california
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What Does It Mean to Have a ‘Gentrified’ Martin Luther King Jr. When Some Blacks Are the Gentrifiers?
My first real experience with the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. happened in 1980, just 12 years after his tragic assassination in Memphis, Tenn. I was a 14-year-old freshman at Loyola High School, a prestigious Jesuit all-boys school in Los Angeles built on the philosophy that rigorous academic training would produce the next generation…
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Man Attempts to Kill Spider With Fire; Spider Sets Apartment on Fire
Here’s a lesson for everyone: If you see a huge spider, maybe don’t try to set it on fire because apparently, spiders will stop, drop and roll their way into setting your apartment on fire. And that’s just what happened to a Redding, Calif., man, after he attempted to torch a venomous wolf spider in…
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#NetNeutrality: California Lawmakers Introduce Open-Internet Legislation in Their State
Now that the Federal Communications Commission has voted to overturn net neutrality rules, California lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday that seeks to make sure the internet remains open and free for users in their state. State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, introduced S.B. 822, a bill that would require telecommunication companies that…
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Bridging the Wage Gap: Ban Employers From Asking for Salary Histories
While everyone was celebrating the ushering in of recreational weed in California on New Year’s Day, another largely overlooked law went into effect that will make a huge difference in wage disparities for women and people of color. On Jan. 1, Assembly Bill 168—which was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 12,…
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Calif. High School Students Band Together to Buy Classmate New Game Console After His Was Stolen Right Before Christmas
Confession: I’m grasping onto every single feel-good Christmas story with everything I have while I can. It’s not over until the new year rings in. That being said, a group of Antioch High School students really showed up and showed out for their classmate this year after his Nintendo 3DS game console was stolen. According…
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California High School Student in Racist Video: ‘When the Police Were Killing All Those Black People, I Was So Happy’
Somebody gon’ learn a big lesson real soon. A high school student from Elk Grove, Calif., has stepped in a heaping mound of dog shit after a racist video she recorded went viral on social media. The girl, who probably thought she was cute, filmed herself on Snapchat making several horrible remarks. The video has…
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#JailBedDrop: Los Angeles’ Fight Against a Multibillion-Dollar Jail
This Christmas Eve, JusticeLA is “dropping” beds outside shopping centers across Los Angeles County—from Inglewood to Calabasas—to encourage a public conversation about the fight for abolition. We are demanding an end to mass incarceration in the U.S. and our county’s investment in policing and jails. JusticeLA was formed on Sept. 26, 2017; we are a…
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Dreaming of a High Christmas: Couple in Their 80s Busted With 60 Pounds of Marijuana Claim It Was for ‘Christmas Presents,’ Cops Say
I want to know whose grandparents are these. Mostly so that they can be my grandparents, too, since they seem to be in the giving mood after police say they were busted with 60 pounds of marijuana they insisted was for “Christmas presents.” Police arrested the couple, who are in their 80s, after saying they…
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All I Want for Christmas Is This California Woman’s Weed Fortress of White Privilege
May God grant me the serenity to accept the news cycle I cannot change, the courage to call out the evil asshats I can, and the wisdom to know when to use a semicolon and when to just end the sentence (copy editors: I’m still working it). And Lord, if you’re in a generous mood,…
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Recently Released Video of 21-Year-Old’s Violent Arrest in Pasadena, Calif., Leaves More Questions Than Answers
The city of Pasadena, Calif., recently released bodycam footage of an early November police stop at a gas station during which a 21-year-old was beaten bloody and suffered a broken leg.. The release of the six videos marks the first time that police-body-worn-camera video has been made public in response to a police use-of-force incident…