Criminal Justice
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New Report on Layleen Xtravaganza Polanco's Death Highlights the Cruelty of NYC Jails' Policies Toward Trans People [Corrected]
Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco should not have been in solitary confinement at Rikers Island. But the 27-year-old transgender woman was pushed into this part of the infamous New York City jail last year, despite a doctor’s objections and a documented seizure disorder. She would end up dying after nine days in solitary, suffering a seizure alone…
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Kendrick Sampson Pens Letter to Hollywood Calling for Police Divestment, Over 300 Black Creators Sign
In the movement toward police defunding and abolition, it looks like Black Hollywood is speaking up. In a letter shared with Variety, actor Kendrick Sampson (Insecure, Miss Juneteenth) called for the mainstream Hollywood industry “to divest from the police and invest in the Black community” and was joined by several organizations, black artists and black…
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Exonerated 5 Member Yusef Salaam Weighs in on Recent Black Lives Matter Protests: 'This Is Courageous Living'
Yusef Salaam remembers the night his mother was finally allowed to intervene in his interrogation session. Salaam was 15, apprehended by the NYPD along with four of his friends for a crime he had not committed: assaulting and raping a white woman in Central Park. She immediately told him to stop talking to the cops.…
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Beyoncé Urges Kentucky Attorney General to Bring Breonna Taylor's Killers to Justice
In March, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by members of the Louisville Metro Police Department, after officers entered her Kentucky home using a no-knock search warrant. The officers, Jon Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison, have been placed on administrative leave, but have not been arrested for her murder. In an open letter shared…
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Keke Palmer On Her Conversation With National Guardsman at L.A. Protest: "I Was Just Speaking From My Heart"
Not too long ago, I wrote on Twitter that Keke Palmer is a modern-day Renaissance woman, and we need to start respecting her as such. Last week, a video of the multi-talented entertainment superstar calmly speaking to a National Guardsman at a Los Angeles anti-racism protest made the rounds, which made my heart soar and…
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Music Industry Heavyweights Sign Open Letter to Repeal New York State Statute That Keeps Police Misconduct Records Private
Rihanna, Nas, and Megan Thee Stallion are a few of the hundreds of musicians who signed an open letter addressed to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie regarding the repeal of state statute 50-A. For those who aren’t familiar, 50-A is a decades-old law…
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You’ll Never Believe What This Florida Mom Allegedly Put in Her Baby’s Bottle
Police claim the mother tried to feed her 1-year-old a baby bottle of bleach.
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Jaime Harrison: How Do I Tell My Black Sons That This Could Be Them?
Minneapolis, Minn.; Louisville, Ky.; Brunswick, Ga. These are the latest cities turned inside out because of the killing of innocent black men and women by members of law enforcement. Rightly, the outrage and the pain have spread to every corner of the nation, including cities and communities here in South Carolina. This pain is chronic,…
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Elected Prosecutors Need to Defend Black People—or Get Out
In the last two weeks, my criminal justice campaigns team at Color Of Change has helped more than 6.5 million people take action to demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others killed and brutalized by police in our country. On Breonna Taylor’s birthday today, June 5, we honor their lives and recommit ourselves…
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Lauren London and Activist Erica Ford Discuss How Gun Violence Affects Women on Red Table Talk
Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk had a very important discussion about gun violence and the trauma it places on the women who lose the special men in their lives to it. The episode aired on the social media platofrm on Tuesday. “Very rarely do we talk about the women who are…
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