Ferguson

When Trust Breaks Down: We Must Turn Unrest Into A Movement

September 6, 2014 Antonio French, www.stlamerican.com Educate! Ferguson, Movement, Police, Violence

The events of the past few weeks in Ferguson and the surrounding St. Louis community have forced us to ask ourselves some tough questions. Many young African Americans are asking themselves, “How do I feel about my city? And how does my city feel about me?” Many white St. Louisans – who have long considered themselves “liberal” or “progressive,” yet have been surprised by the unrest they’ve seen on their televisions – are asking themselves, “Why are they so angry?” and “Has this anger been there all the time? And if so, how did I not see it?” All of us should be asking questions about the role of government and police departments, and the danger that arises when those bodies so grossly do not reflect the populations they are supposed to serve. What we have witnessed these past few weeks is the result of broken trusts. The trust between government and the people is sacred. Trust between a community and their police is absolutely required for police to effectively serve and protect it. Without it, police become something more similar to an occupying force, which is what the images from Ferguson last month resembled. People need to trust that if they call police for help, the police will arrive ready to serve and fairly enforce the law. People should not fear that their call to report a simple shoplifting could result in a young man being gunned down on the street by the very officers they called for help.

Mother Will March Every Day For Answers On Son’s Death

September 3, 2014 Kevin Gosztola, www.firedoglake.com Resist! Chicago, Ferguson, Police, Protest

More than one week after Chicago police shot and killed 19-year-old Roshad McIntosh, his mother is still demanding the police provide basic information on what happened to her son. She has pledged to march to the local police station every day until she gets the answers she believes she deserves. Cynthia Lane (also referred to as Dawn McIntosh) was joined by hundreds on Labor Day in an evening march from the 2800 West Block of Polk Avenue on the west side of Chicago. The block is where her son was shot by police on August 24. The march went to the 11th Precinct Station, where McIntosh’s mother left demonstrators to enter the station and see if police were ready to provide: the name of the officer or officers who shot her son, autopsy report information, incident report information and details on whether there will be any punishment for the officer(s) or changes to police procedures in the aftermath. She was only in the police station for 10-15 minutes before she reemerged in tears. The police had provided her no information. There have been three marches to the police station since McIntosh was killed by police. Activists, supporters and eyewitnesses from the community have maintained that the black teen was on a porch surrendering and had his hands up when police fired the shots that killed him. “My son was killed senselessly, and he shouldn’t have been. He was surrendering, and they shot him anyway,” Lane declared at a press conference on August 27.

United States Is Not A Democracy: From Wall Street To Detroit

September 2, 2014 Marina A. Sitrin, www.globalresearch.ca Create! Democracy, Detroit, Ferguson, Wall Street

Around the world another democracy has begun to manifest itself, one organized by people. The United States is not a democracy. Occupy Wall Street announced this fact to the world with the 1% and inequality. The protests in Ferguson and Detroit are bringing it to the social and political spheres. Around the world another democracy has begun to manifest itself, one organized by people, from below, in plazas, parks, schools, workplaces and on street corners – a democracy where people are no longer silent and are beginning to take back control of their lives. There are few, if any, real democracies. The United States however, is in many ways, the worst. It is a country that declares itself the most democratic in the world, and acts as the world police based on this assumption, yet there is absolutely no “rule of the people”. This truth is increasingly accepted by most people, even Princeton University published a study in April of this year attesting that not only is the United States not a democracy, but it most resembles an oligarchy. The report states, “The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.”[1]The Occupy Wall Street Movement in the U.S. and similar movements around the globe, from those in Greece, Brazil, Bosnia and the 15M in Spain all spoke and speak to this issue, whether using the concept of the 99% and 1% or the clear slogan No Nos Representan! (They Don’t Represent Us!).

From Ferguson To Miami, A Generation Demands Justice

September 2, 2014 Student Nation, www.thenation.com Organize! Ferguson, Student Activism, Youth

Last spring, The Nation launched its biweekly student movement dispatch. As part of the StudentNation blog, each dispatch hosts first-person updates on youth organizing. For recent dispatches, check out July 25 and August 12. For an archive of earlier editions, see the New Year’s dispatch. Contact studentmovement@thenation.com with tips. Edited by James Cersonsky (@cersonsky). 1. Getting Organized In the wake of Michael Brown’s death, young people in St. Louis have participated in marches, delivered food and supplies to organizers and residents, conducted trainings—and acts—of civil disobedience and pushed demands in coordination with the Hands Up, Don’t Shoot Coalition. The Justice League, a collaboration of Show Me 15, the St. Louis fast food worker union, and Young Activists United St. Louis, which organizes students and youth, is led by people of color with the goal of combating and redressing police violence. As we prepare for Saturday’s appreciation day, whose goal is to elevate the leadership of youth in Ferguson, we are working on curriculum materials with an emphasis on individual rights and the historical threads that made Ferguson happen. —Rasheen Aldridge and Tito Gardner

Love Me, Ferguson, I’m A Liberal

September 1, 2014 Douglas Williams www.jacobinmag.com Educate! Community, Ferguson, Liberal, Protest

