sayhername
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Man Kills Chicago College Student Because She Ignored His Advances, Police Say
It’s an experience not unfamiliar to many women: walking past, and ignoring, a stranger’s catcalls. It’s so common that our responses are automatic—a sharp retort, maybe, or an exasperated eye roll. Many of us show no reaction at all, turning up the music in our headphones or continuing to stare straight ahead at the path…
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Julián Castro Explains Why Ending Police Brutality Is Central to His Campaign
“To black and brown communities out there that deal with the impact of excessive force by police: I would say that we see you, we hear you.” —Julián Castro text As the 2020 presidential race continues to unfold, there are certain things I have come to expect from particular candidates during the Democratic debates. When…
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How to Look at Atatiana Jefferson
Every Sunday for the last six years, artist Nikkolas Smith has taken out his iPad in his Los Angeles home, blocking out a few hours to paint whatever comes to mind. Sometimes his subjects are topical—famous figures or events that made the news. Other times, he’ll experiment with landscapes and techniques. Last month, as he…
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Milwaukee Community Offers $25,000 Reward After Young Activist Is Killed in Drive-By
Last Saturday, Quanita “Tay” Jackson was organizing a youth basketball tournament in Moody Park, Milwaukee. The purpose of the event was to promote peace; though only 20-years-old, Jackson had already made a name for herself as an anti-violence activist and organizer. A day later, Jackson was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting, across the…
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Denali Berries Stuckey Becomes 12th Black Trans Woman Killed This Year
The murderous death toll continues to climb for members of the transgender community with news of the killing of Denali Berries Stuckey, the 12th transgender woman to be slain this year. Stuckey, 29, was found shot to death along a road in North Charleston, S.C., on Saturday, and police are now investigating whether her death…
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Police Make Arrest in the Killing of Zoe Spears, Whose Death Marked the 10th of a Black Trans Woman This Year
A Baltimore man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Zoe Spears, a 23-year-old whose death last month outside Washington, D.C., marked the 10th this year of a black transgender woman. The Prince George’s County, Md., police say Gerardo Thomas, 33, admits to having been armed and in the area…
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Zoe Spears Becomes 10th Black Trans Woman Killed This Year
Maryland police are investing the death of 23-year-old Zoe Spears, the 10th transgender woman to be killed in America this year—all of whom has been black. DCist reports that Spears was discovered on June 13 on the sidewalk in Fairmount Heights, Md., suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Her community…
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Activists Demand Justice for Layleen Polanco, a Black Trans Woman Found Dead in a Rikers Island Jail Cell
A 27-year-old black trans woman, Layleen Polanco, also known as Layleen Xtravaganza, was found dead in her jail cell on Rikers Island last week, and the LGBTQ community and her family plan to rally today to demand justice in her name. Polanco was arrested in mid-April for allegedly assaulting a cab driver in Harlem and…
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Texas Authorities Deny Withholding Sandra Bland Video
The Texas Department of Public Safety is denying the office withheld a cellphone video of the killing of Sandra Bland during a 2015 traffic stop. Bland, 28 from just outside Chicago, used her phone to film a white state trooper who drew his taser and yelled “I will light you up!” while demanding she step…
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Family of Sandra Bland Demands Answers After New Footage of Her Arrest Surfaces
On Monday night, Dallas news station WFAA released new cellphone footage from the 2015 arrest of Sandra Bland that confirms what we all already knew: that the life of Texas state trooper Brian Encinia was never in danger and that Texas officials have withheld evidence of not only her controversial arrest, but very likely her…