Happy Co-Dependence Day, America (Boiling Frogs)

 

Happy Co-Dependence Day, America

(Boiling Frogs)

by C.A. Matthews

The story goes that you can boil a live frog, but you have to go about it the right way or else the frog will jump out of the pot. So, you start with the frog not sitting in boiling water, but sitting in a nice, relaxing bath of lukewarm water instead. Then you slowly, slowly turn up the heat under the pot. Since the frog enjoys sitting in their mini-hot tub, they don’t react and just stay there, slowly falling asleep in the hot water until it’s too late. They boil alive.

Not a very pretty picture, is it?

The boiling frog analogy keeps coming to mind whenever I contemplate this past week’s 100 degree plus Fahrenheit temperatures and hazardous 300 air quality index forecasts in the continental US. Americans are definitely in the second frog scenario. We’re happy to sit and relax in our gradually warming hot tub until we’re boiled alive or choked on the dust and pollutants from firestorms. We’re not even trying to hop out of the pot.

Worst yet, we completely trust our boilers, that is, our corrupt status quo politicians. We let them do whatever they like—and they love to please their corporate masters. We all acknowledge that burning fossil fuels has caused this global warming that is, in turn, intensifying the forest fires in Canada and elsewhere.

But we boiling frogs are happy to let our rulers take lobbyists’ money and pass legislation to allow BP, Chevron, Exxon and all the rest to drill for more oil. We’re not fighting back. We’re not hopping out of the pot, even though they’re slowly killing us.

Americans are acting as foolishly as those fatalistic frogs sitting in a pot of boiling water.

What’s wrong with us, America? Did our so-called “Founding Fathers” raise a bunch of wimps? A bunch of collaborators with corporatists? A bunch of Stockholm Syndrome sufferers?

On July the Fourth, this our supposed “Independence Day,” we act like we’re okay with not being...well, independent.

Americans seem to enjoy force-fed propaganda from our government's own version of the dystopian novel 1984’s Ministry of Truth. We’re good listening to and accepting outright lies as long as we’re comfortable in our hot water bath that isn’t quite boiling—yet.

Whenever a politician on a cable news network says, “The economy is doing great!” we take him at his word although we’re struggling to pay bills. Like good little boiling frogs we’ll even consider voting for the idiot! No push back, no demand for him to stop gaslighting us—we’ve convinced ourselves that the status quo always knows what’s best for us, even when it knows jack-shit.

And trust the evil sycophants of the mainstream media to chime in and give their stamp of approval to every half-ass thing our billionaire-bought-and-owned public officials try to pull over on us. Just watch them as they never question these fallacious statements:

“War is peace!” the warmongers claim as the bodies of soldiers and innocent civilians pile up.

“We had to cancel the election/primary in order to save democracy!” the politicians state because they can’t risk an upstart entering the race who could overturn their apple cart of lobbyist money.

“The US has the best medical care in the world!” (That money can buy, that is. Big Pharma lobbyists gave Biden $41 million in 2020 to run for office. Don’t worry—they gave Trump $21 million!)

“What homelessness? What horrible rents?” say the status quo sycophants who have never been hungry or without a bed to sleep in and would never be caught associating with poor Americans who have experienced such a perilous situation.

These quasi-journalists can’t wait to soft pedal their interviews with bigwig politicos and make brownie points with the establishment so they, too, can become a permanent part of that bourgeoisie class. And boiling frogs—I mean, Americans—just keep eating these lies up.

What is wrong with us? Didn’t our ancestors 247 years ago tell British soldiers to get the hell off their land and let them be their own bosses? Americans of today seem to want others to do all the thinking for them, even if it means others’ thinking is boiling us alive. We apparently give no thought to how silly or mentally-incompetent we appear to others, either.

Observing videos of the protests and riots in France this past week, I’m impressed at how much the French don’t act like Americans. They don’t act like boiling frogs (no offense intended) waiting to be eaten. A young man of Algerian descent was killed by police in a suburb of Paris on Tuesday, and the response was explosive before the end of the week. 

