Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Now They'll See Us

Now They'll See Us

words & peace demo photos by C.A. Matthews

It's been a tiring week. I'm still recuperating from a recent surgery, but I felt it was important to attend a local peace demonstration. I also feel it's important to share information from non-mainstream media sources to a wider audience who has fallen down the rabbit hole into Alice's (nonsensical neoliberal/warmongering propaganda) Wonderland... A place were so-called "peace activists" are actually advocating for sending more weapons to, as well as enforcing a no-fly zone over, Ukraine because in their minds, "War is peace."

Didn't George Orwell say something like that in his dystopian masterpiece of a novel, 1984? I'm sure I've read it somewhere.

Frankly, I don't have enough energy right now to argue with the "President Zelensky can't support Nazis/fascism because he's Jewish" crowd. Yes, he can and here's the link to an excellent article from The Grayzone that explains how Zelensky gave a medal of honor to an openly avowed Neo-Nazi in December 2021. 

Yes, he did just that less than four months ago. Read it and learn to think for yourself. I promise you'll thank me for it later. (Or not.) But at least things will start to fall into place for you as you learn how Ukrainian oil oligarch (or, as we call them in the West,"a billionaire") Igor Kolomoisky helped to place Zelenski into power with the help of the US-backed coup in 2014. Click here or the link below to read all about the fun and games of Zelensky and Kolomoisky utilizing Neo-Nazi paramilitary units to further their political and financial aims.

I hope peace activists' voices will eventually break through this toxic fog of propaganda funded by the US government along with its Big Oil and military industrial complex allies. Below I've shared a few good quotes and article links I've come across this week that will help clear that nasty propaganda fog completely from your mind. 

One news tidbit that'll cut through the muddy logic of American war-loving propgandists: According to indie journalist Ben Norton, "An estimated 377,000 Yemenis have died in the US-Saudi war on their country, and roughly 70% of deaths were children under age 5."  

I hope you'll soon be able to discern that 377,000 Yemenis--most of them children--dying in the ongoing US-sponsored bombing war with Saudi Arabia against Yemen is actually a much more horrific current conflict than the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Horrible that it is, Ukraine hasn't experienced anywhere near the loss of life or property damage. (Less than 400 confirmed deaths, some of them ethnic Russians.) And, yes, brown-skinned Muslim peoples can suffer just as much (if not more) as white-skinned European "Christian" peoples.

Like the Yemeni woman in the meme above, one day soon I'd like to be able to say, "Now they'll see us!" And we will still have enough of our humanity intact to go and rebuild their bombed cities and help them bury their hundreds of thousands dead in Yemen, in Somalia, in Gaza, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya... even if they're not blue-eyed blond Ukrainians who, according to one American mainstream media pundit, "Look just like us." 

Uh-huh. Sounds like something a Neo-Nazi would say, doesn't it?

 


Here are some examples of good independent reporting:

Civilian casualties in Ukraine are relatively few. Despite the strenuous efforts to find then, actual numbers appear to be in the order of 300-400. For good reasons, Russian forces are calculatingly avoiding attacks on urban centers; after all, 40% of the population is Russian and concentrated in the regions where the fighting is taking place. Moreover, Moscow has no interest in subjugating the country to its rule. In comparison, the Ukrainian army has been shelling the city centers of Lugansk and Donetsk, producing casualties estimated by a UN agency at more than 1,300 (3 or 4 times what objective observers estimate on the Ukrainian government’s side of the battle lines). Also. the water system has been destroyed. Yet, these facts are unreported and unnoticed in the total absence of media presence in an area they have erased from their reportorial map. --Michael Brenner, Another Casualty of the Ukraine Conflict: The Truth

More concerning than backing Nazi militias in Ukraine is the far more widespread, far more deadly, and equally white supremacist belief we're seeing throughout the western world that invading a nation of white people is horrific while invading a nation of brown people is normal.
Is what the US and its allies are trying to accomplish in Ukraine worth continually risking nuclear armageddon for? This is the single most important question in the world right now, and hardly anyone seems to be asking it. --Caitlin Johnstone, Every US Enemy Is Hitler

The US has a history of working to draw Moscow into gruelling, costly military quagmires which monopolize its military firepower while leaching it of blood and treasure. Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, author of US hegemonic manifesto The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, openly bragged about having lured Russia into its own Vietnam fighting the US-backed mujahideen in Afghanistan for a decade.

