Racial Justice

Understanding The Racial Bias You Didn’t Know You Had

December 31, 2014 Jenée Desmond-Harris, www.vox.com Educate! Racial Justice, Racial Profiling

Implicit racial bias tends to work against the same groups that are the victims of the type of overt racism that you hear from white supremacists or the more subtle bigotry of people who believe that racial minorities suffer from cultural pathology or who actively defend racial and ethnic stereotypes. But it can also affect the minds of people who would say — honestly — that they are horrified by these types of attitudes. That's because the implicit associations we hold often don't align with our declared beliefs. As Cynthia Lee, a professor at the George Washington University School of Law, has explained, "the social science research demonstrates that one does not have to be a racist with a capital R, or one who intentionally discriminates on the basis of race, to harbor implicit racial biases."

What We Can Learn From Ella Baker In A Post-Ferguson Era

December 31, 2014 Peter Dreier, www.talkingpointsmemo.com Educate! Education, Ella Baker, History, Racial Justice, Social Change

Baker would surely be impressed by the current wave of protest against racial justice. She would also urge the activists to make sure they transform their outrage into an ongoing movement that can survive beyond the immediate reaction to the epidemic of police abuses. That means building strong organizations that can identify and train young leaders, mobilize people around both short-term demands (such as videotaping police activities and ending local stop-and-frisk practices) and conduct campaigns for longer-term policy changes (such as repealing Stand Your Ground laws, sentencing reform, felon disenfranchisement, voter suppression, and living wages) at the national, state and local levels.

The Prison State Of America

December 31, 2014 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com Educate! Law, Mass Incarceration, police brutality, Racial Justice

Our prison-industrial complex, which holds 2.3 million prisoners, or 25 percent of the world’s prison population, makes money by keeping prisons full. It demands bodies, regardless of color, gender or ethnicity. As the system drains the pool of black bodies, it has begun to incarcerate others. Women—the fastest-growing segment of the prison population—are swelling prisons, as are poor whites in general, Hispanics and immigrants. Prisons are no longer a black-white issue. Prisons are a grotesque manifestation of corporate capitalism. Slavery is legal in prisons under the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States. …” And the massive U.S. prison industry functions like the forced labor camps that have existed in all totalitarian states.

Alumni Of Elite Israeli High School Call For Army Draft Refusal

December 31, 2014 Maureen Clare Murphy, www.electronicintifada.net Resist! Israel, Palestine, Peace, Racial Justice, Wars and Militarism

Dozens of alumni and former staff members of an elite Jerusalem high school have stated their refusal to serve in the Israeli military, and call on future graduates of the Israel Arts and Sciences Academy to reject the draft. Conscientious objectors face prison time for refusing compulsory Israeli military conscription orders. “Refusing to serve in the Israeli military is not an easy choice, but a moral stance against a collective mood manifested in racism and violence on every street these days,” the letter, published yesterday, states. The racism and violence of this “collective mood” in Israel, encouraged by lawmakers who called for genocidal measures against Palestinians, reached a fevered pitch this summer as Israel’s bombs rained down on Gaza.

Today’s Protests Are Centuries In The Making

December 30, 2014 Janos Marton, www.gothamgazette.com Educate! New York City (NYC), police brutality, Racial Justice

The tragic deaths of Eric Garner, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu offer New Yorkers an opportunity to have a real conversation about our city's sordid racial history. Racial politics may have come a long way in a city that prides itself on multiculturalism and progressivism, but community memories are long, and discussing the past must be part of moving forward. Mayor de Blasio recently acknowledged that some of the conflicts that have surfaced in recent weeks "go back centuries in their origins." In New York City's black community, those origins are rooted in nearly 400 years of distrust and mistreatment. From slavery to Jim Crow, from unchecked white mobs to oppressive white police forces, the black experience in New York has been marked by pain, destruction, and neglect. There is no question that many in power have made an effort in recent decades to correct the wrongs of the past. But examining our history has to be part of the healing.

