A special edition in solidarity with the Black Lives uprising Peace Planet News Dedicated to Abolishing War, Establishing& Justice, and Fighting Climate Disaster Number 3 Published Quarterly by Vietnam Full Disclosure and New York City Veterans For Peace Fall 2020 Police and Pentagon Bringing Our Wars Home

After years of hypermilitarization, U.S. police departments are recreating our global war zones here at home. With these weapons on our streets, our history of structural racism becomes that much deadlier.

By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Phyllis Bennis Mo., in 2014, an armored personnel carrier stalked the agonized protesters who filled the streets. U.S. military helicopter hovered over crowds of un- Throughout U.S. history, policing has always been armed civilians, its down-drafts whipping debris bound up with racism—and the military. A and broken glass into their faces. Was it Mogadishu Organized police forces in the United States trace their or Washington, D.C.? roots to the slave patrols organized to capture and return Armed, uniformed men surrounded unarmed civil- enslaved people who managed to escape bondage. Meeting the ians. One of them shouted “light ’em up” and began fir- After reconstruction, when a pandemic of lynching ing projectiles. Was it Baghdad or Minneapolis? spread across the country, police stood by and in many Armor-clad, armed U.S. officers targeted and fired on cases initiated or assisted the kidnapping, torture, and Moment journalists. Was it Iraq or Louisville? murder of people in their custody. Fifty-four years ago, three In every case, it was both. Thanks to years of hyper- In the 1950s and ’60s, brutal police attacks against militarization, American police departments are re­ civil rights activists and African Americans trying to courageous Army draftees creating our global war zones here at home. With these register to vote continued the pattern. So did police and weapons on our streets, our history of structural racism National Guard violence against antiwar protesters at refused to participate in becomes that much deadlier. Kent State, Jackson State, and the Chicano Moratorium In recent weeks, overwhelmingly peaceful demonstra- in Los Angeles in the 1970s. the illegal war in Vietnam. tors protesting police killings and racism have been met This militarism at home is linked inextricably to U.S. by riot police, National Guard troops, and armed fed- militarism abroad. The troops that Trump called in to What are the lessons for eral officers wielding tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber- deploy against protesters in Washington, for example, active-duty military today? coated metal bullets. Armored personnel carriers prowl had just returned from duty in Iraq. the streets, turning U.S. cities and towns into war zones. Today’s “global war on terror” is less visible than in It’s shocking, but it’s not the first time. When a police earlier years. But those wars continue—and it’s mostly Page 20 officer killed 17-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, continued on page 17 … must say, ‘Wake up, America! Wake up!’ for we cannot stop, and we will not and From the Editors cannot be patient.” Rev. James Lawson Jr. in a passionate and profound eulogy, said this at John Lewis’ funeral at the Ebenezer Baptist church: “[L]let all the people of the USA deter- mine that we will not be quiet as long as any child dies in the first year of life in the United States. We will not be quiet as long as the largest poverty group in our nation are women and children. We will not be quiet as long as our nation contin- ues to be the most violent culture in the history of humankind. We will not be quiet as long as our economy is shaped not by freedom but by plantation capital- Photo: Ellen Davidson ism that continues to cause domination and control rather than access and liberty and equality for all!” In a commencement address to the 2016 ‘Getting in Necessary Trouble’ graduating class at Bates College, John Lewis told the graduates, “You must find a s we were producing this special is- I saw Death.” be patient. We do not want our freedom way to get in the way and get in good trou- sue, focusing on the Black Lives up- When asked what kept him moving gradually, but we want to be free now. ble, necessary trouble. … You have a moral Arising resulting from the murder of forward on that day at the bridge, he re- We are tired. We are tired of being beaten obligation, a mission, and a mandate, when George Floyd and over 400 years of un- plied, “Well, my mother, my father, my by policemen. We are tired of seeing our you leave here, to go out and seek justice ending racial oppression, we lost two civil grandparents, my uncles and aunts, and people locked up in jail over and over for all. You can do it. You must do it.” rights icons, Rep. John Lewis and Rev. people all around me had never registered again, and then you holler, ‘Be patient.’ As I write this, in Portland, the battle C.T. Vivian. This issue is dedicated to the to vote. I had been working all across How long can we be patient? We want our for truth and justice rages. Mike Hastie, memory of these two, who, as young men, the South. The state of Mississippi had demonstrated grace and courage in the a Black voting-age population of more face of racist violence, and to the heroic than 450,000, and only about 16,000 were young men and women of the Black Lives registered to vote. On that day, we didn’t Matter rebellions going on in America have a choice. I think we had been tracked and all over the world. down by what I call the spirit of history, John Lewis was beaten almost to death and we couldn’t—we couldn’t turn back. by Alabama state troopers and was ar- We had to go forward.” rested over 40 times while standing up for A month before the march on Selma, racial justice. As King was, so were John Rev. Vivian led a group to the Dal- Lewis and C.T. Vivian, true nonviolent las County courthouse. Confronted by revolutionaries. County Sheriff Jim Clark, he adamantly John Lewis and C.T. Vivian, whom said, “You can turn your back now and MLK Jr. called “the greatest preacher that you can keep your club in your hand, but ever lived,” took the blows for justice as you cannot beat down justice. And we we see thousands these days in the streets, will register to vote, because as citizens willing to risk their health and safety for of these United States, we have the right justice and an enduring freedom. Lewis to do it.” Clark then punched Vivian in John Lewis on the ground about to be clubbed. and Vivian showed the way. the face so hard he broke his own hand. Rev. Vivian said, “There must always These brave men of conscience and ‘You must find a way to get in the way and get in be the understanding of what Martin had many others, men and women, set an ex- in mind. … Nonviolent, direct action ample for all of us. good trouble, necessary trouble. You have a moral makes us successful. We learned how to As actress and producer Rhodessa solve social problems without violence. Jones says in a remarkable interview with obligation, a mission, and a mandate, when you leave We cannot allow the nation or the world staff writer Denny Riley on page 24, “I here, to go out and seek justice for all.’—John Lewis to ever forget that.” am standing on the shoulders of the gen- John Lewis came close to death in 1965 erations who came before.” at age 25 on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in In 1963, as a 23-year-old with Martin in freedom, and we want it now. photographer, journalist and former Viet- what became known as Bloody Sunday: Washington DC, John Lewis spoke these “We do not want to go to jail, but we nam Army medic, has been out there at “I was hit in the head by a state trooper meaningful words at the Lincoln Memo- will go to jail if this is the price we must night exposing the reality. He writes, “I with a nightstick. I had a concussion at rial to a crowd of 250,000 people. pay for love, brotherhood, and true peace. have been tear gassed multiple times. I the bridge. My legs went out from under “To those who have said, ‘Be patient I appeal to all of you to get in this great am usually drenched with sweat and wa- me. I felt like I was going to die. I thought and wait,’ we must say that we cannot revolution that is sweeping this nation. ter down my chest from the medics flush- Get in and stay in the streets of every city, ing out my eyes. The CS gas is a choker to every village and hamlet of this nation, say the least. I run on adrenaline and caf- until true freedom comes. … We must get feine, because a 75-year-old body needs Peace & Planet News in this revolution and complete the revo- some high-octane mixture.” You can see Peace & Planet News is published quarterly by Vietnam Full Disclosure lution, for in the Delta of Mississippi, in Mike’s photos and his searing commen- (vietnamfulldisclosure.org) and the New York City chapter of Veterans For southwest Georgia, in the Black Belt of tary on page 12. Peace. Bundles­ are $35 for 45 and $50 for 70. To donate,­ subscribe, or order Alabama, in Harlem, in Chicago, Detroit, Veteran labor journalist J.J. Johnson, bundles, visit peaceandplanetnews.org or send a check to NYC Veterans­ For Philadelphia and all over this nation, the who joined our editorial team