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Black Lives Matter (BLM)

The ‘Wall of Vets’ Continues Long Legacy Of Veteran Activism 

August 10, 2020 Brian Trautman,  Peace Voice. , , ,
Military veterans have long been resisting war, promoting positive peace, and defending human and civil rights against state violence and other forms of oppression. They have made significant contributions to the antiwar and peace and justice movements over many decades.  Their participation in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is no different. Veterans have been highly visible in supporting the racial justice demands of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. The disturbing truth, which a great number of veterans recognize, is that white supremacy, systemic racism and police brutality at home is profoundly connected to and fueled by U.S. imperialist militarism/war abroad.  With this knowledge, veterans have taken on roles as nonviolent warriors to educate about those connections and help underrepresented and marginalized communities fight injustice.

Utah Protesters Face Charges With Potential Life Sentence

August 8, 2020 Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press. , , ,
Salt Lake City, UT - Some Black Lives Matter protesters in Salt Lake City could face up to life in prison if they’re convicted of splashing red paint and smashing windows during a protest, a potential punishment that stands out among demonstrators arrested around the country and one that critics say doesn’t fit the alleged crime. The felony criminal mischief charges are more serious because they carry a gang enhancement. Prosecutors said Wednesday that’s justified because the protesters worked together to cause thousands of dollars in damage, but watchdogs called the use of the 1990s-era law troubling, especially in the context of criminal justice reform and minority communities.

Resisting The Propaganda Of Status Quo Defenders

August 7, 2020 Roy Eidelson. , , ,
First came the new names—Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and others—all added one by one to the long list of tragic, unjustifiable police killings of Black Americans. Then came the batons, the pepper spray, the tear gas, the flash-grenades, the helicopters, the armored vehicles, and the rubber bullets wielded against nonviolent Black Lives Matter protesters across the United States, from Minneapolis to New York City to Portland. And then came the chorus of privileged beneficiaries of our country’s discriminatory status quo, denying and defending the reality of brutal, racist, militarized, and unaccountable over-policing.

50 Years Of Struggle From Black August To Black Lives Matter

August 5, 2020 Judy Greenspan, Workers.org. , , , ,
This Aug. 7 marks the 50th anniversary of the heroic attempt by Jonathan Jackson, younger brother of George Jackson, to free three Black revolutionaries from the clutches of the California state prison system. The fact that this bold attempt failed has no bearing on its historical and revolutionary significance to the movements for Black Liberation and prison abolition in this country and around the world. Jonathan Jackson was only 17 years old when, armed with a rifle, he burst into a Marin County courtroom while a hearing was in session.

Mass Violations By US Police Of Protester’s Rights

August 5, 2020 Amnesty International. , , ,
On 25 May 2020, George Floyd was detained, tortured and extrajudicially executed by Minneapolis Police Department officers who restrained and suffocated him by holding him on the ground and kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. His death sparked widespread protests across the USA and the world and a long-overdue conversation about systemic racism and policing. Recent events have also raised longstanding concerns about violations of human rights, including the rights to life, to security of the person, to equal protection of the law, to freedom from discrimination and to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Welcome To Sectarian America: A People, Divided And Armed

August 3, 2020 Danny Sjursen, Scheerpost.com. , , ,
Feeling more than a little exhausted from a late night spent tracking yet another polarizing fatal shooting at a protest, this time in Austin, I am reminded of what has become a tired —  but no less accurate —  cliché, to speak of “Two Americas.” I’d add that the citizens of each rump republic increasingly see two different scenes —  and certainly draw divergent conclusions —  from the same video footage. Details of thiss particular incident were initially sketchy and contested. However, most reports agree that libertarian activist Garrett Foster, who was himself armed with a rifle which he was in the habit of carrying when participating in Black Lives Matter protests, was shot and killed after he approached a car that drove into the crowd. The driver, who fled the scene, later called 911 and admitted he shot a protester who he said had pointed a rifle at him (which witnesses dispute); he was questioned but not arrested, as was a third man who allegedly fired at the car.

‘We Are On The Cusp Of Something Great’

August 2, 2020 By In These Times. , , ,
Since the nation erupted after the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, Black organizers and community members have been working around the clock to channel mass protests into tangible victories. Nikita Mitchell, 26, is national coordinator of The Rising Majority, formed in 2017 by the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition that includes Black Lives Matter. Rising Majority is led by Black people and people of color, and brings social movements together in an anti-racist, anti-capitalist Left for radical democracy.

Enslaved People’s Health Was Ignored From The Country’s Beginning

August 2, 2020 Eric Kyere, The Conversation. , , ,
Some critics of Black Lives Matter say the movement itself is racist. Their frequent counterargument: All lives matter. Lost in that view, however, is a historical perspective. Look back to the late 18th century, to the very beginnings of the U.S., and you will see Black lives in this country did not seem to matter at all. Foremost among the unrelenting cruelties heaped upon enslaved people was the lack of health care for them. Infants and children fared especially poorly. After childbirth, mothers were forced to return to the fields as soon as possible, often having to leave their infants without care or food.