Just two years ago then-US Special Representative for Syria engagement said during a video event hosted by the Hudson Institute that his job was to make Syria "a quagmire for the Russians".

So this isn't something new or out of the blue, and what it means is that all the self-righteous posturing by the western political/media class about the need to pour weapons into Ukraine is not really about saving Ukrainian lives (only negotiating a ceasefire can do that), but about seizing this golden opportunity to hurt Russia's geostrategic interests as much as possible. Ukraine on its own is powerless to stop Russia from taking Kyiv no matter how many weapons are sent, but those weapons can be used to fight a "long, bloody insurgency" after that happens which costs many more lives, keeps Moscow militarily preoccupied and hemorrhaging money, and ultimately hurts Putin's popularity at home. --Caitlin Johnstone,  Ukraine Is A Sacrificial Pawn On The Imperial Chessboard

Nowhere could the the revelations from the Pandora Papers investigation hit harder than in Ukraine. The discovery of offshore accounts strike at the heart of the current government and power structure of a ruling class that rose to power on the promise of fighting corruption, including the television-star-turned-President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The worldwide probe, prompted by a massive leak to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), has included work by journalists from the Ukrainian media Slidstvо.Info, which connected the shady financial dealings of Zelensky's television production company Studio Kvartal 95 to the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Slidstvo found that the laundered money passed through the Cyprus branch of Kolomoisky-owned Privatbank, according to law enforcement officers. --Livy Bereg, Zelensky's Ukraine, Where the Pandora Papers Hit Hardest



Thought-provoking articles to read and share with others:

By Using Ukraine to Fight Russia, the US provoked Putin's War  https://mate.substack.com/p/by-using-ukraine-to-fight-russia?s=r

Calling Russia's Attack "Unprovoked" Lets US Off the Hook https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/06/calling-russias-attack-unprovoked-lets-u-s-off-the-hook/

Media Ignore Conflicts Around the World to Focus on Ukraine https://popularresistance.org/its-different-theyre-white-media-ignore-conflicts-around-the-world-to-focus-on-ukraine/

Chris Hedges: Worthy and Unworthy Victims  https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/07/chris-hedges-worthy-and-unworthy-victims/

Ukraine Exposes White Supremacist US Foreign Policy https://popularresistance.org/ukraine-exposes-white-supremacist-foreign-policy/ 

Another Casualty of the Ukraine Conflict: The Truth  https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/05/another-casualty-of-the-ukraine-conflict-the-truth/ 

Congress Has Removed a Ban On funding Neo Nazis From Its Year End Spending Bill  https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/congress-has-removed-a-ban-on-funding-neo-nazis-from-its-year-end-spending-bill/

Ukraine Is A Sacrificial Pawn On The Imperial Chessboard https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/ukraine-is-a-sacrificial-pawn-on?s=r 

 Zelensky's Ukraine, Where the Pandora Papers Hit Hardest https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/volodymyr-zelensky-pandora-papers/igor-kolomoisky-billionaire-zelensky 

(Human) Rights Groups Demand Israel Stop Arming Neo-Nazis in Ukraine https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/rights-groups-demand-israel-stop-arming-neo-nazis-in-the-ukraine-1.6248727 

How Ukraine's Jewish President Zelensky Made Peace with Neo-Nazi Paramilitaries on the Front Lines of War with Russia  https://thegrayzone.com/2022/03/04/nazis-ukrainian-war-russia/ 

