Jonathan Adams

5 Things You Can Do Right Now About the Oscar Grant Shooting

Oscar Grant, an unarmed man, was killed by an Oakland police officer. Here are five things (compiled by Makani Themba-Nixon) that you should do right now to respond to the senseless death of this 22 year old Black man. Video footage of the shooting recently surfaced.

1. Digg the story so that the national media can pick up on it

2. Contact BART Director Carole Ward Allen and demand that 1) the officers involved be taken off duty without pay and charged and fully prosecuted; 2) there be an independent investigation of the shooting that includes a review of training and hiring practices; and 3) BART establish an independent residents’ review board for the police Call her at 510-464-6095 or email the BART Directors at BoardofDirectors@bart.gov

3. Call the BART police to complain about the officers’ conduct and demand immediate action: Internal Affairs: Sergeant David Chlebowski 510.464.7029,dchlebo@bart.gov; Chief of Police: Gary Gee 510.464.7022, ggee@bart.gov

Call them toll free at 877.679.7000 and press the last four digits of the phone number you wish to reach.

4. Talk it up on your blogs, networks and talk radio shows (call Michael Baisden 877-6BADBOY or Rev. Al, etc. to get this on the national radar)

5. Stay tuned for other actions, protests, etc., especially if you are in the Bay.

Click through to watch video of the shooting

Continue reading "5 Things You Can Do Right Now About the Oscar Grant Shooting"

Posted at 2:06 PM, Jan 05, 2009 in Police | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Seth Wessler

Ground Troops Enter Gaza. More Deaths. Real People. Protest.

As ground troops enter Gaza and Israel’s declared war on Hamas escalates, it is easy to imagine that this is an aberration. But the current attack on Palestinians living in Gaza is the planned, logical extension of a strategy to suffocate Palestinians. Before this attack, Gaza had increasingly been described as a humanitarian crisis but Gaza is not a humanitarian crisis, it is a political one, a man made, determined one. This attack is a natural continuation of more than 60 years of occupation, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.

Robert Fisk reminds of this in the Independent:

How easy it is to snap off the history of the Palestinians, to delete the narrative of their tragedy, to avoid a grotesque irony about Gaza which – in any other conflict – journalists would be writing about in their first reports: that the original, legal owners of the Israeli land on which Hamas rockets are detonating live in Gaza.

And because it is a political crisis, it is a human crisis. My friend Jen Marlowe tells of the intimate human impact of this invasion through the story of Abeer, a young woman who is about to give birth to a baby amidst the explosions and gunfire. She writes:

Beyond the humanitarian disaster that is Gaza Srip, beyond the rubble-strewn streets and the constant fear of new assaults, there is this horrific reality: no matter how precious Gaza’s children are to their mothers, they are the helpless pawns of all those who execute, support and benefit from the continuing violence

Posted at 1:33 PM, Jan 05, 2009 in Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Jonathan Adams

ACLU Loves The Accidental American

ACLU of Northern California named The Accidental American one of the Six Books We Loved in 2008.

The Accidental American is about all of us living in the United States. It isn’t only immigrants such as Mamdouh, and my own father, who are ‘accidental’ Americans. As Sen sums up: “Where we enter this world is an accident of birth; where we are when we leave is equally unpredictable… We are all accidental Americans in some way.”

Read the entire review by Gigi Pandian.

These issues will only become more relevant in 2009. If you still haven’t read The Accidental American, buy the book here.

Posted at 12:03 PM, Jan 05, 2009 in Accidental American | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Jonathan Adams

Richardson Withdraws Name for Scty of Commerce

The new administration appears to want as few issues as possible in what proves to be a grueling first 100 days. It’s no wonder Bill Richardson withdrew his name from nomination for Commerce Secretary due to an ongoing grand jury investigation into his administration’s awarding of state contracts to a firm.

Last month a federal grand jury was reported to be investigating how a company that had already threatened to cause in Alabama one of the biggest municipal bankruptcies ever had been paid $1.5 million for similar work in New Mexico. The investigation is said to be examining donations of $100,000 from the California-based CDR Financial Products to Mr Richardson’s efforts to register voters and pay for expenses at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

Posted at 9:37 AM, Jan 05, 2009 in Obama | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Jonathan Adams

Still Not Safe to Fly While Brown

It’s 2009, but innocent people are still being harassed in the new year. Nine Muslim passengers on a New Year’s Day flight on AirTran were kicked off a flight after others flying reportedly heard remarks about airport security. Because of the confusion, that was eventually cleared up, no one was able to fly. AirTran has since issued an official apology to the nine passengers.