There are fires and protests in every major city in France. Cars burning. Mayor’s mansions burning. Town halls burning. Police stations burning—as well they should. Seventeen year old Nahel's cold-blooded murder by police was part of a well-established pattern. In recent times, French police have arrested and killed persons of color at an alarming percentage compared to the majority white populace. No one in leadership has addressed this terrible issue. Perhaps now they will.

Three years ago, Americans marched and shouted “Black lives matter!” for a couple of months after the death of George Floyd and then stopped. Why? There are just too many deaths to mourn and protest. After a while they all start to blur together, don’t they? We just send our thoughts and prayers now and get back to sitting in our pot-shaped hot tubs like good little frogs waiting for the water to boil. 

Americans don’t stand up for themselves against the corrupt system. We don't want to cause our corporate masters any problems it seems. We don't burn nearly as many things as the French do, or the Belgians, or the Dutch, or the Swiss, or the...

Banks are burning in France.

Can you imagine Americans actually striking back at the bastards at BlackStone who have made it impossible for them to buy a home? I can hear the excuses now:

“Nah, we’re fine with the real estate investment mavens sticking it to us. We’ll just live in our mother’s basement for a few more years until our bankruptcy clears. Hopefully we’ll be able to save up enough money to afford a down payment on a tiny apartment. That is, if we don’t experience a medical emergency that wipes out all our savings before then.”

For pity’s sake, little froggies! Hop out of the pot before you boil and show some backbone!

https://stopcop.city/

Mercifully, not all Americans are afraid of their shadow. They do demonstrate courage. The brave protesters of Atlanta’s Cop City (Weelaunee Forest) aren’t acting like boiling frogs. They're in the streets and under the cops’ noses, making their point known. They won’t forget the senseless murder of Tortuguita, one of their own. And yes, the corporate-owned politicians (who have made millions of dollars off this Cop City scheme—don’t let them tell you otherwise) are instructing their bully boys in blue to arrest and charge the protesters with “domestic terrorism.”

Ha! What’s a charge of “domestic terrorism” to a warrior trying to save the planet from the “frog-boilers” of the police/military-industrial complex?

Americans have got to stop being such co-dependents before we cease to exist as a people. Face it—our government and its corporate henchmen don’t give a flying f*** about our collective health and well-being. They’re only in politics for the money. They figure they'll catch a ride on Bezos’ or Musk’s rocket later after they’ve completely destroyed the planet.

We’ve got to treat these villains like our ancestors treated the British soldiers on their soil: We fight them; we push back; we don’t take “no” for an answer. Take hints from the “domestic terrorists” at Cop City, the French, and others. It won’t be easy, but at least we will be choosing life over the slow boiling death these billionaire bastards have planned for us.

Happy Co-Dependence Day, America. Get yourselves out there and start acting like an American Revolutionary from 1776! Learn what true independence is all about. You know you want to, because now you realize you have to. There’s no excuse for us destroying our children’s future. It's time to free the frogs from the pot before it's too late.

Related Articles and Interesting Links: 

Sabby Sabs: MACRON'S FRANCE ON FIRE https://www.youtube.com/live/g8oNhXo2PhM 

Unbelievable Images of France Burning! https://youtu.be/2XV9MdrcNF8

‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action Day 5 https://popularresistance.org/stop-cop-city-week-of-action-day-5

Stop Cop City Week of Action Showed Movement’s Strength Amid Rampant Repression https://truthout.org/articles/stop-cop-city-week-of-action-showed-movements-strength-amid-rampant-repression

Mobilize the working class against French police murders and state repression! https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/01/mcrf-j01.html

Are Migrants Really Burning Down France? https://youtu.be/9p2HOVKvUIg 

Cities burn across France as cops assault protests against police murder of youth https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/30/ivwt-j30.html

