Category: Police Brutality

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#BlackLivesMatter Greek Life Police Brutality Social Justice Super Bowl

This is a Call In NOT a Call Out: Why are Kappas Hosting a (Pre) Super Bowl Party?

This is a call in NOT a call out. I am not writing this to attack Kappa Alpha Psi or “put them on blast” or anything like that. I am writing this out of a place of concern and accountability, and because I have the privilege to be able to say something. I am a member of the Divine Nine so that gives me a little more room to be critical of the black Greek community. As wrong as it may be, we do not typically welcome feedback or critique from non-greek individuals…but that’s a whole other blog for a whole other day.

IMG_1911So to the issue at hand: yesterday, I cam across a flyer for a pre-Super Bowl party on Facebook. I read it to see who was hosting it and to my surprise, it was a chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi. I was shocked. I was like, hold up (insert thinking face emoji)…how? I immediately had lots of questions.

I think most of us know that Colin Kaepernick is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. And many of know that he is still a National Football League (NFL) free agent, with no teams signing him this season, despite him being statistically “better” than other quarterbacks who were signed. Some believe that Kaepernick has been blackballed for sparking protests during the national anthem before the start of games.kaep

Ironically, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. believes Kaepernick has been blackballed. In August 2017, the Grand Polemarch of the Fraternity sent a letter to the NFL Commissioner stating that he believes that Kaepernick has been “blackballed solely for exercising his Constitutional right to free speech,” and he expressed understanding for why Kaepernick kneeled stating that “enough is enough.” The letter ended with an urge for a public statement signaling an “all clear” to all the NFL teams in regard to Kaepernick, and the Grand Polmarch also offered Kappa Alpha Psi’s (pro bono) services to engage in dialogue regarding the issue.

Screen Shot 2018-01-24 at 10.15.34 PMThen, later in August 2017, members of the Fraternity showed up in masses at the United We stand Rally, a protest in solidarity with Kaepernick in front of the NFL Headquarters in New York. Kappa members from the New York area were present, as well as members from various parts of the nation. Members also showed support through social media.

This is why I was shocked to see a chapter of the Fraternity hosting a pre-Super Bowl party, a celebration of the same organization that has “blackballed” a fraternity brother and that many members have protested. To host this party is contradicting to the stance of the international organization and shows zero cares for what Colin Kaepernick has and is still experiencing with the NFL.

(Note: I am not naive enough to think that all Divine Nine members, let alone all black people, are boycotting the NFL. I know that some people are watching and that’s each individual’s business. But if there’s going to be a Super Bowl party, can we at least not host them in the name of the organization that Kaepernick is a member of? Or any of our organizations, for that matter?)

Again, this is a call in NOT a call out. And it’s honestly not just to the Kappas; this message is for all of us because this could have been any of our organizations, and there will probably be members from all of our orgs at this party so we’re all responsible.

I’m gonna go ahead and say something that we don’t like to hear but as wrong or right as it may be, it is the perception and perception is reality: some non-Greek people question our commitment to uplifting the black community. They say we’re self-serving and elitist, committed to uplifting our members but looking down and distancing ourselves from the rest of the black community and the issues they face. Of course, many of us see it differently and think they just don’t understand.

We often run down our list of honorable mentions to “prove” that we are indeed about black liberation and are even the leaders of it: Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Nikki Giovanni, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, Huey P. Newton, just to name a few. And recently, many of us have added Colin Kaepernick to that list. But what does it mean when we proudly claim these members so that our organizations are viewed in high regard but we don’t actually support them or take action that carries on their legacies? 

While I personally think it’s past time for us to take a stronger stance in this movement for black lives, I know that that perspective is debatable. But when we can’t even support our own members, I am very concerned. If we don’t even care enough to support our own members who are leaders in this movement, is it unrealistic to expect that we’ll take action in other ways throughout this movement?

I honestly pray that the answer to that question is no because I believe that we have the power, privilege, influence, resources, numbers, education, and more to make a huge impact; and I think it is our duty. But in order to do that, this kind of stuff has to stop. We have got to care. We have got to be mindful. We have to be intentional. And, we have to be consistent.

This is a call in NOT a call out.

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#BlackLivesMatter #STLVerdict Ferguson Freedom Police Brutality Race Social Justice St. Louis Uncategorized

#STLVerdict: Let’s Talk About Vandalism and “Peaceful Protests”

Three years after the murder of Mike Brown and the St. Louis region finds itself in a similar situation. Another police officer has walked free, a family is reliving the pain of their loved one’s murder while being denied justice, and the community has taken to the streets to show that we will not tolerate the continuous killings of black people by police, nor officers doing so without conviction.

