Civil Rights

The Northern Student Movement

December 20, 2015 Andy Piascik, www.zcomm.org Organize! Civil Rights, Racism, Student Activism

By Andy Piascik for Znet. New Haven, CT - College students were an integral part of the popular upheaval of the 1960’s. Beginning with the lunch counter sit-ins one month into the decade and continuing on through 1969 and beyond, college students around the country rallied to the cause of justice and freedom. The two best known student organizations of that time were the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Students for Student a Democratic Society (SDS). Another important group, though less well known, was the Northern Student Movement (NSM) and it was founded in Connecticut on the campus of Yale University.

An Inspiring Life’s Work Continues To Inspire

November 6, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Book Review, Civil Rights, Nonviolence, Peace

Book Review by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. On June 10th, David joined ten African American students from Howard and a white woman from another college in the heart of hatred and sat down at the lunch counter at the People’s Drug Store in Arlington. The owner told the police not to arrest them and closed the lunch counter. Shouts of racial hatred were heard, people threw things at them, spat on them, shoved lit cigarettes down their clothes and one threw a firecracker at them. American Nazi storm troopers showed up. They were punched and kicked to the floor. They stayed for 16 hours until the store closed for the day. Then, they came back for a second day. On the second day, David had a life changing experience confronting the reality of nonviolent protest.

Alabama: IDs Mandatory But Shutters DMV Offices in Black Counties

October 3, 2015 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Educate! Alabama, Civil Rights, Voting Rights

Andrea Germanos for Common Dreams - Some observers say that Alabama's move to close dozens of drivers license offices is a discriminatory move that could trigger a civil rights probe. Here's why: in 2011 lawmakers approved a voter ID law requiring a government-issued ID to vote, and the 31 offices the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency set for closing—which the agency said was due to the $11 million cut in the new General Fund appropriation—will take a disproportionate hit on counties that are majority African-American. Columnist John Archibald writes that "Alabama just took a giant step backward." "Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will see their driver license office closed. Every one," he continues, writing that the state "might as well just send an invitation to the Justice Department."

Marchers From Selma To DC Demand Restoration Of Voting Rights

September 19, 2015 Candice Bernd, www.truth-out.org Resist! Civil Rights, Racial Justice, Voting

By Candice Bernd in Truth Out - Clad in yellow shirts, hundreds of marchers streamed across the Arlington Memorial Bridge on September 15, and ended their nearly 1,000-mile "Journey for Justice" march at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Many of those marchers set out six weeks ago to retrace the historic "Bloody Sunday" civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965, which was instrumental to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) that year. More than 50 years later, activists have taken their own civil rights march even farther than Montgomery - to the halls of Congress, to demand that legislators pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) and press for the advancement of a broader racial justice agenda around education, income inequality and reforms to the criminal legal system.

Uber’s Attempts To Silence Drivers May Have Backfired

August 23, 2015 Clark Taylor, www.inthesetimes.com Educate! Civil Rights, New Economy, Wages, Worker's Rights

By Clark Taylor in In These Times. Much has been made over how Uber, the car service that enables users to hail a car within minutes of pressing a few keys on their smartphones, is jumpstarting the “gig-economy.” Frequently lost amid the discussion over disrupting existing industries, however, is the fact that workers in this new economy often get the short-shrift. That fact was made extremely evident in a recent order against the company written by U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen in which he found that the terms Uber imposes upon its drivers as a condition of driving for the company, including a forced arbitration clause, are unconscionable and unenforceable under California law. In plain English, he ruled that the provisions were so unfair and one-sided in favor of Uber that they could not be enforced in a court of law.

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

August 22, 2015 Jon Swaine, Lauren Gambino and Oliver Laughland, www.theguardian.com Strategize! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Civil Rights, police brutality, Politics

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.

Julian Bond, Colleague & Inspiration

August 21, 2015 Clarence Lusane, www.progressive.org Educate! Civil Rights, History, NAACP, SNCC

By Clarence Lusane in Progressive - I had the great fortune to have had Julian Bond as a colleague at American University. On a number of occasions, I sat in on his lectures or talks. These were mostly small, intimate gatherings away from cameras and the media. That is when Julian Bond the agitator became Julian Bond the educator, effortlessly mesmerizing young minds eager for his knowledge and experience. Bond left his fingerprints on pretty much every major civil rights organization and issue of the last five decades. From the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to the Southern Poverty Law Center to the NAACP, he fiercely fought to defend the goals and aspirations of many millions who wanted human rights and social justice. Many students saw his wisdom but often missed the path by which it came.

Texas Cops Sexually Assault 21-Year-Old Charnesia Corley

August 12, 2015 Mark Frauenfelder, www.boingboing.net Resist! Civil Rights, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice, Sexual Abuse, Texas

By Mark Frauenfelder in Boing Boing - A Houston deputy who pulled over Charnesia Corley, a 21-year-old black woman on her way to the store to pick up medicine for her sick mother, thought he smelled weed in Corley's car. He searched the car and couldn't find any. He called for a female officer to come to the gas station where Corley was being held so she could have her vagina searched. They arrested Corley because she objected to having her vagina examined in a gas station parking lot. From KRTK: "She tells me to pull my pants down. I said, 'Ma'am, I don't have any underwear on.' She says, 'Well, that doesn't matter. Pull your pants down,'" Corley said. She admits hesitating. Deputies say she resisted. "I bend over and she proceeds to try to force her hand inside of me. I tell her, 'Ma'am, No. You cannot do this,'" Corley told us candidly.

