Tookie: Man of color with dark hair, beard, mustache sitting on bench looking to the left

Opinion: ‘Tookie’ Williams Proved Anyone Could Evolve From Violent to Anti-gang

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“I'm learning to ‘master self’ while rising from the ashes of madness.” ―Stanley “Tookie” Williams, “Blue Rage, Black Redemption: A Memoir” 

The day that Stanley “Tookie” Williams was executed, I was working in the library at a juvenile court school in California. The students and I had talked this over for several months before the scheduled execution. Some of us felt a huge loss at the impending death of Tookie, as he was often called. 

The day after he died, the library was filled with grieving students. Many saw Tookie as a hero for making such huge changes during his prison term on death row. We had a service of sorts in the library to commemorate his life and his achievements that brought more peace to this world.

Man of color in business suit pointing to left against background of city

Opinion: Time For Marginalized Communities to Do Their Own Talking, Privileged to Step Back

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“Caution, Sir! I am eternally tired of hearing that word caution. It is nothing but the word of cowardice!” —John Brown

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.” —Abraham Lincoln

March on Washington, August 1963, 250,000 people.

restorative justice: The phrase "Reparations for black community " on a banner in men's hand with blurred background.

Opinion: Restorative Justice Is Used to Legitimize Oppressive Systems

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Imagine building a house on unstable ground and then only working to address the cracks in the walls, uneven floors and leaking roof, all symptoms of a faulty foundation. Many contractors would find this unreasonable, if not dangerous. 

Yet that is essentially what we have done in the United States. After having built our nation's house on unstable ground, we have stubbornly clung to the irrational idea that all we need to do is fix the resulting, cosmetic issues. In doing so, we have begun to use restorative justice as one of those "easy fixes," to the detriment of both the practice and the communities asked to participate in it. The practices and approaches the Western world today refers to as “restorative justice” have roots in indigenous, including indigenous African, peacemaking and ways of being in community.

Virginia: Martinsville. Virginia on a map

Opinion: Pardoning Martinsville 7 Would Be a Start to Acknowledging Virginia’s History

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I’ve experienced the racial disparities and harsh retribution of the Virginia criminal legal system firsthand. I join the call for Gov. Ralph Northam to pardon the Martinsville 7 posthumously as a small but important way to begin the process of acknowledging the unfair and racist treatment of Black people in the Virginia legal system.

book club: Father And Young Son Reading Book Together At Home

Opinion: Book Club Can Save The Kids in Your Max Unit

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“My teen years were ones of drugs, shootings and beatings, and arrests. I was around when South Central Los Angeles gave birth to the Crips and Bloods. By the time I turned 18 years old, 25 of my homies had been killed by rival gangs, police, drugs, car crashes and suicides.”

—Luis J. Rodriguez

“Always Running” is a book that I recommend to everyone. It is one of the best books written by Luis J. Rodriguez and for many years was on the banned book lists throughout the country. 

When I arrived at the juvenile court school library, it was off the banned list and one of the most sought-after reads. I brought it to book club on many occasions.

White policeman holding a handgun

Opinion: Police Shooting Statistics Of Unarmed Suspects Show The Young More Likely To Be Killed

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Even when suspects are unarmed and not attacking anyone, officers are more likely to shoot Black, Native and Latinx people than white people — a grim reality receiving increasing attention. However, police also are much more likely to shoot unarmed, nonattacking young people than older people — a fact receiving little attention. 

That’s the conclusion that emerges from our analysis of the Washington Post’s tabulation, considered the country’s most complete, of shootings of Americans by law enforcement officers in the six-year period from Jan. 1, 2015, through Jan. 13, 2021. 

Our analysis of these tragic numbers confirms well-known findings that police are two to three times more likely to shoot Native and Black suspects. They are also 20% more likely to shoot Latinx suspects than white suspects.

police brutality: Man of color holds sign that says stop police brutality. Adhesive tape covers his lips. Red and blue smoke in background

Opinion: Police Were Enemies Of Homeboys In California Town

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In the city where I grew up, police brutality was an issue rarely discussed because it was common, something that often happened to my closest friends and me. Parlier, California, is a poverty-stricken Hispanic community. In this small town, gang violence was a common occurrence and police encounters were a must. 

It was well understood early on that the local police department was the enemy. The homeboys often experienced police brutality. We all shared information concerning some police officers we especially disliked. 

An incident I still remember happened at the local high school.

boy with scared face outdoors

Opinion: It’s My Duty To Help System-Involved People Like Me

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The first time I had a weapon pointed at me, it was by a police officer. I was 8 years old. 

The first time I was arrested, I was on my way to pick up video game controllers. Who knew it was then that I would feel like I never really had control of my life? 

I remember it was a shotgun and a pistol both aimed at the vehicle I was in, and the police officers were yelling at me and my brothers to get out of the vehicle. 

The police officers shouted to get out and get down on the ground, just like the video game Grand Theft Auto. My brother opened the door while telling my 12-year-old brother and me to not move or say anything. I heard three more cars quickly approach and park, surrounding our vehicle. 

I looked to my brother for guidance and saw fear in his eyes while he put his hands up.

sex trafficking: Closeup of beautiful, serious young black woman with reddish afro

Opinion: Girls of Color, Native Girls Have Been Sex Trafficked Since Colonization, Slavery

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While awareness of sex trafficking has grown, too little attention is given to how this terrible violence impacts girls of color. In Washington, D.C., Courtney’s House is the only survivor-led program serving trafficked youth. Of the young people who receive services from Courtney’s House, 87% are girls of color. 

This disparate impact is not limited to girls in the D.C. area but is evidenced across the country. In King County, Washington, 84% of child sex trafficking survivors are girls and 52% of child survivors are Black even though Black girls comprise a mere 1% of the population. In 2017, among survivors receiving services in Minnesota, nearly 75% were BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) and 50% of all survivors were girls and young women under age 25 (compared to boys and young men who comprised 6% of all survivors). 

The disproportionate rates at which girls of color are trafficked is not coincidental.

survival mode: Closeup of boy with sad expression on his face

Opinion: ‘Insatiable Darkness’: A Black Son’s Experience With The ‘Just-us’ System

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I imagined things from the standpoint of invincibility in my youth. Growing up in the ghetto encouraged me to embrace a “survival of the fittest” mentality without ever having read Darwin. As a child I understood the ghetto as an opposing force that kept my mother on her knees in prayer — sweating, struggling and protecting. She sacrificed all her wants, dreams and half her needs to protect my sister and me from ever feeling poor as children. With no father around, I was the man of the house.