kalief browder
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This Is How You Use Your Privilege, Part 2: ‘Your Silence Is Your Discrimination,’ Says Jessica Chastain
“When you know better, you do better,” or so the saying goes. Sometimes—most times—it takes someone with privilege to enact change for everyone else. In January, actress Jessica Chastain made headlines when she advocated for equal pay for fellow actress and friend Octavia Spencer, addressing the persistently deep pay disparity for women of color. As…
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Top 10 Disappointing Moments Black People Experienced in 2017
I don’t have to tell you how supremely tough 2017 was to deal with. Like, I’m sure we all could go on and on about how terrible this year truly was to each and every last one of us. Still, the year had some high points, which we pointed out earlier this week, but in…
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New Study Finds That LGBTQ Youths and Youths With Disabilities Suffer Most Under Solitary Confinement
The story of Kalief Browder, the 22-year-old who committed suicide after spending nearly two years in solitary confinement at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail, is a tragic testament to a life snuffed out by a grinding, unflinching U.S. criminal-justice system. Not only did Browder suffer brutal violence at the hands of guards and…
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Kamala Harris Takes on Bail Reform in Her 1st Bill as Senator … Oh, and Rand Paul Is There, Too
In her first major piece of legislation since taking office, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), along with everyone’s favorite Republican, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), has introduced a bipartisan bail-reform bill—the Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2017—which would encourage states to stop holding accused offenders in jail who can’t pay bail for their release. As it…
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Jay Z Blasts ‘Exploitative’ US Bail Industry in Father’s Day Essay
Jigga Jay Z, riding high from his induction in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and possibly bouncing two new babies at his knee, took on a far more somber topic in a recent Father’s Day essay. With a byline that reads “Shawn Carter,” Jay strongly spoke out in Time magazine against the current U.S. bail system,…
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Bronx, NY, Intersection Renamed in Honor of Kalief Browder
On Thursday, Kalief Browder Way was unveiled. An intersection in New York City’s Bronx borough was renamed in honor of a man who took his own life at 22 years of age after suffering a grueling, three-year imprisonment at the city’s Rikers Island jail complex because he couldn’t make bail. According to HuffPost, Kalief Browder…
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When Incarcerated People Die, Blame the Prison-Industrial Complex
Early Wednesday morning, Aaron Hernandez joined the long list of incarcerated people, including Sandra Bland and Kalief Browder, who allegedly committed suicide while in prison, or soon after being released. We should not be mistaken about who or what is to blame: prisons and jails. The prison-industrial complex and the various ways it promotes the…
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State of NY Raises the Age of People Charged and Sentenced as Adults
Lawmakers in the state of New York voted on Sunday to raise the age of criminal responsibility as part of a $153 billion budget deal that was worked out nine days after the fiscal year began. AM New York reports that the budget was approved after debates between lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo over key…