The first time I saw a movie with Step 'N Fetchit, running at the
camera waiving his arms and hands, wide eyed and open mouthed, I
wondered how a Negro could sell out not just himself, but all Negroes.
And I was just a little kid at the time. Of course later on I figured
it out. The work paid better than sweeping the stage floors or
cleaning the toilets, and it wasn't going to change the public
attitude at all.
Later, as a blind man, there were things that I would not do. My self
image was very important to me. But long ago I gave up trying to
figure out what makes other people tick. I remember riding the bus,
headed home after work, with a co-worker, also totally blind. My
friend told me that she usually avoided riding this bus because
several of the workers from the Lighthouse for the Blind were also on
board. She said she did not want people to think that she was one of
them. She told me a great deal with that one comment. But still, I
understood her discomfort.
The way that I handled those Black supporters of Donald Trump was to
not listen to the Republican Comedy Hours. Just as with the
Democratic convention, it is a staged pep rally, a call for members to
come together. I'm not a member of either Party. I am an American
Citizen...looking for like minded leadership. What does pain me is
the way both Parties must totally trash the other in order to prove
that they are the "true Americans".
It's all just as bogus as the Reality Show it is based on.
And worse than that, it is highly destructive.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Those two black Republicans who spoke at the Republican convention last
night, I wonder how they can look themselves in the mirror or face other
African Americans. I wonder of they are completely free of conscience and
self respect.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 12:08 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,
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.