for this is- Peace, 28 Arnold Drive, Woodstock, NY 12498. Black masses are on the march for jobs sue, was among the first active-duty mil- Editorial staff: Tarak Kauff, Editor-in-Chief; Ellen Davidson, Managing and freedom. itary personnel to refuse orders to go to ­Editor; Mike Ferner, J.J. Johnson, Ken Mayers, Doug Rawlings, Editors; Denny “They’re talking about slow down and Vietnam (page 20). Riley, Staff Writer stop. We will not stop. All of the forces He and Private David A. Samas, and Website coordinator: Jeff PatersonAdvisor: Susan Schnall of Eastland, Barnett, Wallace, and Thur- Private Dennis Mora formed what be- mond will not stop this revolution. … We continued on page 7 … 2 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 ‘Black Lives Matter’ Is About More Than Police Black lives should The Black community is not inherently ness. However, to create this reality we vulnerable to COVID-19. We’ve been need to de-prioritize law enforcement— matter in all stages made vulnerable through decades of un- and cutting funding is a good start. Law- equal access to health care. We are made makers should divert funding for police of life—and to honor vulnerable every time a doctor dismisses departments and put it to better use in us because they don’t believe our symp- community-led initiatives. Investing in that truth, we must toms. We are made vulnerable through services like health care and education over-policing, which has led not only to will reduce the role of police in society, transform the system our murders, but to overrepresentation protect Black lives, and shift the focus to in jails and prisons. Even though public helping people rather than harming them. from its roots. health experts have warned of the severe When I co-founded Black Lives Matter risk that incarcerated people face due to almost seven years ago, the conversation By Patrisse Cullors the conditions they live in, most have about police brutality was just beginning been left to languish as COVID-19 threat- to enter the mainstream—not because po- very time another Black person is ens to turn their detention into a death lice violence was anything new, but be- murdered by the police, it’s easy to sentence. cause of the work of activists and advo- Epoint to a single officer as the culprit. Jails and prisons are visibly where cates who brought the issue to light with George Floyd was killed under the knee multiple systemic failings—over-polic- Patrisse Cullors. the help of technology that allows us to of officer Derek Chauvin—we saw it our- ing, over-incarceration, poverty, and in- capture incidents on our phones. selves. But Chauvin is just one officer in adequate health care—converge to take social services like education and health Today, more people are rallying for a culture of police violence, and policing Black lives. Black lives should matter in care. This doesn’t make us safer. It puts Black Lives than I would have ever imag- is just one of the systems responsible for all stages of life. To honor that truth, we Black lives in danger of police brutality ined. That is a sign of progress. But to taking Black lives. COVID-19 exposed must radically transform the system from and of getting ensnared in the mass incar- turn Black Lives Matter into more than a others. its roots. ceration system. More law enforcement is rally cry, we must roll up our sleeves and It’s no coincidence that Black people not the answer. It’s what got us here in the do the work. Let’s tear down systems that who are more likely to be killed by police Policing Doesn’t Make Us Safer first place. harm us and strengthen systems that will are also dying disproportionately from Our culture of law enforcement puts advance true equality. COVID-19. While some say it’s due to Systemic problems aren’t easy to fix, the police in places they don’t need to be. Let’s make sure that Black life mat- the prevalence of underlying health issues but we can take steps by re-examining the Police don’t have to be the first respond- ters at every stage and in every facet of like diabetes and high blood pressure in way we fund and rely on law enforcement ers to all crises. Social workers, doctors, ­society, well before a cop has his knee on the Black community, pointing a finger at in this country. A huge amount of pub- and others can serve in place of police for a man’s neck. these conditions misses the bigger picture. lic resources is put toward law enforce- issues including mental health crises, do- Patrisse Cullors is a co-founder of We need to ask: how did we end up here? ment agencies, at the expense of critical mestic violence, addiction, and homeless- Black Lives Matter.

