(Source: lgbtlaughs, via forever-bifuri0us)

justahumann:

Photo credit: Richard Plunk.

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(Source: revelandrioton, via lgbtlaughs)

thepeoplesrecord:

Study: Black male incarceration jumped 500% from 1986 to 2004
November 12, 2012

A report has been released at Meharry Medical College School of Medicine about the devastating impact that mass incarceration has on our society.  The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, is one of the most thorough examinations of the impact that mass incarceration has on the African American community.  The study’s authors argue that the billions of dollars being spent keeping non-violent offenders behind bars would be better spent on education and rehabilitation.

“Instead of getting health care and education from civil society, African American males are being funneled into the prison system. Much of this costly practice could be avoided in the long-term by transferring funds away from prisons and into education,” says Dr. William D Richie, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Meharry Medical College, lead author of the paper.

The study’s authors note that 60% of all incarcerations are due to non-violent, drug-related crimes. The authors also note that the cost of substance abuse in the United States is as high as half a trillion dollars per year.

“Spending money on prevention and intervention of substance abuse treatment programs will yield better results than spending on correctional facilities,” the authors claim in the study.

Finally, the authors note that while crime rates have declined over the last 20 years, incarceration rates has climbed through the roof. The inmates occupying these jail cells are disproportionately black.  In fact, the black male incarceration rate has jumped by 500% between 1986 the 2004.  The authors note that, even for those who don’t abuse drugs before going to prison, the likelihood of substance abuse after prison goes up dramatically.

You can read more of the study at this link

The mass incarceration epidemic affects all of us, even those who haven’t gone to prison: It affects the child who grows up without  a father who has been incarcerated, the children who are bullied at school by that child, the woman seeking a husband who can’t find a good man to marry, the list goes on and on.  When so many of our men are marginalized and incarcerated, this has a powerful impact on the sociological ecosystem of the black community, the same way an economy crumbles when a few large companies go bankrupt.

The point here is that we cannot look at the holocaust of mass incarceration as someone else’s problem or something that just affects criminals.  The punishment should fit the crime, and when every study imaginable says that black people are more likely to go to jail for the same crimes, this means that Jim Crow is alive and well.  Something must be done at the grassroots, state and federal levels.  We cannot allow this epidemic to exist any longer.

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fuckyeahoctopi:

Knit Knitting Octopus by Max Alexander

via Craft: laughingsquid

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womenwhokickass:

Sarah Robles: Why she kicks ass

• She is an American weightlifter.
• She has been called ‘the strongest woman in America’.
• She was a top-ranked shot putter which earned her scholarships to the University of Alabama and Arizona State University. As part of her shot put training she began Olympic style lifts and after only three months of weight lifting she qualified for nationals. 
• She won the silver medal at a 2010 Pan American competition and is a three time national champion.
• At the 2011 World Championships, she finished in eleventh place in her weight class but first place among American woman weightlifters. 
• Robles has qualified as one of two American women to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
• Even though she was the highest-ranked weightlifter in the United States she lived on less than $400 a month leading up to the London Olympics which was attributed to a lack of popular attention to the sport and due to the discrimination she faced for not having the female athlete body type that is traditionally portrayed in mass media, which meant she had difficulty finding sponsorships. But as of July 16, 2012, a company called Solve Media sponsors her.
• She has Madelung’s deformity in her arm, which leads to significant pain during lifts; although she she is extremely dedicated to weightlifting and treats the pain with wrist wraps and warming creams.
• When she isn’t weightlifting she enjoys blogging and crafting and she hopes to teach P.E. when she retires.

straightupthanks:

As a Wisconsinite observing my neighbors in Minnesota, I couldn’t help but admire fellow creative Grant Spanier’s instinctual response in getting graphic. Graphically artistic, that is. He designed a poster persuading voters to “Vote No” and encouraged people to share it both online and offline in a blog post entitled Mess With My Friends, You Mess With Me. I’m proud to share recognition of his use of savvy and influence in support of equality.—Evan

(via gregorypatrickk)

(Source: cant-be-break, via gregorypatrickk)

glaad:

straightupthanks:

This is Jessica. For weeks, she phone banked, she knocked on doors and talked to people, she waved signs, and changed people’s minds about what marriage equality means to all of us. She’s wonderful, and we love her.   

Check out this new Tumblr devoted to thanking straight allies who worked for marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington! 

(via legalizetrans)