All Lives Matter: Healing the Racial Divide

The perfect challenge and excellent article!

Challenging the Rhetoric

racism-still-exists IMAGE SOURCE: kimeshan.com

By Anita Stewart

What would happen if people switched their skin color for a week? In most cases they would find out how differently they would be treated. 

  • Mike Brown was murdered over cigars
  • Eric Garner was murdered over cigarettes
  • Vonderrit Myers was holding a ham sandwich
  • Trayvon Martin was shot in cold blood holding Skittles and soda

Those are just a few of the many names on a very long list

In each of these cases and others, the “black man” or boy — the real victim, has been made into the perpetrator by corporate media and law enforcement.

IMAGE SOURCE: JesusHouse.org

Every 28 hours a black man or boy is killed by vigilantes or police. A black man’s chances of being shot by the police are much higher than a white man’s. And stop with the black on black straw man argument. Whites kill whites and blacks kill blacks. The stats…

View original post 352 more words

Posted on 12/06/2014, in Potpourri, Uncategorized and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 101 Comments.

  1. yahtzeebutterfly

    *** APPLAUSE! ***

    Outstanding article!

    Thanks for re-blogging it, Xena.

    Like

  2. If you haven’t seen this it’s an essay written by an ex MO police officer.
    He totally confirms the worst possible truth about he police and the justice system.
    will it ever end?

    http://tablet.washingtonpost.com/commentary/theres-only-one-fix/2014/12/06/db8fb6f34004fe4861ecaa4d9f166c8c_story.html?tid=kindle-app

    “….As a cop, it shouldn’t surprise you that people will curse at you, or be disappointed by your arrival. That’s part of the job. But too many times, officers saw young black and brown men as targets. They would respond with force to even minor offenses. And because cops are rarely held accountable for their actions, they didn’t think too hard about the consequences.

    Once, I accompanied an officer on a call. At one home, a teenage boy answered the door. That officer accused him of harboring a robbery suspect, and demanded that he let her inside. When he refused, the officer yanked him onto the porch by his throat and began punching him.

    Another officer met us and told the boy to stand. He replied that he couldn’t. So the officer slammed him against the house and cuffed him. When the boy again said he couldn’t walk, the officer grabbed him by his ankles and dragged him to the car. It turned out the boy had been on crutches when he answered the door, and couldn’t walk…..”

    Like

  3. kindheart101

    My worst nightmare came true in September, when the idiot rented the home next to me.

    I won’t bore you with how many times the police have been called on him, or his past criminal, and current pending criminal charges, and how they are affecting the neighborhood. But his brother is also here causing trouble, and guess what………..he’s on parole……….Imagine that?

    I have owned my home for 10 years, and I know all of the kids that walk back and forth from the high school.

    One young man who is a junior, brilliant, and wants to attend LSU so he can not only get an education, but help rebuild the area while he is there, visits me often. I always have his favorite cookies and a bottle of Pepsi ready for him when he stops in.

    Now, this is what I heard.

    When Deshaund was leaving my home, my neighbor was standing out front. I gave Deshaund a big hug, and told him how proud I was of him for doing so well on his pre-sat tests.

    Then I heard my neighbor say: ” Jesus Christ…..Damn Nigg** Monkey……get back up in the trees where you belong!”

    Thank God he didn’t hear that……but it makes me physically sick to know people are that mentally ill and racist.

    (This is why I haven’t been on a lot)

    Like

    • yahtzeebutterfly

      Oh, how horrible, Kindheart!

      These hateful racists are a blight on our society!!!

      That would have made me physically sick also, my friend.

      Like

      • kindheart101

        We are all documenting everything. The drugs the police will have to deal with. The element they are bringing into the neighborhood, we have to fear! They have already been convicted, and they are still dealing. They walk around displaying guns, and I have turned pictures over to the police.

        I have stood my ground when he has confronted me several times. He thinks because he is far bigger than me, I will back down. Sorry, NO WAY!

        And I have told him……….I know your criminal drug history, and current charges, and your brother being on parole for trafficking drugs….

        I was told: ” Watch your step, watch your back lady….shit happens”

        A Convicted Drug Dealer, A White Thug, A Racist, An ANIMAL

        Like

        • yahtzeebutterfly

          You are one STRONG lady, Kindheart!

