12 Search results for "decriminalization"

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed signed a bill on Wednesday that decriminalizes the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, making a once jailable offense a $75 fine. According to Fortune, 92% of people arrested for marijuana between 2014-2016 were Black. This does not mean, however, that the majority of people who use marijuana are […]

by Diane Wong Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an alarming increase and series of violent hate crimes against Asian Americans. In the last two months alone, Pak Ho a 75 year old Chinese American was killed in Oakland Chinatown, Vicha Ratanapakdee a 84 year old Thai man was violently shoved to […]

by Marq M.  In July 2012, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved Truvada as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Simultaneously, there’s been increasing awareness around additional benefits of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) as a method of preventing HIV transmission, as well as reinfection from other strains. That understanding caught on to an extent that, in […]

by Maximillian Matthews This essay contains discussions of racialized sexual violence and mentions r/pe “There is probably no greater (or more misleading) body of sexual myths in the world today than those which proliferated around the figure of the American Negro. This means that he is penalized for the guilty imagination of the white people […]

By Mark Matlock The possibility of weed legalization can be exciting to young people like me. Especially since our country’s current policies regarding weed have increased discrimination already fueled by the War on Drugs. But excitement can make us forget that being able to consume weed doesn’t get rid of the overt anti-Blackness that comes […]

According to a Gallup poll released last week, a majority of Republicans are in favor of the legalization of marijuana for the first time on record. According to the poll, 51% of Republicans polled think that marijuana should be legal. This is likely due to the increasing public popularity of legalizing marijuana and many successes […]

The office of Black Youth Project 100 is a few blocks from President Barack Obama’s private residence in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The organization’s national director, Charlene Carruthers, like Obama in his younger activist days, is a Chicago community organizer. The similarities may stop there. Indeed, Carruthers has been loudly calling for the resignation of […]

  The following post is from the Chicago Reporter. It was written by Katherine Mirani. By: Katherine Mirani Some of Charlene Carruthers’ strongest memories from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago are of visiting the public aid office with her mother. Caseworkers spoke condescendingly from a desk so high it was difficult to […]

  The following is from Huffington Post. It was written by BYP100’s National Coordinator Charlene Carruthers. By: Charlene Carruthers The targeting of Black people in Chicago for minor marijuana possession is not making our city a safer place.

I am surprised by Chicago’s strategy for fighting crime. Last week’s issue of the Chicago Reader gave details as to how decriminalization came about. Not only does legalizing marijuana help Chicago’s police shortage, but the new policy also enhances the mayor’s reputation. The city’s pot smokers,at least what to do with them, determine the success […]

In a 43-3 vote today, the Chicago City Council has approved a new policy regarding marijuana. Police have the choice of issuing a ticket instead of arresting those found to be in possession of 15 or fewer grams of the drug. Should other cities follow this example?

So, I am sitting here trying to understand why during the month of October Breast Cancer Awareness gets more media attention and corporate sponsorship than Domestic Violence Awareness which is also remembered during the month of October. I know that most women have breast irrespective of their size, pigmentation, and function. And, I also know 1 […]