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#BlackLivesMatter

Newsletter: Redefining The 21st Century

March 14, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org , , , , , , ,
In his story about how he became aware, Marcus Godwyn writes, "I don’t know about you but when it comes to this 21st century, so far, I’m distinctly not a fan!" It is up to us to redefine what the 21st century ultimately means. To that end, here is what happened this week and what is coming up. The Internet in the 21st Century The new net neutrality rules were published this week and the good news from our friends at Free Press is that the Internet as a common carrier has been restored. Matt Wood says, “These rules are an all-too-rare example of Washington actually working for the people.” This only happened because people organized and mobilized to make it happen. The result was an unexpected one and would not have occurred without a people's intervention.

Black Lives Matter Spied On Before Mall Of America Protest

March 14, 2015 Lee Fang, www.firstlook.org , , , ,
Members of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force tracked the time and location of a Black Lives Matter protest last December at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, email obtained by The Intercept shows. The email from David S. Langfellow, a St. Paul police officer and member of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, informs a fellow task force member from the Bloomington police that “CHS just confirmed the MOA protest I was taking to you about today, for the 20th of DEC @ 1400 hours.” CHS is a law enforcement acronym for “confidential human source.” Jeffrey VanNest, an FBI special agent and Joint Terrorism Task Force supervisor at the FBI’s Minneapolis office, was CC’d on the email. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces are based in 104 U.S. cities and are made up of approximately 4,000 federal, state and local law enforcement officials.

Ferguson Alternative Spring Break For College Students

March 11, 2015 Jon Swaine, www.theguardian.com , , , , ,
College students are being urged to scrap plans for beer bongs on sunny beaches, in favour of a serious-minded spring break in Ferguson, the Missouri town that was roiled by protests and unrest following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old. Six months after the death of Michael Brown, activist leaders in the St Louis suburb are looking to sign up 250 young people for a grittier week of “community service and civic engagement” including registering new voters, running food banks and cleaning up streets. “Maybe there were some people who had planned to go down to Miami or Acapulco, and now see that there is something bigger,” said Patricia Bynes, a Democratic committeewoman for the town and a co-founder of the Ferguson alternative spring break programme.

Protests Over LAPD Killing Of Mentally Ill, Black Homeless Man

March 11, 2015 Bethania Palma Marcus, www.truth-out.org , , , ,
Roughly 200 protesters gathered in front of the Los Angeles Police headquarters downtown at least twice last week, demanding justice for a mentally ill homeless man who was shot to death by LAPD officers March 1 in a videotaped killing that went viral. The video, which has been viewed millions of times, shows Charley Keunang, who was known to his fellow skid row residents as "Africa," because he was from the West African nation of Cameroon, being subdued on the ground by multiple officers and tased. Three officers then opened fire on him, leaving him motionless. The shooting, along with the recent release of a scathing Department of Justice report on racism by the Ferguson Police Department, have amplified even further the national spotlight on racial bias and violence in American policing.

Tony Robinson Shooting Protest At Capitol Draws 1,500

March 10, 2015 Dan Simmons, www.host.madison.com , , , , ,
Students from throughout Madison left school and took their rage, sorrow and demands to the city’s power centers on Monday, rocking the state Capitol rotunda with chants of “Justice for Tony” then demanding a meeting with Mayor Paul Soglin and Police Chief Mike Koval while massed outside the City-County Building. In loud, well-choreographed voices, they vowed to press public officials and police for consequences in the death last Friday night of Tony Robinson, an unarmed 19-year-old shot by a police officer after an altercation on the Near East Side. “We demand that the officer who shot our brother be arrested,” the group of 1,500 young people chanted in call-and-response outside the City-County Building.

