Showing posts with label #LeeCamp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #LeeCamp. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

2025: The Year Truth Becomes Hate Speech

 


2025: The Year Truth 

Becomes Hate Speech

by C. A. Matthews

At the end of the year, most bloggers/columnists compile a round-up of worldwide events that stood out to them as making a significant impact on human society. This year the detrimental events came at us all so fast and furious, one right after another, that there’s almost no way to rank them in order of horridness because they were all so… well, horrid. Where to start?

I tried to find a common thread among the happenings which sums up what the year 2025 was all about. An idea grabbed me as I read one astute observer’s comment on the recent arrest of activist Greta Thunberg. Greta was arrested in London for holding a sign pleading for the release of the Palestine Action hunger strikers. This comment has become the theme of this year's round-up: Truth has become hate speech.

In the year 2025, this theme was present in most earth-shattering events. It can be summed up in a formula reminiscent of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: Truth = Hate Speech. (Or possibly Hate Speech squared.) And just as revolutionary as Einstein’s breakthrough in physics, this Truth = Hate Speech axiom opens up a whole new way of understanding how our lords and masters (a.k.a. the billionaires/oligarchy and their henchpersons/political puppets) want to manipulate and use us from here on out—that is, if we let them.

Let’s start with Greta’s and thousands of other British protesters’ example...

 

To find out what other horrible happenings made the list, read the rest of this post by copying or clicking on the following link: 

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This article is the 551st blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten+ years. 

Please make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or Buy Me a Coffee or Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you. 

Happy New Year to you and yours! Keep sharing the truth!


Tuesday, October 28, 2025

What Is Activism?


What Is Activism?

by C. A. Matthews

This week I planned on introducing a documentary film, To Kill A War Machine, to the general public at our main library branch downtown. After doing some research on the group the film is about, Palestine Action, it got me to thinking: What is activism? Is what most of us engage in activism or is it just so much showing off? Can we become real activists? What’s holding us back?

I’m not going to dissect the “No Kings” event that happened recently since so many others have already done so. Caitlin Johnstone and Lee Camp both wrote excellent pieces about it. What I am going to say here for the record is that I agree with their takes on it.

No Kings wasn’t a “protest” as much as it was a “rally” or a “parade” (if people marched along a parade route). There’s nothing wrong with rallies or parades, but when circumstances are as dire as many of us think they are, then we simply don’t have time to waste on fun things like rallies or parades. We need to get down to business. Things are happening in our world that are deadly serious and need addressing. Now.

This is the way I saw the No Kings event I attended: It was like an adult spying a house on fire and then deciding to dress up in an inflatable dinosaur costume and prance about in front of the burning house holding a Trump is a DICKtator sign instead of organizing a water bucket brigade to put the fire out. Cute costume and clever sign but a juvenile reaction. It’s neither helpful nor appropriate to the occasion...

 

To read more about what is activism (and what we should be doing), please copy or click on the following link: 

https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

There you'll see related article and video links, all the graphics, and be able to leave comments. You can become a free or paid subscriber and receive weekly posts in your email box, along with occasional special articles just for paid subscribers, too.

Subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack today. Power to the people!
 
 
 

This article is the 543rd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

You can make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or Buy Me a Coffee or Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you.

Watch the film here: https://youtu.be/_hdHCS0X610
 

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Boulder. Together.

 


Boulder. Together.

by C.A. Matthews 

 

It’s been difficult, if not next to impossible, to become excited by the American political scene in recent years. The whole electoral process itself seems like a sham, a game meant to distract the public away from things that really matter, like providing health care and housing for all. The race results are decided months, if not years, in advance. The billionaires/oligarchs know exactly who they want running the show so they can continue to benefit monetarily from their endless wars for resources. They know which Wall Street-owned candidate will turn a blind eye and give them a free hand to abuse the workers so production costs never cut too far into their profit margins.

Knowing the futility of making any mark on American elections makes me mad enough to throw a flaming Molotov cocktail into the whole stinking cesspool of politicians, wiping them off the face of the earth for good. Or maybe I could just throw a rock into their mansions’ front windows with a note attached declaring, “I'm mad as hell, and I'm not taking it anymore!”

A rock… Hey, that’s an idea!

