News, Ferguson, Etc.

We know how unjust the American injustice system is. Darren Wilson (as shown by his own TESTIMONY) disrespected the humanity of Michael Brown by calling him a “demon.” I will never say that people have no right to express indignant anger at oppression. People have the right to be angry when our Brothers and our Sisters have been mistreated by evil people. We have the right to be angry at how our communities have been occupied by police forces and how unjust laws are still in existence. We should use our anger as motivation to express self-determination, to treat each other right, and to stand up for justice. Some ignore how the police still use tear gas on innocent protesters. The vast majority of the protesters were peaceful. Developing our own infrastructure, forming boycotts, demanding unjust laws to end, and building more in our communities are great things to do. We have to BUILD. No one should be naïve. We know how the authorities have treated black people for centuries in the West. The rebellion in Ferguson was not about everyone promoting nihilism. It was about hurt people expressing outrage at white supremacy and outright at racial including economic injustices. We should use proactive, positive, and revolutionary actions to not only help the workers, but the rest of the poor as well. Black lives do matter. Passivity towards injustice is a problem. Apathy is a problem. Acceptance of the status quo is a problem. These problems combined represent the need for us to CONTINUE onward in this fight. Numerous cops have killed Brothers and Sisters for decades without being prosecuted. Eric Garner's murderers haven't even been prosecuted fully yet and those murderers violated their own police procedures. So, we know what time it is. If a cop wants to kill someone, they will try to do it regardless of how we act, what clothes we wear, or our social demeanor. That is why we have every right to reflect, to analyze problems, and to stand up for justice (which is our birthright as black people). The citizens of Ferguson have shown freedom loving people globally that it is just to stand up as human beings. We will keep on standing up. It a'int going to be easy, but we will WIN in the end.


This is an interesting and great plan. The Black Friday boycott should be extensive and spread to companies that don't respect us as a community too. Also, other comments are correct to mention that we have to build wealth in our community as black people. Building wealth (which deals with growing our BONDS, preserving our inheritances, preserving our art and other forms of our culture, saving money to help others, making sure that our resources are based down to our descendants, and just using wise economic investments to help the poor too) in the right way shouldn't be about selfishness, hating on the poor, or being selfishly individualistic. Historically, boycotts have been very successful when they have been applied in a determined, focused fashion. The Birmingham Boycott was successful since it lasted for long months, there was solidarity, and people never gave up in their actions. We certainly need more solidarity, more unity, and more power. We are fighting for justice. It is about helping the poor, helping families, and growing our power into its highest potential. We are family and we have to treat each other as family. It is as simple as that. We need to accept nothing other than justice. We should never accept racial profiling against innocent, non-threatening people. We should never accept police brutality and we should never accept racism and discrimination. Laws need to be changed, the criminal justice system ought to be changed in a revolutionary fashion, etc. because we have huge problems in America that ought to be not pushed under THE RUG.


There is huge controversy with the rape allegations against Bill Cosby. Rape is totally evil. Also, Cosby is wrong for his comments bashing the poor. His comments were not about just critique, but stereotypes and old rhetoric. He said that those incarcerated are not political criminals when many of them are. He made other degrading comments about black people. He spoke many of these words ironically in the speech that celebrated the 50th anniversary celebration of the Brown V. Board of Education decision in 2004. He spoke his pound cake comment too. We now see this in the light of the death of Michael Brown. Brown didn’t have pound cake in his hand. Yet, he was shot to death by the police. A brief respite from Cosby claiming that people “with names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammad and all of that crap will end up in jail,” came in 2005 . That comment was not only ignorant and false. It was very racist and anti-black too. Black people have the right to name their name whatever name that they wish. Back in 2005, he was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women. 18 accusers have come forward to tell similar stories. This issue deals with money, patriarchy (as the testimonies from rape victims then and now have been ignored, minimized, and disrespected in numerous other ways too), and rape. The words from the comedian Hannibal Buress caused the current discussion of Bill Cosby’s accusations to exist on another level. More women came out to tell their stories. He is losing many deals. That is why so-called “tough love” rhetoric that degrades black people only pleases white racists and white reactionary people. That is why Bill Cosby said that the killer George Zimmerman should not be accused of racism after he was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin. The truth is that stand your ground laws, Martin’s murder, and Zimmerman’s acquittal deal with the system of white supremacy. So far, Cosby has not made comments in publicly about Michael Brown or the murdering cop who was not indicted for his actions. So, we should continue onward in this struggle for justice. The ruling class hypocritically talks about the rule of law, but overseas they use repression, imperial actions, and torture overseas. Even domestically, they or the neoliberal oligrachy support programs that monitor even peaceful political organizations and suppress the rights of peaceful protesters via the arms of the police. So, we should continue to go forward.