What’s also the same is how elected government officials and the St. Louis Police Department (STLPD) are responding. Before to the verdict was released and prior to any protests occurring, the governor of Missouri activated the National Guard and the STLPD announced that they would be moving to 12-hour shifts. Then, as soon as the protests began, multiple transit buses of STLPD met protestors outside the courthouse dressed in riot gear with shields and batons, in broad daylight. The police showed up with the intention to antagonize, literally from the moment people arrived to protest…before ANYTHING had happened.

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Photo of STLPD officer, surrounded by rows of other officers in riot gear, on 9/15/17, about 3 hours after the verdict was released.

So knowing that, it’s by no surprise that the police and the media are pushing the same narrative from three years ago: the protestors are violent and vandalizing property. I really don’t want to spend a ton of time on this point because I really feel like the conversation has been exhausted. But I’ll say it one more time, briefly: we are not doing this. The people who come out and protest are not interested in nor do we condone vandalism. However, there are agitators who come to our spaces of protest and do these things. You all should notice that this typically happens after nightfall. If you all pay attention to our protests, we don’t begin at nightfall. We have literally been protesting all day for the past 48 hours. The large majority of the time, you hear and see no reports of anything being vandalized, because nothing is being vandalized. But when a window gets broken at 11 pm the police and the media use this as an opportunity to change the narrative and make it about violent “protestors” instead of focusing on how hundreds of people of all different backgrounds have continued to show community and take a stand against the continuous non-convicted murders of black people by police.

But again, I’m not surprised by this. The police are a part of the system and the system is guilty. So of course they’re going to try to turn this around and divert the attention from their corruption. But what I am so frustrated by and tired of is the people buying into this narrative. All the statuses and comments about how you don’t understand what breaking things is going to do only elevates this false narrative that the police and media are trying to create. You are helping them achieve exactly what they want because now we’re all talking about vandalism instead of the fact that this officer murdered a black person and walked free. The protestors are not the ones vandalizing property. It’s a small group of agitators. Understand that and stop mentioning it in association to the protests. Every time you do, you are assisting the police and media in smearing this movement.

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However, while we do not condone vandalism, we understand that people are hurting and hurt people hurt people. So try to be less judgmental and think more about what has happened that has caused people to resort to vandalism. A broken window matters less than a life taken by police brutality. So for every post or comment you’ve made about vandalism, I hope you have 50 times more posts and comments about black people being killed by officers, and the officers walking free.

And also, don’t believe that all of the vandalism is coming from the agitators. There’s video of police breaking the window of a local business in the Central West End on 9/15/2017.

Lastly, I want to request that everyone stop saying “peaceful protest.” Our goal is not to be peaceful. There is nothing peaceful about a protest– that would not be a protest. You can say non-violent protest, but not peaceful. As the familiar protest chant goes, “no justice, no peace.”

Simply put, Anthony Lamar Smith did not receive justice so St. Louis will not have peace. Traffic flow will be disrupted and people will not commute in peace. Neighborhoods will be disrupted and people will not lounge in peace. Malls will be disrupted and people will not shop in peace. Restaurant strips will be disrupted and people will not eat in peace. Business will be disrupted and profit will be lost. But that’s the exact point. The judicial system did not render justice so we will continue to disrupt and keep the attention on this unjust situation, impacting people and profits directly until we get justice. Because we know that, unfortunately, people often tolerate injustice until it impacts them directly. Once it impacts folks directly, they are then motivated to act and make decisions that render the justice we’ve been demanding all along.

Any disruption that people experience from our protests pales in comparison to the disruption of the lives of the families of victims of police brutality. We just want justice. The sooner we get it, the sooner there will be peace. Know justice, know peace.

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#BlackLivesMatter Ferguson Police Brutality Race Social Justice St. Louis

2 Years Later: Anniversary of the Murder of Mike Brown, Jr.

8.9.14. The day that changed everything. 2 years.

I’ve been anxious about this day coming ever since August arrived. I could feel the heaviness of my heart as soon as I opened my eyes today.

I’m thankful for Mike, and for everyone who refused to be silent about his murder. I’m thankful that the movement (that’s always existed) was ignited on a new level. I’m thankful that we are no longer tolerating the racial injustice that very much exists in what so many want to believe is a “post-racial society.”

But I’d be lying if I said I’m not impacted or concerned by the trauma that black people have relived over and over in just these 2 years alone.

2 years of police murders, hashtags, protests, non-indictments in a never ending cycle.

2 years of listening to the media criminalize the victims and prove they deserved to die, in a way that we never see done to non-black victims.

2 years of our friends, people we grew up with and love, showing us their bias and racism through social media posts.

2 years of the overall society constantly reminding us that our lives don’t matter, through the condoning and justification of our murders.

2 years of selective grief, where America can mourn and show empathy for the deaths of animals, police officers, and victims of foreign terrorism but show not an ounce of those feelings for black lives.