Yard Rock recently announced his run for the White House via his campaign manager, Lee Camp. Yard Rock is very old in geologic age but very young when it comes to political campaigning. Still, he has an impressive platform worth supporting:

  • Has never supported a war (and never will)
  • Has never supported an increase in Pentagon spending (and never will)

  • Did not support the Global War on Terror that has killed roughly 6 million people

  • Did not support the invasion of Iraq

  • Did not support the invasion of Afghanistan

  • Did not support the invasion of Libya

  • Has committed no war crimes (and never will) 

  • Has committed no rape or sexual assault, nor even been accused (and never will)

  • Has never supported the US prison state – largest prison population in the world (and never will)

  • Has not been involved in increasing the US prison state (and never will)

  • Has never supported corporate tax cuts (and never will)

  • Has never supported Big Pharma (and never will)

  • Has never supported Big Ag (and never will)

  • Has never supported Big Oil (and never will)

  • Has never supported Big Banks (and never will)

  • Has never supported corporate media (and never will)

  • Has never endorsed the persecution of Julian Assange (and never will) 

  • Has never endorsed the propaganda known as Russiagate (and never will)

  • Has never endorsed the anti-China propaganda (and never will)

  • Has never supported cuts to food stamps, social security, medicare, medicaid, housing programs, public schools, infrastructure, or transportation (and never will)

  • Has never raised questions about the veracity of the climate crisis (and never will)

  • Has never supported the out-of-control police state (and never will)

  • Has never endorsed the pathetic exploitative US healthcare system (and never will)

  • Has never doubted or fought against Indigenous rights (and never will)

  • Has never taken a dime from corporate America (and never will) 

  • No Super PAC funding

  • Never accepted donations from Big Pharma, weapons manufacturing, etc. (This rock is not a puppet!)

  • Has never voted to send arms to Israel

  • Did not vote for latest spending bill

  • Did not support Trump’s tax cuts for the rich

  • Did not support the 2008 bank bailout

  • Did not support the PATRIOT Act

  • Did not support NAFTA

  • Currently holds no assets in stock market

  • No appearance on Epstein’s flight logs

  • Never endorsed a Democrat or Republican candidate

  • Has never cooperated or supported the FBI or CIA

  • Is not white

  • Has never appeared on SNL

  • Supports the efforts of wild orcas to tip over yachts 

I’m really excited by the candidacy of Yard Rock. I think he’s a solid candidate. It’s hard not to love him. Only the most igneous and sedimentary of American voters would ignore this stone while he’s on a roll. He’s the genuine rolling stone, all right. (And Keith Richards is a mere child by comparison.)
 
I know what you’re going to say next—you’re going to say, “But how is Yard Rock at the podium and on camera? Can he engage and energize the voters, bringing them to a Rocky Mountain high? Will he be able to convince them to vote for his bolder than most other candidates’ platforms?”

Yard Rock, by his nature, is a rather quiet and deep individual. It’ll be rough at first getting the public to know him. He’ll need a little help in this area to smooth things over with those who don't believe a mineral has got what it takes. That’s why I’m volunteering my skills as his speech writer. I want to do him proud and help him wow audiences with a volcanic blast of oratory that will, in turn, make him win the presidency by a landslide.

The avalanche of support Yard Rock’s candidacy will bring will be further amplified when he picks his running mate. There’s no need to mine the field of independent candidates too deeply. It isn’t rock-et science: Yard Rock should cement his run by choosing Dr. Cornel West as his vice president.

Dr. West has numerous good qualities that will support Yard Rock’s strengths. He’s tall, speaks well, and has powerful arms to carry Yard Rock from podium to podium as they campaign. They already agree on so much, particularly on ending wars. They both realize they’ll face a mountain of opposition from candidates from the corporate-owned-and-operated parties. (That is, the duopoly or uni-party, or as they like call themselves “The Ds and the Rs”. They seem to have suffered a fissure at some point and now think they’re actually differentiated strata, but any good rock hound knows better. They’re a composite ore.) 

What have these Wall Street manipulated mannequins of mass destruction really got on the integrity of Yard Rock and the highly regarded Dr. West? Nothing. Nada. They gleefully bury bodies with the backhoe of the military-industrial complex profit-making machine, but they don’t offer the electorate the hope and compassion that Yard Rock and Dr. West grant it. There’s going to be a tremendous earthquake in Washington DC the day the Rock/West team cracks open and exposes the faults lining status quo politics as usual there.

