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Newsletter: Prejudice, Racism, Privilege In The US

July 25, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. Black Americans, Indigenous peoples and immigrants who are standing up to highlight the injustices they suffer on a daily basis are creating a long overdue teachable moment for whites in the United States. Whites who believe in equality, an end to prejudice and equal justice for all are standing with them; together we can make transformational change on racism and prejudice. Got White PrivilegeA term like “white privilege” is becoming understood by more whites, not as a slur but as a description of reality, and is being more easily used in conversation by people of color. Whites who get the reality of racism are standing up when other Euro-Americans behave in racist ways and speaking out.

#BlackLivesMatter, France Schools Us, Watch The Water

June 28, 2015 Eleanor Goldfield, www.occupy.com , , ,
By Eleanor Goldfield for Occupy.com. Black Lives Matter and Shamell Bell is breaking it down. This week, we’re talking dance activism as protest and liberation of both space and people. First, white privilege has something to say to white privilege. White privilege is not the fault of whites, but we know it is unfair and must speak out, participate in making sure #BlackLives Matter. LA organizer shows how to use your skills for justice with street dance activism. France yet again schools us on how to be human beings and watch the water with court ruling water cannot be cut off for nonpayment; water is a human right. Get to know Food and Water Watch. Good cops rise up and speak out.

Build July 25th March Against Police Violence In Newark

June 28, 2015 Staff, www.laborfightback.org , , , , ,
By Staff, Labor Fightback Network. Police brutality, especially as directed against young Black and Brown men, is one of the most pressing issues in the U.S. today. Organized labor can and must take the right stand on this issue and join with the People's Organization for Progress (POP), #Black Lives Matter, Moral Mondays, and hundreds of other organizations committed to racial and economic justice in calling for mass actions against police brutality. The Labor Fightback Network (LFN) voted at our recent conference in Rutgers, New Jersey to make building the Million People’s March Against Police Brutality, Racial Injustice and Economic Inequality in Newark, N.J.called for by POP our first priority campaign. July 25 is barely over a month away. We need to work quickly to maximize labor participation. Why is this a priority for a labor-based network? The better question would be: why would it not be our priority?

15 Most Outrageous Responses By Police Who Killed Unarmed People

June 25, 2015 Bill Quigley, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
By Bill Quigley for Popular Resistance. 2015 Has Been Another Year of Outrageous Killings of Unarmed People by Police Across the Country Police kill a lot of unarmed people. So far in 2015, as many as 100 unarmed people have been killed by police. Here are fifteen of the most outrageous reasons given by police to justify killing unarmed people in the last twelve months. First, a bit of background. So far in 2015, there have been around 400 fatal police shootings already; one in six of those killings, 16 percent, were of unarmed people, 49 had no weapon at all and 13 had toys, according to the Washington Post. Of the police killings this year less than 1 percent have resulted in the officer being charged with a crime. The Guardian did a study which included killings by Tasers and found 102 people killed by police so far in 2015 were unarmed and that unarmed Black people are twice as likely to be killed by police as whites.

Louisville Police Blockaded, Cop Calls Protestors ‘Race-Baiters’

June 23, 2015 DFH Local No 420, www.dailykos.com , , ,
By DFH Local No 420 for Daily Kos. It began with a cop killing a man armed only with a metal pole. The people wanted justice. The local police union guy wasn't about to have any of it. First, the offending Cop Statement Calling himself an “activist,” the head of Louisville’s police union defended a letter he wrote to the city’s citizens, threatening to bring the wrath of the law down on the “sensationalists, liars and race-baiters” who criticize the efforts of the police department. Protesters block Louisville police station after union letter threatening ‘race-baiters’ Dozens of demonstrators forced the temporary closure of the Louisville Metro Police headquarters on Monday afternoon in a protest that sought the firing of the local police union leader for his reaction to an officer-involved fatal shooting.

