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#BlackLivesMatter

Hurricane Katrina: If Black Lives Matter, So Must Climate Justice

August 26, 2015 Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, www.theguardian.com , , , ,
By Elizabeth C. Yeampierre in The Guardian - Those of us from low-income communities of color are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. US cities and towns that are predominantly made up of people of color are also home to a disproportionate share of the environmental burdens that are fueling the climate crisis and shortening our lives. One has only to recall the gut-wrenching images of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath to confirm this. At a time when police abuse is more visible than ever thanks to technology, and our communities continue to get hit time and time again by climate catastrophe, we can’t afford to choose between a Black Lives Matter protest and a climate justice forum, because our survival depends on both of them.

Black Prisoners’ Lives Matter: Dallas 6 Blow Whistle On The Inside

August 25, 2015 Shandre Delaney, www.truth-out.org , , , ,
By Shandre Delaney in Truth Out - On April 29, 2010, six prisoners in solitary confinement at SCI Dallas in Dallas, Pennsylvania, decided that enough was enough. Collectively, they are known as theDallas 6. One of them is my son. The Dallas 6 are jailhouse lawyers who fight injustice within prison walls and share information with the outside. They came to be seen as political prisoners through their actions as jailhouse lawyers, activists and whistleblowers. This caused them to be held in solitary indefinitely, where they were starved, beaten and outright tortured. Between the six, they served from 10 to 20 years in solitary, and one of them is still in solitary. After being subjected to starvation, brutal beatings, food tampering, witnessing beatings, the guard-assisted suicide of one prisoner and the torture of another, they covered their solitary cell windows and politely requested outside intervention.

Black August, 35 Years Ago, To Black Lives Matter, Today

August 24, 2015 Yesenia Barragan, www.telesurtv.net , , ,
By Yesenia Barragan in TeleSurTV - Since the Ferguson riots last August, Black Lives Matter has radically shifted the national conversation on anti-Black racism and police brutality through massive protests, demonstrations, and online mobilizations that have galvanized a new generation of youth of color in the United States and around the world who refuse to allow the police to turn them into another murder statistic. Just last month, hundreds of Black activists gathered together in Cleveland, Ohio in a historic meeting for the inaugural Movement for Black Lives Convening, which featured panels and workshops on Black labor organizing, queer and trans justice, lessons from the Black Panther Party, among others. A new Pew Research Center poll released this month further shows how Black Lives Matter is transforming the racial views of Americans (and particularly white Americans) in astounding ways.

#BLM Unveil Demands For US Policing Laws As Political Reach Grows

August 22, 2015 Jon Swaine, Lauren Gambino and Oliver Laughland, www.theguardian.com , , , ,
By Jon Swaine, Lauren Gambino and Oliver Laughland in The Guardian - The unveiling of the detailed policy platform followed a series of disruptions by protesters affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement of presidential campaign rallies held by presidential candidates across the country, including former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. The actions have succeeded in pushing police and criminal justice reform to the forefront of the race for the Democratic nomination. “America is finally waking up to this very necessary and critical conversation about race, equity and preserving the life and dignity of all citizens,” Brittany Packnett, one of the activists behind Campaign Zero, said in an interview. “These policies, like our resistance, will save lives and introduce a new way of viewing political strategy,” said Aurielle Lucier, the co-founder of the Atlanta-based activist group It’s Bigger Than You.

Is #BlackLivesMatter Entering New Stage Of Development?

August 21, 2015 Glen Ford, www.blackagendareport.com , , ,
By Glen Ford in The Black Agenda Report - It is painfully evident from the video of last week’s meeting between a #BlackLivesMatter delegation and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that the organization is philosophically incapable of making demands on the political representatives of the rulers of the United States. #BLM’s leadership is either confused as to the nature of political demands, or has decided to reject the most fundamental lessons of mass movement politics – indeed, of human social dynamics. Political movements are defined by their core demands. The video of #BLM’s closed-door encounter with Clinton in New Hampshire, August 11 – after the five activists had been prevented from attending and, presumably, disrupting her campaign event – should become a staple for future political education classes on what happens when would-be movement operatives enter the lion’s den unarmed with political demands: they are humiliated and eaten alive.

