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.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Marijuana Policy Reforms on Election Day

california, maine, massachusetts and nevada voted on election day to end marijuana prohibition. arkansas, florida and north dakota adopted medical marijuana laws. 

montana approved an initiative to re-establish patients' access to medical marijuana providers and improve its existing medical marijuana law.

the only dim spot is arizona, where the legalization initiative is currently losing 48% to 52%, albeit\ with tens of thousands of additional ballots to be counted. the measure is likely to lose when the counting ends in nine days.

the number of states where marijuana is legal for adults doubled - from four to eight - and the first two states in the south made marijuana legal.     

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Virginia registers 70,000 people with felony convictions to vote

about 70,000 people with prior felony convictions have been registered to vote in virginia. the state supreme court previously ruled governor terry mcauliffe could only restore voting rights on a case-by-case basis.

tammie hagen, a formerly incarcerated person working for the new virginia majority, was one of many advocates trying to help people with felony convictions get their rights restored through gubernatorial clemency. they sought to register people before the october 17 deadline.

hagen estimates she (alone) registered 600-800 people in virginia, and submitted "several hundred requests" for voting rights registration to the governor's office. hagen, 51, said, "nothing can stand in the way of this mission. this is about democracy." 

about 13,000 former offenders registered to vote when mcauliffe first attempted to automatically clear them. but the court disenfranchised them (again) when they ruled the governor's actions were unconstitutional. 

groups such as new virginia majority are scrambling to find suitable candidates for gubernatorial clemency. their effort is as much about overcoming weary cynicism as getting paperwork to the governor's office in a timely fashion.

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Chicago Cubs Win 2016 World Series

the chicago cubs defeated the cleveland indians 8-7 in ten innings on the road to win the 2016 world series. cubs outfielder ben zobrist was named most valuable player. zobrist is the first player in history to win back-to-back mvp's on two different teams in two different leagues.

1908 was the last year the cubs won a title, breaking the longest championship drought in team sports history. the game lasted four hours and 24 minutes, not including the 18-minute rain delay which preceded the extra inning thriller.

zobrist said, "it was just an epic battle. just blow for blow, everybody playing their heart out. the indians never gave up, either, and i can't believe we're finally standing, after 108 years, finally able to hoist the trophy." zobrist batted .357 with a series-high ten hits.

cubs first baseman anthony rizzo said, "it happened. it happened. chicago, it happened. we did it. we're world champions. i tell ya, we're world champions. i can't believe it." cubs owner tom ricketts said, "i think about so many millions of people giving so much love and support to this team for so many years."

the cubs are the first team since the 1985 kansas city royals to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. they also became the first team since the 1979 pittsburgh pirates to earn a title by winning games six and seven on the road. they finished the year with a season-high 103 victories.

cubs manager joe maddon, hired before the 2015 season, led a loose clubhouse which, at times, featured multi-colored suit and ties, simon the magician and warren the pink flamingo. maddon, who managed tampa bay to the world series in 2007, was also beloved among players for his motto: "try not to suck."   

no more bartman. not more billy goat. no more black cat curses.