The state of Oklahoma recently announced it is freeing 527 inmates who were incarcerated for minor drug and nonviolent offenses—the largest single day of commutation in U.S. history. The commutations are the result of two ballot measures approved by state voters three years ago: State Question 780 and 781. The action lowered low-level crimes, such as simple drug possession and nonviolent property crimes under $1,000, to misdemeanors instead of felonies. The rationale boils down to dollars and cents. The state factored in all the money it will save on incarceration, allowing those dollars to be redirected to drug treatment and rehabilitation services. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, a first-term governor who campaigned on prison reform and signed off on freeing the inmates, said he was “implementing the will of the people.”—Source: TheGrio.com
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump’s new book, titled “Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People,” is unapologetic about the rampant genocide of “colored” people in America. In the book, Crump—who first became a national figure when he represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, unarmed Black men who were shot and killed because they were Black—examines several ways in which African Americans are being used as “target practice” and offers a systematic plan on how we can begin to change this course of action. Crump said the book was sparked by a memory of when he was in Ferguson with the protestors after the death of Brown. “This young boy, who had to be in his late teens, went in front of the national guard and he was literally screaming at them with no fear saying: ‘Go ahead and kill me now so the world can see how y’all killing us.’” The noted attorney said it’s time to hold a mirror to America’s face so they can see the killings that happen every day, in every city, state and courtroom in America and admit it can do better. —Source: TheGrio.com
Ex-San Francisco 49ers Quarterback and philanthropist/activist Colin Kaepernick and his girlfriend recently spent his 32nd birthday feeding and giving supplies to Oakland’s homeless. They both walked around Tent City in Oakland handing out backpacks loaded with snacks, socks, air quality masks, clothes and other supplies to the homeless population in that city. The effort was done in partnership with Kaepernicks’s foundation, “Know Your Rights Camp.” The former quarterback even posed for photos with the less fortunate. In 2016, Kaepernick risked his NFL career when he started kneeling during the National Anthem at games to raise awareness and protest incidents of police brutality and racial inequities. After that season, no NFL team signed Kaepernick to play. At the time, he said reportedly he was taking a stance because he couldn’t in good conscience “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. —Source: TheGrio.com
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