Justice for Breonna not served; The essential rule of politics; Teen serves two months in jail for not doing homework; and More

Justice for Breonna not served as grand jury indicted officer who shot her with wanton endangerment — but not murder.

“Outrageous and offensive.” Those were  by attorney to the family, Ben Crump to describe the grand jury’s decision in the March 13 fatal police shooting of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. While two of the officers involved in the no-knock raid of her apartment escaped charges entirely, the third — former detective Brett Hankison — was indicted on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, reports the Louisville Courier Journal. “If Brett Hankison’s behavior was wanton endangerment to people in neighboring apartments, then it should have been wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor’s apartment too,” tweeted Crump. “In fact, it should have been ruled wanton murder!”

 

The essential rule of politics: If you don’t listen to any other voting bloc, listen to African American women.

As the presidential election draws ever closer, campaign officials continue to reach out to voters in election battleground states like Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin through virtual events. They’re also making what they say are “millions of calls and texts” to voters across these regions; investing heavily in TV, radio and digital ads; and supplying supporters with thousands of lawn signs and bumper stickers. Still, some pundits wonder whether this kind of campaigning — in a time when physical rallies aren’t possible — is enough.  In an interview with the Philadelphia Tribute, Branden Snyder, the executive director of Detroit Action cautioned: “There are still incredible challenges we face in connecting specifically with apathetic voters and with younger Black voters who might have more progressive leanings. “However, we’ve got about 48,000 new young people who’ve been registered since March that we’re trying to mobilize,” he said. “We’re building an army.” 

Lucell Trammer, a 40-year-old father of two who lives in Oakland County is one of those soldiers. He added: “[Black people] are in every single demographic, we’re in every single voting bloc, we’re in every single county. We tend to be the bellwether, especially African American women. I tell people all the time: If you don’t listen to any other voting bloc, listen to African American women.”

 

Michigan teen serves two months in jail … for not doing her homework.

Today, ProPublica reported on the shocking case of a 15-year-old girl in suburban Detroit who was incarcerated in May 2020 after a judge ruled that by not doing her schoolwork, she had also violated her probation. The teen, whose identity was concealed in the report due to privacy reasons, was originally incarcerated due to fighting and stealing. Besides flying in the face of legal and educational communities who advise leniency for teens during the current COVID-19 crisis, ProPublica also points to the obvious racism involved in that judge’s decision; the teen is Black in a predominantly white community and in a county where a disproportionate percentage of Black youth are involved with the juvenile justice system.

 

Cross that Palmetto pimento cheese off your shopping list — the company’s CEO is racist.

Supermarket chain has kicked Palmetto cheese off its shelves after an Aug. 25 comment from the company’s CEO surfaced on social media. USA Today reports that Brian Henry, the founder of Palmetto Cheese and mayor of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, wrote in a now deleted Facebook post saying he was “sickened by the senseless killings in Georgetown. 2 innocent people murdered. Not 2 thugs or people wanted on multiple warrants. 2 white people defenselessly gunned down by a black man. So why do we stand by and allow BLM to lawlessly destroy great American cities and threaten their citizens on a daily basis … This BLM and Antifa movement must be treated like the terror organizations they are.” Simply disgusting.

 

Are you registered to vote? Vote.org provides a number of resources for voters including a state-by-state rundown of important dates and regulations to know, plus information on registering to vote, how to successfully vote by mail and more. For more info, go to vote.org.

 

Related: For more recent diversity and inclusion news, click here

Related

Trending Now

Follow us

Most Popular

Join Our Newsletter

Get the top workplace fairness news delivered straight to your inbox