Blind Boone’s Pianola Blues By Tyehimba Jess Might be just to prove some tasks ain’t meant to be neatly played They said I wasn’t smooth enough out on paper and into air, to beat their sharp machine. but rather should tear That my style was obsolete, out from lung, heart and brain that old rags had lost their gleam with a flair of flicked wrists and lunge. That all I had and sly smile above the 88s … left was a sucker punch and, of course, that ever-human that couldn’t touch weight of pride that swallows us their invisible piano man when a thing’s done just right … with his wind up gut- But they were eager to prove me wrong. less guts of paper rolls. They chose their fastest machine And so, I went and told them with their trickiest song and stuck it that before the night was through in a room far down the hall from me. I’d prove what the son of an ex- They didn’t know how sharp slave could do: I dared them I can see with these ears of mine— to put on their most twisty I caught every note even though tune. To play it double-time they played it in triple time. while I listened from another And when I played it back to them room past the traffic sounds even faster, I could feel the violent of the avenue below. stares … heard one mutter Blind Boone. To play it only once, Lucky black bastard … then to let me show and that was my cue to rise, Tyehimba Jess is the author of two books of poetry, note for note how that scroll to take a bow in their smoldering Leadbelly and Olio. Olio won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize, the made its roll through Chopin silence and say, Not luck, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Midland Society or Bach or Beethoven’s best. my friend, but the science Author’s Award in Poetry, and received an Outstanding And if I failed to match my fingers of touch and sweat and Contribution to Publishing Citation from the Black and ears with the spinning gears stubborn old toil. I’d bet Caucus of the American Library Association. It was also of their invisible pneumatic piano these ten fingers against any coil nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, scholar, I’d pay them the price of wire and parchment and pump. the PEN Jean Stein Book Award, and the Kingsley Tufts of a thousand dollars. And I left them there to ponder Poetry Award. Leadbelly was a winner of the 2004 And what was in it for Boone? the wonders of blindness National Poetry Series. The Library Journal and Black you might ask … as I walked out the door Issues Book Review both named it one of the “Best Might be the same thing that drives men into the heat of the sun. Poetry Books of 2005.” through mountains at heart attack pace.

Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 3 Protesters Must ‘Defend Their Ability to Exercise Disruptive Power’

By Mie Inouye

Frances Fox Piven is on the faculty of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the author of numerous books, including, with Richard Cloward, Poor People’s Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail. In a mid-May interview, Frances Fox Piven predicted “waves of mass protest” in the United States’ near future. Since then, the country has erupted into an unprecedented multiracial mass movement against police brutality. we experience racism, or other kinds of nationalism, eco- people decry as violence is property destruction, not vio- Mia Inouye: You predicted “waves of mass protest” nomically as well as in the attitudes or slogans or songs or lence against persons. That distinction has to be made. coming off the pandemic and its mishandling by the advertisements of the dominant media. And the other part of what we ignore in the study of Trump administration. Since then, we have seen protests MI: Why do you think that so many white people are movements is that people often have to threaten or ex- in every U.S. state and territory. In your view, what po- making abolitionist demands in the streets right now? ercise violence in order to defend their ability to disrupt litical and economic factors contributed to this uprising? FFP: It’s a combination of moral outrage on behalf of social and economic relations by refusing to do what Frances Fox Piven: Donald Trump had a lot to do with Black and brown Americans with the shock of a leader- they’re supposed to do. it. Trump has been virtually working to create a kind of ship that defies all of the softening norms of American Look at the history of strikes. There would not have legitimation crisis in the United States. He comes in the political culture. Norms that say, “we are all one people,” been any strikes without the threat of collective vio- wake of a series of campaigns to strip away New Deal “we care about one another,” “we would not cut old peo- lence by workers who were trying to defend their abil- concessions to working people in the United States that ple off of Social Security.” But we would! That’s what ity to withdraw their labor by preventing scabs from re- left the system bare, exposed, without the softening and they’re busy trying to do right now! placing them. That’s why every mass strike in American the protections that unions gave people and that the Dem- What happened instead is we had a set of leaders, but history involved physical confrontation at the plant gates, ocratic Party once gave people before it became a Wall especially the President of the United States, defending as workers tried to protect their