I don’t want Yard Rock and Dr. West to peak too soon, so I’ll end it here for now. I hope I’ve dropped a pebble into your well of consideration, and I recommend you check out a candidate’s web site before making your decision. I’m heartened by the fact that Yard Rock has the backing of Team Orca, a wonderful group of cetaceans who know when their ship has sailed in. (Or is that a yacht?)

We truly can be “boulder together.”

P.S. What sort of campaign theme tune should we have for Yard Rock/Cornel West 2024? I'm leaning toward classic rock, but Dr. West is well known as a jazz lover. Perhaps a fusion of the two genres?


Related Articles and Interesting Links:

A Literal Rock for President: https://yardrock2024.com/

Cornel West for President 2024: https://www.cornelwest24.org/  

Cornel West and the Campaign to End Political Apartheid
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/cornel-west-and-the-campaign-to-end

U.S. Cluster Bombs Have Arrived in Ukraine
https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/15/u-s-cluster-bombs-have-arrived-in-ukraine/

Rep. Gaetz Says He Will Co-Sponsor Amendment to Block Cluster Bombs to Ukraine  https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/12/rep-gaetz-says-he-will-co-sponsor-amendment-to-block-cluster-bombs-to-ukraine/

Biden’s Corruption Led to Ukraine’s Destruction: Former Kiev Diplomat https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/12/rep-gaetz-says-he-will-co-sponsor-amendment-to-block-cluster-bombs-to-ukraine/

Bastille Day 1789—Bastille Day 2023 https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/15/ueah-j15.html

Activists Cement the Sewers Shut https://youtu.be/wOFaBOrXFc0

France’s Racism Still on Display as It Denies Its Colonial Past — and Present https://truthout.org/articles/frances-racism-still-on-display-as-it-denies-its-colonial-past-and-present/

Julian Assange Is “Dangerously Close” to Extradition for Revealing US War Crimes https://truthout.org/articles/julian-assange-is-dangerously-close-to-extradition-for-revealing-us-war-crimes/

Seymour Hersh: Fear and Loathing on Air Force One
https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/15/seymour-hersh-fear-and-loathing-on-air-force-one/

Chris Hedges: American Poverty Is A Calamity By Design https://popularresistance.org/chris-hedges-american-poverty-is-a-calamity-by-design/

Cop City And The Escalating War On Environmental Defenders https://popularresistance.org/cop-city-and-the-escalating-war-on-environmental-defenders/

Climate Change Is Turning the Ocean Green https://truthout.org/articles/climate-change-is-turning-the-ocean-green

US Soldiers Don’t Belong in Ukraine https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/17/us-soldiers-dont-belong-in-ukraine/ 

How the West Descended Into Idiocy https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/how-the-west-descended-into-idiocy

Zelensky’s Hitlerian Heel Turn https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/zelenskys-hitlerian-heel-turn

Don’t Let Your Pride Get in the Way of Our Arms Sales, Jack! https://matthewhoh.substack.com/p/dont-let-your-pride-get-in-the-way 

Jimmy Dore Live on RBN (video)
https://www.youtube.com/live/ywEDfLgBf-A

Fantastic links to documentaries and other videos from Beanstalk's World   https://beanstocksworld.wordpress.com/2023/07/16/truthful-news-weekend-2023-07-15-8-videos/#like-9750

Join Team Orca! https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2023/06/join-team-orca.html 

Impossible Things (Uniting the Left) https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2023/06/impossible-things-uniting-left.html 

 

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

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More details to come. Power to the people!

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

The Plan (Plus: A Caucus Observer's Tale)


The Plan
by C. A. Matthews

Coincidences happen. Serendipitous events do occur and can be taken advantage of. Conspiracies actually take a lot of work and plotting, though, something which implies its participants are energetic and coordinated. Most groups can’t be bothered with that level of sophistication in order to promote their agendas.

