black lives matter
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A Tale of 2 Mich. Water Crises
On Oct. 23, 12 Oakland County, Mich., communities spent roughly nine days without water after a major water main break. Almost 305,000 people were affected by the break. Oakland County and the Great Lakes Water Authority worked nearly around the clock to ensure that the residents in those communities had safe, potable water. Water stations in…
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We Get It. It’s Harvey Weinstein’s News Cycle. But What About Our Black Girls?
I stopped watching broadcast news five years ago, after a sex crime was reported in close proximity to where I live. The local news was beginning to feel like trauma porn and was much too close to home. The purge had been a healthy choice—that is, until national news infiltrated my timeline, the Twitterverse and…
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Miss. High School Basketball Player Says He Was Suspended for Not Placing Hand Over Heart During National Anthem
A Mississippi high school basketball player says he was suspended from school for not placing his hand over his heart while the national anthem played at a school event last week. Chase Neal, a 16-year-old junior at Caledonia High School, told The Dispatch that he and some teammates were taking part in a slam-dunk contest…
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Former Student Charged With Racist Vandalism at Eastern Michigan University
Eddie Curlin, an African-American former student at Eastern Michigan University, was arraigned Monday morning in Washtenaw County, Mich., District Court on multiple charges stemming from three racist vandalism incidents that took place on the campus between September 2016 and spring 2017. In September 2016, Curlin, who attended EMU 2014-2016 and is currently serving a sentence…
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Wannabe Tulsa, Okla., Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Man Released From Prison After Serving Less Than Half His 4-Year Sentence
Well, if you wanted evidence as to how little this country values black lives, look no further than Tulsa, Okla., where a white former reserve deputy (aka a wannabe cop) walked out of prison, scot-free, after serving less than half of his already meager four-year sentence for killing an unarmed black man. Robert Bates, 76,…
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Mich. State Police Director’s Pay Docked After She Calls NFL Protesters ‘Ungrateful, Anti-American Degenerates’
Michigan State Police Director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue will be losing out on five days’ pay for violating the department’s social media policy after she reposted a disparaging Facebook meme that targeted NFL players protesting police brutality and other social injustices. According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced the slap on…
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NY Black Lives Matter Group Accuses Police of Spying, Targeting Group for Calling Attention to Abuse
A New York Black Lives Matter group has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming that Clarkstown, N.Y., police illegally spied on its members for at least a year, from January through December 2015. According to Mother Jones, the Black Lives Matter Global Network chapter in Rockland County actually filed the lawsuit in August, making some very…
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Homecoming Survival Guide: How to Make Smart Life Choices
Editor’s note: This first appeared on VSB on Oct. 21, 2016. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, I’m not referring to the fast-approaching holidays; I’m talking about homecoming season! The time has come for us to take those walks down memory lane back to our alma maters and relive our glory days.…
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BIE, Felicia: Fighting for Justice and Our Basic Human Rights Isn’t Extremism
They are trying to turn black people into the bogeyman. They want everyone else in America to see us as a threat so that when we are killed with impunity, no one bats an eyelash. This is already happening anyway. In a country that was founded on the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit…
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La. Sheriff Furious at New Laws Allowing for Release of ‘Good,’ Nonviolent Inmates Because ‘We Use Them to Wash Cars’
In case you ever wondered about the way (some) correctional officers see their inmates, I lead you no further than to Caddo Parish, La., Sheriff Steve Prator, who is ranting and raging mad about new criminal-justice reform laws that will go into effect next month—because it will mean getting rid of cheap labor. But don’t…