Happy Birthday Oscar Grant

xMabaitx blogs about race, racial identity, skin color, and Oscar Grant:

I have determined that my former desire to ”fit into” a certain racial or ethnic distinction has very little bearing on my own sense of personal self-worth. The greater issue rather is how the white man’s ideas of race and ethnicity consequently force unwanted social meanings upon my body.

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An Open Letter on Behalf of Amy Goodman

Katrina vanden Heuvel blogs:

We join with you in condemning the arrest and harassment of Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and members of her crew on the first day of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. These arrests were a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists and an assault on our constitution.

Goodman was arrested for simply questioning police about the unlawful detention of producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar who were covering street demonstrations in St. Paul. All three were roughly handled.

Montreal-North is Burning

Kersplebedeb blogs:

Montreal-North is burning. After the murder of Fredy Villenueva by the Montreal Police (SPVM), and the riots which broke out to express the people’s anger, the community of Montreal-North remains angry. The time has come to organize a social and political offensive against the local elites who are trying to cover up this state of affairs.

Montréal-Nord Republik (Montreal North Republik) is a new voice in the neighbourhood. It intends to put forward another view of the recent events around the death of Fredy Villanueva and the riots which took place in Montreal North. The group also intends to dispute the dominant discourse which is insinuating that the rioters and protesters are just apolitical hooligans. Montréal-Nord Republik hopes to bring together the neighbourhood community along with all the population of Montreal in order to denounce police repression as well as economic, social, cultural and political oppression.

Killing Has Become the Norm

Aruni Kashyap blogs on the recent repression by the Indian government on the people of India:

Manoj Deka’s brutal murder by Asam police in the name of counter insurgency operation holds multiple shocking implications about current politics in Assam. Manoj Deka was a senior leader of the Communist Party of India, Assam and held the post of the Morigaon district CPI General Secretary.

[Hat Tip: Bhupinder]

Hip hop activists attacked and arrested for daring to hold the NYPD accountable

Jack blogs:

I’ve been wanting to blog about this since I heard about it last week, but Vivir Latino and illvox and Racewire and a bunch of other folks have gotten to it already…

…

Obstruction of justice and resisting arrest should really be renamed the Activist Charges, since they seem to be what all of us are threatened with whenever we’re arrested for either protesting or observing the cops and holding them accountable for their actions. The latter seems to particularly piss the cops off. I know this from personal experience, having been pepper sprayed along with other community members and seeing two friends being violently arrested for doing just that – questioning police actions, asking for badge numbers, taking pictures of their activity. All the charges against the two people arrested were dropped. Three members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement’s Cop Watch were arrested while videotaping an arrest in Brooklyn in 2005. All charges against them were later dropped. When the cops went on a bike-confiscating frenzy in the East Village last summer, two people who dared to observe and question them were arrested. It happens over and over again.

Testimony of Nicéforo Urbieta

The blogger at El Enemigo Comun quotes Nicéforo Urbieta on the recent problems Oaxaca:

Today, Friday November 2, at around 7:00 a.m., people from various neighborhoods were gathering at the 5 Señores Circle to erect a traditional altar in commemoration of the dead among the peoples of Oaxaca. People were arriving with flowers, special bread, candles, and food, as well as sawdust, pigments, and truckloads of sand for creating figures on a funeral carpet.

Just then, a black car without license plates charged a group of comrades who were beginning to organize the event, trying to run over them; the car then made a high-speed exit. At the same time, pairs of policemen armed with AK-47 and F:A.L. high-power assault rifles walked up and down the sidewalks, and others took photos and videos of the participants so as to intimidate them and make a police record of them. Having done this, they left.

Stop Police Brutality on Women and Trans People of Color

Brown Femi Power writes:

The amazing women of Incite! Women of Color Against Violence have created a powerful brochure about how to end police violence against women and trans people of color. My recommendation? PRINT IT OUT AND DISTRIBUTE!!!!! Also, if you would like copies of the brochure, you can also e-mail incite_national@yahoo.com, with the number of copies you’d like and an address to send it to!

Rotten to the Core: America’s Justice System

Exodus Mentality blogs about an article he read concerning a cover up by Atlanta police officers:

It is absolutely essential that we recognize that this is not just some little problem with a few bad cops. This is a clear and glaring symptom of a of a diseased rotten to the core system. This article lays out a big piece of the problem at the law enforcement level, for reasons that I can only speculate, there is a significant segment of the law enforcement community engaged in unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral behavior and being protected by the remainder of the police force.

Rotten to the Core: America’s Justice System

Exodus Mentality blogs about an article he read concerning a cover up by Atlanta police officers:

It is absolutely essential that we recognize that this is not just some little problem with a few bad cops. This is a clear and glaring symptom of a of a diseased rotten to the core system. This article lays out a big piece of the problem at the law enforcement level, for reasons that I can only speculate, there is a significant segment of the law enforcement community engaged in unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral behavior and being protected by the remainder of the police force.

No Land, No House, No Vote

Sokari, of the blog Black Looks links us to an interview with System Cele an activist and member of Abahlali baseMjondolo:

A time ago when you see the police van you felt that you are now safe, but now things have changed. In the Kennedy Road informal settlement they come when ever they want. They go door to door searching men, beating them without reason, making them to do ‘push ups’.