End Mass Criminalization of Black and Brown Youth (89)
The Hurt Is Evident: In the Shoes of A Child of Color In Tulsa Right Now
Written by Abby Zimet | Common Dreams
As his family and community prepare to bury Terence Crutcher on Saturday, the students of a Tulsa middle school - including his daughter and almost 10 of his relatives - still struggle to process his death.
End Mass Criminalization of Black, Brown and Red Youth
Written by Andrea Miller
The United States houses 25% of the world's inmates despite having only 5% of the world's population. This fact prompted former Senator Jim Webb of Virginia to say, "Either we have the most evil people on earth living in the U.S., or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice." The prison industrial complex has a vested interest in keeping people locked up.
Cleveland Files $500 Claim Against Tamir Rice’s Family For “Last Dying Expense”
Written by Claudia Koerner | Buzzfeed
The 12-year-old boy died at a hospital, where he was taken by ambulance after he was shot by a police officer. The city of Cleveland wants Tamir Rice’s family to pay for his “last dying expense” — a $500 ambulance ride to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"New Jim Crow" Author Michelle Alexander on Hillary Clinton's Embrace of Mass Incarceration
Written by Ansel Herz | The Stranger
Acclaimed "The New Jim Crow" author and Ohio State University professor Michelle Alexander, one of the first to draw the nation's attention to the mass incarceration problem, posted this to her Facebook page yesterday:
Not Your Grandfather’s Black Freedom Movement: An Interview with BYP100’s Charlene Carruthers
Written by Salim Muwakkil | In These Times
There is little doubt that the Black Lives Matter era of protests will be branded as a millennial moment. But Black women are so prominent in the movement’s leadership, the era might also be characterized as a matriarchal moment. For example, in the outrage following the release of the Laquan McDonald video depicting a 17-year old being shot by a Chicago cop 16 times, four of the most prominent groups that spoke out—Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), We Charge Genocide and Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY)— were led by Black women.
Racism and Mass Incarceration in the US Heartland: Historical Roots of the New Jim Crow
Written by James Kilgore | Truthout
If asked what state has the highest incarceration rate of Black people, most people would likely cite Mississippi, Alabama or perhaps Louisiana. They would be about 1,000 miles too far south.
The DEA has failed to eradicate marijuana. Some members of Congress want it to stop trying.
Written by Christopher Ingraham | The Washington Post
The Drug Enforcement Administration is not having a great year.
The chief of the agency stepped down in April under a cloud of scandal. The acting administrator since then has courted ridicule for saying pot is "probably not" as dangerous as heroin, and more recently he provoked 100,000 petition-signers and seven members of Congress to call for his head after he called medical marijuana "a joke."
Virginia ramps up its war on pot — and the arrests show a disturbing racial divide
Written by Christopher Ingraham | The Washington Post
As states across the country are relaxing their marijuana laws and federal lawmakers consider doing the same, at least one state is bucking the trend and ramping up its war on pot. Marijuana arrests in Virginia have increased dramatically over the past decade, according to a new report from the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that advocates for drug policy reform. And black Virginians account for the overwhelming majority of this increase, causing the racial disparity in the state's marijuana arrests to widen.
More protests in Minneapolis over police shooting of Jamar Clark
Written by Al lJazeera Staff | Al Jazeera America
Image of police at protest pointing weapon at son of congressman Keith Ellison goes viral
Justice-Reform Bills Reflect Move Away From Mass Incarceration
Written by Lauren Victoria Burke | The Root
After years of Americans being locked up in historic numbers, bipartisan wheels in Congress are turning toward reform.
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The Sex-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline: How Girls of Color Are Unjustly Arrested and Incarcerated
Written by Malika Saada Saar | The Root
Black and brown girls are first victimized and then punished, often in connection with sexual violence that has been perpetrated against them.
One of the Boldest Cannabis Initiatives in History is Taking Place Right Now in Mississippi
Written by Stephen Bradley | Southern Cannabis
Two Mississippi cannabis reform organizations have joined forces to end marijuana prohibition in their state, and if successful will pull off one of the most comprehensive pieces of citizen-generated legislation dealing with cannabis that we have seen yet. Proposition 48 is a ballot initiative that would not only legalize both medical and recreational marijuana in Mississippi but industrial hemp production as well. Additionally, Prop 48 calls on the Mississippi Governor to pardon all persons convicted of non-violent marijuana crimes.
More Drug War History in the Making: The U.S. House Votes to Weaken the DEA and Support Medical Pot
Written by Phillip Smith | AlterNet
A series of votes on the Justice Department appropriations bill attempt to rein in the rogue agency.
40 Reasons Why Our Jails are Full of Black Brown and Poor People
Written by Bill Quigley | The Huffington Post
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reports 2.2 million people are in our nation's jails and prisons and another 4.5 million people are on probation or parole in the U.S., totaling 6.8 million people, one of every 35 adults. We are far and away the world leader in putting our own people in jail. Most of the people inside are poor and Black. Here are 40 reasons why.
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