by Daniele Selby | February 2021
The legacy of slavery, racist Jim Crow laws, and hateful lynchings has translated into modern-day mass incarceration and the disproportionate imprisonment of Black people. No where is that seen more clearly than in prisons like the Mississippi State Penitentiary — also known as Parchman Farm — and Louisiana’s Angola prison, which were built on and modeled after slave plantations and where several Innocence Project clients have been incarcerated. Racial discrimination and bias has been ingrained in the criminal legal and law enforcement system from its earliest days and continues to pervade every level of the system today. The Innocence Project, with your support, is committed to addressing these injustices. These eight statistics highlight the ways in which racial inequality persists in the criminal legal system today and contributes to wrongful conviction.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Justice System] [Slavery] [Prison System] [Systemic Racism] [Social Justice] [White Supremacy] [White Culture] [White Privilege] [White Blindness] [Policing] [Implicit Bias] [Accountability] [Denial] [History] [-ing While Black] [Black Lives Matter]
*Share with POC you might know that might be of some help in keeping them safe
by Ennica Jacob | February 2021
Arizona resident Robert Petersen used this update to create his own third-party shortcut, initially known as “Police” and now known as “I’m Getting Pulled Over.” It aims to assist users during traffic stops by automatically recording their interactions with police officers. First developed in 2018, the shortcut activates the Do Not Disturb feature, turning off all incoming calls, messages, and notifications. This is to reduce the chance that a police officer will be startled by your phone ringing or flashing, and act aggressively. Next, it’ll send a text message with your current location to all the contacts that you’ve selected beforehand. At the same time, your phone will start recording a video with the front camera (i.e. the one above the phone’s screen).
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Accountability] [Policing] [-ing While Black] [Bystander Intervention] [Racial Terrorism]
by Cassandra Profita | December 2020
The Nez Perce Tribe is reclaiming an ancestral village site in the Eastern Oregon town of Joseph more than a century after being pushed out the area. This month, the tribe purchased 148 acres of an area known as “the place of boulders,” or Am’sáaxpa. Chief Joseph held council on the ridge above, before a sweeping view of the Wallowa Mountains. Hundreds of tribal members would camp there at the peak of the fishing season and catch sockeye salmon along the Wallowa River. “There’s a lot of excitement buzzing around,” Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee Chairman Shannon Wheeler said. “We feel fortunate to be at this juncture in time to be able to say that we are on our way home. We feel the landscape misses us, and we miss the landscape.”
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Indigenous] [History] [Environment] [Systemic Racism] [Myths] [White Supremacy] [White Culture] [White Blindness] [Advocacy]
by Philip Kennicott | December 2020
The wetlands on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian are one of the most serene and magical spots in all of Washington. It counters by example the larger argument of the Mall, which is all about symmetry, extended vistas and monumental scale. With trees and grass and a bit of water, this garden is a quiet but forceful rejoinder to the bombast and imperial ambition that surrounds it. With a little imagination, you might pretend that somehow the great brush of history missed this one small spot where the landscape looks just as it did in pre-Columbian times.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Indigenous] [History] [Art & Culture]
by Bart Orr, Veronica Olivotto, and Timon McPhearson | June 2020
From Ferguson to Minneapolis, protests over the killing of Black and brown people by police have ignited difficult conversations around race, forcing us to confront the reality that racism exists and perpetuates itself in ways we’ve neglected to fully appreciate. In northern cities generally thought of as progressive enclaves, there’s often a tendency to absolve ourselves and think of racism as primarily a rural problem, or one associated with the deep south and the legacy of Jim Crow. But, as the protests over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis show, racism is very much an urban problem, even in the bluest cities of the blue states. New York City, for example, is home to the most segregated school system in the country and some of the highest levels of economic inequality in the nation.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Systemic Racism] [Policing] [Police Shootings] [Social Justice] [Housing] [Economics] [Health Disparities] [Environment] [Implicit Bias] [History] [Silencing POC] [Racial Covenants] [White Privilege] [White Culture] [Black Lives Matter] [White Blindness]
by Native News Online Staff | January 2021
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Administrative Board Officers met in response to the events surrounding the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and released the following statement: “This week, as hundreds of thousands of Americans continue to die on a daily basis and millions more suffer the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the President of the United States chose to incite his supporters to launch a violent and uncivilized attack on our democracy, which led to destruction of public property and unfortunately the death of several American citizens. The actions of those who breached the U.S. Capitol building put the lives and liberties of many in danger. These actions, incited by President Trump and his enablers, are rooted in systemic and acute racism and hate, and represent direct attacks on our democracy. As leaders of our own tribal nations, we understand the sacred duty undertaken by those chosen to serve their people to uphold the rule of law and the will of the people.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Systemic Racism] [Indigenous] [Social Justice] [Accountability] [White Supremacy] [Politics] [Health Disparities] [White Privilege] [White Defensiveness]