St. Louis: Silent March Ends Loudly At Arch, Closes Monument

December 30, 2014 Michele Munz, www.stltoday.com Resist! police brutality, Racial Justice, St. Louis

About 125 people protesting officer-involved shootings marched through downtown Saturday to the Gateway Arch, prompting park police to close the national monument a couple of hours early and briefly blocking some streets. The protest, called United We Stand Silent March, started at Union Station around 3 p.m. and involved a racially diverse group of young and old. The marchers held signs with slogans that included “Black Lives Matter” and “We are in this together.” Participants were handed a list of 90 names titled “Victims Killed by Police” dating to 1999. Each was asked to pick a name from the list to write on a piece of fluorescent-colored tape and place it over his or her mouth. Some wrote other messages or stuck the tape to their clothing.

1992: Massive NYPD Protest When Mayor Proposes Civilian Review Board

December 29, 2014 James C. McKinley Jr., www.nytimes.com Educate! NYPD, police brutality, Racial Justice

The 300 uniformed officers who were supposed to control the crowd did little or nothing to stop the protesters from jumping barricades, tramping on automobiles, mobbing the steps of City Hall or taking over the bridge. In some cases, the on-duty officers encouraged the protesters. While the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association had called the rally to protest Mayor David N. Dinkins's proposal to create an independent civilian agency that would look into police misconduct, the huge turnout -- estimated by the Police Department at 10,000 protesters -- and the harsh emotional pitch reflected widespread anger among rank-and-file officers toward the Mayor for his handling of riots against the police in Washington Heights last July, his refusal to give them semiautomatic weapons and his appointment of an outside panel to investigate corruption.

Police Issue Arrest Orders For Protest Organizers

December 29, 2014 Revolution News, www.revolution-news.com Resist! Milwaukee, police brutality, Protest, Racial Justice

Statement from Khalil Coleman Milwaukee WI resident and Organizer from Occupy The Hood Milwaukee: For three years now dating back to the in custody death of Derek Williams, I have been a vocal activist for the group Occupy the Hood Milwaukee. Within these three years we have faced four very influential cases of injustice; Darius Simmons, Derek Williams, Corey Stingley, and now a national case with Dontre Hamilton. Just recently, I have been arrested three times for civil disobedience, have been personally called out by our chief of police and now am wanted (without a warrant issued) for ‘interrogation and desire to charge’ by Milwaukee Police Department. They have searched for me for two days now using the Fugitive and Apprehension Division.

Dick Gregory Fights Ignorance, Arrogance & Dan Snyder

December 27, 2014 C.J., www.startribune.com Resist! Change the Name, indigenous, Racial Justice, Sports

Dick Gregory manages to be soft-spoken yet incendiary. The satirist and activist was in the metro for the national rally protesting the name of the DC-area NFL team when it was here to play the Vikings in November. If you’re not comfortable seeing the words “white folks,” “black folks” and references to the N-bomb, this interview with the man whose autobiography title is the N-word is not for you. It’s also not for blacks who expect Gregory to go easy on them, especially on the subject of how American Indians have been treated. Gregory has an insouciance that suggests that he’s not impressed by much. However, one accolade has resonated with him. “I’m stunned there is a book out by National Geographic that lists 1,001 people who made America and I’m listed. I said, ‘Wow.’ ”

Protesters Mourn Antonio Martin, Shut Down Missouri Highway

December 25, 2014 Mariah Stewart and Carly Schwartz, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Antonio Martin, police brutality, Protest, Racial Justice

Minutes before Christmas Day officially started, a few dozen activists stood outside the Cathedral Basilica in Berkeley, Missouri, with lit candles and posters in memory of Antonio Martin, a black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a police officer Tuesday night. "The intent is to gather people in honor of him and other people who have been slain by police," Lydia Marie, 23, an intern for Amnesty International who coordinated the demonstration, told The Huffington Post. "This is another Christmas Eve a family is spending without their child who was lost to police violence." "As a black man, I’m trying to consistently deal with this, waking up and seeing slayings on the news," said Michael Anthony, 29, a cinematographer from St. Louis.

