i am

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harlem, usa
same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Population at Youth Facilities Cut 50% Since 1999

new figures were released from the office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention (ojjdp). the united states experienced a 50% decline in youth placed in residential facilities since 1999, totaling 54,148 in 2013. the data proves lower youth crime rates reduce states' institutional populations.

despite the encouraging news, racial disparities persist. black youth comprise 40% of detained youth. the decades-long trend of disproportionate detention for black youth is troubling and underscores the need to reauthorize the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention act (jjdpa).

senators charles grassley (r-iowa) and shedlon whitehouse (d-rhode island) have introduced sb 1169 to reauthorize the jjdpa. the grassley-whitehouse bill intends to strengthen an important requirement of the jjdpa by mandating states to identify and reduce ethnic and racial inequities at various points of contact with the justice system.     

    

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