Tuesday 25 November 2014

Ferguson, no justice, no peace

Overnight we heard the news that the police officer who shot Michael Brown 12 times was let off all charges. The cop named Darren Wilson, has gotten away with murder – and the American injustice system sent the message once again that black lives don't matter. It was long after dark on 24 November when St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch marched to the microphone and announced that a grand jury had refused to indict the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer on any charge at all for killing 18-year-old Mike Brown on 9 August. This was the result that millions of people expected, but it was shocking anyway: a white cop who shot more than a dozen bullets at an unarmed African American teenager, killing him, was not only off the hook, but was being portrayed as a victim. After days of rising tensions as the long-awaited grand jury decision didn't come, people in Ferguson and around the country erupted in bitter protest. Even while Barack Obama followed McCulloch onto the airwaves to make his own statement urging peace, police fired their first volleys of tear gas and smoke grenades in Ferguson. The media bemoaned the "violence" in Ferguson when a police car was wrecked and local businesses set on fire – without the slightest recognition of the violence that African Americans living in a city like Ferguson endure on a daily basis, directly at the hands of racist police and indirectly as a result of endemic poverty and unemployment. Many liberals will cry disgrace for the level of violence but i dont think we can fully understand the situation being outside of the situation and us not going through what black people in Ferguson go through on a daily basis as white people. We can offer black voices a platform wherever we can and fight to help them have their voices heard as a small step . The media vultures had their cameras trained on Ferguson, but there were angry demonstrations around the country after the grand jury decision was announced. In Chicago, hundreds of protesters took over Lake Shore Drive. In Oakland, California, in the largest protest in the Bay Area, the hastily organized solidarity demonstration drew more than 1,000 people who marched through downtown and later blockaded Interstate 580, one of the major routes through the city. Nearly a thousand turned out to Times Square. There will be more protests today and in the days to come. We need to make sure everyone who was outraged by Mike Brown's murder and inspired by the rebellion in Ferguson against racism and police violence raises their voices and sends a message: We won't forget Mike Brown – and our struggle for justice will continue. just finally you can Donate to the Legal Support Fund for Justice for Mike Brow at n' https://secure.piryx.com/donate/mS25KFCe/MORE/mikebrown Also there is to be a vigil outside the US embasy tommorrow evening for all those who wish to protest and voice their feelings against the non justice of this decision here Ferguson solidarity vigil called by London Black Revs, UFFC, DTRTP outside US embassy in London tomorrow, 7pm. FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/312433102293366/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular one last thing to finnish on for us if we were to wrongly think this is not a issue which happens in this country Between 2004-2014 over 800 ppl died after contact with the police in the UK. Last successful prosecution was in 1969 https://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/deaths-in-british-police-custody-no-convicted-officers-since-1969

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