News

BreakOUT! Delivers "We Deserve Better" Video to the NOPD

Submitted by wesware
on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 20:32

LGBTQ YOUTH DELIVER TRAINING VIDEO TO THE NOPD

LGBTQ Youth Tell Their Stories and What They Need to Feel Safe

We Deserve Better from FosterBear Films on Vimeo.

File Attachment: 
%22We Deserve Better%22 Video Press Release 1-17-12.pdf
Video Release Letter to Serpas 1-18-12.pdf

BreakOUT! Launches Intergenerational Knitting Circle as Pilot Healing Justice Program

Submitted by wesware
on Sat, 02/04/2012 - 18:16

Pictured above:  Wendi O'Neal, co-facilitator

BreakOUT! is excited to launch a pilot Healing Justice Program for the month of February, an intergenerational knitting circle with knitter/ facilitators Elizabeth Sames and Wendi O'Neal.  The knitting circle will focus on sharing stories with one another, building community- and maybe even selling our knitted goods!

Wendi O'Neal has been an integral part of BreakOUT!, often coming to our weekly member meetings and offering her facilitation and conflict management skills during times of need.  She is our "on-call" healer, mentor, teacher, freedom song-singer, and cultural and spiritual advisor.

BreakOUT! Featured in Office of Victims of Crimes Video

Submitted by wesware
on Sat, 02/04/2012 - 17:21

BreakOUT! was featured in a video for the National Victims of Crimes Awareness Week as part of an effort to broaden the definition of "victim" and think critically about our response to crime.  BreakOUT! hopes to spark a conversation among viewers about the overreliance on the criminal justice system, which is anything but just, especially for incarcerated LGBTQ young people.  Chief Public Defender for Orleans Parish, Derwyn Bunton, was interviewed for the film as well as two BreakOUT! members (K. and M.) and Director Wesley Ware.  The result is a short segment highlighting the victimization of LGBTQ people behind bars and BreakOUT!'s work with members, many of whom are formerly-incarcerated or detained.

February Calendar

Submitted by wesware
on Sat, 02/04/2012 - 16:47


Victory at NOPD Training Academy

Submitted by wesware
on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 18:41

"We Deserve Better" Video Shown as Part of NOPD Training Curriculum

As part of BreakOUT!'s work to build the power of LGBTQ youth and improve community relationships with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), we developed a powerful video called “We Deserve Better" that we delivered to the NOPD.  In the video, BreakOUT! members share their stories and experiences with the NOPD and give recommendations for reform.

This week the video was shown at the NOPD Training Academy to current in-service officers as part of their regular training curriculum.  The video will continue to be shown for the next 41 weeks of officer trainings.

This is the first time that LGBTQ youth who are directly impacted by the criminal justice system have had such a key role in training efforts with the New

BreakOUT! Youth Hold Vigil in Memory of Murdered LGBTQ Community Members

Submitted by wesware
on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 01:37

Photo by Matt Davis, The Lens

A group of young people from BreakOUT! and ther friends remembered the lives of two of their peers who were recently murdered in New Orleans.  Brenting Dolliole, a trans-identified 22 year old, was found beaten to death on November 26, 2011.  Just a few weeks later on December 29, 2011, a 23 year-old transgender woman, Githe Goines, was found strangled to death, her body dumped in a scrap yard in eastern New Orleans.

Friday night, a small group of young people gathered to remember their friends.  Carrying white roses and candles, they walked down Tulane Ave. to the neutral ground by Tulane and Broad St.  Amid evening traffic, they formed a circle, read a poem, reflected on the lives of their friends, and grieved the violence in the city that makes them feel

January 2012 Calendar

Submitted by wesware
on Sat, 12/31/2011 - 20:00


A Holiday Message from BreakOUT!

Submitted by wesware
on Fri, 12/23/2011 - 20:48

December Calendar

Submitted by wesware
on Thu, 12/01/2011 - 22:10

File Attachment: 
DECEMBER CALENDAR.pdf

BreakOUT! Member Delivers LGBTQ Books to Juvenile Detention Center

Submitted by wesware
on Sat, 11/19/2011 - 14:48

BreakOUT! member and formerly-detained youth, B., delivered a box of LGBTQ books to the Youth Study Center, New Orleans’ juvenile detention center, on Friday.

The books, which came through generous donations from community members during a book drive held in September, were collected in appreciation for the facility’s adoption of a model LGBTQ policy.  Among other best practices for the treatment of transgender youth and a requirement for staff training, the policy requires that “Books about being LGBT and LGBT-inclusive magazines will be made available to youth.”

Donated books, which will be placed in the facility’s new library, included both young adult fiction and non-fiction and ranged from books about gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin to coming-of-age novels.

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