Friday News (The nation protests)

The younger generation is having a great say in this new movement. Many young people are not only protesting, but setting up boycotts, using organizations that are helping people, and doing other amazing work. Now, the older generation has a role too in this struggle for justice too. The older generation can advise the youth, give the youth encouragement, work on forming solutions, and ally with the youth too. We shouldn’t be divided based upon generation. We should be unified as one people as we are one people. We have to keep our eyes on the prize. The prize is that we want justice to exist for our people. We oppose the massive militarization of the local police. We want the end to police brutality and we want to end the New Jim Crow. We want the War on Drugs to end and we want true accountability, so our people won’t be killed in the streets unjustly. We desire our civil liberties to be protected where innocent protesters and innocent journalists won’t be illegally detained or illegally arrested by the police. That is why people reject post racial rhetoric. Standing up for freedom (and against tyranny) is not having some “ghetto pity party,” (as Al Sharpton has said), but it is about the right to express our freedom of speech. A living wage and economic justice are important ideals to embrace too. So, we have to organize and make a real strategy crystal clear. We don’t need one person controlling the whole movement, because real power can be decentralized as Ella Baker has taught us. The older and the younger generations of black people should be treated with dignity and with respect. There is nothing bad about a March on Washington per se, but we need to have our political independence. Many people want to exploit the movement as a means for them to try to get black people to join with either the Republicans or the Democrats unconditionally. That means we should form boycotts, anti-poverty efforts, and other forms of self-determination that can positively help our communities more directly. We need to organize our economy and our political power independently, so the masses of our people can benefit. Many Brothers and Sisters rightfully are opposed to neoliberalism and militarism. Internationally, we need to establish further connections with black people globally. We are in an international fight for the liberation of black people.


My view is that Bratton needs to be fired. He is one architect of the corrupt policies that some of the police enforce in the first place. We all wish the best for De Blasio's son. Many people (of numerous backgrounds) uniting in NYC for the cause is inspiring. There has been huge protests in NYC and nationwide. There must be change since we have a national crisis. Enough is Enough. Unjust laws must be changed. Crooked cops must be punished. Black people have every right to fight for what is right. Policies must change and human dignity must be respected. We know about how a young Brother named Akai Gurley was killed by the police on November 20, 2014. He was only 28 years old. He was killed in the Pink Houses projects in Brooklyn. His girlfriend was the witness to the murder. The grand jury still hasn’t decided where the officer would be charged. Akai’s murder deals with the problem of police terrorism in America. The election of  the“progressive” Democrat de Blasio has gone. He is the new mayor and he ran as an opponent of stop and frisk. Now, we have a year into his term. The number of stops may be down, but arrests for minor offenses are still very high. Bratton and even de Blasio has supported the “broken windows” policing strategy of the NYPD. Some want reform. One reform is put an end to street arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana. These arrests have ruined the lives of thousands of human beings. Now, people caught holding less than 25 grams of it will go to court and pay a fine. We know how prohibition of marijuana laws historically has been racist. Early laws against marijuana were adopted as a measure against Mexican immigrants in the Southwest. The first U.S. government “drug czar,” Harry Anslinger, captured the spirit of the 1937 federal ban with a racist diatribe that pot makes black people “think they’re as good as white men.” Police terrorism is still going on in the ghettos and in the barrios. The reactionary nature of the War on Drugs is real. The War on Drugs is obviously a war on black people. The oppression of black people has been integral to American capitalist rule. The PBA or the Patrolwomen’s Benevolent Association has been disgraceful for their support of murdering cops and for their opposition to the city’s lawsuit settlement with the Central Park Five (or Black and Latino youth who were falsely convicted and imprisoned for the 1989 rape of a jogger). The poor and the working class must be mobilized to fight for justice.

