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Harriett Tubman on $20 bill?
Who should be on the $20 bill? Harriett Tubman, who was a bold, courageous, self-respecting slave abolitionist and fighter for freedom, or slave owner Andrew Jackson? Could this change be a beginning and healing step in how the US acknowledges and values worthiness today? Harriett Tubman has been proposed by President Obama but…
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US Courts Are Failing Poor Juvenile Defendants of Color
M. Chen reports that “young people are too often viewed as social liabilities rather than individuals with a future. She reports that social barriers are a major reason troubled kids end up in court. Their involvement with the criminal-justice system therefore attests to institutionalized racial and social exclusion. To really protect children, she adds, “We…
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“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Former President Barack Obama’s tweet…
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Life is a hard battle anyway. If we laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness around me. ~ Sojourner Truth
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Worthiness
Transformation from where I am to where I am inspired to be begins with the belief that I can begins with the …
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No Money, No Freedom- The Need for Bail Reform
“Locking up people before trial because they cannot afford to pay bail is a leading cause of mass incarceration in Washington state and elsewhere. Reforming Washington’s treatment of people before trial, including the use of money bail, will result in fewer people unnecessarily held behind bars” (ACLU 2016). “Close to three-quarters of a million people…
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California Moves to Abolish Direct-File by Prosecutors
Should other states do the same? Calif Public Health and Rehab Act (2016)would abolish prosecutors direct file powers. http://www.burnsinstitute.org/blog/direct-file-rates-arbitrarily-rising-for-youth-of-color/
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Although Crime Falls, More Black Youth are Prosecuted as Adults for nonviolent offenses, Why?
“Prosecutors are increasingly using direct file despite plummeting youth crime: 80 percent of youth prosecuted in the adult system are placed there by a prosecutor. Despite a 55 percent drop in youth felony arrests, district attorneys report 23 percent more direct filings per capita in 2014 than in 2003. These opposing trends suggest that there…
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What is Disproportionality, Why Does it Matter?
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Direct File Rates to Adult Courts (2003-2014)
Choices Interlinking 