Black Lives Matter Protesters Interrupt Obama In Selma

March 8, 2015 Alice Ollstein, www.thinkprogress.org , , ,
SELMA, ALABAMA — On Saturday, President Obama spoke at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the attack on voting rights protesters known as Bloody Sunday. “Our march is not yet finished, but we are getting closer,” he said. ” If Selma taught us anything, it’s that our work is never done – the American experiment in self-government gives work and purpose to each generation.” As he spoke, a group of protesters wearing shirts with airbrushed portraits of those killed by police started banging on drums and chanted, “Ferguson is here. We want change!” and “This is what democracy looks like.” Obama did not pause his speech or acknowledge the interruption. But some older people in the crowd became angry, shouting at the young protesters: “Your vote is your voice! Get registered!”

Cops Pull Shotguns On Protesters Armed With Cardboard Signs

March 3, 2015 Prachi Gupta, www.animalnewyork.com , ,
On Friday night, a group of Black Lives Matter protesters held signs and a banner as they linked arms across an exit from the Lincoln Tunnel, blocking traffic from the Manhattan-bound lanes for 11 minutes. That’s one minute for every time Eric Garner gasped “I can’t breathe” as Officer Daniel Pantaleo kept the unarmed man, who later died, in a prohibited chokehold. Then Port Authority Police came at the peaceful protesters with guns cocked, witnesses say. “We were quickly approached by the Port Authority Police, but before speaking with us, let alone giving us any order to disperse, they drew guns on us,” said New York activist Keegan Stephan in an email to ANIMAL. On his blog, he wrote that the police “literally ran at us with guns drawn – large, paramilitary guns.”

Shut Down AIPAC!

February 25, 2015 Code Pink!, www.codepink.org , , , ,
AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and affiliated organizations have long been bending politicians’ ears and filling their pockets, supporting the brutal occupation of Palestine and trying to push the US into war with Iran. Racism is the force that both helped to create and now helps to sustain and justify the brutal occupation of Palestine and the accompanying police state. Now is the time to connect the dots and challenge state-sponsored violence and racist police at home and abroad. Whether your motto is #FreePalestine or #BlackLivesMatter, we must unify our movements to call for an end to global militarism and the plague of racism. February 28th - March 3rd, when war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will be in DC to address AIPAC and a joint session of Congress, join activists from around the country to #ShutDownAIPAC!

Malcolm X’s Teachings Being Revived 50 Years After His Death

February 22, 2015 Sam P.K. Collins, www.thinkprogress.org , , , ,
Black Americans, many of whom have taken to the streets in protest in recent months, have evoked the spirit of Malcolm X by candidly expressing their frustration with what they consider an unfair criminal justice system and later refusing to retreat from the front lines, even when police officers threw tear gas and swatted batons their way. While the Black Lives Matter protests have largely emphasized nonviolent sit-ins in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., Kymone Freeman, program director at independent DC-based media outlet We Act Radio, argued the movement should embrace some of Malcolm X’s more controversial teachings, like his call for aggressive self-defense. Freeman, who said he has read extensively about Malcolm X and Dr. King, implored Millennials to study Malcolm X’s life on their own because they won’t learn the true story of the civil rights icon in their classes, particularly his argument that black people have the right to defend themselves against those who try to physically harm them.

3 Ways NYT Does Not Understand #BlackLivesMatter

February 17, 2015 Leah Hunt-Hendrix, www.huffingtonpost.com , , , , ,
Historian David J. Garrow tells Vega that the current movement bears little resemblance to the "clear goals" of the 1960s civil rights movement. "You could call it rebellious," he suggests, "or you could call it irrational." In this dismissal, he echoes Oprah Winfrey's similarly condescending remarks calling for the movement to develop "leadership," remarks Vega also saw fit to highlight. Notwithstanding its current hallowed reputation, at the time, many commentators portrayed the civil rights movement as "rebellious" and "irrational." Apparently, we have learned little about movements in the decades since. We need to address the myth that movements last only as long as their media moments and develop a better grasp -- and more respect -- for the quiet, persistent periods of organizing that go into changing the flawed structures of our society. The road is long, and the path is winding, but our role -- as the media and the public -- should be to seek understanding rather than to proliferate inaccuracies.

