#ferguson
Destroy the “good kid” narrative. Mike Brown deserved to live even if he wasn’t going to college, if he was aggressive and loud rather than shy, if he had a criminal record.
Mike Brown deserved to live, not because he was some sort of exemplary fluke in the Black community, he deserved to live because he was a human being and BLACK LIVES MATTER.
i am absolutely disconnecting my internet immediately
Fox is the trash king of shit mountain.
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im white so if anything i post or reblog is stepping out of my place at any point let me know so i can make apologizes and delete it
The medical investigator who examined Michael Brown didn’t take any photographs because his camera’s battery was dead.
They never even tried to pretend his life mattered.
This is fucking unbelievable.
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If you’re protesting abortion, the Supreme Court says you can get right in women’s faces and scream at them on their way into the clinic. Because freedom of speech.
But if you try and protest the murder of a black man, you get tear gas fired at you.
Police tear gas protesters inside a St. Louis coffee shop. Unbelievable!
early morning, Tuesday, November 25th
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The 12 most maddening parts of Darren Wilson’s testimony
The whole thing, Officer Darren Wilson said, took less than a minute.
In documents released late Monday night after a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict him for the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, Wilson gives a detailed, firsthand account of what he says happened on that hot summer afternoon in Ferguson. The testimony was given Sept. 16, a little more than five weeks after Wilson encountered Brown walking with his friend Dorian Johnson down the middle of a suburban street.
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![overtheunderpass:fatandnerdy:decolonizingmedia:FERGUSON: Full Transcript of Grand Jury [PDF] |](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5b6f3fc1db0e97d592c72385ecf79732/tumblr_nfkwvhrsfU1s0auzbo1_1280.png "overtheunderpass:fatandnerdy:decolonizingmedia:FERGUSON: Full Transcript of Grand Jury [PDF] |")
FERGUSON:Full Transcript of Grand Jury [PDF] | via NYTimes
Also,here’s a link with not only the above, but also various reports, forensic evidence and “law enforcement” interviews
When someone asks you about “the facts”, here they are. All laid out. Evidence, reports, the whole nine yards. Be informed.
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Ferguson schools are closed, but the library is open and providing programs for children throughout the day. Show your support by donating to the library here.
Direct link to donate is here.
it sickens me how the media is tyring to make us feel symphaty for darren wilson “his life is practically over as he won’t be able to be a cop anymore” as if i fucking care about what happens to that disgusting murderer
okay so you people say he deserved to die because he “looked like a thug ” but Darren Wilson who literally fucking shot a boy with several witnesses doesn’t even spend a single day in jail what the fuck what the actual fuck
dont stand during the pledge tomorrow
fuck this country
I really hate that the media and many people are saying that Darren Wilson’s life is still basically over since he will never be able to work as an officer again.
Like, no. It’s Michael Brown’s life that is over.
Darren Wilson’s life will go on, he can hide away and live a life with his new wife. While Michael Brown lays in the ground.
Okay, “three little old white ladies smoking weed, how cute!” But remember Trayvon smoked weed so he deserved to die. Michael Brown was “no angel” because ‘evidence’ showed he smoked weed and therefore deserved to die. Never forget…
i just want to overthrow the government i dont care anymore there needs to be a revolution the fact that america continues to exist in this state is bullshit and something needs to change
remember that this isn’t our fight.
it’s not white children being gunned down in the street. we’re here to support. do not speak out of turn, don’t try to steer the protest, don’t speak over the people who are at greatest risk of being shot by cops, don’t voice your white opinions unless asked directly. cooperate with protest organizers, don’t lecture people, don’t try to wrestle your way into leadership positions. stay in your lane. thank you.
And don’t you fucking DARE get violent, black people will be punished for what white protestors do so KEEP IT FUCKING PEACEFUL.
1) alleged petty theft is punishable by murder
2) social media (which includes LIVE FOOTAGE) is not credible
3) darren wilson WAS responsible for the death of mike brown but thats not enough to even INDICT HIM
4) a white man is able to murder an 18 year old in cold blood and walk free
Unfriendly reminder that in America it’s reasonable to say an unarmed black kid deserved to be shot six times because he might have robbed a convenience store, but a white kid shouldn’t be kicked off the high school football team just because he violently raped a girl.
#and filmed it #and shared it online
Throw blood on all politicians. Throw blood on all cops. Make them see the blood on their fuckin hands.
