Jobs & Justice - DC, 10.15.2011

{for pictures, click here.}

I arrived at the Mall around 11:30am, thinking I’d missed the march itself. Actually, it hadn’t started. Speakers were still speaking, folks were still gathering.

I noticed the youth first. They seemed ubiquitous, some in marching bands, others rhythmically shouting “Free DC!” as they made their way through the crowd. Black youth. I had to struggle to find whitefolks--one of the radio personalities cracked a joke about that from the stage a little later on.

sara kruzan and the culture of incarceration

forced into prostitution at 13.
killed her pimp at 16.

so, essentially, she's serving life without parole for the "well thought out" murder of an abusive, manipulative creep.

at what point do we holistically begin to look at what is happening to girl-children and women like sara and offer them true justice?

no morals? no scruples? i wonder how much her being a young woman of color had to do with that nice, high handed statement by the judge.



more information on sara's case and how you can help ban these sentences for juveniles in california can be found here and here.

just legalize it already.

finally, a sensible take on the michael phelps "scandal".

bottom line: everybody put in the position of hero ain't one.

furthermore, it is extraordinarily problematic to worship youth on the one hand, then be unforgiving when youth acts like itself.

legally speaking, yeah, he screwed up.

morally, though, what has he done besides show us he can swim?

he has not been entrusted with the lives of children, the financial future of hundreds, or the governance of a city, town or state.

so far, he's a kid who can swim. what are you broken hearted about?

my people, my people

thank you for posting this, jendai.

while we all know blk folk need to learn better and do better, it's kinda hard when the folks you're racing have had a several-centuries long head start. when have we had the time/money/energy to build up a wall street? a lloyd's of london?

it's gonna be a long, hard road to recovery.

the story of the wall family of mississippi

shaquanda cotton

this is insanity made manifest.

this girl deserves to be freed. immediately.

there's a link to her official blog in the list to the right.

update 4/2/2007: she's been released, and authorities will be investigating the texas juvenile justice system to find other kids "whose sentences have been unjustly extended by prison authorities." give thanks.