It’s the holiday season, and you know what that means: It’s time to talk strategy. No, not the kind that will help you beat out the throngs of crazed shoppers to score the best deals on this year’s hottest gifts. We’re talking about a strategy session to help you kick the not-so-stellar shopping habits you may have built up over the years — and adopt some savvier ones instead. And although everyone could probably benefit from a smart-spending lesson or two, today, we’re talking to you 20-somethings. While you haven’t had all that much time as an adult to establish your shopping routines and habits, you’ve had enough time to start developing some. To make sure …

It’s the holiday season, and you know what that means: It’s time to talk strategy.

No, not the kind that will help you beat out the throngs of crazed shoppers to score the best deals on this year’s hottest gifts.

We’re talking about a strategy session to help you kick the not-so-stellar shopping habits you may have built up over the years — and adopt some savvier ones instead.

And although everyone could probably benefit from a smart-spending lesson or two, today, we’re talking to you 20-somethings. While you haven’t had all that much time as an adult to establish your shopping routines and habits, you’ve had enough time to start developing some.

To make sure you’re setting yourself up for financial success in the decades to come, we rounded up five money experts to share their top shopping tips for reforming the most common bad consumer habits.

Bad Habit #1: Debt-Financing Your “Wants”
Think back to when you were in high school. You probably couldn’t help but play the comparison game — or run out to blow your allowance on the coolest new gadgets the second that the popular kids bought theirs.

Hey, we’re not judging. This mentality is normal, says Michael McCall, an Ithaca College consumer psychology professor and expert on spending patterns and debt. “Historically, people have always wanted what they can’t afford,” he says.

But this becomes a real problem when you continue to habitually indulge such “keeping up with the Joneses”-style patterns into your 20s, falling into a cycle of debt in the process — a bad habit with big financial consequences.

“At this point in your life, you don’t want to take on any more debt or go into a marriage with too much of it,” McCall says. “Debt is now preventing people from achieving milestones in their 30s, like becoming homeowners.”

So this is precisely why your 20s are prime time to nix this habit in favor of a more future-oriented financial mind-set — before you hit your high-earning years and start dreaming of such major money goals as starting a family.

Which brings us to the cardinal rule of shopping to adopt right now: If you haven’t budgeted for a “want” or can’t comfortably tap your weekly flexible spending account to pay for it, don’t buy it — regardless of who else is sporting it.

Your not-so-distant future self will thank you.

RELATED: 3 Recovered Debtors Confess: How I Dug Out of Debt — and Stayed That Way

Bad Habit #2: Succumbing to Sales Deals
It doesn’t matter whether you’re scouting out home goods, hardware or food — hitting up the store without a game plan can be a risky move because strategically placed clearance items, buy-one-get-one deals and glittery “extras” can tempt you into purchasing more than you really need.

And in addition to potentially busting that air-tight budget you’ve defined, stylist Anna Akbari, founder of the Sociology of Style, warns that there’s another downside to letting your impulses get the best of you in the sale section, especially when it comes to clothes shopping.

“Often, impulse sale purchases don’t become your go-to pieces,” she says. “Or, worse yet, you purchase something without it being a proper fit, so you either feel guilty for not wearing it or don’t feel confident when you do.”

Bottom line: It’s not a deal if you never end up using it.

So before you even hit the stores, come prepared with a list of what you really need to buy — rather than what your eye spots on the racks — and get in the habit of sticking to this practice, says Jon Lal, a spending expert and founder of BeFrugal.com.

In fact, “spending your time planning a purchase means you can search for coupons and sales [on what you want] before you buy,” he says. This means you can sniff out just the deals you want, rather than letting the “half off!” tags control your wallet.

RELATED: Discount Deception: The Sneaky Truth Behind Store Sales

Bad Habit #3: The “Buy What I Need Now” Mentality
Most people wait until they run out of a household item — paper towels, cleaning supplies, toothpaste — before restocking their cabinets. But this practice can actually lead you to overpay in the long run, says consumer products expert Kasey Trenum, author of “Couponing for the Rest of Us.”

A better shopping strategy, Trenum suggests, is to plan your shopping list a couple of months out.

