Sep
06
2014
William C. Anderson wrote a short essay about CeCe McDonald for the No Selves to Defend anthology which I share below.
by Micah Bazant
CeCe fought for her life; when the dust settled one of her attackers lay dead. CeCe survived the attack, but was arrested by the police. After receiving 11 stitches to her cheek, she was interrogated without counsel and placed in solitary confinement. CeCe was charged with second-degree murder for defending herself. Rather than face trial by a jury that would not likely sympathize with her, she accepted a plea deal to the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter.
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Uncategorized | prison culture | 
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Sep
05
2014
This is a good video by the Black Alliance For Just Immigration. It makes the case that mass criminalization (incarceration and deportation) negatively impacts people of color. It’s worth watching.
Uncategorized | prison culture | Comments Off on Video: The Real Crime
Sep
04
2014
I am thrilled to have this post by my friend Lewis on the blog this morning. The piece was written in response to this.
What my bike hasn’t taught me about white supremacy
by Lewis Wallace
I once rode my bike across Michigan. I have also ridden it across Illinois, the San Francisco Bay Area and around parts of rural Ohio. I’ve gone through cornfields and tiny towns, camped by myself, met people, bought stuff at gas stations, gone out to diners, and generally had a grand old time.
Biking is dangerous, exhilarating, and for me, it was and is a choice. I’m white and come from a class-privileged background, not to mention I’m able-bodied and able to comfortably ride the thing. So whether I’m cruising through Chicago or rural Michigan, I carry a level of safety that is written all over my body. I think about being harassed, attacked, hit by a car even…and then I think about my dad who’s a lawyer, the support and consequence that follows white people with money into any tragedy or even any slight disturbance. That’s a big part of privilege—being able to choose, to move freely, to take risks with limited fear of consequence (something I’ve written about before). When I ride my bike alone experiencing joy and impunity, I think about what it might be like for my comrades and friends who are people of color, particularly when they are visibly trans or queer. I think it’s important to think about that.
Here’s the thing, though: when I read this essay, I also thought about how frustrating it is when we white people feel we need to have—or perhaps feel we deserve—an “ah-ha” moment in which we feel we understand what it’s like for any one person of color. I really do think it can be a useful exercise to try to put ourselves in others’ shoes, on our own time and not in a way that tokenizes people or wastes their time explaining shit to us. But really “getting it”—as if being a person of color in the U.S. is a monolithic experience—is impossible, and presumptuous to boot. I’ve been thinking that whole framing doesn’t get at the core of what we white folks need to be striving towards right now, particularly as we white folks are absolutely surrounded by examples of systemic racism.
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Sep
02
2014
I learned that there would be another protest yesterday for Roshad McIntosh, a 19 year old young black man, who was killed by a Chicago Police officer on August 24. Neighbors say that the young man had his hands up and was in the process of surrendering when he was shot and killed.
I had missed (because of illness) the previous protests demanding that the killer cop be named and that the police report be released to the public. I had, however, been closely following information about the incident on social media. Yesterday, I finally felt well enough to attend the latest protest. I grabbed a ride with my friends Sarah, Zach and Megan and we headed to North Lawndale for the 5 o’clock protest/march.
We marched from the site of Roshad’s killing to the 11th police district.
photo by Sarah Jane Rhee (Chicago, 9/1/14)
When we arrived at the police station, Roshad’s mother, Cynthia Lane, entered the building to ask for more information about her son’s killing.
photo by Minku Sharma (Chicago, 9/1/14)
She returned a short time later to say that the police didn’t tell her any more details about her son’s death. She vowed to come back every day until she got answers.
photo by Danielle Villarreal (Chicago, 9/1/14)
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