Black Lives Matter--Until The Police Are Involved
by C.A. Matthews
Watching mere glimpses of the Derek Chauvin trial--not the "George Floyd Trial" as it has been called in some instances--can really enlighten you on the ugly reality of the US justice system. In our criminal courts it doesn't matter about the motivations of the alleged killer. It's all about the "worthiness" of the crime victim.
In this case, Mr. Floyd has been found lacking in worthiness by the Chauvin defense attorneys. According to them it was okay for a member of the Minneapolis Police Force to murder Floyd in cold blood while other officers assisted by keeping witnesses at bay with unspoken threats that they, too, could be killed or maimed by the cops if they intervened.
You don't think these police officers were trained killers? Think again:
...Many Minneapolis police officers receive “Killology training”
through the police union, where they are taught to kill rather than
de-escalate conflict situations. This training violates the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which require officers to, “as far as possible,” use nonviolent techniques before resorting to force and firearms.
Prosecutors will likely try to isolate Chauvin as one of “a few bad
apples.” That may be an effective prosecutorial strategy to convince
jurors they should convict him. But this “rogue cop” characterization —
also used after the 1991 Rodney King beating and the police killings of
Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and Breonna Taylor —
obscures the systemic nature of police violence against Black and Brown
people in the United States. Even the best training in the world cannot
teach police, who are licensed to kill and deployed to enforce a racist
system, not to be racist.
Black people who are unarmed or not attacking police are 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people, the Brookings Institution found. Moreover, police kill Black people at more than twice the rate of whites even though Black people account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population. More than 75 percent of the time, choke holds are applied on men of color.
-- Marjorie Cohn, Calling Chauvin a "Bad Apple" Denies Systemic Nature of Racist Police Violence
"Even the best training in the world cannot teach police, who are
licensed to kill and deployed to enforce a racist system, not to be
racist..."
Once you concede that it's not only the police who are racists--it's the entire system they are taught to uphold that is racist--then George Floyd's murder makes "sense" if only in the fact that it was inevitable. His wretched death by the actions of Minneapolis police officers was inevitable given the training and the social conditioning of his killer and his accomplices.
So, how do we make Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA Lives Matter, Asian Lives Matter, Migrant Lives Matter, Red Lives Matter, Women & Girls Lives Matter, Brown Lives Matter... if we're all constantly fighting against a system that wants to keep its divisive status quo in place?
“We say you don’t fight racism with racism — we’re gonna fight racism with solidarity,” said Fred Hampton, Black Panther founder. Hampton knew that solidarity is the ticket to overthrowing oppression. It's why he was killed--he wanted to bring many diverse groups together.
Cooperation among differing groups and organizations of Americans in a very large "Rainbow Coalition" will be necessary. This union of unions will be made up of activists who won't stand by and be silent any longer as their fellow Americans are killed by a system designed to keep wealthy capitalist, white, cisgendered males on top by any means necessary--which includes murder and intimidation.
Keep watching the Derek Chauvin trial via the live stream at Unicorn Riot, and you'll see our unjust system of justice exposed. https://unicornriot.ninja/livearchive/ Then reach out to area groups/organizations who are speaking out against police brutality and for human rights on any level. Join them and pass their information along to others and ask them to join a larger coalition of groups fighting for these goals. Solidarity must begin at the local level before it can spread to a national level and make a lasting change.
Related Articles:
https://truthout.org/articles/calling-chauvin-a-bad-apple-denies-systemic-nature-of-racist-police-violence/
https://truthout.org/articles/fred-hampton-was-right-we-must-fight-racism-with-cross-racial-solidarity/
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/68674-focus-why-the-trope-of-black-asian-conflict-in-the-face-of-anti-asian-violence-dismisses-solidarity
https://unicornriot.ninja/2021/race-and-perception-first-two-weeks-of-derek-chauvin-pre-trial/
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/30/us/witness-derek-chauvin-trial/index.html
https://truthout.org/articles/haaland-announces-investigative-unit-for-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people/
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/68627-protesters-are-chaining-themselves-to-the-fence-outside-derek-chauvins-trial
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/68644-dhs-watchdog-finds-widespread-mistreatment-of-immigrants-at-ice-facility
***
This campaign is a collaboration between
UltraViolet and BLM Louisville community activists working on the ground
to demand justice for Breonna Taylor.