“Buy eight to ten weeks’ worth of items that your family regularly uses when they are on sale, and with a coupon if possible,” she says, noting that the three-month timespan is the typical sale cycle. So by the time you run out of those supplies, you can restock — at a discount.

“By doing this, you can easily save half off retail prices,” Trenum adds.

Bad Habit #4: Letting Emotions Dictate Your Choices
People have a tendency to treat themselves by shopping when something good happens in their lives… or when something bad occurs. Or they’re bored. Or depressed. O.K., for some, almost any emotion is a good reason to shop.

But before you turn 30, it’s time to find smarter ways to reward yourself — and handle negative emotions — that don’t involve wasting your hard-earned cash because your troubles (and stress levels) won’t disappear as you age.

“Treat impulse purchases the same way you would an indulgent snack or dessert when you’re following a healthy eating plan, and give yourself a set amount of time to make sure you really want to indulge,” says Lal. “For example, step away from the item for an hour or two, then reconsider if it’s a purchase you are making because you really want it — or if it’s simply a quick fix to better your mood.”

This isn’t to say you can never indulge — you just have to be smart about it. Lal recommends setting aside a small amount of money each month into a savings account that you can tap guilt-free whenever you want to engage in a little retail therapy. This way, you’re not really overspending — you’re dipping into savings that you’ve already budgeted for.

RELATED: 8 Emotions That Can Sabotage Your Finances

Bad Habit #5: Not Investing in Basics
Here’s a motto for you: “When in doubt, invest in staples.”

It’s one of Akbari’s favorite mantras for budget-conscious shopping because while basics aren’t always the most fun to shop for, they will stand the test of time, as opposed to the trendy finds you’ll pay to update every year.

For both women and men, Akbari suggests investing in three key staples. The first is nice denim: dark, fitted and not too distressed. “You can wear them nearly every day and no one will notice,” she says, adding that you can expect to pay upward of $200, but nice Levi’s can run for under $100.

Second, you need sturdy and attractive outerwear, and you should expect to pay at least $300. “It’s what people see you in a huge percentage of the time when it’s cold,” she says. “[Plus], it’s worth it to invest in good construction and high-quality fabric.”

Finally, invest in black boots. “It’s likely you’ll wear them more often than not half the year, and if you care for them properly, they can last for years,” Akbari says. “Watch for sales, and you may be able to snag an off-season pair for cheap, but prices typically range between $250 and $400.”

Can’t live without a little flair? Play with your accessories. “Patterned hosiery, a studded belt, glasses with colored frames — these subtle pops are usually more cost-effective than bigger items, especially since you can still use the same neutral base,” Akbari says.

And this good shopping habit isn’t just reserved for clothes. You can apply it to other purchases, like home décor. For example, you can buy neutral furniture, pillows and bedding, says Akbari, and then incorporate floral arrangements, accent plants or a colorful throw to add a visual point of interest.

RELATED: Renter’s Guide to Renovations: Are These 7 Common Upgrades Worth Doing?

Bad Habit #6: Ignoring Seasonality at the Grocery
It can be hard to resist the urge to stock up on goodies like strawberries in the winter — even though they cost twice as much and taste half as good. But such instant gratification isn’t worth it for your taste buds, your budget — or even your health.

“Produce is always cheapest when you shop in season, especially if you can buy locally grown produce,” says Maura White, a deals pro at Savings.com. “If the produce doesn’t have to travel far to the store to get into your hands, it cuts the cost.”

Bonus: Fruits and vegetables lose nutrients once they’ve been picked, giving you another reason to avoid off-season produce that traveled halfway around the world before hitting your store’s shelves.

There are certain foods you can buy year-round: potatoes, apples, carrots, lettuce and mushrooms, for example. But these produce favorites are better bought seasonally: butternut squash and pears in the fall, kale and pomegranate in winter, corn and green beans in spring, and berries in summer.

RELATED: Grocery Budget Clinic: 6 Hacks for Smarter Meal Planning

Bad Habit #7: Buying Big-Ticket Items Year-Round
Want to save hundreds — maybe thousands — on expensive purchases, like appliances, winterwear and even gym memberships? In the same way that you should scout produce deals by season at the grocery, Trenum says scoring discounts on big-ticket items is as easy as familiarizing yourself with seasonal sale cycles.

