Why have the powers of the police expanded over decades, while funding for vital social services shrinks? Laissez-faire capitalism goes hand-in-hand with brutal coercion.
Geography Archives: United States
Corporate backers of the Blue: How corporations bankroll U.S. police foundations
Companies that say they stand with protesters have been funding police foundations for years.
‘An Extraordinary Moment’: Angela Davis says protests recognize long overdue anti-racist work
As politicians and activists across the country try to reenvision law enforcement, Black revolutionary Angela Davis says reform can only go so far in addressing the inherent racism in policing.
Watch Angela Davis and Boots Riley speak at Oakland’s Juneteenth rally
“Our power comes from the fact that we create the wealth. Wealth is power. We have the ability to withhold that power.”
Rubio, Cruz bill would deem Cuba’s medical missions “human trafficking operation”
In an act of pure hypocrisy and obsessive cruelty, GOP Senators Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and Ted Cruz joined together to penalize developing nations who seek to take advantage of Cuba’s hands-on humanitarian work.
Racism, COVID-19, and the fight for economic justice
While the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the United States were triggered by recent police murders of unarmed African Americans, they are also helping to encourage popular recognition that racism has a long history with punishing consequences for black people that extend beyond policing.
Freedom Rider: Churchill, Columbus and Leopold fall down
The discomfort caused to elites is of no concern to anyone who wants to strike at the heart of racism. Goodbye and good riddance to Churchill, Columbus, Leopold and all of their ilk, writes Margaret Kimberley.
4 speeches that prove Black Panther Fred Hampton was the Godfather of rap
“Under Fred,” said David Hilliard, the former head of the National Black Panther Party, “Chicago was the most active and exemplary chapter in the country. The young man was magnetic. He was born for leadership.”
Re-embracing internationalism and class solidarity in the time of #BlackLivesMatter
The struggle against systemic racism and the police state in the U.S. is integral and linked to the struggle against U.S. wars of aggression overseas.
Defunding, disarming, defeating and abolishing the police
Is abolishing the same as defunding? Does either one mean the police have been defeated? What does it mean when liberals start saying abolishing the police isn’t all that scary? A socialist take on an exciting set of slogans.
Antifa movement: Anti-establishment rebels
A day after Donald Trump’s election victory, Hispanic students at Royal Oak High School in Michigan were harassed by their classmates who started chanting, “Build the wall!” Once installed in office, the White House occupant announced the immigration ban on Muslims and a few hours later, someone set fire to the local Islamic Center in […]
Struggle Theater: Don’t let theatrics shroud the reality of systemic oppression
America’s power brokers are hoping murals, kente cloth, and a series of half-baked legislative reforms will appease activists into giving up the fight for real change.
Community control of the police – and a whole lot more
Abolition of the police begins with community control, in which community representatives not only hire, fire and oversee the cops, but decide the nature of the policing that is necessary and acceptable.
If we’re going to defund militarized police departments, why not add the Pentagon?
The U.S. military’s budget, like so many police department budgets, is bloated, and diverts our tax dollars into forces of domination and violence. Now is the time to question our spending priorities at the local and federal level.
How LAPD chief William H. Parker influenced the depiction of policing on the TV show Dragnet
LAPD Chief William H. Parker was initially wary of Dragnet but also saw the opportunity to publicize his views on law and order. LAPD advisors closely examined the script to guarantee that the LAPD officers on Dragnet were ethical, efficient, terse and white.
Abolition will not be randomized
In the wake of the current uprising in support of Black Lives Matter, there has been increasing interest in the use of mainstream empirical methods in economics–like randomized control trials (RCTs) and administrative data evaluation–to address issues of racism and violence in the institution of policing.
Revolutionary ideals of the Paris Commune live on in Black Lives Matter autonomous zone in Seattle
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle–or Chaz as it has come to be known–was set up on June 8 in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. It came about as a result of BLM protesters moving in after the Seattle police abandoned the precinct due to clashes with protesters.
Black socialist leader: ‘Demands must clarify our reality’
You see, not all Black folk look or think alike. And not every organization will have the same political analysis of the events before our eyes.
An “Autonomous” three block-long Seattle street threatens America — what?
President Donald Trump from his New Jersey private golf club tweeted this past Friday morning June 12, that “The terrorists burn and pillage our cities.”
Hawkish, Gov’t funded think tank behind Twitter decision to delete thousands of Chinese accounts
Twitter’s decision came after close collaboration with a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank that has been denounced by Australia’s former ambassador in Beijing as “the architect of the China threat theory in Australia.”
