by BAR editor and columnist Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
The drumbeat of protest continues – as do the murderous predations of the police. “Capitalist America is dependent on these paid killers to maintain power, social order and white supremacy which forces the Black community to accept low wage jobs, poor schools, human rights abuses and cultural imperialism.”
Walter Scott, the Million Moms March and Stop Mass Incarceration: A Call to Resistance
by BAR editor and columnist Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
“How do we create an infrastructure inside our communities to avoid and limit our exposure to police?”
The killing of black men in America appears to have reached epidemic proportions. The fact of the matter is that murder of black men has remained a closely held prerogative of white supremacy exercised by agents of the state since the arrival of Africans in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. These agents, purveyors of state-sponsored violence in African communities, discharge their lethal weapons with effectiveness and efficiency under the cover of law. These agents have been known by various titles throughout US history: slave patrols, Klu Klux Klan, plantation owners, White Citizens’ Council or police officers. Last week, National Coast Guard veteran Walter Scott, 50 joined the thousands of black boys, men and women whose blood has soaked the soil of America and who die alone, frightened and terrorized while their assassins laugh at their handiwork.
The question is, How do our communities protect ourselves from the police? How do we create or reinforce institutions within the Black community to respond to emergencies, such as mental health crises, when too often police use these emergencies as an excuse to kill our children? How do we create an infrastructure inside our communities to avoid and limit our exposure to police? The non-clinical eye can diagnose that African-Americans, since our arrival in this country, are the target of an undeclared war. Where is our strategy to win this war and to make sure that Walter Scott’s death is not in vain?
Mourners at Mr. Scott’s funeral remembered him as a loving son, father of four and friend whose life was cut short by a random traffic stop for a busted taillight. In reality, these murders are not the least random but an essential part of the control mechanism used by occupiers that ensures compliance of the occupied. These tactics require the use of personal and institutional violence, hyper-vigilance of occupied subjects, human rights abuses and unrelenting stress. The subjects of occupation understand their vulnerability in the face of unrelenting physical and emotionally violent attacks. Life in occupied Africa-America is tenuous and unpredictable, as Mr. Scott, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, 12 year-old Tamir Rice and recently Eric Harris – just to name few out of documented and undocumented hundreds – can attest. (See Black Code Alert, below.) That is why so many African-American men run or attempt to resist when confronted by lethal state power.
“Life in occupied Africa-America is tenuous and unpredictable.”
Officer Slager was primed to use his “kill an African card and walk” self-defense narrative when by-stander Feidin Santana produced a video that showed the pre-meditated murder of Scott. The video showed that Scott posed no threat whatsoever to Slagger. In fact he was attempting to run away – leaving his own car behind – when Slager repeatedly fired into Mr. Scott’s back. The video caused such national and international embarrassment that the South Carolina police were forced to fire and arrest the killer. However, none of the other police officers that arrived on the scene and refused to provide life-saving CPR to Mr. Scott has faced charges for negligent homicide.
State sponsored assassinations of Black men and boys through hyper-vigilant policing is an integral part of the fabric of American society. Police have exercised their right to human bounty and flesh with abandon since the death of Michael Brown. It is this hyper-vigilance that places Black men at the vortex of state sponsored assassins by simply walking in the middle of the street, like Michael Brown, or playing on the grounds of a community center, like 12 year old Tamir Rice, or selling loose cigarettes, like Eric Garner. No other community in America is remotely surveilled at this micro level.
Every moment, every movement is subject to inspection by assassin slave patrols. Capitalist America is dependent on these paid killers to maintain power, social order and white supremacy which forces the Black community to accept low wage jobs, poor schools, human rights abuses and cultural imperialism.
Become involved and support the activities and organizations below:
The Million Moms March – May 9, 2015, Washington, DC.
This march is organized by Maria Hamilton, the mother of Dontre Hamilton, and her organization Mothers for Justice United. Hamilton writes: “I am Dontre Hamilton’s mother. I am overwhelmed bearing the loss of my son to police brutality. I ask with a humble heart – Join us in Washington on Mother’s Day as we take this fight directly to our elected officials. We need you.” Mothers for Justice United is an organization of mothers whose unarmed children have been killed by police officers and white vigilantes. It is also comprised of concerned mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, clergy, and other citizens nationwide who care about the loss of Black boys and men. This group is committed to halting the epidemic of Black murders by police and white vigilantes through direct action, legislation, and community building. On May 9th, Mother’s Day Weekend, the Million Moms March will focus on the US Department of Justice. They are requesting the involvement of other mothers who have experienced murder at the hands of police and white vigilantes to contact them at: [email protected] or 414-939-5599.
April 14th – #SHUTDOWNA14
This action is initiated by Carl Dix, Cornel West and the Stop Mass Incarceration Network on April 14th. The action is backed by a broad range of voices of conscience, families of 30 people murdered by police from across the country, students, and people determined that this must stop. Carl Dix offered: “Yet another unarmed black man shot down like an animal by police, left to bleed out in total disregard of his humanity. Caught on videotape. This Must STOP! People are mobilizing. There will be mass resistance with defiance, courage, conviction and conscience. Cornel West noted: “For over seven years young Black and Brown women and men have been shot down by the police every 28 hours. We've got a Black president, Black attorney general, Black cabinet secretary of homeland security. Their fundamental aim is to ensure the citizens are secure and safe in America, but we haven't had one federal prosecution of a policeman for killing all of those folks. Something's wrong. Something's deeply wrong.”
For more information on the Million Moms March:
Follow @mommas4justice for updates on Twitter or and like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/mothersforjusticeunited The Website: www.mothersforjusticeunited.org; Donate today at: www.http://tiny.cc/tptdsx
For more information on the Stop Mass Incarceration Network:
WATCH Carl Dix & Cornel West speak to a packed house at Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew in NYC ApriL 6.
See Statements from Alice Walker, writer; Eve Ensler, playwright & initiator of V-DAY; Arturo O'Farrill, Grammy Award winning musician; Jasmine Guy, actor; Jasiri X, hip hop artist; Cindy Sheehan, antiwar leader.
What: Nationwide Shut-Down Day to Stop Police Killings of Unarmed People
When: Tuesday April 14
Where: Union Square 2:00 pm NYC, other cities
The Stop Mass Incarceration Network calls on people to walk out of school and work on Tuesday April 14. video showing the police killing unarmed Walter Scott
[email protected] FB: stopmassincerationnetwork
Twitter: @StopMassIncNet Phone: 347-979-SMIN (7646) stopmassincarceration.net
Black Code Alert: Tulsa Oklahoma
Video Shows Tulsa Police Fatally Shooting Black Suspect and the new narrative
Eric Harris was killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma by 75 year-old white reserve sheriff’s deputy Robert Bates. Mr. Harris was placed in a choke hold and can be heard pleading for his life, “Oh my God, I’m losing my breath.” A policeman is heard shouting back to the dying Mr. Harris: “Fuck your breath… Shut the fuck up.” Sheriff Robert Bates, as a defense, utters the new narrative for slave patroller/police officers, claiming that he thought he was firing a stun gun at Mr. Harris’ neck instead of a gun. Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo is the author of No FEAR: A Whistleblowers Triumph over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA. She worked at the EPA for 18 years and blew the whistle on a US multinational corporation that endangered South African vanadium mine workers. Marsha's successful lawsuit led to the introduction and passage of the first civil rights and whistleblower law of the 21st century: the Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act). She is Director of Transparency and Accountability for the Green Shadow Cabinet, serves on the Advisory Board of ExposeFacts.com.and coordinates the DC-based Hands-Up Coalition.
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