As Movements Like Stop Cop City Gain Power, Police Treat Free Speech as a Crime  https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/29/as-movements-like-stop-cop-city-gain-power-police-treat-free-speech-as-a-crime/

FRANCE RIOTS: 40,000 Police Deployed by Macron, Cities on Fire
https://www.youtube.com/live/A8Brb73OpjE

France is at War with its own People https://councilestatemedia.substack.com/p/france-is-at-war-with-its-own-people

New Docs Link CIA to Medical Torture of Indigenous Children and Black Prisoners  https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/01/new-docs-link-cia-to-medical-torture-of-indigenous-children-and-black-prisoners/

UN Expert Demands Immediate Shutting Down of Guantanamo Prison, Apology to Inmates
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/06/27/un-expert-demands-immediate-shutting-down-of-guantanamo-prison-apology-to-inmates/

Mexico Refuses To Bow To US Sanction Threats
https://popularresistance.org/mexico-refuses-to-bow-to-us-sanction-threats/

PSOE-Podemos enforcement of EU “Let them drown” policy kills another 37 migrants in Spain
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/28/knlq-j28.html

Supreme Court Keeps Navajo Nation Waiting For Water
https://popularresistance.org/supreme-court-keeps-navajo-nation-waiting-for-water/

Breaking: Supreme Court Ends Affirmative Action for Colleges
https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/29/breaking-supreme-court-ends-affirmative-action-for-colleges/

Systemic Racism and the US War Machine
https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/29/systemic-racism-and-the-us-war-machine/

US Supreme Court Strikes Down Student Debt Relief
https://popularresistance.org/us-supreme-court-strikes-down-student-debt-relief/

We can use stem cells to make embryos. How far should we go?
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/07/1071121/stem-cells-make-embryos-how-far-should-we-go/

The Latest Honest Government Ad: Labor (The Shit-Lite Party) https://youtu.be/fHB0vDhdM3c 

Coming soon, the first book from The Revolution Continues blog:  The Little Red Book of Revolution

How can you get your e-copy? The easiest way is to subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack as a paying subscriber. Choose what level you'd like to subscribe at via the buttons on any post online at: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

If you'd like to help out in the meantime, buy me a coffee!  https://ko-fi.com/therevolutioncontinues

More details to come. Power to the people!

Black Lives Matter--Until The Police Are Involved

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 threat 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

🚨 ACTION ALERT 🚨 SIGN ON NOW! Join us in support of declaring a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls on May 5th. Sign on: https://t.co/p7Y9S5QiJj.

Please circulate widely! #MMIWG #MMIWGActionNow #NoMoreStolenSisters pic.twitter.com/ESwlerOTjQ

— National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (@niwrc) March 29, 2021

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

In 1978, the top 0.1% owned about 7% of the nation’s wealth. In 2019, they owned nearly 20%.

The looting is grotesque.

— Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) April 3, 2021

***

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!

 

Telling It Like It Is

Telling It Like It Is

by C.A. Matthews

Before I go any further, please watch the following short "Honest Government Ad" produced by The Juice Media:

https://youtu.be/dpIkl2QnJeI

This brilliant piece of satire is scathing, and yet it could be argued that nothing presented in its three minutes is unduly exaggerated or misrepresented. The cold hard facts are just that bleak, that bloody awful. Our friends in Australia at The Juice Media did their homework well.

The three main points of the video are summed up as follows:

1.)    The Trump administration has completely (and possibly purposefully) mishandled the COVID-19 crisis, causing (at latest count) over 158,000 unnecessary deaths in the US with a fatality rate of 3.38%. There's no end to the COVID deaths and suffering in sight, since little to no national effort has been made to enforce stricter methods to contain the virus and universal health care (such as Medicare for All) has yet to be enacted.