          I am sorry you are having to deal with all of this.

          Love you!

          Like

        • Kindheart,
          I truly hope that situation is resolved and pray for your safety. It just goes to show that law enforcement takes little interest unless it’s an arrest that can put a notch on the prosecutor’s belt.

          Like

    • 😦 yuck. It almost makes one want to arm oneself to live around such hate.

      Like

  4. yahtzeebutterfly

    Bipartisan Report @Bipartisanism · 1h 1 hour ago
    Retired Philly cop @CaptainRayLewis was protesting in NYC & was arrested. Respect. #EricGarner #ICantBreathe

    Like

    • yahtzeebutterfly

      What a shame. Captain Ray Lewis is a good person who has advocated for unbiased justice and policing.

      Like

    • yahtzeebutterfly

      Thie above tweet by Bipartisan Report was very misleading. The photo this tweeter showed in the above tweet was the news report photo from 2011 when Captain Ray Lewis was arrested during an “Occupy Wall Street” demonstration.

      It is the 3rd picture down in the following 2011 linked article (actually this photo shows him a few “walking” steps different from the one used by Bipartisan Report tweeter, but the arresting officer is the same as is Lewis being by the same cruiser) :

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063351/Retired-police-chief-arrested-uniform-Occupy-Wall-Street-demo-branding-fellow-officers-obnoxious-arrogant-ignorant.html

      My Lesson: I wish I had researched the tweet before posting it here. I don’t know if the above tweeter was intentionally trying to mislead or if the tweeter simply made the SAME mistake I did and re-posted the arrest story without researching it.

      Like

      • Yahtzee, Twitter moves fast. Wrong info can be tweeted and re-tweeted by several others without them checking the source. That happened last week when someone tweeted out a story and it turned out to be on one of those satire sites. It’s also a reason why it takes me time to report things because I always check the source, if there is a source. If there’s no source, I don’t repeat it.

        Warnings have been tweeted out that there are people intentionally circulating and writing lies and people should read beyond the headlines. For example, there’s a headline being tweeted out about a cop tasing a woman to death. When reading the story, it turns out that the cops were called because she was suicidal and had already slashed her wrists. What the story doesn’t say is that the woman might have died from bleeding out of her self-inflicted wounds.

        Like

  5. yahtzeebutterfly

    From the article above that Xena re-blogged:

    “What would happen if people switched their skin color for a week?”

    For me? If I were Black for a week?

    I could be targeted at any unknown moment with racial slurs. I would worry and stress over the safety of my loved ones who might be the innocent victims of unfair stereotyping and profiling by police. I would have sleepless nights as I prayed for their safety.

    I might have a difficult time getting a job if a racist personnel manager was in charge of hiring.

    I might be negatively stereotyped, unfairly followed in a store by security, or have difficulty buying a house in the neighborhood of my choice because of racism against me.

    This list goes on and on.

    Like

    • Yahtzee,

      I might have a difficult time getting a job if a racist personnel manager was in charge of hiring.

      That’s a good one, and let’s expound on it. Say that you were hired, but your co-workers are less than happy working with a minority. They watch your every move. If you come back from lunch exactly on time, they complain to your supervisor that you were late. If you ask a question related to work, they go to your supervisor and say that you don’t know your job. You’re constantly called on the carpet by your supervisor to defend yourself.

      Then, you realize that you’re doing their work along with your own and it’s too overwhelming. Your supervisor makes excuses for your co-workers. When you decide to document and put your grievances in writing, you are told it is what it is and if you don’t like it, quit.

      Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        I couldn’t handle the stress, hurt and anger this would cause me if I were Black.

        So unfair and hateful!

        Like

        • Yahtzee,
          You would handle it in order to survive. You would handle it because you would know that the generations before you handled it, and some died for that reason. You would not want their lives and deaths to be in vain. You would handle it for the next generation, and the next, etc. You would handle it because not doing so means surrendering your human and constitutional rights to a nation whose founding documents declare that all men are created equal.

          Like

          • yahtzeebutterfly

            Xena,

            You are helping me understand what it means to be Black. For this I thank you.

            Like

          • yahtzeebutterfly

            “Black Butterfly”

            Morning light, silken dream to flight
            As the darkness gave way to dawn
            You’ve survived, now your moment has arrived
            Now your dream has finally been born

            [Chorus:]
            Black Butterfly, sailed across the waters
            tell your sons and daughters
            what the struggle brings
            Black Butterfly, set the skies on fire
            rise up even higher
            so the ageless winds of time can catch your wings.