2 years of people bringing up “black on black crime” as if black people have this phenomenon of killing each other when statics tell us that the majority of ALL crime is intraracial (not to be confused with interracial…I literally have had to explain this to people).

2 years of debating #BlackLivesMatter and all lives matter but then those same people say blue lives matter, proving that it’s solely the ‘black’ that’s the issue.

2 years later, all these feelings are pouring out of my eyes. I’m tired. I’m traumatized. I’m hurting. I’m grieving. Im educating. I’m fighting. And I’m thankful for all the people who are on the ground, organizing, educating, running for office, and any other effort towards freedom.

2 years later, the movement lives and we will win.

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#AltonSterling #BlackLivesMatter #PhilandoCastile Police Brutality Social Justice Uncategorized

Your Unity Posts Aren’t Saying What You Think 

I’m struggling so I’m gonna have a vulnerable moment with y’all, and I know many won’t agree and that is totally fine.

 

 I can’t take much more of y’all posting these pictures and videos of black people hugging and praying with (white) counter protestors, black people smiling with the police, little black and white kids being friends, etc. I mean, it is wearing me out.

 

 

It’s not because I don’t believe these things happen or should happen. It’s just that clearly, these things do not keep black people from experiencing injustice. So clearly, they are not the solution. Even with “good officers” and black people and white people being friends, black people are still being murdered by police, receiving harsher sentences in court, going to under resourced schools, making lesser wages in the same positions as white people, and experiencing many other forms of injustice. None of these posts and videos acknowledge or address this. These color-blind, “we’re all one” videos and posts are not going to get black people free.

 

They actually are keeping us from freedom. Every time you post these things (and I see both black and white people doing this), you give people the opportunity to ignore the plight of black people. You are sending the message of, “see, it’s not that bad. There are still good people.” And that causes you and others to ignore the injustice and issues that ARE actually happening. This only causes people who don’t understand #BlackLivesMatter to further believe that this movement is not necessary. These messages are so neutral and we know that if you’re neutral, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

 

Stop being neutral. Your neutrality does absolutely nothing for those being oppressed. Your neutrality is not helping the families of #AltonSterling, #PhilandoCastile, or any other police brutality victim get justice. It’s actually making it harder for them to because you’re countering what their loved one experienced. You’re basically saying, “yeah I know an officer killed your family member but look at this officer playing with this cute kid…everything is fine.” This stuff is the biggest slap in the face to these families and this movement.

 

Change will require us to acknowledge and call out these issues directly, not generally or subliminally (that’s the problem with #AllLivesMatter). If you were at work or having an issue at home, you would not go about developing and identifying a solution in a indirect way. If you were sick, you wouldn’t want your doctor focusing on less relevant, indirectly related parts of your body to heal you. You would want them to address the problem head on. So why do we think this is an appropriate solution when it comes to the injustice of black people?

 

Some of you need to realize that you are in denial. And honestly, I get that. No one wants to accept that our world is this messed up. It’s hurtful, depressing, frustrating, all of that. But we know that the first step to overcoming a problem is admitting that we have one. So please, if you really want change to happen, please get out of denial and call it what it is.

 

I am not anti-unity but what I am not going to do is promote (a neutral) unity as the ultimate solution at the expense of us ignoring the real issue. No. Not when people are being murdered. Unity is necessary but what’s really going to bring justice and keep more people from becoming hashtags is acknowledgement and change to the systems, like police organizations, that are systemically racist. Not your little touchy, feely video.

 

If you want to promote true unity, unite with us and stand up against these racist and unjust systems. People coming together and fighting against wrong, regardless of their race, socio-economic status, religion, nationality, sexuality, and any other identity, will show organizations and our government officials that it’s truly time for change. And that’s the radical type of unity we need. 

 

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#BlackLivesMatter #EverydayBlackHistory Black History Black History Month Black Panthers Police Brutality Politics Race Social Justice Sports Super Bowl

#EverydayBlackHistory Day 9- Who were the Black Panthers?

bp.jpgSince Beyonce’s Super Bowl 50 half time performance, there has been lots of conversation around the Black Panthers. Many (white) Americans seem appalled that Bey would pay tribute to such an organization,  falsely comparing the Black Panthers to the Ku Klux Klan (the Black Panthers were NOT terrorists who bombed, murdered, and lynched innocent people like the KKK). But do we really know who the Black Panthers were? Unfortunately, the American education system has a way of painting historic black leaders and organizations in a negative light, and/or watering down the truth to fit its preferred narrative. So let’s educate ourselves and learn who the Black Panthers truly were.

Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party. The two had worked together for years prior through activism in black politics. Bobby  Seale was involved in RAM (Revolutionary Action Movement) and both of the men were in the Soul Students Advisory Committee, a collegiate organization. The philosophy for the Panthers was developed through these experiences.

