All,
These are some things we ABSOLUTELY know for sure thus far:
1) Officer Darren Wilson is a LIAR, a RACIST and A MURDERER
2) District Attorney Robert McCullough is a LIAR a RACIST, and a CRIMINAL who has officially aided and abetted the MURDER of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson
3) President Obama is a straightup COWARD when he persists in simply condemning the violence of some in response to this criminal verdict of no indictment of Darren Wilson and NEVER ONCE condemns the relentless, sustained, and ongoing violence of white police officers and various racist vigilantes in the vile murders of black citizens not only in Ferguson but throughout the country or the institutional support of the heinous criminal (in)justice system generally in its pathologically white supremacist “handling” of these crimes against African American citizens and especially black youth
4) NOTHING WILL BE DONE UNTIL WE IN THE MILLIONS NATIONWIDE ORGANIZE AND DEMAND THAT SOMETHING BE DONE BY THE PRESIDENT, CONGRESS, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, AND LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. IT’S CALLED A SUSTAINED NATIONAL MASS MOVEMENT ON A MASSIVE SCALE AND IT’S THE ONLY SOLUTION IN BOTH THE SHORT AND LONG TERM…
Kofi
These are some things we ABSOLUTELY know for sure thus far:
1) Officer Darren Wilson is a LIAR, a RACIST and A MURDERER
2) District Attorney Robert McCullough is a LIAR a RACIST, and a CRIMINAL who has officially aided and abetted the MURDER of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson
3) President Obama is a straightup COWARD when he persists in simply condemning the violence of some in response to this criminal verdict of no indictment of Darren Wilson and NEVER ONCE condemns the relentless, sustained, and ongoing violence of white police officers and various racist vigilantes in the vile murders of black citizens not only in Ferguson but throughout the country or the institutional support of the heinous criminal (in)justice system generally in its pathologically white supremacist “handling” of these crimes against African American citizens and especially black youth
4) NOTHING WILL BE DONE UNTIL WE IN THE MILLIONS NATIONWIDE ORGANIZE AND DEMAND THAT SOMETHING BE DONE BY THE PRESIDENT, CONGRESS, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, AND LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. IT’S CALLED A SUSTAINED NATIONAL MASS MOVEMENT ON A MASSIVE SCALE AND IT’S THE ONLY SOLUTION IN BOTH THE SHORT AND LONG TERM…
Kofi
Being Black: The Real Indictment in Ferguson and the USA
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
By William C. Anderson,
Truthout News Analysis
A VERY IMPORTANT STATEMENT BY WILLIAM C. ANDERSON FROM HIS ARTICLE BELOW:
Being Black: The Real Indictment in Ferguson and the USA
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Truthout News Analysis
"The police are not going to be "fixed" - and hiring Black police officers is a naive solution. We live in a time where we have a Black president, a Black attorney general and a Black head of homeland security. Their Blackness doesn't win them respect for their dedication to the standards of the status quo, nor does it serve Black people as a means of liberation. We are still caught in the confines of permanent exile in the only place we have known as home. Discussions of historical Black struggles are presented as if the war is over. We discuss segregation and discrimination as if they are things of the past, while the present mocks us.
The police state in its current form is a protectorate of White supremacy. Black people are increasingly feeling that calling the police is never a good idea. However, this is not a new sentiment; it's a very old one. What does it mean to us as a nation that Black people do not feel comfortable using an emergency service? At our most vulnerable and scary times, we are silenced by the fact that those who are supposed to shield us see us as targets. How is Jim Crow a thing of the past, when, still, we can never be truly safe?"
Now that the grand jury has returned with their decision on the extrajudicial killing of Michael Brown, we should be reminded that even though Darren Wilson was not indicted, Blackness was certainly indicted by the grand jury.
Darren Wilson is free and the police continue to be empowered to kill with impunity. Blackness was found guilty yet again, as witnessed by the many Black slain and their stories. The color some of us carry around can exact a death sentence at a moment's notice. Ever since the formation of the world's greatest empire, Black people have been the eternal scapegoat for all that's been wrong. Our blood waters the roots of war.
There is nothing that can be expressed but grief, anger and frustration at the depraved patterns of this consistently immoral farce that calls itself the "criminal justice system." Kill the Black body and then blame the corpse. This happens repeatedly. Anything is a good excuse to kill a Black person. In Michael Brown's case, stolen cigarillos were worth his death. In 12-year-old Tamir Rice's death this week, it was his unmarked toy gun. And recently, Tanesha Anderson's mental illness made her death worth a violent killing in front of her own family. No matter what, the dead Black body is at fault.