The Real History of Ukraine  https://popularresistance.org/putin-lenin-imperialism-and-the-real-history-of-ukraine/ 

Former UN Inspector Scott Ritter on What's Happening in Ukraine (video) https://youtu.be/rRFjlnoMCeE 


 https://youtu.be/VOUIMVTAKmQ

From Jimmy Dore's interview with journalist Aaron Maté: "The Nord Stream pipeline, which was constructed to convey liquid natural gas from Russia to Germany, may run dry if the US government has its way. Suggesting that financial considerations may have played a role in the Biden administration’s refusal to negotiate with Russia, the attack on Ukraine will likely compel Germany to refuse natural gas from Russia and instead remain dependent on US-based suppliers."

Seen on Twitter:

 *** 

In a near-future dystopian world, hope blossoms where mutual aid and democracy begins...

Zonta’s world is turned upside down when Jake arrives at the commune to investigate the disappearance of agents of the Authority. Can she persuade him to switch sides before the Protectors (antifascist fighters) take action?

Available now: https://www.extasybooks.com/Where-the-Bodies-Lie

A great tale of how love, cooperation, and socialism will ultimately save us all. -- Redd Phlagg

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Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Stop Pretending

 

I was anti-war while you cheered for bombing Iraq.
I was anti-war while you cheered for bombing Syria.
I was anti-war while you cheered for bombing Libya.
I was anti-war while you cheered for bombing Gaza.
I was anti-war while you cheered for bombing Iran.
And I'm anti-war now.

— Lee Camp

 Stop Pretending

Americans, we've got to stop pretending that we're without sin. We cannot cast the first stone. We must understand how culpable we've been in instigating this current mess that could kill millions upon millions.

Do you remember the Minsk Accords?  Do you remember how our CIA overthrew the elected government in Ukraine and installed its own puppet? Why do you think that you aren't being kept in the dark about what's really going on behind the scenes now?

In February 2014, a coup overthrew the Ukrainian government which came to power in an election certified by the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation). The president, Viktor Yanukovich, was forced to flee for his life...

The coup was promoted by United States officials. Neo-conservatives such as Victoria Nuland and John McCain actively supported the protests. As confirmed in a secretly recorded phone call, Nuland managed the coup but Vice President Biden was overall in charge. As Nuland says in the phone call, Biden would give the ultimate “atta boy” to the coup leaders. Subsequently, Joe Biden’s son personally benefited from the coup.  Victoria Nuland has even more power now as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs...

The coup government immediately acted with hostility toward its Russian speaking citizens. Approximately 30% of Ukrainian citizens have Russian as their first language, yet on the first day in power, the coup regime acted to make Russian no longer an official state language. This was followed by more actions of hostility...

...US intervention, both open and secret, has been a major driver of the events in Ukraine. The US has instigated the conflict.  Ukrainians and Russians are now paying the price. --Rick Sterling, How the US Instigated the Ukraine Crisis

The 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine brought to power hardliners who adopted policies detrimental to the Russians living in the eastern part of the country, especially banning the Russian language in all areas of life.

As a result, the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in eastern Ukraine refused to recognize the post-coup government and demanded that they be given a special status and broad powers, especially the right to use the Russian language. In response, Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against them. A ceasefire was brokered by Russia, France, and Germany, and an agreement (the Minsk Accords) was reached between the two sides, so they could negotiate with each other in order to ensure that Ukraine observed the special status of the 2 provinces.

...Putin is no angel, but his red lines have been consistent: no more NATO expansion, actual or by proxy, and security guarantees for the ethnic Russian population in the Donbas region. The west/Ukraine has not delivered on either of these, but Putin’s recognition of the 2 proxy states, and his sending in security forces to protect them from a Ukrainian backlash, is his new bargaining chip in negotiations with the west... Putin wants Ukraine to be a buffer zone between NATO and Russia. It’ll be recalled that John Kennedy wanted something similar when the USSR leader Khrushchev tried to put nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962. --Kenneth Surin, Crisis Over Ukraine: A Primer


Stop pretending that the US and its NATO partners (and related defense contractors) didn't "prod the bear with a stick." They've been salivating to start a war for a while now. They've been impatient it's taken so long after circling Russia with NATO bases. Western warmongers are happy with pushing Putin over the edge. Collateral damage, such as massive loss of human life, is of no consequence to the military-industrial-media-complex.

