Racial Justice

Ferguson: Systemic Racism Requires Systemic Solutions

November 26, 2014 John A. Powell, www.ourfuture.org Educate! Ferguson, police brutality, Racial Justice, Social Change, Social Justice

What we are witnessing is a reflection of a systematic failure in our society that is revealed wherever we are willing to look—schools, health care, employment, housing, life expectancy, poverty, and the list goes on. The problem is persistent, cumulative, and deeply debilitating. The arrest rate or murder rate between African Americans and whites, as evidenced by a recent set of studies, cannot be explained by the “behavior of blacks,” as some will quickly suggest. Nor can it only be explained by explicit racism in the police department or other systems that fail to serve the black community. What we are seeing is the consequence of a systematic failure at every level, and a political response that ranges from hostility to neglect.

Six Vital Conversations Jumpstarted On The Streets Of Ferguson

November 26, 2014 John Light, www.billmoyers.com Educate! Fergusons, police brutality, Police the Police, Racial Justice, Social Change

After nearly two weeks, the outrage in Ferguson appears to be taking new forms, and becoming less openly confrontational. But the shooting of Michael Brown — along with a number of similar, troubling, fatal incidents in which a police officer’s overreaction ended in a black man’s death — have started a nationwide conversation about race, class and the nature of American law enforcement. Here are a few discussions that are emerging as America takes a step back: 1. Ferguson is part of a long history of racial discrimination 2. A militarized police force is a scary thing 3. Do we talk about race or do we talk about class? 4. Ferguson shows that “small,” close-to-home government isn’t necessarily best 5. Is the press under attack? 6. Is it time for the next civil rights movement?

Media Inflames Fears Instead Of Informing Viewers

November 25, 2014 Peter Hart, www.fair.org Resist! Ferguson, Journalism, Media, Racial Justice

Every day brings news reports that tell us the city of Ferguson remains "on edge" or "tense" awaiting a grand jury decision about whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson over the killing of Michael Brown. The expectations of violent uprisings have left some wondering if a lack of violence would be viewed as some kind of disappointment. In this environment, one would hope journalism could serve to inform without inflaming the situation. Media have been known to stoke panic about violent and disorderly protests. Ahead of the 2004 protests at the Republican National Convention in New York City, media hyped the threat of protester violence.

Slurskins Protest Sunday In San Francisco

November 20, 2014 Matt Barrows, www.sacbee.com Resist! Native Americans, Protest, Racial Justice, Sports

Hundreds of Native Americans will gather outside Levi’s Stadium on Sunday to protest the nickname of the 49ers’ opponent. The “Change the Name. Change the Mascot” rally is not expected to draw the thousands of protesters who showed up with signs and banners when the Washington Slurskins played the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis earlier this month, but organizers said it is gaining strength. Tony Gonzales, director of American Indian Movement-West, said he initially figured the rally would draw 200. He now expects double that amount. Gonzales said he has been working with the Santa Clara Police Department and that starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, a coalition of groups will set up near the city’s convention center, which is across the street from the stadium.

Anonymous Seizes Ku Klux Klan Twitter Account Over Ferguson Threats

November 19, 2014 Violet Blue, www.news.yahoo.com Resist! Anonymous, Ferguson, KKK, Racial Justice

Two Twitter accounts belonging to American racial segregation org Ku Klux Klan, @KuKluxKlanUSA and @YourKKKCentral, have been seized by Anonymous as part of the hacker-activist entity's new campaign, #OpKKK. At 6:31pm PST Anonymous said it has knocked the website belonging to "Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" -- the group responsible for the Ferguson threats -- offline. ZDNet has also received an unconfirmed statement that Anonymous has compromised KKK member email accounts, and a phone harassment campaign is being conducted on KKK members. The message is in full at the end of this article. @KuKluxKlanUSA is currently under the control of Anonymous after a week of mutual threats sparked by the KKK's announcement to use "lethal force" against Ferguson protesters. Through the account, Anonymous tweeted that it will release a Monday evening statement about the takeover.

Ferguson Call To Action: Nonviolent, Sustained & Strategic Actions

November 18, 2014 Ferguson Action, www.fergusonaction.com Resist! Ferguson, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice

An announcement from the jury about Darren Wilson will come any day now — and we are planning protests and actions for that day and the following days. We are asking you to get involved. On the day of the announcement, we’re encouraging all community members to do four things: Grab your “protest bag.” Connect with your buddy and/or group and pick a meet-up spot. We are encouraging people to go out to protest in formed groups or with a buddy. Head to two spots the night of: Shaw (at Shaw and Klemm) and the lot across from the Ferguson Police Department (on S. Florissant). Breathe

Nyle Fort, The 24-year-old Minister At The Heart Of Ferguson

November 15, 2014 FUSION, www.fusion.net Organize! Ferguson, police brutality, Racial Justice, Religion, Social Change

Nyle Fort says he was drawn to activism by the color of his skin. “We live in a country where black people are systematically and disproportionately stopped, frisked, harassed and killed based on the color of our skin,” said the 24-year-old grassroots organizer and minister. “It scares people, and it shouldn’t,” Fort said about being black. His activism, he says, is motivated by a desire to rise above that ignorance, hate and suppression. Fort recently focused his activism in Ferguson, where officer Darren Wilson killed Mike Brown, an unarmed black teenager, on Aug. 9. Fort was one of thousands of community leaders to descend on the small St. Louis suburb and lend his voice to the protest known as #FergusonOctober. It was an opportunity to deliver a very simple message to the world: “Black Lives Matter.”

