BC SOCIETY
Saved by @Alex1Powell

THREAD: Today, @courierjournal published Beyond Breonna, a series on systemic racism and how Louisville can end it.

It was spurred by the death of Breonna Taylor. But these issues have existed for generations. People are tired of the same

 As @FBruceWilliams said: "It kills me when people ask, 'Well, what do you want?' ... Why is it so difficult for people to believe (a Black community) wants for its residents the same opportunities, services, convenience and quality in their neighborhood?"

https://t.co/Rv9XUGHv49
The series covers disparities in health, education, housing, employment and criminal justice.

We start with health because Black people are dying younger in Louisville - from homicides, chronic illnesses and now the coronavirus.

https://t.co/BGf0SpMrt8
Environmental conditions - such as access to healthy food, quality housing and clean air - contribute to higher rates of illness in Black communities.

And disparities in treatment have made Black patients mistrust the system.

https://t.co/BGf0SpMrt8
Alisha Beatty had 7 miscarriages before she said doctors took her seriously and looked into the cause.

"I was always told, 'It's an act of God, these things happen.'"

https://t.co/BGf0SpMrt8
We move on to education because it's supposed to be the "great equalizer."

In Louisville, it still isn't, @HayesGardner reported.

https://t.co/JhaWtE6V8n
“Everything we do — our policies, our procedures, everything — has to have a focus on racial equity because we're seeing the same achievement gaps nationwide that aren't changing." @JCPSSuper

https://t.co/JhaWtE6V8n
Education can lead to better jobs which can lead to better housing and opportunities.

In Louisville, just 36% of Black households own their home, while 70% of white households do.

https://t.co/BQ8RNJgqGh
Instead of improving, disparities in housing are getting worse.

Black home-ownership rates fell between 2000 and 2017. And Black people are still evicted at higher rates than white people - including Kwmisha Adams, a mother of four.

https://t.co/BQ8RNJgqGh
Kwmisha Adams was evicted from her apartment in August amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"What hurts me the most, it's not me that I have to think about, it's four kids. ... I'm already living in government assistance. How much lower can a person feel?"

https://t.co/BQ8RNJgqGh
Then we get to the criminal justice story.

This one is hard.

Kris Smith, who @HayesGardner featured, was shot and killed Friday as this series was awaiting publication.

https://t.co/qvIJO2OaIj
Kris Smith was called a hero for stopping a deadly situation.

But he sat in jail for multiple years awaiting two trials on felony gun possession, eventually taking a plea.

“You get so tired of being in there, locked up, you’ll take damn near anything."

https://t.co/qvIJO2OaIj
In Kentucky, Black people are nearly 3 times more likely to be in jail than white people. And from 2017 through October 2020, Black people made up 43.5% of arrests by the LMPD, though they make up 22% of the city's population.

https://t.co/qvIJO2OaIj
Criminal records limit a person's job opportunities.

But as @HayesGardner shows with the story of William Isaac, the lack of opportunities sometimes leads people to commit crimes.

https://t.co/Q8MctcY2EI
In Louisville, 18% of Black people with a high school degree are unemployed, compared to 6% of white people.

“If you don’t have any hope, and you’re discouraged, then, I don’t know. You’re just gonna do things that you shouldn’t do," Isaac said.

https://t.co/Q8MctcY2EI
Unequal access to high-paying jobs and home-ownership prevents Black people from establishing wealth, which in turn can prevent them from taking financial risks - such as opening a business.

In 2020, 2.4% of Louisville businesses are Black-owned.

https://t.co/S3tpBVNt20
"Black people can be very creative and innovative with ideas and skills and abilities, but don’t have the capital to venture with, and if they do, it’s going to be more to sustain livelihood than to be a risk-taker and try a business venture." @kefieldssr

https://t.co/S3tpBVNt20
As you read these stories, notice the themes.

The coronavirus is deepening disparities, giving these issues even more urgency.

But Louisville isn't naive about how to solve them. People know what needs to be done.