For example, winter coats and outerwear typically go on super sale in February, since stores need to make space for lighter spring jackets. And September is an ideal month to buy outdoor furniture — at 50-75 percent off regular price! — since colder weather is about to roll in.

Saving up for a particular purchase and want to know the best time to buy? Scope out sales with resources like DealNews, which curates the best deals in various categories year-round and frequently publishes month-by-month buying guides.

Bad Habit #8: Scoffing at Renting
The outdated belief that buying is always better than renting is just that — outdated.

These days, you can opt to rent a number of pricey luxury goods — art, sporting equipment, fancy outfits and even jewelry — for a specific period of time, rather than blowing your budget on a single-use purchase.

“The items we [use] every day are the ones worth investing in — far more so than special-occasion pieces,” Akbari says.

So while paying $100 to rent a gown for your cousin’s black-tie wedding or skis for your upcoming winter getaway may seem like you’re throwing money away, a pricey purchase that sits in your house unused is even more of a waste.

Sites like RenttheRunway and BagBorrowOrSteal offer high-end clothing and accessory rentals for when you need a red-carpet-worthy outfit but don’t want to pay the accompanying price tag. Others, like Spinlister, let you rent such items as bikes and surfboards from other people.

For the go-to items you use every day, Lal says it’s wise to spring for higher quality — even if it means paying more up front. When you spend a little more on a nicer item — say, a pair of well-crafted winter boots — they’ll last longer than a cheaper, lower-quality item that you’ll need to replace before next season. “Over time, this will actually save you money because you’re shopping smarter,” Lal says.

Bad Habit #9: Falling for Online Shopping Deals
Fact: It’s really easy to spend money online. From daily newsletters that lure you in with coupon codes to flash-sale sites tempting you with today-only deals, scoring an amazing “get” is just a click away.

There’s no doubt these digital deals have their advantages — if you’re in the market for a particular item.

“But if you were living without an item before you knew about an online deal for it, you will continue to live without it — and have more money to use for perhaps wiser purposes,” White says.

Now, we’re not suggesting you forgo the convenience of online shopping. But if you just can’t combat the allure of instant shopping gratification, it’s time to opt out — before the thrill gets the best of your budget.

Start by unsubscribing from newsletters, and removing your payment information from your favorite sites — so you won’t be tempted to mindlessly shop.

While these tiny moves may not feel like they’re having a big impact now, kicking these types of habits while you’re young will pave the way for smart spending down the road — allowing you to reap the benefits of having more cash for future money goals. Your 40-year-old self will thank you.

RELATED: The Shopping Embargo: My Annual, 8-Week Buying Fast

This post originally appeared on LearnVest.

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9 Bad Shopping Habits You Should Ditch by 30

by Yolande Cadore The failure of the U.S. criminal justice system to protect nonwhite people is at an all-time high. The opportunity to correct course is now. The recent killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Rekia Boyd, Renisha McBride and other black men and women — most at the hands of the police — together with the ongoing nationwide protests under the banner “Black Lives Matter” can be a great awakening of the American conscience about our criminalization of nonwhite people. We must reform the justice system so that every black boy and girl is free to walk unafraid in his or her own neighborhood without being stopped, …

by Yolande Cadore

The failure of the U.S. criminal justice system to protect nonwhite people is at an all-time high. The opportunity to correct course is now. The recent killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Rekia Boyd, Renisha McBride and other black men and women — most at the hands of the police — together with the ongoing nationwide protests under the banner “Black Lives Matter” can be a great awakening of the American conscience about our criminalization of nonwhite people.

We must reform the justice system so that every black boy and girl is free to walk unafraid in his or her own neighborhood without being stopped, questioned, frisked and arrested at the will of the police. Otherwise, the murders of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and many others will have been in vain, and protests and outrage at the non-indictment of the police who killed them will be recorded as mere political theater.

