What do the Black Panthers, the American Indian Movement, the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, the Move Organization and Black Lives Matter have in common? They have all been denounced and delegitimized by the corporate establishment and mainstream media.
The Civil Rights and Revolutionary Struggles of the ‘60s and 70s challenged American racism, classism and sexism. They also disrupted our imperialist foreign policy. Eventually, the United States Government brought down or seriously humbled the Black Panthers, the Anti-Vietnam War Movement, the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, the American Indian Movement, etc. Many leaders were jailed. Will the current struggle face the same fate?
In the late 1990s, a movement to free all U.S. political prisoners and prisoners of war began to take root. Several wide scale political actions took place in Washington, DC and Philadelphia. Filmmakers, Liane Scott, Joan Yoshiwara, Eddie Becker and Jorge Abeledo covered these events. The result is The Walls of Jericho and the Movement That’s Shaking Them, a two-hour documentary, that includes activists protesting on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, the Move 9, the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, Black Panthers Russel Maroon Shoats and Eddie Conway and many more.
Revolutionary thinkers Kathleen Cleaver, Carl Dix, Chokwe Lumumba, Angela Davis, Ramona Africa all weigh in on the state of the movement and the related issues of police brutality and the prison industrial complex. Rank and file activists also share their knowledge and opinions. The Walls of Jericho serves as a popular education primer on political prisoners jailed as a result of the civil and human rights uprisings of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
It cannot be denied that in the last half century, racism, heterosexism, xenophobia, etc. have become less overt. But at the same time, US military misadventures migrated from Central America and Southeast Asia to the oil-rich Middle East. The planet’s resources continue to be assaulted. Police brutality and mass incarceration replaced Jim Crow. The revolutionary work that blossomed in the ‘60s and ‘70s is not finished. Tactics used to disrupt activism of the past are and will be used again.
We invite you to join us at this screening of The Walls of Jericho and the Movement That’s Shaking Them and the follow up discussion. In the spirit of Sankofa, we will learn from the past and move even more boldly into a future shaped by the people and not the forces of oligarchy.
Below is a segment from the documentary that focuses on police brutality.
According to the Department of Employment Services, just five years ago, the unemployment rate in Ward 7 hovered around 19 percent. In Ward 8, it was routinely more than 20 percent. Today, the rates are 9.5 percent and 11.3 percent respectively. Ward 5, another area with stubbornly high unemployment has almost matched the overall unemployment rate in the District at 6.4 percent. This is all very good news. The bad news is that these decreases don’t seem to be reaching the District’s returning citizens.
Approximately 67,000 individuals with a prior conviction reside in the District of Columbia, that’s 10 percent of the population. (1) According to the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) the percentage of unemployed among the offender population in the District for Black Non-Hispanic segment of the population was 64 percent in 2014.
The same scarcity of educational and training opportunities that put many at risk for criminal behavior remains unchanged during and after prison. Seventy-seven percent of D.C. offenders who return from prison received no employment assistance while incarcerated, and only one-third of those stated that assistance was available to them post release. (2)
It is no wonder that returning citizens who want to provide for their families are challenged to do so. This remains true even for those who are more motivated than those in the workforce without criminal records.
The DC Reentry Task Force (DCRTF) is a reentry advocacy group of entrepreneurs, academia, reentry professionals and returning citizens. We understand the need for innovation in the development of 21st century solutions to address the barriers faced by the formerly incarcerated as they seek to re-establish themselves back into society. Which is why we’ve worked to take a lead in the discussion in supporting Bill 21-463, the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program (IIEP) Act of 2015. (3)
On June 23, 2016, the Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs committee voted unanimously to move the bill forward to a full council vote on June 28, 2016. The downside, though, is that the bill was passed and moved forward subject to appropriation. (4) In voicing their support at the mark-up for the legislation, Councilmember Elissa Silverman noted that she “Really thinks this is a creative approach.” She continued by saying, “This is a bill that’ll take a first step toward looking at how we address entrepreneurship issue.” Brandon Todd echoed her sentiments that, “This bill is yet another step towards helping this population attain jobs and self-sufficiency. “
While Councilmember Charles Allen praised the bill saying, “Returning citizen’s best chance at employment and a successful future … is by turning to the ability to being an entrepreneur to start their own business,” he also had his reservations. “One piece that gives me anxiety,” he said, “is just that it’s not currently funded.”
At the first reading of the bill on June 28, Councilmember David Grosso echoed Allen’s concerns “On bills that we [Council] move forward in the past that are subject to appropriation it is rather rare that they ever get funded.” He further stated, “We put programs in place that will not become effective for over an entire year.”
