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Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, Dallas

A thick strand in the history of U.S. policing is rooted back in the slave patrols of the 19th century. Patty rollers were authorized to stop, question, search, harass and summarily punish any Black person they encountered. The five- and six-pointed badges many of them wore to symbolize their authority were predecessors to those of today’s sheriffs and patrolmen. They regularly entered the plantation living quarters of enslaved people, leaving terror and grief in their wake. Together with the hunters of runaways, these patrols had a crystal clear mandate: to constrain the enslaved population to its role as the embodiment … Read more “Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, Dallas”

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What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice

On November 9, 2015, a tent encampment set up on the University of Missouri Columbia’s campus quad erupted in celebration. President Tim Wolfe, who student protesters charged with failing to address campus racism, had announced his resignation.

Amidst cheers, tears, and a mass rendition of “We Shall Overcome,” a new controversy emerged. A six-minute viral video clip showed a student reporter named Tim Tai, who is Asian American, being physically blocked by a group of protesters demanding the media stay out of the encampment.

“I don’t have to move back. I have a job to do,” the video shows an … Read more “What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice”

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Register for Asian American Studies, NOW.

First year in college? Back to campus? If you haven’t registered for Asian American Studies here are 3 reasons why you need to NOW.

They went back to campus, but they didn’t go to class. Instead, students at San Francisco State went on strike for five months, the longest academic student strike in American higher education history, and shut down their university. Their peaceful protests for the admission of a greater number of minority students, an education that reflected their families’ and ancestors’ histories and experiences, as well as more community control of their education, were met with violent police … Read more “Register for Asian American Studies, NOW.”

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The Bernie Sanders Kerfuffle, #blacklivesmatter, and White Progressive Colorblindness

I lived for nearly 25 years in Portland, Oregon. There I staffed an organization dedicated to fighting vigilante white supremacists. In order to fight the white right, we built a base that was made up almost entirely of white progressives. I also served as the Executive Director of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, a financial resource for progressive causes in Oregon. The foundation is supported almost entirely by wealthy white progressives. During my years in Portland, I also worked to end the prison build-up through a group made up of incarcerated people and their loved ones. The prison population … Read more “The Bernie Sanders Kerfuffle, #blacklivesmatter, and White Progressive Colorblindness”

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Racial Tension in the City

Yesterday I had a conversation about race and gentrification in a cab. I ride in a lot of cabs, and this was the third conversation I’ve had on this topic with drivers. But this time was different. Normally, the conversation starts with some version of “there goes the city…” This time, the conversation began with “what’s that?!”

“That” referred to a construction site in downtown Oakland, California, the city across the Bay from San Francisco, the fourth fastest gentrifying city in the country. Oakland is the destination for San Francisco’s rent refugees, myself among them, who’ve escaped to the East … Read more “Racial Tension in the City”

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Practicing #Asians4BlackLives Solidarity: 5 Lessons from #shutdownOPD

The following is a reflection written by Christine Cordero, one of the participants in the #Asians4BlackLives solidarity action on Monday, December 15, 2014. Christine is a Filipina-American born and raised in the Bay Area, CA. She is an organizer, trainer, and public speaker with over 15 years of experience working and organizing for social justice.

On Monday morning, a multi-racial group of us shut down the headquarters of the Oakland Police Department for four hours and twenty eight minutes in response to a call from national and local Black leadership to end the war on black people. White, Asian, and … Read more “Practicing #Asians4BlackLives Solidarity: 5 Lessons from #shutdownOPD”

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Be The Change: A Call for Tolerance

A discussion of race such as we’ve not heard for decades is being inspired by the mass mobilization against police shootings of Black people, and in particular the remarkable determination of activists in Ferguson, now in their 133rd consecutive day of protest over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown. More and more of us are talking, and the passion behind these conversations is rising.

I’ve been following some of these discussions, a few of which have been taking place in my inbox. Many of them center around arguments over racial theory and analysis. Questions like, who’s the most Read more “Be The Change: A Call for Tolerance”

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This Is What Solidarity Looks Like: #Asians4BlackLives

New video captures Black-led, multiracial shut down at Oakland Police Department

For interviews with arrestees and members of #Asians4BlackLives, contact: Marie Choi, 510-239-7891, or Chinyere Tutashinda,  216-849-7172

On Monday, Dec 15th 2014, members of newly organized all-Black groups, including The Blackout Collective, #BlackBrunch and #BlackLivesMatter, joined with Asian allies in #Asians4BlackLives group and white allies in the Bay Area Solidarity Action Team to lead an occupation of the Oakland Police Department and demand an end to the war on Black people in Oakland and everywhere. Approximately 50 people participated in the action and were joined by a crowd of around … Read more “This Is What Solidarity Looks Like: #Asians4BlackLives”

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Five Things You Can Do Right Now!

 

Show up. There are protests continuing everywhere to interrupt business as usual, and put the focus squarely on demands to value Black life. Street heat is part of how we all get free. Show up. Speak up. Here are resources on actions taking place in different parts of the country. Please share any links that are missing in the comments below. #ThisStopsToday Ferguson solidarity actions Donate. ChangeLab has just given $2,000 to bail funds to support those who are putting their bodies on the line for BlackLivesMatter. Join us. Dig deep. This is our liberation, and we must invest… Read more “Five Things You Can Do Right Now!”