CNN wants to “finally get back to normal”.
What is normal in the USA?
Sadly, racism is normal and the killing of black people by police has long been normalised.
It was nice having a black man in the White House but nothing changed apart from the personnel.
Real comes up from the street. After the election, the struggle continues.
No illusions in Biden and Harris!
“When Obama was President, I was marching for Trayvon Martin fresh out of college”
Trump has lost the US election but he wants to go down in flames and take the rest of the USA with him.
In a typically dishonest statement yesterday, in which he claimed ‘corruption’ in Detroit and Atlanta was endemic, his thinly disguised racism was again on display for all to see.
The postal vote is overwhelmingly Democratic and the metro areas being counted are heavily African-American, given the racist residential segregation which is still such a major feature of American life.
On that basis, with Biden now in the lead in Georgia and expected to overtake Trump in Pennsylvania, Trump is finished.
We appreciate that Trump doesn’t want to lose because he knows he will also lose his presidential immunity and could be looking at a prison cell given his clear and present corruption.
But there is a bigger story about the US election, which was the refusal of the Democrat leadership to focus on harnessing the anger and enthusiasm of the BLM movement, or to articulate and advance policies that will attract working-class people, black and white.
Trump is now planning to unleash his fascist friends against American democracy, such as it is.
The right has been calling for insurrection and violence to stop the count.
Mad man Glen Beck has called for the overthrow of the US government.
Buy peole are taking to the streets again – and again the police are showing whose side they are on. In New York City 25 people were arrested on a peaceful protest and an advocate observer was roughed-up by the forces of racism and disorder.
We send our solidarity to our sisters and brothers in the BLM movement in the US and progressive forces beyond that as the y prepare to meet the threat from the deranged christian and fascist right and others among the delusional (and disappointed) MAGA hordes.
But to date, the protests by Trump supporters have been small and violence more at the level of threats and talk than actual action.
But make no mistake, Trump is pushing to block democracy by any means. necessary, and that unfortunately is not confined to unfounded law suits.
Finally, how dare Trump and his racist supportes try to stop black peoples’ votes being counted in Detroit and Georgia.
For those black people who were foolish enough to vote for the enemy, hopefully things are a little clearer, although we suspect there’s no telling stupid – yes we are talking about you 50 Cent, Ice Cube and the other rich backers of white supremacist Trump. They let the myth and cult of the entrepreneur cloud their judgement – it is working people, black and white, who make the world go round.
Rappers are not essential workers – especially the ones who have turned their back on the community to assist the architects of the new Jim Crow.
It’s hard trying to vote in America if you are black as an ‘I am Change’ BLM march to get out the vote discovered.
Although we’ve come along way since the legal segregation and oppression that was the Jim Crow regime, the same methods used then to keep black people away from the polls, are returning in force.
On Saturday racist cops in North Carolina decided to take it upon themselves to pepper spray families and children on a peaceful ‘get out the vote’ march in North Carolina.
Suffice to say none of the cops involved in launching the pepper spray attack have been disciplined. In fact they probably got rewarded when they returned to the police precinct for services to the Trump campaign.
“I saw a little girl, probably five, being carried off sobbing and coughing. She was dressed as a fairy or a princess”
‘I Am Change’ march participant
Amy Goodman at Democracy Now has the full story:
How the ‘get out the vote’ BLM march was attacked
Police in Alamance County in North Carolina pepper-sprayed a peaceful get-out-the-vote march Saturday, descending on the crowd after they stopped near a Confederate monument to kneel in honor of George Floyd, who was killed by police in Minneapolis in May.
Viral videos of the violent police action show officers in riot gear attacking the marchers, including young children and elderly people, who had intended to walk to a polling place on the last day of early voting in North Carolina.
At least eight people were arrested, including march organizer Rev. Greg Drumwright, who says police gave the crowd of hundreds only 14 seconds to clear out before attacking.
“We never made it to the polls,” says Drumwright. “We believe that this interaction, this interference from the local authorities, has obstructed our marchers from not only lifting up our First Amendment rights but also our rights to vote.”
More from Democracy Now here
The murder of Walter Wallace is the latest brutal outburst of racism from American police.
Wallace had a history of mental health issues but instead of getting the help he needed, he ended up dead at the hands of cops who don’t know how to shoot to injury – they always shoot to kill.
The murder of 27-year-old Wallace led to two days of mass protests in Philadelphia as black and white protesters demanded justice for the slain man.
In last week’s protests, at least five police cars were torched and some 91 people arrested.
The Pennsylvania national guard were shipped in at the end of last week to put down the revolt, but the temperature is expected to rise again when the body cam footage is released on Wednesday – the day after the presidential election.
A 9pm curfew has been imposed across Philadelphia.
As usual the white supremacists in the White House were quick to condemn ‘mobs’ and said nothing at all about yet another killing by racist cops.
At a campaign rally in Arizona on Wednesday last week, the thug in chief Donald Trump said: “Last night, the city of Philadelphia was ransacked by violent mobs and Biden-supported people.
