Antavia-Lee Worsham should still be here. Instead, two years ago at the age of just 22 years old, she passed away because she could no longer afford her insulin, a medication that costs companies less than the price of a sandwich to produce. Before Antavia’s death, she was covered under her mother’s high deductible health plan, but aged off of Children with Medical Handicaps (CMH), a Government funded program secondary insurance that covered all of the medication and equipment that she needed to manage her Type I diabetes. This could at times be as costly as $1000 a month. She began borrowing insulin from her grandfather, and then her sister, before they could no longer afford to share their medication with her. It was after she started rationing her own insulin that one day she died in her home as a consequence of diabetic ketoacidosis also known as DKA. Each and every day, millions of people across the country depend on insulin to survive. While insulin has been around for decades, pharmaceutical companies are getting away with charging astronomical prices that place insulin out of reach for millions of Americans. Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, three of the nation’s largest insulin manufacturers -- are responsible for some of the worst price gouging the industry has seen in recent times, raising their prices by 150 percent in just the last five years. In fact, they are facing a class action lawsuit right now from over 60 plaintiffs who hope the case will expose these companies’ deceptive pricing practices and corporate greed. If you've ever talked to someone who's said they have “the sugars,” then you know which community is impacted by diabetes at the most disproportionate rates. According to the U.S. Department of Health, Black American adults are 80% more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnosed with diabetes by a physician; 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for lower limb amputations; and twice as likely to die from diabetes. While Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi continue to make millions of dollars in profits from arbitrary insulin prices that keep going up, it’s our aunties & uncles, our grandparents & cousins, and our brothers & sisters who are forced to make the dangerous decision to ration life-saving medication, or to go without it in the first place. Enough is enough. It is completely within these companies’ power to reduce their prices dramatically while still maintaining healthy profits. Yet, at every turn they have denied the fact that they are unnecessarily hiking their own prices, and have refused to comply with the public’s demand that they be transparent about their costs of production. That’s not business -- it’s an abuse of power that needs curbing immediately. The fight for fair, transparent pricing in the insulin industry is the fight for the dignity, health, and safety of the Black community and of our loved ones. Take action to demand that Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi be transparent about their costs of production and lower their prices now! Sign our petition and demand Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi lower the price of insulin now.

Unscrupulous Prosecutor Linda Fairstein should have been FIRED. Instead, she was able to parlay her career as head of sex crimes unit of Manhattan District Attorney from 1976 until 2002 to successful crime author. If she were FIRED because of her disgraceful actions that circumvent justice these prominent book companies would not have done business and donating the profits they made publishing this unscrupulous prosecutor Linda Fairstein must be donated to the Korey Wise Innocence Project.

Currently, it is legal to discriminate against a person in the workplace, schools, and/or pools because of their natural or protective hairstyle in all states except for California, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, New Mexico, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Illinois, Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Alaska, and Minnesota. Hair discrimination remains a source of racial injustice with serious economic consequences for Black people. The CROWN Act corrects these racial injustices by making hair discrimination illegal. Join the movement to shatter racial discrimination based on hairstyles by signing this petition and sending a letter to your Federal legislator using the template here: https://www.thecrownact.com/email-your-legislator Urge legislators to vote YES on The CROWN Act. We want to get to 500,000 signatures, so please spread the word! Not in the United States? Enter '00000' as your zip/postal code. The CROWN Coalition (Dove, National Urban League, Color Of Change, and Western Center on Law & Poverty) believes natural hairstyles should be celebrated, not discouraged. For this reason, they are committed to Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair. Senator Holly J. Mitchell was the first to introduce The CROWN Act (Senate Bill 188) in the state of California, the first state to sign the bill into law. New York was the second state to introduce the CROWN Act under the leadership of Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights) and Senator Jamaal Bailey (D-Bronx, Westchester), and Governor Cuomo signed the CROWN Act into law on July 12th, deeming the legislation effective immediately. New Jersey became the third state to enact the CROWN Act. State Senator Sandra Cunningham (District 31) and Assemblywoman Angela McKnight (District 31) championed the legislation and Governor Phil Murphy signed the CROWN Act into law on December 19th, the one-year anniversary of the wrestling match where New Jersey high school wrestler Andrew Johnson's locs were forcibly cut off. The states of Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Nevada, Maine, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Minnesota have also enacted the CROWN Act. Additional bills were signed in New Mexico, Nebraska, Oregon, Illinois, Louisiana, and Alaska that were inspired by The CROWN Act. In addition, the CROWN Act has become law in forty-four (44) municipalities. In March 2021, the federal bill H.R 2116 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and S.888 was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Cory Booker. On March 18, 2022, the federal CROWN Act bill passed in the House of Representatives with a vote of 235 Yeas and 189 Nays. On December 14, 2022, the federal bill was brought to the Senate floor for passage by unanimous consent. Unfortunately, the bill did not receive a vote in the Senate. The federal CROWN Act will now need to be reintroduced in the 2023 legislative session. Although we are deeply disappointed with this outcome, we won't stop until racial discrimination based on natural hair texture and protective hairstyles is illegal nationwide. Join us in demanding our elected officials #passthecrown nationally! We won't stop until racial discrimination based on hairstyles is illegal nationwide.

