Justice

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‘This is a Nightmare and I Have Not Woken Up’

(L-R) Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin; Samaira Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice; and Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown Jr; join the ‘Justice For All’ march and rally in the nation’s capital on December 13, 2014.

 

by Akiba Solomon

 

More than six months after a troubled rookie officer, Timothy Loehmann, fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a Clevland park, the Cuyahoga sherriff’s department has finally completed its investigation and handed its results to Cleveland-area prosecutor Timothy McGinty. There is no official word on what they’ve uncovered about November 22, 2014 when police found Rice playing with a pellet gun by himself at Cudell Recreation Center park and shot him wthin two seconds of their arrival. (One local news outlet has reported that the department found no evidence to support criminal charges against Loehmann; a call to the department was not returned in time for publication.)

What we do know, all too well, is that the name “Tamir Rice” sits on a long, horrifying list of young people of color killed by police and extrajudicial violence. Tamir is now among the Trayvons and the Rekias, the Jessies and the Michaels. It’s a devastating distinction.

I talked to Tamir’s mom, Samaria Rice, in late May as she was planning a community celebration for her youngest son’s birthday. She opened up about who Tamir was, what she thinks of protests in his name, and what she and her other children—Tajai, Kavon and Tasheona—are doing to heal from this unimaginable loss.

 

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Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.colorlines.com

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33 Senators Join Chorus of Voices Condemning Obama’s Family Detention Policies

One third of the Senate has had enough of the Obama administration’s abusive imprisonment of vulnerable mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Monday, they wrote:

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.aclu.org

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Muslim chaplain claims discrimination on United flight

(CNN) A simple request for an unopened can of Diet Coke on a United Airlines flight left Tahera Ahmad in tears.

A Muslim chaplain and director of interfaith engagement at Northwestern University, Ahmad, 31, was traveling Friday from Chicago to Washington for a conference promoting dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian youth. She was wearing a headscarf, or hijab.

For hygienic reasons, she asked for an unopened can of soda, she said. The flight attendant told her that she could not give her one but then handed an unopened can of beer to a man seated nearby. Ahmad questioned the flight attendant.

“We are unauthorized to give unopened cans to people because they may use it as a weapon on the plane,” she recalled the flight attendant telling her.

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Source: www.cnn.com

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Coward Racists And Bikers Gather For Anti-Islam Stunt Outside Phoenix Mosque

Dozens of people have gathered for a provocative rally in front of the Islamic Community Center in Phoenix, Arizona, staged during Friday prayers. Anti-Islam event organizers encouraged participant…

Source: theobamacrat.com

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The Real “Looting”: From Enslavement to Policing and Beyond

Recent US protests are part of a growing movement against systemic racism, including the looting of Black wealth and violence against Black people.

Source: www.truth-out.org

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Black Spring


The Black Spring (2014- ) is the name some give to the current protests in the US by Blacks and others, especially those against police brutality.


It gets its name from how it is oddly like the Arab Spring of 2011 in

Egypt and elsewhere:

  1. Lack of human rights.
  2. High rates of poverty and unemployment that the government is doing little about.
  3. Use of Twitter and street protests.
  4. The government answering legitimate demands with a police crackdown. Go back to Step #1.


There is a difference, though: in the US the protesters in Egypt were seen asheroes, while protesters in the US are ignored or called “thugs”, even by a Black president.


I date the beginning of the Black Spring to Ferguson in 2014. There were protests before that, like for Rekia Boyd and Kimani Gray, and huge ones for Trayvon Martin.

 

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Source: abagond.wordpress.com

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VIDEO: The Difference Between a Black Man and a White Man Open Carrying An AR-15 Legally

Two men carrying the same rifle down the street receive two entirely different reactions from police.

Source: thefreethoughtproject.com

 

I was scared-to-death just watching this video.

 

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The MOVE bombing


The MOVE bombing (May 13th 1985) was where Philadelphia police in the US bombed the house of MOVE, a Black back-to-nature movement. Eleven people were killed. Five were children, ages 5 to 13. The police called the children “combatants”. The fire department stood right there and did nothing for an hour as the fire spread, destroying 61 houses in the mostly Black, West Philly neighbourhood.

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Source: abagond.wordpress.com

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San Francisco arrests under review after officers’ slur-filled texts revealed

At least 3,000 arrests are under review in San Francisco in a bias scandal about how police officers allegedly wrote racist and homophobic text messages.

Source: www.cnn.com

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Criminal justice student tased at border checkpoint after refusing trunk search, resisting order to move [VIDEO]

By Jimmy Lawton
WADDINGTON — An Ogdensburg woman and Lisbon Central School graduate studying criminal justice at SUNY Canton was tackled and Tased by border agents following a confrontation at a Waddington immigration checkpoint that was captured on video.

Jess Cooke, 21, said she was pulled in for a secondary inspection after agents said she appeared nervous at the checkpoint. Cooke said she refused a search of her trunk and was asked to wait for a K-9 Unit to arrive.

A conversation with officers escalated and she was tackled and Tased after she resisted an agent who had grabbed her after she refused to comply with a request for her move.

“I was cuffed for over an hour after being out in the Border Patrol car and then brought to the U.S. Customs station in Ogdensburg. I sat there for a good 3-4 hours and got sent home due to they couldn’t figure out what charges to put on me,” Cooke said in a written response.

Cooke said she received scrapes and cuts on her legs, back and chest. She said her wrists are also marked from the handcuffs.

Cooke said her car was searched and found to be clean, but she is awaiting potential charges regarding the struggle.

Cooke said she has a two-year degree in criminal justice will graduate Saturday from SUNY Canton for law enforcement leadership with a four-year degree.

Cooke said she had hoped to pursue a career in the Border Patrol, but the incident has changed her mind.

 

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Source: soboco.org