Comparative Tale Of Two Cop Killers: The Millers VS Ismaaiyl Brinsley

December 25, 2014 Davey D, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! police brutality, Racial Justice

Police departments all over the country have put themselves on high alert, talking about safety concerns and how they can handle things differently... Many of these departments will be sending officers to NY for the funerals of the two were ambushed... Its important that folks look back at how police departments publicly responded in the aftermath of two ambushes that took place in June of this year (2014).. The most notable one involves convicted felon Jerad Miller and his wife Amanda who hung out at Cliven Bundy ranch in Nevada where several dozen angry folks who were protesting the government's attempt to evict Bundy from the federal grounds he had leased but did not pay rent for.. The protestors had an armed stand off with over 200 police officers who attempted to move Bundy. The Millers were hoping the Bundy Ranch would be the jump off for armed rebellions against police.

Refusing To Wage War

December 25, 2014 Robert C. Koehler, www.commonwonders.com Strategize! NYPD, police brutality, Racial Justice

And so we grieve over another national tragedy. Two New York City police officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were shot — assassinated — as they sat in their patrol car this past weekend. Let the needlessness of their deaths rip our hearts open. Let the humanity come first. “Now is a moment for empathy and deep listening.” The words are from a statement issued by #BlackLivesMatter, a grassroots movement emerging this year over the spate of police killings of young men of color. The murder of the officers is part of the same tragedy. Black lives matter. Blue lives matter. All lives matter. Any thinking that embraces less than this is part of the problem, not the solution.

Police Back Into Protester, Arrest Her

December 24, 2014 Scott Kaufman, www.rawstory.com Resist! police brutality, Racial Justice

Police in Beavercreek, Ohio backed into, then arrested a woman protesting in front of the Walmart where cops shot a black patron holding a toy gun earlier this year. The protests began inside the store, but employees called for a storewide evacuation shortly after the protesters staged a “die-in” in the very aisle where police shot and killed John Crawford III on August 5, 2014. According to one shopper, Roxanna Lee, cashiers became “flustered” as news of the protest spread, until one of them announced that a “Code Sam” — store nomenclature for a potential security threat — had been called.

Off Duty Black Officers Say They Fear Fellow Cops

December 24, 2014 Michelle Conlin, www.Reuters.com Educate! police brutality, Police the Police, Racial Justice

What’s emerging now is that, within the thin blue line of the NYPD, there is another divide - between black and white officers. Reuters interviewed 25 African American male officers on the NYPD, 15 of whom are retired and 10 of whom are still serving. All but one said that, when off duty and out of uniform, they had been victims of racial profiling, which refers to using race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed a crime. The officers said this included being pulled over for no reason, having their heads slammed against their cars, getting guns brandished in their faces, being thrown into prison vans and experiencing stop and frisks while shopping. The majority of the officers said they had been pulled over multiple times while driving. Five had had guns pulled on them.

Grand Jury Fails To Indict Another White Cop

December 24, 2014 Sputnik, www.us.sputniknews.com Educate! Criminal Justice, Houston, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice

It's becoming an all-too-familiar story. After months of hearing testimony, a grand jury in Texas decided not to indict officer Juvenito Castro in the fatal shooting of Jordan Baker, an unarmed 26-year old, in January. Castro was off duty and was working as a private security officer at a strip mall when he confronted Baker on suspicion of burglary. Authorities indicated that a “brief struggle and foot chase” followed. Officers claim that at one point Baker stopped running and turned around. When he reached for his waistband, Castro fired. Castro was wearing his police uniform at the time of the incident. A string of burglaries had been reported at the mall that same month, though no evidence suggested that Baker was involved.

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