This is important because this will help show that Safeway loves their customers and they do not support racism.

A broad-based coalition of well- respected Detroit organizations hereby express concern for the future direction of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History following the abrupt departure of beloved CEO Juanita Moore. We, the community groups and individuals who cherish the Museum for its dedication to serving our cultural and educational interests and aspirations, demand for representation on the governing board and in the search for the CEO successor. CAMPAIGN ORGANIZERS: Detroit Organizations Supporting Black Legacy and Community Involvement of Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Alkebu-lan Village Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), Detroit Chapter Blackness Unlimited Broadside Lotus Press City of Detroit Council of Elders Conant Gardens Property Owners Association Detroit Black Community Food Security Network Detroit Independent Freedom Schools Movement Detroit MLK Day Committee Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council In the Tradition Jazz Band Inner City Sub Center James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership Keep the Vote NO Takeover Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Million Man Alumni Association National Conference of Black Lawyers, Michigan Chapter NCobra Reparations Operation Get Down Pan-African Newswire Petty Propolis Pitch Black Poetry Timbuktu Academy We the People of Detroit West Side Unity Church

I, the undersigned, am aware that Therèse Patricia Okoumou was found guilty at her trial on December 17th of three federal misdemeanors: trespassing, disorderly conduct and interference with government agency functions. Despite the real prospect of spending 18 months in prison, “We stand on the right side of history. I am not discouraged,” Patricia said after being sentenced. Our Lady Liberty remains steadfast in her mission to continue campaigning against the immoral and inhumane family separation policies of the Trump administration. Since Patricia's trial, new information has revealed that the extent of the Trump Administration's outrageous “zero tolerance” policy, which it has consistently LIED to the court and the American people about, is even worse than previously known. The federal government has ripped apart tender-aged children from nursing mothers. It has flown thousands of young children across the country away from their families and placed them in cages. Some of The Children are being forcibly drugged and others sexually molested in internment camps. There have been deaths of asylum seekers, as young as 7 years old, under the care and custody of border patrol agents and Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE). As part of our basic right to protest, outlined in the constitution, Patricia climbed the Statue of Liberty to increase awareness of this injustice, and I stand in solidarity with her! When we fell low as a country, Patricia went as high as she could to raise consciousness about these atrocities.

In recent news, we have seen children separated from their families at the border and taken, sometimes shackled in tinted buses, to places across the country. In our own neighborhoods, Black people are whisked away in broad daylight in the back of police cars. Private prisons like GEO Group and CoreCivic have made billions separating people from their families for decades and we’re going to put a stop to it. This year, as politicians vie for elected office across the country, we remind them that we aren't asking for "change" or "hope," we are demanding ACTION; that our elected representatives put our families and safety before corporate profits. It’s time for all politicians to stop taking money from the for-profit imprisonment industry--responsible for separating families from the border, to Miami, New York, L.A, Baltimore, Detroit, and all over the country. On Sunday, July 1st, The Florida Democratic Party passed a resolution to refuse contributions from GEO Group, CoreCivic and their representative PACs and lobbyists after a months long campaign by Dream Defenders to have candidates sign a Freedom Pledge which declares candidates opposition to private prisons and immigrant detention facilities. We celebrate this win in Florida, and are now partnering with Color Of Change to make this a reality all over the country. No politician should gain political power by accepting money from companies that are responsible for separating our families.