            Like

          • Yahtzee,
            I’m sorry for giving the wrong impression. I cannot help anyone understand what it’s like to be another race. All I can do is share what I’ve observed and what others have shared with me. This is one reason why I’m an advocate for diversity. Indeed, there are Latinos who have the same experiences as Blacks, and some who share the privilege of Whites until they give their sur-names. More and more, Asians are now speaking out about the prejudices they experience, especially in the workplace.

            Like

          • yahtzeebutterfly

            Xena, I should have just written that, every time you or someone else shares an experience or an observation, I am led to think about things that I had not thought about before or had not realized before.

            I have been doing a lot of self reflection in the last hour or so.

            My heart is on overload and my mind is stuffed with info that my heart still needs to digest.

            Sometimes I want to contribute things beyond my ability. My idealism sometimes is beyond the grasp of my abilities. I think of ideas and potential solutions that I am not capable of carrying out.

            Like

          • Yahtzeebutterfly,

            Xena, I should have just written that, every time you or someone else shares an experience or an observation, I am led to think about things that I had not thought about before or had not realized before.

            That’s a good thing. I wanted to avoid the idea of people having positions or responsibility, such as being a teacher and others students. We all learn from each other but no one is above another. I don’t want the responsibility of being anyone’s teacher. 🙂

            I have been doing a lot of self reflection in the last hour or so.

            My heart is on overload and my mind is stuffed with info that my heart still needs to digest.

            The nation itself has been overwhelmed lately.

            Sometimes I want to contribute things beyond my ability. My idealism sometimes is beyond the grasp of my abilities. I think of ideas and potential solutions that I am not capable of carrying out.

            There’s nothing wrong with ideas and don’t get down on yourself. Every snowflake is different.

            In journalism fiction writing, students are taught to show in the words they write and not tell. That is what the protesters are doing. Think about that internationally. Photos of protesters having “die-in’s” are distributed worldwide. People in other nations are also protesting based on the protests in America. Photos of people handing out leaflets would not have the same effect and those in other nations would have no example

            Even Moses understood that Pharaoh would not change his mind unless he and the free persons of Egypt were inconvenienced and suffered losses of their own — and Moses learned that from God.

            Like

  6. Group Considers Filing Ethics Complaint Against McCullough. I hope that they do, and also one against McCullough’s assistant for giving the grand jury a law that the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional 20 years ago.

    http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/12/03/group-threatens-filing-ethics-complaint-against-mcculloch/

    Like

    • X,
      when I looked at that page I looked up the name of the group who’s filing the complaint and I found this page in a link from a different blog.
      i’m not even close to finished reading the post much less reading over witness #40’s various statements & testimony but this is pretty shocking shit! i’m wondering if this is the crazy who just happened to be out on a ‘random drive’ to think about her racism! you know the one who wrote in her diary about the whole murder because she was parked nearby but no one saw her or her car where she said she was?
      but I don’t know, it could be a totally different crazy because all the crazy Wilson defenders are so similar I can’t tell the difference.

      http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/02/1348854/-Please-read-Witness-40-s-FBI-interview-and-grand-jury-testimony-Just-read-it#

      Like

      • Shannon,
        HA! As I was reading that, I thought about Martha Stewart and Lil’ Kim. It’s one thing to lie in an FBI interview but when those lies are repeated before a grand jury, the FBI doesn’t like it.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Witness #40 is not listed on the ‘chart’ as having testified before the grand jury. I wonder if they chose to not use them due to the inconsistencies?

          Like

          • You’re probably right about that, but i also saw someone else was saying the exact numbers given to witnesses aren’t used consistently between the grand jury witnesses and other reports and records released. so she may just have another number.

            Like

      • omg, I’m about half way through it, what a load of BS this witness came up with…

        Liked by 1 person

  7. chuquestaquenumber1

    Good to have you back.I hope what ever you did during your time off was good. As you know Pres Obama,AG Holder and Black leaders are always accused of playing the race card,being anti police.Now George W Bush said the Staten Island Grand jury decision was hard to understand and its sad that race continues to be so divisive.I guess W is nowaBlackleader.

