Reviewed by Morris Rodentstein

Pursuing Justice
In the 1990's, the federal government ended its 60-year safety net guarantee to the poor, shifting responsibility to the states and local communities with limited resources. This means that the burden increasingly has moved to community groups, like America's churches, synagogues, temples and mosques, which have a long tradition of caring for the needy—a shift in responsibility that challenges the foundation of faith communities across the country.

The mission of this organization is to inform parents and grandparents about children's issues regarding health, rights, schooling, and education.

Dads and Daughters inspires fathers to actively and deeply engage in the lives of their daughters, and galvanizes fathers and others to transform the pervasive cultural messages that devalue girls and women.

The Math/Science Network, a non-profit organization composed of educators, scientists, mathematicians, parents, students, community leaders, and government and corporate representatives, pursues as its mission the promotion of the continuing development in mathematics and science of all people, with particular emphasis on the needs of women and girls. Our primary goal is to increase the participation, retention, and advancement of girls and women in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.

Thanks to the Writers in the Schools program of Houston, Texas, writer Patrick Freeman, a native of Ghana, worked with refugee children from several African nations in a special series of Saturday workshops geared towards personal histories. Freeman found himself in awe of his young collaborators. This story originally appeared in the WITS newsletter.

CFK reports from: The Brookings Institution
Event: release of report: "OMG! How Generation Y is Redefining Faith in the iPod Era"
Organized by: Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Reboot, Brookings
Where/When: Washington, D.C., April 11, 2005

The results of a wide-ranging survey on youth and religion were released today. The report, "OMG! How Generation Y is Redefining Faith in the iPod Era," compares and contrasts the religious identities of 18- to 25-year-old Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims. The survey was conducted with 1385 total respondents; Muslim, Jewish, Asian, African American and Hispanic youth were oversampled to achieve more accurate results.

The Mission of Zink the Zebra is to promote the understanding and acceptance of human differences though specially created character education programs that help children and adults realize the necessity to respect and show compassion toward others.

With new attention and resources going into addressing the achievement gaps between different ethnic and racial groups, a new effort to measure the academic performance of American Indian and Alaska Native students is particularly timely. Rob Capriccioso reports.

Girls Incorporated is a nonprofit organization that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. With local roots dating to 1864 and national status since 1945, Girls Inc. has responded to the changing needs of girls through research-based programs and public education efforts that empower girls to understand, value, and assert their rights.

NATIVE VILLAGE website was created for youth, educators, families, and friends who wish to celebrate the rich, diverse cultures of The Americas' First Peoples. Each week we offer readers a current events publication: Native Village Youth and Education News or Native Village Opportunities and Websites. Each issue summarizes today's happenings in Indian country and is written in an easy-to-read format. Native Village also houses additional resources and information to enrich all lives on Turtle Island. Please visit, and sign up for our update reminders.