police: Protesters hold signs that say police-free schools now

Opinion: We Are Terrified Police in Our Schools Will Harm Us

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Every day, I walk into school greeted with silencing stares from armed police officers. They’re not facing the windows or the doors looking out for a stranger who could walk in and hurt my friends and me. Their eyes are on us, not some external threat. We walk past them silently, afraid that anything we do or say will be perceived as a “threat” that will lead to suspension, arrest or worse, physical harm. 

Our schools have normalized this fear by allowing officers to patrol our hallways and criminalize us. In my county, a police officer was celebrated for tasing a Black freshman girl three times inside her school cafeteria.

Mexico border kids in cages: Lone child stands wit teddy bear holding onto chainlink fence.

Number of Kids Alone At Border Hits All-time High In March

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The U.S. government picked up nearly 19,000 children traveling alone across the Mexican border in March, authorities said Thursday, the largest monthly number ever recorded and a major test for President Joe Biden as he reverses many of his predecessor's hardline immigration tactics.

Black and brown students: Elementary school teacher who’s a man of color helping student of color in classroom

Opinion: Marginalized Youth Need Real Change in Schools, Courts, Other Systems

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I discovered my purpose when I was 21 years old, and the man I’d tackled during a pick-up football game shot me three times in my legs. He was upset that I’d tackled him so hard. It made me want, profoundly, to understand my fellow player’s extraordinary anger and, perhaps, that of other Black and brown kids whose life circumstances had pushed them down the wrong path ...

plea bargain: Trial and plea bargain as a choice - pictured as words on 2 doors

Opinion: Apply Brain Science to Plea Bargains For Developmentally Informed Approach

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Imagine being 16 years old, arrested and charged with a crime after getting into trouble with a friend. You will remain locked up until your hearing. You haven’t spoken to anyone about what's going on. Eventually, you meet your attorney 45 minutes before court and he says the prosecutor wants to offer you a deal. If you admit guilt, your punishment will be lighter than if you are found guilty in juvenile court. 

You ask if you can have time to think and talk to your mom but the attorney says you  must decide quickly because your hearing starts in 30 minutes.

Fordable Fundraising Board Members: 4 people sitting around conference table

Five Ways to Foster Long-lasting Board Engagement

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Running a youth-centered nonprofit has many unique challenges, but an engaged and invested board should not be one of them. If one of your biggest problems in running your organization is engaging your board members in fundraising, this article is for you. Here at Fordable Fundraising, we have found that incorporating these five practices reduces revolving door syndrome and encourages board members to engage in fundraising more deeply:
1: Define Each Board Member’s Role
Whether you have board members already or you are looking to onboard new members, defining board members’ roles based on their positions and key strengths will provide a solid foundation of executive support to meet initiatives. This can be as simple as a one-page job description or a detailed summary of this role. Having your board members be part of this conversation can lead to more buy-in and better outcomes overall.

assault-style rifle: assault-style rifle sitting on case

Opinion: Assault-style Rifles, Their Bullets Many Times More Dangerous Than Original Militia

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The Parkland high school mass shooting on Feb. 14, 2018 killed 17 people, including 14 students. The shooter fired 136 bullets in six minutes and four seconds, or about 22 bullets per minute, from the rifle he used. In 1789, when the Second Amendment was passed by Congress, the average number of musket balls that could be fired by a member of the militia was about two per minute. Using this comparison of the number of bullets released per minute, the Parkland shooter represented the equivalent of 11 militiamen storming the high school. 

The wounding energy of each of the rifle bullets released by the Parkland mass shooter in 2018 is at least nine times greater than the energy released by the musket balls shot by a member of the militia in 1789.

Smiling little girl, 3 women, 1 seated, pose together.

Woman’s Death In South Carolina Prison Shines Light On COVID-19 Policy, Lack Of Transparency

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It was the fall of 1988 when Rose Wilson, then 33, was given a life sentence for murder in South Carolina. Her daughter, Kasi, was only 8 months old. Like many children of incarcerated parents, Kasi was raised by relatives — in this case her grandparents — but her mother was always in her life. “We made constant visits. We would go see her once every three or four months or so,” Kasi Wilson said.

suicide: Young male trying to commit suicide by taking pills

Opinion: Suicide Is Not an Option, No Matter How Bad It Gets

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Let me start by saying I am a triracial human being with a dark complexion. That was my funny way of saying I’m Black. I embrace my Mexican side. I embrace my Indian side and my Black side but for a while no one else embraced it. 

I was bullied a lot growing up. I’m 33 years young, and it was because I didn’t fit the mold the world created for me.

lead poisoning: Video screen with text and red play arrow

Florida Attorney Believes Lead Poisoning Is Partial Explanation For Low-income Neighborhood Crimes

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VIDEOGRAPHER: JACOB LANGSTON
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Teri Sopp’s former self stares down from a wall in Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office. The painting, a gift more than a dozen years ago, bears silent witness as she works to free people also frozen in time, serving lifelong sentences for crimes committed before they turned 18. For one client, she’s arguing reduced culpability because of lead. She expects to argue the same for other clients. Sopp is the director of the resentencing project for juveniles serving life without parole.

resentencing: The father holds the wand and is hitting the son with it, vintage color tone

Abused, Often Homeless, Florida Man Got 2 Life Sentences At 17

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JACKSONVILLE, Florida — In the decades after the civil rights era, Black communities in Jacksonville remained disproportionately impoverished, blighted and policed. Some activists would say this continues to present day. This was the world in which John grew up. Born in the 1970s, John’s childhood was characterized by instability, neglect and abuse. John (a pseudonym) had lived in two dozen homes by the time he moved out.