Black Activists Know They Are Monitored, Refuse To Be Intimidated

August 21, 2015 Terrell Jermaine Starr, www.alternet.org , ,
By Terrell Jermaine Starr in AlterNet - The documents, released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Operations Coordination, indicate that the department frequently collects information, including location data, on Black Lives Matter activities from public social media accounts, including on Facebook, Twitter, and Vine, even for events expected to be peaceful. The reports confirm social media surveillance of the protest movement and ostensibly related events in the cities of Ferguson, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and New York. They also show the department watching over gatherings that seem benign and even mundane. For example, DHS circulated information on a nationwide series of silent vigils and a DHS-funded agency planned to monitor a funk music parade and a walk to end breast cancer in the nation’s capital.

Cornel West: The Fire Of A New Generation

August 21, 2015 George Yancy and Cornel West, www.opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com , , , , ,
By George Yancy and Cornel West in NYTimes - The black prophetic fire among the younger generation in Ferguson was intense and wonderful. Ferguson is ground zero for the struggle against police brutality and police murder. I just wanted to be a small part of that collective fight back that puts one’s body on the line. It was beautiful because part of the crowd was chanting, “This is what democracy looks like,” which echoes W.E.B. DuBois and the older generation’s critique of capitalist civilization and imperialist power. And you also had people chanting, “We gon’ be alright,” which is from rap artist Kendrick Lamar, who is concerned with the black body, decrepit schools, indecent housing. This chant is in many ways emerging as a kind of anthem of the movement for the younger generation. So, we had both the old school and the new school and I try to be a kind of link between these two schools. There was a polyphonic, antiphonal, call and response, all the way down and all the way live.

Behind The Shiny Veneer Of Seattle’s White Liberalism

August 20, 2015 Rachael DeCruz and Gerald Hankerson, www.huffingtonpost.com , , , ,
By Rachael DeCruz and Gerald Hankerson in The Huffington Post - When two young black women from #BlackLivesMatter disrupted a rally that Bernie Sanders was speaking at, we saw a crowd of progressive, mainly white liberals spiral into anger, frustration, and even hate. If the conversation stays focused on debating the tactics used by the activists, we're missing the point. Were the actions of these women uncomfortable to watch? Yes. Did they upend a carefully planned event that progressive organizers had spent months working on? Yes. Did they use the most effective tactics, in the most effective way? That question detracts from the bigger, and far more important question of what it means to be a white ally in the fight to dismantle systemic racism. If two people's actions cause someone to revoke their support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, it begs the question of whether their support was ever there to begin with.

Against Police Violence, From The Panthers To #BlackLivesMatter

August 18, 2015 Juan Thompson, www.firstlook.org , , , ,
By Juan Thompson in The Intercept - I turned away more than once while watching Stanley Nelson’s documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. I averted my eyes from the screen when FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s nefarious mug first appeared. I turned away once more when the charismatic and admirable Fred Hampton was first shown, knowing that eventually he would be murdered by Chicago police and federal agents. But, of course, I could never turn away for long, because Nelson’s documentary is something all Americans should watch to better understand the country’s current racial climate, including the formation of the #BlackLivesMatter campaign. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter first entered public consciousness after George Zimmerman’s acquittal, in July 2013, on charges of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

Video: Why Do People Keep Insisting #BlackLivesMatter?

August 17, 2015 John F. O'Donnell, www.rt.com/redacted-tonight , , ,
By John F. O'Donnell of Redacted Tonight. The prideful limitation of white progressive allies' tolerance for the #BlackLivesMatter Movement truly rears it's ugly head when the golden boy, Bernie Sanders, is disrupted by BLM activists. Yes, the tactic of interrupting and commandeering the mic from the most liberal presidential candidate, who is spot on about so many important issues, is rude and disrespectful, but it's certainly not as rude and disrespectful as a structurally racist state that is perpetrating a genocide against it's black community. Activist/organizer, Dominique Hazzard, of 'Black Youth Project 100,' sits down with 'Redacted Tonight' correspondent, John F. O'Donnell, to explain it all like a boss.