2.)    Any so-called "relief packages" passed by the Trump administration and the current Congress have been woefully inadequate to address the needs of the American populace. Instead, our leaders in Washington have further enriched the billionaire class and showered more tax breaks and free money on banks and corporations rather than helping out small businesses and families. Many Americans now face imminent eviction and hunger--if they're not already among the many millions unemployed.

3.)    Our rights to peaceful protest and free speech have been abridged by a federal policing force akin to Nazi Germany's SS snatch squads. Hints that our upcoming presidential election could be cancelled or delayed have been dropped in late night Tweets. Instead, blame has (once again) been leveled at minorities and protesters rather than on our corrupt system of policing and governance in the US. All this under the guise of "patriotism" and "saving democracy" while, for all intents and purposes, effectively thwarting those cherished ideals.

Not too bad for a short satirical parody video, right? It really packs a punch!

The main reason I wanted to feature this "Honest Government Ad" was to emphasize the point that those who dare "tell it like it is" are often maligned, sometimes threatened (physically, financially and psychologically), and almost always ridiculed or ignored until it becomes apparent that these prophets' vision of reality was true all along. No doubt many will try to tear down the facts presented in the video or explain how Trump and Congress couldn't possibly be so cold-hearted. Still, how do you explain the thousands of unnecessary deaths and untold suffering that could have been prevented if anyone in Washington DC had an ounce of compassion for us ordinary Americans?

Nina Turner, former Sanders campaign surrogate and Our Revolution president, is one such brave soul not afraid to speak truth to power. She recently left the Democratic Party, and it was not a decision she took lightly. The lies, corruption, manipulation and plain old-fashioned greed of the DNC finally convinced her that playing their game wasn't going to bring about Bernie Sanders' "future to believe in." She felt she could no longer spend precious energy and effort on covering for a losing cause--a party that supports it corporate backers above all else. Nina has moved on to support the Movement for a People's Party. 

They are lucky to have her.

Will Nina be maligned, ridiculed, ignored and threatened? Of course she will be! She has been treated similarly in the past, and so the future will hold no surprises for her in that area. But Nina will at last be able to tell it like it is without looking over her shoulder in fear, worrying what the party naysayers are saying and doing behind her back. Her newfound freedom may cost her dearly in her future political career, but in the end, I think it will be worth it.  Nina's voice of truth and passion will never be tainted by association with the self-aggrandizing hypocrites of the DNC.

Telling it like it is can be both scary and liberating. "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house," as it says in the Bible. But, in the end, truth telling is what keeps many of us sane and capable to act and able to look ourselves in the eye in the mirror during these insane times.

And we need all the sanity we can get because...

The following are examples of activists who aren't afraid of  telling it like it is. Watch and share their videos with others who are seeking the truth.

One of the most popular podcasters in the history of You Tube most certainly tells it like it is:

https://youtu.be/8h9CTXNujN0

"If you're an employer who pays a non-living wage, then you're not a job creator--you're a poverty exploiter. ...We live in a failed state." --Jimmy Dore

Another voice crying in the wilderness--Lee Camp--points out how our government seems to have an addiction to killing people.


 https://youtu.be/Ox5rs4evx7k

An outsider who takes a closer look into what's happening in America and not afraid to share his views--The Rational National, Canadian pundit David Doel.


https://youtu.be/hpPQsn5Qaj

Jordan Chariton of "Status Coup" has made a name for himself by covering  stories the mainstream media reporters tend to forget--like how there's still lead in the water in Flint, Michigan.  https://youtu.be/q0A54XtpK0A



The Humanist Report's Mike Figueredo is an indie voice who doesn't  hold back on the truth, no matter whose toes he may step on. https://youtu.be/OUzbdO5Vpgo

***

 From NRDC:

Tell the EPA to Stop Undermining Clean Air Protections During COVID-19

At a time when we should be strengthening clean air protections, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—against the advice of its own scientists—has decided not to enhance critical safeguards to better control dangerous air pollution. This inaction means up to 12,500 more people will die prematurely every year—and Black and Latino people, as well as low-income communities, bear a disproportionate share of the air pollution burden. The continued assault on our nation’s clean air safeguards is unconscionable, especially now, in the middle of a global pandemic that directly impacts respiratory health. Tell the EPA to step up and protect people’s health.

