Commentary by BlackKos Editor JoanMar
The talking heads at Fox, the heads of the various chapters of the police union, unrepentant cops nationwide, and GOP spinmeisters are laughing their asses off roundabout now. Democrats are currently engaged in an intraparty slugfest over the slogan “Defund the Police,” and the people who created this distraction are having fun at our expense.
President Obama has (intentionally?) jumped in the fray.
"If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it's not biased and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan like 'Defund The Police,' but, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you're actually going to get the changes you want done," Obama told Peter Hamby on Snapchat's "Good Luck America" when asked what his advice is to an activist who believes in using the slogan although politicians are likely to avoid it.
"But if you instead say, 'Let's reform the police department so that everybody's being treated fairly, you know, divert young people from getting into crime, and if there was a homeless guy, can maybe we send a mental health worker there instead of an armed unit that could end up resulting in a tragedy?' Suddenly, a whole bunch of folks who might not otherwise listen to you are listening to you."
My first thought upon hearing the president’s take on the issue was that if anybody could explain the slogan — and the pre-existing policy proposals that were shoved under the umbrella of Defund the Police after the attacks — and have that explanation fall on receptive ears, it would be him, so why on earth wouldn’t he have used the opportunity to do just that? My second thought was that that was precisely the problem with the slogan: it requires explanation. Yes, as you can see, I’m torn.
But just a few pushbacks against what my president said. As he well knows, for generations, folks have been talking about reforming the police and police accountability and it has gotten us exactly nowhere. Cops continue to kill at will, to brutalize, and to lie with impunity. Since the public lynching of George Floyd in May, cops have taken out over 525 human beings more and we still have 26 days to go in the year. This despite worldwide protests and condemnation of police using deadly force.
Even with the heightened scrutiny after the murder of George Floyd, cops still killed 525 people in 217 days.
Secondly, again I point out that “Defund the Police” was not a policy position that was adopted by civil rights activists after a series of conferences. It was initially a sign seen at the rally protesting the murder of Floyd. It was a cry of pain that was then cynically seized upon by Fox and police unions and CNN’s Alysin Camerota. That we are now saddled with this nontroversy is a testament to the effectiveness of the right-wing propaganda machine. They have effectively pulled off one of the biggest switcheroos in the history of man in that now it’s cops who are the victims and big, bad, radical leftists are out to get them. Ooh, they are afraid, they are so afraid! This whole concern trolling is meant to distract us from the daily atrocities being perpetrated against Black, Brown, and Native folks unabated. Thirdly, and I know that the president is well aware of this, for those who are determined to keep the status quo there will never, ever be an acceptable slogan. In this, I agree with Jemele Hill.
The more we spend time talking about the slogan and its meaning the less time there is to talk about the 1020 people killed by police year-to-date. The more time we spend fighting about a slogan the less time we have to talk about why the police refused to offer life-saving help to teenager Aidan Ellison. And that, I believe, is the objective.
Truly, the fight continues...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS ROUND UP BY DOPPER0189, BLACK KOS MANAGING EDITOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There exists a misplaced assumption that the recent focus on inclusion is a quasi-benevolent gift to Black people. But profit-driven companies are not supposed to care about diversity for diversity’s sake. Even the most progressive individuals believe that “diversity hires” help Black employees, when, in reality, it is white people who get most of the benefit because input from a diverse array of voices usually improves the product.
Take the news industry, for example. When Joy Reid left AM Joy for a permanent spot in MSNBC’s primetime lineup, the overwhelming narrative was that host Joy Reid would become the only Black woman to anchor a primetime cable news show. Very few people mentioned that Reid’s weekend show had been kicking the competitions’ asses for 13 straight quarters in total audience and African-American viewers. She was making NBC News a better product.
And now, with the addition of veteran journalists Jonathan Capehart and Tiffany Cross to its roster of show hosts, MSNBC continues to un-whiten the monolithic, white-centered news coverage to give news consumers the content audiences have been desperately seeking.
“I think it’s, uh, one thing that we have seen punctuate through our politics is that America looks different now and the days of our community being marginalized are over,” Cross told The Root. “Some networks still treat communities of color as though we’re the potato. But I am here to l declare unapologetically that we are the steak, not the potato.”
Cross, who served as a 2020 resident fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics and co-founded “The Beat DC”—a national news platform that intersected politics, policy, business, media and people of color—will host the 10 a.m. to noon Saturday slot where AM Joy once resided.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Connecticut’s Board of Education wants students “to know and understand the scope of African American, Black, Latino, and Puerto Rican contributions to United States history, society, economy and culture.” Color Lines: A New Course in Black and Latinx Studies Will Be Offered to All Connecticut High Schools
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The state of Connecticut will offer an elective course on “African American, Black, Latino and Puerto Rican studies” to all of its high school students beginning January 2021. On Dec. 2, the Connecticut State Board of Education (CSDE) announced its decision after unanimously approving the change. For now, teens have a choice in taking the course. Beginning in July 2022, the board will mandate the course in all of its high schools.