“These were all Biden-supported people, and he wouldn’t even call them out.”
The police did have plenty to say though.
Someone called John McNesby from the the police union (lodge) said the police involved in the murder “are traumatised by being involved in a fatal shooting”.
Yeah right!
Derek Chauvin – the cop who killed George Floyd is out of prison and wandering around as a free man as he waits for a trial at which he will no doubt walk free.
As 400 years of history attests, to get racial justice in America requires struggle.
No Justice No Peace, no racist police.
An explosion of outrage over the Breonna Taylor murder at the hands of police continues. Anger has spread out in a shockwave of protests from Louisville following the failure of Kentucky state prosecutors to bring murder charges against a police officer.
In a statement on Wednesday Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron read out mealy mouthed excuses for yet another police murder of a black woman.
Breonna’s mother, Tamika Palmer, wrote a letter that was read out a press conference today, where there were calls for the release of the transcript of the grand jury’s deliberations.
The letter was read out loud by Palmer’s sister Bianca Austin:
“I was reassured Wednesday of why I have no faith in the legal system, in the police, in the law — that are not made to protect us Black and Brown people.
“When I speak on it, I’m considered an angry Black woman. But know this: I am an angry Black woman. I am not angry for the reasons that you would like me to be. But angry because our Black women keep dying at the hands of police officers.”
The fact that a black man – Kentucky’s attorney general – delivered the statement that amounts to a heinous travesty of justice, says a lot about the situation in the US, and rubs salt into the wounds. Cameron is a Republican appointee.
Despite the presence of many black faces in high places, the police kill black people with impunity. Already this year alone they have killed 1,010 people.
As always a hugely disproportionate number of the dead are black people – averaging around 35% of the annual total from a African-American population that accounts for only 12% of the population.
Protesters in their thousands from Chicago to Los Angeles and New York and all across America are increasingly asking where this will all end.
The systemic nature of racism in the US means it is deeply embedded in police departments, courts and the prison system.
A reality is dawning that uprooting centuries-old oppression will take something akin to another revolution in America.
And as the struggle for black liberation has advanced it has always been met with a racist backlash.
Today is no different it may seem, but the breakthrough that has seen milions of white people passsively or actively participate support BLM is our new strength.
Trump is whipping up racist vigilantee violence against peaceful protesters – revelling in it as he proclaims his intention to rule for another four years, regardless of how citizens vote in the presidential election, and ram through a conservative supreme court judge that could setback civil rights and womens’ basic human rights.
Two cops were shot this week and a suspect has been arrested.
The stakes are high and getting higher and the movement is meeting the challenge. It grows stronger with every outrage as the movement fuses with wider questions about the real nature of American democracy and freedom.
Justice for Breonna Taylor and all the dead! No Justice No Peace!
Derek Chauvin and the other three ex Minneapolis police officers involved in the murder of George Floyd appeared in court on Friday.
Chauvin has been charged with first degree murder.
The other three accomplices to the murder of George Floyd – Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao – are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter and are free on bail.
Police defence claims that Floyd died from an overdose although the world saw him die because a policeman had his knee pressed on his neck for 8 minutes and 45 seconds.
As civil rights lawyer Ben Crump put it: ‘The only overdose was an overdose of police force.
The world saw what happened. ‘Who are you going to believe? Your eyes, or these killer cops?’
The ex cops were greeted with jeers and abuse from protesters when they left the court.
In the UK there were solidarity protests to demand justice for George Floyd on Friday.
Kyle Rittenhouse shot three protesters, killing two in Kenosha Wisconsin.
If the teenager had had a Muslim name what just happened may very well have been treated as a terrorist attack, but not in America.
Instead Trump and Republicans have the audacity and gall to talk of ‘law and order’ while police departments are at war against the communities they are meant to serve.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said that Rusten Sheskey was the name of the police officer responsible for shooting Blake.
Neither Sheskey or any other officers at the scene have been disciplined.
Shockingly, there has still not been a word from Trump directly on the murder of Jacob Blake by police, or even an attempt to reach out to the family. But protesters are determined to fight for justice whatever repression the police throw at their movement .
Meanwhile, white militia and racist groups colluded with police according to reports.
The latest outrage by racist cops has sparked rebellion across pro-sports in the US and world tennis, with fixtures being postponed.
After his murdering spree Rittenhouse is filmed walking down the road towards police with his hands up and an automatic weapon slung by his side. The police do nothing, they just roll on by. The killer went home only giving himself the following day.
Also below see a moment when the police openly fraternise with the far right militia:
And much of the organising by the white militia types and vigilantes has been on Facebook, as this disturbing report from the Guardian shows:
Hours before a 17-year-old white man allegedly killed two people and injured a third at protests over a police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a local militia group posted a call on Facebook: “Any patriots willing to take up arms and defend our city tonight from evil thugs?”
It’s not yet clear if Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager arrested on suspicion of murder after last night’s shootings in Kenosha, was among the people who responded to the call the militia group had posted, which was later featured on the conspiracy theory site InfoWars.
more
Facebook on Wednesday removed the page of the Kenosha Guard.
