Finish The Sentence Ria

When you see a group of Black/Latinx teenagers hanging out what goes through your mind? Do you automatically see them as a gang, as violent? Do you automatically see them as adults and not teens, children?
When you see a little Black girl wearing red nail polish or wearing hoops to play dress up, do you see her as acting "too grown"? What about when she is playing outside with some friends, one of them being a boy, do you call her "fast"?

If you answered yes to any of the above then take this into consideration: 

In 2012, 15-year old, Alexis Sumpter, was swiping her student MetroCard at the Subway when two cops demanded to see her ID and soon this girl's face was pressed against the wall by one officer and while the other two handcuffed her.
Alexis' dad vouched for her age but the cops still believed she was an adult and so her mom was called.  They didn't believe the mom either. 
Alexis' mom got the birth certificate proving Alexis was 15 and that was when she was uncuffed and released.

Your way of thinking results in little Black girls being are 3x more likely to receive harsher punishments than that of white girls and pushed into the school-to-prison pipeline. 
Listen to why you think this way when you see a girl of color, specifically a little Black girl in Finish The Sentence.
*This is Part 3 of the 3-Part School-to-Prison Pipeline Edition.

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How did you grow up learning about LGBTQ+ people and the community? If it was negative things you heard associated with LGBTQ+ people, why is that? 
Did you learn about LGBTQ+ people in sex education or in history?
 Did you bully and/or harass a person who was part of that community? Did you use gay as an insult and other derogatory language? Did you make "jokes" and ask stupid questions like "would you rather have a gay son or a hoe daughter"? Do you still do that? 

If you answered in a negative way towards any of the questions above then think about this:

Lack of safety resulted in many LGBTQ students missing school
Compared to cisgender LGBQ students, transgender students were more likely to receive school discipline and over three times as likely to report that they might not complete high school.
LGBTQ students who reported high levels of victimization, absenteeism or discrimination were more likely to have been involved with the justice system as a result of school discipline.

Because schools and people refuse to unlearn the bias and stigma associated with LGBTQ youth, they end up being pushed into the streets and into the school-to-prison pipeline. Listen to Finish The Sentence, unlearn your bias, so we can dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline once and for all and have a better future for our LGBTQ youth.
*Note: This is part 2 of a 3-episode series on the school-to-prison pipeline. 

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rpfinishthesentence/message

Answer these questions for me:
When you see a person with a disability, what goes through your head? Do you pity them? Do you isolate yourself from them? If you do, why do you think that way? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then check your way of thinking and continue reading.
According to American Bar Association, "76 percent of respondents showed an implicit preference for people without disabilities, compared to nine percent for people with disabilities. Even test takers with disabilities showed a preference for people without disabilities." 
Now I ask you, are you in that 76% or the 9%? If you answered, the 76%, why are you part of the 76% and not 9%? Is it because of the bias or stigma associated with people who are disabled?
If so, then please unlearn that way of thinking. Your way of thinking is killing students with disabilities today and thrusting them into the school-to-prison pipeline at alarming rates.
The Center for Popular Democracy says that, in NYC, "students with disabilities are only 18.7% of the student population but account for 42.7% of students receiving long-term suspensions." 
Unlearn the stigmas and biases you have been taught is associated with people with disabilities in the first episode of Finish The Sentence so that we do better for the youth of tomorrow's future.
*Note: This is the first episode/part 1 of a 3-episode series on the school-to-prison pipeline. The first 3 episodes may be different than how future episodes will be but welcome.

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rpfinishthesentence/message

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rpfinishthesentence/message