The consequences of pushing NATO up to the borders with Russia — there is now a NATO missile base in Poland 100 miles from the Russian border — were well known to policy makers. Yet they did it anyway. It made no geopolitical sense. But it made commercial sense. War, after all, is a business, a very lucrative one. It is why we spent two decades in Afghanistan although there was near universal consensus after a few years of fruitless fighting that we had waded into a quagmire we could never win. -- Chris Hedges, Chronicle of a War Foretold

The greatest tragedy for the Ukrainian people is that the conflict that now envelopes them is, in essence not their conflict. The real conflict is between NATO and Russia. -- Marc Ash, Ukraine is a Proxy for Russia v. NATO
Pouring more weapons into Ukraine is not how you save lives; you save lives by negotiating a ceasefire. Pouring more weapons into Ukraine is how you create a long and expensive military quagmire for Russia at the cost of many thousands of lives to advance US strategic interests. While making a vast fortune for the arms industry. --Caitlin Johnstone, Civilized Nations Kill With Sanctions and Proxy Armies

We've really got to stop pretending that somehow hitmen who are working for the arms and fossil fuel industries are "heroes." They're just making billionaires richer--and terrorizing ethnic minorities.

Anti-Russia critics have often claimed that the accusation that Ukraine’s Western-backed government is infiltrated by neo-Nazis and far-right extremists is “Russian propaganda.”

Yet in 2018, the Atlantic Council itself admitted this undeniable fact, in an article titled “Ukraine’s Got a Real Problem with Far-Right Violence (And No, RT Didn’t Write This Headline).”

The post reported that Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports gave funding to the neo-Nazi group C14 to promote “national patriotic education projects.” C14 has launched brutal attacks on the Roma and LGBTQ communities.

It also cited mainstream human rights organization Amnesty International, which warned that “Ukraine is sinking into a chaos of uncontrolled violence posed by radical groups and their total impunity.” --Ben Norton, NATO's Atlantic Council Promoted Ukraine's Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion

It's time to stop pretending that we actually care what happens on the other side of the planet and how many get hurt. We've got the war we want. The Raytheons and Lockheed Martins are making their billions upon billions in profits. Soon we'll witness the shut down of the Nord Stream pipeline and watch the price of gas and oil rise as high as Western fossil fuel corporations can push it. So please, stop pretending that the US and its actors--NATO, the CIA and related agencies, the MIC, Big Oil--didn't plan this conflict from the start for the benefit of the 1% and their growing bank accounts.

And start giving a sh*t about bringing the whole bloody mess to a halt before the entire planet suffers a nuclear winter.

Related articles with information that you've probably not read or heard mentioned on mainstream media outlets. (Feel free to share with others.): 

https://popularresistance.org/how-the-us-instigated-the-ukraine-crisis/

https://consortiumnews.com/2022/02/28/what-putin-says-are-the-causes-aims-of-russias-military-action/

 https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/28/crisis-over-ukraine-a-primer/

https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/twelve-thoughts-on-ukraine 

https://popularresistance.org/natos-atlantic-council-promoted-ukraines-neo-nazi-azov-battalion/

https://scheerpost.com/2022/02/24/hedges-the-chronicle-of-a-war-foretold/

https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/experts-warned-for-years-that-nato

https://truthout.org/articles/antiwar-activists-in-russia-and-ukraine-are-calling-for-an-end-to-militarism/

https://www.rsn.org/001/independent-american-and-russian-women-call-for-peace.html

https://www.directleft.com/p/i-survived-war-and-i-condemn-militarism?utm_source=url

https://popularresistance.org/western-media-fall-in-lockstep-for-neo-nazi-publicity-stunt-in-ukraine/

https://jacobinmag.com/2022/02/the-left-vladimir-putin-russia-war-ukraine 

https://www.rsn.org/001/how-the-peaceful-atom-makes-ukraine-a-nuke-war.html

https://www.rsn.org/001/ukraine-is-a-proxy-for-russia-v-nato.html  

https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/civilized-nations-kill-with-sanctions

