Jaida Peterson was a 29-year-old Black trans woman living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her death on April 4, 2021 makes her the 15th transgender or gender nonconforming neighbor to be killed this year. From WCCB Charlotte (misgendering and deadnaming at site) The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating a homicide after finding an unresponsive person […]
For transparency sake, I want to explain that I have turned down a request by a candidate for Magistrate here on the Northside. Her name is Leah Williams Duncan. Dear Ms. Williams Duncan, I have received your request to complete a Q&A for my blog, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents. I must decline. In 2013 while […]
I have virtually eliminated cash bail from my practice and doing so only in extenuating circumstances to protect the safety of the community or ensure court appearance. The variables in each and every criminal arrest are too involved to discuss here, but it cannot be denied that in using cash bail, those without cash are […]
But if a global pandemic and ensuing economic crises aren’t enough to motivate public officials to create real safeguards such as public housing (as well as healthcare, the two of which I believe are inseparable) against public health emergencies, when will they? This is the sixth post of our election season series ‘Political Q&A’ with […]
But from that experience comes a perspective that can only benefit those that might come before me as Magistrate: I’ll approach each person as more than their worst day or worst choice or most shameful story. I know first hand that we are all more than any one of those things and we deserve a […]
On June 6, 2020, the body of an unidentified young Black trans person was found in an abandoned building at 7908 S Laflin in Chicago. Koko Nia Labeija was born 29 May 2001 in Chicago where she grew up. She attended Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School The school held a memorial event this past […]
On Thursday, April 8, 2021, a 26-year-old Black trans woman named Dominique Lucious was murdered in Springfield, Missouri. From KY3 television (deadnaming at original article); [She] was fatally shot Thursday morning in the 900 block of North Main Avenue. Officers responded to heard gunshot fire just before 7 a.m. Police say the victim died after […]
Let’s re-imagine public safety with a heavy emphasis on mental health and substance use response teams who have many years of school to understand how to evaluate and de-escalate, and how to encourage ongoing treatment for those who need it. We make police do this now. It doesn’t work. We will have more and more […]
My work with youth showed me how the experiences of different groups vary even when engaging in similar behaviors. I have seen how young girls are often treated more harshly by paternalistic judges than male counterparts. Similarly, I’ve seen how the experiences of black youth look drastically different than white youth regarding behaviors in schools. […]
Today marks one year since Lyndsey Sickler and I spoke the Pittsburgh MasQue ProjecT into existence. Dramatic, perhaps. But this year has taught me that it is up to us to save ourselves. We are the calvary. Mainstream institutions haven’t shown up or acknowledged the realities of our lives during the pandemic, especially media outlets […]
