CALL THEM OUT IS OUR NEW ALBUM. LPs WILL BE HERE EVENTUALLY, BUT IN THE MEANTIME WE HAVE CDs. 25 SONGS IN 41 MINUTES. GET IT PLEASE.
When you see news reports about what's going on in other countries fed to us through the bias of the corporate media, there is always something more going behind the scenes.
The irony of factory workers protesting the electoral victory of Lukashenko is that if the opposition won and the country was opened up to western investors, they would no longer have jobs .
Read about it here.
When the president of the most powerful and ruthless country on earth encourages fascist thugs within their own borders, we know exactly what's going on in other countries their troops get sent to .
So despite the protests and blood spilled in the streets, fuckface trump continues to uphold and condone police murder and occupation of entire cities.
Fuck him and his system.
Wednesday
| revcom.us
What we know now:
What this means:
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There is a lot of political turmoil going on in Belarus right now , based on the current president Alexander Lukashenko being in power for over 26 years and the people wanting a change , suspecting that elections are regularly rigged to give him a landslide victory every time .
Of course this led me to listen to the only music I have by anyone from Belarus, and that's a hardcore/thrash CD by the absolutely amazing Pull Out An Eye .
I don't know whatever became of this fine band, but you should do yourself a favour and check them out .
It's still hard to think of SNFU's Chi Pig as gone forever.
One of the most charismatic , real , creative , and just outright entertaining front people of all time and in any genre of music , he will forever be missed.
Several people have told me that their favourite album of SNFU's is "If You Swear You'll Catch No Fish" , which I only have an ancient taped copy of from a hundred years ago , so I went out and got the LP yesterday . Of course it's incredible, and will be listened to a lot by me .
Here's one of the last interviews he did before he passed . Listen to SNFU today .
This is just another day in fascist amerikkka, where killer cops have the full power of the state backing them up to do whatever they want with very little accountability .
It was a particularly hot August day, temperatures topping out at 95 degrees in Aurora, Colo., as screams of children pierced the sky. Desperate they lay handcuffed on their stomachs, hogtied on scorching asphalt like animals. It was to have been a heavenly girls’ day out at the nail salon. Pampering and such Brittney Gilliam planned for her daughter, 6, and her sister, 12, and two nieces, ages 14 and 17.
The day went from heaven to hell in minutes when police pounced, guns drawn, demanding everyone out of a vehicle Aug. 2, cuffing the 17 year old and 12 year old behind their backs. The 14 year old lying next to the 6 year old on their stomachs in the nail salon parking lot.
All of this captured on video.
Police say it was a “mistake.” Cops looking for a stolen motorcycle pulled a “high-risk stop” on a Black family in a van, apparently officers didn’t know how to read letters and numbers for a stolen license plate.
Mothers India Johnson and Yasmeen Winston were out on a play date with their infant children in Washington, D.C., during a 100-degree day. They were on their way to cool off at the fountains near the World War II Memorial.
As they were parking, Secret Service agents smashed into their vehicle, pointed guns at the women demanding they exit, hands in the air. The Black women were handcuffed and detained for an hour, leaving Ms. Winston’s six-month-old son, G’esus, and Ms. Johnson’s 13-month-old son, Sir Quincy, in a hot car unattended, wailing and crying in distress.
Ms. Winston, according to The Daily Mail, had a rifle pointed to her head.
Again, the authorities claimed a “mistake,” saying they thought the car was stolen.
Then there was new police bodycam video showing more of the arrest and death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Police approach his car, guns drawn. Mr. Floyd, clearly in distress, begs the officers, “please don’t shoot me.” He is compliant with police orders to put his hands on the wheel. He willfully exits the car and is handcuffed. Mr. Floyd resists being placed in the police cruiser, saying he is claustrophobic. He asks to be laid on the ground.
Clearly, Mr. Floyd is in a panicked state, perhaps with a premonition something horrible is about to happen. Nothing was done to allay his fears. His alleged misdeed? Handing a store clerk a bad $20 bill.
The Aurora police chief eventually apologized, saying the video made her “sick.” “I want to reach out and just tell the family I am terribly sorry. I am sick to my core that these children were traumatized the way they were,” Chief Vanessa Wilson told the media. Activists quickly pointed out another death, the passing of an unarmed young, Black male, in an encounter with the same police department last year. Elijah McClain, 23, was confronted by officers walking home. He lost his life and none of the officers involved were prosecuted. Some jobs, however, were lost as cops mocked Elijah’s death about year after his loss of life.