It’s just easier for organizations to make simple plans—long-term or short-term plans. Many on the Left are fairly certain they see the overarching plan of the Democratic Party’s leadership in regards to the 2020 presidential election fleshing out. The Dem leaders don’t like democratic socialism, socialism, or anything that hints at taking care of our neighbors and bringing everyone’s standard of living up to an equal level and providing health care for all Americans. The top dog Dems like PACs/Super PACs and accepting large sums of money from corporations and individuals. In short, they ain’t too bothered with overturning the Citizens United ruling and outlawing money as speech. 


And why would the DNC leadership want to change their ways? Getting rid of PACs and billionaires’ contributions is not in their best interests. Who really cares if poor folks can eat or pay their heating bills anyway! The poor don’t write big checks or put high-powered Dems on boards of directors after they’ve retired from their cushy party or government jobs. Democracy and fair play obviously aren’t important virtues to the DNC. Face it, they’re just not.


At least this time around they’re not hiding their tactics. If anything, they’re telegraphing them loudly and clearly. They allowed billionaire Michael Bloomberg to buy his way onto their debate stage by purchasing tons of commercial ad space on TV, the internet, print and billboards with what amounts to his pocket change. No one at the top of the party blinked an eye, either. No one said, "Hey, that's not fair to poorer candidates!" The DNC might say they hate a certain white male racist misogynist one-percenter in Washington, DC, but they’re more than willing to install another one in his place it seems.  

It's surreal. The DNC doesn’t really care about being seen as hypocrites while touting widely they’re the “party of workers.” What kind of “workers” are those, Dems? Professional butt-kissers? Amateur Boot-lickers? It boggles the mind how anyone with half a brain and an ounce of morality would have anything to do with such a morally bankrupt organization.

But then you stop and think and realize that the status quo establishment yields tight control over the ballot box and the debate stage. So the choices of the “major” parties in the November presidential election will be (once again)  Trump and Not-Trump or "Trump-lite" Bloomberg. Surprised?

Unless an outsider can get a foot in the door of this corrupt duopolistic system, don’t expect anything short of a revolution (a violent one) from changing how the system works in this country. “The Plan” says things stay the same and the money keeps flowing upwards into the billionaires’ pockets while We the People grow steadily poorer and sicker and our waters become ever more undrinkable and our soil turns to dust. Too bad, so sad you weren't born a Zuckerberg or a Bezos or a Bloomberg, right?


The outliers like Bernie Sanders or a third party candidate like the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins or Dario Hunter will not be allowed to compete. The Plan has already developed its "apps" and has the rigged electronic voting machines ready. The Plan doesn’t allow for the voters to actually have a choice to tackle the climate catastrophe and restore our lost civil rights. Oh no! The fat cats can’t have that. And so the DNC will (once again) rig their convention by using their Superdelegates to keep the “people's choice” Bernie from the nomination for the people's own good.

Lee Camp and Saagar Enjeti both give pretty good explanations of how this plan will come about in the following videos. A brokered convention all but puts the nails in the coffin of a Bernie Sanders presidency. The other Dem candidates on the debate stage in Las Vegas appear to be in on the fix, too, as they salivate at the chance to take power in Milwaukee. The will of the people doesn't enter even the picture.


And, of course, they DNC will try to blame any apparent lack of democracy in their primary process on the "Russians" or whomever is convenient rather than accept responsibility for their own heinous actions. I'm just waiting for it to happen. Oh, wow... They just did.

I apologize if this tirade comes across as a bit of a downer, but I thought you should be prepared for the worst. If by a miracle-upon-a-miracle the miraculous happens and the voters actually receive a “choice” at the voting booth this time, that victory will taste all the sweeter. 

But for those of us who were there in Philadelphia in 2016, I caution you to not hold your breath. You’ll need your oxygen to pick up your pitchfork and get marching immediately. As the song says, “We won’t be fooled again.” See you in the streets.


https://youtu.be/mjW_zh-xEXA

https://youtu.be/CTzDY4Q5zqc

Related articles and videos:

Nick Branna, Former Bernie Staffer Tells What Will Happen Next in the Primaries (video)
https://youtu.be/B9On84hT9cQ

Why Does Anyone Think Michael Bloomberg Would Beat Donald Trump?
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/02/why-does-anyone-think-michael-bloomberg-would-beat-donald-trump

Leaked Audio: Bloomberg Says Only Minorities Commit Crimes (video)
https://youtu.be/bT8g2ImDckc