Activists RespondTo NYPD Attempts To Thwart #BlackLivesMatter

February 15, 2015 Peter Rugh, www.wagingnonviolence.org , , , , ,
“We understand now that we have mass power,” said Jordan, who pointed to the indictment Tuesday of Officer Peter Liang for the November shooting death of Akui Gurley in a Brooklyn housing development as an example of what Black Lives Matter has been able to accomplish since its inception. Even the NYPD’s recent promotional efforts for the film “Selma” are a testament to the power of the movement, she said. “They have to show they are not the bad guys, because they pretty much look like the bad guys.” Still, going forward, Jordan and others are proceeding with caution. “It is really important that we understand our strength is in numbers, that our narrative and our actions are very clear so that we cannot be misconstrued,” said Jordan. “We’re training people really heavily in militant nonviolent action and de-escalation. They are waiting for any opportunity to vilify us. But you can expect to see a stronger, more coordinated movement going forward. It’s about maximizing and taking control of the energy we have shown in the streets.”

Badass Collective Bringing Direct Action To Black Communities

February 15, 2015 Alyssa Figueroa, www.alternet.org , , , ,
“All of us unsuccessfully attempted to bring black non-violent direct action trainers down there, and when we got to Ferguson most of the training team were white allies. We noticed that there was a shortage of black direct action trainers,” Faison said. “We looked at each other and said we need to develop some more folks to train our people and coordinate actions. And from there burst the BlackOUT Collective on the frontlines around 11 o’clock at night in front of the police station.” Since then, the collective has helped black communities think through, facilitate, train, and execute numerous direct actions. One of their first projects was helping a group of young organizers in Oakland who wanted to take action. The result of that process was Black Brunch, an action, now expanded into other cities, in which protesters enter restaurants that cater to a white crowd at busy brunch hours and conduct a ritual for black people killed by police. This includes reading the names of those killed by police and vigilantes.

Newsletter: The Contagion Of Courage

February 14, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
When our colleagues take brave actions, others are inspired. George Lakey describes how courage develops in movements. He lists some key ingredients to overcome fear: people working in community to empower each other, envisioning a successful action and spreading the contagion of courage. Lakey describes courage as each of us expanding beyond our comfort zones and adds that our training for actions should include opportunities to step outside our comfort zone. He suggests we need to view the rapid heartbeat and adrenalin during an action not as fear, but as excitement. Envisioning the whole story - where the story starts, the action being taken and its successful impact - emboldens us and calms our fears of uncertainty. We learn courage in community because courage is contagious.

Oprah & Sharpton Attack Black Lives Matter Movement

February 6, 2015 Glen Ford, www.blackagendareport.com , , ,
Al Sharpton and Oprah Winfrey are scared witless that the Black Lives Matter mobilization will become a sustained, independent political movement – one that challenges both the rich white rulers and their junior partners in the Black Misleadership Class. The viciousness of Winfrey’s and Sharpton’s assaults on the new crop of organizers is a good barometer of the nascent movement’s effectiveness, to date, in discomforting the comfortable. If one thing is clear to African American youth, it is that so-called Black leadership has been complicit in the catastrophe that has engulfed their communities – that the “leaders” are part of the problem, not the solution. Therefore, although the movement-in-the-making is not yet large and coherent enough to shake the foundations of the State or cause Wall Street to shudder, it has already created a crisis of legitimacy for the Black Misleadership Class.

#BlackLivesMatter: Lessons From A Leader-ful Movement

January 29, 2015 Jodie Tonita, www.stproject.org , , , , , ,
I was saddened but not surprised when Oprah Winfrey recently said she was looking for “some kind of leadership” from this movement. Saddened that she could not yet see the incredibly courageous, strategic, and talented leadership at the heart of this “leader-ful” movement. Not surprised given the generational gap between boomers and millennials and the tendency for traditional media to seek a single charismatic leader to deliver the message. It‘s been incredibly humbling and inspiring to witness the courageous youth of Ferguson, NYC and people across the country declare and demand that #BlackLivesMatter. Black organizers heard the call, saw the possibilities, stepped into capacity gaps, and are organizing their communities and allies to meet the moment.
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