America’s war on drugs has played a major role in criminalizing our nation’s nonwhite people. Black people, especially young black men, experience discrimination at every stage of the judicial system. They are more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, convicted, harshly sentenced and saddled with a lifelong criminal record. This is despite the fact that blacks comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population and use drugs at similar rates to people of other races.

There are 2.2 million Americans in prisons or jails. It was not changes in crime rates but misguided and biased laws and policies that led to this drastic increase. In 2012 alone, there were more than 1.5 million drug arrests in the U.S. The vast majority — more than 80 percent — were only for possession. About 500,000 Americans are behind bars on any given night for a drug law violation — a population that has grown tenfold since 1980.

My work for the Drug Policy Alliance to end America’s war on drugs forces me to confront a criminal justice system based on laws and policies that only appear to be equal, just and race-neutral, but that have an overtly racist impact on nonwhite communities. A defining moment was my realization that the people who enforce this system — a white ruling elite — seems to believe that the nonwhite “others” in this country do not deserve equal justice.

Policymakers have used drug war policies and criminal justice laws to undermine the values they were elected to protect. In the name of winning a war on drugs and “keeping communities safe,” 2.7 million children are growing up in U.S. households in which one or more parents are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses, primarily drug offenses. One in nine black children has an incarcerated parent, compared to one in 28 Latino children and one in 57 white children. More than half (54 percent) of incarcerated people, including more than 120,000 mothers and 1.1 million fathers, are parents of children under age 18.

To begin any serious national discussion on radically transforming our criminal justice system, we must first confront our deepest beliefs about what truly makes each of us human and deserving. I have come to believe that the popularization of the image of a white God has had not only theological but political implications for how we treat nonwhite people in this country.

Last spring, I was invited to Chicago to participate in a two-day summit, “The Intersection of Criminalization and Race.” A highlight was a presentation titled “The Color of Christ” by Edward J. Blum, a professor of race and religion at San Diego State University and co-author of The Color of Christ: Son of God and The Saga of Race in America. His presentation forced me to question the origin of black dehumanization in America: Could the fabricated misconception of a white savior be the pillar on which white supremacy and black subjugation is built? Is the notion of whiteness as good, pure and divine and blackness as bad, sinful and undeserving the bedrock on which our criminal justice system is built? Can this help explain a 40-year war on drugs that has incarcerated tens of millions of predominantly black and brown men and women?

Poor and black communities are the battleground on which America’s war on drugs is fought. Each day, I grapple with the unsettling fact that thousands of mostly black men and women disappear from neighborhoods across this country and there is only a whisper.

We’ve used language and color association to give meaning to socio-economic and public health problems: We created the “predator” to criminalize young black men, we embraced the term “crack babies” to demonize black mothers and pathologize black children. We see people living in black communities as dangerous and we allow our perception of blackness to justify their devaluation as undeserving of our care, advocacy and compassion.

Why are we not outraged that millions of Americans are locked up? Why are we complacent about billions of our tax dollars being siphoned away from education and health care and into policing and prisons? Is it because the war on drugs is wreaking havoc on predominantly nonwhite communities?

Right now in America there is a rare opportunity to demand answers to these questions before protests against racism and outrage at the murder of young black men by police die down.

Our policymakers have an important role in changing public perception and in promoting policy changes rooted in evidence. It may be that they don’t care about those they perceive to be inherently deviant, innately criminal and historically licentious. But they have a responsibility to fix this system and, as voters, we must hold them accountable. We must make a commitment that never again will we allow policies and laws to be made in our name that promote and placate racism and injustice.

It behooves us to be bold in our demands. We can no longer accept incarceration as good social policy. We must demand policies that strengthen communities. Police officers cannot be allowed to wage war on the communities they are paid to protect and serve, and police departments must be representative of the communities in which they are located.

Additionally, we must advocate for policies such as Racial Impact Statements. Policymakers should be required to demonstrate that the laws they are making will not unfairly burden any one racial group. We must end mandatory minimum drug sentences; sending any American to prison for decades for nonviolent drug offenses is un-American.

Lastly, similar to the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture released last week, we must have a congressional investigation of our drug and sentencing laws and of police practice. We cannot afford to lose another generation of black Americans to drug war violence, overcriminalization and mass incarceration.