A police officer in Georgia was fired as of Friday after videos on TikTok that drew millions of views showed him using a Taser in the arrest of a Black woman, the authorities said.
The Police Department in Gwinnett County, which is about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta, said it had begun its investigation into the officer, Michael Oxford, before the video spread widely on TikTok.
Investigators examined whether Officer Oxford, who is white, used de-escalation techniques and whether he violated departmental policy on Aug. 18 when he arrested the woman, Kyndesia Smith. more
Protests have broken out in Wisconsin after police shot a black man many seven times in the back in. what police describe as a domestic incident.
Victim Jacob Blake was taken to hospital for surgery and is now fighting for his life in intensive care.
The video below posted by an attorney who appeared on the scene, online shows Mr Blake being shot as gets into a car in Kenosha. His young children are in the car.
Authorities in the city declared an emergency overnight curfew after unrest broke out following the shooting.
Hundreds marched on police headquarters on Sunday night to demand justice.
As of writing, no Kenosha Police Department officers have been disciplined.
Reactions to the video were swift. Within hours, protesters gathered.
The short video, shot Sunday afternoon, shows members of the Kenosha Police Department (KPD) pointing a gun at Jacob Blake while he walks toward a vehicle. While Blake opens the door, an officer grabs his shirt and shoots him at close range, in the back, seven times. Blake slumps against the car horn while onlookers react in horror.
(Video may be disturbing to some viewers.)
read more
Only in America can a black kid get sent to jail for not doing her homework. It’s unbelievable but true.
Your help is urgently required. We reproduce below the email we received from US civil rights organisation The Color of Change.
Have you heard the story about Grace?
15-year-old Grace, a Black girl from Michigan, was sent to jail during the height of the pandemic because she didn’t complete her homework.1 Rather than implementing a humane plan to get her back on track, Judge Mary Ellen Brennan decided to punish her with months in a cage.
How did we get here? And why was jail time the only remedy for a 15-year-old girl?
Far too often, schools, prosecutors, and elected officials take a “zero tolerance” approach when dealing with behavioral problems in schools. Minor infractions like cursing, not completing homework, fighting with classmates, and missing class are seen as “criminal offenses” in the eyes of the court. And because Black communities and schools are overpoliced, Black children are disproportionately arrested and sent to juvenile detention for these minor issues.
We shouldn’t have to say this, but here we are: Kids. Do. Not. Belong. In. Cages.
At a May probation hearing for Grace, Judge Brennan, the presiding judge of the Oakland County Family Court Division, sentenced her to juvenile detention for violating her probation. Judge Brennan argued that Grace was “guilty on failure to submit to any schoolwork and getting up for school.”
Our criminal legal system is hellbent on doling out punishment to Black kids in court — their safety and wellbeing be damned. Even in the height of a deadly pandemic, Grace was separated from her family and sent to a jail facility where she’s now at a higher risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19. And that decision was upheld last week when Judge Brennan denied Grace’s tragic pleas to be released from jail.2
As shocking as her story is, there are thousands of Graces across the country — young Black girls who’ve been arrested, caged, and punished instead of receiving the counseling, mental health treatment, and academic support they need.
Tell Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper: Free Grace Now!
Too often, Black and Brown kids are funneled from their schools to juvenile detention centers for matters that should be handled at school — minor offenses like disciplinary issues, tardiness, and truancy. What Black students actually need are trained professionals who can support them through high-stress environments. That means more counselors, therapists, and mediation experts.
Judge Brennan and the Oakland County court would rather invest in criminalizing a young Black girl than in her academic success and mental health.
Add your name now: Stand with us to #FreeGrace.
The criminal legal system should not have a role in disciplining our children. But because of the lack of investment in schools, teachers, and counselors, overfunded police departments, correctional systems, and jails are used as an intervention for Black kids. And the numbers speak for themselves. Black girls are six times more likely to be suspended than their white counterparts. And in Michigan, Black youth are incarcerated more than four times as often as white youth.3
Elected leaders invest hundreds of millions of dollars into policing our communities — but what would it look like if this money were given to counselors and teachers? What would it look like if resources were spent on investing in the mental health of our kids? We have to stop the systemic criminalization of Black youth starting with releases those who are needlessly incarcerated.
Until justice is real,
Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard, Ernie, McKayla and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References:
1. “A Teenager Didn’t Do Her Online Schoolwork. So a Judge Sent Her to Juvenile Detention.” ProPublica. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/255754?t=10&akid=44229%2E6328536%2EpC0Xn5
2. “Michigan judge denies release of teenage girl who was jailed after not doing homework.” NBC News. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/256134?t=12&akid=44229%2E6328536%2EpC0Xn5
3. “A Teenager Didn’t Do Her Online Schoolwork. So a Judge Sent Her to Juvenile Detention.” ProPublica. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/255754?t=14&akid=44229%2E6328536%2EpC0Xn5
4. “Cops and No Counselors.” ACLU. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/134841?t=16&akid=44229%2E6328536%2EpC0Xn5
