Photos from our St. Louis Freedom School–learning about the history of institutionalized racism in the U.S.
A few picks by AFSC staff:
Seizing on family tragedies, lawmakers push anti-immigrant agenda via ThinkProgress
The father of an American woman who was allegedly killed by an undocumented criminal immigrant testified at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday to criticize deportation policies that failed to protect his daughter. Jim Steinle, the father of Kathryn Steinle, who was shot dead three weeks ago in San Francisco, was also joined by other family members of Americans killed by undocumented immigrants.
Why Hillary Clinton and her rivals are struggling to grasp Black Lives Matter via The Washington Post
The strained interactions demonstrate the extent to which a vibrant new force on the left has disrupted traditional presidential politics, creating challenges for Democratic candidates who are facing intense pressure to put police brutality and other race-related issues on the front burner ahead of the 2016 election.
Celebrating Eid in Gaza amidst the rubble of war via +972 Magazine
“Wafaa takes me back to the pile of rubble, but this time, not to show me the destruction. She points to a small shrub at the rubble’s edge, battered, but clearly alive. ‘Ibrahim’s tree,’ she says of the living reminder of her son.”
Some picks from AFSC staff this week:
Interrupting Pride for Black Lives via Truthout
A group of Black youth in Chicago honored the memory of those whose actions the gay pride parade is meant to honor this past Sunday.
Black churches taught us to forgive white people. We learned to shame ourselves via The Guardian
A moving reflection by author Kiese Laymon “After the shootings in Charleston, I talked to my Grandma about all the work we did to forgive white supremacy, hoping then to be chosen by them and by God.”
Bryan Stevenson on Charleston and our real problem with race via The Marshall Project
“I don’t believe slavery ended in 1865, I just believe it evolved.”
Bryan Stevenson has spent most of his career challenging bias against minorities and the poor in the criminal justice system. He is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, based in Montgomery, Ala., an advocacy group that opposes mass incarceration and racial injustice. Stevenson is a member of The Marshall Project’s advisory board.
One of dozens of new posters available as part of our traveling exhibit All of Us Or None: Responses and Resistance to Militarism.
Want to bring it to your community or campus? Use our contact form at allofus.afsc.org
Some picks from AFSC staff this week:
“Million Moms March” Rallies In Washington For Children Killed By Police via Huffington Post
A “Million Moms March” was held in Washington, D.C., rallying together a large crowd of mothers whose children have been killed by police. The mothers marched through the city on a mission to denounce police brutality and declare that the lives of their lost loved ones mattered – and that they still do.
The Real “Looting”: From Slavery to Policing and Beyond via TruthOut
The system that people in Baltimore rose up against stretches back across the centuries. Pundits and the mainstream media also focus incessantly on “looting,” pointing to a relatively small amount of property damage in Baltimore in order to delegitimize the uprising. Here, we must remember that the real “looting” is the looting of Black wealth through generations of slavery, racial discrimination and exploitative economic policies.
Our Demand Is Simple: Stop Killing Us via NYT
We often think of online activism as a shallow bid for fleeting attention, but the movement that Mckesson is helping to lead has been able to sustain the country’s focus and reach millions of people.
Seattle organizers pressure officials to downsize youth jail
Thanks to three years of intense pressure by anti-racist organizers, officials in Seattle have announcedsignificant changes to a proposed $212 million juvenile detention center. But organizers, who are working closely with AFSC’s Seattle Community Justice Program, have pledged to continue developing community-based anti-racist alternatives to detention.
In March, officials announced plans to:
• reduce the number of allotted beds at the King County juvenile detention center by 40 (which represents a third of the original number),
• stop incarcerating youth for status offenses like truancy, and
• cut incarceration for probation violations by 50 percent.
Officials also plan to devote more resources to efforts that would keep youth out of jail and begin to counter the disproportionate effect of detention on youth of color in King County.
“I think this is a great start, but often measures like these are used to pacify organizers and slow down our momentum,” says Khalil Lee Butler, who’s active with two AFSC-related projects organizing against the detention center: YUIR (Youth Undoing Institutional Racism) and EPIC (Ending the Prison Industrial Complex). “They’re cutting down the number of beds, but they’re still building the jail and they’re still locking up kids.”
Youth lead the way
Young people have been at the forefront of organizing efforts against the detention center. And they’ve built a multi-generational coalition with events such as the recent People’s Tribunal on the Juvenile Justice System.
Early on, organizers understood that they needed to educate the public. The ballot for the detention center passed in 2012, but the language was misleading.
“It said a lot about healing services. There was no mention of ‘cells’ or ‘jail’ or ‘detention’,” Khalil recalls. “Many people didn’t realize what they had voted for.”
Organizers also used statistics—and the stories behind those statistics—to make their case. For example, while black youth account for about 10 percent of the youth population in King County, they make up close to 50 percent of incarcerated youth. “But people hadn’t been connecting those numbers to actual people and families,” Khalil says. “We spent a lot of time bringing those people and voices to light.”