    Like

    • Chuquest,
      I’m not fully back yet, but working towards that goal.
      Regarding Dubya, the White Supremacists are not likely to refer to him as a Black leader but probably a “White guilt idiot” like that refer to bloggers who support equality for all.

      I don’t know why, when a person is killed by a cop and the public gives their opinion about it, that if their perceived race is not White, they are accused of being anti-police or cop haters. Wasn’t that same propaganda circulated in Eastern Europe during Hitler’s crime spree?

      Like

  8. yahtzeebutterfly

    I want the campaign for equal justice for Blacks to be successful. I desire that Michael Brown and Eric Garner and so many others receive the justice which they deserve.

    BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!

    At this point I firmly believe that protesters need to STOP blocking traffic. It is dangerous to motorists who might be in the midst of a medical emergency who are trapped in traffic, to motorists who are parents trying to get home to their children who might need their help, etc.

    Here are some ALTERNATIVES for actions by protesters:

    1. Create and pass out leaflets to pedestrians on the sidewalk to educate them about the crisis in our justice system. Many, many people across our country do NOT understand what is happening. Many are too busy working and are not aware of what is occurring.

    2. Set up local meetings where the general public can come and be educated. Teach them the reasons behind the protest movement.

    3. Have clipboards with petitions to sign asking local representatives to take corrective actions.

    4. Have strategy meetings with protesters so that they learn how to have effective conversations with the public while they are standing with their protest signs.

    5. Create leaflets that address institutional racism and White privilege. Such a leaflet could list seminar locations for follow-up education on these topics.

    Again, in my humble opinion, the blocking of traffic needs to STOP.

    But, the movement definitely needs to CONTINUE in effective ways that will bring about change and a better society.

    We must not rest until we see the change.

    Until the killing of Black men, Black mother’s sons,

    Is as important as the
    
Killing of White men, White mother’s sons,
    
We who believe in freedom cannot rest.

    We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.

    
~Ella’s Song

    BLACK LIVES MATTER!

    STOP THE INJUSTICE!

    Like

    • Yahtzee,
      Playing the devil’s advocate here.
      Who is going to finance the paper and copying of leaflets? Who is going to allow a meeting place to be used rent free? Who is going to write about White privilege in one page or less to hand out at protests? And, in large urban cities, it might require massive local meetings around the city rather than one common, protest area. Parking could also be a concern. Paid parking even another concern. Politicians have not respected petitions in the past, so why should they now?

      I didn’t understand what the protesters meant when saying “If we don’t get it, shut it down,” until a week ago. It was not just in what they did, but a revelation came when Republicans threatened to once again, shut down the government. The protesters learned from them.

      Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        Ah, thanks for your response, Xena. Love it!

        I’ll be back at a later time with a response 🙂

        Like

        • yahtzeebutterfly

          Who is going to write about White privilege in one page or less to hand out at protests?

          Who? Personally, I think that those who do not have the advantages and benefits of White Privilege should be the individuals to write the leaflet. It is they who best know about it from their own direct experiences.

          I believe it IS possible to write on two sides of one paper (3 columns so that it can be folded into a leaflet) basic points that will begin to help people understand White Privilege.

          The front of the leaflet (before it is unfolded) could have a photo that dramatically makes the point of this present movement (as it relates those who have White Privilege) …..such as this linked photo of a White man carrying a sign that says “They rarely shoot old White guys like me #White Privilege” :

          https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4THcYiIEAAPO0p.jpg:large

          Like

        • yahtzeebutterfly

          See above for my third answer. (question was Who is going to write about White privilege in one page or less to hand out at protests? )

          I think this link will take you up there:

          All Lives Matter: Healing the Racial Divide

          Like

          • yahtzeebutterfly

            oops again…now I have put this “See above comment” down below in its proper spot.

            Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        I am going to respond to your question with separate replies to allow for any follow-up discussion.

        “Politicians have not respected petitions in the past, so why should they now?”

        Actually, the governor of Florida did respond to the Trayvon Martin petition and appointed a special prosecutor.

        Even though we feel or see that politicians have not respected the petitions in the present movement, we still need to continue to flood them with more petitions.

        Same goes for the present demonstrations and marches. The marches and demonstrations need to continue on and on. The demands need to continue.

