Social Justice
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Officer Responsible for Eric Garner’s Death Will Finally Face a Disciplinary Trial in May
It’s been four years since “I Can’t Breathe” became a rallying cry for black Americans fed up with the systemic oppression and police brutality that permeate our society. And after four years of anger, frustration, and unspeakable grief, Gwen Carr—the mother of Eric Garner—appears to be on the cusp of receiving long overdue justice. NBC…
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Sandy Still Speaks: New Sandra Bland Doc Uses Her Voice to Uncover the Still-Unknown Tale of a Fatal Police Stop in Texas
Like me, Sandra Bland hailed from a “girl family.” She was the fourth of five sisters. Her siblings’ names, like hers, all start with S—Shante, Sharon, Shavon, Sandy, and Sierra. They were a close-knit clan who always had each other’s backs, whether it was in Chicago or Villa Park, Ill., where their mother moved them…
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Why They Kneel: Stopped, Shot and Killed in Nashville and Houston
To examine the injustice and inequality that prompted some NFL players to protest during the national anthem, each week, for the remainder of the NFL season, The Root will explore the data behind racial disparities in the two cities represented in the National Football League’s premiere matchup—Monday Night Football. Tonight, the Tennesee Titans travel to…
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Putting More Cops in Schools Does Not Make Them Safer: Report
File this under “things we already knew but it’s good to have confirmation anyway”: a new report says putting more police officers in schools does not necessarily make them safer. Kenneth Alonzo Anderson, an associate professor at Howard University, conducted a study focused on North Carolina middle schools and found no relationship between increased funding…
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St. Louis Woman Faces 6 Months in Jail Over a Speeding Ticket She Already Paid and Served Time For
Our criminal justice system is a nightmare for those members of our society who are too poor to pay in. Traffic court systems in our local municipalities have become a feeder pipeline to a larger criminal justice system that can tie people up for years in the court system—all while providing local revenue and funding.…
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Blackout for Human Rights Launches 5th Annual #BlackoutBlackFriday Action With Terence Nance
Blackout for Human Rights is urging you to be conscious about your Black Friday sale-hunting instincts and avoid major retailers and corporations violating human rights standards. For a fifth year, the collective—founded by Ryan Coogler—will kick off a nationwide campaign encouraging shoppers to participate in an economic boycott of “major retailers, and any corporations that…
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Why They Kneel: Kansas City, LA and Why Police Should Never Be Called ‘Pigs’
To examine the injustice and inequality that prompted some NFL players to protest during the national anthem, each week, for the remainder of the NFL season, The Root will explore the data behind racial disparities in the two cities represented in the National Football League’s premiere matchup—Monday Night Football. Tonight, the Kansas City Chiefs travel…
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Meet Grace McKinnon: Black Women Are the Superheroines Who Don’t Wear Capes
It seems as though the number of black men killed at the hands of police increases by at least one every day. The stories have become so commonplace as to somewhat desensitize the public to their occurrence. On Wednesday, Nov. 7, at approximately 3:30 p.m., one story that could have ended with that same narrative…
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Marian Wright Edelman to Step Down as President of Children’s Defense Fund
There are few people alive today whose names are as synonymous with social justice—especially for the most vulnerable among us—as Marian Wright Edelman. Now, the children’s rights advocate who founded the Children’s Defense Fund will be stepping down as president, a role she held for 45 years. In a statement released this morning, the CDF…
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California Is Using Slave Labor to Fight the Wildfires
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” — The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America text Yesterday, I vacuumed the stairs. There was a time…
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