We can do this! With tens of thousands of Americans taking to the streets nationwide to demonstrate that “Black Lives Matter,” we have the power to gently shove our elected officials to rebuild our justice system. But it’s equally about addressing the deep misconceptions we hold as a society.

In this way we can begin to redeem that deaths of Renisha, Rekia, Trayvon, Eric and Mike and millions more who were wronged by a system that distributed justice based not on their offense but on the color of their skins.

Yolande Cadore is the Drug Policy Alliance‘s director of strategic partnerships. A veteran community organizer, she has worked with the Working Families Party, ACORN, New York State Tenants and Neighbors, WE ACT for Environmental Justice and the Praxis Project. This is her first piece for Substance.com.

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If We Don’t Kick Racism Out of Criminal Justice Now, Then When?

At 7:30am on a rainy Monday morning, a multi-racial team of activists led by Black millennial direct action groups Blackout Collective, #BlackBrunch and Black Lives Matter accomplished what had never been done before. They shut down police headquarters in downtown Oakland, California, for four hours and twenty-eight minutes. Four hours, they said, to represent the length of time the dead body of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown lay in the street after he was shot by a white police officer, Darren Wilson; 28 minutes to signify the fact that a Black man, woman or child is killed by police or vigilantes every 28 hours, according to 2012 study …

At 7:30am on a rainy Monday morning, a multi-racial team of activists led by Black millennial direct action groups Blackout Collective, #BlackBrunch and Black Lives Matter accomplished what had never been done before. They shut down police headquarters in downtown Oakland, California, for four hours and twenty-eight minutes. Four hours, they said, to represent the length of time the dead body of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown lay in the street after he was shot by a white police officer, Darren Wilson; 28 minutes to signify the fact that a Black man, woman or child is killed by police or vigilantes every 28 hours, according to 2012 study called “Operation Ghetto Storm” conducted by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

Black… and Breathing

“We fight for justice for every single Black life that has passed at the hands of police,” said organizer Deirdre Smith. “But we must also stand up and shut down the Oakland Police Department for the Black and breathing who are at risk of the same fate.”

Dressed dramatically in all black, members of the Collective marched in lockstep announcing themselves as “Black … and breathing,” before raising one fist in salute to lives lost. That, and other images, flooded social media, commanding thousands of re-tweets and shares under the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackAndBreathing and #ShutDownOPD.

Black organizers were joined by a team of Asian leaders using the Twitter hashtag #Asians4BlackLives and white allies from the Bay Area Solidarity Action Team using the hashtag #SilenceIsViolence. Together, this multi-racial and multi-generational team chained themselves to police department doors, while simultaneously blocking two intersections. For nearly five hours they stopped traffic on the street leading to the police department and prevented access to the building.

“Allies, are you with us?” they asked, as more than 250 protestors, including Latino activists carrying signs that read Justice4AlexNieto, joined them in a call-and-response chant, “This is what solidarity looks like! You are what solidarity looks like!” While they chanted, one young man scaled a flagpole to hang a flag bearing the faces of unarmed Black men, women and children killed by the police. Thousands more watched the streaming video feed and shared the images and stories seen in this action video on social media.

We Put Our Bodies on the Line

In Oakland, Blackout Collective and Black Lives Matter activists locked down the West Oakland BART station on Black Friday. A week later, the #BlackBrunch team marched into crowded restaurants in Oakland’s majority-white Rockridge neighborhood, where they recited the names of Black people killed by police, their voices rising over the clank of dishes and the stunned silence of families out to brunch. These Oakland-based collectives of young Black leaders have led marches to the courthouse steps and raised fists in front of the police department, sending images of Black resistance bouncing across the globe. In just a few short months, Black millennials have brought Black civil disobedience into the 21st century, and their demands are as visionary as their actions.

This amazing display of strategic coordination and tactical discipline represents a new era of social protest methodology that seeks cultural as well as political and economic change. These leaders refuse to cooperate with the business of anti-Black racism as usual. Armed with protest songs and a shared vision, backed by allies across the lines of race and age, and communicating on multi-directional digital platforms, a new generation of Black activism is being born. In this new era, while demands are being leveraged at the federal level, action is taking place at home, where Black bodies continue to stack up, and police officers, security guards and vigilantes — most often white — take comfort, even gloat, in their impunity.