        Like

        • Actually, the governor of Florida did respond to the Trayvon Martin petition and appointed a special prosecutor.

          Yes, but it turned out to be a dog and pony show, so trust was still betrayed. No way should a potential juror who called peaceful protests “riots” should have been allowed on the jury.

          Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        Who is going to finance the paper and copying of leaflets?

        The movement can have a central site where the demonstrators can find a special link to a copy of the leaflet and then simply print it out at home themselves.

        This is what the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida have done as they work to achieve fair wages for the migrant workers in the tomato fields in Immokalee County, Fl.

        At this link….
        http://ciw-online.org/wendys/

        ….you can see this paragraph next to the word “EDUCATE” —->

        Ready to help get the word out to others? Download this flyer for when you are participating in an action, would like materials to hand out at an event you’re attending or simply want to educate your friends and family! It has all the basics.

        When you click “Download this flyer” you are sent to this linked page which you can then print out and distribute:

        Click to access 13WendysFlyer.pdf

        Like

        • The movement can have a central site where the demonstrators can find a special link to a copy of the leaflet and then simply print it out at home themselves.

          That’s assuming that all demonstrators have access to the internet, and also have printers. Some people have access to the internet but do not have printers. It’s also assuming that each demonstrator can afford a ream of paper and print cartridges. If the leaflets include color, color cartridges cost more than black cartridges.

          Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        See above for my third answer. (question was Who is going to write about White privilege in one page or less to hand out at protests? )

        I think this link will take you up there:

        All Lives Matter: Healing the Racial Divide

        Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        More good questions here:

        Who is going to allow a meeting place to be used rent free?

        and

        And, in large urban cities, it might require massive local meetings around the city rather than one common, protest area. Parking could also be a concern. Paid parking even another concern.

        If a rent-free meeting place cannot be found OR if the logistics are problematic in an densely populated urban area, the leaflet can have an internet link to an online educational site.

        Such a site can have videos and articles by people of all races (not just Tim Wise or Jane Elliot who have excellent videos).

        Rather than having a comment page on the site, the educational site could have a link for people to submit questions. The moderator/educator receiving the questions could then sift through the questions, select and post their questions with his/her answers. The site could offer a link to that “answer” page. (The link could be labeled “Answers to Some of Your Questions.”)

        Like

        • Yahtzeebutterfly,
          Ahhh. I see now — we are coming from two different perspectives. It appears that you are thinking that protesters should be activists. I was thinking that the protesters are just that — citizens who want their voices heard about a matter that needs to stop now.

          This topic is about All Lives Matter and healing in which you expressed your concern about the protesters stopping traffic, and offered some suggestions on what they should do. That is probably why your thoughts on the topic took a direction to discuss White privilege and educating others about that as a solution.

          Educating people on White privilege does not stop those who hold to ideologies that there are segments of our society who are burdens, and should and can be killed without any consequences for the killers. White privilege did not kill Kelly Thomas. Cops perceiving Kelly as a burden on society killed him. They walked. White privilege did not kill Ethan Saylor. Cops perceiving Ethan as a burden on society killed him. They walked. The list goes on and on. Historically, White privilege did not kill the Jews of Eastern Europe; the little people, gypsies, Blacks. It was the ideologies of racial superiority and that people who are not “perfect” although their skin is White, were burdens on the state.

          While we know that Black men in particular are killed by cops more than those of other races, what causes that is the same mindset that pulls the trigger, goes on paid vacation, and then walks free. The grand juries and trial juries are not thinking White privilege but rather, they are given a view of the victims that they are burdens on society and cops have authority and are justified in killing them.

          A White cop that killed a White woman Sunday school teacher was sentenced to 3 years in prison. A White cop and Latino cop killed White, homeless, and mentally ill Kelly Thomas. They walked.

          That’s what the protests are about — “All lives matter.” The lives of the mentally ill, the homeless, the disabled, Blacks, Brown, Yellow, Red, White — all lives. That message cannot be limited to, nor dependent on, people accessing and reading material on the internet. It has to be taken to the streets. People need to hear it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and not only IF they choose to carve out time from their lives.

          We’re in this together. Each snowflake is different, but together it can get attention and people have no choice than to see it.

