by Glenn Rifkin | November 2020
The incident occurred on Dec. 6, 2017. Honestie had stepped out the back door of her home with her mother and another family member to go to the store when they were confronted by police officers with their guns drawn. “Put your hands on top of your—,” an officer ordered them before he was interrupted by Honestie’s mother screaming, “She is 11 years old, sir!” “Stop yelling!” the officer responded, as recorded by an officer’s body camera. He ordered Honestie to walk backward toward him with her hands up. A second officer grabbed her arms, pulled them behind her back and handcuffed her. Honestie shouted, “No, No, No!” pleading with the officers not to place the cuffs on her. The police, who said they had been searching for a 40-year-old woman in connection with a stabbing, removed the handcuffs after several minutes.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2020’s] [Policing] [Systemic Racism] [White Supremacy] [White Culture] [White Privilege] [White Blindness] [-ing While Black] [Black Lives Matter] [Assumptions] [Health Disparities]
by Monica Harris | June 2020
Let’s get something straight: white privilege is real. I know because I’ve lived in its shadow my entire life. I’ve felt it even when I’ve tried to forget or pretend it wasn’t there. White privilege wasn’t earned; it was gifted to people who brought others, shackled in the bowels of ships, to serve them. Living in a country where your ancestors were once stuff that other people “owned” leaves wounds so deep they can’t be erased from the collective memory. And when your ancestors were the ones allowed to “own” other people, it creates something equally indelible: an advantage that’s hard-wired into all levels of society. It’s like getting a head start in every race that always puts you a few yards from the finish line. It’s an entitlement that lingers, unspoken, in the back of all minds, silently playing out in everything we say, think, or do.
TAGS: [Assumptions] [2020’s] [White Privilege] [White Culture] [Systemic Racism] [History] [Policing] [Slavery] [Implicit Racism] [Economics] [Black Lives Matter] [Police Shootings] [Denial] [Civil War]
by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez | December 2020
A Black mother who was attacked by a horde of Philadelphia police officers is speaking out about the harrowing experience. Rickia Young was driving an SUV with her 2-year-old son and teenage nephew on October 27 as the city was engulfed in protest over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. earlier that day. Officers descended on the vehicle, broke its windows, assaulted and arrested her and separated her from her child. Young’s arrest went viral due to a shocking video of the police swarming her vehicle, and after the National Fraternal Order of Police — the country’s largest police union — posted a photo of her 2-year-old on social media, falsely claiming he “was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness.”
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2020’s] [Policing] [Systemic Racism] [White Supremacy] [White Privilege] [White Culture] [Black Lives Matter] [-ing While Black] [Assumptions] [Accountability]
*Paywall Alert
by Andrew Solender | December 2020
President-elect Joe Biden had a contentious discussion about executive power, police reform and his cabinet appointments in a call with civil rights leaders on Tuesday, according to leaked audio excerpts of the call published by The Intercept. The civil rights leaders on the call, including Rev. Al Sharpton and the NAACP’s Sherrilyn Ifill, pressed Biden to use executive orders to institute sweeping reforms, create commissions and launch investigations to further the cause of civil rights. But Biden said he would not test the legal bounds of executive action and use it in lieu of legislation, stating “I am not going to violate the constitution,” and arguing unfettered use of executive orders can set a dangerous precedent for future administrations.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Politics] [Systemic Racism] [White Culture] [White Blindness] [Denial] [Policing] [Justice System] [Social Justice]
by Lola E. Peters | August 2020
Often, white people arrive on the scene of Black trauma and immediately move into action mode. Instead of asking, “How can I help?” and following through, these white people declare, “Here’s what I’m going to do,” and become offended when told that’s not what’s needed. More often than not, be it the local mom’s group, microlocal protest groups, even in the protest zone formerly known as CHOP, Black organizers end up being distracted in the midst of furthering their own work to clean up the mess these self-proclaimed allies create. …
Racist systems have a history of picking and choosing who they will anoint as leaders of oppressed communities, funneling resources to those individuals or organizations, then declaring disappointment when the programs are ineffective or corrupted. For example, funding organizations insisting that potential recipients have 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, a board of directors and a formal structure, often don’t consider Indigenous, African or other POC communities, where decisions are made in community or by a circle of elders. They often end up funding groups or projects that have the savvy or experience to properly fill out their paperwork, but have no deep ties to community.
TAGS: [Individual Change] [2020’s] [Police Shootings] [Policing] [Anti-Racism] [Black Lives Matter] [White Privilege] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [White Blindness] [White Supremacy] [White Culture] [White Defensiveness] [Assumptions] [Systemic Racism] [Accountability] [White Fragility/Tears]
by NewsOne Staff | May 2016
A list of Black Women who died in police custody in no particular order. Kathryn Johnston, Tareka Wilson, Sheresse Francis, Shantel Davis, Alesia Thomas, Malissa Williams, Darnesha Harris, Shelly Frey,
Miriam Carey, Yvette Smith, Michelle Cusseaux, Aura Rosser, Tanisha Anderson, Eleanor Bumpurs, Natasha McKenna, Janisha Fonville, Meaghan Hockaday, Alexia Christian, Sandra Bland, Ginny McMillen, Symone Marshall, Korryn Gaines, Deborah Danner, Alteria Woods, Charleena Lyles, Cariann Denise Hithon, and more.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [Black Lives Matter] [Policing] [White Supremacy] [Prison System]
