Policing & Security • Community Health & Safety • Organizing & Democracy
*Originally published by OSF Voices on March 20, 2018. On March 14, 2018, in the center of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro, two gunmen in a car murdered Municipal Chamber Councilor Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes. Unlike most of the city’s political leaders, Marielle came from Rio’s favelas. And many of the favelas’ millions of marginalized …
At the start of this year, Colombian news outlet ¡Pacifista! put together a list of 21 people to follow on Twitter to break through the lies and fake news related to drug & coca policy and the drug war in Colombia and internationally. Much to my surprise, my name & bad Twitter photo are included (down at the bottom, rightfully, under 'outsiders' header). Thanks ¡Pacifista! and be sure to follow the 20 other people first!
A new study finds official public health data on law enforcement-related deaths in the US fails to accurately record and report deaths. I spoke with Justin Feldman, the study’s lead researcher, about the implications of these findings.
The claim that "nothing happens" after mass shootings in America is false. What happens, time and time again, is more securitization, militarization, and surveillance of the sites where the shootings took place: clubs, universities, elementary schools, and now hotels. Meanwhile, we fail to address the one common feature among all these incidents: access to and …
A recent proposal for US Congress to “declare war” on Mexican cartels in order to curb the growing number of fatal opiate overdoses of Americans is incendiary and dangerous. Not only would it be ineffective in countering cartels or reducing fatal overdoses in the U.S.; it would lead to lead to the murders of thousands more Mexican civilians, not to mention endanger the lives of American soldiers.
U.S. Congress declaring war on Mexican drug cartels will only increase violence & harm to Mexican civilians & will not reduce overdoses in the U.S. Real, evidence-based solutions exist, this is not it. A response to Matt Mayer's dangerous proposal.
The drug war is not saving us; it is killing us. America - we must wake up. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdose-deaths-are-rising-faster-than-ever.html
36 years ago yesterday, Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike in the Maze prison hospital. Bobby, an IRA activist, poet, and member of parliament, inspired generations of activists fighting for justice and freedom. Below is one of the first writings I had published back in 2007, and still one of my most …
Continue reading "Bobby Sands (Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice)"
Ramarley Graham was shot & killed on February 2, 2012 in the Bronx by NYPD officer Richard Haste. Ramarely was unarmed & was not committing a crime at the time of his death. He was shot and killed in front of his grandmother in the bathroom of his home after Officer Haste chased him into …
Continue reading "#JusticeforRamarley demonstrations in NYC [Photos]"
These are photos from São Paulo, Brazil in June 2016 related to their innovative program Braços Abertos ("Open Arms"). This was a harm reduction effort aimed to provide housing, job training, jobs, income, and health services to street-based crack users known as Cracolândia or "Cracklands." You can read more about the program here, as well …
Continue reading "Harm reduction in São Paulo Brazil – Open Arms / Braços Abertos [Photos]"