          Like

  9. yahtzeebutterfly

    deray mckesson retweeted
    Holly Robinson Peete @hollyrpeete · 2h 2 hours ago
    By @DavidDTSS
    Must Read: “My son is black. With autism. And I’m scared of what the police will do to him”:

    https://medium.com/@DavidDWrites/my-son-is-black-with-autism-and-im-scared-of-what-the-police-will-do-to-him-1af15a203d57

    Like

  10. That certainly lends perspective to the issue.

    Like

  11. chuquestaquenumber1

    What if people switched color for a week;
    ChrisRock said it best “Not a single one of you would trade places with me,AND I’M RICH.”

    Like

  12. chuquestaquenumber1

    What if people switched color for a week:

    Would Richard Belzer suffer economically and possibly criminally if a group of Black ladies made rape allegations that they say happened 30-50 yrs ago?

    Would white Trevor Dooley be in prison if Black Danielle James said her dad attacked Trevor as he was walking away,with his hands in the air,saying I dont want to fight you?

    Would white Off duty NJ Detective Joseph Walker driving through Maryland be charged with 1st degree murder ,manslaughter,firearms charges,1,000,000 bond after killing in a significantly larger drunken Black criminal Joseph Harvey who chases after Walker during road rage.Harvey says F– you C—-r, Ill Kill you F—–g C—-r. ? White Detective Walker says ” I feared for my life. I had no choice but to shoot him.”

    Would white John McNeil have to do 7 yrs in a Georgia prison for shooting to death black Brian Epp after white John McNeil’s son called his dad saying black Brian Epp “Has a knife on me?”

    White transsexual CeCe McDonald would be a hero and not do a day in prison, after killing a member of the Crips ,that was part of a gang that attacked CeCe and friends after calling then F—-ts and F—–t crackers.

    Mitt Romney’s most honest statement during the 2012 presidential race.”Nobody’s ever asked to see my birth certificate.” Only Pres Obama and Gov Jindal were made to do this.

    Like

    • Chuquest,
      Just imagine, if this blog was named White Butterfly, I would be called a “White guilt idiot” rather than a “black racists” by the White Supremacist cyber-extortionists. 🙂

      If Fred Hampton and Malcolm X had been White, they would have been called aggressive rather than militant.

      If Bristol Palin were Black, she would be called a “ho” with a “baby’s daddy” rather than a Pro-life teen who made a mistake.

      And, if all White teens who give the finger while driving switched places and were Black, about half of them would be in jail or killed by cops alleging that they thought they saw a gun.

      Like

      • The talk about what if we were the opposite color for a week reminded me of the movie Soul Man staring C. Thomas Howell and it’s final scene. In the movie Howell comes from a rich white family who decides not to fund his schooling to Harvard. Howell discovers a scholarship but it is only for AA candidates, so he takes more than the require amount of tanning pills and passes himself off as AA. It is the final scene that speaks volumes when he is being talked to by his professor, portrayed by James Earl Jones, and he says that he has learned something that he could never teach, what’s it like to be black…… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbKyDCuuLms This is the final scene, watch it for yourself but it reminds me that switching for 1 week doesn’t give a person the experience of another’s struggles…..not when you have the out when you no longer like it.

        Like

        • Towerflower,
          Thanks for the reminder about the movie Soul Man. I saw that years ago. Watermelon man is another great movie about the same subject. There was controversy about the original ending of Watermelon Man. The original script had the character waking up and finding it was a bad dream. They changed that so that the main character will forever be Black.

          The movie Focus (2001) takes on a similar theme. It’s about a man who is mistaken for being Jewish.

          Like

  13. yahtzeebutterfly

    I need a break for reflection.

    Like

  14. yahtzeebutterfly

    ShordeeDooWhop @Nettaaaaaaaa · 10m 10 minutes ago
    Watching the awakening of people via Twitter is amazing

    Like

  15. yahtzeebutterfly

    Antonio French @AntonioFrench ·
    Worth reposting again and again…

    “How municipalities in St. Louis County profit from poverty”
    http://wapo.st/1CpXYMI

    Like

  16. yahtzeebutterfly

    “Can’t Breathe in the Wind”

    With a nod to protest folk songs of the civil-rights era, this editorial-cartoon animation responds to the fatal police cases in such places as Ferguson, Mo., Cleveland and New York. —->

    Like

  17. yahtzeebutterfly

    Great sign being held by protester:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4THcYiIEAAPO0p.jpg:large

    Like

  18. yahtzeebutterfly

    deray mckesson @deray
    Have you heard the movement anthem, Glory, by @johnlegend? Y’all, the movement lives. #Ferguson

    https://soundcloud.com/johnlegend/glory-ft-common?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_content=https://soundcloud.com/johnlegend/glory-ft-common

    Like

  19. This article articulates double-standards and why.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30340632

    Like

    • yahtzeebutterfly

      Thanks for posting this important article, Xena.