One of the passengers said the confusion started at Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C., when he talked about the safest place to sit on an airplane.

Orlando-based AirTran said in a statement that it refunded the passengers’ air fare and planned to reimburse them for replacement tickets they bought on US Airways. AirTran also offered to take the passengers back to Washington free of charge. [USA Today]

There may be some people who still think President-Elect Barack Obama is Muslim, but he has his own plane to avoid these incidents. Unfortunately, an American family with young children on the way to a religious retreat still cannot.

Posted at 9:13 AM, Jan 05, 2009 in Identity | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The News

Experiment Reveals Americans’ Response to Racism; Bay Area Loses Asian Coverage

Experiment Reveals Americans’ Response to Racism
A social experiment conducted by ABC News attempts to show how the average American would respond when witnessing deliberate racism. ABC News.

Corporal Punishment: Outdated Approach to Education
Statistics show how corporal punishment in schools may directly be correlated with poor educational performance and higher incarceration rates, not to mention how this practice is also highly discriminatory, especially toward Black students and students with disabilities. Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Absence in Asian-American Coverage Increases
In California’s Bay Area, the end of AsianWeek’s print publication is but the latest of a string of Asian media closures occurring in a region that boasts such a high proportion of Asians among its population. New America Media.

In Search for the Authentic Black Man
The appointment to Barack Obama’s Senate seat has, once again, brought authentic Blackness into question. This query asks what or who continues to define and capture the “authentic Black” experience, and particularly that of the ideal Black man. Chicago Tribune.

Posted at 7:05 AM, Jan 05, 2009 in news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Adrienne Maree Brown

Why Gaza Matters To Us

On December 30, I attended a rally/memorial for Gaza in Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn is home to the largest community of Arab and Arab-American people within US borders.

I went with two young women who have focused on Palestinian human rights, and were in Palestine last year doing work with youth to develop a creative and nonviolent response to the wall, and a third young woman who is learning about the situation much as I am.

One point of the conversation on the way to the rally focused on how, in the Geneva conventions, collective punishment is a war crime. The tactics used by Israel in response to the use of rockets by Hamas - sound bombs, blocking food and medical supplies into the area, and now days of air strikes - these are forms of collective punishment, effecting and killing children, women, civilians, elderly.

I am including (click for more) the best piece I have read so far that frames the situation in Gaza, and encourage you to consider it and pass it along. I welcome thoughts and responses, welcome others to move out of silence!

Continue reading "Why Gaza Matters To Us"

Posted at 9:18 AM, Jan 02, 2009 in international | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Jonathan Adams

Check Out These Ten Young Progressive Intellectuals

Andrew Golis at Talking Points Memo put together a list of people who make him hopeful for the future, and Rinku Sen, President of the Applied Research Center, is among them. Rachel Maddow and RaceWire favorite, Jay Smooth, also make the list.

Check out the others on the list and be sure to tell us who else should be on there.

Posted at 2:07 AM, Jan 02, 2009 in Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Jonathan Adams

Have Any Good Ideas for Change in America?

Change.org users have submitted over 5000 ideas and over 200,000 votes on innovative projects for the new administration. The voting ends tomorrow, Dec 31, and if we want to have any racial justice ideas move to next round we should start voting now. Unfortunately, the ideas submitted under the race category don’t do much to address structural racism, but check out the other issues.

Here’s one: Vote to pass the Dream Act

Posted at 9:46 AM, Dec 30, 2008 in Obama | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The News

Black Workers Suffer Most in Auto Industry; Asian Families Overlooked by New NY Budget

Paterson’s Proposal Will Hurt APA Children and Families
“The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) considers Governor David Paterson’s 2009 executive budget proposal inadequate in protecting vulnerable communities, including Asian Pacific American children and families during these tough economic times.” Asian Week.

Mychal Bell, One of Jena 6, Shoots Himself
Just completing his sentence for his role in the Jena 6 fight, Mychal Bell shot himself in the chest after being arrested Christmas Eve on one count each of shoplifting, resisting arrest and simple battery. Shreveport Times.

Blacks Playing Illinois Lottery to Lose
Chicago Defender analysis of Illinois Lottery sales for fiscal year 2008 revealed that six out of the top 10 ZIP codes that produced the highest sales have a majority Black population: 60619, 60628, 60617, 60651, 60609 and 60636. New America Media.

Black Workers in Auto Plants Losing Ground
With Detroit reeling, many blacks find their economic well-being threatened. By last month, nearly 20,000 African-American auto workers had lost jobs, a 13.9 percent decline in employment, since the recession began last December.” New York Times.

Posted at 5:40 AM, Dec 30, 2008 in news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)