#Black Children Matter

[longliveblackness]

While raising her children in Harlem, Hale developed a deep sympathy for abandoned and neglected children. In the 1940s, she began providing short-term and long-term care for community children in her home. She also found permanent homes for homeless children and taught parents essential parenting skills. In 1960, she became a licensed foster parent, providing care for hundreds of children in her home. Hale's success as a foster parent earned her the affectionate nickname of "Mother Hale."

In 1969, at the age of 64, Hale became the foster parent of an infant addicted to cocaine. She responded to needs of other children with this affliction by founding a groundbreaking foster care program in Harlem, Hale House. The respite care program also provided training to drug-addicted mothers on how to improve the health of their chemically dependent babies. Hale's unique program required mothers to live in Hale House with their children and attend a drug rehabilitation program. In the 1980s, Hale expanded Hale House services to include care for infants stricken with HIV and those who had lost parents to AIDS.

By 1991, Hale House cared for approximately 1,000 infants and toddlers. During her distinguished career, Hale received numerous honors and awards for her community service. She received an honorary doctorate from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and public service awards from the National Mother's Day Committee and the Truman Award for Public Service. In 1985, during his State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan referred to Hale as an "American hero" for her commitment to at-risk children.

Clara McBride Hale died on December 18, 1992 in New York City at the age of 87.

•••

Mientras criaba a sus hijos en Harlem, Hale desarrolló una profunda simpatía por los niños abandonados y descuidados. En la década de 1940, comenzó a brindar cuidados a corto y largo plazo a los niños de la comunidad. También encontró hogares permanentes para niños sin hogar y enseñó a los padres habilidades esenciales para la crianza de los hijos. En 1960, se convirtió en madre adoptiva autorizada y cuidó a cientos de niños en su hogar. El éxito de Hale como madre adoptiva hizo que se ganara el cariñoso apodo de "Madre Hale".

En 1969, a la edad de 64 años, Hale se convirtió en madre adoptiva de un niño adicto a la cocaína. Ella respondió a las necesidades de otros niños con este padecimiento y fundó un innovador programa de cuidados y crianza en Harlem, llamado Hale House. El programa de cuidados también proporcionó capacitación a madres drogadictas sobre cómo mejorar la salud de sus bebés químicamente dependientes. El programa único de Hale requería que las madres vivieran en Hale House con sus hijos y asistieran a un programa de rehabilitación de drogas. En la década de 1980, Hale amplió los servicios de Hale House para incluir la atención a bebés afectados por el VIH y a aquellos que habían perdido a sus padres a causa del SIDA.

En 1991, Hale House atendía a aproximadamente 1,000 bebés y niños pequeños. Durante su distinguida carrera, Hale recibió numerosos honores y premios por su servicio comunitario. Recibió un doctorado honorario por parte de John Jay College of Criminal Justice y premios de servicio público del Comité Nacional del Día de la Madre y el Premio Truman al Servicio Público. En 1985, durante su discurso sobre el estado de la Unión, el presidente Ronald Reagan se refirió a Hale como una "héroe estadounidense" por su compromiso con los niños en situación de riesgo.

Clara McBride Hale murió el 18 de diciembre de 1992 en la ciudad de Nueva York, a la edad de 87 años.

[reasoningdaily]

As the world braced for the verdict of the Chauvin trial, in Columbus, Ohio, there was another fatal shooting of 16-year-old Black girl named Ma’Khia Bryant. Many who watched the graphic and gut-wrenching bodycam video have decried the officer who deemed it necessary to use lethal force to defuse a physical altercation involving the Black teenager.

When juxtaposing what feels like a never-ending pattern of police brutality against Black people with the treatment of white perpetrators, there is an obvious disparity that highlights the pervasive nature of systemic racism. White gunmen who commit heinous crimes are often treated differently, with police being able to apprehend white suspects and bring them safely into custody.

Three recent examples of this: 21-year-old Dylann Roof, who was safely arrested after entering Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina and killing nine people in 2015. What’s even more disturbing is reports that police brought Roof Burger King following his arrest. In 2020, during protests of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a 17-year-old gunman, Kyle Rittenhouse, used an AR-15 assault rifle to kill two people and injured a third. Law enforcement apparently offered Rittenhouse and a group of militia members water at some point before the shooting took place.