The Ukraine Crisis--interview with Ben Norton (video): https://leecamp.com/the-ukraine-crisis-with-ben-norton/

The Belmarsh Tribunal (video): https://youtu.be/Tp8b6U3Pvlk 

Seen on Twitter:

***

  You can also read and share these recent articles:

No, No, No to War

Russians Speak Up Against War

Open Letter on Ukraine from WBW Ireland

Ukraine and the Myth of War

Western Media Fall in Lockstep for Neo-Nazi Publicity Stunt in Ukraine

VIDEO: Verses Versus War

VIDEO: Webinar: In Conversation With Lara Marlowe

A Path Away From War | The Science Of Peace Systems

Podcast: Peace Education and Action for Impact

VIDEO: Debate: Can War Ever Be Justified? Mark Welton vs. David Swanson

Don’t Overlook NATO’s Successes


You're invited to join World BEYOND War & partners for our 2nd annual virtual film festival from March 15-22!

With the escalating conflict over Ukraine, our work to call for the abolition of war seems ever more pertinent. In trying times like these, it feels especially important for us to come together in solidarity, unifying our collective call for demilitarization and nonviolence. Our "Water & War" film festival from March 15-22 will provide that opportunity for international networking and discussion, as we watch and learn about the human and environmental impact of war and militarism worldwide, and the stories of those who are standing up to resist it.

This year’s “Water & War” theme explores the intersection of militarism & water, survival & resistance, in the lead-up to #WorldWaterDay on March 22. A unique mix of films explores this theme, from PFAS pollution on a military base in Michigan and the infamous U.S. Navy's Red Hill fuel leak in Hawai’i poisoning groundwater, to Syrian war refugees fleeing violent conflict by boat to Europe and the story of the assassination of Honduran Indigenous water activist Berta Cáceres. Get tickets!


Day 1 of the festival on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:00pm Eastern Daylight Time launches with a discussion of the sweeping water contamination caused by U.S. military bases worldwide with screenings of No Defense & The Empire Files' A Battle for Water in Hawai’i. The post-film discussion will include Craig Minor, Tony Spaniola, Mikey Inouye, and other special guests TBA.


Day 2 on Saturday, March 19 at 3:00pm Eastern Daylight Time features a screening of the film The Crossing, with director George Kurian. A rare, firsthand account of one of the most dangerous journeys of our time, this timely, nail-biting documentary follows the grueling plight of a group of Syrian refugees as they cross the Mediterranean Sea and travel across Europe. The panel discussion will feature director George Kurian and Niamh Ní Bhriain, coordinator of the Transnational Institute’s War and Pacification Programme.


 Day 3, the festival finale on #WorldWaterDay (Tuesday, March 22 at 7:00pm Eastern Daylight Time), features Berta Didn’t Die, She Multiplied!, a celebration of the life and legacy of Honduran Indigenous, feminist, and environmental activist Berta Cáceres. The film tells the story of the Honduran military coup, the assassination of Berta, and the victory in the Indigenous struggle to protect the Gualcarque River. From Flint to Standing Rock to Honduras, the water is sacred and the power is in the people. The post-film discussion will feature director Sam Vinal and other special guests to be announced.
Learn more and reserve your spot for this unique film festival!
In peace & solidarity,
Greta Zarro
Organizing Director
World BEYOND War
 greta@worldbeyondwar.org

 

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Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Uncomfortable Truths: Critical Race Theory

 

Uncomfortable Truths: Critical Race Theory

by C. A. Matthews

This is the third and last article in this series highlighting Black History Month. (You can read the first article here and the second here.) I decided to save the most controversial topic for last.

