alabama
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Alabama Man Finally to Go Free After Spending 36 Years in Prison for Robbing a Bakery of About $50
When criminal-justice reform advocates speak of the ills of policies like “three strikes” laws that mandate long prison sentences for even the most minor of crimes for repeat offenders, the story of Alvin Kennard may just come to mind. Kennard has spent more than half his life in prison, 36 years to be exact, for…
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Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Promises Free College Tuition for High School Graduates
The mayor of the third blackest city in America unveiled a plan that could fundamentally transform the future of the next generation with the promise of a debt-free college education. On Tuesday, Aug. 27, Birmingham, Ala., residents received a stunning announcement when Mayor Randall Woodfin tweeted that graduates of Birmingham City Schools will have the…
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Alabama’s Governor Apologizes for Wearing Blackface in Her Youth—Because of Course She Did
Months after saying she didn’t know nothing about her sorority’s college yearbook page showing women in blackface, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday issued an apology about having worn blackface herself in a separate incident as an undergraduate at Auburn University. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, the governor, perhaps more nationally known this year for…
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A Family Struggling With Son’s Cancer Diagnosis Was Yard-Shamed. Then, a Group of Strangers Pitched in to Help
Randa Ragland’s 3-year-old son, Jaxen, is fighting for his life. “He’s autistic and he’s non-verbal,” Ragland told CBS 42. “But, a few days before his third birthday is when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma stage four cancer.” Since his diagnosis, life has been a blur for the Ragland family. Jaxen has been hospitalized over 20…
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White Professor Accuses Historically Black Tuskegee University of Age, Racial Discrimination: 'It's Just Wrong'
Here’s something I never thought I’d live to see: a historically black college has been slapped with a lawsuit alleging age and racial discrimination—by a white guy. According to the Daily Beast, the school in question is Alabama’s Tuskegee University, which is being sued by its own 73-year-old physics professor and one-time Teacher of the…
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Racists Ruin a Perfectly Good 'For Sale' Sign With Racial Slur
All a Jefferson County, Ala., couple was trying to do was sell a damn house, but in what’s become an everyday occurrence in Trump’s America, racism wouldn’t let them be great. From AL.com: An interracial Jefferson County couple was shocked to find one of their realty company signs defaced Wednesday morning with a racial slur.…
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A Cop Killed EJ Bradford in an Alabama Mall and Someone Will Finally Face Jail Time—the Protesters
Seven months after protests shut down the Alabama mall where a police officer shot and killed EJ Bradford, prosecutors are seeking justice against the troublemakers who disturbed the way of life in the idyllic southern suburb… The people who were protesting. On Nov. 22, 2018, a police officer in the Birmingham, Ala., suburb of Hoover…
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Alabama Police Officer Rehired After Mocking Nigel Shelby’s Suicide: ‘We Feel He Will Be a Good Addition to the Department’
In April, we learned of Nigel Shelby—the 15-year-old Huntsville High freshman who allegedly took his own life after relentless homophobic bullying drove him to despair. His tragic fate became headline news as mourners throughout the world struggled to come to grips with this devastating loss. Madison County, Ala., sheriff’s deputy Jeff Graves felt otherwise, however,…
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Missouri Rep. Lacy Clay Blasts AOC for ‘Using the Race Card’ in Her Pushback Against Pelosi
Veteran African-American Democrats in the House are taking freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to task over how she’s come for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and comments AOC’s chief of staff made comparing moderate Democratic caucuses to Southern pro-segregationist Democrats of old. The takes by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and William “Lacy” Clay (D-Mo.) come on the…
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Prosecutor Drops Charges Against Marshae Jones, the Alabama Woman Who Caught a Case When She Lost Her Unborn Baby After Getting Shot in a Fight
Marshae Jones, the Alabama woman who was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of her fetus after she got shot during a fight, will not be prosecuted, the district attorney overseeing the case said Wednesday. Jones’ arrest last week sparked national outcry from activists concerned about the rights of pregnant women in states…