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The Initiative Collective
The Initiative Collective (sometimes truncated to simply "The Initiative") is a group of organizations located in cities throughout the United States and internationally .Their goal is to promote personal safety through neighborhood watch activities, self-defense classes, and other forms of outreach. They are a part of the Real-life superhero movement. Founded in New York City in 2009 by "Zero," "Tsaf," "Lucid," and Zimmer Barnes, the group's initial goal was to patrol the streets of Greenwich Village to stem a rising tide of anti-gay violence. The New York Initiative (NYI) members started by taking on superhero-like personae to attract attention when talking to the media (though not on the streets), patrolling on longboards and donning bulletproof vests as part of their activities. They were profiled in the HBO documentary, ''Superheroes''. Since 2009, additional Initiative "branches" have been formed across the United States, including California, Washington, Virginia, Ill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tettenhall
Tettenhall is a historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton district in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and Sedgley. History Tettenhall's name derives from the Old English ''Teottanhalh'', meaning "nook of land belonging to a man named Teotta". The original ''halh'' was likely situated in the sheltered area below the ridge where the church stands. This area, around Lower Green, was the original inhabited area of Tettenhall. In early English (Anglo-Saxon) times, as the place name evidence tells us, there were many cleared woodland areas – areas where field and settlement would have been commonplace. These can be seen today by the place name ending "ley", from early English "lēah", meaning woodland clearing; Wrottesley being one such example in the local area. Where most of the land was wooded, below the ridge ran, as it does today, the river ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington (state)
Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from Washington, D.C., the national capital, both named after George Washington (the first President of the United States, U.S. president). Washington borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the south, Idaho to the east, and shares Canada–United States border, an international border with the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. Olympia, Washington, Olympia is the List of capitals in the United States, state capital, and the most populous city is Seattle. Washington is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 18th-largest state, with an area of , and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 13th-most populous state, with a population of just less than 8 million. The majority of Washington's residents live ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulletproof Vest
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest, is a type of body armor designed to absorb impact and prevent the penetration of firearm projectiles and explosion fragments to the torso. The vest can be either soft—as worn by police officers, security personnel, prison guards, and occasionally private citizens to protect against stabbing attacks or light projectiles—or hard, incorporating metallic or para-aramid components. Soldiers and police tactical units typically wear hard armour, either alone or combined with soft armour, to protect against rifle ammunition or fragmentation. Additional protection includes trauma plates for blunt force and ceramic inserts for high-caliber rounds. Bulletproof vests have evolved over centuries, from early designs like those made for knights and military leaders to modern-day versions. Early ballistic protection used materials like cotton and silk, while contemporary vests employ advanced fibers and cera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longboard (skateboard)
A longboard is a type of skateboard typified by longer decks and wheelbases, larger-diameter and softer (lower-durometer) wheels, and often lower riding height compared to street skateboards, though there is wide variation in the geometry and construction of longboards. Among the earliest types of skateboards, longboards were inspired by surfing, with early longboards drawing from the design of surfboards, resembling and mimicking the motion of riding a surfboard, but adapted to riding on streets in a practice known as ''sidewalk surfing''. Available in a wide variety of shapes, longboards are typically designed and optimized for ''cruising'' (covering distances at moderate speeds), commuting (as a practical means of personal transport), and ''downhill (racing)''. The act of riding on a longboard in general is known as longboarding, which can also include more specialized forms such as longboard ''dancing'', which involves stepping up and down a board and other movements and mot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary between the individual and the institution." Persona studies is an academic field developed by communication and media scholars. The related notions of "impression management" and "presentation of self" have been discussed by Erving Goffman in the 1950s. The word ''persona'' derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The usage of the word dates back to the beginnings of Latin civilization. The Latin word derived from the Etruscan language, Etruscan word "," with the same meaning, and that from the Greek ('). It is the etymology of the word "person," or "parson" in French. Latin etymologists explain that persona comes from "per/sonare" as "the mask through which (per) resounds the voice (of the actor)." Its me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books (and later in Hollywood films, film serials, television and video games), as well as in Japanese media (including '' kamishibai'', '' tokusatsu'', manga, anime and video games). Superheroes come from a wide array of different backgrounds and origins. Some superheroes (for example, Batman and Iron Man) derive their status from advanced technology they create and use, while others (such as Superman and Spider-Man) possess non-human or superhuman biology or use and practice magic to ach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-gay Violence
LGBTQ people frequently experience violence directed toward their human sexuality, sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. This violence may be enacted by the state, as in laws LGBTQ rights by country or territory, prescribing punishment for homosexual acts, or Gay bashing, by individuals. It may be psychological or physical and motivated by biphobia, gayphobia, homophobia, lesbophobia, aphobia, and transphobia. Influencing factors may be Societal attitudes toward homosexuality, cultural, religion and sexual orientation, religious, or political mores and biases. Currently, homosexual acts are LGBTQ rights by country or territory, legal in almost all Western countries, and in many of these countries violence against LGBTQ people is classified as a hate crime.Stotzer, R.:Comparison of love Crime Rates Across Protected and Unprotected Groups, Williams Institute, 2007–06. Retrieved on August 9, 2007. Outside the West, many countries are deemed potentially dangerous to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village also contains several subsections, including the West Village west of Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District in the northwest corner of Greenwich Village. Its name comes from ''Groenwijck'', Dutch language, Dutch for "Green District". In the 20th century, Greenwich Village was known as an artists' haven, the Bohemianism, bohemian capital, the cradle of the modern LGBTQ social movements, LGBTQ movement, and the East Coast birthplace of both the Beat Generation and counterculture of the 1960s. Greenwich Village contains Washington Square Park, as well as two of New York City's private colleges, New York University (NYU) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Real-life Superhero
A real-life superhero (RLSH) is a person who dresses up in a superhero costume or mask in order to perform community service such as neighborhood watch, or in some cases vigilantism. Early examples of this type of behavior are reported from the 1990s. One example is Mexico City's Superbarrio Gómez, who, in 1997, donned red tights and a red and yellow wrestler's mask in order to organize labor rallies, protest, and file petitions to prevent families from being evicted. A "real-life superhero community" in the sense of an online subculture began to develop in the mid-2000s. Reception Police response to the actions of real life superheroes is typically negative. An article from ''The Globe and Mail'' reports that the police "fear for the safety of these 'superheroes' and argue that sometimes they can get in the way of police work and become a liability". Police have expressed concern that RLSH insert themselves into situations without knowing all the facts and indicate that this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outreach
Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meeting someone in need of an outreach service at the location where they are. Compared with traditional service providers, outreach services are provided closer to where people may reside, efforts are very often voluntary, and have fewer, if any, enforceable obligations. In addition to delivering services, outreach has an educational role, raising the awareness of existing services. It includes identification of under-served populations and service referral and the use of outreach tools like leaflets, newsletters, advertising stalls and displays, and dedicated events. Outreach is often meant to fill in the gap in the services provided by mainstream (often governmental) services, and is often carried out by non-profit, nongovernmental organizat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-defense
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), force in times of danger is available in many jurisdictions. Physical Physical self-defense is using physical force to counter an immediate threat of violence. Such force can be either armed or unarmed. In either case, the chances of success depend on various parameters, related to the severity of the threat on one hand, but also on the mental and physical preparedness of the defender. Unarmed Many martial arts styles are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques. Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other combat sports can be effectively applied for self-defense. Some martial arts teach how to escape from a knife or gun situation or how to break away from a punch, while others teach how to attack. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