I saw some of the people raising up the same sick talking points (of blaming the victim for his own death. That is very disrespectful for people from a police union to blame a victim like Eric Garner for his own death) on CNN. The truth is that Eric Garner was assaulting no one. Eric Garner broke up a fight before the officers confronted him. It is obvious that the police started the confrontation with Eric Garner. Eric Garner was never resisting arrest. The officers threw him to the ground. He said that he needed to breathe 11 times and the officers refused to stop using the chokehold (which is a violation of police procedure). The grand jury did not even charge the officer with voluntary manslaughter. His death has been ruled a homicide, so it is obvious that he was murdered. The sad thing is that the whole incident is shown on video. Tamir Rice was shot in less than 2 seconds. The officers never gave a chance Tamir to explain himself. The cops just killed him. The 911 caller said that the child had a fake gun or could of had a fake gun. The truth is that Tamir never deserved to be murdered at all. We should do the right thing and reject actions from evil people (from all walks of life). Not to mention that we have to always have solidarity with the victims' families too as they are going through a lot. I do have the sense that for many people that, Enough is Enough. This is certainly a new movement. The events of Ferguson started this new movement for justice. Many people are exposing what is happening. Human beings among many colors fighting for what is right is righteous as you have mentioned. That is a great point which has been made by many. Our human rights as black people are being overtly violated. There is no ambiguity about what occurred. Eric Garner was assaulting no one. Eric Garner was unarmed and he was killed in a brutal fashion by the police. Eric Garner was murdered. Some people are waking up. The elders have told society what time it was and we still have to face these evils in 2014 and in 2015 soon. There is no justification for police terrorism. These thugs, who hide behind a badge, ought to be punished. The BPP had a great blueprint in how to have liberation. They not only had guns, but their ideals (of black consciousness, of the love of the community, of power to the people, and being anti-imperialist) are what the FBI hated. It was their ideas and their actions that inspired people globally. These corrupt prosecutors supporting injustices are acting like DEFENSE ATTORNEYS. The image of the murderer of Eric Garner speaks volumes about his countenance. He or the murdering cop looks guilt ridden, insecure, and morally weak. That is why he murdered Brother Eric Garner. Brave people nationwide are standing up for the humanity and the dignity of black people and for the rights of the human race in general. Also, The Breaking news is that the officer who killed Tamir Rice was deemed unfit for previous police job.


It depends on what type of success that is being discussed. If it is the “success” that is based on material exploitation, degrading black people, selling out to corporate interests in an evil way, and getting so-called “success” by nefarious means, then people like that should apologize. If success is earned by righteous means or by helping humanity in a positive way, then people like that should not apologize. Like always, the black upper class does have a responsibility to use their resources to help poor people in the black community. The problem now is that too many of the Black upper class and the Black rich have arrogance (and that arrogance deals with demonizing the poor and believing in offensive stereotypes about poor black people). Also, another problem is how the system readily uses the divide and conquer strategy against black people among different classes when we need more unity to fight back against the system of racism/white supremacy. Many of these upper class blacks love American exceptionalism (which is nothing more than the 21st century version of Manifest Destiny. American exceptionalism readily is linked to Western imperialism). Great examples of black people who were not poor, but cared for the poor include Dr. King, Paul Robeson, Ella Baker, Septima Clark, CLR James (who was a strong black philosopher and activist), Kwame Ture, etc. We know how some of the Black elite are not only allied with the establishment, but took steps to try to stop black revolutionary change. For example, some members of the Black elite (including the white establishment of the South) opposed the Birmingham Bus Boycott (which was organized by such heroes like Rev. Shuttleworth and other black workers). Some of the Black elite (including the ruling class) supported the imperialist Vietnam War and attacked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his courageous opposition to the Vietnam War. Therefore, black people from across classes should unite in common cause to fight not only poverty (if we want to be free, then the black upper class & the rest of the black community must express support for totally economic justice) and racism, but to establish a more humane society for all in the black community. True unity is needed. We need revolutionary change beyond reform.


I mean by independent thinking as in black people having the right to think for ourselves. We have the right to advance our own interests as black people. I mean that we should not worship the Democrats and the Republicans in the sense that we have the right to not give unconditional support or unconditional allegiance to the Republicans or the Democrats. So, we as black people can disagree with the War on Drugs, promote civil liberties, advocate economic justice, and be anti-imperialist (in maintaining our political independence at the same time). I have no issue with black people being REGISTERED as political Independents as Malcolm X have said. Me personally, I won't make an alliance with the Republican Party (as the Tea Party extremists have blatantly retrograde views. Many of them are racists, xenophobes, Islamophobes, etc. Many GOP extremists have slandered the President, his wife, and even his children. I abhor that and I condemn that). I don't agree with the GOP on many issues. In the final analysis, we should work on building in our own communities, discussing important issues, and creating solutions.

By Timothy