The United States was born out of an incident where a Black man was victim blamed for his murder. It was the Black blood and "mad behavior" of Crispus Attucks that led founding father John Adams to defend the beguiled crown when Attucks was the first American shot down leading up to our nation's birthing revolution. What was his defense of the British patrols overzealous policing? Adams uttered words that would cement our ever-present pattern, stating it was the fault of Attucks "whose very looks was enough to terrify any person." Two hundred and forty-four years after the moment that sparked the fight for independence, we are still dealing with this type of thinking.
It was enslaved Africans that led to the declarations of immediate causes for Southern secession and a civil war. It's the loss of Black labor that requires we remember the Alamo. Yet and still, it is Black blood that stirs the movements of the internal war we are facing at this very moment. Black people do not cause the conflict; we are the conflict. We ignite the grips of fear with our very presence and strike first at oppression, even with our backs turned. Our freedom, in life and death, pulls at the reins steering us into predestined Black guilt, assumed criminality. The determination to be seen as human is a never-ending struggle.
There is something hauntingly ironic in all of this. A grand jury whose term was set to expire on September 10, 2014, made the decision about Darren Wilson. A grand jury that is 75 percent White and made up of 12 people "selected at random from a fair cross-section of the citizens." It seems insulting when about two-thirds of Ferguson's residents are Black. Alas, this is our system. An imposed state of emergency was declared based on the fear of protesters' reactions to the grand jury decision. This means the National Guard was activated and police forces were operating under high alert as a precaution in preparation. The Department of Justice has expressed frustrations that this move by the governor escalated the situation unnecessarily. If anything, the only emergency is Blackness itself. The directive issued by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon is also set to eventually expire. It should be clear, though, that White supremacy does not expire. That being said, we should be having conversations about how we address the new manifestations that will inevitably arise.
The police are not going to be "fixed" - and hiring Black police officers is a naive solution. We live in a time where we have a Black president, a Black attorney general and a Black head of homeland security. Their Blackness doesn't win them respect for their dedication to the standards of the status quo, nor does it serve Black people as a means of liberation. We are still caught in the confines of permanent exile in the only place we have known as home. Discussions of historical Black struggles are presented as if the war is over. We discuss segregation and discrimination as if they are things of the past, while the present mocks us.
The police state in its current form is a protectorate of White supremacy. Black people are increasingly feeling that calling the police is never a good idea. However, this is not a new sentiment; it's a very old one. What does it mean to us as a nation that Black people do not feel comfortable using an emergency service? At our most vulnerable and scary times, we are silenced by the fact that those who are supposed to shield us see us as targets. How is Jim Crow a thing of the past, when, still, we can never be truly safe?
Mariame Kaba recently reminded us that though the indictment of Darren Wilson was symbolically important, it would not dismantle the system. She goes on to offer her personal examples to fight oppressive policing, writing:
I vocally and actively oppose any calls for increased police presence as a response to harm in my community and in my city. At budget time, I pay attention to how much money is allocated to law enforcement. I press my local elected officials to oppose any increases in that amount and to instead advocate for a DECREASE in the police department's budget. I support campaigns for reparations to police torture [and] violence victims. I support elected civilian police accountability councils and boards (knowing full well that they are [Band-Aids]). I believe that we need grassroots organizations in every town [and] city that document and publicize the cases of people who have suffered from police violence. These organizations should use all levers of power to seek redress for those victims and their families.
This is a bare minimum when the police are still active in hate groups as we saw in Florida earlier this year. (If Anonymous' operation to expose the KKK reveals anything, I doubt Black America will gasp.) White supremacists are attracted to the police force and military. Those who have felt the brunt of their terror have always been aware of this. And in the Black community, police terror has always conveyed the structural oppression of White supremacy, a force that outweighs the narrative of one "bad cop." We live the realization that "you cannot indict White supremacy" - and embody the stress that comes with that.
Black people around the country have watched as Ferguson is flooded with our emotions and frustrations, with our family and friends protesting. We have heard the lies of figureheads and politicians, lies that echo the message of the nonexistent use-of-force report on Michael Brown's death.
Even as we awaited this indictment decision, Darren Wilson was rumored to be negotiating about resigning from the force.
Ferguson is the reminder that we will never be satisfied and many are still prepared to fight. The heart of Blackness is in this debacle, and in this spirit of resistance.
Ferguson is not about how Black people feel about Darren Wilson; it's about how this country feels about Black people. And until this country understands what Black people are protesting regarding our dead, things will only grow worse. If the demand for our humanity continues to be unresolved, I don't see why things should ever "quiet down."