Police Officer Indicted In Shooting Of Walter Scott In S. Carolina

June 8, 2015 Bruce Smith, www.AP.org , , ,
By Bruce Smith for Associated Press. It didn't take long for a grand jury in South Carolina to indict a white former city policeman for murder in the shooting death of a black man who tried to flee from a traffic stop. State investigators presented the case against former North Charleston officer Michael Slager to a Charleston County grand jury on Monday and prosecutor Scarlett Wilson announced the indictment a few hours later. A bystander's cellphone video shows Slager firing eight times as 50-year-old Walter Scott tried to run away on April 4. The killing enflamed a national debate about how black people are treated by white police officers. But it caused no unrest in North Charleston, where community leaders and Scott's family praised the government's swift response. Slager was charged with murder by state law enforcement agents and fired from the police force immediately after Scott's family released the video.

Media Is Counting Police Killings, The Government Should Be

June 7, 2015 Guardian Staff, www.theguardian.com ,
By Guardian Staff. The Counted is a project by the Guardian – and you – working to count the number of people killed by police and other law enforcement agencies in the United States throughout 2015, to monitor their demographics and to tell the stories of how they died. The database will combine Guardian reporting with verified crowdsourced information to build a more comprehensive record of such fatalities. The Counted is the most thorough public accounting for deadly use of force in the US, but it will operate as an imperfect work in progress – and will be updated by Guardian reporters and interactive journalists as frequently and as promptly as possible. Why is this necessary? The US government has no comprehensive record of the number of people killed by law enforcement. This lack of basic data has been glaring amid the protests, riots and worldwide debate set in motion by the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. Before stepping down as US attorney general earlier this year, Eric Holder described the prevailing situation on data collection as “unacceptable”. The Guardian agrees with those analysts, campaign groups, activists and authorities who argue that such accounting is a prerequisite for an informed public discussion about the use of force by police.

How Mass Murder At The Attica Prison Is Still Protected

May 31, 2015 Heather Ann Thompson, www.time.com , , ,
By Heather Ann Thompson in TIME Magazine, It took more than 40 years, but Attica’s survivors and families of the deceased had finally convinced a judge to force the State of New York to release sealed records relating to deaths of some 39 inmates and staff following the 1971 prison uprising. But the documents released May 21 provide little information as to who was responsible for the dead and wounded when state officials decided to forcibly retake the prison, and why no one has been held accountable. This carnage took place at one of America’s most forbidding penal institutions—the Attica State Correctional Facility in upstate New York—where, four days earlier, over 1,200 prisoners had begun a historic protest against abysmal conditions and abuses.

Understanding How History & Policy Destroy Black Communities

May 16, 2015 Jennifer LuxtonAraz Hachadourian, www.yesmagazine.org , , , ,
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan was very quick to call in the National Guard and police from all over the state in response to the urban revolt in Baltimore; he went to churches to show how much he cared and promised to do something about the inequality between rich and poor, white and black in Baltimore. But his first act now that the revolt has quieted was to cut school funding. Baltimore school's have been historically underfunded, many community schools have been closed and students struggle to get the opportunities in education that wealthy suburbs get. Hogan cut $11.6 million that would have gone to Baltimore schools in favor of funding state pensions. To make matters worse the cut in education funding follows the state's approval of the $30 million construction of a youth jail in Baltimore earlier this week. Hogan should not be surprised if there are additional urban revolts in Baltimore. His actions almost assure it. But, his actions are not alone, there have been decades of economic injustice in Baltimore and cities across the country. And, they are a pattern of injustice that has occurred throughout US history.

Tony Robinson Protest In Madison Ends In Arrests

May 14, 2015 Staff, www.rt.com , , ,
Police have arrested several demonstrators who stubbornly remained outside the Dane County Courthouse, following a day of protests over the District Attorney’s decision not to indict the officer who fatally shot Tony Robinson, 19, in March. Reporters on the scene estimate that anywhere from 15 to 25 arrests were made, as a group of protesters refused to leave the street outside the courthouse, several blocks away from the Wisconsin state capitol. Protesters linked their arms as they were being arrested, and some of them cried, reported AP. Organized by the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition (YGB), the marchers convened a “people’s court,” charging the Madison police with racism and police brutality and demanding Officer Matt Kenny be punished for the shooting of Robinson. Another group chained themselves together outside the Dane County Jail entrance, demanding the release of inmates inside.

Wednesday 30th Anniversary Of MOVE Bombing

May 12, 2015 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org , , , ,
On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia police dropped a bomb froma helicopter onto the MOVE organization, comprised of the Africa family, killing 11 people including five children, wounding scores and destroying 65 homes. John Africa, the founder of MOVE, said it stood for getting active, change and revolution. They had constant conflicts with mass arrests, hunger strikes in jail and police attacks. Would the Philadelphia police have bombed a white neighborhood? Such action is hard to imagine, therefore the racism of the MOVE bombing is hard not to see. But, the MOVE bombing also showed what happens when you give military power to a police force, problems we continue to see today.

On Mother’s Day Weekend, Moms Are Rising Up For Black Lives

May 10, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org , ,
This Mother’s Day weekend, moms across the United States are leading protests, vigils, and marches to demand justice for children slain by police and vigilante violence—and to send the message to parents and young people alike that Black Lives Matter. From Chicago to Washington, D.C., many of those organizing mobilizations on Saturday and Sunday are mothers who have lost their own children. “What better way to spend my Mother’s Day than to be fighting for my child,” said Panzy Edwards, whose 15-year-old son Dakota Bright was shot in the head and killed by a Chicago police officer in November 2012. “I’m marching to honor my son’s life that was taken by the Chicago police department,” Edwards told Common Dreams. “I’m marching to honor lives taken by police everywhere.”

Will Charges Against 6 Baltimore Police Bring Justice?

May 10, 2015 Kevin Zeese, www.mintpressnews.com , , , , ,
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s announcement that the six officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray were being charged brought cheers and celebratory honking of horns. On closer inspection, however, there are important questions as to whether the arresting officers who began the process that led to Gray’s death were charged with an adequately serious offense. Indeed, if it had not been for the illegal arrest and the damage they did to Gray before the van ride, Gray would not have died. Further, comparing how the police were treated with how protesters were treated shows further injustice and prompts questions about amnesty for all those arrested during the protests. If a country truly believed in freedom of speech and the right to assembly, there would be amnesty for all the protesters who were arrested. They should have their records cleansed, the arrests should never have occurred and there should be no record of them. There is a human right to resist injustice that should be respected. As for the case of Freddie Gray, State’s Attorney Mosby still has a chance to amend the charges against the officers involved in his arrest or bring the case before a grand jury and seek an additional charge of second degree murder against the three arresting officers.

Justice Department Launches Probe Of Baltimore Police

May 10, 2015 Julia Edwards, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , ,
The U.S. Justice Department on Friday launched an investigation into the Baltimore police department's use of force and whether there are patterns of discriminatory policing. The probe, announced by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, was requested by Baltimore's mayor in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who sustained fatal injuries while in police custody, and the outrage it sparked in Maryland's largest city. Though the Justice Department is already investigating Gray's death and working with the Baltimore police on reform, Lynch said last week's protests pointed to the need for an investigation. "It was clear to a number of people looking at this situation that the community's rather frayed trust - to use an understatement - was even worse and has in effect been severed in terms of the relationship with the police department," Lynch said on Friday.

Newsletter – We Have A Duty To Fight For Our Freedom

May 9, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Chelsea Manning writes this week about the lack of transparency and declining press freedom in the United States. Transparency and press freedom are fundamental to democracy. Manning also connects these issues to our right to criticize our government without fear. Assata Shakur, who is currently living in exile in Cuba, says something we've been hearing a lot lately: "It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains."
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