Category: politics

reframing (reclaiming) the narrative by lifting the voices of those who actually attended the protest. beautiful!

Participants provide first-person accounts of last weekend’s BLM protest, highlighting moments of heroism, solidarity, and collective rage. Listen here.

‘Two years ago, 18-year-old Farzan Sheikh was struck in the face – on two separate occasions – by lead pellets fired by Indian government forces in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. He lost all vision in his right eye, and 75 percent of the vision in his left eye. Since then, he has been unable to partake in the activities nearest to his heart, watching from the sidelines as other young people play the games he loves. Since 2016, thousands of young Kashmiris have been injured by pellets. In addition to physical injuries, many find themselves struggling with psychological issues.’ More here.

From Matthieu Aikins: A lot of people have noticed the shocking amount of military equipment, some of it literally recycled from war zones, being used against protestors. There’s a long history connecting wars overseas and repression at home. The Pentagon has donated or sold military equipment to domestic police forces since 1997, but the amount skyrocketed in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More here.

i don’t want to call what’s happening ‘race riots’ or even ‘protests,’ it’s an uprising. here are some of its (ongoing) accomplishments.

Fahd Ahmed:
Uprisings accelerate the pre-existing slow meticulous organizing and struggles, & break ground for future organizing and struggles

A RUNNING CROWDSOURCED LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY 2020 UPRISING SINCE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD (5/25):

5/26 – 4 officers fired for murdering George Floyd – Minneapolis, MN
5/28 – Univ of Minn cancels contract with police – Minneapolis, MN
5/28 – 3rd Precinct Police station neutralized by protestors – Minneapolis, MN
5/28 – ATU Local 1005 refuses to bring police officers to the protests, or transport arrested protesters, Minneapolis, MN
5/29 – Activists commandeer hotel to provide shelter to homeless – Minneapolis, MN
5/29 – Officer Chauvin who killed George Floyd arrested – Minneapolis, MN
5/29 – Louisville Mayor suspends “no-knock” warrants in response to police’s 3/12 #BreonnaTaylor killing and subsequent protests – Louisville, KY
5/30 – US Embassies across Africa condemn police murder of George Floyd – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo
5/30 – MN AG Ellison takes over prosecution of the murdering officer (and possibly the other officers) – Minneapolis, MN
5/30 – TWU Local 100 Bus Operators refuses to transport arrested protestors – NYC, NY
5/31 – 2 abusive officers fired for pulling a couple out of car and tasing them – Atlanta, GA
6/1 – Minneapolis public schools end contract with police – Minneapolis, MN
6/1 – Confederate Monument removed – Birmingham, AL
6/1 – CA Prosecutors launch campaign to stop DA’s from accepting police union money – CA
6/1 – Tulsa Mayor Bynum agrees to not renew Live PD contract – Tulsa, OK
6/1 – Louisville police chief fired after shooting of #DavidMcatee at BBQ joint – Louisville, KY
6/1 – Confederate statue ordered to be removed – Bentonville, AR
6/1 – Dems and Reps begin push to shut down a Pentagon program that transfers military weaponry to local law enforcement departments – Nationwide
6/2 – Minnesota AFL-CIO calls for the resignation of Bob Kroll, the president of the Minneapolis police union – Minneapolis, MN
6/2 – ATU Local 85 announces refusal to transport police officers or arrested protesters – Pittsburgh, PA
6/2 – Racist Ex-Mayor Rizzo statue removed – Philadelphia, PA
6/2 – 6 abusive officers charged for violence against residents and protestors – Atlanta, GA
6/2 – Confederate soldier statue removed – Alexandria, VA
6/2 – Robert Lee statue removed – Fort Myers, FL
6/2 – Civil Rights investigation of Minneapolis Police Dept launched – Minneapolis, MN
6/2 – Resolution to prevent law enforcement from hiring officers with history of misconduct announced by San Fran DA Boudin and Supervisor Walton – San Francisco, CA
6/2 – Survey indicating 64% of polled sympathetic to protests, and 47% disapprove of police handling + 54% think burning down of precinct fully or partially justified
6/2 – NJ AG announces policing reforms
6/2 – Minneapolis City Council members publicly call for disbanding the police and replace with community-oriented, nonviolent public safety and outreach capacity – Minneapolis, MN
6/3 – 1 officer fired for tweets promoting violence against protestors – Denver, CO
6/3 – Minneapolis Institute of Art, First Avenue, Walker Art Center end use of MPD for events – Minneapolis, MN
6/3 – Officer Chauvin charges upgraded to 2nd Murder, and remaining 3 officers also charged and taken into custody – Minneapolis, MN
6/3 – VA Governor announces removal of Robert E Lee statue – Richmond, VA
6/3 – Richmond VA Mayor Stoney announces RPD reform measures: establish “Marcus” alert for folks experiencing mental health crises, establish independent Citizen Review Board, an ordinance to remove Confederate monuments, and implement racial equity study
6/3 – County commissioners deny proposal for $23 million expansion of Fulton County jail – Atlanta, GA
6/3 – Minneapolis Parks and Recreation cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Dept – Minneapolis, MN
6/3 – US Army tells soldiers to disobey any orders to attack peaceful protestors – Nationwide
6/3 – LA Announces $100-150 million cut from LAPD budget, Reinvested into communities, moratorium on gang database, sharper discipline against abusive cops, in effect immediately – Los Angeles, CA
6/3 – Seattle changes mind and withdraws request to end federal oversight/consent decree of police department – Seattle, WA
6/4 – #BreonnaTaylor case reopened? – Louisville, KY
6/4 – Portland schools superintendent ‘discontinues’ presence of armed police officers in schools – Portland, OR
6/4 – MBTA (Metro Boston) board orders that buses won’t transport police to protests, or protesters to police – Boston, MA
6/4 – King County Labor Federation issue ultimatum to police unions, to admit to and address racism in Seattle PD, or be removed – Seattle, WA
6/4 – Mural of racist ex-Mayor Frank Rizzo to be removed, replaced with new artwork – Philadelphia, PA
6/5 – City of Minneapolis bans all chokeholds by police – Minneapolis, MN
6/5 – Racist ex-Mayor Hubbard statue removed – Dearborn MI
6/5 – NFL condemns racism and admits it should have listened to players protests – National
6/5 – California Gov. Newsom calls for statewide use-of-force standard, crafted with community leaders, and ban carotid hold – California
6/5 – 2 Buffalo police officers suspended within a day of pushing 75 year old protestor to ground causing blood to pour out (and lying about it) – Buffalo, NY
Ongoing – ##? of police vehicles neutralized
Ongoing – ########? people politicized
Ongoing – ########? relationships of solidarity and mutual support formed

