We see the fruit of decades of neo-liberal policies. There are people saying that the economy is getting stronger. The economy is getting better for the richest of Americans. That is true. Yet, for the majority of Americans aren’t seeing massive improvements in the economy. Even a survey said that an average American adult can’t raise $400 without borrowing or selling something. The economy is very fragile. People can face poverty by an unexpected car problem, a medical issue, or a legal entanglement. Most people who have student loans can’t pay them on time. Eighteen percent are either behind on their payments or are being pursued by a collection agency, and 34 percent are in deferment or forbearance. Almost 2/3 of Americans don’t have the funds to set aside to cover their expenses for three months. The super-rich have hoarded trillions of dollars of wealth. Millions of high and average paying jobs have been replaced with almost 2 million of low wage jobs. The mayors’ report adds that the top 20 percent of all households captured more than 60 percent of all income gains between 2005 and 2012, with the richest in this layer getting the bulk of the increase. Meanwhile, in many cities throughout the country, more than half the population earns less than $35,000 a year. Adjusted for inflation, median household income dropped by 5.5 percent between 2005 and 2012. And compared to 1968, annual income based on the federal minimum wage has fallen by 32 percent in real terms, from $22,235 to $15,080. The social safety net has been radically cut via austerity and other policies. Today, communities nationwide face not only austerity, but privatization, imperialist wars, racist police brutality, and mass surveillance. Also, there is a militarization of American society. In Ferguson, Missouri, the police have acted like an occupying army. There is no solution unless institutional racism and police brutality is addressed.
This male Republican person is truly ignorant. He wants to spread his historical revisionism. Obviously, Valerie Wilson has more class, dignity, and intelligence than the Republican Richard Woods. Obviously, many “Founding Fathers” were not only rich aristocrats, but some of them were slaveholders who didn’t believe that black people are deserving of justice & equality. Also, Christopher Columbus was an imperialist whose actions contributed to the genocide of millions of Native Americans. True EDUCATION is about telling the people the truth not lies or revisionism. Students need to learn about the inspiring histories of Ella Baker, Septima Clark, etc. who weren't Tea Party members. These human beings stood up for freedom (they formed literacy programs, citizenship programs, and supported revolutionary organizations). Certainly, reactionary propaganda ought to be rejected and repudiated. The book of the Color Purple should have no relevance in the campaign. I hope that the citizens of Georgia will do the right thing and refuse to vote for Woods (his overt racist attitude is not surprising, but it is repugnant). We should never strive to live in a TIME of the bad old days. Historically Georgia was a slave state. It is also a state that has a legacy of strong Brothers and strong Sisters who stood up for freedom, justice, and progressive policies. At the end of the day, we want a better future FOR PEOPLE. The FBI announced that it is researching the death of Michael Brown as well. Michael Brown was shot multiple times and killed by a police officer on Saturday afternoon. Eyewitnesses said that this murder was a product of the police using wanton and unprovoked homicide. Michael Brown was only 18 years old. The name of the murderer has not been released in public. The murder took place in Ferguson, Missouri or a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. The police department has shown a lack of transparency in detailing information to the family and citizens of Ferguson. There must be an independent investigation where non-police people must be directly involved with. The police have confirmed that Brown was unarmed when he was shot multiple times in the head and chest at a distance of 35 feet. Eyewitness accounts have emphasized Brown's hands were raised to indicate he was unarmed when he was shot. Ferguson has been harmed by deindustrialization, recession issues, closing schools, etc. We should be political independent and now bow down to the two major capitalist parties of the Republicans and the Democrats. We have to understand how race and class play a role in the situation that we face in America.
We all express great condolences to the family and friends of Michael Brown. The President’s words were words that I have expected. His words were not surprising to me (He legitimately offered prayers and condolences, but he omitted many other points that he should of made in order for him to describe the massive seriousness of this situation). I will never hate the President as a man, but I do have the right to show legitimate critiques. I wish that he would have been more extensive in his commentary. I wished that he would expose how many police officers used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters. I wished that he would mentioned about how the body of Michael Brown was left in the street for hours by the police, which signified the further disrespect of black human life. I wished that he would talk about how the police threatened residents and journalists with ARREST. I wished that he would expose how economic inequality and structural injustices are harming the community of Ferguson including other locations nationwide. This situation is an emergency in America. The handwriting is on the wall. Revolutionary, radical action is needed to rectify the situation. I wished that the President would expose how we have an epidemic of police brutality and the dignity of unarmed black people should be respected in the world. I think that we need more than talk. We need action and that means that name of the murderer should be released publicly, we have to set up a real plan to defend our communities, and justice must be done. Discerning people will never fall for the propaganda. Bratton, Giuliani, and Bloomberg supported such reactionary policies of the NYPD for years and decades. Bratton is one architect of aggressive NYPD tactics and now he wants to lie about the corruption found in the NYPD. Now, we have de Blasio who calls himself the strong, fighting progressive. De Blasio has to ante up and handle his business if he wants to be a real progressive. It is a war on black men, black women, and even black children. These events document how the abomination of police brutality & any evils in our communities should be opposed. This problem doesn't just exist in NYC, but it exists nationwide including worldwide. When one cop called protesters “animals” then it showed everybody who the real animals are (and the animals are not Brothers and Sisters protesting and standing up for their human rights). Many people promote decency and respect today. I know many honorable, Strong Sisters too. :) Some folks don’t understand commonsense. Some people just refuse to accept the truth that black people (of both genders) are filled with great people. Not every black PERSON is a criminal. Peace is a goal that we are all fighting for. It is just that some people thrive on hate, injustice, and evil in general. People who want to stalk, bother, try to intimidate folks, even murder others are sick without question. Michael Brown’s mother has shown a lot of wisdom. The memory of Michael Brown will always be remembered by us. That is why it is so important to realize that we are in this together as human beings. We have every right to defend the integrity and the humanity of black people.
