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, October 31, 2018

Washington State Overturns Death Penalty

the washington state supreme court, in a ruling october 11, unanimously overturned the state's death penalty. "the death penalty is invalid because it is imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner," the justices wrote.

this opinion relied on research from university of washington professor katherine beckett and lecturer heather evans. beckett and evans reported black defendants were four and a half times more likely to receive the death penalty - compared to similarly situated non-black defendants.

washington is the 20th state to abolish capital punishment. the state froze its death penalty under a 2014 moratorium by governor jay inslee. washington currently has eight people on death row whose sentences will be converted to life without parole following the court's historic decsiion.  

Monday, October 29, 2018

Boston Red Sox Win 2018 World Series

the boston red sox defeated the los angeles dodgers 5-1, in game five, to win the 2018 world series. the red sox captured their fourth championship in 15 years with stellar pitching, timely hitting and unyielding defense.

boston is the first team in major league baseball history to clinch the league division series, league championship series and world series - on the road. they finished the year with 119 wins, including an 11-3 post-season record, and outscoring their opponents 84-51.

red sox outfielder steve pearce was named most valuable player. pearce hit two homers and knocked in seven runs during the last two games. alex cora, in his first year as such, became the first puerto-rican born manager to win the world series. 

"this is the greatest red sox team ever," said red sox owner john henry after hoisting the trophy. "what a season. what a way to end it," said cora, who stood on the same infield last year as a hitting coach for the houston astros. pearce saluted the fans on the victory platform and shouted, "we're world champions, baby!"  

the red sox had the highest payroll in baseball this year. their multi-talented squad featured all-stars mookie betts, craig kimbrel, jd martinez, mitch moreland and chris sale. boston suffered for 86 years without a title before ending their drought in 2004. they've since won in 2007, 2013 and 2018.

Monday, October 08, 2018

Kavanaugh Confirmed as new Supreme Court Justice amid polarizing battle

the senate confirmed brett m. kavanaugh as the 114th supreme court justice on saturday by one of the narrowest margins (50-48) in history. amid mass protests, their decision ended a contentiously polarizing battle over his nomination and solidified a conservative majority on the court.

kavanaugh denied allegations of christine blasey ford, who detailed in emotional testimony he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. two other female accusers came forward, resulting in an fbi investigation ordered by the trump administration - but only for a week. 

the fbi did not interview any of the female accusers. 

"it's been a great political gift for us. the tactics have energized our base. i want to thank the mob, because they've done the one thing we were having trouble doing, which was energizing our base," said senate majority leader mitch mcconell (r-ky).

kavanaugh heads to the supreme court politically scarred from the confirmation fight. his victory echoes the 1991 battle over now-justice clarence thomas, who was accused of sexual assault by law professor anita hill. both testified before the senate, and thomas ultimately prevailed.

chief justice john g. roberts jr. has received over 12 complaints of judicial misconduct against kavanaugh but is not referring them for investigation. "we have to rise above partisanship in our personal relationships. we have to treat each other with respect and dignity and with a sense of amicability that the rest of the world doesn't share," said justice sonia sotomayor.

kavanaugh, 53, is a veteran of the george w. bush white house who spent a dozen years on the court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. he was a top deputy in the office of independent counsel kenneth w. starr when starr was conducting an inquiry into bill clinton.  

  

Thursday, October 04, 2018

John Nolley is Fully Exonerated of 1997 Murder Charges in Texas

john nolley was exonerated of murder after 21 years.

the fair and just decision took place at a court hearing in fort worth, texas yesterday attended by nolley, his family, his legal team, and representatives from the district attorney's office and bedford police department. 

tarrant county criminal district attorney sharen wilson filed legal papers on wednesday before judge louis sturns to dismiss 1997 murder charges against nolley based on actual evidence. judge sturns granted the motion, and nolley's innocence became legalized.

nolley served 19 years of a life sentence before he was released on bond in 2016. in may 2018, the texas court of criminal appeals decided his 1998 conviction should be overturned - critical evidence had been withheld from his lawyers. but the original charges remained pending until prosecutors' actions october 3.

"today marks the end of an incredibly painful journey for john nolley, who served 19 years for a murder he didn't commit. yet this day would not have come without the extraordinary work and dedication of district attorney wilson and her conviction integrity unit, as well as the detectives in the bedford police department, who put hundreds of hours into a joint effort to re-investigate this case and seek the truth," said nina morrison, staff attorney with the innocent project.

in july 2015, just months after taking office, wilson agreed to re-investigate nolley's case through her office's newly formed conviction integrity unit (ciu). the ciu collaborated with the innocence project and fort worth attorney regan wynn in the 1996 murder of sharon mclane.

nolley is black. mclane is white. 

since the investigation began, the district attorney's office spoke with over 70 witnesses. prosecutors and the innocence project conducted over 100 forensic tests, including dna and latent print analyses. the complete results are not publicly available while law enforcement pursue other suspects. "i do not have any resentment toward anyone at this point," said nolley.