The school board’s new curriculum will be a one-credit, yearlong course that will examine the contributions made by Black, Puerto Rican and Latinx people to U.S. history, society, economy and culture. With a focus on creating civic-minded students, the school board wrote in the statement it hopes that the course gives students the “tools to identify historic and contemporary tensions around race and difference; map economic and racial disparities over time; strengthen their own identity development; and address bias in their communities.” Eventually, the board hopes to expand the course elective to one that’s mandatory beyond high school to reach grades K-8.
“This is the beginning,” Ingrid Canady, executive director of the State Education Resource Center (SERC), which is administering the class with the school board, told the board on Wednesday, CT Mirror reported. “Legislators, they are very clear that the goal is for this to happen across every single grade level.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Across China and around the clock, furnaces fuelled by Australian iron ore pump out the steel the country needs to build its way out of the coronavirus downturn.
But as China’s trade war with Australia has become louder, working its way from unofficial stoppages to swingeing tariffs on barley and wine, so too have rumblings that the country may slow or end its use of Australian ore.
or Australia, a lot is at stake. Exports of goods and services to China are about 7% of Australia’s gross domestic product, and iron ore is the single-biggest category, at about 40% of the $153bn in goods and services Australia sends to China every year, according to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade figures.
Any restrictions on Australian iron ore sales to China would “send shockwaves through the market”, says analyst Julien Hall of S&P Global Platts.
But could China replace Australian iron ore with metal from somewhere else?
Part of the answer lies at a place called Simandou, deep in the interior of Guinea, in west Africa. It is home to the biggest undeveloped iron ore deposit in the world, which Chinese interests are keen to bring to production as soon as possible.
It’s been dubbed the “Pilbara killer”, due to the flood of high-quality ore, better than what BHP and Rio Tinto dig up in Western Australia, that will be unleashed on the market when it finally gets going.
The site has a troubled history – it’s mired in corruption allegations dating back almost a decade – and will require billions of dollars to develop, a task that includes building a 700km train line to get the ore to port.
On the most optimistic view, it is five years away from production – and some in the mining industry think 10 years a more likely timeframe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amos ssegawa was a 15-year-old schoolboy walking past a shop with his mother. John Kittobe was a retired accountant on a trip downtown. Sophie Kusasira was selling food in a market. All were shot dead by Ugandan security forces on November 18th and 19th, along with scores of others, in the worst violence seen in Kampala, the country’s capital, for a decade.
Unrest broke out after the arrest of Bobi Wine, a popstar-turned-politician who is the opposition’s most popular candidate in presidential elections scheduled for January. He draws crowds far larger than the 200-person limit set to contain covid-19. The singer was in Luuka district on November 18th when police bundled him into a van. He was not seen again until a court released him on bail two days later, after he had been charged with “doing an act likely to spread infection of disease”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Malcolm omirhobo is no stranger to the Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. A human-rights lawyer, he is well-known for filing suits against the government, including one for not releasing his ten-year-old son’s exam results. His latest case has created an especially loud buzz. He is arguing that Arabic script (known as Ajami when used to write non-Arabic languages) on certain Nigerian banknotes violates the country’s secular constitution. He wants it removed. He may also petition the army to delete an invocation in Arabic on its flag.
With perhaps 200m people and 350-plus languages and ethnic groups, Nigeria is a mosaic of cultures. A century ago the British amalgamated the three biggest groups under one administration—Hausa-Fulani in the mainly Muslim north, Yoruba and Igbo in the mainly Christian south—despite each having its own traditions and history. Ethnicity and religion have often clashed, especially in Nigeria’s central area, known as the Middle Belt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National lawmakers introduced a joint resolution Wednesday aimed at striking language from the U.S. Constitution that enshrines a form of slavery in America’s foundational documents.
The resolution, spearheaded and supported by Democratic members of the House and Senate, would amend the 13th Amendment’s ban on chattel enslavement to expressly prohibit involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime. As ratified, the original amendment has permitted exploitation of labor by convicted felons for over 155 years since the abolition of slavery.
The 13th Amendment “continued the process of a white power class gravely mistreating Black Americans, creating generations of poverty, the breakup of families and this wave of mass incarceration that we still wrestle with today,” Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon told The Associated Press ahead of the resolution’s introduction.
A House version is led by outgoing Rep. William Lacy Clay, of St. Louis, who said the amendment “seeks to finish the job that President (Abraham) Lincoln started.”
It would “eliminate the dehumanizing and discriminatory forced labor of prisoners for profit that has been used to drive the over-incarceration of African Americans since the end of the Civil War,” Clay said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY’S PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.