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.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Florida's seatbelt violators are Racially Profiled

black motorists in florida are stopped and ticketed for seatbelt violations nearly twice as often as white residents statewide. in certain counties, blacks are stopped up to four times as often as whites, according to a new report from the american civil liberties union (aclu).

the study is based on data produced since the 2005 florida safety belt law was enacted. the aclu says black motorists tend to wear seatbelts less often than whites, yet this fact doesn't explain the large difference in racial disparity with seatbelt ticketing. 

additionally, black motorists' higher rate of stops and tickets expose them to a disproportionate financial burden - and risk of police force: unlike white motorists with similar citations. the alarming report was featured in the january 27 issue of the guardian. 

in response to these disturbing findings, the aclu is asking for an investigation by the florida attorney general's office of civil rights. the organization is also calling for the promotion of fair and bias-free policing, and for legislation to penalize agencies failing to collect and report data.  

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