The burden of restoring silence and peace over the sounds of injustice this country screams in our ears is not on us. Over time, whether Black people have protested with their hands up or with their fists, the message is clear: We know you're scared of us but we're not going to live scared of you.
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
William C. Anderson
William C. Anderson is a freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter @williamcander.
Related Stories:
Ferguson and Resistance Against the Black Holocaust
By Chris Crass, SpeakOut | Op-Ed
Ferguson Is All of Us
By Dr James J Zogby, Arab American Institute | Op-Ed
Ferguson Fridays: White Antiracism, Social Media and the Problem of Self-Serving Allying
By Heather Laine Talley, The Feminist Wire | Op-Ed
Ferguson October: Activists Call for Nationwide Convergence to Demand Justice for Michael Brown
By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video Interview
Ferguson October: Thousands March in St. Louis for Police Reform and Arrest of Officer Darren Wilson
By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video Report
http://www.thenation.com/blog/191393/no-indictment-darren-wilson-no-justice-black-lives?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=email_nationutm_campaign%3DEMAIL+NATION+TUESDAY+11-25+Email+Nation+%28NEW%29+-+Most+Recent+Content+Feed+20141125&newsletter=email_nation
It has now been announced that Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted on criminal charges for the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. But the writing has been on the wall as well, and on the bodies of protesters who have demanded justice. No one I talked to while in Ferguson believed there would be an indictment. No one I spoke to could bring themselves to trust that the system that killed Michael Brown would care about his life now. All that I spoke to were prepared to continue this fight.
Because even if Wilson had been indicted, true justice would not have come to Ferguson, St. Louis, Missouri or America. It would have meant one cop being tried for the death of one black boy in one town. Wilson’s indictment would not have prevented the deaths of Kajeime Powell, Vonderrit Myers, Tanesha Anderson, Tamir Rice or Akai Gurley. Only a lasting justice that values black life is capable of that.
But what is justice in a nation built on white supremacy and the destruction of black bodies? That’s the question we have yet to answer. It’s the question that shakes us up and makes our insides uncomfortable. It’s the question that causes great unrest.
There is fear in that word, “unrest.” It’s become synonymous with violence. But it is unrest that put Michael Brown’s name into our consciousness, and it is unrest that his kept his memory alive. Unrest is the key to justice.
Protesters in Ferguson should not be calm, as they have been admonished by everyone from the president on down. Michael Brown doesn’t need calm. Black boys and girls who grow up in America need their lives to be respected. They need justice.
Read Next: Chase Madar on “Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop.”
No Indictment for Darren Wilson, No Justice for Black Lives
by Mychal Denzel Smith
November 24, 2014
The Nation
by Mychal Denzel Smith
November 24, 2014
The Nation
Ferguson, Missouri, November 24, 2014 (Reuters/Adrees Latif)
It has now been announced that Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted on criminal charges for the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. But the writing has been on the wall as well, and on the bodies of protesters who have demanded justice. No one I talked to while in Ferguson believed there would be an indictment. No one I spoke to could bring themselves to trust that the system that killed Michael Brown would care about his life now. All that I spoke to were prepared to continue this fight.
Because even if Wilson had been indicted, true justice would not have come to Ferguson, St. Louis, Missouri or America. It would have meant one cop being tried for the death of one black boy in one town. Wilson’s indictment would not have prevented the deaths of Kajeime Powell, Vonderrit Myers, Tanesha Anderson, Tamir Rice or Akai Gurley. Only a lasting justice that values black life is capable of that.
But what is justice in a nation built on white supremacy and the destruction of black bodies? That’s the question we have yet to answer. It’s the question that shakes us up and makes our insides uncomfortable. It’s the question that causes great unrest.
There is fear in that word, “unrest.” It’s become synonymous with violence. But it is unrest that put Michael Brown’s name into our consciousness, and it is unrest that his kept his memory alive. Unrest is the key to justice.
Protesters in Ferguson should not be calm, as they have been admonished by everyone from the president on down. Michael Brown doesn’t need calm. Black boys and girls who grow up in America need their lives to be respected. They need justice.
Read Next: Chase Madar on “Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop.”
http://www.thenation.com/blog/191553/assault-young-black-life-extends-beyond-ferguson
The Assault on Young Black Life Extends Beyond Ferguson
by Dani McClain
November 25, 2014
The Nation
A makeshift memorial for Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, August 19, 2014 (Reuters/Joshua Lott)
Soon after police officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown in
Ferguson, I wrote that the killing of black youth is a reproductive
justice issue that should be taken up by progressives with the same
intensity with which they advocate for access to abortion and
contraception. Today, as news of the grand jury’s decision not to indict
Wilson settles in and as advocacy groups turn their attention to the
ongoing Justice Department investigation, I am thinking again of
reproductive justice advocates’ insistence that women have “the right to
have children, not have children, and to parent the children we have in
safe and healthy environments,” as explained by the organization
SisterSong. I am also wondering whether this framework for organizing
should be broadened to include the right of black children to be
understood as children and treated as such.
