Mollystix

Comedian Michael Jr. talks about a turning point in his career that changed it all for the better.

Watch the full video below:

Original by I Like Giving.

Upworthy's own Franchesca Ramsey joined Latoya Peterson from Racialicious to talk about Eric Garner with Katie Couric.

Former Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "You can't just throw your hands up and say ... that's it," to W. Kamau Bell (at the end of a 20-minute chat about not giving up).

So, Franchesca said:

She's referring to the recent shooting of Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old black man who was shot in his own apartment building. This was by a rookie cop who was told not to patrol stairwells like he was doing when the incident occurred.

Things have got to change.

Original panel on Yahoo News. Take a look at the whole interview here.

To read more about the stairway shooting of Akai Gurley, read more on The New York Times. To read more about the death of a mentally-ill woman inside her own apartment at the hands of police, click here.

Fact Check Time: What former Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said about crime being higher in black neighborhoods is actually not true. Crime is higher in poorer neighborhoods, which often happen to be black neighborhoods. There are more poor black neighborhoods as a result of years of systemic racism, including redlining in the 1950s that denied black people housing loans.

Still don't believe me? Then take a look at these black neighborhoods.

Hi. I was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. I was in town early for Thanksgiving, so I was also in town for the Ferguson grand jury announcement and the week following. While I was decorating a friend's small business for Christmas (yes, really), another friend was talking about the time the protests came to Trader Joe's, where he works.

Then he showed me these flyers.

He told me, "The protestors apparently leave them on EVERY CAR, EVERY TIME they protest."

More #Ferguson protestor flyer wisdom. Super sensible and specific and WHY have I not seen this on the news?!??? pic.twitter.com/GQwBeWW6KM
— Lori White (@lolololori) December 2, 2014

#ferguson protestors leave flyers with their reasoning at each place they go. Pretty sensible, if ya asked me. pic.twitter.com/ujYza6J1vz
— Lori White (@lolololori) December 2, 2014

Here are some more close-ups so you can read 'em if you want!

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's number is 573-751-3222, in case you didn't catch that. Or you can email Steve Stenger at SStenger@stlouisco.com. Maybe they'd like to re-read these flyers a bit.

"You make an excellent point, flyer!"
— My inner monologue

This part stood out to me:
"An average police training in the United States is 15 weeks. Fifteen weeks is nothing. Police forces in other countries have [training] twice, three times as long ... It's all about how police officers are prepared to deal with people who pose threats ... we are saving money on police training ... It's irresponsible ... Basically, what we're doing is putting a dollar sign on people's lives, both of police and of members of the public."
— Martha Haberfiled, PHD in Criminal Justice

It's been really weird hearing the national news talk about protesters who don't know what they want when I'm sitting here in my kitchen in St. Louis looking at a flyer that spells it out so clearly. I don't get it.

Based on the amount of retweets these flyers got, I'm not the *only* one who doesn't get it...

Maybe if enough of you see their flyers, the news might start feeling left out and join the "noticing the flyers protesters bring to every protest" party!

My friend Katie asked me to decorate her small business/jewelry store, Scarlett Garnet, on Cherokee Street in a downtown St. Louis for the holidays a couple of days ago. Katie grew up about two blocks from the Ferguson Police Department, but that's not actually relevant right now, just interesting! What *is* relevant and interesting is the fact that her friend Jason helped put up a holiday tree in the window and showed me these flyers from a protest he was at. Then I took a picture of them with my phone!

I'd love to feature more flyers on this post (as you can see, they're "a continuing series"), so if you know who makes them — or are the person who is making them — tweet at me!

UPDATE!: Found her! Her name is Mary and you can follow her on Twitter here.

Thumbnail image used with permission from Jarred Gastreich, whose striking photos of Ferguson protests and beyond you can see here on Tumblr, here on Instagram, and here on the web. If you want to literally see what's happening on the streets of St. Louis, he's a good guy to follow.

On the murders of African-Americans by cops, this man is clear. And it's about to go super-viral.