According to CNN, the Secret Service is investigating the felony traffic stop and claims some parts of the women’s account are untrue.
What isn’t untrue is a clear lack of compassion in these and other encounters with police that produce trauma, terror and mental torment long after the initial encounter—if the person involved actually lives through it.
While the significant criticism of police departments across the nation is they are racist, abusive, deadly and disconnected from Black communities, they mentally burden Black people.
“Research is now showing that children and adults can experience race-based trauma, which can have profound effects on psychological and physical well-being and can also impact communities as a whole. The threat and experience of police brutality and discrimination can be experienced individually or vicariously, and traumatic symptoms can vary depending on the individual,” observed one study last year.
“Children are especially vulnerable to the psychological and physical effects of police brutality and the threat thereof because of their developmental stages,” according to “Don’t Shoot: Race-Based Trauma and Police Brutality” by Leah Metzger. The study was released by Taylor University in 2019.
It warns, “occurrences and threats of police brutality have immense and diverse effects on Black Americans’ psychological and physical well-being. Children are especially vulnerable to these effects due to their developmental stages, with the potential for lifelong consequences on their brain development, hormonal and immune systems, and self-concept and self-esteem. Additionally, race-based trauma can be experienced repeatedly and cumulatively, as well as vicariously.”
Black people know all too well pain and trauma, from the profoundly immoral abduction called the Middle Passage, to the tortures and dehumanization of slavery, Jim Crow, lynching, medical experiments and forced sterilizations.
Epidemic cell phone documentation of police brutality is the most recent reminder and trauma trigger.
Monnica T. Williams, Ph.D., speaking about vicarious trauma told Teen Vogue, while some were hopeful recording police violence against Blacks would prove it’s a systemic problem, the videos have mostly traumatized Black viewers.
“I think when (these killings) first began to be captured more on video, many of us were excited because we thought we could finally prove what’s been going on all along,” she said. “When that didn’t really make a difference (in society’s perception of police violence), it increased everyone’s despair and distress—so it’s finally come to a boiling point.”
Not only are these videos traumatic, but they can also cause some young people to internalize racism. “Just the fact that media outlets are showing videos of dying Black men is traumatizing in itself. It isn’t considered appropriate to broadcast a White person’s dying moments on television. Still, that dignity isn’t offered to Black people,” Dr. Williams said. “Every time we have to see such videos, it reminds us that society doesn’t value our lives the same.”
Dr. James F. Lassiter, a clinical psychologist from Chesapeake, Va., has a specialty in trauma treatment. He feels for the Black children and what they endured that hot summer day in Aurora, Colo. “I would surmise the children are suffering currently from an acute stress disorder. Give them a couple of weeks, a month you will have PTSD, especially if they are not treated right away,” he warned.
“The police must have been in a cave somewhere not to have seen George Floyd die on his stomach, and my guess is this thing will stay in the children’s minds for some time,” Dr. Lassiter continued. “There is no doubt in my mind the children have an acute stress disorder; I don’t even have to see them. If they are treated immediately, they have a good chance of desensitizing the reaction; if not, the long term effects could be reacting every time the children see a police car, or an authority figure comes near them, or they see something on TV.”
But, he explained, it’s not just the mental and emotional fear associated with racial trauma that is the problem—the stressors have real impact on Black physical health. “An ancillary effect in the Black community is a higher rate of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. These are all stress-related disorders, and Black people in this country head the list,” said Dr. Lassister.
“You have a combination of fear, anger, and paranoia. A lot of times, anger when it is not given a proper angle for expression, therapeutically, it turns back against itself as depression or suicide. I think a lot of our young folk are dealing with that type of psychodynamic dysfunction basically, and who is to treat them? Who knows what is going on besides the fact they are considered dangerous and criminal?” he asked.
Philadelphia-based Dr. Portia Hunt, a master clinician and child psychologist, sees these assaults as significant attacks on childhood self-esteem. “The trauma to the children is going to be major,” she said. “Emotionally, what it communicates to them is they have no real value. It’s going to cause the children to have flashbacks, the feeling their parent is marginalized with no real power to protect them. It’s going to have a tremendous impact on the children. Quite frankly, the children were made to feel like a sack of crap.”
