A Saturday morning shooting rampage in El Paso, Texas on August 3 took the lives of 22 people, and seriously injured more than two dozen others. Reportedly, the alleged shooter wanted to kill as many Mexicans as he could. Armed with safety glasses, ear coverings and an assault-style rifle, the shooter entered a Walmart store during a back-to-school sale.
In recent years, the spate of homicides linked to questionable uses of deadly weapons and/or force, have prompted many activist organizations to call for racial reparations. From Trayvon Martin’s death in Florida, to Michael Brown’s in Missouri, Eric Garner’s in New York and many other deaths — a chorus of calls for reparations has mounted, even attracting interest among presidential candidates.
Wendy’s Window
MIAMI (AP) — A mother who turned to activism after the slaying of her black teen son Trayvon Martin has announced she is running for office in Miami. The Miami Herald reports Sybrina Fulton will be entering the race to join the 13-member board of Miami-Dade County commissioners. Fulton said in a Saturday statement that she would continue working to end gun violence. She will challenge Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert for the seat that is up for grabs in 2020 because of term limits. Trayvon’s parents head a foundation and have been recognized for their work on gun reform and
Delucca “Lucca” Rolle, the 15-year-old high school student who was punched and had his head slammed against the concrete by law enforcement officers last month, joined his attorney and several prominent civil rights activists in a peaceful demonstration in Florida to denounce police brutality. Rolle and others chanted, “Justice will be served,” as they marched toward New Mount Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale. Attorney and activist Ben Crump, Broward/Fort Lauderdale NAACP president Marsha Ellison, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry and the late Trayvon Martin’s Mother Sybrina Fulton,
“We need to make sure we convey the message that the only crime committed on that day was not from the young man, the black children that were there, but from the two deputies and the way they manhandled those kids,” said local NAACP President Marsha Ellison.
Seven years ago today, Trayvon Benjamin Martin was gunned down on a dark street in what was supposed to be a safe gated community in Sanford, Florida. His murderer George Zimmerman walked away free, due to Flordia’s Stand Your Ground law, old school racism and systemic racial flaws within the US Criminal justice system.
Pervasive police abuse of Black people, young Black males, especially, is being documented as never before. As a result, the nation is more aware of the problem; whether or not this results in sustainable change in policy and practice remains to be seen.
It is clear now that the 45thpresident of the United States is knowingly or unwittingly a tool of the Russian government. But for many years before the dumpster fire in the White House came into office, the Kremlin has been wielding a secret weapon against the “land of the free.”
Black Lives have always mattered but Black people do not always act like it. Most Blacks know racism still exists but are conditioned to feel inferior to whites and often become complicit in their own oppression. I write about this periodically, because Blacks’ collective silence reinforces the barriers to their own wellbeing. While high-profile cases grab headlines and heartstrings, temporarily, other less heralded, but equally egregious, ongoing atrocities against Black people have become a crippling norm. (Public education’s failure to educate Black students and Black homeowners disproportionately suffering foreclosures as a result of the economic meltdowns, for example, are in some ways just as egregious as high profile cases of police killing unarmed Black men and boys.
Although not overwhelming, the blue wave of Democratic election victories has washed over the U.S. in an important and promising way and it is good to celebrate on one hand, but also to review and stand ready to resume, continue and expand our efforts in struggle beyond the electoral arena. For regardless of the final count of votes and the naming of those who won, the realities of race and righteous struggle remain ongoing and urgent. And thus, there is still organizing work to be done, struggle for racial and social justice and equity to be waged and a radical transformation of society to be achieved around the central and enduring issues of wealth, power and status, especially statuses of race, class and gender, as well as other identities by which people are singled out, interiorized and oppressed.
A White Dallas police officer was arrested Sunday on a manslaughter charge in the off-duty shooting of a Black neighbor whose apartment she says she mistook for her own.
Righteous outrage must be sustainable.it is necessary to bring about the political pressure crucial for actual long range change. Of course, ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Black community itself to forge its own future which requires new mindsets and most important, new behavior. Developing sustainable righteous outrage is only one of other important tasks that collectively, we must undertake as part of a self-determined Black agenda.
Just over four years ago, on August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was murdered by police officer Darren Wilson. He was shot six times, and might have survived some of the shots, but was fatally wounded when he was shot in the head. Wilson claimed he shot in self-defense, but Michael Brown was unarmed. St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch took his time convening a grand jury and announced in November 2014, three months after Brown’s murder, that the grand jury voted not to indict Wilson.
In solidarity of the Trayvon Martin Story, Kaepernick posted a photo with Trayvon’s parents. Many other black entertainers have been promoting the docu-series, part two of the Trayvon Martin documentary airs on the Paramount Network and BET. Check your local listings.