Direct Action’s Black History

The tradition of Black non-violent direct action in the Americas isn’t new. From enslaved Africans to Black labor activism, Black communities have long used tactics of non-violent confrontation and non-cooperation to resist extreme repression, expand political imagination and point the way toward a long-term vision for change. Direct action tactics in Black communities have evolved from a long tradition of Black resistance that builds collective power and centers Black dignity, humanity and life through direct confrontation with the representatives and institutions of power.

In 1966 my mother, Janet Cyril, and her friend, popular performance artist Laurie Anderson, left their small Midwestern liberal arts school and boarded a train to New York City, where they would join the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

SNCC emerged from a student meeting organized by Ella Baker and subsequently escalated the tactics of the civil rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and boycotts to an era of Black direct action opposing segregation and white vigilante violence in the American South and throughout the United States. It was this energy and agency that brought us the Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer, and the birth of the Black Panther Party in 1966. It is this political moment that radicalized my mother and motivated her to become a leader in the New York Chapter of the Black Panther Party.

We are in a similar moment of Black radicalization today, one in which self-organized groups of Black millennials will — with deft, precise, and coordinated direct action tactics — shape a narrative on race and power that, in the process of uplifting Black lives, improves conditions for everyone. From the 1970s “culture of poverty” theories to the mass criminalization of Black communities in the 1980s and 90s, Black communities have long been the subjects or objects of debate. This moment of direct action, however, rejects the forceable control of Black racial identity, political power, and economic position through biased and brutal policing. Instead, it casts Black people as the leading protagonists in a story about race, power and resistance where we are both character and author.

The Next Generation of Black Activism Is Here

A new generation of Black leaders is drawing upon the lessons of 20th-century movements for civil rights and political power, while simultaneously bringing to bear a human rights analysis, cultural strategies rooted in a Black aesthetic, and 21st-century communications technologies to craft a sophisticated local-to-local movement that is both organic and deeply rooted in relationships, disciplined and willing to take risks. Within that movement, direct action by and for Black people is resurfacing as core tactic and a profound reclamation of agency long denied.

This emerging movement of Black millennial activists, with significant leadership from young Black women, has grown beyond earlier strategies that sought access to political power and full citizenship through civil rights legislation. Instead, these passionate leaders are using creative direct action tactics to both win new public policy and transform the vehicles of power itself. In the context of persistent voter suppression, the growth of mass incarceration, and an economy that either excludes or exploits Black labor, groups like the Blackout Collective, #BlackBrunch and Black Lives Matter are affirming the resilience and agency of Black people — on their own terms.

We Have Nothing to Lose but Our Chains

From the streets of Oakland, California, to Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, Black-led direct action is prophetically bringing a powerful vision for change to a dispossessed Black generation, to the pulpit, and even to the athletic field. They do not ask for permission. They turn up, not down. To win a future worth fighting for, a young Black movement is finding its voice, and it’s saying loud and clear: Because Black lives matter, we will honor our dead and fight like hell for those Black bodies still breathing.

Just as young immigrant rights activists bravely declared themselves “undocumented and unafraid” in direct opposition to a broken immigration system, these courageous young Black leaders are boldly confronting a broken system of racist policing and incarceration that continues to fracture Black communities.

As of 2014, direct action is the new Black, and we ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around.

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Turn Up: 21st-Century Black Millennials Are Bringing Direct Action Back

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said he is fully ready to bring in the National Guard to deal with protesters if there is unrest after prosecutors decide whether to charge a white Milwaukee police officer in the shooting death of Dontre Hamilton, a 31-year-old unarmed African-American man. “We proactively worked to make sure the National Guard was reaching out,” Walker told reporters Wednesday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “They’ve been having meetings with law enforcement here within the region just to make sure.” “The last thing I want is for them to get a call and then have to scurry about what they need to do,” he added. “We said whenever it…

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said he is fully ready to bring in the National Guard to deal with protesters if there is unrest after prosecutors decide whether to charge a white Milwaukee police officer in the shooting death of Dontre Hamilton, a 31-year-old unarmed African-American man.