He starts off with these words: "All you celebrities out there who poured ice water on your head, here's a chance to do something else. I challenge all of you to sing the 'We Ain't Gonna Stop, Till People Are Free' song. Here we go."

"I can hear my neighbor cryin', 'I can't breathe.'
Now I'm in the struggle, and I can't leave.
Callin' out the violence of the racist police.
We ain't gonna stop, till people are free.
We ain't gonna stop, till people are free."

Originally found on Liberals Unite. This clip is by Samuel L. Jackson. His Facebook page is also seeking recruits to sing along. Join us?

During the Christmas season, I often make a mental note to "do something good" for others, something that will be helpful or bring joy.  What that usually translates to is plates of home baked goodies delivered to friends and neighbors.  Last year, we delivered the sweets ding-dong-ditch style, and my kids got a real kick out of it.  If I have to introduce them to charitable giving by coating it in mischief, so be it.
Anyway, I want to tell you about someone who took her desire to help others and turned it into something big and awesome.  This is my friend Molly:
She and her husband Tom have put on a board game convention the last two years, with all the proceeds going to Safe Place here in Austin.  I'm going to let her tell you more about it.

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a black man, was killed by a white NYPD officer. Here is the story behind his death.

1. Eric Garner had been busted before for selling untaxed cigarettes.

In March 2014, 43-year-old Eric Garner was arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes. The NYPD cracks down on low-level offenses like these because of "broken-window policing" — a strategy that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani started in which low-level offenses are given harsh penalties. Why?

According to Giuliani:

"Murder and graffiti are two vastly different crimes. But they are part of the same continuum, and a climate that tolerates one is more likely to tolerate the other.”

So untaxed cigarettes were also on the same spectrum as murder. A bit ironic given how much cigarettes negatively affect people's health, and yet none of the huge tobacco manufacturers are being pursued by the police.

Before you say, "But Eric was breaking the law!" keep this in mind. A pack of cigarettes. A pack of untaxed cigarettes. Let that image remain in your head.

2. The day he died, Garner was trying to break up a fight. When police arrived, the fight was over.

It happened on Staten Island. Two policemen spotted Garner successfully breaking up a fight between two other people.

In spite of this, the police didn't concern themselves much with the two people who were fighting. Instead, they focused on Garner.

3. The police again tried to arrest Eric for selling cigarettes.

Even though Garner had just stopped two people from assaulting each other, he was suddenly the culprit in the situation.

When the two policemen tried to arrest him, Garner's response was:

“Every time you see me, you try to arrest me. I’m tired of it. It stops today.”

One of the policemen who tried to arrest Garner is Daniel Pantaleo.

4. Pantaleo placed Garner in a choke hold.

That image above? That's like the choke hold used on Eric. Pantaleo probably didn't know it, Eric was suffering from asthma.

5. Choke holds are banned by the NYPD.

Before you say, "But Pantaleo had the right to use force on a man who was breaking the law!" what he did was actually against the NYPD's rules as of 1993. By putting Garner in a choke hold, he was violating the rules he was bound to as a police officer. He did not have the authority to use that force.

A few days after Garner's death, Pantaleo was stripped of his badge and gun.

6. Garner died after the chokehold. His last words were, "I can't breathe."

His last words started trending on Twitter months later under the hashtag #ICantBreathe.

#ICantBreathe RT @joshgreenman .@billbramhall's latest cartoon, on the grand jury decision in the Eric Garner case: pic.twitter.com/vFuvzaJkXJ

— Andrew Katz (@katz) December 3, 2014

7. Four medics at the scene didn't give Garner CPR.

In a cellphone video, one of Garner's friends showed that neither the EMTs nor the policemen at the scene were giving him CPR, even though he was clearly unconscious.

This was after Garner's head hit the concrete, according to a friend, and blood was coming out of his mouth.

The four EMTs were suspended for two days without pay.