TRENDS:

• #DefundPolice has for first time become a national and a mainstream conversation, with several leadership in cities pushing it forward
• #AbolishPolice has for first time become a mainstream conversation, with Minneapolis considering to disband MPD and re-imagine and rebuild an alternative
• Elected officials are for first time publicly admitting that police departments and unions routinely sabotage police reform efforts
• Protests against police and for #BLM have for first time emerged in rural, suburban, and small towns in the country
• Accountability of abusive officers is growing in the form of immediate actions (suspensions, arrests, charges), but also more drastic changes being considered for oversight and discipline systems
  (Please suggest any addition updates – in above format and with links if possible)

#UprisingsAreLabor #MassesMakeHistory #DefundPolice

From Deepa Kumar:
Looting=corporations pocketing billions in federal aid while the average person gets $1200

Rioting=police marching down residential streets throwing paint bombs at residents, unleashing violence of all sorts from snatching masks and driving SUVs into crowds.

Violence=a system that can in 24 hours equip the police to behave like an invading army, but cannot after nearly 5 months give nurses and doctors proper PPE.

Just so we are clear what these terms mean.

Hanif Abdurraqib: Beyond the misattributed quotes and bad memes and poor logic made in his name, the real tragedy of King’s legacy is that the white people who so frequently invoke it in the name of peace do so with a fundamental perversion of his message. Nonviolence — as it is discussed and fetishized in proximity to the poor and/or marginalized — is so often only dragged out in response to any uprising of those people.

The riot is a language, yes, but the response to a riot is also its own language; a language of doublespeak. The call is for peace and love, but the true demand is for complete silence altogether. An NFL player takes a knee without speaking, and is threatened and hated, called a violent thug and a racist. For those of certain skin colors, no protest can be peaceful enough. More here.

thank you.

Elizabeth Hinton: Arguably, the success of King’s brand of nonviolent direct political action—so often valorized by pundits over and against “destructive” “rioting”—depended on the presence of this violent direct political action. As King recognized, the coercive power of mass nonviolence arose in part from its ability to suggest the possibility of violent resistance should demands not be met. Therefore, we should endeavor to see violent and nonviolent expressions of black protest as entwined forces that shaped the decade. In addition, and more challenging perhaps, we should attempt to understand violent rebellion on its own terms, as a form of direct political action that was just as integral to the decade.

It can be a struggle to imagine some of the most overpoliced, marginalized, and isolated Americans as political actors, and this bias has influenced the writing of history. Even those of us interested in forms of resistance to structural racism have been reluctant to take seriously the political nature of midcentury black uprisings. Yet they were neither spontaneous nor “meaningless” eruptions. Just as much as nonviolent direct action, rebellion presented a way for the oppressed and disenfranchised to express collective solidarity in the face of punitive state forces, exploitative institutions, and calcified “democratic” institutions. More here.

“A writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Jalil requesting relief based on his heightened vulnerability to contract the virus was filed on Monday, April 13. On April 27, Judge Schick in Sullivan County granted Jalil Muntaqim’s release. But New York Attorney General Letitia James appealed the judge’s decision, preventing Jalil’s release.” #freejalil
More here.