property right in the job Street party. So, in the wake of an aggressive neoliberal the police and ignoring the appalling brutality of what from these transgressors who were going to replace them. assault on working people, we got a leader who was, in they had done and had been doing. MI: How does that way of narrating historical move- a way, a reflection of de-legitimation because he was so MI: You’ve argued that poor people’s power lies in ments frame our vision of contemporary movements, crude and so vulgar and so aggressive in attacking Black their capacity for disruption, rather than their ability to like the one we’re in now? people and immigrants. But in the end, he also attacked work within “the system.” And this uprising has been FFP: Everybody seems to agree that we have to be non- white working people by ridiculing and dismissing the breathtakingly disruptive. violent. I think that’s a judgment that has to be made for programs that they depended on. each movement action. I do agree that the public that we This is also the only deeply interracial protest I can re- play to doesn’t like violence. But at the same time, the call having ever occurred in the United States. That is so ‘Instead of shrinking from violent capacity of the crowd is an important way of de- important, because racism has been a kind of prop of hold- fending its ability to exercise disruptive power. ing the white working class in the system no matter how either acknowledging or This movement has been very disruptive. Well, its dis- they themselves fare as a result of being in the system. experimenting with the role ruption hasn’t been that of the classical strike. These are MI: In Poor People’s Movements, you and Richard crowd disruptions. These are disruptions of our streets Cloward argued that people needed to gain two beliefs in of violence in movements, we and our cities, disruptions of traffic patterns, disruptions order for a social movement to emerge. First, they needed of commerce. These are important forms of disruption. the belief that the system was unjust. But then they also have to … look at what actually You have to defend your ability to do that kind of action, needed to believe that they could do something about it. and the defense is knitted very closely to the action itself. Were you surprised, though, that it was the mur- has happened in historical It’s the crowd’s capacity for violence that is the defense der of George Floyd by police officers that sparked the movements.’—Frances Fox Piven of its ability to shut the city down. movement?­ Instead of shrinking from either acknowledging or ex- FFP: The triggers or sparks that light up a protest perimenting with the role of violence in movements, we movement are numerous. They’re all over the place, if FFP: For a very long time now, people who are sym- have to be tougher and look at what actually has hap- the underlying conditions are right. There was nothing pathetic with movements from below and who study pened in historical movements. new about this grotesque murder in particular, except movements from below have drawn the line at violence. Look at the difference, for example, between strikes that it was filmed. But that seems to me not enough to There’s been a kind of fetish, almost a sort of religion of that walk out and strikes that occupy factories. Strikes make it so distinctive. nonviolence in movement studies. that occupy factories have much more leverage than It was the coming together of this kind of inciting, outra- There’s a reason for this. Movements are playing to walkout strikes, all other things being equal. (Of course, geous act with the underlying conditions—and underlying a public, because they interact with electoral politics, all other things are never equal.) But the success of the conditions not only of hardship but also of gross incom- which depend on the behavior of mass publics in the vot- sit-down strikes in the 1930s, and the reason for their petence on the part of the government in charge—which ing booth. The public shrinks from violence, especially success, is not quite appreciated. contributed to the sense that people could win something, violence from below. Those workers had control of the plant! Of the equip- that they could make an impact on their society. On top of that, we have these grand movements, like ment! Of the factory! MI: What about the conjunction of what we tend to un- the civil rights movement, that came to be understood MI: Is part of what you’re saying that we need not only derstand as a particular form of racial oppression, po- and celebrated for their nonviolence, even though that’s to be honest about the facts of history, but also to train lice brutality, with the underlying economic and political not a good analysis of the civil rights movement. There to do forms of disruptive direct action that might not be conditions that accompanied the pandemic? was violence both within the movement and allied with part of our current repertoire? FFP: I think that people experience them as very simi- it. The Deacons for Defense, for example, were very im- FFP: We have to figure that out. We have to do it with lar. The poverty of Blacks is a reflection of racism, isn’t it? portant in protecting civil rights protesters. caution. We have to worry about repression. We have to The fact that Black home ownership is so much less wide- There’s always been violence associated with mass worry about the cops