COVID-19 presents an enormous risk to those in carceral facilities and their surrounding communities. Since the pandemic began, more than 50,000 people in prison have tested positive for the coronavirus, and over 600 have died. These infections and deaths …
After three grueling years of law school, aspiring attorneys have one last hurdle to overcome in order to practice law: the bar exam. In normal times, the bar exam is daunting, as the multi-day test determines the professional fates of lawyers-to-be. This …
Since the protests decrying the murder of George Floyd began in May, the institution of American policing has taken center stage. Activists are calling for change, and the phrase “defund the police” can be heard in cities across the country. As the concept …
In the past week, unidentified federal officers in camouflage fatigues, labeled only “police,” abducted people off the streets of Portland in unmarked vehicles and threatened the “Wall of Moms” standing up for our Constitution. The administration later …
As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep through the country, especially in prisons and jails, the opioid epidemic has also seen a resurgence. The Washington Post reported that suspected overdoses jumped nationally by 18 percent in March, 29 percent …
In recent months, we have witnessed a historic wave of Black Lives Matter protests for racial justice — examining the racism in the criminal legal system and every other aspect of society, from education, to healthcare, to housing. A number of corporate …
For Black and Brown people, individuals with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community, any contact with the criminal legal system can be a life sentence of punishment. It is not just the precious time taken away from families and communities and turned over …
The first time I voted was in 1968. As a blind man, I needed the assistance of a poll worker to cast my ballot. I’ll never forget the moment the poll worker looked at my ballot and said loudly, for everybody to hear, “You want to vote for who?” The poll …
Corporate anti-racism is all the rage these days. We’ve exposed the hypocrisy of companies from Amazon to Airbnb that have taken to social media in recent weeks to speak out against systemic racism and express support for the Movement for Black Lives, but …
I’ve been documenting violent and militarized police responses to protests in Portland for more than four years, but nothing prepared me for the unrestrained brutality I’ve witnessed and experienced in recent days. Night after night, since the police …
Recently, we’ve seen a reckoning in the culinary world around the whitewashing and co-opting of ethnic food. The industry has long been controlled by a limited number of people — many of them white — who have authored and then profited from the foods we …
After a week of chaos, international students were able to relax after the Trump administration agreed to rescind its latest attack on immigrants: an attempt to ban international students whose classes would be entirely online this fall. The administration …
Since Roger Stone’s commutation first made news, politicians on both sides of the aisle have been quick to condemn Donald Trump’s grant of clemency to his long-time confidant. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has even gone so far as to threaten legislation that …
In just over 100 days, Americans will vote not just for an individual candidate to occupy the Oval Office, but for a vision of the next era of the United States. That vision will hold answers to a range of key questions: Will we continue to restrict access …
The Trump administration is infamous for its attacks on immigrants and their loved ones. The administration’s cruelty has no bounds, as we’ve seen from its separation of families, obliteration of our historical commitment to protecting asylum seekers and …
In 2013, I founded Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB) after my only son Clinton Allen was extra-judicially murdered by a Dallas police officer. Clinton was unarmed. He was just 25-years-old, and had grown from being a delightful and curious child into …
Donald Trump, who often behaves as though he has never read the Constitution, received an important civics lesson from the Supreme Court yesterday when it ruled in two cases involving his personal financial records, including tax returns that he has long …
The calls of activists have forced a national reckoning with the legacy of white supremacy in our country. That reckoning has led us to examine the systems that exert control over and oppress Black lives, from policing to reproductive health care. There is …
Across the country, communities are pushing their schools to divest funding from police and reinvest those funds in student mental health care and other supportive services. But in making their case to their respective school boards, these parents, …
As COVID-19 infection rates soar across the country, Congress is running out of time to take further actions to protect us all. Our government must do more: Lives are at stake. Black and Brown communities are dying and being hospitalized at …