On May 8, a 22-year-old Mr. Anthony Wall, a Black man who is openly gay, escorted his younger sister (age 16) to the prom. Later, he took her and her friends to a local Waffle House in Warsaw, NC. After sitting down at a table that had not yet been cleared, staff members got into a heated argument with Mr. Wall and his teenage sister. According to Mr. Wall and witnesses at the scene, Waffle House employees began using offensive racial and homophobic slurs and threatened to inflict physical harm on them. They called him the N-word and f**got and one staff member went so far as to take his shirt off readying himself for a fight. The police were called and when Officer Frank Moss of the Warsaw Police Department arrived on the scene, he began choking Mr. Wall and throwing him against the window. He then violently threw Mr. Wall to the ground and placed him under arrest. The traumatic incident was captured on video with a cell phone and it has since gone viral. The video captures the officer choking and slamming Mr. Wall against the outdoor glass and then onto the pavement. During the violent exchange, Mr. Wall screamed that he could not breathe and pleaded for his safety with other officers who were on the scene. It is evident from the video footage, that because of what he had just been through, he was fearful for his physical safety and his life. When he was being handcuffed, Mr. Hall requested to be transported with any officer, but not with Officer Moss, who had just brutally assaulted him. His requests were ignored, and not only was he forced to ride with the same officer who inappropriately and unprofessionally handcuffed him, but there was an aggressive police canine accompanying them inside the vehicle. Mr. Wall has since been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Eric Sutherland, Warsaw police chief, said that an officer can use physical force on a subject if the person is not complying. Notably, Mr. Wall was not only unarmed but the officer was more than twice his size. The Mayor of Warsaw released a three-and-a-half minute statement in support of Officer Moss, attempting to justify the treatment of Wall during the arrest. We will be closely monitoring the response from not only the Warsaw Police Department but also District Attorney Ernie Lee with the State Bureau of Investigation; the FBI; and the N.C. Department of Justice's Law Enforcement Training and Standards Commission which we understand are also investigating the incident. As a civil and human rights community, we demand answers and a thorough investigation of what has transpired and that the results of this investigation be made fully available to the public. No human being should endure the type of verbal and physical abuse that Mr. Wall experienced and any charges against him should be dropped immediately. Please join us in signing this petition to ensure justice for Anthony and Chikesia. Remember none of us are free until all of us are free!

