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The brotherhood of the traveling guns
By Cristina DC Pastor About 10 years ago, police rookie Rex Gene Maralit sued the New York Police Department over a gym accident. That case has since been settled. Fast forward to 2013. Rex Maralit, now an NYPD officer, is accused of gun smuggling. Multiple reports say he and two brothers are involved in an […]
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A FilAm’s experience with stop-and-frisk for wearing braids and ‘gang colors’
By Kilusan Bautista A U.S. District Court has ruled recently that stop-and-frisk is “racially discriminatory” against Black and Latino populations. Although city officials have cited the practice as contributing to the low crime rate, Judge Shira Scheindlin said it is being used “in a manner that intentionally discriminates based on race.” Poet and performance artist […]
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Unless Aquino acts, journalists killings ‘are not going to stop:’ Human Rights Watch
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III should speak out against the recent killings of three journalists and ensure that the authorities expedite their investigation, the New York based Human Rights Watch said on August 9. While the killers and motives are unknown, these and past unresolved attacks on journalists have a chilling effect on media freedom […]
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I am not Trayvon Martin
By Hernan Hormillosa I am not Trayvon Martin. I am much older than he was, but I can visualize the fear he must have shown on his face mixed with anger, this 17-year-old dark-skinned human being. I had experienced being followed by a security guard who didn’t know I have a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering […]
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Raid of 7-Eleven yields exploited Filipino workers, abuser Filipino manager
Ramon Nanas, 49, of Great River, New York was one of nine 7-Eleven store owners and managers indicted for allegedly exploiting undocumented workers. The U.S. Department of Justice said the employees of several 7-Eleven convenience stores spread across Long Island in New York and Norfolk, Virginia were exploited, their wages stolen and were required to […]
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‘I don’t want to feel unsafe again, don’t want to go back into the closet’ (Part 2)
By Kevin L. Nadal, Ph.D. On Thursday, May 16th, I attended a protest, in front of Madison Square Garden, right before a Knicks game. With the theme of “Queers Take Back the Night, ”over a hundred LGBTQ people and allies stood silently with signs as Knicks fans entered the arena. Some passers-by respectfully walked by, […]
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Anti-gay hate crimes on the rise: a call to the community (Part 1)
Kevin L. Nadal, Ph.D. I first moved to New York when I was 24 years old and I was accepted into a doctoral program in psychology at Columbia University. Some college friends from my undergraduate university in Southern California were already living in New York and invited me to move in with them in a […]
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Photographs and memories of a traumatic marathon
By Cristina DC Pastor With Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in custody, Leona Merk of Dedham, Mass., can breathe a sigh of relief. “I am hopeful we will now have insight to the brothers’ motivation, which we wouldn’t have the opportunity to hear if it had ended otherwise,” mused Leona, 26, as she pored over hundreds of photographs […]
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For Martin William Richard: Peace, little man
By Pamela K. Santos I feel sick to my stomach reading about the death of the 8-year-old Martin William Richard in Boston. He was a third-grader just like my son. My heart hurts for his family. In a statement, Martin’s father asked for “patience and for privacy as we work to simultaneously grieve and recover.” […]