And for those who try to dig up "Russiagate" and use it as a reason to eliminate Bernie Sanders from the DNC nomination:  

US Intelligence Briefer Appears To Have Overstated Assessment of 2020 Russian Interference
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/23/politics/intelligence-briefer-russian-interference-trump-sanders/index.html

Analysis Show DNC Servers Locally Hacked
https://www.mintpressnews.com/analysis-dnc-servers-locally-hacked-russian-interference-unlikely/229699/

 ***
And now a special report courtesy of Our Revolution--Northwest Ohio:
How Bernie Sanders Learned from 2016

Last week a group of four activists from Our Revolution – Northwest Ohio traveled to Iowa to canvas, knocking on hundreds of doors and driving vans of people to their caucus sites, and then serving as observers. Below is a brief memoir from Dennis Slotnick, Caucus Observer.

Observing a Caucus in Iowa in 2016

In a small precinct 25 miles north of Davenport, Iowa, a roller skating rink turned into a Democratic Party caucus site. Voters checked in on paper sheets and sat in the skating area in two almost equally populated sections. I counted heads: Bernie 65, Hillary 57. The organizer wrote on a white board different numbers. He was the only other person visibly counting. He put reverse numbers up: Bernie 56, Hilary 63. Numbers are approximate because it was not possible to know who were caucusers from observers. Children and teens wandered about getting food and drinks, sitting in the area to be counted. After presentations to the groups by pro-Hillary and pro-Bernie campaigners the realignment occurred. When I counted again, the second count was about the same, although nothing was written and no paper trail could be made. There were no ballots, no cards or documentation.  Just the whiteboard. I was stunned. In shock, I looked to the guy from New York who also observed and we both agreed that anyone could walk down on the floor to be counted. We shook our heads in bewilderment. There were not any Bernie campaign precinct captains. There was not presence of organized observers. There wasn’t a way to identify who was an observer or caucus member. Other problems occurred as you may recall. Many precincts were so close that a coin flip settled the question in eight districts--7 of the 8 flips went to Clinton. What was the probability of that occurring? 1 in 256.

Apparently, this was not an isolated case, and apparently word got
back to Bernie because caucuses were run differently in 2020.

   
Left: At caucus site, Des Moines, 2020. Observers were identified with labels. Right: These people are holding their voter cards with name, address, ID number and their signature.


February  3, 2020: Des Moines, Iowa, Caucus Precinct at 3500 2nd Street 

There were three precinct captains from presidential candidates Sanders, Warren, and Biden. They assisted with the caucus in handing out voting cards, taking count by raising of hands, and announcing the count out loud as each person was called. This occurred both before and after realignment and then the cards were all collected, counted and recorded by the precinct captains for the caucus. This is where the internal Sanders campaign caucus result numbers come from. There were also a dozen observers for Bernie Sanders available to assist in the caucus as needed and performed the witness role.
Vote Count Precinct 3500 2nd Street: 

Bernie Sanders 138
Joe Biden 9
Elizabeth Warren 1

 

Since neither Warren or Biden got 15%, all delegates from this precinct would go to Bernie Sanders. There were a dozen Bernie observers available that performed the witness role. Sanders' internal numbers were not the same as of the Iowa Dems. 

Sanders Reporting Numbers        Iowa DNC Reporting numbers  
Sanders 29.4%                                   Butigieg  26.8%
Butigieg 24.87%                                Sanders 25.9%
Warren 20.65%                                 Warren 18%
Biden 12.92%                                     Biden 15%
Klobuchar 12.92%                           Klobuchar  12%

 

How could this be?  
The reporting came to a halt when the Sanders campaign revealed their internal numbers to the Iowa Democratic Caucus organizers. This data was accompanied by five lawyers to challenge the results. The five Bernie lawyers approached the Iowa Dems demanding to know why the Bernie inside list votes were so different from the Iowa Dems' count.   
A faulty app was blamed for the delay and “inconstancies” in reporting while a recount of cards began. Dems withdrew their first release of numbers and decided to count the cards to verify the electronic numbers. (Recall that if Sanders campaign did not work with the Iowa Democratic Party to get these cards and use them in the caucus, this manual recount would not have been possible.)
 

