91%: A Documentary About Guns in America by John Richie

New Orleans Filmmaker Hopes to Get the ‘91%’ Out of Movie Seats, Into Ballot Box

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NEW YORK — The filmmaker could not get the number out of his head. Even while he was traveling the country to discuss “Shell Shocked” — a movie about children killing children with machine guns in the streets of his hometown New Orleans — it was a number that kept John Richie up at night.

After a classroom of children were found in a lifeless pile, shot to death by Adam Lanza in Sandy Hook, Conn., with an assortment of guns including a Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle, the country was awash in research and polling and charts about Americans and their guns.

Protesters Seek NYPD Policy Change in Spirit of Dr. King

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NEW YORK — The image and words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could be seen and heard everywhere the Dream4Justice march went, from Harlem to Midtown, Monday afternoon. But as the marchers walked a slow and peaceful four miles over as many hours, King’s voice mixed with the protesters’ now familiar chants: “I have a dream” alongside “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace.”

King’s memory brought organizers and protesters together but the marchers’ demands came from more recent deaths. In memory of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and others who had been killed by police, the march ended near the United Nations to bring attention to police brutality as a human rights issue. Marchers called for immediate policy change at the city and state levels in keeping with King’s philosophy. “We are non-violent but we are not peaceful,” said Tamika Mallory, an organizer and board member of The Gathering for Justice.

Anti-police protestors

NY Protesters Hope to Disrupt New Year’s Eve Celebration at Times Square

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NEW YORK — The savage killing of two police officers has done nothing to ease the tension between protesters and the city and police department they hope to reform. In fact, divisions between the two sides appear to only have deepened. And with more protests planned for New Year’s Eve, the stand-off shows no sign of letting up.

Many New Yorkers, Police Mourn Their Losses, Fear the Future

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NEW YORK — It has been more than 20 years since the day Nicholas Heyward Jr. was shot by a police officer while he was playing cops and robbers as a 13-year-old with his friends in the stairwell of the Gowanus Houses in Brooklyn.

Yoga, Meditation Lessons Work for Some Teens

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NEW YORK — On a sunny school day last year, the last thing 20 teenagers seemed interested in was a yoga class. Most hadn’t even bothered changing out of their jeans, leather jackets and baseball caps. Despite appearances, one in particular was different.

John was a senior at Humanities Preparatory Academy, a small alternative public high school for students deemed at-risk, yet with the academic potential to attend college. He’s been assigned to the yoga class for the past three years.

“I thought it would just be a class of breathing, just calming the body down, that’s it,” said John, 18.

At-risk youth are those under 18 who are likely to drop out of school for a variety of reasons: substance abuse problems, a troubled home life or getting into trouble with the law. Trauma, poverty and violence often factor in as well.

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No Sentencing Yet for NY Gang Suspects

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Friends and family of 35 alleged gang members from west Harlem filled the courthouse today. But decisions never came, leaving families frustrated and suspects awaiting judgment amid hostile tension in jail.