      I found these excerpts to be key to what is going on:

      victim-blaming is central to white supremacy.

      …..The audacity of whiteness and anti-black racism is condemning black bodies for their own deaths, while seeking understanding for white criminals.

      No matter the situation or circumstance, throughout US history the devaluing of black life can be seen in the failure to prosecute police officers, lynch mobs, freelance vigilantes, and others empowered to protect white supremacy because the deaths of their black victims were seen as self-inflicted.

      ….Rather than account for racism, or hold the perpetrator, society, and its stained racial history accountable, this racial gag reflex places blame inside of all too many coffins.

      …In America, black lives don’t matter because white supremacy requires black death, and it requires that its victims die without sanctuary.

      This is why the present movement IS about “Black Lives Matter” and why we hear it chanted so often by the protesters along with “Hey, Hey. Ho Ho. These racist cops have got to go!.”

      This is why I would like to see the marches and demonstrations continue NON-STOP!
      The protests must continue until the practices of the system and policing reflect that Black lives do, indeed, MATTER.

      Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        Correction:

        The last two sentences are my words and should not have appeared in italics.

        Like

      • yahtzeebutterfly

        I imagine that the racist, killer cops within the police ranks (and hateful racists in general) cannot stand the MASSIVE resistance against them (and the unjust system that protects those cops) that is represented in the NATIONWIDE protester marches and demonstrations.

        Like

    • yahtzeebutterfly

      Like

  20. off topic but President Obama is going to be on the Colbert Report tonight. On Comedy Central.

    Like

  21. yahtzeebutterfly

    Shaun King retweeted
    Linda Sarsour @lsarsour · 6h 6 hours ago
    Clergy stage die-in NY City Hall rotunda. #ICantBreatheUntil #BlackLivesMatter #EricGarner

    Like

  22. yahtzeebutterfly

    Protesting, marching, now we seek

    Freedom bells to be ringing.

    Chanting, Chanting thru the snow

    Warning bells are ringing.

    


Mark ye well the words we chant
    
Justice tidings now we seek.

    Ding dong, ding dong

    Protest bells are ringing!

    Like

  23. Why do you march?

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  24. yahtzeebutterfly

    Legal Defense Fund @NAACP_LDF
    Incredible! @harvardmed students stage powerful protests.

    Like

  25. yahtzeebutterfly

    deray mckesson @deray · 6m 6 minutes ago
    Be clear: it is white supremacy that is repeatedly saying that ALL of these deaths are not about race. Black ain’t real to them. #Ferguson

    deray mckesson retweeted
    Viisha P. Souza @PauahiSouza · 12m 12 minutes ago
    @deray I Praise Ferguson for being “the Community that WOULD NOT back down” it’s because of you guys that we’re here now #Salute

    Like

  26. yahtzeebutterfly

    Bipartisan Report
    ‏@Bipartisanism
    This guy nails it:
    #BlackLivesMatter #EricGarner #ICantBreathe #Ferguson

    Like

  27. yahtzeebutterfly

    deray mckesson @deray · 22h 22 hours ago
    Watching Tamir slowly die and not calling the ambulance immediately is the hatred of blackness on display. America. #TamirRice

    Like

  28. butterflydreamer2

    Tamir Rice case to go before grand jury

    http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/tamir-rice-case-to-go-before-grand-jury/vi-BBgCZIe?ocid=TSHDHP

    Even though video shows the police pulled up to Tamir and shot him down in less than 2 seconds, that’s not good enough to let this go to jury trial. You know there are going to be a witness or 2, that will say the police told him to put his hands up 3 times. Then comes the part that he reached into his waist of his pants, and I was in fear for my life BS.

    In less than 2 seconds the officer shot Tamir, and medical aide was not rendered for almost 4 minutes, and not by the 2 officers.

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