Share       

***

 From Color of Change:

It has happened again. 

This time, in Detroit. A Black man was ruthlessly murdered by rogue cops. And the officers are still employed two weeks later. 

On July 10, Hakim Littleton’s friend was being arrested by a swarm of cops -- and in the process, Hakim drew a gun, shot at an officer, and ultimately missed.¹ After Hakim was tackled, disarmed, and lay face down on the ground, he was repeatedly shot, and one officer even shot him in the back of the head at point-blank range.

We’ll never know why Hakim drew the gun. He will never be able to tell what was going through his mind as officers swarmed them that day. But we do know that Hakim should still be alive. He did not deserve to be executed at point-blank range by the very people who “swear to protect” us.
Hakim’s murder was a public execution. We demand accountability for the officers, the police chief, and the entire Detroit Police Department for our Black brother. 

Add your name to the petition to demand #JusticeforHakim.

Despite how carelessly the cops sprayed bullets at Hakim, Detroit police chief James Craig has spewed lies to the media, misrepresented what happened the day Hakim was murdered, and continues to conspire against Hakim by referring to the officers as “heroes.” The department even tried to hide the additional video footage that clearly shows Hakim was shot multiple times from behind as he lay face down on the ground. The video wasn’t released until local activists and community members demanded the footage more than a week later. 

This callous behavior is nothing new for the Detroit Police Department. 

The Detroit police were once the most deadly and notorious police department in the country.² They lead the nation's largest cities in the rate of fatal shootings by police -- in just a five-year span from 1995-2000, they murdered 40 people. While that number has decreased, it was only due in part to the federal oversight they were placed under due to the overwhelming amount of police violence. And more recently, the city of Detroit has had to pay out tens of millions of dollars in police misconduct lawsuits, as a result of persistent police brutality. 

#JusticeforHakim: Sign the petition to hold the entire Detroit Police Department accountable for murdering Hakim Littleton.

At Color Of Change, we have run far too many campaigns against the Detroit police department -- and that’s a testament to how violent their police force is. Just a few weeks ago while protestors rallied to put an end to police violence, Detroit police drove their SUVs into the crowd of protestors, showing a blatant disregard for their lives.³ 

Even against the backdrop of a global uprising against police violence, Detroit officers won’t stop abusing and murdering people. 
We deserve to breathe and live free of persistent police violence. We deserve to have our loved ones come home at the end of the day. We are tired. Black Detroiters are tired. We demand accountability and we’re demanding it at every level. 

That’s why we’re calling on Mayor Mike Duggan, Prosecutor Kym Worthy, and Attorney General Dana Nessel to 1)  release the officers’ names, 2) fire them, 3) launch an independent investigation, and 4) Mayor Duggan to fire Chief James for his handling of the case.

Add your name now to demand justice.

Until justice is real,
Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard, Ernie, McKayla and the rest of the Color Of Change team

---

References:

1. "Protesters gather in Detroit after police shoot and kill man who officers say shot at them first." The Washington Post. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/257704?t=9&akid=44314%2E3399430%2Efu-83T

2. "How the roots of Detroit's police department helped spawn 1967 rebellion." NPR. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/257705?t=11&akid=44314%2E3399430%2Efu-83T

3. "Detroit police SUV drives through crowd after protesters climb on hood." Detroit Free Press. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/257706?t=13&akid=44314%2E3399430%2Efu-83T

The Only Difference Is The Uniform

Portland mom being snatched by "federal agent" (photo by Tommie Sunshine)

It's been a harrowing week--at least if you follow independent media pod casts and web sites. The images of peaceful protesters being gassed, shot, beaten and abducted are the subject of horror stories. Historians and pundits alike have concluded that Trump has taken a page right out of the fascists' playbook. Most of the elected officials in Washington DC give their silent nod of approval to this sending of federal troops into American cities through inaction. When will we wake up from this nightmare? Who knows, but until then keep an eye on the men tossing the pepper spray bombs into a line of brave moms... because the only real difference between these troops and Hitler's thugs is one of fashion sense.

