{ Want to help Kelley Williams-Bolar? }

radicallyhottoff:

thecranium:

She is the black mother who was convicted of a felony and sentenced to jail time and probation for sending her two daughters to a school in a different district. As you have probably guessed, the school they attended is safer and whiter than the one in the girls’ neighborhood. The school hired a private detective to catch this woman.

She’s in need of donations to appeal the sentence.
You can send them to the National Action Network Akron Chapter, c/o Kelley Williams-Bolar, P.O. Box 4152, Akron, Ohio, 44321. Checks can be made payable to Williams-Bolar.

Please spread this far and wide.

i was wondering how they caught her. absolutely ridiculous. help if u can. 

(Source: craneyum, via bigbadcolored-deactivated201104)

{ Want to help Kelley Williams-Bolar? (more info) }

damekatharsis:

mizjenkins:

thecranium:

She is the black mother who was convicted of a felony and sentenced to jail time and probation for sending her two daughters to a school in a different district. As you have probably guessed, the school they attended is safer and whiter than the one in the girls’ neighborhood. The school hired a private detective to catch this woman.

She’s in need of donations to appeal the sentence.
You can send them to the National Action Network Akron Chapter, c/o Kelley Williams-Bolar, P.O. Box 4152, Akron, Ohio, 44321. Checks can be made payable to Williams-Bolar.

Please spread this far and wide.

For those of you who missed the original story or my rant about it on Gawker, I encourage you to read about it and get involved.

This woman is sitting in jail right now for trying to get her children out of the projects and a dismally failing school system in order to give them the same opportunities that kids in the 86.4% White neighboring township have. For breaking laws and policies that ensure that the 40% of African-Americans who live in poverty in her city - a city that was once home to the largest Ku Klux Klan chpater in the nation - will stay uneducated and unable to rise above their conditions.

The National Action Network is the non-profit civil rights organization founded and run by the Rev. Al Sharpton. Whatever you think of the man personally, it is an established and reputable organization that has been thoroughly vetted for donations.

Even if you just send $5 in a card that says “Good Luck” send something. This is entirely too fucked up not to take a stand over.

You can also sign the petition for sentencing reduction here.

Reblogging again for MizJenkins great additional info.

(Source: craneyum, via bigbadcolored-deactivated201104)

{ 48 hours to save Brenda }

thejuthikakid:

afterthecurtain:

http://allout.org/en/brenda/

Brenda Namigadde, a Ugandan lesbian in the UK, faces deportation THIS WEEK (tomorrow, on Friday 28th) back to the life-threatening persecution she fled eight years ago.

With David Bahati, the Ugandan politician and author of the notorious “Kill the Gays” legislation, taking an interest in her case, Brenda faces clear and present danger if she’s forced to return.

Will you sign this urgent letter pressuring U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May to stop Brenda’s deportation?

Please sign and reblog, guys.

PLEASE do this.

just wanna keep circulating this

(via juthikaforpresident-deactivated)

{ The House GOP’s Plan to Redefine Rape }

EDIT: *Trigger Warning* (good idea, thecabbage)

genderbitch:

rabbleprochoice:

corruptpolitics:

Rape is only really rape if it involves force. So says the new House Republican majority as it now moves to change abortion law.

For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contains a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases.

With this legislation, which was introduced last week by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Republicans propose that the rape exemption be limited to “forcible rape.” This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion. (Smith’s spokesman did not respond to a call and an email requesting comment.)

Given that the bill also would forbid the use of tax benefits to pay for abortions, that 13-year-old’s parents wouldn’t be allowed to use money from a tax-exempt health savings account (HSA) to pay for the procedure. They also wouldn’t be able to deduct the cost of the abortion or the cost of any insurance that paid for it as a medical expense. 

There used to be a quasi-truce between the pro- and anti-choice forces on the issue of federal funding for abortion. Since 1976, federal law has prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, and when the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman. But since last year, the anti-abortion side has become far more aggressive in challenging this compromise. They have been pushing to outlaw tax deductions for insurance plans that cover abortion, even if the abortion coverage is never used. The Smith bill represents a frontal attack on these long-standing exceptions.

“This bill takes us back to a time when just saying ‘no’ wasn’t enough to qualify as rape,” says Steph Sterling, a lawyer and senior adviser to the National Women’s Law Center. Laurie Levenson, a former assistant US attorney and expert on criminal law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, notes that the new bill’s authors are “using language that’s not particularly clear, and some people are going to lose protection.” Other types of rapes that would no longer be covered by the exemption include rapes in which the woman was drugged or given excessive amounts of alcohol, rapes of women with limited mental capacity, and many date rapes. “There are a lot of aspects of rape that are not included,” Levenson says.

As for the incest exception, the bill would only allow federally funded abortions if the woman is under 18.

The bill hasn’t been carefully constructed, Levenson notes. The term “forcible rape” is not defined in the federal criminal code, and the bill’s authors don’t offer their own definition. In some states, there is no legal definition of “forcible rape,” making it unclear whether any abortions would be covered by the rape exemption in those jurisdictions. 

The main abortion-rights groups despise the Smith bill as a whole, but they are particularly outraged by its rape provisions. Tait Sye, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, calls the proposed changes “unacceptable.” Donna Crane, the policy director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, says that making the “already narrow exceptions for public funding of abortion care for rape and incest survivors even more restrictive” is “unbelievably cruel and heartless.”

“This bill goes far beyond current law,” says Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), a co-chair of the congressional pro-choice caucus. The “re-definition” of the rape exception “is only one element” of an “extreme” bill, she adds, citing other provisions in the law that pro-abortion rights groups believe would lead to the end of private health insurance coverage for abortion. 

“Somebody needs to look closely at this,” Levenson says. “This is a bill that could have a dramatic effect on women, and language is important. It sure sounds like somebody didn’t want [the exception to cover] all the different types of rape that are recognized under the law.”

Call your representatives IMMEDIATELY to let them know how disgusting you find this. I am at a loss for words. Both of my senators have gotten an earful and now I’m starting on my representatives. I had to write out what I was going to say first because the anger is making it impossible to form coherent thoughts right now.

Love,

Rabble

(Emphasis mine)

Can just… all the Republicans burst into dust and cease to exist now? Please?