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republicans are quick to tell you “all lives matter” when it comes to abortion but damn they quiet when it comes to a black boy killed in the streets
“UNITED”
A documentary short covering how the Atlanta Community has responded to the brutal murder of Mike Brown.Upon learning that elements of this murder were not getting covered properly, it dawned on us to ensure our story was properly documented. As this piece was being put together and the news footage was being compiled, ironically not only was video footage from Ferguson hard to come by, but I didn’t find much online from other cities either. In fact the search engines don’t readily turn up many results outside of Missouri. It’s not to say footage doesn’t exist, but to say that if we are actively searching and it’s hard to find, it’s unlikely that someone who is less aware of the events would find anything.There needs to be as much VIDEO footage out there as possible for all cities doing anything around these events. Moving images controlled by the people as opposed to mass media provide a broader opportunity to draw real conclusions. I encourage every and anyone who is able to film and upload what is happening in your city. Everyone, specifically the residents of Ferguson need to see the support we all have for them and a large amount of that support is not letting the momentum subside as the news cycle moves on to another story.Out of sight, out of mind is the age old saying, so remain vigilant and visible as we continue fighting to attain justice for all who have become victims of police brutality and murder.
It’s amazing how everyone became legal experts as soon as the Ferguson decision was announced!
To those we have lost to police brutality: Eleanor Bumpurs, Tyisha Miller, LaTanya Haggerty, Tanesha Anderson, Aura Rosser, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin …
And those we have lost to the communal violence justified by the policing of our bodies: Sakia Gunn, Tiffany Edwards, Zoraida Reyes, Mia Henderson, Kandy Hall, Yaz’Min, Shancez, Terrell Anderson, Islan Nettles…
To the Falsely Accused, Detained and Abused: Venice Brown, Terrain Dandridge, Renata Hill and Patreese Johnson (The Jersey Four), Marichuy, CeCe McDonald and for all the names we do not know.
In the telling of our names, what is most apparent is that our lives are seen as disposable and undervalued.
We are clear as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color that our safety is contingent on the preservation of all Black and People of Color bodies. We have been righteous in fighting against anti-Black racism & anti-immigrant oppression, that allows for state controlled white supremacy to exist and justify the murder of our people. The murders of Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley and Eric Garner prove that Black lives are seen as dangerous and expendable. For those of us that are Queer, Trans, Black and People of Color, our bodies, our gender expression and who we love puts us further away from the “norms” and has falsely perceived us as the most threatening, less than human, and even more dangerous of all bodies.
In New York City, where our organizations live and organize, we have seen the impact of racist, classist and capitalist policing on our communities for decades. In the early 1990’s, former Mayor Guiliani promoted the now infamous “Quality of life” policing practices based on broken windows policing. There are camps on both sides arguing for and against the effectiveness of such policing practices. As organizations that work with Queer and Trans people of color communities, we know these policies disproportionately impact our communities through racist/gender policing. Our communities are the most targeted by discriminatory practices of policing and Stop & Frisk that lead to Black and Latino men being incarcerated and Black women being the fastest growing prison population.
The United States is a country built on white supremacy, colonialism, slavery and genocide, it has attained wealth, power and privilege from the massive removal and displacement of our communities through deportation, criminalization, and policing.
The fact that Eric Garner was killed due to suspicion that he was selling “loosies” (single cigarettes) is an atrocity in itself. Based on broken windows policing theory and practice, Eric became a target due to the irrational fear that communities of color, that Black people will only continue to break the law, to escalate, and be out of control. Whether or not he was selling “loosies” is irrelevant when we compare these quality of life crimes to more heinous crimes that are constantly overlooked or justified. This includes: when banks are allowed to engage in predatory practices that target communities of color and force groups to remain in poverty; when Detroit can declare bankruptcy on a city of mostly black communities and then take away basic rights such as water; when corporations are allowed to abuse other countries and depress US economies; when the US Military continues to back and support Israel’s oppression of Palestinian people and land.
While our work is important and has made critical change, it’s not enough. We need to wake up, we need to rise up. In the words of Audre Lorde - “We were never meant to survive.” We need to be prepared for this hyper level of policing; we need to develop safety strategies for ourselves and our communities that uplift’s our survival and existence. We’ve been resilient in our movement strategies & in our organizing traditions. We’ve been at the center of this work for decades. It’s the legacy of our ancestors, the legacy of the civil rights movement, the legacy of the uprising of Stonewall, the legacy of the migrant farmworkers movement and many others. We have been here and we will continue to be here. In this moment, what are we willing to do to be free?
