South Carolina college: We didn't put a ban on being gay | MSNBC

The document then proceeds to cite biblical verse to bolster those beliefs and concludes by saying, “members of the Erskine community are expected to follow the teachings of scripture concerning matters of human sexuality and institutional decisions will be made in light of this position.”



South Carolina college: We didn't put a ban on being gay | MSNBC

Hotter Than Lava: Every Day, Cops Toss Flashbang Grenades With Little Oversight and Horrifying Results - ProPublica

Justin Volz for ProPublica

Hotter Than Lava

Every day, cops toss dangerous military-style flashbang grenades during raids, with little oversight and horrifying results.

by Julia Angwin and Abbie Nehring, ProPublica
January 12, 2015
IT WAS JUST BEFORE DAWN when 18 police officers poured out of an armored truck and an unmarked white van at the Laurel Park apartment complex on the outskirts of Atlanta. A few days earlier, a confidential informant reported seeing “a brown skinned black male” with “a small quantity of a green leafy substance.” The 22-year-old suspect, paroled for forging a check, lived in a small ground floor apartment with easy access. But the police didn’t plan on taking any chances.

Recreational Marijuana Now Legal In D.C.

After months of debate, threats and uncertainty, recreational marijuana became legal in Washington, D.C., Thursday -- at least according to the city government.

Adults 21 and over may now legally use marijuana, possess up to two ounces and grow up to six marijuana plants in their homes for personal use. Marijuana sales remain illegal, but the District Council is considering a bill that would regulate and tax marijuana sales, similar to laws in Colorado and Washington state. Because of the city's unique oversight by Congress, it's unclear if any measure legalizing marijuana sales and regulation could go into effect before 2016.

The legalization of marijuana on the federal government's home turf adds to a shift in U.S. marijuana policy that began when Colorado and Washington state allowed recreational marijuana two years ago. Alaska's new recreational marijuana law also took effect this week. Oregon's legalization takes effect later this year.

“This is a significant milestone in the movement for racial justice, civil liberties, and drug policy reform,” said Dr. Malik Burnett, D.C. policy manager at the Drug Policy Alliance. “The racially-biased enforcement of marijuana laws in the nation’s capital is officially a relic of history.”

Recreational Marijuana Now Legal In D.C.

Faces From Ferguson: Ashley 'Brown Blaze' Yates | Maytha Alhassen

"If they are killing us every 28 hours, what do I have to lose?"

Ashley Yates, also known to the Twitterverse as @brownblaze, was citing a Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) report, "Operation Ghetto Storm," on the extrajudicial killings of Black people at the hands of law enforcement and vigilante violence. (The report was first issued in 2012, and the most current data adjusted the previous finding of 36 hours to 28 hours.) More than a nod to a deterministic nihilism, this was an accentuated skepticism in a system of domination that routinely devalues Black lives, one that operates on the logic of "state-sanctioned or extralegal production and exploitation of group-differentiated vulnerability to premature death" (as CUNY Graduate Center geographer Ruthie Gilmore defines racism) to Black bodies. In doing so, Yates located vitality in righteous resistance to police brutality and state-sanctioned violence, because, as Assata Shakur (often quoted by Yates) said, "We have nothing to lose but our chains."

Crowded in the basement of St. Louis' Saint John's United Church of Christ ("Beloved Disciples Building Beloved Community") at the end of the Labor Day weekend, Yates continued by recounting almost a month's worth of harrowing encounters with a militarized police force to a room of Black Lives Matter freedom riders. She woefully explained that as the days bled into one another, she began "marking days by police tactics."

After that weekend, I was fortunate enough to continue communicating with Yates via tweets and texts, at rallies in Ferguson/St. Louis (Ferguson October: Weekend of Resistance), and over soul food meals. It was only natural to profile her for the Faces From Ferguson series, as our conversations seemed to organically engage the theoretics and practices of justice:

Faces From Ferguson: Ashley 'Brown Blaze' Yates | Maytha Alhassen

Why The Chinese Community Shouldn't Rally Around Indicted Cop Peter Liang

Earlier this month, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announced it would indict NYPD Officer Peter Liang for the killing of Akai Gurley, with the most serious charge leveled against him being second degree manslaughter.

This indictment comes after the non-indictments of Officers Dan Pantaleo in the killing of Eric Garner and Darren Wilson in the death of Mike Brown in Ferguson, and has touched off a firestorm of outrage, with many in the Chinese American community saying that Officer Liang is being unfairly scapegoated for being Asian. Let’s put this indictment in some perspective: During the past 15 years, NYPD officers have killed at least 179 people, and only three officers before Liang was indicted.

