> Susan Murabana’s passion for astronomy was only sparked in her 20s as science was just ‘for boys’. Now she tours #Kenya with a telescope on a mission to reveal the cosmos to all children
@venitamathias@BlackMastodon@blackmastodon let me tell you…when folx have asked me about security I’ve clearly stated that if there comes a time when it’s needed…I’m calling in the Fruits because they’re damn good at their jobs and how could I trust anyone else
Virgin Galactic 02 will launch from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 9:00 AM MST (11:00 AM EST) with the first Carribbean and mother-daughter duo in space, Keisha Schahaff and Anastasia Mayers and 80 year old Olympian, Jon Goodwin. Photo credit: Virgin Galactic. #VirginGalactic#blackmastodon#blackfediverse@blackmastodon @BlackMastodon
@BigAngBlack@fulanigirl@BlackMastodon@blackmastodon As you grow older, unfortunately you're going to face ageism & worse. That is due to all of us living in a sick society that doesn't care much about marginalized folks. It is another after effect of colonial craptalism.
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I’ve previously posted about how the lack of access to healthcare and mental health services contribute to making a community unsafe. There were two projects at the Community Safety Fair that were directed towards solutions to the appalling lack of access to mental health counseling in the District. One proposed a series of wellness centers called M.A.R.C.H. 1/8
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MARCH stands for Metropolitan Area Recovery Calm House. The call is for the city to establish at least four centers, one in each of the four quadrants of the city. The idea is that the centers would provide a support system in a safe space for helping residents, particularly those re-entering to begin healing from the traumas they’ve experienced in life. At the moment all crisis beds are in one quadrant. 2/8
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The problem the advocates are attempting to address is the fact that DC has only 16 (!) community based crisis beds where people can stay for up to only two weeks to receive professional mental health services. To put that in perspective, DC has 700,000 residents. At the moment, if a person is experiencing a mental health crisis in the district they can either go to the hospital or to jail. 3/8
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Last week I highlighted some groups from the Community Safety Fair in DC that were focusing on reduction of harm – one of the four identifiable buckets of police reform. Today I want to highlight two groups that are working on transparency and accountability. Remember that transparency is about getting full data about police misconduct. More data may lead to more accountability. 1/8 *Ed: spelling & Grammar
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A hot demand in the police “reform” side of thing is to demand all law enforcement use body cameras. Body cameras aren’t a magic bullet. The police often don’t activate them, or disable them when the incident begins, and they have been known to try and tamper with the footage. Nonetheless today body cam footage can serve to contradict cop created versions of an incident. But who gets the footage and when? 2/8
@BigAngBlack@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon I liked the comment from the one brother, "it's not 1963 anymore." He didn't even take it back cause '63 was as far as he was going before putting his foot down. The aqua man swimming across was pure gold.
Too many Americans are convinced that the only way to experience the high of national pride is to disregard all the evidence of racial inequity.
—Walter Rhein
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Today I’ll highlight two “reduction of harm” projects from the community safety workshop. The first was from a group called MOTHERS OF POWER. They were shedding light on the way foster care as set up in the District increases trauma for families whose children have entered “care.” Currently, parents with children placed in foster care can only see their children for one hour a week under supervision. 1/8
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Once a week for an hour is only 52 hours PER YEAR (less than 3 days worth of contact)! The supervised visits normally take place in relatively sterile environments such as an office. Studies show that families that spend time together have a greater likelihood of timely reunification. The Casey Foundation has a website with numerous reports re supporting children and families in foster care. https://www.casey.org/ 2/8
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Mothers of Power are proposing that DC’s Children and Family Services Agency should move to a system of daily visitation in the “most natural setting possible.” And, where possible, have the visits be unsupervised. I think the group realizes unsupervised visitation can be controversial so they do tie their language to the suggestions be implemented if they are not contrary to the best interests of the child. 3/8
Now that everyone is caught up on what the #abolition thread is about, let’s get back to sharing efforts and projects created by local groups to help make their communities safer. Last week@AliceMarshall posted an announcement of an event here in DC where community groups were discussing their ideas for making their communities safer. I popped into the event to check it out and see what folks were talking about. 1/7
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The event was held at our main library and featured 11 groups that each had a table with poster boards of their work/proposals. I had a blast and met some really wonderful people, who were just regular people who believe they can help create change that will make their local communities safer. Not surprisingly, many of the tables has to do with some aspect of the criminal legal system, but not all. 2/7
