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California’s fire camp program uses prison labor to fight wildfires across the state. People have compared it to modern-day slavery because the inmates are paid next to nothing. Now participation is down, and the state is trying to switch it up to keep the program going.

According to reporting over at Earther, a document they obtained through a Freedom Of Information Request reveals that California blames prison “population reduction strategies” for a shortage in people joining the firefighter program. Prisoners join voluntarily, but there’s a catch. 

About 70% of Black Americans have low or no swimming ability, putting them at risk any time they come into contact with water.

Black children are FIVE TIMES more likely to drown than white children! Hundreds of Black children drown EVERY year. The reasons for this are complex. 

For decades, city pools and beaches were legally off-limits to Black people, and only wealthy suburban families could afford backyard pools.

We see it every day: homelessness, poverty, and hunger are all things we view as almost normal. Yet, the thought of violent crime stands out as something much scarier to most. 

But there’s another perspective on inequality that you need to know about. 

A Pew Research Center reports that people think crime has been increasing around the country, but the opposite is true! According to FBI data, violent crime has DECREASED by nearly HALF between 1993 and 2017. News and sensationalized reporting influence our perceptions. 

People are being locked up when that’s NOT the solution to the problems they’re dealing with. Those with medical and mental health issues often end up in jails and prisons when the police are called to respond to issues they’re not qualified to handle. And it’s resulting in something troubling.

Policing is viewed as a go-to mental healthcare response in many communities across the nation. The problem is that being aggressive and arresting then locking someone up in ways police often do is NOT how medical issues should be resolved. It’s actually dangerous!

Joe Biden’s Crime Bill helped create mass incarceration and pushed “three strikes” rules onto Black communities already suffering from the crack epidemic. Since being signed into law by Bill Clinton, it’s been horrible for us - but thanks to Black organizing it’s being discussed as something that must GO.

Some Presidential candidates have finally mentioned wanting to get rid of the DISASTER that we know as the 1994 Crime Bill. FOR YEARS Black activists have been saying we don’t need anything that increases incarceration and “tough on crime” policies that are dead wrong. 

Maurice Flowers-Williams was in a situation many can relate to. He was the one Black person around his colleagues at work - and some of the things he heard were pretty upsetting, to say the least. He was a cop in Allentown, PA and things got so bad he decided to take action. 

Maurice’s lawsuit states that he was repeatedly harassed and treated in a discriminatory way by his coworkers and his superiors. Despite having good reviews, he was passed over for promotions and had to deal with racist insults in the process! That’s not even the worst of it either. 

Content Warning: The following story is about rape and sexual assault.

Former Chattanooga police officer Desmond Logan put in a plea for his crimes, but what he did is shocking and unfortunately doesn’t get punished enough. This officer was using his power and hiding behind his badge in the worst of ways, abusing women and wreaking havoc. 

There are some huge plans around criminal justice being proposed during this election. When it comes to criminal justice, what some Democrats want to do is largely drawn from organizing Black people have been doing for years. Here’s how Black protests entered the election. 

These are issues that Black activists have challenged in recent years: 

Joe Budden recently came under fire for implying that Carnival just about being a “ho.” This self-hate, ignorance, and sexism happens when we don’t know the true history of our people’s cultural traditions. So what is Carnival really about?

Originally an African pagan celebration, Carnival was appropriated by Europeans, connected with Catholic celebrations around Holy Week, and turned into high-society masquerade balls. 

When Europeans kidnapped and took enslaved Black people to the Caribbean and the Americas, they continued these Holy Week celebrations.

You may have attended a historically Black college or university (HBCU) if the chill of fall weather excites you. 

But not for the typical reasons like pumpkin spice lattes or the chance to go apple picking, but rather because it means you can once again rock your favorite cooler-weather HBCU gear with pride!

You’ve already submitted your vacation request for your favorite HBCU’s homecoming weekend. 

Folks who have been around the block a few times already KNOW to take off that Thursday AND the following Monday.