For those who aren’t familiar with the events leading up to the indictment, here’s a brief synopsis: On the evening of November 20, 2014, Officer Liang and his partner were doing their regular rounds at the Pink Houses, a public housing development in East New York. They were performing what’s known as a vertical patrol (a practice that has come under criticism for its harassment of residents of public housing and their guests). As they entered the darkened stairwell on the 8th floor, unlit due to malfunctioning lights, Liang took out his gun, finger on the trigger. Startled by the sound of Akai Gurley and his girlfriend entering the landing below, Liang fired one shot, which ricocheted off the wall and into Gurley, killing him. It hardly bears mentioning that Gurley was unarmed. He was simply there to visit his girlfriend.

And yet this is how upset people are that Officer Liang was indicted: In the span of only a week,almost 120,000 people—who I suspect are mostly Chinese American—have signed a petition directed at the White House, demanding that the Brooklyn District Attorney withdraw the indictment.

Why The Chinese Community Shouldn't Rally Around Indicted Cop Peter Liang

Fired for Being Trans | Patricia Dawson

The day I got my driver's license with the gender marked "F" and my new legal name was one of the best days of my life. I was assigned male at birth, and my parents named me Steven. But I'd known for many years that I am a woman, and now I had the identification to prove it.

That year also included many of the hardest days. My parents, who belong to a conservative church, disowned me. My next-door neighbor hosed me in the face with a chemical poison. And I was fired from the job that I loved -- all because I am transgender.

I'm an electrician, and I was working at H & H Electric, a contractor in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The day after I got my new driver's license, I told my boss that I am a transgender woman. He looked shocked. He told me that I was one of his best people and that he would hate to lose me. I was stunned that his first reaction was that he might have to fire me.

Fired for Being Trans | Patricia Dawson

FedEx And UPS Refuse to Ship a Digital Mill That Can Make Untraceable Guns | WIRED

The political battle over the American story America’s complicated and conflicting history was in the spotlight this week in Oklahoma, where a House committee approved a bill that would ban AP History from being taught in the state. Pedro Noguera and high school student Moin Nadeem join to discuss.

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

George Washington, Slave Catcher - NYTimes.com

George Washington died on Dec. 14, 1799. At the time of his death, 318 enslaved people lived at Mount Vernon and fewer than half of them belonged to the former president. Washington’s will called for the emancipation of his slaves following the death of his wife. He completed in death what he had been unwilling to do while living, an act made easier because he had no biological children expecting an inheritance. Martha Washington lived until 1802 and upon her death all of her human property went to her inheritors. She emancipated none of her slaves.



George Washington, Slave Catcher - NYTimes.com

Even as Many Eyes Watch, Brutality at Rikers Island Persists - NYTimes.com

"On Sept. 2, four correction officers pulled Jose Guadalupe, an inmate classified in medical records as seriously mentally ill, into his solitary-confinement cell at Rikers Island and beat him unconscious.

A little over two months later, three guards wrestled another inmate, Tracy Johnson, to the floor, pepper-sprayed him in the face and broke a bone in his eye socket. Then, on Dec. 9, yet another group of officers beat Ambiorix Celedonio, an inmate with an I.Q. of 65, so badly that, as surveillance footage later showed, he had bruises and scratches on his face and blood coming from his mouth.

The brutal confrontations were among 62 cases identified by The New York Times in which inmates were seriously injured by correction officers between last August and January, a period when city and federal officials had become increasingly focused on reining in violence at Rikers."

Killing by Police in a Washington Town Stirs Protests - NYTimes.com

"In a case with unmistakable echoes of Ferguson, Mo., and New York, demonstrators have gathered every day during the past week in front of City Hall to demand answers in the deadly police shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a 35-year-old Mexican immigrant and former orchard worker who the authorities say was throwing rocks at officers."

Killing by Police in a Washington Town Stirs Protests - NYTimes.com

Malcolm X’s daughter on how he would see the world today | MSNBC

Malcolm X’s daughter on how he would see the world today | MSNBC

We Lock Up Tons of Innocent People—and Charge Them for the Privilege | Mother Jones

"The United States has a prison problem. We have just 5 percent of the world's population but 25 percent of its prisoners. Even though our imprisonment rate has grown more than 400 percent since 1970, locking people up has not proved to be a deterrent.

The prison problem also extends to jails, which hold defendants awaiting trial and prisoners sentenced for minor offenses. A new report from the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit focused on justice policy, reports that America's local jails, which hold roughly 731,000 people on any given day, are holding more people even though the crime rate is going down. Jails disproportionately detain people of color longer and for lesser crimes. The report also finds that jails are less likely to give inmates the rehabilitation and mental-health support that could keep them out of prison."

