This rush to judgment occurs in the educational system as well, mainly because of the enforcement of zero-tolerance disciplinary policies that have long targeted black, Native American and Latino students.
Yesterday, we helped the folks on 125th organize an incredible rally and press conference, complete with poems and songs and street theater. Here is a full round-up of press coverage!
By Tracey Kaplan, San Joe Mercury News 08/11/2015 Gov. Jerry [...]
After the hate-fueled killing of nine black churchgoers and a week of debate about the Confederate flag’s presence at the South Carolina statehouse grounds, this 30-year-old woman took matters into her own hands. She woke up before dawn, strapped on climbing equipment and scaled a 30-foot flagpole. By the time the flag was in her hands, she knew she would be arrested.
by Dante Barry, Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, in The Nation, May 6, 2015: Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake has lifted the citywide curfew, and the National Guard plans to implement a drawdown. Now is the time for Mayor Rawlings Blake to put an end to Baltimore police militarization.
#BlackLivesMatter has infiltrated America’s modern vocabulary. It’s the rallying cry for a movement that began getting a lot of national attention after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. But #BlackLivesMatter began before Ferguson.
However, the visibility, or lack thereof, of black women in the protest narrative has also been problematic; early in the week, religious leaders explicitly called for men to march in front of women, for the purpose of protection, which the women in the crowd largely ignored in favor of a more egalitarian marching formation.
“The Department of Justice is committed to using innovative strategies to enhance procedural justice, reduce bias and support reconciliation in communities where trust has been eroded,” said Attorney General Holder.
As those who stand with the victims of police violence, we know all too well the deep sense of loss that a community feels when they lose a loved one...Unfortunately, we continue to see elected officials and police leadership twist this tragedy into an opportunity for them to silence the cries for justice from families who have lost their loved ones to police violence. Our families matter, too.
Attempts to link today’s tragic events with a movement that holds justice, dignity and respect for all as its core values are cheap political punditry, and dangerous in their divisiveness.