Apple says, “The best way the world works is everybody in. Nobody out.” And Amazon says, “It’s not only that diversity and inclusion are good for our business. It’s more fundamental than that — it’s simply right.” But if they’re willing to move their headquarters to a state that makes a habit of discriminating against eligible Black voters, it’s clearly just a talking point. THE NCGA'S VOTER ID OBSESSION IS RACIST. Prior to 2013, North Carolina had been an example of expanding the freedom to vote. Black folks were gaining political power and increased in participation in successive election after elections. But then in 2013 as part of the "monster voter suppression law" passed by the NCGA, voter ID was required, which Black voters were least likely to have – and that's what they're trying to make part of the constitution now. That 2013 law also eliminated the first seven days of early voting - the exact period that it was used most by Black voters. It cut Sunday voting, a "souls to the polls" tradition used by Black churches to get folks to vote. It eliminated out-of-precinct voting, a rule that allowed working Black voters who couldn't get to their home precinct to at least vote in the same county. In 2014, the NC GOP even moved polling locations further away from Black neighborhoods! Making it harder for Black people to vote wasn't an accident, it was intentional. IT'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL. When a U.S. federal court struck down the voter ID law in 2016, it said: "If discriminatorily motivated, such laws are just as abhorrent, and just as unconstitutional, as laws that expressly discriminate on the basis of race...the General Assembly unconstitutionally enacted the photo ID requirement with racially discriminatory intent.” IT'S BAD BUSINESS. Apple and Amazon both articulate a belief that having a diverse set of perspectives on the team ultimately benefits their company’s ability to do business. If they are hoping to attract Black workers at their new HQs, they should pick a state that thinks their Black workforce deserves the right to vote. Millennials and Gen Z workers care about what their employers stand for and want to live in states that reflect the diversity and inclusion they value. THE BOTTOM LINE I want North Carolina to be a home for both of these wonderful companies, and in addition to taking this step, there are many ways both Amazon and Apple can show true commitment to our communities.* One way Amazon and Apple can demonstrate a real commitment to espoused values of diversity is by making it clear that they won’t move their headquarters to a state that is rapidly sliding backward on racial oppression and voting rights. In 2018, we need to demand that major companies stay on the right side of the law - and the right side of history. ABOUT WILLIAM MATTHEWS William Matthews was raised in Raleigh, NC. William is known around the world as a singer - songwriter and popular recording artist. William's passion is artistry and advocacy. He seamlessly blends music, cinematography and political messaging around themes like racism and climate change which have been highlighted by CNN & Yahoo. In his music, documentaries and podcast work on The Liturgists, William has interviewed prominent religious and thought leaders, songwriters, scientists and global political figures. You can check out his body of work at WilliamMatthewsMusic.com or follow him on Twitter at @WilliamMatt22. SOURCES https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/161468.P.pdf https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/us/politics/voter-id-laws-supreme-court-north-carolina.html https://www.apple.com/diversity/ https://www.geekwire.com/2016/jeff-bezos-email-reaffirms-amazons-commitment-tolerance-diversity-trump-win/ https://www.fastcompany.com/3046358/millennials-have-a-different-definition-of-diversity-and-inclusion *https://medium.com/@acrecampaigns/amazons-racial-inequality-prime-fe6ba15fe2d5