The question is: Do we have the will?

https://t.co/oRs5f6IBPJ
.@HiJackTheDay told me about research he did in 2015 following the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

People wanted to know how Louisville could prevent something similar from happening here.

5 years later, little has changed.

https://t.co/oRs5f6IBPJ
A common reason from those in power is that they don't have the resources to try solutions toward ending systemic racism.

But community members say, in many cases, the obstacle isn't funding — it's a matter of priority and personal will.

https://t.co/oRs5f6IBPJ
"If you’re white, you don’t need to tell a Black person change is slow. Because we see from our lived experience, when white people facilitate changes on their behalf, the shit can change pretty rapidly." @HiJackTheDay

https://t.co/oRs5f6IBPJ
Want proof that Louisville knows how to reduce racial disparities?

Here are 50 potential solutions.

https://t.co/ND4jJI1Wb8
And if you want to get involved yourself, here are dozens of places already doing great work.

https://t.co/o10nF81t4c
This series is for subscribers, and we'd really appreciate if you support it through a subscription.

But the paywall will lift in two days. So if you can't afford it right now, bookmark this thread for Wednesday.

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kurt lash
kurt lash
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1/ The “I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most extraordinary speeches in American history. You should read it again. First, a few thoughts about the common American heritage Dr. King relied upon in calling Americans to rededicate themselves to the unfinished work of freedom.


2/ Dr. King delivered his speech in what he called the “hallowed spot” of the Lincoln memorial. More than a picturesque backdrop, King relied on America’s reverence for Lincoln and the common celebration of Lincoln’s words and acts, especially the Emancipation Proclamation.


3/ “Five score years ago…” King echoes the words of the Gettysburg Address. Like Lincoln, King invokes the Declaration of Independence and the fundamental principles of American freedom, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Every person in that crowd knew these words.


4/ The Declaration, Constitution and Emancipation Proclamation declared and established the fundamental American principles of freedom that all Americans knew and believed in. But these principles and promises remained unfulfilled for black Americans.


5/ Lincoln’s audience knew the history of slavery and many had suffered personal loss in the ongoing war. Dr. King’s audience knew the history of violent racism, segregation, and unequal economic opportunity. The Proclamation freed the slaves, “but the Negro still is not free.”
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Noah Smith
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1/OK, I should really write another thread about university-centric regional development, because I think people often make some (very understandable) mistakes when thinking about this issue.

2/The biggest myth, I think, is that universities help regions by educating locals as undergraduates.

Skeptics of universities say: "But most of the people who graduate end up leaving."

3/In fact, most of what a university does for a regional economy is NOT about educating local kids.

Educating local kids is good for the nation, but doesn't help a region much.

The way a university helps a region is through

4/Undergraduates usually leave town after graduation.

But university RESEARCH pulls in OTHER smart people from other regions, and they stay there.

Here's a paper showing that this is the main way universities increase a region's human capital:

5/Research also pulls in business investment.

Companies want to partner with university labs, so they can commercialize the technologies the labs produce. So they invest in the labs, and sometimes they even put their offices in the town.
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Spent a quaint half hour in a cafe listening to a guy yell at his dad after his dad said that the women Trump molested wanted it: "Dad, that's like saying the Jews who died in the Holocaust were asking for it!" ENJOY YOUR TERRIBLE FAMILIES THIS WEEK!

"Mom, has a man ever touched you without your consent?"
"Of course."
"Did you report it?"
"No."
"Dad, your WIFE has been through this!"

Dad was unmoved and told the guy to stop arguing with him.

At this point we learned the boy child has allergies.

I forgot to remark upon the presence of the very cute grandson, who was very small and gave not one shit about the yelling. I believe a sister or aunt was present and feeling very stressed. I wanted to hand her a Xanax or seven.

It was really hard to not jump in and say, "Sounds like you guys are going to have a fun meal tomorrow!" so they could unite in hatred against me, the outsider, and stop squabbling. Instead I exchanged glances with a nearby fellow lady patron, who also emotionally ate a cookie.