The Only Difference is the Uniform
by Coast Watcher


The Battle for Portland, Oregon, has lasted for over fifty days and counting. Stemming from the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis PD, the Black Lives Matter protests have rocked this liberal city in the Pacific Northwest to its foundations. Most of the protests are peaceful; however, the response by the Department of Homeland Security at President Trump’s orders has been out of all proportion.

The Department of Homeland Security Rapid Deployment Force entered Portland in response to what were termed "increasingly violent attacks" according to Federal Protective Services regional director Gabriel Russel. According to documents obtained by Portland journalists, there are currently 114 federal law enforcement officers deployed to protect federal buildings, which also includes statues and monuments according to Trump. Personnel drawn from the Federal Protective Service (FPS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Marshals Service and US Customs and Border Protection make up the contingent—yet knowledgeable sources have also identified mercenaries prowling the streets including some from Triple Canopy, a descendant of the infamous Erik Prince’s Blackwater mercenary corporation.

Videos and photographs are circulating showing these and other "federal" personnel using unmarked vehicles to arrest protesters without warrant or explanation and taking them to undisclosed locations. In one attack, a van used as a first aid station for protesters had its windows smashed out by troops. In another, a professor of European Studies (ironically a specialist in the rise of fascism) at Lewis and Clark University suffered a severe head wound from a baton round during a peaceful demonstration on public land.

None of the heavily-armed personnel involved in these outrages against the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments displayed identification, as is required of law enforcement agents. There is little difference between these overly militarized personnel deployed by Trump and the gray uniformed SS "snatch squads" used as an instrument of terror by Heinrich Himmler in Nazi Germany. Similar snatch tactics causing the "disappearance" of protesters were used in Chile during Augusto Pinochet's regime in the 1970s.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler suffered a tear gas attack on the streets of his own city. During this episode Wheeler called the federal intervention an abuse of power and accused the FPS of escalating the violence, which included the tear-gassing and use of baton rounds on peacefully protesting women known as "the Moms." Oregon’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the federal authorities citing its snatching of citizens from the streets and their retention under arrest without due process. Mayor Wheeler’s response has been oddly weak. Instead of ejecting the FPS, he’s making statements that fall short of telling the feds to get the hell out of his city.
 
The FPS remains unrepentant. Senior official Ken Cuccinelli stated they will remain on the streets of Portland, and other cities where required, "until the violence recedes." Trump has also threatened to deploy more so-called federal units to Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and other urban centers across the country.

Documents show that the FPS spends $1 billion of taxpayers’ money per year on these hired security thugs. It must be noted that the FPS has a long and troubling history of failing to properly vet and adequately monitor these mercenaries or even ensure they have proper training and certifications. In other words, the taxpayers are effectively paying for their own government to oppress them and their fellow citizens. This travesty of justice is happening in a time when a virulent disease has the world and the US in its grip. The economic consequences of COVID-19 with its mass unemployment and threatened homelessness by eviction are still playing out.

Some say this is Trump’s rehearsal for when he declares himself dictator, possibly if he loses the election in November. Analogies with the Nazi  SA "Brown shirts" and Mussolini’s fascisti are clear to see. The ammosexuals--who stockpile thousands of firearms against the day they have to stand against a tyrannical government--have been strangely silent. Some side with Trump. While these gun-lovers cower, mothers and daughters stand tall with interlocking arms against the unconstitutional oppression inflicted by their own government via tear gas and rubber bullets.

