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Mayor Bowser has a plan to address D.C.’s rise in crime. It involves more police and greater police powers. Your experience with the police may suggest that this might not be the best way to go. Let the mayor and the city council know how you feel about this issue. Tell your story on videotape at the below locations today and tomorrow!!! 
We don’t often post about national issues that don’t have a direct impact on District of Columbia residents, but this speech is too good to pass up. Senator Warren breaks down structural racism in a way that the Black Lives Matter Movement would like to hear from Bernie Sanders. As a progressive of color, I’m frustrated when white allies still think inequality is really just a class issue. Warren blows past that argument, reminding us that historical racism was as much about the denial of economic opportunities as it was about violence. She teaches history that we all should know but sure enough didn’t get in school. Enjoy and pass on.  Comments are closed  Justice System, Police Brutality, Prison Industrial Complex  Black Lives Matter, Elizabeth Warren, structural racism 
On August 27, 2015, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser publicly unveiled her plan to reduce violent crime in a press conference at the shuttered Malcolm X Elementary School in Ward 8. The rate of homicides within the District has been on the rise. To counter it, Mayor Bowser has proposed a series of initiatives with a focus on cracking down on crime and enhancing police authority. Highlights of the speech can be found in the video shot and edited by Joshua Rose Schmidt below. Her plan may sound reasonable to many who legitimately fear the rise in violent crime, but it did little to assuage those who have every reason to fear the police. Bowser claims that her plan will make Black Lives Matter more than just a hashtag. What the mayor fails to recognize is that Black Lives Matter is in fact a movement that recognizes that police misconduct and brutality are ongoing, systemic problems whose history begins long before the advent of the cell phone video. Those within the movement believe that doubling down on techniques that have failed in the past will not solve the problem now. Black Lives Matter activist and founder of the Stop Police Terror Project, Eugene Puryear has a plan that should be considered by the mayor and anyone who wants to see an end to murders committed by the police and murders committed by citizens. Download a pdf of Stop Police Terror Project DC’s alternative plan here: Response to Bowser’s Anti-Crime Plan Fact Sheet For more information about the Black Lives Matter Movement in the District of Columbia check out the following links: https://www.facebook.com/stoppoliceterrorprojectdc https://www.facebook.com/BLACKLIVESMATTERDMV http://blacklivesmatter.com/ The National Black United Front DC Chapter is also working on this issue and any number of organizations active within the communities most impacted by crime such as the Family and Friends of Incarcerated People and The Reentry Network for Returning Citizens. 
Posted on behalf of Black Lives Matter DMV These next 3 weeks are going to be very busy for the Movement for Black Lives here in DC. We get a lot of asks about how to get involved in the movement and the short answer is show up! At almost every event there is an announcement of the next one. Show up, meet people, move up when people call for support, bring your friends to the next one. The movement for Black Lives is beautifully diverse and fundamentally a call for ending all forms of oppression because Black people are affected by them all. It is a call for collective liberation so there is a place and a role for everyone. There are also places set aside just for Black people. If you are not Black, don’t be offended if you see *this is a Black Only Space* and respect the intentions for the space. Know that there are plenty other spaces that could use your talents and energy. We need thousands of collaborators to build the next stage of the movement. #GetInWhereYouFitIn 0. Read the Guiding principles: http://wellexaminedlife.com/…/movement-for-black-lives-gui…/ 1. Come to Trans Liberation Tuesday 8/25/15 Support #BlackTransWomen. Stop the violence and the silence https://www.facebook.com/events/895465170508465/ 2. Come to the Black Lives Matter Spokescouncil Wednesday 26th This is great place for join the movement, meet people and see what you or your organization can contribute. https://www.facebook.com/events/121364371543545/ 3. Come to the “Week” of Action. September 1st-11th. The BLM Spokescouncil will be hosting nearly two weeks of action throughout the beginning of September. Keep your eyes open. 4. Follow Black Lives Matter DMV https://www.facebook.com/BLACKLIVESMATTERDMV And sign up to their list here: http://www.blacklivesmatterdmv.org/join-the-movement/ 5. Follow Stop Police Terror Project DC https://www.facebook.com/stoppoliceterrorprojectdc?fref=ts SPTP [DC]’s shut down’s and rallies are great places to learn more about the movement and meet people who are involved. 6. Join or Support Black Youth Project [BYP] 100. http://byp100.org/ BYP 100 is a national organization with chapters in cities across the country. BYP is on the front lines of the movement for Black Lives, working to end state sanctioned violence against Black people through a Black Queer Feminist Lens. 7. Join a solidarity group. Visit the Washington Peace Center’s solidarity page for links and contacts for various BLM Solidarity Groups in DC. http://www.washingtonpeacecenter.org/node/15405 8. Radical Structural Change, like Radical Cultural Change, takes time and masses of people. The #struggleisreal as is spiritual and emotional trauma. Take care of yourself, take care of your friends, take care of your community and keep coming out! #StayWoke — with Helga Herz and 4 others. 
Slogan already being co-opted. No? I heard someone use the term ‘BLM’ today in reference to “Black Lives Matter”. For a quick moment I was confused because When I heard BLM, I thought of the “Black Liberation Movement”. It made me think of the passive language being used recently. Like “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” Although I never liked it, I opted not to criticize this publicly because it was organic and speaking to the frustration of this current generation of activists. However, to me, “Black Lives Matter” sounds like whining and “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” sounds like surrender. I commend people for their actions and voices during this time, but I encourage people to be mindful of their choice of words. The slogan “Black Lives Matter”, while true, is weak. It’s a plea for recognition. It’s an appeal of the powerless to the conscience of the powerful. We’ve been down this road before. White supremacy doesn’t have a conscience. Therefore, “Black Lives Matter” is a call that falls on deaf ears. Hence, for instance, the counter-slogan of “All Lives Matter” which only serves to dilute the message. The Black Liberation Movement was not a plea or an appeal. It was an action of self-determination. It’s power came not from the society at-large recognizing it’s existence or legitimacy, but from the commitment of those involved, no matter how few, to fight for freedom within a society that has been consistent in it’s pathological racism. “The limits of tyrants are proscribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress… If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be, by our lives and the lives of others.” – Frederick Douglas In many ways, history seems to be repeating itself. The urban rebellions of the 60s which eventually gave rise to the Black Liberation Movement were all sparked by police brutality. However, the BLM was eventually attacked, co-opted, and derailed. There is a lot to learn from in the history of the last 50 years of our struggle (really, the last 250 years). Way too much to adequately address in this small space. So this small note is just a caution to be deliberate, mindful, and strategic in how the demands and concerns of the current manifestation of the struggle are articulated. This is in no way meant to diminish the work that has recently been done. One comment - (Comments are closed) Justice System, Police Brutality Black Liberation Movement, Black Lives Matter, Naji Mujahid |
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