Texas police group puts up billboard warning "enter at your own risk," saying Austin defunded police

Caitlin O'Kane

September 10, 2020, 2:30 PM EDT

The Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA) has put up two billboards along Interstate 35 entering Austin after the city council voted last month to cut the Austin police budget. One of them reads: "Warning! Austin defunded police. Enter at your own risk!"
The second says, "Limited support next 20 miles," according to the association.
TMPA, the largest law enforcement association in Texas, said on Facebook it released the billboards – which include the hashtag #BacktheBlue – "to raise public awareness that Austin is a defunded city."
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick backed the campaign, calling them "great new billboards" in a tweet on Wednesday, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted about them with the hashtag #TexasBacksTheBlue.
Abbott has called on every Texan and candidate for public office to sign a pledge against defunding the state's police departments and post it on social media Thursday afternoon to show support for law enforcement.
"Defunding our police departments would invite crime into our communities and put people in danger," reads the pledge. "That is why I pledge to support any measure that discourages or stops efforts to defund police departments in Texas."
Thank you to the Texas Municipal Police Association for these great new billboards that went up in Austin today. @austintexasgov ignored public safety and made a dangerous decision to #defundpolice #bigmistake #backtheblue #txlege pic.twitter.com/bGO8X1Hyur
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) September 9, 2020
"Defunding the police" has been a focal point for protesters who have taken to the streets in recent months following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Some cities across the U.S. have acted on the calls, which come as part of a wider movement against racial injustice and police brutality.
Supporters have said "defunding" isn't about doing away with all funding for police departments. The practice is often a reallocation of some money from law enforcement to other services that could help the community.
In Austin, the city council approved a $150 million cut in funding to the Austin Police Department last month, with the majority of money being redirected to other departments and social services, according to CBS Austin.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler and other council members argue the changes will improve public safety. He took to Twitter last month to explain the changes.
"This budget responds to concerns expressed all over the community and embodies our values as a city. New investment is focused on the underlying causes of crime," he wrote.
The new budget maximizes officer effort and invests in programs and strategies to decrease crime, Adler said.
Adler has pointed to Denver as a city that effectively transformed its police department, CBS Austin reports. Denver is now sending mental health professionals instead of police to respond to non-violent 911 calls. According to Adler, none of the calls in Denver have required police backup. This frees up officers for other police work.
While cities like Denver and Austin call the defunding effort "reimagining public safety," others, including Texas Governor Abbott, see it as a threat to law and order, according to CBS Austin.
However, Adler says Austin continues to be the safest big city in Texas. "I mean you could have a 50% increase in homicides in Austin and you still wouldn't get up to where Fort Worth is, a smaller city than we are," the mayor said.
In a news conference Thursday, Abbott, a Republican, was joined by other officials who signed the pledge against defunding police departments in the state.
Texas Democrats issued their own pledge in response to the "Back the Blue" campaign. The Democrats' "Texas First Pledge" includes protecting public health by following scientists' recommendations in responding to COVID-19, providing coverage for pre-existing conditions, and supporting small businesses and education. The party shared the pledge on Twitter and urged Abbott and Senator John Cornyn, a fellow Republican, to sign it.

Why is is okay for african americans to have blonde straight hair but white women can't have braids of big butts?

This article says it all.

As a black woman, I'm glad to see the back of Keeping Up With The Kardashians

Banseka Kayembe

September 9, 2020, 11:49 AM EDT

Picture: (Getty)