In March 2021, after a gunman shot and killed eight people, with six of them being Asian, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Director of Communications remarked that the shooter was having a “really bad day.” These comments drew public outrage at the humanization of the mass shooter. Black youth aren’t given the opportunity to be humanized, with a number of tragic stories illustrating this.

Over a decade ago, 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones was fatally shot by Detroit police who were looking for a murder suspect. In 2012, the world was gripped by the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, who thought Martin looked suspicious. In 2014, a Black youth named Tamir Rice was shot by police. Rice, who was only 12 years old, was thought to be 20 years old. In 2015, a video of McKinney, Texas police officer Eric Casebolt went viral. Casebolt was filmed yelling at Black teenagers and threw one teenage girl to the ground while kneeling on her back. The video sparked rightful outrage at the excessive force used on the young girl.

Examining patterns of police treatment towards Black youth highlights a prominent issue: the adultification bias, which is the phenomenon where adults perceive Black youth as being older than they actually are. When the adultification bias was examined, one study found that Black girls as young as five years old were perceived as being less needing of protection and nurturing, compared to their white counterparts.  

Research indicates that Black boys are perceived as older and less innocent when compared to their white counterparts. “Black boys can be seen as responsible for their actions at an age when white boys still benefit from the assumption that children are essentially innocent,” shared Phillip Atiba Goff, Ph.D., who authored a study examining this phenomenon in more detail. Black girls are treated disparately compared to their white counterparts and are more likely to be seen as older, while having to navigate the combined effects of racism and sexism.

The adultification bias contributes to the continued harm and abuse that Black youth face, not just at the hands of law enforcement, but also in the education system. When Black women and girls are mistreated, harmed and abused, it is less likely to be reported on. The Say Her Name campaign co-founded by scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw was designed to bring greater awareness to this issue.

Disrupting the adultification bias must first begin with awareness that this problem even exists. Despite the wealth of evidence detailing the ways it manifests, greater understanding is necessary. Training about the adultification bias should be mandatory, especially for folks working with and around Black youth populations. Understanding the ways that the adultification bias manifests as well as how to mitigate this type of bias is imperative.

Although research indicates that those who are marginalized are likely to internalize some of the biases and stereotypes about their own identity group, it is likely that having more Black people working with Black youth populations would lessen the occurrence of the adultification bias. One can assume that having experience and exposure to Black youth may increase one’s understanding, and limit the adultification bias from taking place. Resources must be allocated to support education about the adultification bias and how it can be interrupted. Lastly, rather than resorting to punitive measures when dealing with Black youth, we must encourage the learning of de-escalation and conflict resolution strategies.

[wakandamama]

Now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, why ain't there 100 bands on Zimmerman's shit? Someone shoulda made him chalk lines day 1 of the acquittal.

Emmet Till, Latasha Harlins, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Aiyana Jones, Ma'Khia Bryant, all the Black children's who names are loss in the Mass amount of them dead. From the babies tossed into swamps by slave master to poor Ralph Yarl who has to suffer for the rest of his life because some evil white bigot who was proably in post card picnic in his youth decided him being lost in his neighborhood was cause enough for a death sentence.

If they feel bold enough to kill innocent Black kids with no justice for the lives loss. Welp, we should be bold enough to correct that shit🤷🏾‍♀️ they obviously only speak violence and it's time we speak they language to get the fucking message across atp.

[ausetkmt]

A 12 year old school student died after he was allegedly made to run in extreme heat despite asking for water.

Californian Yahshua Robinson was allegedly forced to run in 36C heat after wearing the wrong clothes to gym class. He collapsed and later died after running, on the same day his mother, a teacher, issued a warning about dangerous weather conditions.

Yahshua said he felt unwell before he collapsed students in the boy’s class told his aunt Amarna Plummer, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Plummer said: “He was reaching out to the teacher, saying he needed some water.”

