Miriam,
In trying to cover everything, I often become side tracked.
Speaking of Black folks never losing their color, I heard a story
about Jackie Robinson. The reports were that "Robinson had been
selected to play", not that he'd earned the right. He still needed
the White owner, Branch Rickey, to "select" him, to give him his
approval. It also implied that Jackie Robinson was selected because
he was the best of the best Colored players. This was probably not
true, although he certainly was Major League quality. But still, the
way the article put it, Robinson was better than all the other Colored
players, suggesting that only the best Blacks could hope to compete
with the superior White Folk.
And yesterday the Republicans made clear that we are not a racist
nation...just ask any of them...well, maybe not that Colored fellow...
Carl Jarvis
On 8/24/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
You're omitting one vital component, a treatment to cure racism. Racism
isn't going to disappear with solely economic measures. There's a lot of
talk about a new book, Caste, by Wilkerson, the author who wrote the book, a
few years ago, about black people who migrated north. From what I've heard
and read about the book, one of the points is that even the people who
attain fame and fortune, won't lose the stigma of being black.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 6:03 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: UPRISING: Protests Break Out in Wisconsin
After Police Shoot Black Man in the Back Multiple Times at Point-Blank
Range
Miriam,
Nothing is going to change until we make some basic changes. And just
firing police officers is not going to do the trick.
I'd start by introducing something new into our society...democracy.
Then I'd admit that a little socialism is the glue that holds government
together. Services such as the Post Office and fire protection, public
education and public works are all important in any nation whose role is to
protect and nurture its citizens.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/24/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
All of these news stories repeated over and over again, make no
difference at all, nor does our outrage. It just keeps happening.
Miriam
UPRISING: Protests Break Out in Wisconsin After Police Shoot Black Man
in the Back Multiple Times at Point-Blank Range August 24, 2020 Civil
rights attorney Ben Crump said 29-year-old Jacob Blake's children were
in the car he was attempting to enter as police fired seven shots at
his back.
A cellphone video posted to social media shows Kenosha, Wisconsin
police officers firing seven shots at 29-year-old Jacob Blake as he
tries to enter his vehicle on Sunday, August 24, 2020.
(Screengrab/Twitter)
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
Protests broke out in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the state's Justice
Department launched an investigation Sunday evening after police
officers shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake in the back multiple times at
point-blank range as he tried to enter his vehicle.
Witnesses told local reporters that Blake was attempting to break up a
fight prior to being shot by the officers, who closely followed Blake
to his car and fired seven shots after he opened the driver-side door.
According to civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Blake's children were in
the car when the officers shot their father.
Blake is reportedly in serious condition. "He is out of surgery and in
the ICU," tweeted Daniel Poneman, a friend of Blake's family. "He can
make it through this. He is fighting for his life."
Watch [warning: the following video is disturbing]:
In a statement posted to Twitter after cellphone footage of the police
shooting circulated on social media, Wisconsin's Democratic Gov. Tony
Evers
said: "Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in
broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kathy and I join his family,
friends, and neighbors in hoping earnestly that he will not succumb to his
injuries."
"While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain
is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or
injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law
enforcement in our state or our country," Evers said. "We stand with
all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity, and
accountability for Black lives in our country - lives like those of
George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, Tony Robinson, Dontre Hamilton,
Ernest Lacy, and Sylville Smith."
Following the police shooting, hundreds of Wisconsinites marched
through the streets of Kenosha and gathered outside the Kenosha County
Public Safety Building chanting, "No justice, no peace!"
As the Washington Post reported, Kenosha police quickly arrived at the
site of the demonstration "with riot gear and armed with rubber bullets."
A video from the scene shows police deploying tear gas against
protesters:
"Thinking of Jacob Blake's family. Thinking of the Kenosha community.
Thinking of Black folks across the country falling asleep to this news
and those who will be waking up to it," tweeted Clint Smith of The
Atlantic.
"I'm sad. I'm furious. I'm tired of seeing this happen over and over
and over and over and over again."
Jeffery Robinson, the director of the ACLU's Trone Center for Justice
and Equality, said in a statement Monday that "with each of the seven
shots fired, police made their intent clear - they believed they had
the right to kill an unarmed Black man for the crime of walking away from
them."
"The fact that incidents of police violence like this, the murder of
Breonna Taylor as she slept in her home, the murder of George Floyd
across the street from a grocery store, the murder of Eric Garner
outside of a neighborhood bodega, and countless others have become
commonplace shows that the very institution of American policing is
rotten at its core," Robinson added.
This article is from Common Dreams.