Keeping up with the Kardashians, a show centred around Kardashian-Jenner family drama, is officially coming to an end.
After 14 seasons, this particular inside view of the family’s plethora of break-ups, divorces, marriages and babies could be closed off to the public for good. But while fans of the show mourn its loss and remember its iconic phrases (“don’t be f*****g rude!” anyone?), as a black woman, I’m celebrating.
Many dislike the Kardashian-Jenners purely because they see them as a symbol of trashy, unintelligent, shallow entertainment. I, however, am not one for snobbery. I actually believe that reality TV can be an interesting sociological reflection of the world we live in. My and many other black women’s issue with the family is about something else entirely.
The Kardashian-Jenners have perfected the act of being “culture vultures” to an almost systematic degree, slipping on costumes of blackness in an effort to be relevant and edgy and making huge profits in the process.
Their bodies ape familiar black female phenotypes in an almost cartoonish way, from their jutting fake hips, full bums and overly injected lips. They are widely attributed with popularising the current obsession with having a bigger behind (remember the trend of asking “does my bum look big in this?”) – as though this is not a feature that many black women have naturally. Their skin is often extremely tanned; fans remarked only a few months ago that when Kylie Jenner posted an image of herself with a considerably darker skin tone, she looked like she was “cosplaying as Beyonce”.
The family also adopt black hairstyles with zero respect for its origins. Kim Kardashian, in particular, has worn Fulani braids, a specific African hairstyle and attributed them to “Bo Derek” a white woman who appropriated the braids in the 1970s. Kylie Jenner has also worn cornrows and clapped back at fans who tried to point out why it was problematic – labelling it as “just a hairstyle”. They’ve also been accused numerous times of stealing black women’s ideas, with Khloe Kardashian’s jean fashion line Good American coming under fire for allegedly lifting designer Destiney Bleu’s work, which Good American and Khloe have denied. If the allegations are true, using the creative efforts black women without giving them credit is exactly the sort of conduct that edges black women out of these creative markets in the first place, lessening the scope for the recognition of black women in these fields.
One of the most haunting aspects of the family’s legacy, is, to me at least, Kim’s now-infamous Paper Magazine cover in which she balances a champagne glass on her derriere. The image was actually based on Jean-Paul Goude’s photo of black model Carolina Beaumont, as part of a book called “Jungle Fever”. Beaumont did not have the luxury of being able to escape the negative stereotype of hyper-sexualisation or exoticised objectification that black women bear. Whereas Kim’s cover, which also reeks of racial fetishisation and harks back to the legacy of Saartjie Baartman, a 19th century South African woman who was exhibited in “freak-show” displays for viewers to marvel at her large buttocks and genitals, enables Kim to wear those harmful tropes like a costume. As a white woman, Kim Kardashian is able to elevate herself above these stereotypes while generating profit from its sensationalism.
Against the backdrop of this, the Kardashian-Jenners have, as far I’m concerned, never made any real attempt to create a serious dialogue around the Black Lives Matter movement, or use their white privilege – which they still get to retain while enjoying the financial fruits of exoticising blackness – for change. Kim’s prison reform work, though admirable in some ways, is completely devoid of wider conversations on how systemic racism is a core aspect of the US prison system. She chooses to highlight isolated cases of injustice, rather than acknowledging the wider picture. Black men are incarcerated at significantly higher rates than white men. One in three black men in the US can expect to spend at least some time in prison and tend to receive harsher sentencing for similar crimes compared to white men. For black women, the imprisonment rate is twice the rate where white women are concerned.
Their expert monetisation of blackness has had a ripple effect – and other social media influencers have seen dollar signs too. Celebrities like the Kardashians are arguably linked to the likes of young influencers like Emma Hallberg, a Swedish woman who presented herself as a black mixed-race person, and later turned out to be a white woman with an exceptionally deep tan, bronzer and a series of curly-haired wigs. She defended herself by saying she never claimed explicitly to be black, but in my view, it appears that she is able to understand, just like Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardahsian-Jenner family seems to, that blackness on white women will always be more profitable and receive more credit than blackness on actual black women.
It’s frustrating knowing this as a black woman. I spent years feeling like my body wasn’t good enough, because naturally, my hips, bum and general body type didn’t fit the westerns social ideal of being slim with European features. I grew up understanding that I could be shunned, made fun of or viewed as unprofessional for having my hair in natural styles, or braids. I kept my hair in a straight style for almost a year in the first professional job I had, for fear that I would be judged or hamper any promotional opportunities. It’s a terrible irony that I’ve grown up being told that whiteness is the best thing since sliced bread – yet blackness on white women continues to be lauded while real black women face the true consequences of being black every day.
Do I think that we’re going to see less of the Kardashian-Jenners now that their show is coming to an end? I suspect not, as they continue to be hugely prolific in lots of other ways. But perhaps the end of their long reality TV reign will signal a larger conversation around cultural appropriation, serving as a small sign that white women using black culture for their own gain isn’t as profitable as it used to be. Either way, I’m happy to see the show go.
Banseka Kayembe is a freelance writer living in London and the founder of Naked Politics, an online platform that engages and empowers young people, and amplifies their views
Read more

Dearborn universary sets up cafe for " Non people or color "......BUT ALSO cafe for blacks, indigenous etc

Hmmm


if you can set up ANYTHING for a colored group....("black entertainment this or that, black business for this, black girls this or that, black children this or that etc...).

then it is okay for ANY other color

Hey Meg instead of being in the history books for a stunning black princess....

you and harry will be just a big disappointment to the UK

My God people... it is campaign time.... the lies are flying

Be smart....

White people are not proud of their race .

You don't see any showing how proud they are.

Now everything is pro black and brown.

You will not see a pro white

Trump did NOT say vote twice... freakin listen to him NOT just read. He said....

Fill out your ballot and mail it in... THEN... go to the polls and SEE if your ballot was counted or LOST. Then vote if it shows that you DIDN"T vote.


NEVER once did he say vote twice


AGAIN... stupid people


He is not my favorite person but stop making up freaking stories.... Damn..