There are many black activists now who are using CIVIL disobedience, organizing boycotts (not just the Boycott Black Friday campaign), and doing other amazing work. I will never minimize nor discount their efforts. There should be discussion and debates. No social movement in history was totally monolithic. The different diversities of people in the civil rights movement still believed in the same goal. Even Dr. King and Kwame Ture disagreed on tactics, but they wanted the same goal (which was freedom, justice, and equality for black people). Should more be done now? Yes. Are people collectively doing nothing? The answer is No. We have a long way to go, but many people are doing something. In America, there are discussions about economics. There is nothing wrong with using economics to positively help black people. Yet, there is nothing in the rule book that says we can't critique or question laissez faire, cut throat capitalism. Malcolm X (back in 1965 in an interview), Dr. King (in his 1967 SCLC Presidential Address via a speech entitled, "Where do we Go From Here"), etc. questioned mainstream capitalism outright. So, people deserve economic justice (in ending unfair tax loopholes, in forming a living wage, and in creating fairer trade deals). Unjust laws (that deal with stop and frisk, redlining, predatory lining, the Patriot Act, etc.) should be eliminated. Revolution is about the overturning of the current system and the replacement of that system with justice. It is as simple as that. Revolution readily deals with sacrifice, love, and strength. Many are correct to mention that non-blacks should respect our human rights unconditionally. People don't need the status quo since the status quo doesn't work. It WILL take work and we have a long way to go. That is why we should keep on going and keep on working in our own families and in our own communities. The struggle is never easy, but it is a struggle that we will follow through to the end.


Marion Barry has passed, but his memory lives on forever. He died on November 23, 2014 at the age of 78. He worked in Washington, D.C. all of his life. The DC medical examiner said that Marion Barry died on natural causes, because of heart problems. He died after he collapsed outside of his home. Previous mayors of Washington, D.C. were reactionary. Barry called Washington D.C. as a sleepy southern town back in the day. Even in D.C., there was segregation in public facilities like hotels, pars, department stores, etc. The gift of Marion Barry was that he explicitly was pro-African American in his rhetoric and he used policies as a means to combat poverty during his administration. Racist city council members, national political leaders, developers, etc. did not like Marion Barry’s leading call for poverty alleviation and the empowerment of African Americans. So, he was right to battle against gentrification and maintain the black control of Washington, D.C. His parents were from Mississippi in the small town Itta Bena. Apartheid in America and racist assaults against his family caused Marion Berry to do political activism. He earned a Master’s Degree in chemistry at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked in SNCC too. He was involved heavily in the civil rights movement. His lifelong friend and SNCC colleague Congresswoman Eleanor Homes praised him as a great activist. As mayor, he employed thousands of African Americans in D.C. He created a summer jobs program to employ the young. He expanded the government payroll. He constantly fought for the poor and disenfranchised. He made mistakes and we know about them. Yet, he opposed apartheid in South Africa. The people loved him and he loved the people. Marion Barry never forgot where he came from and he reminded society of that day every day of his life. Also, we have to maintain our political independence. In this time, we see how the capitalist two party system has not succeeded in addressing the needs and aspirations of black people. We must challenge society to change. We should not only oppose racism and discrimination. We ought to oppose militarism, poverty, unjust wars, and the current structures oppressing the masses of the people.


 By Timothy