On the other hand, Councilmember Orange said “We’re hopeful the Mayor will send down this bill as part of her budget (in FY2018) and that it would be in fact approved.”
Councilmember Grosso’s point about bills subject to appropriation not being funded is a valid one. Dating back to 2001, the council has approved 42 legislative measures that have not funded to date, and six (6) partially funded.
It is apparent that little or no effort was put forth by the BCRA committee to get the Executive to include Bill 21-463 in her FY2017 budget. The main objective for all returning citizens and their supporters should be to get the bill funded during the FY2018 budget cycle, and correct any other language issues that could render parts of the bill subject to legal challenges in the future. Also, to ensure that the Department of Small and Local Business Development be clarified as the lead agency, and DOES act in support of this important effort. We hope to get amendments to change the legislation accordingly in the near future. Passage of the bill clearly shows that the council views entrepreneurship for the returning citizens as a viable economic development strategy. The DCRTF believes the full council supports proper funding for the bill, which will effectuate real change in the lives of our returning citizens and their families.
So, you’ve been horrified by the many murders that we’ve witnessed in the media. You wonder what you can do? Here are some events coming up this week that could help to plug you into the movement.
You can also support the movement by supporting the Black Lives Matter Guiding Principles. Aaron Goggans , an organizer for the Black Lives Movement in the Washington, D.C. area, lays them out below.
Below is a slightly modified version of the guiding principles adapted from the recent Movement for Black Lives Convening. #2 was added in order to contextualize the principles for non-Black people working in solidarity for the movement. They help paint of picture of what the Movement for Black Lives is and should provide and excellent starting point for discussion.
1. ALL Black Lives Matter: Queer Black Lives, Trans* Black Lives, Formerly Incarcerated Black Lives, Poor/Working Class Black Lives, Differently abled Black Lives, Black Women’s Lives, Immigrant Black Lives, Black Elderly and Children’s Lives. ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER and are creators of this space. We throw no one under the bus. We Rise Together.
2. All of our work is part of a larger movement for collective liberation. The movement for collective liberation is a movement for liberation every human being on the planet from each and every system of thought, belief or action that oppresses them. This means that none of us are free until all of us are free. This also means that heart of this struggle is those who experience multiple forms of simultaneous oppression. Furthermore, this requires that all allies see their Black liberation work as part of their work towards their own liberation. Women’s Liberation, the overthrowing of capitalism, Asian Liberation, Queer Liberation, Trans*Liberation, Indigenous Liberation, the end of colonialism etc are all connected, vital, and must work together.
3. Thriving Instead of Surviving: Our vision is based on the world we want, not the one we are currently in. We seek to transform, not simply react. We want our people to thrive, not just exist. Think beyond the possible.
4. Experimentation and innovation must be built into our work. Embrace the best tools, practices and tactics and leave those behind that no longer serve us.
5. Evaluation and assessment must be built into our culture. Critical reflection must be part of all our work. We learn from our mistakes and our victories.
6. Principled Struggle can exist in a positive environment. We must be honest with one another by embracing direct, loving communication.
7. Love/Self Love is practiced in every element of all we do. Love and Self-Love must be a driver of our work and an indicator of our success. Without this principle and without healing, we will harm each other and undermine our movement.
8. 360 degree vision: We honor past struggles and wisdom from elders. The work we do today builds the foundations of movements of tomorrow. We consider our mark on future generations.
9. Self-care means we build resilient spaces by budgeting time, energy, and resources for healing. Self-care is a regular, consistent, intentional, and essential practice.
10. The most Directly Affected People are experts at their own lives and should be in leadership, at the center of our movement, and telling their stories directly.
11. Training and Leadership Development should be fundamental. Our movement must constantly grow and leadership must constantly multiply.
Washington, DC — The Movement for Black Lives continued protests to denounce recent killings of Black men on Saturday night in Washington, DC. The Stop Police Terror in DC Project, BlackLivesMatterDMV, BYP100 (Black Youth Project) and allies met at the African American Civil War Memorial and marched through city streets and into Georgetown. Once there they blocked traffic on the main M Street thoroughfare and then blocked Rock Creek Parkway.
The protest lasted over three hours, walking several miles through the city and resulted in no arrests. Many joined along the way, including activists, youth, and families.
The new protests came as video reports came to light of more killings by police of Black men. Delrawn Small, 38, was killed by an off-duty police officer in a road rage incident in Brooklyn, NY. A video published online countered claims by an off duty police officer that Smalls had allegedly punched the officer in the face. Smalls was shot less than two seconds after approaching the unmarked police vehicle.
Another man, Alva Braziel, 38, was shot 10 times by police in Houston, after he went looking for his horse which had gone missing. In that incident Houston police said that Braziel had brandished a firearm.