On March 13, 2020, three Louisville police
officers shot Breonna Taylor after breaking into her home. They didn't
even call for medical help for her as she lay dying.1
But despite more than a year of
protests calling for justice for Breonna, none of these officers has
been criminally charged. In fact, one of the officers involved in
Breonna's killing is still employed by the Louisville police.2
Enough is enough. The officers involved in
Breonna's killing should all be fired and arrested, and they aren't the
only ones. Our allies at Black Lives Matter Louisville have built a
database of police officers who have neglected their duties and injured
or killed Black people, and we have a plan to turn up the pressure and
demand accountability.
Saturday, May 1, is the Kentucky Derby. It's
the biggest media event in Kentucky every year, and with the state in
the national spotlight, it's a prime opportunity to remind the country
that Breonna's killers haven't been brought to justice. Our plan
is to fly an airplane banner over the event and to drive a mobile
billboard to force the national media to take notice and demand justice
for Breonna. Will you chip in $5?
Yes, I'll donate $5 and help fund demand the firing and arrest of the police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor.
The officers who killed Breonna Taylor want her to fade from public view. But we won't let that happen.
Breonna was an award-winning EMT and first
responder who loved helping her patients and her community. A daughter, a
friend, a Black American, she was 26 years old and planning to become a
nurse. Her life mattered.3
The protest movements that followed
Breonna's killing led to the Louisville City Council banning the use of
no-knock warrants. Two of the police officers were fired. Many cities
around the country are radically reenvisioning the role of police in our
communities and beginning to shift resources from punitive criminal
justice toward community investment, mental health, and rehabilitation.
But the fact remains that bad cops
who kill Black people must be fired. When they escape accountability, it
sends a message to other police officers that they will not be held
accountable for killing Black people.
The Kentucky Derby is hugely important to
the local economy. The state's top politicians and corporate leaders
will all be there, and the last thing they want to focus on is Breonna
Taylor. That means we have leverage to our demands, and we're going to
use it.
Our airplane banner and mobile billboard
will be impossible to miss, but without your grassroots donations, we
will not be able to continue organizing high-profile protests like this
one. Will you chip in $5?
Yes, I'll donate $5 to help demand justice for Breonna Taylor.
--Shaunna, KaeLyn, KD, Kathy, Bridget, Melody, Lindsay, Sonja,
Kimberly, Maria, Elisa, Katie, Isatou, and Iris, the UltraViolet team
CONTRIBUTE
Sources:
1. What to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death, New York Times, January 6, 2021
2. A Year After Breonna Taylor's Killing, Family Says There's 'No Accountability,' NPR, March 13, 2021
3. What to Know About Breonna Taylor's Death, New York Times, January 6, 2021
***
The Families Belong Together Act is the only proposal that makes
amends and provides permanent relief and support for those impacted by
Trump's unforgivable family separation policy. But first we need it to
be introduced in Congress. We need to show there's support for this and
we can't do it without you. Will you take two minutes to contact your congress members and ask them to co-sponsor the Families Belong Together Act?
CONTACT MY REPRESENTATIVES →
While we can't change the past, we can do everything in our power to
reunite families and create a fair procedure for permanent legal status
for thousands of children forcibly separated at the border. You
spoke up before about this injustice and we need you to stand with us
once again. Tell your lawmakers to do the right thing: Support the
Families Belong Together Act.
After enduring so much pain, these families deserve to be reunited in
the United States and provided citizenship, care, and a commitment that
family separation will never happen again.
Only Congress can provide the permanent legal status necessary to ensure that families can safely reunite in our country. Now is the time to live up to our promise that families belong together. Contact your representatives today and help achieve justice for families.
Thanks for taking action,
Paola Luisi, Director
Families Belong Together
P.S. You can learn more about the Families Belong Together Act here.
***
The Revolution Continues
is now in our sixth year taking on the propaganda of the fauxgressives
and their friends in the corporate-owned duopoly. We need passionate
revolutionaries like you to help us provide progressive insights that
are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can donate a little to the
cause, please do so at the Paypal.me link below.
http://paypal.me/camatthews
Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!