Bernie still stands with his numbers.
See statement from Bernie campaign

   
Left: Cards raised by caucus goers used for oral count. Holding high for Bernie Sanders.
Right: Recording and reporting the collected cards for Bernie Sanders'  internal numbers.

It is profoundly revealing to me that the the campaign of Bernie Sanders has learned from the primary elections four years ago. The campaign has built a massive network of skilled precinct captains in every precinct, instituted the voter card system, and kept a methodical record of the numbers. Anticipating the problem, there were lawyers on site to challenge the data and make a case as soon as the results came out. 
The media has now revealed that the app used by the Iowa Dems was bought for $85,000 from Shadow, Inc., a media company that Pete Buttigieg has a vested interest. Furthermore, Pete Butigieg paid $40,000 to assure this system was used.
 
*** 
From the Move to Amend:
 
There is some debate about whether he said this but we're thinking about these words attributed to President Abraham Lincoln:
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

And here we are. The top tenth of a percent owns more wealth than the bottom 50% of people in this country -- and we have no mechanisms in place to stop or even mitigate that upward flow of wealth. Help grow the movement to end corporate rule and get big money out of politics by sharing the Motion to Amend today.

If we weren't sure whether or not we live in an oligarchy, we are watching in real time as a multi-billionaire is purchasing his way into a lead spot in the Democratic Party primary. If Bloomberg succeeds and gets the nomination, the American people will have a choice between two grotesquely wealthy politicians, both with corrupt histories. 

This isn't random or just an unfortunate blip in our history -- this is the culmination of a century and a half of corporate domination over political system (not to mention our communities, our environment, our bodies, etc). Now is the time for us to come together to amend the Constitution to make clear that corporations are not people, and money is not free speech! There is a solution -- share it with your friends and family today, by sharing our petition on your social media and email networks!

The #WeThePeopleAmendment is the only amendment that gets to the root of corporate rule by getting big money out of politics, and abolishing ALL corporate constitutional rights. 

It is the only way to turn this ship around and correct this disastrous course -- that Lincoln so presciently warned about -- toward real democracy. 
But it takes a movement. Share the petition far and wide, so we can build that movement for democracy!

Thank you for being in it with us --
- Move to Amend National Team

P.S. Help us grow the movement to fundamentally change the system that even President Lincoln could see was tilted in favor of corporate interests by sharing our petition today! 


***
Day by day, Amazon is extending its reach into everyday people’s lives through new technologies marketed as helpful and harmless. That cannot be farther from the truth. We are on the brink of a mass surveillance crisis and Amazon is ushering in this dangerous new era via Ring.


Ring, owned by Amazon, is a doorbell camera that allows the user to monitor activity through the Neighbor app, to see what’s happening outside of the home and many times, inside as well. Amazon not only has access to this footage, they own the content in perpetuity. But it gets worse-- Amazon makes insidious deals with local law enforcement agencies, rapidly targeting cities and writing marketing scripts for police officers to convince residents to buy Ring, often at a discounted rate or even for free.

Innovative technologies should not be used to increase policing at the expense of our privacy and freedom. Sign the petition to tell your mayor or local police chief to put an end to shady partnerships between law enforcement and Ring.

It has been proven time and time again that Black and brown communities suffer the most at the hands of technology bias. Algorithms that supposedly function without racial bias, in fact do. Facial recognition technology supposedly created to increase accuracy, often get it wrong-- especially among people of color. Pairing what we know about these problems in emergent technology with the widely reported flaws and hacks that have already happened with Ring, is clearly a recipe for disaster.
 
Our people are already overpoliced and over-surveilled through practices ranging from Stop and Frisk, to Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) which specifically targets MASA (Muslim Arab South Asian) communities. Technology has no place in further terrorizing people of color. It’s time we demand an end to over policing and it starts with holding Ring accountable.

The future of technology is ours to shape. We need to demand proper safety and privacy standards now or run the risk of living in a tech fueled 21st century police state tomorrow. We must take a stand before it’s too late.

In solidarity,
Kim Flores and the ACRE team

P.S - Are you being watched at work? Read the Medium post from our friends at Coworker.org and take the brief survey at the end to tell your story of surveillance. Coworker.org is a global platform to advance change in the workplace. Surveillance and control in the workplace is an authoritarian dream come true and we can’t be silent while everyday workers are being impacted.