Image: ABC 7 WS)

Emergency responders rushed to Yahshua’s aid, transporting the boy around 16 kilometres from Canyon Lake Middle School to Loma Linda University Medical Center – Murrieta, where he was pronounced dead at 12:55 p.m, Riverside Sheriff’s office said in a press release.

The 12-year-old’s family is now looking for answers following their child’s death.

Plummer said: “Why would you have a child in his clothes – he didn’t dress out – running a field?”

Image: ABC 7 WS)

Temperatures in Lake Elsinore reached a high of 36 degrees, according to the The Weather Channel. The boy’s aunt revealed Yahshua’s mother, Janae Robinson, a gym teacher at a neighbouring district, that same day, warned school officials about the intense heat.

Plummer added: “She informs the administration, ‘Do not let any children go out today for PE’ And what happened? She gets a call he passed out on the field.

Image: ABC 7 WS)

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department confirmed they responded to the school after receiving a report of a minor needing medical aid and are investigating the tragic death, according to a statement released by the department.

A statement by The Lake Elsinore Unified School District said: “In this difficult moment, we are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of one of our students due to a medical emergency on one of our LEUSD campuses.

“Our hearts are with the family, friends, and our school community.” The 12-year-old's fundraiser is currently at $49,859 of it $100,000 goal (

Image: ABC 7 WS)

In a GoFundMe page set up by Plummer, she writes that: “The void Yahshua leaves behind is profound” after he collapsed in the “sweltering heat.”

“Janae & Eric Robinson and their three other children are trying to come to terms with this devastating reality. The agony of losing a child is indescribable, and as we wait with heavy hearts for the autopsy results, we are reminded of the unpredictability of life.”

The fundraiser is currently at around $50,000 of its $100,000 goal. Experts say children are more susceptible to heat related death (

Image: ABC 7 WS)

As the family waits to receive the autopsy report determining Yahshua’s death, US Environmental Protection Agency experts have shared the dangers of heat-related illness in children

Most children have a smaller body mass ratio to surface area and are at greater risk for heat-related death than adults.

Children are also more susceptible to dehydration than adults because fluids leave their bodies faster in heat and when exercising, the organisation also shared in their June report.

Flushed skin, deep breathing, little or no sweating, dizziness, fatigue, headache, or loss of consciousness are all signs of heatstroke — and if a child is believed to be suffering from the heat-induced illness, they should be placed in a cool environment and should seek medical attention.

[cyarsk52-20]

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice by a white man in Kansas City after accidentally ringing the doorbell of the wrong home. The man shot Ralph in the head through his glass door, and then when Yarl was already bleeding out on the ground, shot him again tw/cw: for upsetting images

Update: Ralph Yarl has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home in Kansas City, his father says.

“He continues to improve. He’s responsive and he’s making good progress.”

Oh and here’s the information on the information on the person who shot him

https://twitter.com/Weirdberto/status/1647775575849705473?s=20

If Andrew Lester is 80+ & that fuckin racist, bet money he's killed before.

In Missouri?

I bet He probably been part of a few lynchings including attempted lynchings .

Make him famous and ruin his life (or what’s left of his life)

Black children should be able to make it home without fear of death especially when it comes in the form of a white racist attempting to hunt them down like wild animals for trophies

[violottie]

"At least 12 killed, including a mother with a baby strapped to her back, in twin bomb blasts that hit two camps for displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday 2nd May." from African Stream, 04/May/2024:

caption continued under video

This brave brother allegedly took the baby away from his dead mother's corpse; effectively, saving the baby's life, according to local reports.

The United Nations condemned the attack that targeted the camps in Lac Vert and Mugunga, near the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, the UN said in a statement.

The attacks, in which at least 20 people were injured, were a "flagrant violation of human rights and international humanitarian law and may constitute a war crime”, it said.

Many of the victims were sleeping in their tents when the area was attacked.

The United States has accused the military in neighbouring Rwanda and the M23 rebel group of being behind the attacks. Yet the U.S. remains a staunch ally of Rwanda despite its many violations of human rights in DRC and its support for M23.