Fifty Years Ago: A Turning Point In Civil Rights

November 12, 2014 Ted Morgan, www.truth-out.org Educate! Civil Rights, History, Racial Justice

In many circles, 1968 is seen as the crucial turning point in which the spread of tumultuous uprisings around the world not only wrought significant social change, but also helped to generate a backlash that ushered in the neoliberal era that currently dominates the globe. I would argue, however, that the seeds for that transformation were planted via the historic events occurring in 1964. First, 1964 saw a critical shift beginning to take place in the civil rights movement. Passage of the Civil Rights Act was, of course, of great historic significance, as was the following year's passage of the Voting Rights Act. Together, the two pieces of legislation began to dismantle the southern system of apartheid, bringing to fruition a decade of civil rights struggle.

Ferguson & Kenny Nero, Jr: The Front Lines Of Fighting Police Terror In DC

November 12, 2014 Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Ferguson, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice, Washington DC

During the recent Black is Back Rally and Teach-In in Washington, D.C., I had the pleasure of interviewing Kenny Nero, one of the original organizers of the #DCFerguson movement. The group has organized marches with 300-700 participants that have shut down major economic thoroughfares in DC from Chinatown and H Street, to U Street and Georgetown. These demonstrations provided the impetus for DC Council member Tommy Wells to organize hearings on police brutality, harassment and terror in Washington DC. Kenny Nero, Jr. is a librarian at the Howard University Health Sciences Library and a community organizer by night. He worked on the DC Jail Library Coalition initiative to make a library in DC’s jail a reality. The initiative's successes include the mayor's allocating $300K for the library to support: a full time librarian, to be hired in October 2014; a part time library technician, and job readiness and digital literacy programs.

Beyond ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’: What If There’s No Indictment In Ferguson?

November 11, 2014 Hannah Giorgis, www.theguardian.com Create! Ferguson, Law, police brutality, Racial Justice

Black lives matter? It’s tough to keep saying something like that – to shout it in anything but protest – with this impending reality: At some point in the next few days, it’s likely that Darren Wilson will not be indicted, by the US justice department or the state of Missouri, for the extrajudicial killing of Michael Brown – an 18-year-old unarmed black man – in Ferguson, in broad daylight, three long months ago. It is at once horrific and predictable that a law enforcement officer may never have to answer for his crimes in criminal court, that his life will remained buttressed by the power of a blue wall as more black people are shot dead in America simply for existing, and by secret online donations from supporters with names like “Jim Crow” who applaud him for “taking out the trash”, like George Zimmerman and so many others before him.

Ferguson Friday

November 7, 2014 Students Organizing for Unity and Liberation, www.creativeresistance.org Resist! Creative Resistance, Ferguson, police brutality, Racial Justice, Student Activism

From CreativeResistance.org - Students Organizing for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) at University of Pennsylvania is engaging in a series of creative actions, held weekly on Fridays. The group aims to create a more conscious and active community at U Penn and in Philadelphia. Police brutality is modern day lynching, state sanctioned murder. There are more Black men in prison today or under the watch of the criminal justice system than were enslaved in 1850. On October 24th, Gina Marie, Jamal Taylor and another student portrayed slavery in 1814, lynching in 1914, and mass incarceration/prison industrial complex in 2014 to represent persistent acts of genocide against Black people. They wore tape over their mouths, symbolic of the silencing of African ancestors and brethren behind bars. “We will not be silent about our oppression.”

Rev. Pinkney Convicted, Threatened With Life In Prison

November 6, 2014 Glen Ford, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Mass Incarceration, Political Prisoner, Racial Justice

Rev. Edward Pinkney, the 66-year-old community activist who has battled for decades on behalf of the mostly Black population of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was this week convicted on five counts of forging the dates of some signatures on a petition to recall the town’s mayor. The Berrien County jury was all-white. So was the judge and the prosecutor. Each of the felony counts carries a maximum five year sentence, but prosecutor Mike Sepic is calling for a life prison term on the grounds that Rev. Pinkney “has at least three prior felony convictions” – all of them stemming from his nonviolent resistance to white supremacy and the rule of the rich. Rev. Pinkney’s nemesis – the rich entity that rules in Berrien County – is Whirlpool, the giant corporation that once employed lots of Black people in low-wage positions at its Benton Harbor headquarters, but now wants them gone, so that the land on which the town sits on the shores of Lake Michigan can be put to more luxurious and profitable uses.

Computerized Voting, Unseen Threat To Democracy

November 5, 2014 Victoria Collier, www.truth-out.org Organize! Elections, Fraud, Racial Justice, Voter Rights

Our article in Truthout last week, Top Ten Epic Reasons Why You Should Give a Sh*t About Voting, elicited quite a few comments from readers voicing concern that ballots may not be correctly or honestly counted by our "black box" computer voting systems - and we would never know. The Internet is already roaring with stories of visible attacks on democracy so far in the 2014 elections: 40,000 mostly minority voters purged from Georgia's voter roles and thousands more in 26 other states, up to 600,000 Texas voters disenfranchised due to new Voter ID laws, and the attempts to override the electoral college in gerrymandered blue states like Michigan. Electronic voting systems are actually failing and breaking down nationwide, creating long voting lines and the risk of votes lost to error and malfunction. We can fight this fraud because we can see it, like the part of the iceberg that is above the water. But yes, there is more below.

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