Racial Justice

While it is a known fact any victim residing in the United States today should never be the subject of retaliation, harassment, and/or be imposed by threats of revictimization by their offenders, this is not the case among victims of bias hate crime, orchestrated by law enforcement in New Jersey, with the State refusing to investigate, and charge. These individuals have been brutally, and/or sadistically victimized at the hands of their aggressors, in the absence of rightful criminal prosecution against their attackers, in an attempt to successfully ‘subjugate’ innocent persons (as if a minority ‘person’ is ‘land’), deliberately perpetuating covert racism, and preserving the inherent discriminatory thread in Monmouth County, and across New Jersey, when slavery ended over 150 years ago. Between 2015-2019, I was the victim of several aggravated assaults by law enforcement at Neptune City Police, partnered with harassment and bullying by Long Branch Police, and Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. This began in 2014-2015, when Joanne Jodry (Caucasian, 55) began stalking and harassing me; I went to the police, and signed complaints. Joanne, in retaliation, indicated she felt pressed to speak to Keith Mitchell at Neptune City again, after she became increasingly concerned she would catch a felony for her actions. Joanne obtained a family picture of me (31), with my niece (who is white, and was 4 years old in the photo), and my dog, from my website; she lied to Keith and told him my niece was her daughter, and that my dog was her dog. Joanne also told Keith that she believed I suffered from mental illness. Keith, in the absence of Keith speaking to me, and based on my family picture, signed a complaint against me for harassment, and disorderly conduct (since dismissed). From there, in a nutshell (and still in the absence of speaking to me), Keith Mitchell and Michael Vollbrecht both of Neptune City, drove to my apartment, called Monmouth Medical for a psychiatric screen, performed an illegal search on my apartment without a search warrant, or probable cause, when I was at work, all based on my race, and my family picture. Keith then called Long Branch Police, and told a detective at Long Branch to ‘pick me up’ if they see me. Sometime in between, Joanne and Keith spoke again where Joanne admitted to Keith that while she knew my niece was not her daughter, ‘she felt’ the picture of me, with my niece, personified the relationship between Joanne and her daughter. Yet still in spite, a couple days later, I was violently assaulted by Keith, and Michael on my college campus (in graduate school), and transported to Monmouth Medical, where I was restrained by Michael, and hospital security, stripped naked, and force injected sedatives and psychotropics for several months, with no knowledge of what was happening, or why that transpired. The re-victimization and retaliation by Neptune City Police, Long Branch Police, and Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, continued to this day, the more I pressed forward to hold all individuals accountable. Recently (and concurrently), after being told by a detective at Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office that 'they are aware of the criminal acts against me (by individuals, and law enforcement), they refuse to investigate', as well as being harassed by the current Director, and lieutenant of the Department of Professional Responsibility at the Prosecutor’s Office, I found out there were also no BWC’s, and no ‘perceived’ recorded victim statements by my aggressor. The Prosecutor’s Office then supplanted the MVR as evidence, to attest to the actions of Keith Mitchell, when in the absence of the BWC’s, and recorded statements, it confirms this incident was bias crime. Now, the Office of the Attorney General has mismanaged my complaints in the absence of proper escalation or entrusting my complaint to another State Prosecutor’s Office, or legitimate policing faction, to investigate. Additionally, I have also yet to hear back from Mr. Gurbir Grewal, the Attorney General. • When is it ever okay for a police department to effectuate search in someone’s home, in the absence of a search warrant, and probable cause?• How many other people has this happened to?• Why haven’t the officers who committed the crimes been collared?• Where is the money coming from to support these factions illegal policing practices? Support and End Bias Hate Crime, Stop State Corruption, and reform New Jersey today!

My name is Natasha, and I am an activist for a women's health and environmental charity--but that’s not the only reason why I’ve made this petition. For more than 15 years, my mother sought medical attention for a lump on her right breast. However, her primary care physician neglected to send her to a specialist for further examinations of her lump, claiming that it was just calcification. She had to be her own advocate, found a new PCP, and insisted on further tests. At age 60 my mother, Luisa, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment, following her double mastectomy surgery this past August. In 2007 her younger sister, Betty, died of breast cancer at age 43. Genetic testing found no hereditary explanation for my mother’s diagnosis, but rather that the disease was contracted through environmental factors. For decades, my mother often used permanent hair dye and chemical straighteners, due to a lack of awareness of the harmful ingredients they possessed.  Hair products are made up of more than 5,000 chemicals, many of which contain carcinogens. Most of these harsh chemicals are rarely listed on the product labels, making it nearly impossible for consumers to know exactly how they can impact their health. Researchers suspect the link between hair dyes and chemical straighteners, and an increased association of breast cancer, can be traced back to the toxic ingredients in hair products that we inhale and absorb through our skin during use. In December 2019, new research found that women who used permanent hair dye or chemical straighteners were at higher risk of developing breast cancer--and this disproportionately affects women of color like my mother, who consume more toxic hair products than anyone else. Use of hair dye is associated with about a 45 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer among Black women (compared to a 7% higher risk for white women). That is an unacceptable health risk. One in eight U.S. women are diagnosed in their lifetime with breast cancer, and about 41,760 women in the United States are expected to die in 2019 from it. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Black women. Black women--who continue to be medically overlooked in a myriad of ways--are also diagnosed at a later stage and consequently die at a higher rate after diagnosis. I won’t let this happen to my mom without a fight. This is why I am urgently calling on the Food and Drug Administration and leading hair product manufacturers to act now and ban all toxic chemicals from hair dyes and straighteners.  These alarmingly toxic chemicals are harmful and not needed in hair dye and chemical straighteners, and their life-threatening impacts are thoroughly preventable. Fortunately we are seeing more and more corporations embracing chemical-free options, and we would like to urge the FDA to take action to ensure that women’s lives are protected from unnecessary cancers. In order to save lives, it is therefore crucial that we urgently bring about change so that these harmful substances are removed from commonly used hair products.  In the meantime, I appeal to women who use those products to avoid buying them. Boycott these companies who continue to put these carcinogenic products into the hands of women--in spite of the scientific evidence of their role in increasing breast cancer risk. These companies are killing women slowly. Please sign and share so that together we can stop harmful chemicals from ever ending up in hair dyes and straighteners in the first place. Thank you for fighting for my mom, and for women everywhere. Natasha  Link to NIH study: https://bit.ly/2LYckzt Campaign hashtag: #ToxicFreeHair