8. A medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide.

On Aug. 1, 2014, the NYC medical examiner linked Pantaleo's chokehold to Garner's death, as well as "prone positioning during physical restraint by police."

9. There was a video of Eric's death.

Out of respect, we're choosing not to include the video. This description from a Time article should be enough:

Orta’s video shows what appears to be one officer pressing Garner’s face into the sidewalk as other officers attempt to subdue him. On the ground, Garner can be heard repeatedly saying "I can’t breathe."

How about the guy who filmed Garner's death, Ramsey Orta? Well...

10. A grand jury indicted the man who filmed Garner's death.

He wasn't indicted for filming the incident. But Orta was indicted on weapons charges about a month after he filmed Garner's death. According to the Huffington Post:

Orta testified that the charges were falsely mounted by police in retaliation for his role in documenting Garner's death, but the grand jury rejected his contention, charging him with single felony counts of third-degree criminal weapon possession and criminal firearm possession.

And then, in a twist of fate...

11. A grand jury did not indict the police officer who killed Garner.

See the New York Times for the story.

So selling untaxed cigarettes ended up in a man dying and a policeman not facing charges. How can we call this justice?

10 out of 1,000 American police officers are accused of misconduct.

23.8% of those have been accused of excessive force.

68% of felony defendants in the general population are convicted.

However, only 33% of police accused of misconduct are convicted.

(All these facts are via FiveThirtyEight).

You can find out more about police abuse by checking out this ACLU action manual here. It might be from 1997, but you'd be surprised how relevant (sadly) it still is nearly 18 years later.

Prison Culture, which is a pretty epic blog, has some resources, too.

The Harvard Kennedy School also has some good readings collected by its center on media, politics, and public policy that you should totally check out if you have the time.

Photos: Number 1 is via Pixabay. Number 2 via Flickr user Ian T. McFarland, used under Creative Commons license. Number 3 via Pixabay. Number 4 via Wikipedia. Number 5 via Flickr, used under CC license. Number 6 is an image by Shirin Barghi, used with permission. Number 7 via Wikipedia. Numbers 8, 10, and 11 via Thinkstock.

Thumbnail image via Flickr user Gerard Flynn, used under CC license.

Yo, fellow geeks! Guys like comics. Ladies like comics too. Comic book movies make bazillions of dollars because everyone in the world likes them. This kind of thing is just plain pointless and embarrassing.

Yes, Virginia. If you're a dude, you can be a geek. If you're a lady, you can be a geek. Anyone can be a geek! You can even look it up in the dictionary.

Still confused? Just consult this handy flow chart!

Original by BuzzFeed. Original graphics by me!

It might seem small, but teaching kids from a young age the importance of stopping when someone says "stop" means they're more likely to respect each others' boundaries as adults too.

The whole conversation actually sounded like this, but I couldn't get it into 140 characters:

ME: "What did you do at school today?"

HIM: "Play."

ME: "With who?"

HIM: "There are some girls I like. I used to to chase them, but they told me they did not like being chased. So I stopped. Now we all play what we all want to play."

ME: "That's cool little man. It's totally cool."

This tweet came from my personal Twitter account. Also, I'd like to give a big shoutout to my sister and her husband for teaching this lesson early on. Thumbnail photo used with permission by me. If you want more information on why teaching consent is important, check out the posts here and here.

Todd Geldon donated several games to our raffle and silent auction!

Come out for a chance to win!

The context (not to mention that footage) at the beginning of this clip is key. Her reaction is just on point. It takes a lot to say something like that on live television.

Uploaded to YouTube by Raw Story. There is an official CNN video, but there's no context included in that clip.

I'm all for the police serving and protecting (which most do), but I'm definitely NOT for the cops who are plundering and pillaging. Yet, that's exactly what's going on much of the time with civil forfeiture.

For a definition of what Oliver is talking about, head to 2:50. And then at 4:55, there's the oh-so-terrible question police keep asking. But if you're looking for an amazing new cop show starring Jeff Goldblum, 14:08 is the place to be.

Video from "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver."