Racial Justice

Broken Windows Cracks But Police State Grows

February 12, 2015 Josmar Trujillo, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! New York City (NYC), NYPD, police brutality, Racial Justice

In the span of just over a week, two prominent proponents of Broken Windows theory, the policing strategy that cracks down on low-level infractions, backtracked on the role of the theory in lowering crime across New York city and suggested the theory was 'oversold'. Malcolm Gladwell, the influential author, told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he, along with others, had 'oversold' Broken Windows over the years. Gladwell's 2000 book,The Tipping Point, strongly supported the premise that the NYPD's Broken Windows crackdowns were the primary cause for New York City's crime declines of the '90s.

NYPD Officer Indicted In Death Of Akai Gurley, According To Reports

February 11, 2015 Christopher Mathias, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Law, New York City (NYC), police brutality, Racial Justice

A New York City police officer has been indicted in the shooting death of 28-year-old Akai Gurley, law enforcement sources told both NY1 and The New York Daily News on Tuesday. A bullet fired by rookie officer Peter Liangkilled Gurley inside the darkened stairwell of the Louis Pink housing project in East New York, Brooklyn, on Nov. 20. Although New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton initially characterized the shooting as an “accidental discharge,” Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced in December that he was convening a grand jury to investigate Gurley’s death. A spokeswoman for district attorney Thompson on Tuesday declined to confirm the indictment to The Huffington Post, saying the office was “precluded by grand jury secrecy.”

FBI Monitored African-American Writers For Decades

February 10, 2015 Alison Flood, www.theguardian.com Educate! FBI, Privacy, Racial Justice, Surveillance

Newly declassified documents from the FBI reveal how the US federal agency under J Edgar Hoover monitored the activities of dozens of prominent African American writers for decades, devoting thousands of pages to detailing their activities and critiquing their work. Academic William Maxwell first stumbled upon the extent of the surveillance when he submitted a freedom of information request for the FBI file of Claude McKay. The Jamaican-born writer was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, author of the sonnet If We Must Die, supposedly recited by Winston Churchill, and Maxwell was preparing an edition of his complete poems. When the file came through from the FBI, it stretched to 193 pages and, said Maxwell, revealed “that the bureau had closely read and aggressively chased McKay” – describing him as a “notorious negro revolutionary” – “all across the Atlantic world, and into Moscow”.

13 Protesters Arrested After Taking Over UMN President’s Office

February 10, 2015 Paul Walsh and Libor Jany, www.startribune.com Resist! Education, Police, Racial Justice, Student Activism

About 16 University of Minnesota students alleging on-campus racial and ethnic discrimination took over school President Eric Kaler’s second-floor office in Morrill Hall Monday afternoon. They discussed their issues with Kaler, Provost Karen Hanson and Katrice Albert, vice president for Equity and Diversity, said university spokesman Steve Henneberry in a statement. The action began about 11:30 in the morning. By 7:15 p.m., three protesters opted to leave the office, while 13 others who declined to leave were arrested and removed by police. A group of students with signs stood outside Morrill, which was locked. Anyone needing to enter the building, at 100 SE. Church St., had to show identification, said Henneberry, speaking from his first-floor Morrill Hall office.

Radical Farmers Use Fresh Food To Fight The New Jim Crow

February 7, 2015 Leah Penniman, www.yesmagazine.org Create! Food and Agriculture, Mass Incarceration, Racial Justice

In August, five young men showed up at Soul Fire Farm, a sustainable farm near Albany, New York, where I work as educator and food justice coordinator. It was the first day of a new restorative justice program, in partnership with the county’s Department of Law. The teens had been convicted of theft, and, as an alternative to incarceration, chose this opportunity to earn money to pay back their victims while gaining farm skills. They looked wary and unprepared, with gleaming sneakers and averted eyes. “I basically expected it to be like slavery, but it would be better than jail,” said a young man named Asan. “It was different though. We got paid and we got to bring food home. The farmers there are black like us, which I did not expect."

Oprah & Sharpton Attack Black Lives Matter Movement

February 6, 2015 Glen Ford, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Leadership, Racial Justice

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.

This Man Faces Life In Prison For Rapping

February 5, 2015 David Loy, www.aclu.org Educate! Free Speech, Law, Music, Racial Justice

I've heard free speech isn't free, and Brandon Duncan, who raps as Tiny Doo, has learned that the hard way. Until recently, Mr. Duncan spent eight months in jail on "gang conspiracy" charges arising from several shootings in San Diego from May 2013 to February 2014. Prosecutors admit he wasn't at the scene of the crimes, and they have no evidence linking him to the shootings. Mr. Duncan, who has no criminal record, also says he had no knowledge of the crimes. But the district attorney charged him all the same because he raps about shootings. That's not only absurd; it's a blatant violation of the First Amendment.

Walmart: Stop Racist Threats Of Violence Against Workers

February 4, 2015 Kristin Oliver, www.iam.colorofchange.org Organize! Economic Justice, Labor Rights, Racial Justice, Walmart

Markeith Washington was working on the overnight remodeling crew at the Richmond, CA Walmart Store which was supervised by Art Van Riper. Van Riper was notorious among associates for screaming insults, calling the crew "a bunch of lazy ass workers." During one night of work in September of 2012 while Markeith was tying a rope around his own waist to aid in moving a heavy counter, Van Riper said to him, "if it was up to me, I'd put that rope around your neck." Shocked at this hateful comment, Markeith simply responded, "That's not right." Markeith and his fellow remodel crew associates were understandably outraged by Van Riper's threat. They bravely joined together to demand discipline for Van Riper and respect on the job by taking actions including talking to management, sending a letter to Walmart and even participating in a work stoppage strike.

#BlackLivesMatter: Lessons From A Leader-ful Movement

January 29, 2015 Jodie Tonita, www.stproject.org Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Ferguson, NYC, Racial Justice

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.

Marissa Alexander Released From Prison

January 28, 2015 Free Marissa Now, www.freemarissanow.org Educate! Law, Mass Incarceration, Racial Justice

“We are thrilled that Marissa will finally be reunited with her children, her family, and her community,” said Sumayya Coleman, co-lead of the Free Marissa Now Mobilization Campaign. “Today’s hearing revealed that Marissa intends to attend school to become a paralegal and she is a wonderful mother to her children who urgently need her. Amazingly, the State continued their campaign of punishment by trying to add two more years of probation on top of the two years of house detention included in the plea. Fortunately, they failed. Marissa and her family will need time to begin recovering from this arduous and traumatic experience. It’s been a long and painful journey and, though her release from jail is definitely a win -- no 60 years -- the journey of seeking ultimate freedom is not over.

Family Of Police Brutality Victim Tells Sharpton To Stay Out Of It

January 28, 2015 Victor Fiorillo, www.phillymag.com Organize! Al Sharpton, police brutality, Racial Justice

And now Reid's widow, Lawanda Reid, has released her own statement via the New Jersey-based National Awareness Alliance: I would like to thank Rev. Sharpton for his support and for his demand that the New Jersey Attorney General get involved in my husband’s death. However, Walter Hudson and the National Awareness Alliance have been involved before this case received national attention and I want National Awareness Alliance to continue to be the official organization fighting for justice for my husband and family. Reverend Sharpton’s involvement is not needed. According to a press release issued by NAA, "Sharpton... had been unusually silent on the matter and did not participate in any of the early protests until the story began to make national headlines."

Marissa Alexander To Be Released From Jail

January 27, 2015 Maddie from AutoStraddle, www.autostraddle.com Organize! Florida, Law, Patriarchy, Racial Justice

In August 2010, Marissa Alexander fired a warning shot with a lawfully registered gun to keep her abusive and estranged husband from killing her in her home in Florida. No one was hurt, but Alexander was arrested and charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. After years of navigating the legal system and spending three years incarcerated, on Tuesday, January 27th, Alexander is expected to be released from the Duval County Jail. She will spend two years under house arrest while wearing an ankle monitor. Activists from around the country will converge on Jacksonville and in their home cities to stand in solidarity with Alexander and bring visibility to women who have been targeted for their resilience and survival.

No DOJ Prosecution Of Wilson Means Struggle Continues

January 26, 2015 Syreeta McFadden, www.alternet.org Resist! Civil Rights, Law, Racial Justice

The purpose of leaks by “credible sources” is to manage expectations for the public. So the leak indicating that the Department of Justice will likely not pursue federal civil rights charges against Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown is likely a trial balloon to see how the public will react. I hope that one of those reactions is a demand for police reforms across the board, imposed not only from the top down but also from within. Justice – which we believe embodies accountability, blame, the restoration of equality, and a repair to some awful wrong between the aggrieved and the aggressor – loses its meaning in circumstances like this.

Who Is Kymone Freeman?

January 26, 2015 Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! D.C., Ferguson, Racial Justice, Washington, Youth

Papi Kymone Freeman (guerrilla artist) is one of the leaders of #DC Ferguson, an organization devoted to exposing police terror in the Washington, DC area. Kymone, alone with Eugene Puryear, Salim Adafo and Kenny Nero have led non-violent demonstrations that have shut down major economic arteries in the nation’s capitol. Kymone is the director of the National Black LUV Festival that has since become the largest annual AIDS mobilization in Washington, DC. He has authored a collection of poetry entitled Blood.Sweat.Tears. Kymone is in the process of completing a one-man show called “Whites Only,” a show where, according to Kymone “white folks can witness an angry Black man in therapy from the sanctuary of their seat.”

State Of The Black Union: Shadow Of Crisis Has Not Passed

January 23, 2015 Truth Out Staff and Black Lives Matter, www.truth-out.org Educate! Black Lives Matter (BLM), Racial Justice

2014 was a year that saw profound injustice, and extraordinary resilience. Homicides at the hands of police sparked massive protests, meaning that America could no longer ignore bitter truths of the Black experience. Gabriella Naverez, a queer Black woman was killed at 22 years old, unarmed. 37 year old Tanisha Anderson’s family dialed 911 for medical assistance. Instead, Cleveland police officers took her life. Anyia Parker, a Black trans woman was gunned down in East Hollywood. This brutal attack was caught on camera, yet her murder, like so many murders of Black trans women, have gone unanswered. This country must abandon the lie that the deep psychological wounds of slavery, racism and structural oppression are figments of the Black imagination. The time to address these wounds is now.

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