Happy Juneteenth – now officially a federally recognized holiday after (like the end of legal slavery it commemorates) too damn long. I’ve been thinking a lot about Environmental Justice — and especially our friends and relatives on the frontlines in the Gulf south — as it related to the on-going debate about whether and how …
Read more “Juneteenth: Thinking about justice, race, and the frontlines”
The use of tear gas is illegal in war. But in the last few weeks, it’s been used so often to disperse protests in the US that many of you can probably recognize the smell at a distance, and know exactly what it looks like in a photo or video. In Portland, Trump’s storm troopers …
Read more “They tear gassed moms. And then the Mayor. Ban Tear Gas Now.”
For the last few weeks, we’ve been telling you about why we support the demands of the Movement for Black Lives, including and especially the demand to Defund the Police. But the truth is that most of us can’t defund the police ourselves: Not by voting in local elections (some sheriffs are elected, but not …
Read more “Your Mayor can Defund the police – and they should”
On June 19, 1865, Black communities in Texas finally received the news that they were free. Juneteenth (June 19th) is a day that honors Black freedom and Black resistance, and centers Black people’s unique contribution to the struggle for justice in the U.S. This Juneteenth is a rare moment for our communities to proclaim in …
All over the Country and around the world, people continue to surge into the streets and speak out online in response to the police murder of George Floyd Breonna Taylor, and so many more. In response to peaceful protest against racist police violence, militarized police forces have responded with batons, tanks, tear gas and worse; …
I’ll keep this short, because I know a lot of you, like me, are already caught up in local efforts to defend black lives in this extraordinary moment. The murders of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police officers, as well as Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many more, have touched off a nationwide conversation, protest …