[squeakadeeks]

when the lights are on in my skysona mask im completely blind so i used the sound from my speakers to tell me where my phone was

[butterflikisses]

This 👏🏾

[troythecatfish]

[afriblaq]

[reasoningdaily]

Ralph Yarl was on his way to get his brothers. The 16-year-old headed to pick up the twin boys from their friend’s home, accidentally mixed up the address, ending up at a house on Northeast 115 Street instead of Northeast 115th Terrace—an honest mistake anyone could have made. This one nearly cost him his life.

Ralph rang the doorbell, prepared to greet his brother and make their way home. He instead was met by 84-year-old Andrew Lester, who shot Ralph in the head through the glass door. Lester then shot Ralph again in the arm after Ralph fell. Despite his injuries, Ralph somehow made it to not one, not two but three neighbor’s homes, one of which Ralph to get down on the ground with his hands up. A different neighbor finally came valiantly to Ralph’s aid.

Ralph would end up spending days in a hospital recovering from his wounds—for knocking on the wrong door.

Andrew Lester, who shot Ralph, later told investigators he was “scared to death” by Ralph’s size and his own potential inability to defend himself. As much as people would like to believe Ralph Yarl’s story is an outlier, unfortunately, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to a Black child.

In April of 2018, then-14-year-old Brennan Walker did what many kids have accidentally done— missed his school bus. He stopped by a home that looked safe, one bearing a sign that said “Neighborhood Watch,” to ask for directions. The home belonged to Jeffery Zeigler. Instead of giving the teen directions to his school, Zeigler ended up shooting at Brennan, who ran for his life. Zeigler's wife screamed at the teen and called the police, saying that a Black male was trying to break into her house and her husband chased after him into the yard.

Luckily Brennan escaped, physically unharmed.

Not all kids are so lucky. In June of 2021, Coby Daniel, then 6 years old, left his bike in front of his neighbor’s home while playing outside with his friends. The neighbor, Ryan Le-Nguyen, threatened the child with a sledgehammer, then when back into his own house and fired at Coby, hitting him in his arm. 

In May of 2012, 13-year-old Darius Simmons watched his mother, Patricia Larry be confronted by their neighbor, John Henry Spooner, who accused Darius and his older brother, of stealing his shotguns. When she attempted to verbally defend her sons, Spooner drew his 9mm at her. Darius, who was at school at the time Spooner’s guns were stolen, denied he stole the weapons. Spooner shot Darius close range in the chest. He later died. 

Note the similarities: Zeiglar’s wife assumed that a Black boy who was knocking on her door was attempting to break into their home, Spooner assumed the Black kids in his neighborhood had robbed him, and Lester said he was “scared to death” by Yarl’s size. These are not random wacky misconceptions but are, too often, the biased views neighbors hold about Black children—that they are delinquent, deceptive, and dangerous.

Black children are “adultified” or viewed and treated as adults and even punished like them. Adultification is a legacy of enslavement and results in Black children receiving harsher punishments in school, being 18 times more likely to be criminally sentenced as adults than white children their same age1.

One study found that Black teen boys, in particular, are viewed as “less innocent” and therefore less in need of protection or care, while a separate study found that perceptions around Black teen boys, in particular, viewed them as “adultlike,” bigger, and more formidable.

This misconception of formidability and the absence of innocence leads to fear and suspicion. But fear or suspicion too often leads to Black kids’ harm or worse, their deaths. 

Thirteen-year-old Sinzae Reed was sitting outside of an apartment building. Fifteen-year-old Jordan Edwards was riding in a car leaving a party. Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was playing in the park with a toy gun. Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was walking home after school in the rain. Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was spending the summer with his cousins, and with the death of Carolyn Bryant, no one has been held accountable for his gruesome murder to date. 

These were all Black boys who were perceived as community threats. They should've been able to play outside or ask for directions or show up at the wrong door without fear of losing their lives.

These Black boys deserved to be seen and treated as children.

[thashining]

Education

[ausetkmt]

A Washington state mother was charged last week with assault of a child after it was discovered that her daughter was receiving excessive medical treatment for unverified conditions.

