activism

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Lessons From Ferguson, Missouri: The People Deserve an Army

 

The little town just 20 miles north of St. Louis made national headlines a few days ago when protests turned to riots over the death of unarmed 18 year-old Black resident Michael Brown. Riots since then have only intensified and clashes with the police becoming more common. A no-fly zone has been established and something of a ‘media blackout’ has occurred as two reporters have been arrested and pictures show police firing tear gas at what seems to be other journalists trying to report on the situation.

Ferguson, Missouri is effectively under Martial Law. Images of heavily armed men aiming upon angry crowds light up social media as politicians (now including President Obama) craft their state-sponsored “opinions”.

 

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Source: anti-imperialism.com

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Who’s Illegal? – Jasiri X Ft Rhymefest

 

In response to repressive anti-Immigration legislation SB1070 and HB56, Jasiri X, Rhymefest, and Paradise Gray traveled to Arizona and Alabama courtesy of the Sound Strike to see first hand how these unjust laws break up families, fracture communities and destroy lives.

“Who’s Illegal?” asks the question, can a nation on stolen land, built by stolen people define another group of human beings as illegal? “Who’s Illegal?” was produced by GM3 and directed by Paradise Gray.

 

Source: www.youtube.com

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Don’t Forget About The Hood – Jasiri X

 

Directed by Emmai Alaquiva, “Don’t Forget About The Hood” illustrates how the issues of the poor and urban communities have been all but forgotten in this current election season, and wonders what happened to all of the energy and organizing that took place in the wake of the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin.

“Don’t Forget About the Hood” was produced in collaboration withhttp://hoodievote.org with Da Ricanstrukta providing the powerful soundtrack

LYRICS
See cause we broke they forget about the hood
So when you vote don’t forget about the hood
I ain’t telling folks don’t get up out the hood
just when you living good don’t forget about the hood

Let’s say we did it for the hood
Put on your fitted and you hood

I’m talking to the those you know that’s living in the hood
that ain’t getting what they should
we won’t forget the hood

We the lost and forgotten called rotten so we tossed to the bottom
Let em tell it we the source of the problem
They call us gangbangers and illegals
Cane slangers of da evil
Like we the main danger to the people
So our issues don’t get the same anger or treated equal
if you not one of them change raisers they don’t see you
So the hood every week is ignored
Before these politicians speak to the poor they reach for the door
now voter ID is the norm
Police brutality’s not reformed poverty’s even more
Tens of thousands of human beings they still deport
And they made it a felony if you come back and get caught
We need to stop cheering for sides like its a sport
Vote for your self and your own hood time is short
Cause doing nothing ain’t a option
Do something get it poppin
Real action over talking
The whole world is watching

So when you vote don’t forget about the hood
Get out and vote but don’t forget about the hood
I ain’t telling folks don’t get up out the hood
just when you living good don’t forget about the hood

Let’s say we did it for the hood
Put on your fitted and you hood

I’m talking to the those you know that’s living in the hood
that ain’t getting what they should
we won’t forget the hood

Do we remember Trayvon or is the pain gone
Do we remain strong or did we move way on
Remember when we all had pictures in our hoods
Did we forget about the hood
Zimmerman’s still free I don’t know about you but it kills me
This murderer could be found not guilty
Remember how we organized fortified for the ride
Polarized but mobilized I thought it was so divine
What happened to that energy we need it now more than ever
Many people kept working I will not ignore their effort
Give voice to the voiceless that’s why I record this message If you really for the hood for who or for what you reppin
That the million dollar question
Millionaires is who we follow but they hollow in they lessons
What’s the point of a weapon pointed in the wrong the direction
If your hood is what you reppin how strong is your connection
credits

 

Source: www.youtube.com

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Black In America: The Power of Rage

 

We have to learn about power and violence in a whole new perspective. I’m down for the revolution. I’ve been told it cannot happen without bloodshed, so I’m bracing myself for that inevitability. BUT I am really spending my time in preparation by learning and understanding the system that oppresses us: finding its weaknesses and how it maintains control.

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Often we have sat so idle for so long that our pain and anger has festered into disease that is sure to be toxic to any and everyone.

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We should let our anger push us to participate in our local governments which direct the local law enforcement. We should use our anger to make us treat voting day like a national holiday and plan months ahead to take the day off and/or make arrangements to cast our votes.


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Source: theangriestblackmaninamerica.wordpress.com

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“WHAT’S THAT MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE”: 346 Words on How to Fix Our Problems

 

So many of the problems in the United States today could so very easily be solved with a tiny bit of common sense and basic humanity. In the following list (below the image), I propose changes that should happen immediately (yes, utopian), changes that would actually be automatic if we were at all sincere about continuing our “great experiment with democracy.”

 

Source: andrewpegoda.com

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What White Children Need to Know About Race

 

Silence is a racial message and a “tool of whiteness.” In order to support the goals of their diversity mission statements and work toward a “racially just America,” schools need to take a more proactive approach to teaching white students about race and racial identity.
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Students must develop a sense of how systemic racism works on an individual, community, and institutional level.

 

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Source: www.nais.org

 

Many white people do not have an urgency about racial injustice.

 

Many white people live in segregated communities where they do not see racial injustice. Unless people tune into the right media channels, they are not going to have a feeling for the insidiousness of racial injustice.

 

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The Alarming Rise of Migrant Deaths on U.S. Soil—And What to Do About It

 

More migrants’ lives could be saved with a few inexpensive adjustments in water availability, rescue beacons, and search-and-rescue capability. A directive by the Department of Homeland Security for the Border Patrol to establish water drums, particularly alongside rescue beacons, would be an important step to avoid preventable deaths on U.S. soil. Increasing the number of rescue beacons, as well as providing additional funds to expand Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue Unit teams (BORSTAR), particularly in southwest border sectors with high numbers of migrant deaths, could also help to assist migrants in distress.

Many of the recovered remains of migrants, which now number in the thousands, are unidentified. Local officials in Brooks County, Texas, estimate that the costs of dealing with the unidentified dead, including mortician fees and autopsies, amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. No unified procedure exists to process remains and DNA samples of bodies found in the border region. Many remains have not had their DNA sampled, and there has been no consolidated effort to match the DNA of unidentified remains with family members searching for missing loved ones.

Measures such as the following would greatly contribute to identifying these remains and provide answers to family members of missing migrants about the whereabouts of their loved ones:

  • Providing federal funding to counties and tribal governments for the handling and DNA analysis of migrant remains;
  • Creating a Missing Migrants program within the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs); and
  • Encouraging genetic laboratories receiving federal grant monies to process samples from unidentified remains and compare the resulting genetic profiles against samples from the relatives of missing migrants

Immigration reform legislation currently before the U.S. Senate (S. 744) includes billions of dollars in new funding for border security. It makes no mention, however, of steps to prevent needless deaths of migrants on U.S. soil, or to help cash-strapped counties identify the dead. The current bill offers an important legislative opportunity to stem the rise of this alarming human tragedy on the U.S. side of the border.

 

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Source: www.wola.org

 

Texas recently sent 1000 National Guard to the border. That should prevent some deaths. But we need to prevent all the deaths.