“Incidents like this go into the psyche of children sending the message they have no value, the parents are marginalized, the emotional toll is horrific. Then you question why Black children are angry or don’t want to cooperate, withdrawing, becoming docile,” she said.
“There is an absolute connection to the gun violence we see and past trauma with our young people. If you don’t matter, then why not take others out with you? They are interacting with police who are not culturally competent and are there for control. So it creates a connection again that my life is of no value, and neither is yours. It’s a real horrible conundrum,” Dr. Hunt explained.
“I saw the video clip of our sister in Colorado, and I think the most telling visual we can take in was to see the demure six year old wearing a cute pink little princess hat forced to lay on the hot ground,” said Student Minister Ava Muhammad, national spokesperson for the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. “We have been viewed and defined and treated as subhuman, a commodity, for their ability to flourish as a country. But now we are in the last hours of judgment, and so the hatred and contempt for Black people are at the most acute stage ever. We saw that with the torture-murder of George Floyd and the latest bodycam footage that show they had guns drawn on him from the beginning. So what happened to the sister and her little girls and the Black women’s treatment, Black children are being thrust to the forefront.”
“It is leaving us with no other option than to separate from these people. We will never have peace of mind as long as we live like this. How many times have we heard the excuse of mistaken identification? To continually use the same narrative, this is how Breonna Taylor lost her life in such a violent way.”
“We are the recipients of this reckless endangerment, this depraved indifference toward our lives, in the sense that if any type of humanity is shown it would prevent this from happening. But it’s not taken, there is a mindset of White America toward Black people, and it is not going away,” said Dr. Muhammad. And, she added, “Now you have to consider if some of these cases are not a form of retribution for the outpouring of support in the wake of the George Floyd murder.”
She continued, “There are millions of White people outraged over what is taking place, and many are in law enforcement. We are going to constantly live in fear and not know what is around the corner unless we follow Minister Farrakhan’s instructions to begin this process of making our own communities a safe and decent place to live. We need a safe haven, but we can start immediately, and we have done this before. It is not rocket science. It’s just the desire and will to do it. Is it possible to achieve peace of mind living with the children of our slave masters? It is not,” she added.
There are still many people living under the delusion that somehow fuckface trump is not a war mongering fascist . Incorrect .
Read this please :
| revcom.us
It is truly amazing how some progressives and self-described radicals pull the wool over their own eyes when it comes to Donald Trump’s foreign policy. They blithely buy into and peddle the dangerous myth that, for all his ravings and unpredictability, Trump is an “antiwar” isolationist who wants to shrink the U.S. global military footprint and is ill-disposed to getting bogged down in endless wars. Describe him as you will... but a war monger he is not, they say. Wrong, deadly wrong.
In fact, Donald Trump has matched bellicose rhetoric with acts of provocation against designated adversaries that could have led, and could still lead, to war—Iran is prime example. The U.S. military under Trump has been guided by and is operating according to a new National Security Strategy enunciated in 2018 that is nothing less than a dark vision for U.S.-China conflict.1 From day one of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Trump has pounced on it to whip up racist anti-China hysteria and escalate economic warfare with China. And Trump’s insane euphoria for nuclear weapons has a more calculated counterpart in a major build-up of America’s nuclear war waging capacity.
“America first” is not an agenda of “anti-globalist” retrenchment. At its foreign policy core, “America First” is an aggressive, unilateralist (“we go our own way, fuck the strictures of traditional imperialist alliances and diplomacy”) imperial project. It is a project infused with an ideology of fascistic, white Christian civilizational superiority.
Let us count the ways of Trump the war monger.
The so-called “antiwar” Trump has presided over massive levels of military spending. Outlays for the 2020 fiscal year were at near-record levels (adjusted for inflation), and the military budget Trump submitted earlier this year was the largest since World War 2 (in comparable dollars).2
The biggest single-category increases called for involve nuclear weapons, including expanded weapons-production facilities. Take note: The administration’s 2018 Nuclear Posture Review lowered the threshold for the U.S. to drop a nuclear bomb on an “enemy” (this includes U.S. responses to non-nuclear attacks and threats).3 And in February 2020, the U.S. put its first (and newly developed) low-yield nuclear weapons on submarines at sea.