California is facing an extremely serious threat to criminal justice reform. This prison tax and expansion proposal misleadingly named The Reducing Crime and Keeping California Safe Act, backed by law enforcement and the subject of an active signature-gathering operation in the field, represents a dangerous step backward for the state and a threat to future reform. This measure is essentially a tax to expand prisons, an effort to increase law enforcement budgets and defund investment in intervention and prevention. Raleys, Costco, and Ralph’s have donated to the signature gathering effort and has indicated that they will donate more if the prison package were to qualify for the ballot this year. Join us in sending a clear message to Safeway that we will boycott their stores if they do not (1) demand that their donations be returned ASAP, and (2) publicly oppose this prison expansion proposal! - - - GET THE FACTS New Ballot Measure Proposal Increases Prison Spending What is the so-called “Reducing Crime and Keeping California Safe Act of 2018?” This proposed initiative for the November 2018 ballot would do four main things: make repeat thefts with a value of $250 or more prosecuted as a felony (which would be among the very lowest felony theft thresholds in the nation), authorize law enforcement to collect a person’s DNA upon arrest for misdemeanors, make it easier to incarcerate someone for a technical violation of parole or probation, and limit the number of people in prison that can earn a parole hearing by completing rehabilitative and educational programming. All of these will increase taxpayer spending on prisons, reduce rehabilitation and drive the prison population up – at a time when California has been working to right size it’s bloated prison population and rebalance public safety spending priorities. The initiative is being pushed primarily by Sacramento Assemblyman Jim Cooper and Sacramento County District Attorney Anne-Marie Schubert, as well as key local and statewide law enforcement associations that have opposed justice reform for years, including the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County and the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. Proponents of the initiative need to secure over 365,000 valid signatures by June 1 in order to qualify the initiative for this November’s ballot and they are actively in the field collecting signatures. Myths and Facts About the Proposed Initiative MYTH: Recent criminal justice reforms have caused crime in California to skyrocket FACT: Crime rates in California are currently at historically low levels. Statewide violent crime rates have declined by nearly 50 percent since 1992, and statewide property crime rates have decreased by nearly 42 percent, despite significant increases in California’s population during the past 25 years. More recent trends also reflect the fact that crime in California is continuing to go down. Between 2010, the first year before Public Safety Realignment was effectuated, and 2016, the last year for which complete data is available, statewide property crime rates decreased by three percent, with 34 of the state’s 58 counties seeing overall property crime declines during this period. Statewide violent crime rates are essentially flat during this time period. And during the first half of 2017, a majority of California cities with populations of 100,000 or more saw overall decreases in violent and property crime when compared to the first half of 2016. MYTH: Law enforcement is now prevented from stopping low level crime. FACT: Proposition 47 maintains California state laws that provide law enforcement authority to arrest and book into custody individuals suspected of committing misdemeanor offenses. California law also authorizes detention for individuals in misdemeanor cases, including Proposition 47 offenses, when officers have probable cause to believe a suspect has committed a crime and it is in the best interest of public safety to detain. The maximum penalty for misdemeanors in California law is one year in county jail. An individual that is convicted of multiple misdemeanors may be sentenced to multiple years in jail. Additionally, judges can sentence misdemeanants to treatment, supervised misdemeanor probation, and community service among other options. Importantly – even before California’s era of justice reform – the vast majority of low-level crime is not reported or prosecuted. Thus, arrest and prosecution strategies alone cannot effectively stop the cycle of low-level crime. Innovative approaches to bring community, businesses and law enforcement together can go further to prevent and detect low-level crime problems. Law enforcement can partner with local leaders to develop diversion programs and neighborhood problem solving strategies that address the drivers of crime. MYTH: Violent and dangerous individuals are being automatically released back into the community en masse FACT: There is no automatic release under Proposition 57. Rather, an individual who completes rehabilitative and educational programming can earn eligibility for a parole hearing, at which the parole board reviews the case and must still deem that person to be a low risk to reoffend before the person can be released. If a parole board determines that someone with a qualifying non-violent offense is at risk of committing additional crimes, that person will remain incarcerated. As of January 31, 2018, 80 percent of the parole hearings held under Prop. 57 have ended with release being denied. Investments in rehabilitation support public safety by addressing the root causes of criminal behavior and reducing a person’s likelihood of reoffending. Research shows that successfully completing rehabilitation programs significantly reduces the likelihood that an individual will reoffend upon release.

Everyday, thousands of people who haven't been convicted of a crime are separated from their families as they languish in jails just because they can't afford to pay bail. The commercial bail industry will go to any length to undermine reform and now they being implicated in an FBI bribery investigation. The news about bail-bonds industry lobbyists offering illegal bribes to Sen. Oaks and at least one other target in the state legislature underlines the corrupting influence that the industry’s money has had on the legislative process. These illegal bribes are in addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the industry has spent in Maryland on campaign contributions, as detailed last year in a report by Common Cause report. All of this money - reported and under the table - is intended to reverse the progress Maryland can make under a new Judicial Rule intended to have more people released without subjecting them to the debt-trap set up by the bail industry. Maryland is one of the top states for campaign donations by the bail industry coming in behind only California and Florida. In order to get this corrupt industry out of our lives and communities, we must disrupt the dangerous relationship between the bail industry and elected officials.

This is important because this contributes to racial stereotypes and racial bias found throughout the world. This continues to spread the false message that black men are dangerous due to their inherent nature, and says that black men are inferior to other races, especially to white people. This advertisement sends the message that black men are a danger to society and that they must control themselves in order to be “normal”. Historically, this has been said of black men-that they are violent predators (especially of white women), and because of this, people tend to have more fear when walking down the street and encountering a black man. This is why people are more defensive and and tend to react more violently when they believe, falsely or not, that a black man is a threat to themselves. This was seen in the George Zimmerman case, and has been seen in many cases of police brutality across the country. I saw this sign in Hong Kong just last week, but have not seen it where I live in the US, and this may be because they do not think people in Hong Kong would care about something like this or notice. While Adidas is a German company, they still have a lot of influence here in the US and, I am assuming, around the world. While historically this has been the portrayal of African American men in the US specifically, this same racial stereotyping and bias occurs throughout the world, and this kind of advertising needs to stop.