Legislature.

Dan's opponent is long-time incumbent Brenda Landwehr. Landwehr, a notorious far-right conservative, has been a vocal opponent of equal rights for gay, lesbian and transgendered Kansans. Since February, she has used Dan's sexual orientation to stir up her constituent. She has gone so far as to use language that Dan was told was "too offensive" to repeat.

This weekend, the homophobia and name-calling took a dangerous and criminal turn. Dan arrived home from work on Saturday to find a death threat attached to his front door...

MCDOWELL CREEK, Kan. - It is hard to get out of a gilded cage, and that's what we Americans live in when it comes to fossil fuels. We like the cheap food and transportation that fossil fuels provide, and we take for granted the availability of inexpensive products made of plastics and other oil-derivatives. We can't imagine living without comfort and convenience, and so all too often we prefer to see only the glitter, not the bars.

But for many people in the world, the hard iron is all too visible. This discrepancy between what we see and what others see is the subject of Julia Baird's recent essay in Newsweek, "Oil's Shame in Africa." Baird quotes CUNY School of Law professor Rebecca Bratspies: "Problems associated with oil production are usually invisible to those of us who consume vast quantities. We don't see how dirty it is. [The recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico] is a more extreme version of daily events in Nigeria, where the oil companies have had a complete and total disregard for the environmental implications of their actions." According to Baird, what the Nigerians have gone through has not been deemed newsworthy in the West.

HAYS, Kan. - Today, the Kansas NOW Political Action Committee announced its endorsements for the candidates running in the 2010 primary and general elections. Kari Ann Rinker, state coordinator of Kansas NOW, explains, "These endorsements indicate the PAC's approval of candidates who are, or promise to be, leaders in promoting NOW's issues, or candidates whose voting records, if they exist, demonstrate this support."

Kansas candidates were asked to respond to 7 survey questions and provide comments. The PAC's survey questions addressed issues such as gender equality, access to reproductive health care and legislation reducing violence against women.

Once the surveys were tabulated and reviewed by the KS NOW PAC Committee, decisions were made to endorse 45 Kansas Democrats and 11 Kansas Republicans. For the complete list of endorsements, click here.

GREAT BEND, Kan. - Most white people in America are apprehensive of angry black men. Jackie Robinson broke the color line in baseball. Sidney Poitier broke the color line in Hollywood. And Barack Obama broke the color line on the Presidency of the United States. And all three of them did it by keeping their cool.

Jackie Robinson was a terrific baseball player. But that's not why Dodger G.M. Branch Rickey chose him to be the first black in Major League Baseball. Robinson was a UCLA graduate, and an Army veteran. But Rickey would not sign him until Robinson agreed NOT to fight back at the inevitable racism. "Are you asking me to be a black man who doesn't fight back?" asked Robinson. "I'm asking you to be a big enough man NOT to fight back," said Rickey.

COUNCIL GROVE, Kan. - When on the evening of July 16, 1861, Judge J. H. Watson observed several Indian graves on the brow of a hill overlooking the Cottonwood River and Middle Creek in western Chase County, he proceeded to desecrate them.

"These [the graves] are formed by piling up stones over the dead body," wrote Watson. "On removing a few of these, I perceived the moldering bodies of the once proud savage, an old rusty tin cup, and the decayed remains of what was once a bow and arrow."

Because the Kanzas had encamped in this area the previous winter, it is likely these were the graves of their tribesmen. And the violation of Kanza graves by white people was not uncommon.

LAWRENCE, Kan. - This piece was written by Lawrence NOW chapter convener, Ashley Barnes. Jana's life continues to inspire the young activists and advocates of the future. Thank you Jana. We miss you.

Two years ago today Jana Mackey, a Lawrence-area women's rights activist, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, a man known to have a history of domestic violence. She was a law student at KU, a lobbyist for the National Organization for Women, and a volunteer advocate for sexual assault victims. I never met Jana Mackey but her legacy resonates within the community - the impact that Jana left on the Lawrence community is readily apparent and her tragic story only accentuates the necessity of her efforts as a women's rights activist.

Kari Ann Rinker, Kansas NOW State Coordinator, came to my class and spoke of Jana's story and about the organization that her parents started in her honor - 1,100 Torches. 1,100 Torches is a simple organization, challenging people to get involved in their communities via volunteer service - essentially, it is a massive, community-wide, call to action.

My call to action was becoming involved in the Lawrence chapter of NOW which has just been reinstated. Jana was very involved in this organization and as I thumb through old files and paperwork, I have seen notes she made, and I wonder just how this tragedy could affect one with as much knowledge on the subject of domestic violence... How could this awful thing happen to someone my age and from my community? The answer is, sadly, simple - it happens far too often.

WICHITA, Kan. - A new ruling by the Supreme Court states the right to bear arms is a fundamental right. Really? Why just a gun? Should we then have the right to bear a sword? An Uzi? A taser? Why not?

According to various philosophers and political leaders we have certain natural rights. Thomas Jefferson famously referred to these rights as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." When it comes to liberty we especially value freedom of speech and conscience since we are born with the capacity to develop reasoning skills and communicate.

Thus we consider it our right to have the freedom to say, think, and write what we believe as long as it does not pose an immediate threat to public safety. To deny or suppress the innate right to reason and communicate would violate our very nature as humans. Right?

But do we really have "natural rights" or are those rights just ideas we have determined in our minds as something we desire?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For some people, it's easy to give up on the younger generations. Honestly, after working with the "at risk" teenage population, I can see why people don't like to stick around for that proverbial long haul. It's difficult to love a kid through their rage and pain, or to consistently provide for someone else's kid when that child fails to show any sign of gratitude. In fact, some of the kids will do everything they can think of to show you that they don't need your help.

They don't want to be classified as "needy," but they will take everything that you can give while they call you every name in the book (and they will even invent some names that you've never before heard). Obviously, walking away from these kids is the easy thing to do. However, I simply do not accept it as the right thing to do. Neither does a local chapter of a national organization. The Kansas City chapter of Stand Up For Kids has proven time and again that they aren't afraid to do what's right by these children.

HAYS, Kan. - What do you think of when you hear the word equality? Do you dig up the past - all of the social muck the African Americans trudged through as they reached out towards a day of social equality? Or, does the future pass through your mind - something filled with flying DeLoreans, crazy white haired scientists, and an attitude of "we just don't care anymore?" We can't change the past, but we can affect the future.

When I think of equality, I visualize a flat, white ground (like a cutting board for instance) where all individuals can stand and see each other. There's nothing around to blame on anyone else; white seems flawless. No one is higher or lower than anyone else; everyone's feet are placed equally. You could stand all the way across the cutting board from someone and realize that even though you're in a different spot, breathing different air, and living a different life, you stand on the same, seemingly perfect ground that they do. But the world isn't flat.