But Eugene Puryear, an organizer with The Stop Police Terror In DC Project, recognized that the Black Lives Matter movement had made progress.
“It’s only been a couple of years since we’ve been pushing, and already we’ve brought this issue to the forefront of the country,” said Puryear.
Yet a mass shooting of Dallas police officers during a protest Thursday night, which resulted in five police killed and seven wounded, cast doubt that unrest would end any time soon.
Puryear said that the Dallas incident was an unfortunate tragedy but was “not unexpected.”
“When you have a situation when over a thousand people are killed every year by police and no real resolution in the court system…it’s like putting a pot on boil and eventually it’s going to boil over,” said Puryear.
He said the increased national tension is moving the country towards a boiling stage, and change must now happen both socially and politically.
Reports of Black Lives Matter protests dominated the Sunday morning news. Protests were reported in major cities across the country as tensions rose over the spate of recent killings.
Area groups planned to hold a vigil at the African American Civil War Memorial Sunday night.
In June, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced proposed changes to training requirements for special police officers. The following is the response by Pan-African Community Action.
WASHINGTON DC: Pan-African Community Action (PACA), the organization of Beverly Smith, mother of Alonzo Smith who was killed by special police November 1, 2015, responded to the announcement of Mayor Muriel Bowser, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier, and Director of the Department of Consumer of Regulatory Affairs Melinda Bolling proposing changes to the training requirements for commissioned special police officers (SPOs) in the District.The proposed changes are said to be in response to the circumstances in the cases of Alonzo Smith and of 74-year-old MedStar patient James McBride, also killed by SPOs Sept. 29, 2015 at Washington Hospital Center.
It is the position of PACA that yesterday’s announcement was public relations ploy clearly timed so that the City could convolute the issue with the unrelated tribute to Stephen T. Johns, a SPO killed in the line of duty at the Holocaust Museum on June 10, 2009. The underlining message: “Regardless of any state of affairs the sanctity of and benevolent regard for police and security officers who protect the system is paramount.”
In Alonzo Smith’s case the fact of the matter is that there appears to be no justifiable reason for arresting him in the first place. Authorities and the press consistently ignore that it was an unarmed Alonzo last heard crying out “Help! Help! They are trying to kill me!” which was the reason the MPD was called to the scene by Marbury Plaza apartment residents where he was killed. Not by the officers in question.
The proposal for new and improved training of special police by the Mayor is yet again more smoke and mirrors from the demand of the Justice 4 Zo campaign for a full account of what happened that night. Video made public by the DC government shows that Alonzo was shirtless and shoeless when the MPD found him laying face down with one of the SPO’s on top of him with the officer’s knee pressed into his back. MPD immediate complicity can be witnessed in the video by their treatment of the SPO’s false claim that Alonzo was “on K2,” a term referring a synthetic drug that causes hallucinations. MPD called in the claim as fact, later to be disproven by the coroner’s report.
To keep tunnel focus on the actions that caused Alonzo’s death, while neglecting the broader circumstances and motive can serve as a cover up of what could well be outright murder by the officers, who for untold reason remain unidentified.
The City’s proposal for training, following the May 17, 2016 DC Superior Court grand jury indictment of SPOs Clifton Montgomery and Charles Brown for involuntary manslaughter of McBride, is suspected of being a political maneuver to prepare the public and the community concerned with the case of Alonzo to accept a similar outcome without question.
Mayor Bowser’s announcement reduces the issue of an epidemic of killings of Black people by police and security guards to a question of inadequate training and ignores the fact that these cases reflect a nationwide practice from which rich white communities are immune. Over the last couple years, local district attorneys and the Department of Justice have demonstrated their
inability to hold violent police officers, security guards and vigilantes accountable for their discriminatory actions.
“Unfortunately we continue to get these inadequate public responses to the homicide of my son,” says mother of Alonzo, Beverly Smith “which is part of a larger crisis of Black people, men, women and children dying at the hands of those put in charge of protecting a system that only respects rich people and their property.”
The weak recommendations for more training of SPOs will not in the least bit alter the pattern and practice of Black people being murdered by guards of the status quo, whether MPD, neighborhood watch, Metro Transit Police or so called “Special” Police Officers. Therefore, we of the Justice 4 Zo campaign reaffirm our call for community control over the police as the only solution for ending this crisis. Additionally the announced proposal is further proof that an independent dual track investigation by the United Nations and/or the Organization of Independent States is necessary.
For interviews with Beverly Smith or any other member of Pan-African Community Action send email to paca@protonmail.com or call Netfa Freeman on 301-938-4628.
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