“We proactively worked to make sure the National Guard was reaching out,” Walker told reporters Wednesday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “They’ve been having meetings with law enforcement here within the region just to make sure.”

“The last thing I want is for them to get a call and then have to scurry about what they need to do,” he added. “We said whenever it is, whenever it might be forthcoming, the last few weeks, we made sure they reached out to both [Milwaukee Police Chief Edward] Flynn and the sheriff and others to make sure they knew who the point person was.”

On April 30, Christopher Manney, 38, shot Hamilton 14 times. The confrontation started when workers at a Milwaukee Starbucks complained to police that Hamilton was sleeping in a nearby park.

Manney — unaware that two other officers had already checked on Hamilton and concluded he was not doing anything wrong — responded to the call. Hamilton resisted when Manney tried to pat him down, leading to a physical altercation. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, “Manney tried to use his baton to subdue Hamilton, but Hamilton got control of it and swung it at Manney, hitting him on the side of the neck, according to the [autopsy] summary.”

The autopsy also showed that one of the bullets hit Hamilton in the back.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm is reviewing the case to determine whether charges should be filed against Manney, who has been fired from his job.

On Dec. 1, Hamilton’s family and attorneys expressed frustration that it was taking Chisholm so long to come to a decision.

The preparations in Wisconsin come after massive protests broke out nationwide when grand juries declined to bring charges against white police officers in the deaths of two other unarmed African-American men: Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) called in the National Guard to help deal with the protests in Ferguson in August and then again in November.

Although Walker will be the one to decide whether to call in the National Guard, he said Wednesday that local law enforcement will handle the response to any protests. Local authorities in Missouri faced significant criticism in the aftermath of the Brown shooting in Ferguson, when they deployed a heavily armed response — including tear gas and rubber bullets — in response to the protesters, most of whom were peaceful.

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Scott Walker Ready To Call In National Guard To Respond To Dontre Hamilton Protests

Although many states across the U.S. reserve the right to impose adult punishment on juveniles, an ugly pattern has emerged for those who are taken into the adult prison system at such an early age. Alonza Thomas was one of the first minors convicted under Proposition 21, which strengthened California laws allowing minors to be tried as adults. The 15-year-old, who was a first-time offender, faced a possible four-decade sentence but received a reduced sentence of 13 years in an adult prison for pleading guilty to committing armed robbery. He was released just last year. The “Frontline” documentary “Stickup Kid” chronicles Thomas’ journey, during which he spent the majority of his time in mental health treatment facilities and solitary confinement and even attempted …

Although many states across the U.S. reserve the right to impose adult punishment on juveniles, an ugly pattern has emerged for those who are taken into the adult prison system at such an early age.

Alonza Thomas was one of the first minors convicted under Proposition 21, which strengthened California laws allowing minors to be tried as adults. The 15-year-old, who was a first-time offender, faced a possible four-decade sentence but received a reduced sentence of 13 years in an adult prison for pleading guilty to committing armed robbery. He was released just last year.

The “Frontline” documentary “Stickup Kid” chronicles Thomas’ journey, during which he spent the majority of his time in mental health treatment facilities and solitary confinement and even attempted suicide. Even today, Thomas takes medication for depression, anxiety and psychosis to cope with the “psychological duress” of his prison sentence.

While Thomas’ case falls in line with many prison statistics, “Stickup Kid” director and producer Caitlin McNally said Thomas “has bucked the trend” when it comes to recidivism rates. One study found that juveniles who faced time in the adult prison system had 34 percent more rearrests than those who had stayed in the juvenile system, but Thomas has stayed out of jail.

As McNally told host Alyona Minkovski, there is a lesson to be learned from Thomas’ experience within the criminal justice system.

“We do now know that an experience like Alonza’s, as harrowing as it was, does reflect patterns around the country, when it comes to harsh and severe sentencing for juveniles and when it comes to putting juveniles in adult lockup,” she said.