Sophie Hartman of the Seattle suburb of Renton, Washington, who is white, adopted two Black children from Zambia where she worked as a missionary, according to court documents obtained by Atlanta Black Star. The children were removed from her home on March 17, 2021. One of Hartman’s daughters was held at a hospital, and doctors at the medical center informed authorities of the child’s “suspicious medical history.”

Hartman carried her 6-year-old daughter to an estimated 500 medical appointments over the span of about five years, according to charging documents filed on May 24. Doctors said that as a result, she has received an “unnecessary medical procedure,” as well as a surgically implanted feeding tube, with a cecostomy tube, to flush out the intestines. Though doctors advised against it, the young girl was also committed to a wheelchair and wore leg braces at least as early as 2016, court documents said.

In 2018, Make-a-Wish granted the child a wish. In a video sent to the foundation, Hartman explained that her daughter had Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC), a disease she said could cause her child to become paralyzed at any time.

“She can lose the ability to talk and go into all different types of seizures and have extreme pain. It’s really tough,” Hartman said in the video.

The 31-year-old mother also said that even the “best pediatric specialists” have no idea what to do, and that “…she needs access to oxygen because her breathing shallows and slows; she depends on her feeding tube when she’s unable to eat.”

Medical providers informed detectives that they did diagnose Hartman’s daughter with AHC, but only based on the symptom details that Hartman provided — symptoms that were only witnessed by her, according to search warrants.

A Seattle Children’s Hospital physician advised detectives that according to medical findings, it was likely that the child was not afflicted with the disease.

In 2019, “a group of (redacted) specialists and providers at Seattle Children’s Hospital” requested consultation of the Safe Child and Adolescent Network (SCAN) due to alarm concerning “a pattern of parental requests for increasingly invasive procedures based upon undocumented signs and symptoms reported by the parent,” read investigative reports.  

A report warning of the risk to the child was “co-authored by four medical professionals of the child’s care team,” and was “reviewed and signed by the medical director for Seattle Children’s Hospital.”

“This situation is a case of medical child abuse … ” said the report. “It is not necessary to know the possible motivation of a caregiver, only the outcome of the behavior. It is my concern that this pattern has resulted in unnecessary medical testing, medication, procedures, surgeries and debility of this child.”

In February 2021, the report was sent to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. The Renton Police Department was contacted, and commenced their investigation.

Detectives also discovered diary entries written by Hartman, in which she allegedly described several instances in which she lied about having various diseases, such as meningitis and mono, in her youth, said court documents. Detectives noted that in one entry Hartman allegedly transcribed, “when it comes to suffering, I am a compulsive liar/exaggerator.”

Hartman penned an account of her work in Africa in a book that she said initiated her decision to adopt, reported The Independent. She received a flurry of interest once she publicly revealed the youngest daughter was diagnosed with AHC, and A GoFundMe page was established for a wheelchair.

The child’s various procedures date back to 2016, according to court documents. They also revealed that Hartman allegedly searched for “cochlear implants Black child,” “how to get paid to take care of a member of the family with a disability,” “making a pretend model of hearing aid,” and “funeral songs” on her iPad and iPhone.

In March, the child was taken from the care of her mother and monitored for 16 days at a local hospital, according to investigators.

“At no point during her admission were there any findings or reported symptoms to support any of her prior diagnoses. All the available evidence obtained during the course of her admission suggests (redacted) is a health young 6-year-old,” said court documents. Within the two week stay at the hospital, the child was able to eat and drink on her own, run and walk without the use of any aids and “demonstrated no need for a wheelchair”

Hartman was charged with second-degree assault of a child and second-degree attempted assault of a child. The state requested her bail be at $100,000 based on the defendant’s likelihood to commit a violent offense and interview with the administration of justice.

Hartman’s attorneys released a statement asserting that the charges “are based on false statements and misrepresentations of the medical record by a doctor at Seattle Children’s Hospital who has never seen the child or spoken with Ms. Hartman.”