Engaging The Powers: The Promise Of A New Civil Rights Era

July 17, 2015 Troy Jackson, www.sojo.net Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Civil Rights, Fight for 15, Occupy, Racial Justice

By Troy Jackson in Sojo - When Occupy Wall Street emerged in the fall of 2011 many media personalities and social commentators critiqued the lack of a clear and concise list of demands from the nascent movement. Months later, when the only thing blanketing Zuccotti Park in New York City was freshly fallen snow, I was tempted to write off Occupy as an idealistic moment that produced little lasting change. As we move toward the 4-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, my assessment has changed. Thanks in part to the work of Occupy, America is having a new debate around increasing the minimum wage, restaurant workers are waging their “fight for 15,” and even Wal-Mart recently announced wage increases for employees. We are having new public policy debates around what it means to be part of a moral economy.

This Is Our Selma

July 14, 2015 Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II , www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Civil Rights, Elections, History, Law, North Carolina, Voting

By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II in The Huffington Post - In 2006 the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to re-authorize the prized 1964 Voting Rights Act and President George W. Bush signed it. After the first Black President won two elections, five U.S. Supreme Court justices over-ruled 98 senators and gutted the law. Their ruling, called Shelby, two years ago opened the floodgates, giving the green light to state legislators throughout the South. One North Carolina state senator even declaring that Shelby had removed the "headache" of pre-clearance. The right wing that had seized Mr. Lincoln's party was turned loose to wage war on our sacred right to vote.

I Don’t Discuss Racism With White People

July 13, 2015 John Metta, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Civil Rights, Racial Justice, Racism

By John Metta in The Huffington Post - I don't talk about race with White people. To illustrate why, I'll tell a story: It was probably about 15 years ago when a conversation took place between my aunt, who is White and lives in New York State, and my sister, who is Black and lives in North Carolina. This conversation can be distilled to a single sentence, said by my Black sister: "The only difference between people in The North and people in The South is that down here, at least people are honest about being racist." There was a lot more to that conversation, obviously, but I suggest that it can be distilled into that one sentence because it has been, by my White aunt. Over a decade later, this sentence is still what she talks about. It has become the single most important aspect of my aunt's relationship with my Black family.

Misunderstanding The Civil Rights Movement & Diversity of Tactics

June 25, 2015 Tactical Diversity, www.tacticaldiversity.wordpress.com Strategize! Civil Rights, Tactics

By Tactical Diversity - It’s gotten to be a pattern on the Left. When Black protest erupts into insurrection, as it did in Ferguson and Baltimore, most liberals and white radicals express empathy for the cathartic release of anger, but urge the oppressed that this is not the way. This is “not strategic,” says the leftist concern-troll. This is “what the police want.” Most of the time they manage to stop short of asking “why are they burning down their own neighborhood?” –if only to be mindful of clichés—but some can’t even help themselves there. In the aftermath, Amy Goodman(seemingly channeling Alex Jones) will spread conspiracy theories on how the government “orchestrated” the rioting.¹ The respectability politics of nonviolence will return. It’s hard to believe that anyone who has paid attention to Black Lives Matter takes these positions in good faith because, of course, the riots in Ferguson were objectively the best thing that happened to a movement that was already more than a year old.

‘No Justice, No Peace’: Clarity Of Purpose, Warning To Ruling Class

June 18, 2015 Glen Ford, www.blackagendareport.com Strategize! Civil Rights, Human Rights, Law, Racial Justice, Social Change

By Glen Ford in Black Agenda Report - The logic of the emerging movement is Black self-determination – the principle that Black people have the inherent human right to determine their own destiny – which, in the immediate sense, means control over how they should be policed, and by whom. The venerable slogan “No Justice – No Peace” has served as a workhorse of the current protest, and would be an ideal organizing principle if the implications of the slogan were fully understood, rather than simply mouthed. The slogan takes the political position that the price that Power must pay for continued injustice against Black people is the loss of civil peace. It is a vow by the movement to transform the crisis that is inflicted on Black people into a generalized crisis for the larger society, and for those who currently rule.

Finally, B’more Mayor Joins Call Of Citizens For DOJ Investigation Of Police

May 7, 2015 Luke Broadwater, www.baltimoresun.com Resist! Baltimore, Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, police brutality, Racial Justice

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asked the Justice Department on Wednesday to conduct a full-scale civil rights investigation into the pattern and practices of the Baltimore Police Department — a probe that would examine excessive force, discriminatory harassment, false arrests, and unlawful stops, searches or arrests. "We all know that Baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community," Rawlings-Blake said. "I'm willing to do what it takes to reform my department." The Justice Department already is conducting a "collaborative review" with Baltimore police, but its recommendations will not carry the weight of law. Such reviews differ from full-scale civil rights investigations because they are launched by agreement with local officials and are not enforced by court order.

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