But the Panthers were not just about philosophy. They had demands and outlined action to achieve them. Recently, people have talked about the Panthers possession of guns. The Panthers did indeed exercise their constitutional right to bear arms. This was done to implement Malcolm X’s self-defense philosophy and patrol the police. At the time, police brutality was rampant, with officers beating and killing black people randomly. Police departments were even recruiting officers from the racist south to police the northern ghettos.

The Socialist Alternative recalls this instance:

On one occasion, whilst on patrol, they witnessed an officer stop and search a young guy. The Panthers got out of their car and went over to the scene and stood watching their guns on full display. Angrily, the policeman began to question them and tried to intimidate them with threats of arrest. But Huey P. Newton had studied the law intimately and could quote every law and court ruling relevant to their situation.

During these situations, the Panthers made it clear that they did not want to have a shoot-out with the police and that they would only use their guns in self-defense. They would also hand out information, to the crowd that formed, about the Black Panthers philosophy and meeting details.

Outside of their self-defense, we rarely talk about the notable community programs that the Panthers organized. They organized many “revolutionary program,” as they called them, such as free breakfast for children, health clinics, and shoes for children. Bobby Seale explained, “A revolutionary program is onset forth by revolutionaries, by those who want to change the existing system for a better system.”

The Black Panther Party grew to have 5,000 full time employees and 45 chapters throughout America. They sold 250,000 papers a week. At the time, polls showed that the organization had 90 percent support from black people in major cities. The group was largely impactful, with the FBI describing them as “the number one threat to the internal security of the United States.”

Today, we remember the Black Panther Party, for being one of the most widely know black political organizations that protected and met people’s needs through programs that provided food, clothes, medical care and more. We thank them for showing us what we can accomplish through organization. Today, unfortunately,  we still see many of the same issues that they combated. We can learn much from them.

#EverydayBlackHistory

 

 

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#BlackLivesMatter #EverydayBlackHistory Black History Black History Month MLK Police Brutality Race Social Justice Uncategorized

#EverydayBlackHistory Day 1- Jimmie Lee Jackson

jimmie-lee-jacksonSome know about “Bloody Sunday,” a voting rights march that began in Selma, AL and ended in violence.  However, few know about Jimmie Lee Jackson, an activist whose death was the catalyst for the march in Selma, which lead to the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Jimmie Lee Jackson was a young man from Alabama who tried to register to vote numerous times but was denied due to the color of his skin. On February 18, 1965, when Jimmie was 26, he, his mother Viola Jackson, and his 82 year old grandfather Cager Lee, participated in a protest in Marion, AL. Protesters were attacked by state troopers and Jimmie and his grandfather sought refuge in a restaurant, Mack’s Cafe. In the cafe, Jimmie’s mother was being attacked by two state troopers. Jimmie went to her rescue, was thrown by a state trooper into a cigarette machine, and shot twice in the stomach by state trooper James Bonard Fowler.

Jimmie was taken to the Good Samaritan hospital in Selma, AL and appeared to be recovering. However, days later, Jimmie died.

The Black community was outraged. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organizer James Bevel stated “We will march Jimmie’s body to the state capitol in Montgomery and lie it on the steps so Governor George Wallace can see what he’s done.” While they did not do that, activists did plan a 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery, AL on Sunday March 7, 1965, four days after Jimmie’s funeral. However, activists were met with violence at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, in what is know known as “Bloody Sunday.”

In 2007, James Bonard Fowler (at the age of 74) was indicted for the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson. He pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and served five months in prison.

Today, we remember Jimmie Lee Jackson, whose life was taken seeking justice. Many do not know his name or his story but his life and death played a major role in Black people gaining the right to vote in America.

#EverydayBlackHistory

Click here to read more about Jimmie Lee Jackson.

 

 

 

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#BlackLivesMatter Body Cameras HuffPost Live Police Brutality

Aleidra Allen on HuffPost Live- 11.12.15

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Watch Aleidra on HuffPost Live (Aleidra speaks at minutes 4:10, 10:51, 17:34, and 20:13)

On November 12, 2015, Aleidra Allen was featured on a HuffPost Live segment. She shared perspectives on police body cameras. Aleidra speaks at minutes 4:10, 10:51, 17:34, and 20:13.

WATCH: Philadelphia Latest To Expand Police Body Cameras

From HuffPost Live website: Police body camera footage helped indict two officers who killed a 6-year-old boy in Louisiana, and now Philadelphia is planning to expand their use. Is it time for body cams to become a standard feature in American policing?

Host:
Nancy Redd
@nancyredd

Guests:
Aleidra Allen @klassy_lei (St. Louis , MO)
Student Involvement Center, Saint Louis University

Chris Rosbough @Chris_Rosbough (Tallahassee, FL)
Criminal Justice Program Director, Pegasus

Jamira Burley @JamiraBurley (Washington, DC)
Senior Campaigner, Amnesty International