Granted, Michael
Brown was 18 years old when he was killed, an adult by the legal
standard. But the language Wilson used in his testimony to the grand
jury indicates that he understood the importance of making sure Brown
was not remembered as a teenager, as someone barely past that porous
line that separates childhood from the class of people we consider fully
developed:
And when I grabbed him, the only way I can describe
it is I felt like a five-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan… Hulk Hogan,
that’s just how big he felt and how small I felt just from grasping his
arm.… The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that’s how
angry he looked. He comes back towards me again with his hands up.… At
this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the
shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him. And then
when it [the bullet] went into him, the demeanor on his face went blank,
the aggression was gone, it was gone, I mean I knew he stopped, the
threat was stopped.
By Wilson’s account, the 28-year-old
officer of the law, holding the gun, was the child, and Brown, the
unarmed 18-year-old, was somewhere between the devil and a professional
wrestler. Making sense of Wilson’s words depends on our understanding
that black life is often considered to be simultaneously subhuman and
superhuman, impervious to pain and so requiring a level of force beyond
what it would take to subdue a non-black person acting in a threatening
manner.
When applied to young people, the impact of this
potentially deadly delusion is especially difficult to stomach. Research
has shown that black children cannot expect the same presumption of
innocence that other youth can and so are often treated as adults,
particularly in the criminal justice system. After 12-year-old Tamir
Rice, a black child, was killed last week by police after brandishing a
toy gun in a Cleveland park, a family friend asked police a legitimate
question: “Why not taze him? You shot him twice, not once, and at the
end of the day you all don’t shoot for the legs, you shoot for the upper
body.” The police union representative’s response was telling, if
unsurprising: “We’re not trained to shoot people in the leg. If we pull
that trigger, we feel our lives are in danger.”
Which raises
some questions. What does it take for an officer in such a situation to
feel endangered, to feel threatened, to feel outside his comfort zone?
How does that change depending on the race of the person in front of
him? Well-meaning educators, intent on training students how to be
respectable and nonthreatening, are also complicit in this preoccupation
with telling black youth that their childish behaviors and natural
inclinations are inherently wrong and deserving of harsh punishment. A
recent Atlantic article about school discipline explains how this looks
in a New Orleans school with a predominately black student body.
From the moment Summer Duskin arrived at Carver Collegiate Academy in
New Orleans last fall, she struggled to keep track of all the rules.
There were rules governing how she talked. She had to say thank you
constantly, including when she was given the “opportunity”—as the school
handbook put it—to answer questions in class. And she had to
communicate using “scholar talk,” which the school defined as complete,
grammatical sentences with conventional vocabulary.… There were rules
governing how Summer moved. Teachers issued demerits when students
leaned against a wall, or placed their heads on their desks. (The
penalty for falling asleep was 10 demerits, which triggered a detention;
skipping detention could warrant a suspension.) Teachers praised
students for shaking hands firmly, sitting up straight, and “tracking”
the designated speaker with their eyes.… The rules did not ease up
between classes: students had to walk single file between the wall and a
line marked with orange tape.
In a letter demanding change,
Duskin and sixty of her classmates wrote of the endless requirements
narrowing the range of their behavior, “The teachers and administrators
tell us this is because they are preparing us for college. If college is
going to be like Carver, we don’t want to go to college.” I would take
their brave declaration one step further to ask: Where do we want black
young people to go? Based on some institutions’ actions—from police
departments to prosecutors’ offices to schools, where black students are
three times more likely than their white peers to be suspended or
expelled—it’s easy to draw the conclusion that we don’t want them on the
streets, we don’t want them in public parks and we don’t want them in
classrooms unless and until they learn how to act like perfect
middle-class white adults.
Parents of black children continue
to question a culture that tells them to clip their children’s wings
before they have nerve enough to think they can spread them. Teaching
black children that they need not be fearful, docile or mature beyond
their years is a revolutionary and potentially dangerous act, but it
shouldn’t be. Perhaps disappointment over events in Ferguson will help
grow a movement advocating that black kids should be allowed to be kids,
with the many messes and mistakes that entails.
Read Next: No indictment for Darren Wilson, no justice for black lives