Korean Americans For Black Lives

July 31, 2020 By Lisa Kwon, LA Taco. , , ,
Liberty Park is one of the very few public green spaces left in Koreatown; the choice for ‘Ktown for Black Lives’ to meet here is intentional.  Organized by the neighborhood’s activists and community members, the monthly gathering aims to mobilize residents against state-sanctioned violence that regularly takes the lives of Black and Brown people. Since its start in June, hundreds of ‘Ktown for Black Lives’ attendees have assembled on the 2.5 acres of land to participate in political education and mutual aid efforts such as the redistribution of meals and sanitary supplies. ‘Ktown for Black Lives’ points to the growing momentum among L.A.-based Korean and Asian American organizers standing in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and calling for Black liberation. The Korean response to today’s Black Lives Matter movement is rooted in deep personal education.

Calls For Video Related To John Neville’s Death Persist

July 29, 2020 By Lee Anne Denyer, WXII. , , ,
Protesters made new demands of Forsyth County elected officials Tuesday, calling for a general increase in transparency from county leaders, and specifically, the release of video pertaining to the death of an inmate at the Forsyth County Detention Center. "We're fighting for truth, justice, dignity, humanity, economic justice, social justice," said Tony Ndege, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem. "We stand against state violence, but we also stand for social and economic justice." Demonstrations began in Winston-Salem weeks ago and groups like Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem say they plan to continue calling for change. While the group wants fairness and equality for the entire community, its demonstrations are largely focused on advocating for minority communities.

Federal Prisons Locked Down To Quash Black Lives Matter Protests

July 25, 2020 Carter Deane, Solitary Watch. , , ,
On June 2, for the first time in 25 years, the Bureau of Prisons directed all federal jails and prisons to implement a full lockdown, confining nearly 160,000 people to their cells and severely limiting contact with the outside world. The following day, on the orders of Attorney General William Barr, the Bureau pulled some of its most militarized units out of BOP facilities and deployed them to confront protesters on the streets of Washington, D.C.  Typically, a lockdown occurs in a single facility at the discretion of the warden, usually in response to temporary incidents like fights or, more rarely, longer-term issues like inadequate staffing levels. 

Tens Of Thousands Walk Off Job In ‘Strike For Black Lives’

July 21, 2020 By Aaron Morrison, People's World. , , ,
Organizers of a national workers strike say tens of thousands are walking off the job today in more than two dozen U.S. cities to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. “We are…building a country where Black lives matter in every aspect of society—including in the workplace,” said Ash-Lee Henderson, an organizer with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 150 organizations that make up the Black Lives Matter movement.Dubbed the “Strike for Black Lives,” labor unions, along with social and racial justice organizations from New York City to Los Angeles, are participating in a range of planned actions. Where work stoppages are not possible for a full day, participants are either picketing during a lunch break or observing moments of silence to honor Black lives lost to police violence, organizers said. “The Strike for Black Lives is a moment of reckoning for corporations that have long ignored the concerns of their Black workforce and denied them better working conditions, living wages, and healthcare."

The Anti-Racism Protests Haven’t Stopped

July 20, 2020 Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, Huffington Post. , , ,
It’s been 50 days since people took to the streets after the police killing of George Floyd — and the nationwide protests haven’t let up since. After demonstrators in Minneapolis called out the unjust killing of Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer, protests quickly spread to cities and towns across the country and even the world. And now, over seven weeks later, while the unrest has quieted in some places, people continue to show up day after day in the name of anti-racism and ending police brutality.  It’s now been over four months since Breonna Taylor was killed, and protesters continue to march daily, calling for the cops involved to be charged. Since Taylor and Floyd died, too many other Black and brown people have been killed by police.

The Story Behind The Lee Statue In Richmond

July 19, 2020 Peter Rachleff, Progressive.org. , , ,
Since the May 25 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Virginia, erected in 1890, has been a focus of protests, graffiti, and public pressure calling for the removal of this offensive symbol of Confederate aspiration. At twenty feet high, atop a forty-foot base, the bronze Confederate general sits on his horse as if surveying an active battlefield, looming over the former capital of the Confederacy. The monument’s future is murky. On June 4, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, issued an order to remove the statue, but days later a judge in Richmond issued an injunction blocking its removal. 

Scheer Intelligence: The Price Of Ignoring The Ferguson Uprising

July 10, 2020 Robert Scheer, ScheerPost.com. , , ,
August 9 will mark six years since 18-year-old Michael Brown was murdered by policeman Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Miss. Since then, Wilson has walked free and the systemic issues that have plagued this nation throughout its history have gone unaddressed. That changed with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, which so thoroughly shocked Americans and established that the lessons from Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter movement that rose from it never had been absorbed.  Now, at a moment of heightened awareness about racism, Black Lives Matter leaders and Black activists and artists such as the award-winning filmmaker Mobolaji Olambiwonnu are working to bring the lessons of Ferguson to all Americans. Olambiwonnu, a UCLA alumni and first generation African American, joins host Robert Scheer on this week’s episode of “Scheer Intelligence” to talk about his as-of-yet unreleased film, “Ferguson Rises,” and why he chose to tell the tragic story from a perspective he finds lacking in mass media. 
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