In addition, they vouched for the legitimacy of the daughter’s illness, writing, “Contrary to the allegations of the King County Prosecuting Attorney, the child’s diagnosis was made by more than one doctor, is legitimate, and is based on a substantial record beyond the reports and information provided by Ms. Hartman.”

“That record includes independent medical examinations by multiple doctors, direct observation of the child by doctors and nurses at Duke and at Seattle Children’s Hospital, standardized testing results, videotapes of the child’s symptoms, MRI, EEG and other diagnostic tests. The King County Prosecuting Attorney has the medical records from Duke as well as records from Seattle Children’s Hospital amply supporting the diagnosis and the consistent reports of Ms. Hartman,” the statement read.

“Sophie Hartman is the mother of a young child with a rare neurological condition diagnosed and treated by doctors at Duke University Medical Center. … Ms. Hartman is innocent of these charges.”

Representatives of the Make-A-Wish Foundation released a statement soon after news broke of the investigation. “We are deeply saddened and dismayed to learn about the alleged child abuse case involving one of our former wish families,” read a statement provided to Q13 FOX. “This is a very serious allegation and any threat to the well-being of a child is not in alignment with the child-centered focus of our mission. We hope this matter is quickly remedied in the best interest of the child.”

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

I would like to remind you that Israel is still responsible for providing espionage tools to the government of Bangladesh…

Yes, Israel has additional guilt, let's not forget about it

Now that I have your attention:

[tacagen]

one of the things that fascinate me about thawne: yes, he CAN be normal with kids! surprisingly normal!

((not at all times, though. his mental illness still spills through and as usual he, in trying to manipulate or hurt others, spits out at them the exact stuff that would hurt him (or have in his childhood/barry's rejection interpretation) the most in the first place lmao))

but at the same time. his like second instinct when doing his bullshit is FUCK THEM (as) KIDS

(and, well. whatever this classifies as)

[limerence-leftovers]

Personal ramblings because I am MAD.

I can’t have children. Back in 2016, my husband and I suffered a miscarriage that nearly took my life. I’m one of the women you’ve probably read about here of late where missed miscarriages are concerned. I nearly died and had to have an emergency D&E thanks to a blood clot the size of a cantaloupe taking shape in my uterus. Yes, you read that correctly. A cantaloupe. The nurses and my surgeon were shocked. I feel incredibly lucky however because it happened during a time where I didn’t have to worry about receiving the surgery or not. And the staff who took care of me were incredibly kind.

I live in Texas. This election has hit me very deeply.

Moving forward, I have good friends with children and I’ve been able to be a part of their lives. Two of which are in their younger years, and another is a teenager. It makes my heart unfathomably happy to get to be around them, to hear their laughter, listen to their stories I can barely understand because they’re 4 and 5 years old 😂🥰, and help the teenager just by being someone they can speak with freely.

They’re our found family. We’re all having Christmas and Thanksgiving together since none of us have close ties to our family. We’re all either LGBTQIA+, POC, or we’ve cut our family out due to abuse.

My found family means everything to me. We’ve all been there for one another. And we also all play D&D together, cook together, I help meal prep, we give each other rides when we need them, we’ve helped one another with home supplies, gas money when we have it, etc.

I’m so fucking terrified for my family. One of them is a female veteran who was sexually abused in the military. Another is a Hispanic male in the health care industry working in behavioral therapy for abused children. Our son, as we all call him, only turned 21 this year, a black man who I’d die to protect without hesitation. He’s our fucking baby boy and I’m so angry, hurt, upset, and scared for him. He’s the first person I thought of when all this shit started, especially with the text messages which were sent out. Fortunately he didn’t get one.

These are people and they’re real. They’re not the enemy.

They’re my family.

This is why we’re cutting people who voted for Trump out of our lives. If you voted for Trump, you voted to harm my family. I may just be one person, yes. But know that I hate you. I hate you. I fucking hate you.

And I’m not alone.

We all hope you live the lives you deserve, pigs. And when you realize what you’ve done, when you need an abortion, when your child is trans, when you fall in love with a POC and learn the terror they live in on the daily basis, know this:

You voted for Donald Trump. You did this to yourself. And you may find compassion from others.

You will receive none from me.