Here’s a pop quiz for the “Trump for peace” connoisseurs. When it comes to Barack Obama’s drone wars (one of the monstrous war crimes of that administration), Donald Trump has: a) ended them; b) continued them; c) escalated them. The answer is c. The Trump/Pence regime not only surpassed the volume of drone strikes under Obama in its first two years... it made drone wars in countries like Somalia, Yemen, and Pakistan more secretive than ever.4
Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. out of three nuclear weapons-related treaties. He took the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018; in 2019 he exited from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty; and in late May of this year he withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, which allowed observation flights over Russia and Alaska.5 Trump does not want the U.S. to “tie its hands down” in nuclear weapons production, stationing, and deployment, especially in conducting its rivalry with China.
It was Trump, not Iran, who broke the agreement the two countries and other world powers signed in 2015 limiting Iran’s nuclear program. The agreement had lifted economic sanctions (measures that prevent a country from buying and selling goods on the world market, getting loans, etc.). Since tearing up the agreement, the U.S. has imposed even harsher sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. When the pandemic hit earlier this year, Trump doubled down—preventing medical supplies from coming into Iran. This has exacerbated an already devastating public health crisis in Iran. A revcom.us article rightly described this as “medical terrorism.”6
Since the spring of 2019, the Trump/Pence regime has built up the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf and stepped up threats against Iran. This took a leap in January 2020 with the U.S.’s illegal assassination of Iranian general Soleimani at Iraq’s Baghdad International Airport, bringing the Middle East to the precipice of a major new military conflict. If this is not war-mongering, than what is it?
Trump has brought U.S. support for Israel and its war on the Palestinian people to new heights. He has increased U.S. military aid, recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and worked to shield the Israel Defense Forces from international criminal prosecution for war crimes. He sent U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia as part of the confrontation with Iran and stepped up arms sales. And there’s been no pulling back from U.S. imperialism’s support for Saudi Arabia’s savage air war in Yemen that started in 2015. The U.S. continues to share intelligence and sophisticated weapons, as the Saudis target Yemeni schools and hospitals.
In 2018, the Trump Pentagon issued a National Security Strategy report declaring that “great power competition,” not the “war on terror,” is now America’s main security priority. Russia and China, especially China, were identified as the chief rivals to America’s dominant position in the world. The report breaks from the past in emphasizing the usability of nuclear weapons: “the fear of [nuclear] escalation will not deter the United States from defending our vital interests.”
The “pivot to Asia” began under Obama. But it has gone to a whole new level under Trump. The assessment has been widely broadcast: China’s growing economic might (illicitly and unfairly obtained) is not only challenging America’s global economic dominance but also translating into threatening military capability and reach. The take home message is none too ambiguous: We, America, are the main rulers and exploiters of the world, and China must be stopped.*
U.S. imperialism is facing new necessity in the world. Intensifying rivalry with China presents new challenges to America’s hegemonic position in the world. This is the main factor behind U.S. efforts to reach an accord with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and to draw down forces elsewhere. Trump is not on a peace, or “bring the troops home” jag. His Pentagon is “repositioning” forces around the world, especially to confront China. A different kind of warfare from the past—what’s called “high-intensity warfare” in the air, sea, ground, space, and cyberspace—is being planned for.7 And, ominously, preparations are well underway, including on China’s side.
Trump has encouraged and cheered on India in its military clashes with China, and is putting pressure on countries like Australia and Japan to firm up partnerships with the U.S. against China. U.S. and Chinese warships regularly encounter each other in the East and South China Sea. Flashpoints for military conflict are multiplying.
So if Donald Trump is not a “war monger,” then what is he?
* China is not a socialist country today. It is now an imperialist rival to the U.S. See Raymond Lotta, “Four Months Into the Global COVID-19 Health and Economic Crisis... Notes on the Utter Cruelty and Obscene Irrationality of Capitalism-Imperialism” at revcom.us. [back]
NOTES
1. See the Summary of the 2018 National Security Strategy, https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf [back]
2. See Fred Kaplan, “Trump’s Gargantuan Military Is Full of It,” Slate, February 12, 2020. [back]
3. See, https://www.armscontrol.org/issue-briefs/2018-02/new-us-nuclear-strategy-flawed-dangerous-heres-why [back]
4. S.E. Cupp, “Under Donald Trump, drone strikes far exceed Obama’s numbers,” Chicago Sun-Times, May 8, 2019. [back]
5. Julian Borger, “Trump to pull US out of third arms control deal,” The Guardian, 21 May, 2020. [back]
6. “Medical Terrorism—American Style: U.S. Sanctions and Military Threats Escalate Iran's COVID-19 Death Toll and Threaten the World,” revcom.us, April 6, 2020 [back]
7. Michael Klare, “The US Military Is Preparing for a New War,” The Nation, June 1, 2019
This is a fantastic example of the pigs stepping down when confronted with the power of the people. They bring everything they can to try and intimidate a peaceful protester , including lies and threats , and were forced to step down anyway. Fuck the police.
