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ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith commends NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s decision to ban Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life and fine him $2.5 million.
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“Crisis of Distrust – Police and Community in Toronto” is produced by the Policing Literacy Initiative, a youth-driven grassroots think tank improving police services and community safety in Toronto and abroad.
This past summer inspired a groundswell of interest in policing issues and community safety in Toronto. Claims of racial profiling and the practice of “carding” dominated newspaper headlines. The acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin put a spotlight on issues of equality under the law around the world. Concerns about youth safety were exacerbated by the tragic killing of Sammy Yatim by a member of Toronto Police Services.
In response to these community concerns, a group of young leaders in Toronto came together to form the Policing Literacy Initiative (PLI) in August 2013. PLI is inspired by the Yale Law School Innovations in Policing Clinic, which the Coordinator of PLI, Jamil Jivani, was a member of.
PLI is a grassroots think tank made up of 20 young leaders from across the city, including many of Toronto’s “priority neighborhoods.” Most PLI members are in their twenties and come from a diverse range of cultural and professional backgrounds. Included in this group are current university students and young professionals in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. PLI members have long track records of community service contributions that have been recognized by the University of Toronto, United Way City Leaders program, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and many more.
They have met biweekly since August to discuss academic and news articles about policing issues around the world. Our meetings have also featured discussions with representatives of Toronto Police Services (including the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy team), University of Toronto, Ryerson University, Toronto Community Housing Corporation Board of Directors, Toronto Star, City of Toronto Community Crisis Response Program, African Canadian Legal Clinic, and Toronto Police Services Board.
PLI has also been engaged in substantive advocacy. For example, five members of PLI have joined the Toronto Police Services’ Police and Community Engagement Review standing committee to address biased policing. Additionally, PLI members are pushing for reforms to the Ontario citizen complaint process and have participated in an number of policy consultations, such as the Government of Ontario’s provincial crime prevention strategy.
You can contact the Policing Literacy Initiative via:
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in this video, Dr Boyce Watkins speaks with attorney and former athlete Damario Solomon-Simmons. The conversation involves the state of African American males, collegiate athletics and the on-going battle for the labor rights of college athletes. The professor and attorney explain why it only makes sense for athletes to be paid, and how black males are being harmed by a system that is wired for exploitation.
Solomon-Simmons is a former football player with the Oklahoma Sooners who turned his life around and became an outstanding attorney in the city of Tulsa.
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A mediation on violence, pursuit of identity and healthy vs. toxic masculinity by White Ribbon’s Jeff Perera. He explores how the degrees of separation are shrinking as the circle of violence surrounds us all. Jeff talks on speaking schools in Toronto days after a major public shooting incident.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader of the African-American civil rights movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who became known for his advancement of civil rights by using civil disobedience. He was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. King was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05PM that evening. James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968 in London at Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States, and charged with the crime. On March 10, 1969, Ray entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary.Ray later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful; he died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70.
The King family and others believe that the assassination was carried out by a conspiracy involving the US government, as alleged by Loyd Jowers in 1993, and that James Earl Ray was a scapegoat. In a 1999 civil trial that did not name the US government as a defendant and sought $100 from Jowers, with both the family and Jowers cooperating together and the only presenting parties, the jury ruled that Loyd Jowers and others, including unspecified governmental agencies, were all part of the conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King Jr.
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On February 10, 2014 a group of students from the UCLA school of Law gathered together to raise awareness of the disturbing emotional toll placed upon students of color due to their alarmingly low representation within the student body.
As part of “The Hollywood Masters” interview series, the director criticizes “so-called liberals” in the studios and adds: “You’ve got a lot of black executives at the studio who are afraid to give their opinion about what black culture is.” Plus, the director reveals that he is getting close to making his long-anticipated biography of musician Tupac Shakur.
On Thursday, February 27, 2014, President Barack Obama took a bold new step by using his authority in this nation’s executive office to announce “a new initiative with leading foundations and businesses that will take a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to build ladders of opportunity and unlock the full potential of boys and young men of color.” To the women who have dedicated their careers to closing the opportunity and education gap on Black male achievement and the men working in the field of gender violence prevention and Black male emotional enrichment, My Brother’s Keeper is more than a groundbreaking announcement.
On March 23, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern/3:30 p.m. Pacific via Google+ Hangouts On Air, some of the activists, filmmakers and content creators who have dedicated years in the area of Black Male Achievement and are continuing to raise the bar for others joining the President’s call.
An EPIPHANY Conversation – Why Women are Key to the Success of My Brother’s Keeper
On Thursday, February 27, 2014, President Barack Obama took a bold new step by using his authority in this nation’s executive office to announce “a new initiative with leading foundations and businesses that will take a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to build ladders of opportunity and unlock the full potential of boys and young men of color.” To the women who have dedicated their careers to closing the opportunity and education gap on Black male achievement and the men working in the field of gender violence prevention and Black male emotional enrichment, My Brother’s Keeper is more than a groundbreaking announcement.
On March 23, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern/3:30 p.m. Pacific via Google+ Hangouts On Air, you will have the opportunity to meet the activists, filmmakers and content creators who have dedicated years in the area of Black Male Achievement and are continuing to raise the bar for others joining the President’s call.