“Outside agitator.” These words were spoken by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett when asked about the Freedom Summer voting registration drive in 1964. They were also uttered by Alabama Governor George Wallace when he was asked about the protests in his state’s largest city, ignobly labeled “Bombingham.” Bull Connor referred to Martin Luther King, Jr. as one, even though his church was in the state capital, Montgomery. These two words were also uttered by Thomas Jackson, the police chief in Ferguson, as he tried to describe why his mostly-white police force could not stop the protests occurring in the nearly 70 percent black city he was charged with patrolling. All of these men were segregationists, anticommunists, and purveyors of state-sanctioned violence against African Americans. But now you can also find some prominent liberals using the term, ostensibly in relation to the activities of small pockets of anarchists and the Revolutionary Communist Party in the city. Both the Daily Beast and Gawker have run pieces on the RCP in the same spirit, Gawker even going as far as to call them “despicable” for “trying to drum up even more tension.” Justin Glawe writes in the Daily Beast that: And while police have rightfully been criticized for their heavy-handed approach to the protests that have gone on since Brown’s death, the intelligence they’ve gathered regarding some of the more riotous protesters has been correct. Those who wish to do physical harm to law enforcement are small in number, and subversive in tactics.

5 Ferguson Officers Apart From Brown Shooter Named In Lawsuits

September 1, 2014 Kimberly Kindy and Carol D. Leonnig, www.washingtonpost.com Educate! Ferguson, police brutality, Police the Police

Federal investigators are focused on one Ferguson, Mo., police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, but at least five other police officers and one former officer in the town’s 53-member department have been named in civil rights lawsuits alleging the use of excessive force. In four federal lawsuits, including one that is on appeal, and more than a half-dozen investigations over the past decade, colleagues of Darren Wilson’s have separately contested a variety of allegations, including killing a mentally ill man with a Taser, pistol-whipping a child, choking and hog-tying a child and beating a man who was later charged with destroying city property because his blood spilled on officers’ clothes. One officer has faced three internal affairs probes and two lawsuits over claims he violated civil rights and used excessive force while working at a previous police department in the mid-2000s. That department demoted him after finding credible evidence to support one of the complaints, and he subsequently was hired by the Ferguson force. Police officials from outside Ferguson and plaintiffs’ lawyers say the nature of such cases suggests there is a systemic problem within the Ferguson police force. Department of Justice officials said they are considering a broader probe into whether there is a pattern of using excessive force that routinely violates people’s civil rights.

Ferguson: ‘Pilot Program’ For Community Response

August 31, 2014 Kevin Gosztola, www.dissenter.firedoglake.com Educate! Ferguson, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Militarized police, Police abuse

The National Lawyers Guild had legal observers on the ground in Ferguson to monitor protests against the killing of unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by a Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. They were also present to help with jail support for community residents. But, while working, four of the NLG’s observers fell victim to the police occupation they were trying to help Ferguson fight and were arrested. As Dennis Black, one of the legal observers arrested, commented, “Ferguson is a pilot program of what’s to come when communities respond to police brutality.” He and others had traveled from Detroit to see a preview of what police might do to squelch uprisings there. Black and two other volunteers were arrested on August 21 about 10:30 pm.

Breaking: Vine Videos Show Massive Protest In Ferguson

August 30, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Ferguson, Police abuse, police murder, Racism

On Saturday August 30th a large protest was held in Ferguson in response to the police killing of Michael Brown, Jr. The crowd was made up of a combination of local residents and people from around the country who are opposed to police brutality and want to see justice in the case of Michael Brown. Black Lives Matter brought 500 people to the event. The protest, which included Michael Brown's family in the lead (as the video below shows) included more than 1,000 people. Despite heavy rain at one point, the protesters marched through the streets of Ferguson to the police department headquarters. Below are a series of videos from Vine that give you a good sense of the protest.

#BlackLives Matter Bringing Hundreds To Ferguson

August 30, 2014 NewsOne Staff , www.newsone.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Ferguson, Protest

On August 28th, the “Black Lives Matters Ride” (BLM Ride) a national advocacy effort of #BlackLivesMatter, will bring concerned citizens from across the country to St. Louis, Missouri, as part of a national call to end state violence against Black people. The BLM Ride, organized in the spirit of the early 1960s interstate Freedom Rides to end racial segregation, is a call to action organized by advocates based in several states in close collaboration with the Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), the two lead organizations working with the Ferguson community in response to the shooting death of 18-year old Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. “The BLM Ride will bring together concerned citizens under which Black people can unite to end state sanctioned violence both in Ferguson, but also across the United States of America. In addition, it aims to end the widespread assault on Black life that pervades every stage of law enforcement interactions; be it in custody or in our communities,” notes Darnell L. Moore, ride co-organizer. On the issue of anti-Black state sanctioned violence, co-organizer Patrisse Cullors, states, “While Black people make up a mere 13% of the US population we make up more than a third of those killed in officer involved shootings across the country. We know that anti-Black racism in the form of vigilante violence is most often informed by law enforcement violence.”