What Would Malcolm X Think? - NYTimes.com

"NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — FIFTY years ago today my father, Malcolm X, was assassinated while speaking at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. I think about him every day, but even more in the last year, with the renewed spirit of civil rights activism after the tragic events in Ferguson, Mo., on Staten Island and in countless other parts of the country. What would he have to say about it?

People still look to Malcolm as a model for strident activism. They lament the lack of such a prominent, resonant voice in the modern dialogue about race. But they might not like some of the critical things he would have to say about the strategies of today’s activists.

Of course, my father would be heartened by the youth-led movement taking place across the nation, and abroad, in response to institutional brutality. And he would appreciate the protesters’ fervor and skillful use of social media to rapidly organize, galvanize and educate. In a sense, his ability to boil down hard truths into strong statements and catchy phrases presaged our era of hashtag activism."

North Koreans Toil in Slavelike Conditions Abroad, Rights Groups Say - NYTimes.com

SEOUL, South Korea — When the North Korean carpenter was offered a job in Kuwait in 1996, he leapt at the chance.

He was promised $120 a month, an unimaginable wage for most workers in his famine-stricken country. The opportunity to work overseas, in a country where most people are not allowed to travel abroad, was a rare privilege.

But for Rim Il, the deal soured from the start: Under a moonlit night, the bus carrying him and a score of other fresh arrivals pulled into a desert camp cordoned off with barbed wire fences.

There, 1,800 contract workers, sent by North Korea to earn badly needed hard currency, were living together under the watchful eyes of government supervisors, Mr. Rim said. They worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, doing menial jobs at construction sites."

New York Today: Remembering Malcolm X - NYTimes.com. I am so glad my father sat me down and asked me to listen to him speak whenever he saw him on television. Dad used to say that Malcolm poked his eye in the finger of white racism.. I am so glad my father sat me down and asked me to listen to him speak whenever he saw him on television. Dad used to say that Malcolm poked his eye in the finger of white racism. I am so glad my father sat me down and asked me to listen to him speak whenever he saw him on television. Dad used to say that Malcolm poked his eye in the finger of white racism. I am thankful that my dad encouraged me to watch Malcolm X speak whenever he was on TV. He said Malcolm poked his finger in the eye of white hypocracy

New York Today: Remembering Malcolm X - NYTimes.com

George Washington | HISTORY - “George Washington was a slave owner. He had hundreds of slaves.” Clarence Lusane, Professor, American University" “George Washington was the richest man in America.” Howard Zinn, ‘A People’s History of the United States’

George Washington | HISTORY

Rock-Throwing Man Killed By Police in Pasco Had No Other Weapons - NBC News.com

Rock-Throwing Man Killed By Police in Pasco Had No Other Weapons - NBC News.com

Bank Hackers Steal Millions via Malware - NYTimes.com

PALO ALTO, Calif. — In late 2013, an A.T.M. in Kiev started dispensing cash at seemingly random times of day. No one had put in a card or touched a button. Cameras showed that the piles of money had been swept up by customers who appeared lucky to be there at the right moment.

But when a Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, was called to Ukraine to investigate, it discovered that the errant machine was the least of the bank’s problems.

The bank’s internal computers, used by employees who process daily transfers and conduct bookkeeping, had been penetrated by malware that allowed cybercriminals to record their every move. The malicious software lurked for months, sending back video feeds and images that told a criminal group — including Russians, Chinese and Europeans — how the bank conducted its daily routines, according to the investigators.

Then the group impersonated bank officers, not only turning on various cash machines, but also transferring millions of dollars from banks in Russia, Japan, Switzerland, the United States and the Netherlands into dummy accounts set up in other countries.

Bank Hackers Steal Millions via Malware - NYTimes.com

John Henrik Clarke - A Great and Mighty Walk on Vimeo

John Henrik Clarke - A Great and Mighty Walk from kntr on Vimeo.

John Henrik Clarke - A Great and Mighty Walk on Vimeo

Some places never really change, Alabama continues deny, all of it's citizens, equal protection of it's laws. How Valentine’s Day connects to Alabama today Dorian Warren shares the real story of Valentine’s Day and the connection to what’s happening with same-sex marriages in Alabama right now. Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, joins the panel.

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

Chapel Hill victim’s sister demands justice Dr. Suzanne Barakat, the sister of Deah Barakat, explains why she sees the act as a hate crime, and what she would see as justice, saying, “there is an immense amount of hatred and prejudice that is weaved into our society against Muslims these days.”