What is Critical Race Theory exactly? Here's a definition from Britannica.com:

Critical race theory (CRT), intellectual and social movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that racism is inherent in the law and legal institutions of the United States insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans. Critical race theorists are generally dedicated to applying their understanding of the institutional or structural nature of racism to the concrete (if distant) goal of eliminating all race-based and other unjust hierarchies.

Why is Critical Race Theory controversial at all? I suppose most persons currently in power (i.e., wealthy white males) consider reparations a non-issue because they know they'll never utter a word for it, and they assume no legislation will ever be passed concerning it. But the very idea of discussing how our white-dominated society continues to treats people from various racial, ethnic, gender identities, and religious groups in an abhorrent fashion makes the powerful feel uncomfortable. And they can't allow others to make them uncomfortable--that's for them to do to the rest of us and how we're supposed to feel.

For example, what if teachers started conversations with grade school children on the topic of the horrors of slavery for enslaved Africans? Speaking frankly on the subject could open the white status quo up to criticism and blame. No longer would the kindly, white grandfather stereotype be seen as benign or  generous. No, quite the opposite. He'd be painted in an entirely different light, a much more sinister and selfish light.

Those in power can't stand having their image tarnished. They long to be seen as Santa Claus, not Captain Hook. But once the whole sordid truth of American history is revealed, there's no way to get that cat back into the bag. Children will cast a critical eye at every action powerful whites make from now on and will become sensitive to the consequences of these actions. Are the people in power acting fairly? Are they hurting others? What group(s) do those being hurt belong to? What benefits do the wealthy whites gain from hurting others unlike themselves?

Encouraging empathy, a sense of fairness, and a love for the rule of law aren't the kinds of traits white employers would like instilled in their potential wage slaves. The next thing you know, these enlightened youth will grow up to start their own unions and protest for human rights, such as the right to health care and due process in a court of law. 

Think about it from the oligarchs' point of view. Black, white, brown, red, yellow, and purple people shouldn't be able to organize and work together toward common goals of equality and justice. They'll get ideas… Ideas that all human beings are created equal. And what would happen to the status quo then? 

Hierarchies are created to keep those in power on top of the heap and those stuck below subjected to the whims of the upper classes. Equality and justice only muddy the waters and allow the classes to mingle. There's no more cheap prison labor if you can't lock up African American males on petty drug misdemeanor charges. The top tier hates anything cutting into their profits.

Let's be honest. The only people who are against teaching unvarnished and uncensored American history are those who fear they'll lose their ancestors' ill-gotten gains when the ugly truth is revealed. And outright racists. And those who fall into both categories.

The only true controversy I see brewing here is why we've allowed these racist oligarchs to rule over us for this long and what method is best to put them away for the good of all humankind.

Related links:

Confronting Right Wing Attacks on Racial Justice Teaching https://popularresistance.org/confronting-right-wing-attacks-on-racial-justice-teaching/

Real CRT: The Whiteness of Organizations (podcast) https://open.spotify.com/episode/2zOcsy5yc8bITg2BQP5sbk

Whitewashing 101: How To Rewrite Black History  (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3uvcydrxYk&t=1s 

College Faculty Are Fighting Back Against State Bills on Critical Race Theory  https://www.rsn.org/001/college-faculty-are-fighting-back-against-state-bills-on-critical-race-theory.html

A Century Ago Mississippi's Senate Voted to Send All the State's Black People Back to Africa https://www.rsn.org/001/a-century-ago-mississippis-senate-voted-to-send-all-the-states-black-people-to-africa.html 

A Persecuted Father Deported to Haiti Fights to Reunite with His Family in US   https://truthout.org/articles/a-persecuted-father-deported-to-haiti-fights-to-reunite-with-his-family-in-us/

Seen on Twitter:


 

*** 


Families Belong Together (Logo)

The reports are sickening: Black migrants tortured by U.S. immigration officers and forced to sign their own deportation orders. Some were beaten, others choked.