Two Police Involved In Ferguson Abuse Removed From Force

August 30, 2014 Joel Currier, www.stltoday.com Resist! Ferguson, Police, Police the Police, Protest

Two police officers are no longer working at their departments due to their actions during the protests in Ferguson. A Glendale police officer suspended last Friday after commenting on Facebook that he thought Ferguson protesters should be "put down like rabid dogs," has been fired, officials say. Meanwhile, a St. Ann police lieutenant resigned Thursday after he pointed an assault rifle at protesters and cursed at them, officials said. Lt. Ray Albers had worked for the department for 20 years. Glendale Officer Matthew Pappert, suspended with pay last week, was fired Thursday after an internal investigation wrapped up Wednesday, said Glendale City Administrator Jaysen Christensen. Pappert's comments also included postings that said Ferguson protesters were "a burden on society and a blight on the community." Another posting said, "Where is a Muslim with a backpack when you need them?"

DC: March And Rally to Demand “Justice For Michael Brown”

August 29, 2014 Black United Front, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Ferguson, Militarized police, Police abuse, police brutality, Racism

Saturday's march and rally are specifically demanding the arrest of Officer Darren Wilson, the demilitarization of the police, and the institutionalization of civilian review boards of the police with the right to hire and fire. The Call to Action for Saturday explain: "Residents of the District of Columbia, just like millions around the country recognize that at the root of Ferguson are the social, racial and economic injustices that exist nationwide. They know that Ferguson could really be anywhere and Michael Brown could be any young Black male. According to a report by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, every 28 hours a Black person is killed by a police officer, security, or vigilante in the United States.

Ferguson Saturday: National March For Michael Brown

August 29, 2014 Staff, www.answercoalition.org Resist! Ferguson, militarism, Police abuse, police murder, Racism

The following call to action was issued by the Justice for Michael Brown Leadership Council, made up of community leaders on the ground in Ferguson. Protest against police killings, brutality, profiling and legal coverups "This will be a national massive march on Ferguson. People of conscience, from all walks of life, and all over the United States, will come together in Ferguson in the largest single mass demonstration to demand justice for Michael Brown," said Akbar Muhammad of the Justice for Michael Brown Leadership Council. The march demands . . .

Missouri Police Sued For $40 Million Over Actions In Ferguson

August 29, 2014 Carey Gillam, www.reuters.com Resist! Ferguson, Peace, Police, Protest

A group of people caught up in unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, after a white officer killed a black teenager, sued local officials on Thursday, alleging civil rights violations through arrests and police assaults with rubber bullets and tear gas. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, says law enforcement met a broad public outcry over the Aug. 9 killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown with "militaristic displays of force and weaponry," (and) engaged U.S. citizens "as if they were war combatants." The lawsuit seeks a total of $40 million on behalf of six plaintiffs, including a 17-year-old boy who was with his mother in a fast-food restaurant when they were arrested. Each of the plaintiffs was caught up in interactions with police over a period from Aug. 11 to 13, the suit allege. Named as defendants are the city of Ferguson, St. Louis County, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Delmar, Ferguson police officer Justin Cosmo, and other unnamed police officers from Ferguson and St. Louis County. Neither the city, county nor police departments had any immediate comment on the lawsuit.

Copwatch Cameras Being Shared In Ferguson

August 29, 2014 GoFundMe, www.gofundme.com Create! Camera, Ferguson, Militarization, Police, Transparency

WeCopwatch has been on the ground in Ferguson for the last week Copwatching and connecting with residents in the Cantfield neighborhood. (the location where Mike Brown was murdered). The space is autonomous, and has been stepping up as a community to be able to host the large volumes of people who come to pay their respects, and to also have a safe space for those who are grieving. There is a general consensus that more cameras are needed and with daily police attacks, it makes sense to to get them into people's hands as soon as possible. We're in the process of getting a bulk camera order together so that residents in each building in Cantfield Neighborhood have cameras. Protesting will eventually slow down, but this is the type of mutual aide that is lasting and extremely effective.

Burying Our Babies: Letter From L.A. To Ferguson

August 28, 2014 Sikivu Hutchinson, www.blackfemlens.blogspot.com Organize! California, Ferguson, Race, Violence

In South Los Angeles’ Crenshaw District, there are three funeral homes within a one mile radius of each other. On bright sunny days young people pour out from their doors after viewing hours, lingering on the steps reminiscing, sporting t-shirts with pictures and art work commemorating the dead. In a thoroughfare that epitomizes L.A.’s deification of the car, cars are often rolling R.I.P. memorials of the dearly departed, the tragedy of stolen youth ornately inscribed on rear windows for the world to see. Death is intimately woven into the experience of being a black child in America. The regime of “Black death”, as rapper Chuck D once described it, has its roots in slavery and the violent occupation of black bodies for profit and control. On Monday when Michael Brown’s family buries their precious baby it will be yet another reminder that the sacrosanct space of childhood is a white supremacist fantasy. As part of the legacy of the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, the Ferguson, Missouri uprising has seared this into black peoples’ consciousness anew.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

assetto corsa mods

Daily movement news and resources