| revcom.us
So this is how the pigs still operate under this system – despite all their talk of “change,” “hearing the protesters,” and wanting “good community relations.”
On August 7 some 50 NYPD, some in tactical gear with shields, and a helicopter surrounded Derrick Ingram’s apartment in Manhattan – blocking off the streets with two dozen police vehicles, bringing pigs and dogs into the hallway outside his apartment, banging on his door – supposedly to arrest him for yelling in a cop’s ear with a bullhorn at a protest in Bayside.
Derrick is a founder of Warriors in the Garden, which has organized many protests against police violence and white supremacy around New York City since forming in June.
The NYPD – whose union recently endorsed Trump! – demanded Derrick open up and let them in or come out. Derrick righteously refused and began livestreaming the whole five-hour siege on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/iamdwreck/ -- / https://www.instagram.com/p/CDo7FOClMXp/ while consulting with lawyers over ZOOM.
“What did I do? What did I do?” he said on a livestream posted on Instagram. “I was born Black, that’s what I did.”
Derrick later said the police hadn’t produced a warrant and had “used threats and intimidation tactics…This was an attempt to silence our movement.”
His courage and quick thinking were decisive, including in rallying supporters. According to the New York Times, the police withdrew – empty handed – “after protesters arrived.”
This very inspiring example of people standing strong and coming together to defend resisters is an important lesson for the people to learn from.
@Warriorsinthegarden wrote on Instagram:
The NYPD forced a stand-off with one of our lead organizers and co-founder, Derrick “Dwreck” Ingram, and held hostage for 5 HOURS in his own home. NYPD arrived to his door stating they had a warrant for his arrest in regards to BAYSIDE and he needed to open the door immediately , he asked for the warrant to be slid under the door then they quickly shifted their words to “We’re working on getting one.” This entire process was very traumatic for Dwreck as they began to bang on his door, have K-9’s scratching at his door, sharpshooters pointing into the window, drones flying to his window, police officers stationed in the building next door and 2 helicopters flying above his head. We are NON-VIOLENT PROTESTORS and the work and dedication we have all put into this movement displayed this type of reaction. We will keep fighting and we will keep being the voice for the people. Dwreck has made the executive decision to turn himself in tomorrow morning and he will explain why! We are asking for all supporters from organizers to NYC citizens to please join us at 42ND STREET BRYANT PARK 8AM SHARP.
**WILL BE PLANNING TO MARCH AT 8:15AM, PLEASE ARRIVE BETWEEN 7:50-8:00AM**
#earlybirdgetsthewormOne officer states in the video posted “Why don’t you be the WARRIOR that you state you are and come out and let’s face the system.”
And to that, we say, #TAKEITTOTHESTREETS #ANDFUCKTHEPOLICE #nojusticenopeace
It turns out the NYPD had hunted Derrick down using facial recognition technology and Derrick’s social media posts. The Gothamist reports, “In a video shared online by FreedomNewsTV, an officer can be seen outside Ingram’s apartment holding an ‘Informational Lead Report’ from the NYPD’s Facial Identification Section. The report also shows a photo of Ingram… a spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed that facial recognition software was used during the course of the investigation.”
Afterward, the Manhattan DA’s office claimed they didn’t “condone” the NYPD’s siege tactics, while New York’s Democrat Mayor, Bill DeBlasio staunchly defended the pigs: “This police department is never going to interfere with people's rights to protest,” he said. “It is a fundamental right and in fact, New York City over the years has done a damn good job in protecting that right.”
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You'd think they've got enough problems at home , but the arrogant yankee motherfuckers can't leave anyone else the fuck alone .