This is not an isolated incident. The U.S. immigration system is incredibly racist. Black immigrants are six times more likely to experience being in solitary confinement than immigrants in general, and are disproportionately more likely to be detained and deported.

Especially sad is that so many Black immigrants are eligible to be freed from this cruelty simply by paying a bond. But many can’t afford it, and that’s where we can help. 

Donate to the Black Immigrants Bail Fund to help pay bonds, hire lawyers, and help them reach their goal of $200,000 to get people to safety TODAY.

DoNate NOW

The Black Immigrants Bail Fund was created in July of 2021 by the Haitian Bridge Alliance and the African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs as a way to combat these unjust circumstances. 
So far, they have aided over 173 detainees and given over $2.6 million in bond requests to free Black migrants.
This Black History Month, your donation can help supercharge the work of the Black Immigrants Bail Fund and get Black migrants out of horrific conditions.
Your donation will pay bonds that keep loved ones locked up and hire lawyers to represent their cases in immigration court. will you give in any amount right now to help families stuck in detention centers?

DoNate NOW

What our immigration system has done to Black families seeking safety is gut-wrenching and wrong. Our fight isn’t over until we can welcome every family with dignity and compassion in the U.S.

 

In Solidarity,
Erin Mazursky | Organizing Director
Families Belong Together

 ***

Families Belong Together (Logo)

The number of people seeking safety and left to suffer in detention has skyrocketed to *20,000* since Biden took office.

It gets worse: the government is expanding programs that criminalize families through hyper-surveillance tactics like home curfews and ankle monitors.

These cruel and unnecessary Trump-era policies are issues the Biden administration should be ending, not expanding, if they’re going to live up to their promise of treating families with dignity and respect – and there is a crystal clear alternative to cruelty.

Instead of spending millions on keeping detention centers open, launching house arrest programs, and even robot border patrol dogs, the Biden administration can choose Communities over Cages by investing in caseworkers, lawyers, and community programs that actually help people fleeing danger. 
Let’s make it unequivocal that our community completely rejects any Trump-era immigration policies, and urge President Biden to choose Communities Not Cages in order to welcome people with dignity and respect now?

take action

The Biden administration promised on their campaign trail to immediately end the detention of families, stop the expansion of programs that criminalize families seeking safety, and create *real* solutions to welcoming people with dignity. It’s time for them to keep that promise.

We cannot be a country that meets families seeking safety with handcuffs and ankle monitors. We have to make the choice to welcome women, children, and families with efficient and timely processing, care, and most importantly, compassion.

Let’s make sure that Biden keeps his promise to reform the system with caseworkers, lawyers, and community-based solutions, not expanding detention, by flooding his team with calls from across the country in support of Community Not Cages.

Add your name to pressure the Biden administration to stop detaining families and welcome people seeking safety with dignity and compassion instead.

take action

We need the government to end the inhumanity of detention centers and the criminalization of families seeking safety. Doing this would get us so much closer to opening up legal pathways for people seeking safety rather than completely shutting them down. It’s time we live up to who we can be as a country. 

 

Thanks for all you do,
Erin Mazursky, Organizing Director
Families Belong Together

 *** 

In a near-future dystopian world, hope blossoms where mutual aid and democracy begins...

Zonta’s world is turned upside down when Jake arrives at the commune to investigate the disappearance of agents of the Authority. Can she persuade him to switch sides before the Protectors (antifascist fighters) take action?

Available now: https://www.extasybooks.com/Where-the-Bodies-Lie

A great tale of how love, cooperation, and socialism will ultimately save us all. -- Redd Phlagg

 

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