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What Happens When We Send Minors To Adult Prisons

Jill Scott will be the special honoree at Essence magazine’s annual Black Women in Music. The Feb. 5 invitation-only event, held during Grammy Week, will also be the official launch of the magazine’s year-long celebration of its 45th anniversary.

Jill Scott will be the special honoree at Essence magazine’s annual Black Women in Music. The Feb. 5 invitation-only event, held during Grammy Week, will also be the official launch of the magazine’s year-long celebration of its 45th anniversary.

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Essence To Honor Jill Scott At Black Women In Music Event

Like I do most Mondays, I grabbed my morning herbal tea and sat down at my laptop to begin sifting through emails from the weekend, as my iPhone buzzed with a picture attachment and text message beaming. I picked up my phone, and within seconds my heart sank as I read the news from a fellow mental-health advocate that Titi Branch, the co-founder of Miss Jessie’s natural hair products, died by suicide. (Please note that it is most appropriate to use the terminology “died by suicide” as opposed to “committed suicide”; Terrie Williams, author of Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting, further discusses …

Like I do most Mondays, I grabbed my morning herbal tea and sat down at my laptop to begin sifting through emails from the weekend, as my iPhone buzzed with a picture attachment and text message beaming. I picked up my phone, and within seconds my heart sank as I read the news from a fellow mental-health advocate that Titi Branch, the co-founder of Miss Jessie’s natural hair products, died by suicide. (Please note that it is most appropriate to use the terminology “died by suicide” as opposed to “committed suicide”; Terrie Williams, author of Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting, further discusses the implications and differences between the two phrases here.)

I fondly knew Titi as one half of the sister duo that was at the forefront of the black natural hair movement. With her beautiful, curly, blonde ‘fro, Titi and her sister Miko encouraged women to embrace their natural beauty, kinks and curls and all.

Traveling back a little bit, the Branch sisters grew up in Queens, New York, born to an African-American father and Japanese mother. Following her graduation from the University of Maryland with a B.A. in consumer economics and starting her own public relations firm, Icon Creative Artists, Titi joined her sister, a freelance hairstylist, to open their own hair salon, Curve Salon. Curve Salon quickly gained a reputation as the “go-to” salon for healthy and natural hair care. They began to cook up hair care products geared toward curly and natural hair, testing the majority of products on their clientele, and in 2004 the Branch sisters unveiled their first market hair product line geared toward natural curly hair, naming their now multimillion-dollar corporation after their grandmother, Jessie Branch. Their innovative products have continued to gain more and more traction over the years and are now sold in many large retail chains such as Walmart and CVS. The sisters also have their first book set for release in April 2015, Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch — Naturally.

Despite all the accolades and success, Titi Branch sadly ended her own life on Dec. 4. Branch’s obituary was published on NV magazine‘s Facebook page this Sunday, Dec. 14.

As the facts emerge surrounding Titi’s passing, I hope that all, especially the black community, are moved to take action to significantly increase awareness and education surrounding mental health, illness and wellness so that we do not have to continue to mourn the passing of so many of our dynamic and extraordinary souls such as Titi Branch, Karyn Washington and Simone Battles (just to name a few most recently). By opening up the dialogue, more individuals will feel comfortable, supported and willing to seek assistance when necessary, in addition to their family and friends feeling more at ease to assist their loved one experiencing mental health difficulties.

I am deeply saddened by the passing of Titi but truly hope her passing and legacy will ignite a dull flame to birth into a full-on mental health awareness forest fire!

I end this post in the spirit in which my friend who informed me of Titi Branch’s passing reached out to me; it was extremely saddening to hear that another young, vibrant black woman had taken her own life. The work that is being done by so many mental health advocates, organizations and professionals for so many in regards to mental health education and awareness, especially organizations such as Black Girls Smile, are so necessary to this movement. We all have our piece of the puzzle that we need to stay committed to tackling so that texts and news such as that heard this week do not continue. Titi, her legacy and Miss Jessie’s continue to work on their piece to the puzzle by encouraging all women to embrace their most natural and authentic self. Now we must all join then in tackling our own pieces.

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

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The Passing of Natural Hair Pioneer Titi Branch