He adds: “Once the education happened, momentum against the detention center picked up quickly.”
Developing skills as organizers
Another key to their success so far has been the careful skill building that starts with the Tyree Scott Freedom School. Since 2001, this annual gathering has provided community leadership training and anti-racism organizing skills to more than 1,200 young people.
Youth then continue learning and using their skills through YUIR, and eventually “graduate” to more intensive organizing through EPIC.
Their organizing against the detention center has gotten significant media attention, with multiple stories appearing in The Seattle Times, The Stranger, the South Seattle Emerald, The Seattle Globalist, the Seattle Channel, and Seattle Voices, among others.
Up next is the summer Freedom School, where more youth will be introduced to the basics of anti-racist organizing and the ongoing work to stop the building of the youth detention center.
(Source: youtube.com)
Mothers day cards from Strong Families available at http://mamasday.org/
Today is the anniversary of the original “open letter”–Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” (April 16, 1963) which AFSC published and distributed.
Note to self: White people taking part in #BlackLivesMatter protests
Originally published at afsc.org/Vonn
I am a white person who recently participated in #millionsmarchnyc as part of #BlackLivesMatter. As a queer, gender-queer person, I know about some forms of oppression, but I didn’t want my own unconscious racism, entitlement, and unexamined privilege to perpetuate the pathology and systems we were there to protest. So I came up with some guidelines for myself while participating in public demonstrations against racism and police violence.
One thing I’m figuring out is that it is important for me as a white ally to engage in anti-racism work with other white people. Racism is a white person problem, not a black person problem. We as white people need to be talking to each other about it. So with that in mind, I feel led to share my personal guidelines and am open to any feedback.
Note to self:
1. Remember that you are there as an ally in solidarity–it’s not about you. No matter how outraged or indignant you feel, a black person will still have different feelings. Respect and be present to differences in emotion, experience, and politics. Consider that your role might be as a witness and support to others’ expressions rather than expressing your own feelings.
2. Don’t provoke or antagonize police with your words or deeds. If police respond with violence and arrests, the people of color in your demonstration will face much harsher repercussions than you will. Putting them at risk is itself a form of privileged violence. Organizers from the black community need to set the tone of the action.
3. It is not your job to police or tone down black protesters who have a right to express anger. If you cannot support what they are saying, it’s OK to leave and find a different way of working on anti-racism.
4. If you have a smartphone in your pocket, use it to lift up the voices of the black people at the demonstration. Post photos and videos of the action on social media. Document police presence and interactions. You are allowed one selfie and that is it. Do not be the white person who fills their social media with self-congratulatory photos of themselves at the demonstration. Black people are not trophies.
5. Don’t lead chants. Make room for the black people around you to lead chants. Support them with your voice and rhythm. Pay attention to the impact of who and what you are supporting and doing. Some words are not yours to say.
6. Anticipate that reporters may seek you for a comment out of their own unconscious racial bias. Before a demonstration begins, try to find out who are the designated media spokespeople. If a member of the press approaches you, here is your talking point: “I am a white ally, here in solidarity with the black community,” then direct them to a spokesperson. For example, a reporter comes up to you and asks what you think of the grand jury system. Your answer is: “I am a white ally, here in solidarity with the black community.” A TV station shines the camera on you and asks, “What do you think the militarization of policing will do to First Amendment abuses against peaceful protests?” You say: “I am a white ally here in solidarity with the black community.” In order to do this you have to accept that members of the black community will be more informed and better able to talk about these issues than you.
7. Don’t hijack the message. Yes, “All Lives Matter,” but that’s not the problem or the movement. The problem is that in our society, black lives are valued less than white lives. Chanting “All Lives Matter” at a “Black Lives Matter” protest is like going to a funeral and telling the bereaved, “Hey, Everyone Dies.” If you are part of some other marginalized group, it’s OK to show up as your whole authentic self, just don’t make it all about you. Being queer, I felt OK putting a rainbow on my Black Lives Matter sign as a way to represent my community, but I didn’t make the message Queer Lives Matter Too. Just because something else also happens to be true does not mean it needs to be the focus of this action. You wouldn’t run through an AIDS fundraiser with a Breast Cancer sign. Don’t use the Black Lives Matter actions to push your own agenda, no matter how noble.
8. Be responsible for yourself. Educate yourself about the organizations, leaders, and issues that are represented at the event. Don’t participate in direct action unless you have been trained by the organizers to do so. Carry your own water, food, money, and phone. Write important phone numbers on your body so you can’t lose them. Have a plan in place with people at home to support you if necessary. Don’t expect action organizers to take care of your needs–they have their hands full already.
9. Stay involved after the event is over. It is important to attend major events and marches to show solidarity, but it is even more important to stay active afterward. Remember that racism needs to be dealt with in white communities, so join with other white people to do our own work. Don’t ask black organizers what you can do to help unless you are prepared to actually show up and do that thing. Be humble if your offer is received with skepticism and try to understand why that might be.