NBC Today Show Cuts Off Janelle Monàe On #BlackLivesMatter

August 17, 2015 Kim Bellware, www.huffingtonpost.com , , ,
By Kim Bellware in Huffington Post - Janelle Monàe's Friday morning performance on NBC's "Today" was lively, original and cut short -- right when she started to talk about police brutality. The "Tightrope" singer appeared with collaborators from her new custom record label, Wondaland, in support of the collective's new EP, "The Eephus" (see her interview with "Today" above). At the end of her performance of "Hell You Talmbout," a rousing protest song for the Black Lives Matter movement, Monàe told the crowd: Yes Lord! God bless America! God bless all the lost lives to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced...

Protest Movements Are Changing Public Opinion

August 16, 2015 Peter Dreier, www.salon.com , , , ,
By Peter Dreier for Salon - By introducing the phrase “black lives matters” into our culture – primarily through the use of social media but also by engaging in protest and civil disobedience – BLM has shifted public opinion. A new Pew Research Center poll discovered that the number of Americans who believe that changes are needed to give African-Americans equal rights has swelled from 46 percent to 59 percent just in the past year. Among white Americans, the number has increased from 39 percent to 53 percent. Among Republicans, it spiked from 27 percent to 42 percent. This growing awareness has triggered calls for reform of police practices by politicians from President Barack Obama to local mayors. That BLM met with initial skepticism and criticism should come as no surprise. This happens to all protest movements when they first appear.

Black Lives Matter In Canada Too: Inside The Movement

August 15, 2015 Ashley Splawinski, www.rabble.ca , ,
By Ashley Splawinski in Rabble - The #BlackLivesMatter movement, originally created in 2012 when 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was gunned down by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, now spans across the continent and across the world. From the recent suspicious death of Sandra Bland in a Texas jailhouse, to the deaths ofShereese Francis, Yvette Smith, Rekia Boyd and several transwomen of colour includingLondon Chanel, India Clark, and Taja DeJesus, to the ongoing Ferguson protests, the war on the Black form is constant. The #BlackLivesMatter movement is working to change this and in Canada Black Lives Matter - Toronto has been at the forefront of that movement.

Mumia Abu-Jamal On The Meaning Of Ferguson

August 14, 2015 Mumia Abu-Jamal, www.truth-out.org , , , , ,
Before recent days, who among us had ever heard of Ferguson, Missouri? Because of what happened there, the brief but intense experience of state repression, its name will be transmitted by millions of Black mouths to millions of Black ears, and it will become a watchword for resistance, like Watts, like Newark, Harlem and Los Angeles. But Ferguson wasn't 60 years ago - it's today. And for young Blacks from Ferguson and beyond, it was a stark, vivid history lesson - and also a reality lesson. When they dared protest the state's street-murder of one of their own, the government responded with the tools and weapons of war. They assaulted them with gas. They attacked them as if Ferguson were Fallujah, in Iraq.

Oakland Protesters Burn Confederate Flag, Block Freeway, After Police Shooting

August 14, 2015 CBS SF Bay Area, www.sanfrancisco.cbslocal..com , , ,
By CBS SF Bay Area - Protesters burned Confederate flags and shut down a freeway in Downtown Oakland Wednesday night, hours after police fatally shot a man suspected in an armed robbery and alleged carjacking attempt. On Wednesday evening, a group of protesters took to the streets in the area of the shooting to voice opposition to police violence. Confederate flags and trash cans were set on fire during the demonstration. Windows of a Starbucks were also reported smashed. Around 10:10 p.m., a group of protesters briefly shut down westbound Interstate 980 near Interstate 880. The freeway was reopened several minutes later. The protest was in response to the police shooting earlier in the day.
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