Whatever happens in November, whether a second civil war begins or an outright revolution erupts, the experiment in democracy that is the United States will never be the same.

Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-portland-valor/court-documents-reveal-secretive-federal-unit-deployed-for-operation-diligent-valor-in-oregon-idUSKCN24N2SH

https://medium.com/@wkc6428/the-lead-federal-agency-responding-to-protesters-in-portland-employs-thousands-of-private-db137349f8b0

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augusto-Pinochet

BIO: Coast Watcher can't help but draw parallels between current events and Nazi Germany. It's like Trump is taking cues from Mein Kampf--supposedly a book he kept on his nightstand and read to fall asleep. Explains a lot.

Related links:

Federal Agents in Portland Tear Gas the Press (video)
https://youtu.be/wTp-Sj4bZPQ

Portland Protests Escalate! Chicago Mayor Welcomes Federal Goons! (video)
https://youtu.be/Q4YMoeOquaU 

"Wall of Veterans" Arrives in Portland to Protect BLM Protesters From Trump's DHS Troops
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wall-of-veterans-arrives-in-portland-to-protect-black-lives-matter-protesters-from-trumps-dhs-troops/ar-BB17bnpZ?ocid=sf

Navy Veteran Beaten by Feds in Portland Fears that Trump's Deployment Will Lead to Copy Cats in Combat Fatigue
https://www.businessinsider.com/christopher-david-navy-veteran-beaten-by-feds-speaks-out-2020-7

Trump Plans to Expand the Federal Invasion of American Cities
https://www.motherjones.com/anti-racism-police-protest/2020/07/trump-border-patrol-cities-portland-chicago/

America "Staring Down the Barrel of Martial Law" Oregon Senator Warns
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/64212-america-staring-down-the-barrel-of-martial-law-oregon-senator-warns


From Facebook:

"It dawned on me when I was in the ER, and had a chance to catch my breath (post tear gas): my government did this to me. My own government. I was not shot by a random person in the street. A federal law enforcement officer pulled a trigger that sent an impact munition into my head."

Professor Maureen Healy is the chair of the history department at Lewis and Clark College. She teaches Modern European History, with a specialization in the history of Germany and Eastern Europe (and the rise of fascism). She was shot in the head by federal agents on Monday night and is recovering from the injury and the concussion, but shared a statement of her experience, and gave permission to share this.
--
Statement by Maureen Healy, July 22, 2020
For Immediate Release 

Since June, I have been attending peaceful protests in Portland neighborhoods in support of Black Lives Matter. I have gone with family and friends. 

I am a 52-year-old mother. I am a history professor. 

I went downtown yesterday to express my opinion as a citizen of the United States, and as a resident of Portland. Of Oregon. This is my home. I was protesting peacefully. So why did federal troops shoot me in the head Monday night? 

I was in a large crowd of ordinary folks. Adults, teens, students. Moms and dads. It looked to me like a cross-section of the City. Black Lives Matter voices led the crowd on a peaceful march from the Justice Center past the murals at the Apple store. The marchers were singing songs. We were chanting. We were saying names of Black people that have been killed by police. We observed a moment of silence in front of the George Floyd mural. 

I wanted to, and will continue to, exercise my First Amendment right to speak. Federal troops have been sent to my city to extinguish these peaceful protests. I was not damaging federal property. I was in a crowd with at least a thousand other ordinary people. I was standing in a public space. 

In addition to being a Portland resident, I am also a historian. My field is Modern European History, with specialization in the history of Germany and Eastern Europe. I teach my students about the rise of fascism in Europe. 

By professional training and long years of teaching, I am knowledgeable about the historical slide by which seemingly vibrant democracies succumbed to authoritarian rule. Militarized federal troops are shooting indiscriminately into crowds of ordinary people in our country. We are on that slide. 

