Live
Audio Only
The police murders of Eric Garner, John Crawford III, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, and Michael Brown in July and August, 2014 reminded the world of the reality faced by black communities in the United States.
Their deaths have resurfaced sentiments of a strong U.S. legacy of anti-black racism, and exposed the continued persecution of black people.
Across the United States, entire communities, organizations, and individuals are demanding justice for black lives lost at the hands of state sanctioned violence in over 100 days of peaceful protest ranging from #HandsUpWalkOut and solidarity days with Ferguson.
These last several months have also witnessed a growing national consciousness and willingness to take actions against injustices on national and global levels.
Alongside protests denouncing police brutality, people have demonstrated against the U.S. war on drugs and continued exploitation of workers. Protests have erupted demanding justice in Ferguson, for the missing 43 students in Ayotzinapa, Mexico, and people in over 200 cities workers have walked out demanding a living wage.
While respectfully different in their own ways, people continue to build connections between these struggles and their impacts especially on black lives and communities. State sanctioned violence is not isolated to police brutality but also relates to continued high rates of homelessness, unemployment and educational disparities, among other issues.
RT AguayoGS: RT AnonymousMex_: #Ferguson #Palestine #Ayotzinapa todos Unidos por una misma causa. Unamos fuer... pic.twitter.com/zxkB4e96U8
— Noticias Ayotzinapa (@AyotzinapaFeed)
December 6, 2014
(Ferguson, Palestine, Ayotzinapa, all united for one cause...)
PHOTOS: Walmart workers organize the largest Black Friday protest ever http://t.co/TUESJFHdko pic.twitter.com/cZrjt7EGcn
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM)
November 28, 2014
Most recently, protests denouncing the grand juries’ decisions in Ferguson and New York to not indict officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner respectively, have catalyzed black communities and allies into action to interrupt U.S. society.
Streets, major highways and shopping centers throughout the country from Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Boston and to the nation’s capital have continued to be reclaimed and filled with voices chanting: #BlackLivesMatter.
Protests againt police violence are mounting in response to #Ferguson & #EricGarner http://t.co/z7IneWpEX2 pic.twitter.com/mCc5wzXlmS
— The Root (@TheRoot)
December 6, 2014
According to Alicia Garza, one of the founders, #BlackLivesMatter centers on the often forgotten and marginalized lives of Black, queer, and trans people, the differently abled, Black-undocumented people, those with records, women, and all Black lives across the gender spectrum.
Today’s growing movement continues to remember the lives of Tamir Rice, Shereese Francis, Yvette Smith, Jordan Baker, Ezell Ford, Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo, Fred Hampton and countless others taken by state authorities over the decades.
So...if you really believe that all lives matter, you will fight like hell for Black lives.
— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter)
December 6, 2014
The current protests are just the beginning of a growing push for transformation in U.S. society in order to transcend this current crisis by dismantling a system that perpetuates violence against black communities and devalues black life. These protests are proving their potential to reinvision a movement for black liberation in the United States.
The Assassination of Fred Hampton 45 Years Later
Chicago police murdered Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton in his sleep in the wee hours of the hours 45 years ago. Read more...
Ferguson Protests in Los Angeles, a Legacy of the Past
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon, in response to the Grand Jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown. Read more...
We Cannot Know How Many People the Police Kill
The killing of the unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, by the Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson, last month, has sparked a national conversation about the epidemic of police brutality and extra-judicial killings in the United States. One of the questions that has consistently been raised in this conversation since the shooting of Michael Brown is why can't we, as a public, find out how many people are killed by the police? Read more...
The Shooting of Michael Brown is a Feminist Issue
Women have historically remained on the fringe of historical narrative, and left out of history books and popular tales. This invisibility also plays out in relation to police brutality and the black community. While it is common to hear names like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. It is less common to hear names like Aiyana Stanley Jones, Rekia Boyd, and Tyisha Miller; all young girls and women shot or violated by members of law enforcement. In fact, many argue that the killing of Michael Brown is a feminist issue. Read more...
We Cannot Forget Emmett Till
Fifty-nine years ago today, 14-year-old African American Emmett Till was murdered by white supremacists while visiting his great-uncle in Money, Mississippi. His death, like the recent epidemic of murdered Black youth in the United States, called national attention to the necessary fight for Civil Rights and Black liberation. Read more...
Latinos Call for Ferguson Solidarity
The issue of race in the United States simmers below the surface of almost everything. With many racial injustices taking place in the country on a daily basis, every now and then, something can trigger the pent up frustration, hurt, anger and mistrust, making it all boil over. Read more...
Legacy of Resistance to the US Police State
Anti-colonial struggles swept the American continent during European colonization. Against new diseases, religious indoctrination and colonial order, indigenous nations of the Americas along with millions of diverse Africans relocated by the European Trans Atlantic Slave Trade launched offensives against European settlers. As early as the 1500s throughout the abolition of slavery throughout the 1800s in the Americas, people fought for their freedom, dignity and self-determination. Read more...
Defamation of Character and Criminalization of Black People in the US
The media’s engagement and representation of black people and communities in the United States has accompanied everyday stereotypes of black men and women since slavery. The mainstream media’s portrayal supports the state’s attempts to justify police brutality and white violence against black communities and individual victims. Read more...
Every 28 Hours a Black Person is Killed by the Police in the US
Every 28 hours a black person is killed by a police or security officer, according to Operation Ghetto Storm: 2012 Annual Report. Read more...
We Want our Freedom Now!’- 50th Anniversary of the Fight for Black Liberation
Then Mississippi director of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Dave Dennis’ passionately said "Stand up! Hold your heads up! Don’t bow down anymore! We want our freedom now!" as he gave the eulogy for James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman in August 1964. The Ku Klux Klan murdered the three Freedom Summer organizers in Mississippi in an event that became a turning point in the fight for civil and human rights in the United States, particularly for African Americans. Read more...
US Officer Texted Union Right after Shooting Unarmed Black Man
Police Officer Peter Liang has been accused of “negligence” by an anonymous law enforcement source after fatally shooting Akai Gurley. Read more...
US Protests Continue as UN Official Criticizes Police Impunity
A senior U.N. official has described widespread concerns over impunity in a string of high profile police killings of black men and boys in the United States as “legitimate.” Read more...
Protests Erupt in NY after Decision in Eric Garner's Case
Protests spread like wildfire in the streets of U.S. cities after a Staten Island grand jury failed to indict police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who strangled and killed 43-year-old Eric Garner. Read more...
Hundreds Protest the Killing of Another Black Man in Phoenix
Unarmed Rumain Brisbon was delivering dinner to his family Tuesday night when a police officer shot and killed him. Read more...
Arizona, US, Protests over Latest Police Shooting
Police claim Rumain Brisbon had been suspected of selling drugs shortly before he was gunned down by an officer, but one of his friends says he was delivering fast food to his children. Read more...
New York Protests Another Unpunished Murder
Protests continued in New York, after yet another grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer responsible for the death of a Eric Garner. Read more...
