Today the New York Times blared front-page news of yet another police killing of a minority person while in custody. In this case, the victim was a Latino man, Carlos Ingram Lopez. Held naked and bound by a mesh spit guard, he complained repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe and needed water. His grandmother also appealed for mercy. But the cops kept grinding Lopez into the floor on his belly—a posture known to risk death by asphyxiation.
In a cruel irony, the grandma herself had called police because her grandson was having a mental health crisis, apparently while under the influence of cocaine. She called for help but instead got her grandson’s murder.
In an equally cruel irony, Lopez lived in Tucson, AZ, whose population is 43% Latino. It’s supposed to have a “progressive” police department, which had banned chokeholds some time ago.
This killing didn’t happen despite the vast national awakening after the murder of George Floyd. It happened two months ago. The Tucson police had withheld the appalling video until recently, ostensibly to insure a fair investigation.
I’ve pledged to contribute, until the November election, an additional $100 each to five progressive causes for every non-white person killed by police while in custody. I consider Lopez’ killing one of those atrocities. Like trees falling in the forest that no one hears, these horrors can’t be known and protested until reported. The media and those who supervise police thus have a responsibility to the public.
My five causes were: (1) Joe Biden’s Victory Fund, (2) Amy McGrath’s push to unseat Mitch McConnell, (3) Black Voters Matter, (4) Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight Action, and (5) Nse Ufot’s New Georgia Project. At the moment, Charles Booker is leading McGrath in the Democratic primary race to challenge Mitch McConnell, and we won’t know the outcome until at least June 30. If Booker wins, I will switch my support to him, as I hope McGrath’s campaign will do also.
My last three causes are all voter-empowerment organizations. They seek to convince eligible citizens—especially those who vote rarely or who have never voted before—to vote as a way to improve their lives and gain power in society.
All three of these organizations are run by and mainly for African-Americans. So I’m now looking to add a sixth and maybe a seventh donee, which focus on empowering Latino voters, especially in the Southwest.
After all, I live about half-time in New Mexico. I would be grateful to any commenter who could suggest organizations that do for Latinos what Black Voters Matter, Fair Fight Action, and the New Georgia Project are doing so well for African-Americans.
Trump’s abysmally corrupt misrule, our catastrophic failure to arrest the pandemic, the popular awakening against systemic racism, and our nascent economic depression—all are combining in a “perfect storm” of moral resurgence. Together they give us a unique chance to take our country back at the polls. But it’s only a chance. To take it, progressive whites like me and every minority must unite to throw the bums out and put good people in.
If we work together, we can do that this fall. But the clock is ticking. I fear that Latinos, who are so numerous and prominent throughout the Southwest, but who still have so little real power, are behind in their organizing efforts. So I’d like to help as much as I can.
Joe Arpaio is finally out, but Ted Cruz and others like him remain. It’s long past time to throw them all out and replace them with pols more sympathetic to their constituencies and to the difficulties of newcomers to America. For newcomers have always made us thrive.
[For a post on Japan and its importance in making capitalism safe for workers, click here.]
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