It dawned on me when I was in the ER, and had a chance to catch my breath (post tear gas): my government did this to me. My own government. I was not shot by a random person in the street. A federal law enforcement officer pulled a trigger that sent an impact munition into my head. 

After being hit I was assisted greatly by several volunteer medics. At least one of them was with Rosehip Medic Collective. To take shelter from the teargas I was hustled into a nearby van. Inside they bandaged my head and drove me several blocks away. From there my family took me to the ER. I am grateful for the assistance, skill, and incredibly kind care of these volunteer medics. 

We must take this back to Black Lives Matter. Police brutality against Black people is the real subject of these peaceful protests that have been happening in my city and across the country. What happened to me is nothing. It is nothing compared to what happens to Black citizens at the hands of law enforcement, mostly local police, every day. And that is why we have been marching. That is why I will continue to march.

From the web:

First they came for the Muslims,
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Muslim.
Then they came for the immigrants,
And I did not speak out
Because I was not an immigrant.
Then they came for the Black Lives Matter protesters,
And I did not speak up,
Because I was not a BLM protester.
Then they came for me,
And there was no one left
To speak for me.
(Based on the post WWII poem by Reverend Niemoller)

Paul Rippey of Portland, Oregon, wrote two new verses to A Policeman's Lot Is Not a Happy One:

When you signed up to defend our southern border,
Detaining people mostly black and brown,
You could not anticipate that you'd get orders
To teargas folks in our beloved town.
Now you're beating up on people who speak English,
And their cell phones capture all that you have done.
Ah, take one consideration with another,
A policeman's lot is not a happy one.

When the kids aren't marching in a demonstration
They live their happy lives from day to day,
And they do not feel the threat of deportation
'Cause most are from the good old USA.
In fact you might see one who is your brother,
Your sister, or your daughter, or your son.
Ah, take one consideration with another,
A policeman's lot is not a happy one.

*** 

We’ve been busy all month with our Cops & Capitalism: A Summer Webinar Series along with our partners at LittleSis and we’ve gotten amazing responses from those who have joined us. If you’d like to join us for our next webinar happening this Wednesday, RSVP here!
 
On our first webinar, we explored our groundbreaking research on cities’ use of Police Brutality Bonds, the bonds issued to pay for police brutality settlements which ultimately allows Wall Street to profit from police violence. Those on the webinar learned how bonds work and how to research police budgets in their own cities. 

Then, we dove deeper into the demand to defund police and took a closer look at relationships between corporations and policing. We know that cutting the police budget is a first step towards the world we want to see but in order to fully fund our communities and invest in the things we need we must also redirect funding from the institutions that support policing. Participants on the second webinar also had a chance to follow along with our complimentary How To Guide and ask questions. (If you haven’t had a chance to join any of our previous webinars, you can watch the recordings on our website.) 

And now it's time for the third installment! Join us for our next webinar happening this Wednesday July 29th at 1pm ET.

Register Now

On this webinar, we will explore how billionaires and corporations like Wells Fargo, Amazon, and Target use police foundations to fund and prop up the police. Police foundations--nonprofits that fundraise money from wealthy donors and corporations for local police departments--help maintain the racist policing status quo. We’ll discuss how directly pressuring corporations to cut ties with police foundations can strengthen fights to defund the police and invest in Black and Brown communities, as well as ensure that police departments’ public funding is not replaced by similarly enormous private funding. 

Participants will learn how to research which corporations support their local police foundations and hear examples of demands activists are making around corporations and police foundations in local campaigns. 

For centuries, police have acted as the muscle of racial capitalism, protecting the property and interests of the wealthy, and violently reinforcing systemic and racist disinvestment in our communities. Policing and mass incarceration has made it more possible for the finance industry and corporations to build their profit off our oppression. Because they are inextricably linked, we have to defund the police and tax the rich to fully fund and sustain the communities we want to live in.
Hope to see you on the webinar! 

In Solidarity always,
Alyx Goodwin
Senior Organizer, ACRE