Anyway, I want to thank the random family for yelling about rape and the Holocaust in an Israeli cafe in the US of A today because it reminded me that while this country isn't the greatest, it is inevitably my stupid favorite and I am never, ever bored.
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Myles McNulty
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@avacta's AVA6000 approved by MHRA. Superb news. First dosing 'around mid-year'; first data to come within 3-4 months after that.

A summary thread on the significance of AVA6000 - and #AVCT's pre CISION platform as a whole - to both the oncology industry and to AVCT itself. 1/10

In very basic terms, #AVCT's pre CISION chemotherapies are essentially reformulated versions of existing, approved chemotherapies that have been used on cancer patients for many years - decades, even.

The pre CISION tech is simply an attempt to improve the safety profile... 2/10

...of the chemo.

Most therapeutics going through clinical trials look for an improvement of at least 20% over the existing industry-standard drug. A 50% increase in efficacy would usually be considered an astonishing result.

In pre-clinical mouse models for #AVCT's AVA6000 3/10

...18 times more pro-doxorubicin was found in the tumour than in the heart. Compare that to the 1:1 ratio of the standard doxorubicin.

What this means is that the pre CISION tech could be used to enable the giving of doses to patients that are multiple times more potent... 4/10

...than standard chemotherapy drugs - either in the form of greater number of cycles of chemo, or in the potency of the individual dose.

For example, in #AVCT's pre-clinical trials, pro-dox (AVA6000) doses were 6x more potent than the standard dox doses.

The results? The...5/10
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Tammy Bruce
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In the 90s I was a host on a talk radio station in LA, the same that aired Rush. I was president of LA NOW, & the liberal wkend host when he visited the station. He was so vilified by my then-crowd, I expected a monster. Instead, I met a remarkable, kind and encouraging man... 1/

He was gregarious & generous when we met. He shook my hand & I was shocked that he was nice & genuinely curious about my radio work and activism. I realized I was going to have a fascinating conversation 2/

There were many events during this time as a radio talk show host that changed me. It was my first job in the medium starting in 1993. My meeting Rush & our conversations made me realize the left had been lying to me about many things... 3/

Rush was not a monster, he wasn’t evil, he did not mean people harm, he wasn’t a bigot, or any of the other smears lobbed against him by my leftist associates. I liked him very much, and while we disagreed on many things (then) he was nothing has he had been painted 4/

In my conversations with him, we talked about the issues and despite the disagreements, he also took time to give me advice about hosting, style, connecting w the audience, etc. He encouraged me and gave me advice that made a huge difference in my career… 5/
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One fascist to watch in 2021 is Joseph Charles "Oakman" Golinske of SE MI. He's been a Proud Boy for a couple years, but took a break recently from the group and promotes himself through the "Oak Nation" channel on Telegram.


Most people may be familiar with him as the tall guy in the Proud Boys bridge shot, from their August 17, 2019 attack on Portland, which featured an American Guard bus trying (and failing) to bludgeon antifascists with hammers.


He was also with his g/f at the time (Dominique Tota, left of Tarrio), and that's definitely a twitter account folks will want to block/report because he posts on it.


He's been plenty active at the pro-Covid/anti-mask/ReOpen protests in Lansing MI, seen here with Jerry Wayne and an effigy of Gretchen Whitmer, who his militia friends tried to kidnap and publicly execute.


Outside of the Proud Boys, his solo "career" with Oak Nation features the same misogyny, classism and gateway to far-right domestic terrorism the Proud Boys themselves feature. Here's him peddling oxychlorinque and bragging about harassing service workers.
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🚢 Atomic Essays Republishing Framework 🚢

1. Write Atomic Essay
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5. Copy/paste again on Medium.
6. Again on LinkedIn
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Step 1: Write Atomic Essay

I really enjoy writing right inside the Figma template. It helps give me a good sense of exactly how much "real estate" I have/have left before my time us up and I'm out of space.

Once finished, I export the image and send to my phone on Slack.


Step 2: Post image on Twitter

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Light travels at about 1 foot per nanosecond.

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