Kay Whitlock
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@PatriciaLevesque @nancy a heitzeg What a beautiful post, Patricia.
I'm following the Trayvon Martin case closely, and I must say that I do not feel we've definitively won the narrative about him. He is still being painted as a criminal, fiercely, by many. That story is far from over, and I fear the trial will be a true nightmare.
The defense attorneys for Zimmerman have gone full-tilt boogie in trying to control the narrative.
I'm 63, and one thing I've learned is that the Right never, ever stops. But our side does, thinking we've won victories, only to discover that what we thought we won, or even what we did win, is up for grabs again. I wish we were as relentlessly persistent.
Maybe we will learn to be.
Remember in the Trayvon Martin case: the "black youth are criminals" narrative has had mainstream media support throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. White media only recognizes an Emmett Till later, and then uses that recognition to pretend that "we were for him all along."
That's a fiction, and a dangerous one. Racism still continues to drive the Trayvon Martin case. Count on it. He is still presumed guilty, despite our constant challenge to that racist narrative.
@Patriot Daily Lovely to see you, Patriot Daily. Just stop by when you can. No onerous expectations. Sending you all good wishes.
Torture is inflicted both by individuals and the state - and by organizations affiliated with no state. We need to tackle this as culture change, just as we need to tackle rape culture and incarceration culture. They aren't just "issues," but mindsets. What some people believe they have a right to do to others who are not fully human to them. To shore up their own sense of fear/inadequacy. Or just to feel powerful over somebody, anybody, else.
What should happen for Castro? Well, I won't deal with him specifically, but try to check out next week's post, when we address transformative/healing justice. It's too easy to focus loathing and contempt on him while we forget how ingrained this despicable mindset is.
But I know you know that. Onward. Together.
@badphairy @nancy a heitzeg Oops - I meant "how slavery morphs into criminality supported by automatic presumption of "innocence" and superiority and normativity of The White Way....etc.
@badphairy @KayWhitlock @nancy a heitzeg Yes. How slavery morphs into criminality - to save white people from responsibility for the massive, structural harm we have done and continue to do.
@nancy a heitzeg "...because their lives belie the system." Yes. And those we don't kill, we destroy in other ways: extended solitary confinement, felony disenfranchisement, denial of basic survival benefits and housing. Poor people, especially black people, must die while the corporate thieves and murderers flourish.
We need transformative/healing justice perspectives so badly. We need to replace this society's ethic of disposability and exclusion - throughout society. Not only in the criminal legal system, but in education, health care, employment....
Thank you for this.
@VikkiHey, Vikki, thank you for the great work you're doing. And for this bookhttps://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=514 and others.
Amen to "slave catchers" and $2 million for this, when human needs go wanting. Vile. Obscene.
@Seeta Thank you, Seeta, for the CMP blog and opportunity to write about this.
It's also true that this is giving us a strange but perhaps important opportunity to help tell the stories of COINTELPRO and the government's effort to destroy people of color, anti-poverty, and other justice/freedom struggles in the 1960s and 1970s.
@nancy a heitzeg And communities of color organizing for justice have always been at the center of the target. Time for everyone of good will and good faith to stand in this storm.
Very important that we let people know the real Assata Shakur story.
Be sure to see Prison Culture blog's call for Assata Shakur teach-ins, 2 - 9 June!
http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2013/05/07/host-a-teach-in-about-assata-shakur-june-2-through-9/
@nancy a heitzeg @KayWhitlock @Seeta well - especially racial and gender justice.
@nancy a heitzeg @KayWhitlock @Seeta Jerry Brown is in thrall to the correctional officer unions. I'm pro-union, but also not afraid to call unions out when they fail to stand for justice - especially racial justice.
@SeetaAmen. There's a lot he can do without Congress - not everything, but a lot. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/can-obama-stop-uprising-gitmo
@nancy a heitzegThat's the first prison hunger strike I was aware of - the IRA strikers in Ireland. 10 people - including Bobby Sands – died. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/23/thatcher-s-grudging-respect-for-ira-hunger-strikers-revealed.html
UN calls forced feeding at Guantanamo "torture: http://rt.com/news/guantanamo-prison-torture-un-677/
Prison Culture blog on "Wishing them out of existence" and GITMO: http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2013/05/01/on-wishing-people-out-of-existence-gitmo/
Thank you, Nancy. Meditations and prayers for all hunger strikers and their families. Making my views known to policy makers.
Thank you, Nancy. Huge gratitude to Angela Y. Davis and to all groups - such as Prison Culture blog, Project NIA, Southerners on New Ground and others who are bringing powerful imagination to the work of movement building.
And thank you, Pablo Neruda.
My God - the tragedies associated with the Boston events, and how politicians, blogs, and media dealt with them are unending.
Twitter is down right now - or so my browser says. I will tweet this asap.
@badphairy Hi, badphairy. Great to see you.
@Angola 3 News @KayWhitlock Amen. A million times amen.