Tag Archives: Jamar Clark

November 14, 2016 · 2:37 pm

More than a safety pin

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Four thousand people gathered in Minneapolis on November 9 to protest against Trump’s election. Photo by Fibonacci Blue, used under Creative Commons license. 

Yeah, I get it. Wearing a safety pin is a quick-and-easy way to show that you support all the people getting slammed by the rising tide of racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc. When I grew up, safety pins were a very temporary and unsatisfactory fix when something badly needed mending. Right now, the whole fabric of our community and nation badly needs repair. So here are some things you can do, right now this week in Minnesota, that go beyond the safety pin: Continue reading →

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April 8, 2016 · 11:31 am

#JusticeforJamar: What’s wrong with the mainstream story, where to find critical analysis and information

 

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Protest rally after Freeman decision not to charge cops.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman delivered the official story on March 30, along with piles of documents and videos available on his website. According to the official story, a complete investigation resulted in no charges because it’s tough to charge a police officer with anything and there just wasn’t enough evidence. Several people have poked giant holes in Freeman’s presentation, including his misstatements of evidence, his dismissing the importance of eyewitness testimony, his over-statement of the reliability and meaning of forensic evidence, and his use of language and rhetoric that dehumanized and denigrated Jamar Clark. Continue reading →

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January 26, 2016 · 2:35 pm

Justice delayed is justice denied

Use extreme caution sign“Plain and simple, if you f*ck with me I’m going to break your legs before you even get a chance to run. Be honest. I don’t screw around.”

That’s what Minneapolis police officer Rob Webber told 17-year-old Faysal Mohammed last March. When one of the teens asked why he was being arrested, Webber responded, “Because I feel like it.” Continue reading →

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December 22, 2015 · 11:24 pm

Why I keep writing about Black Lives Matter

 

Black Lives Matter 1Sometimes it seems like I’m talking – and writing – about Black Lives Matter all the time. Let me explain why.

Back in 1903, W.E.B. DuBois wrote The Souls of Black Folk. He began the book with these lines:

“HEREIN lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.”

Today, despite all of the organizing, all of the marching, all of the blood shed and people martyred in the civil rights movement of the 20th century, the problem of the color line is still the problem of our time, the problem of the 21st century, in the United States and around the world. And today, Black Lives Matter embodies the challenge of the new civil rights movement. Continue reading →

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November 24, 2015 · 1:43 pm

Stand up, fight back: March after white supremacists shoot protesters

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UPDATE 10 p.m.: A huge crowd marched from the 4th Precinct to downtown Minneapolis Tuesday afternoon, unintimidated by the white supremacist shooting of  five protesters on Monday night. As of Tuesday evening, police have three young white men in custody. A Hispanic man was arrested but then released, as he was not at the shooting scene. For more, see Star Tribune article. [This article has been substantially revised and updated, following the march.]

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November 22, 2015 · 7:06 pm

Telling truths about Jamar Clark, Minneapolis police and #BlackLivesMatter

Nekima Levy-Pounds, Erica Mauter, Bill Lindeke, and Karen Wills: these are just a few of the eloquent voices I’ve been reading over the past week. They’ve written through the police attacks on demonstrators on November 18 and through the political and police debates going on all over the Twin Cities media. I know it’s hard to keep up with the news — just compiling the information for this post took me all of Sunday afternoon. So, if you want good information and don’t want to spend all day searching  for it, here’s a brief recap of the week’s events, followed by links to and quotes from some of the best of this week’s statements and analyses. Continue reading →

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November 17, 2015 · 11:01 pm

Justice for Jamar

Tony Webster Frantz Fanon photo

Photo of banner outside the Minneapolis Police Department fourth precinct by Tony Webster. Published under Creative Commons license.

Sunset in Sedona, Arizona

Someone called police early Sunday morning. Domestic assault, they said. Paramedics helping the victim, and a man interfering with them, they said. Did he want to talk? To fight? Maybe even to apologize? We don’t know. We do know that police acted, taking Jamar Clark away from the paramedics. Minutes later, the 24-year-old black man lay on the ground with a police bullet in his head. Continue reading →

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