Nigerian Government Revealing Its True Character In Response To Youth Protests
Youth protests against police violence in Nigeria, the #EndSARS movement, gained international attention with solidarity protests around the world. To
State Violence
Trump Applauds Escalating Far-Right Violence
As Trump laid bare his plan to declare himself the winner of the 2020 election and begin a legal fight challenging the legitimacy of millions of mail-in ballots, across the US, this weekend saw Trump supporters engage in acts of physical violence, targeted racist and anti-Semitic attacks, and campaigns of clear voter suppression and intimidation. These acts are only the latest in a string of racist incidents, from Trump operatives attempting to stop Black people from voting, militia plots to murder Democratic governors, pro-Trump far-Right groups threatening to blow up polling stations
As The Far-Right Escalates Calls For Violence, Police And National Guard Deploy
In the face of massive early voter turnout and a flood of mail-in ballots, Trump, in a last ditch effort, is continuing to signal that he will refuse to accept the outcome of the election; falling back on the combined power of the supreme court, the repressive power of the police and National Guard against protesters, and violent far-Right groups on the streets engaging in voter suppression and intimidation. Trump and his supporters have also once again started to float the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act; which would allow Trump to unleash the military on American civilians along with a flood of
Nigeria’s End SARS Protests
As social movements continue around the world to end the impunity that police forces have, the African continent has seen their biggest movement within the country of Nigeria with the #EndSARS protests.
Nigeria has the largest population on the continent, and the largest population of young people has taken to the streets to protest the torture and brutality Nigerians are facing at the hands of police.
The Nigerian government has barely acknowledged some of the problems exist, the protests have turned toward social change demands, with citizens calling for more anti-corruption crackdowns in the government and social and structural changes nationwide.
What We Are Up Against: Fascism In The United States
Last week, I wrote about what is needed in this moment and urged people to look more deeply, beyond the Biden-Trump spectacle, to understand where we are as a country and what we must do to change course. I cited the work of Gabriel Rockhill. Read his three recent articles in Counterpunch and the fourth in the series here at Black Agenda Report for an enhanced understanding of how we got here and what we are up against.
This week, I delve more deeply into the question of where we are and what Rockhill means when he writes that "...liberalism and fascism...
Our Fight For Quitobaquito
Border wall construction is destroying the Sonoran Desert’s most sacred spring.
Growing up as a Tohono O’odham woman on my ancestral homelands taught me one thing above all: Take care of the land and the land will take care of you.
When the federal government ramped up border-wall construction in Arizona, I knew I had to fight for my homelands, which are split in half by the U.S-Mexico border. I knew that meant activating my community, facing construction workers and opposing the U.S. Border Patrol and its long history of brutalizing O’odham tribal members.
The Magical Thinking Of Reformism
Reform is best understood as a logic rather than an outcome: an approach to institutional change that sustains existing social, economic, political, and/or legal systems, including but not limited to policing, two-party electoral politics, heteronormativity, criminal justice, and corporate destruction of the natural world.
To reform a system is to adjust isolated aspects of its operation in order to protect that system from total collapse, whether by internal or external forces. Such adjustments usually rest on the fundamental assumption that these systems must remain intact...
Colombia: National Strike Joins The Minga As Mobilization Grows
Colombia woke up on Wednesday with a new national strike in the country's main cities, amidst the coronavirus crisis and the increase in the numbers of massacres and murders of social leaders and former members of the then Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army (FARC-EP).
The president of the Central Workers Union (CUT), Diógenes Orjuela, explained that the strike would clarify the position of absolute rejection of the massacres and murders that have occurred in the country in recent months, as well as the repression exercised by the police.
Solidarity With Colombia’s Indigenous Minga And National Strike!
Minga is an indigenous concept that means working to build together, doing things in community for the wellbeing of all. The leaders of the Minga are also calling on President Iván Duque to meet with them face to face to discuss these demands. On Wednesday, October 21st, labor organizations and Colombian popular movements will engage in a national strike that will link together with the Minga.
The Alliance for Global Justice will continue monitoring the situation. We are especially concerned for the safety of those participating in this movement.
Health Justice And Black Liberation: Dána-Ain Davis
It is not only that state violence is a public health issue, but what I want people to understand is that state violence bleeds into particular public health issues—specifically, reproductive health issues. It is parastatal violence as well, by which I mean those practices and institutions that work in parallel and intersecting ways with the state. Think about this: some of the research I did for my book Reproductive Injustice shows both subtle and blatant examples of state and...
On Contact: Resistance And Militancy
On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to former Baltimore Black Panther leader Eddie Conway about the nature of resistance, white supremacy and the rise of the a new black militancy.
The book, The Brother You Choose, is a conversation between Eddie Conway and Paul Coates. Conway reflects on state repression and the hard road of resistance in a state that stops at nothing to crush resistance movements.
Morales Warns About US Meddling In Upcoming Elections
The former head of state made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Iran’s Hispan TV Spanish-language television network on Tuesday.
Morales was seeking to nationalize the extraction of Bolivia’s lithium reserves when he was forced to resign last November under pressure from the military and following the opposition’s challenging the victory that he had secured in presidential elections a month earlier.
The former president, who both himself and his Movement for Socialism (MAS) still wield influence in Bolivia’s politics, sought exile in Mexico back then and is currently residing in Argentina, closely monitoring the domestic developments.
Dangerous Use Of Crowd-Control Weapons Against Protestors And Medics
Portland, OR - Regardless of where we are, we are living in a reign of violence in which “we can’t breathe.” We are witnessing a global downward trend in terms of respect for fundamental human rights, freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. In most parts of the world, the human rights environment is radically transforming in a way that brings into question the basic concept of human rights: holding, possessing, claiming, and asserting rights legally as a human being. This deterioration in the human rights environment has accelerated over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health Justice And Black Liberation: Ugo Edu
I remember always wanting to be a doctor—perhaps because my parents are Nigerian—and having a genuine concern with people’s health. I soon became disillusioned with treatment and the competition that entailed pre-med education as an undergrad at UCLA. Nonetheless, I decided public health better suited my interest and desire to develop preventive interventions. Public health left out too many factors to be the only means by which I felt I could contribute to health—I decided to study medical anthropology, simultaneously exploring other disciplinary offerings. My current work draws on all these aspects of my academic trajectory.
Colombia: ‘The Number One Demand On The Streets Is For Justice’
On Wednesday, September 9, a video went viral in Colombia. It depicted a man repeatedly being beaten and tased by the police while he kept pleading “please, no more”. In a few hours, the man, Javier Ordóñez, would be dead and thousands would be on the streets of Bogotá and across the country demanding justice for him.
Ordóñez, a lawyer and father of two, had stepped out with his friends when he was accosted by a group of police officers. As Ordóñez was being tortured, his friends begged the officers to lay off even while capturing their cruelty.