There are many updates going on in Ukraine. We see that the Kiev puppet government is pledging to block a Russian aid convoy to eastern Ukraine. That is cruel. The Ukrainian army with its allied fascist paramilitary units is contributing to the humanitarian disaster in eastern Ukraine. Both factions are blocking relief supplies to the population. We see that the West including NATO are using the conflict over Russia’s plans to send an aid convoy to the besieged cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. Provocations against Moscow are real. On Tuesday, 280 white trucks left Moscow carrying relief supplies. The Russian government has stated that the trucks are transporting a total of 2,000 tons of supplies, including 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medical equipment and medicine, 12,000 sleeping bags, and 69 power generations. The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitri Peskov, said the trucks planned to cross the border to Ukraine at a point agreed with Kiev. The aid convoy was arranged following talks with both the Red Cross and the Ukrainian government. This was confirmed by former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, who is functioning as a mediator between the rebels and the Kiev regime. According to the Associated Press, however, a spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry said it remained unclear when the convoy would set off. He said the convoy could cross the border in an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists. On Monday, representative from the U.S., the EU, Ukraine, and the Red Cross had agreed to allow international aid plus transports to eastern Ukraine with Russian involvement. The Russian news agency Ria Novosti mentioned that this arrangement was confirmed in a statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross (or the ICRC). ICRC requested further information on the aid supplies declaring, “We are still waiting for crucial information about the quantity and type of goods, as well as how and where they are to be distributed.” The Ukrainian refused to do so when they once promised to do so immediately. Kiev planned to delay the delivery of aid as long as possible. NATO representatives reject any relief supplies from Moscow claiming falsely that Russia is using humanitarian aid as a means to invade Ukraine. Humanitarian deliveries are being blocked to eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian army is being equipped by NATO countries. On Friday, the Canadian Air Force delivered 32 tons of military equipment worth $5 million to Ukrainian border troops. The German government said an EU police mission in Ukraine agreed in late June could extend to TRAINING the army to fight in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian regime has been backed by Berlin, Brussels, and Washington. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Eastern Ukraine by the Kiev regime. The puppet regime has encircled the two major eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. A spokesman for the separatists, Alexander Karaman, reported that “the water supply system, substations, medical facilities, kindergartens, schools, industrial plants, bridges and roads” had all been bombed in Donetsk. “Today, Donetsk is virtually encircled,” he said. “There is therefore no way to bring relief supplies. Another problem is the impossibility to evacuate injured people and children. More than 3,500 refugees have assembled in the city, including many children and infants.” Local authorities have said that the electricity and water supply in Luhansk have not been functioning for the past 10 days. Food and medicine are scarce. There is constant artillery and rocket shelling reported in the city of Gorlovka. There is a chemical plant where bombardments are happening. So, the blockade of deliveries and the escalation of tensions will only continue the crisis. These acts don’t solve anything in the long term. People need solutions.
We have to accept truth and reality. A white PERSON is not black, so by definition a white person can't understand the black experience fully. The only way that we can be free as a people is by the usage of our own power. We have to execute of our self-determination as a people, so we can be truly liberated. When you tell the truth, many people would falsely call black people racists for stating the obvious. At this point, we don't to be naive about the world that we live in. We live in a very selfish, evil world. I don't advocate hating them or white people, since hating them is a waste of my time. Also, hating a PERSON by virtue of someone's skin color is immoral and evil. I rather use my energy in doing something constructive in my life like working in my community, standing up for the truth, etc. I believe in loving myself and treating my neighbor (regardless of color, age, gender, physical appearance, nationality, etc. All human life regardless of race, color, gender, or background should have equal rights & justice without exception) as myself. At the same time, we live in a situation where we need more Black Unity. Fundamentally, we can never love humanity in general without loving ourselves as black people. Our people historically have been very compassionate toward other ethnic groups. It has been a historic fact that we have been some of the strongest supporters of Jewish people, Palestinians, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, etc. We have been using protest signs in talking about Gaza and talking about immigration reform too. We have stood up against police brutality, economic injustice, and other evils for years and decades. Standing up for justice has nothing to do with hating all white people, but it has to do with defending black humanity. That is the point. We hate oppression, we hate how white racism has harmed the world and we love wisdom including the truth. INDEED, we have to deal with issues of the system of white supremacy, issues in our community, and our own interests in general as a means for us to go into real freedom. We have to be responsible for our own voluntary actions, but that doesn't mean that we ignore the truth about how we did not cause modern racial discrimination. We did not cause modern imperialism and we did not cause the massive system of oppression in America either. We have to establish solutions that will benefit all of humanity not just the one percent. Black people have the right to have economic and political power. We HAVE THE right to stand up for our dignity.
By Timothy
No comments:
Post a Comment