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

How do we define hate? It has been a week of mourning for a university community in N.C. after three Muslim-American students were shot to death. Dorian Warren and his guests examine why it matters whether or not this shooting is classified by the police as a hate crime.

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

After Shooting, Officer Worried He’d Be Fired, Prosecutors Say - NYTimes.com

For four minutes, a New York City police officer who had just fired his gun into a darkened housing project stairwell argued with his partner over whether to tell their superiors about the shot.

“I’m going to be fired,” said the officer who pulled the trigger, Peter Liang, according to prosecutors’ account. Down a flight of stairs, the bullet from his gun had ricocheted off a wall and into a man’s chest, mortally wounding him.

The man, Akai Gurley, had done nothing more than enter the stairwell in the Louis H. Pink Houses, a housing project in East New York, Brooklyn.

On Wednesday, Officer Liang was charged in Mr. Gurley’s death after a grand jury handed up a six-count indictment. In laying out the allegations against the officer, including a charge of second-degree manslaughter, the Brooklyn district attorney, Kenneth P. Thompson, provided the most detailed account yet of what investigators believe happened inside 2724 Linden Boulevard on the night of Nov. 20.

After Shooting, Officer Worried He’d Be Fired, Prosecutors Say - NYTimes.com

History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names - NYTimes.com

Around the country, there are only a few markers noting the sites of lynchings. In several of those places, like Newnan, Ga., attempts to erect markers were met with local resistance. But in most places, no one has tried to put up a marker.

Efforts to count the number of lynchings in the country go back at least to 1882, when The Chicago Tribune began publishing each January a list of all executions and lynchings in the previous year. The Tuskegee Institute began releasing a list in 1912, and in 1919, the N.A.A.C.P. published what its researchers said was a comprehensive list of lynchings in the previous three decades. In 1995, the sociologists Stewart Tolnay and E. M. Beck researched the existing lists, eliminated errors and duplicates, and compiled what many consider the most accurate inventory to that time.

The report released Tuesday says that the new inventory has 700 names that are not on any of these previous lists, many of which Mr. Stevenson said were discovered during the compilation of the report.

History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names - NYTimes.com

In a Move That Could Spell More Trouble for Black Community, NY Police Officials Tell State Lawmakers to Stiffen Penalties for Resisting Arrest - Atlanta Blackstar

"Last September, the New York Times quoted an anonymous police official as saying the NYPD was tracking the officers who bring an extreme amount of resisting arrest charges as a red flag for use of excessive force.

“If resisting arrest is a reasonable indicator of the use of force, department statistics for 2013 suggest that officers used force more regularly than indicated on arrest reports,” the Times wrote. “In 2013, there were 12,453 arrests that included charges of resisting arrest, about 3.1 percent of all arrests, thousands more than the total number of recorded uses of force.”

So to increase the charge to a felony would be handing even more power and authority over to these bad cops to potentially ruin many Black lives."

In a Move That Could Spell More Trouble for Black Community, NY Police Officials Tell State Lawmakers to Stiffen Penalties for Resisting Arrest - Atlanta Blackstar

Eric Holder: Voting rights ‘under threat’ Attorney General Eric Holder talks about why he thinks voting rights are currently “under threat” in America and if the fractured relationship between cops and many communities of color can be fixed.

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

Melissa Harris-Perry Eric Holder: Gun safety ‘my single failure’ Attorney General Eric Holder speaks to Melissa Harris-Perry about the aftermath of Newtown and the lack progress since then in passing gun safety measures.

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

George Armwood Remembrance slideshow

How Black History Month came to be On February 7, 1926, the historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded a new way to recognize and honor the contributions of black Americans to the United States. Melissa Harris-Perry explains.

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

Reporting on rape brings significant challenges Serious challenges are inherent when journalists report on rape, when so often it comes down to “he said/she said.”

Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

‘I am Eric Holder and I’m proud of that fact’ Melissa Harris-Perry previews her exclusive interview with Attorney General Eric Holder, airing Holder’s response to a jab from Sen. John Cornyn.

Armwood Technology Blog

Evangelicals’ racist “purity” culture: What’s really behind Huckabee’s Beyoncé slur - Salon

"Just over a century before these moments portrayed in the movie, Huckabee’s own Southern Baptist Convention was born. This denomination, which has grown to nearly 16 million members, was founded in a historical break from Northern Baptists in 1845 – over a question of slaveholding. In the South of Dr. King and Fr. James Reeb, the Southern Baptist Convention was a main portion of the white opposition to the black civil rights "

More Muslims = Less Murder [STUDY]

Why Are Fish Disappearing From Africa's Biggest Lake?