These fucking mercenaries should never see the light of day again.
Telesur published the following report Aug. 8.
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab reported Friday [Aug. 7] that the two former U.S. military officers, Luke Denmnan and Airan Berry, who participated in the failed invasion attempt in Venezuela [May 4], were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Former members of the U.S. Green Beret Special Forces (circled) captured in Venezuela while attempting invasion.
Denmnan and Berry tried to force their way into Venezuela along with 50 other citizens of the Caribbean country to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
“The U.S. former military officers confessed to the crimes of conspiracy, association, illicit trafficking of war weapons and terrorism,” Saab tweeted.
These crimes appear in Venezuela’s Penal Code, and for them, the mercenaries were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“The former U.S. soldiers, who admitted their responsibility in the events, were accused by the prosecutors in the case of serious crimes,” Saab explained.
The U.S. Silvercorp employees, former members of the U.S. Army Green Beret Special Forces, were detained in the second attempt of an attack against the Venezuelan coast.
At least eight people died and half a hundred more were arrested during the search and capture of the mercenaries.
Last May, Venezuela’s justice system ordered preventive detention for 40 people due to their involvement in the failed invasion attempt.
When federal officers entered Portland, Ore., over the July 4 weekend and began to confront Black Lives Matter protesters, it quickly became clear that the protesters were not going to be driven out.
The presence of federal officers only galvanized protesters, who turned out by the thousands night after night. Militant demonstrations and broad support from the community were met with heavy clouds of tear gas and heavy-handed, repressive responses from federal officers. The kidnapping of protesters into unmarked vehicles by unidentified agents in Portland became a flashpoint for outrage against state repression throughout the U.S.
Portland activists.
Tents were set up in Lownsdale Square, directly east of the federal courthouse where federal officers had centralized their operation. For weeks protesters at the square continued to offer free food, medical aid, water, clothing and other supplies donated by the community.
Finally, after massive demonstrations, Oregon governor Kate Brown announced that on July 23 federal officers would begin withdrawing and would be replaced with Oregon state police. This represented a clear, but qualified victory for the protesters.
Since the drawdown began, the area around the protests has been markedly more quiet, with no further use of tear gas reported. But the tents in Lownsdale Square were taken down by city authorities, and the square was cleared.
Protests have continued, as not all federal officers are believed to have left the city. The state police replacing them aren’t necessarily viewed more favorably by many of the protesters. The Portland Police Bureau — which deployed tear gas nearly 100 times during protests that began after the May 25 murder of George Floyd — is similarly held in contempt.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who is also the city’s police commissioner, has now apologized for his authorization of the unrestrained use of tear gas against protesters. This came only after the mayor and other local officials were themselves teargassed by federal officers.
A broad coalition — made up of social justice organizations, radical activists, trade unionists, teachers, medical workers and concerned residents — continues to turn out and demand racial justice in support of Black Lives Matter. While there have been disagreements within the movement over tactics and other issues, the unity of this coalition has been the key to its success.
The overall political discussion has shifted as a result, with demands for defunding and even abolishing police becoming much more widespread and accepted. Many local officials have felt the pressure of thousands of demonstrators in the streets and are realizing that business-as-usual cannot continue.
Thousands of people participated in a march over the Aug. 1 weekend, making their way for miles through the city’s eastside into downtown. Large demonstrations were held at Portland’s waterfront park, with people later converging in front of the federal courthouse several blocks away. During the weekend, firefighters also staged a demonstration in support of the movement.
Federal and local officials seem to have come to terms with the fact that the protests cannot be quelled through repressive violence alone and that attempts to do so will only embolden the movement, now well over two months old.
The only path forward for the movement is to increase unity and draw in more and more segments of society. It must continue its momentum and consolidate its gains, while pushing the struggle further and further forward.
Many speakers at the protests have connected the Movement for Black Lives to an anti-capitalist political stance that advocates for demands like universal health care and housing for all. Until the basic necessities of life are guaranteed for all, all lives will not matter, especially Black, Brown and Indigenous lives.
This becomes even more clear in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, which disproportionately impacts Black, Brown and Indigenous communities and underscores the need for universal, not-for-profit health care. The mounting eviction crisis will also make this point more clear: The system of capitalism will not and can not meet even the most basic needs of the people, especially the needs of the most oppressed.
(Photo: Joshua Hanks )