Written by Cara Page, Executive Director of The Audre Lorde Project & Krystal Portalatin, Co-Director of FIERCE
The Audre Lorde Project in Solidarity With Ferguson
The Audre Lorde Project is in solidarity with Michael Brown’s family and all of the families and communities of people affected by racist state violence.
We are in solidarity with the Black and allied organizers who continue to rise up against the countless number of Black people stolen from us by white supremacist state violence. We recognize that a system that refuses to indict Darren Wilson is not a broken system; it is a system that is working precisely as it was designed to. It is a system that manifests as the continuation of colonialism and slavery.
We join our communities in the streets not because we believe Darren Wilson should be placed into jail, but because we demaand transformative systems of justice, reparations, and self-determination and self defense for our communities. We join our communities in the streets not only because of a ruling by a court, but because we know that this moment is part of a historical movement for racial and economic justice. We join our communities in the streets because we know that power belongs to the people!
We know that the assault on Black dignity is not just about Michael Brown and Ferguson. It’s about Akai Kareem Gurley who was shot in Brooklyn by the police this past weekend. It’s about Eric Garner who was choked to death by NYPD in Staten Island a few months ago. It’s about Islan Nettles a Black trans woman who was attacked and left dying in front of a police station last year. It’s about Marissa Alexander and the many Black women who are criminalized for defending their families and lives. It’s about militarized policing domestically and internationally from Ferguson to Palestine to Mexico. When we say that #BlackLivesMatter we include queer people, trans and gender non-conforming people, women, people with mental and physical disabilities, people engaged in the sex trades, sex workers, undocumented peoples, migrants, indigenous people, incarcerated people, people without stable housing, people living with HIV/AIDS, and other marginalized peoples. As Audre Lorde reminds us, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”
We refuse to accept a single issue struggle that positions our struggles as somehow contradictory. We commit ourselves to a truly intersectional vision of social justice that uplifts the collective power, safety and well being of all our communities. We understand the routine surveillance, criminalization, and incarceration of communities of color in this country as not only a crisis of racial profiling, but also gender policing. We affirm the experiences and leadership of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two spirit, and gender non-conforming people of color who are often erased from the telling of our movement histories even as we are often and consistently at the front lines.
We demand and work for our collective freedom and dignity. Despite these shameful acts of violence and attempted genocide of our communities, we incite a movement of transformation, love, and liberation.
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As people take to the streets of NYC on December 13th to protest institutionalized racism and police brutality, they stand in solidarity with the Black community in a struggle older than this country. It is important for individual participants to reflect on what brings them to the march and what the specific issues are. Below you’ll find ten quotes that may help you through the process. 
On Police and State Violence
“The announced function of the police, “to protect and serve the people,” becomes the grotesque caricature of protecting and preserving the interests of our oppressors and serving us nothing but injustice. They are there to intimidate blacks, to persuade us with their violence that we are powerless to alter the conditions of our lives. Arrests are frequently based on whims. Bullets from their guns murder human beings with little or no pretext…” - Angela Davis
On Social Responsibility
“…this majority is you. Nobody else can do it. The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.” - James Baldwin
On Civil Disobedience
“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.” -Howard Zinn
On Solidarity
“I don’t believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charity is so vertical. It goes from the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other person. I have a lot to learn from other people.”-Eduardo Galeano
The Collective
"I propose that there is another kind of power based not on resources, things, or attributes, but rooted in the social and cooperative relations in which people are enmeshed by virtue of group life.” - Frances Fox Piven
On Community, Justice, and Privilege
“If we want a beloved community, we must stand for justice, have recognition for difference without attaching difference to privilege.”― bell hooks
Feminism Is It
“Feminist focus on women finding a voice, on the silence of black women, of women of color, has led to increased interest in our words. This is an important historical moment. We are both speaking of our own volition, out of our commitment to justice, to revolutionary struggle to end domination, and simultaneously called to speak, "invited” to share our words. It is important that we speak. What we speak about is more important.“ - bell hooks
On the power of the victim
"The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.” — James Baldwin
Long Overdue
“And so we must say, now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to transform this pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our nation. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of racial justice. Now is the time to get rid of segregation and discrimination. Now is the time” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
On the distance
“Colorful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped only when soldiers refuse to fight, when workers refuse to load weapons onto ships and aircraft, when people boycott the economic outposts of Empire that are strung across the globe.” – Arundhati Roy