beating our heads in. We have to be spread than white home ownership, and that when Blacks movements. And there are two important things to be said careful. We have to be informed. We have to protect our- do own homes, they’re more likely to be foreclosed on about that. One is that a lot of the sort of quasi-­religious selves with bail money and lawyers. But we should not and to lose their homes—that’s a form of racism. I think regrets about violence ignore the fact that most of what continued on next page … 4 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 Move from Prison Culture to Caring Community These edited remarks were given April 24 at the “U.S. continue to fight until he’s out. prison specifically targeting Mumia Abu-Jamal, demon- Empire vs. Political Prisoners” webinar teach-in spon- If anybody knows Mumia, they know that he wouldn’t strates every single day. sored by Mobilization4Mumia and held in honor of the want us here talking about him. Mumia would want us to It’s not just about Mumia, because right now we are in 66th birthday of political prisoner and revolutionary talk about his case, but he’d also want us to put his case a human rights crisis, a crisis of carcerality, a crisis of ­Mumia Abu-Jamal, incarcerated for 39 years. mass incarceration. The U.S. Empire feeds off of mass incarceration. Ever since the slave enterprise, when Af- By Marc Lamont Hill Even as we moved into a postslavery rican people were brought here and enslaved, the United moment, all we did was shift the States has made its money, it has built an empire, it has t’s such an honor to be here tonight, surrounded by expanded its economy off of human captivity. so many brilliant thinkers and courageous activists, means of captivity. Now, instead of Even as we moved into a postslavery moment, all we Ifreedom fighters who have been long distance run- did was shift the means of captivity. Now, instead of put- ners, and political prisoners who have made the ulti- putting people on plantations, we ting people on plantations, we have people in a cage, in mate sacrifice, giving their all, their very bodies to the what we call “correctional” facilities, jails and prisons, ­struggle. have people in a cage. juvenile facilities and such. Tonight what brings us together is the 66th birthday We continue to take all of our contradictions as a na- of our dear brother Mumia Abu-Jamal, one of the great in the context of everybody else’s. tion and put them behind bars, whether it’s mental ill- freedom fighters, one of the greatest truth-tellers that Mumia is being held under the most absurd, violent ness, whether it’s poverty, whether it’s homelessness, we’ve ever seen—and a political prisoner. and ugly circumstances that we’ve seen. Just last week, whether it’s drug addiction—and of course, political dis- Since 1981 we’ve been battling and fighting and strug- people received a phone call saying that he had been sent. Anyone who dares speak out against this empire gling to liberate Mumia. Mumia is such a passionate taken to the hospital with COVID-19, making us think ends up in a cage. That’s why we have Mumia Abu-Jamal voice, such a courageous voice, we need him so desper- that he’d been given a death sentence. That’s the type of in a cage. That’s why we have Sekou Odinga in a cage. ately on the other side of the dungeon. And we’re gonna cruelty and the type of evil the prison industry, and the continued on page 6 … Disruptive Power … continued from previous page fall on this very narrow path of nonviolence. MI: I’ve heard many organizers, myself included, look at these crowds and say things like, “If only all these people belonged to a leftist organization, we could win socialism.” FFP: I want to point to two episodes in the very recent past. One is the wave of teachers’ strikes that spread from West Virginia throughout very conservative parts of the country. Teachers went on strike with a lot of support from their communities and from the parents of the children they taught. They were strategic. They worried whether the children would get lunch if they were on strike. There was a great deal of self-consciousness in this mass action. But what there was not was a lot of union organiza- tion. There were unions there, but they were very frail. They did not include many teachers and they did not call the strikes. But those teachers won! And what happened afterward? The unions that existed took credit for the strikes and claimed them as a great union victory. I am very sympathetic to those teachers’ unions. But move in a kind of dynamic tension with the action that is support of economic interests in finance and in fos- I think we have to be a little bit more hardheaded about unfolding. They don’t build it. sil ­fuels—as the party in command, and I didn’t know what actually happened. There was an uprising that was MI: In your study of the unemployed workers’ move- where the opposition would come from. It didn’t look to smart. Collective action can be smart even without a ment during the Depression you talk about the role Com- me like it was going to come from the Democratic Party, union sometimes, especially if there are predecessors munists played in agitating the masses. although I liked the efforts, small though they might be, like the Chicago Teachers Union, which has been a very FFP: I think there’s something else the Communists to transform that party. strategic and very intelligent union organizer of action. did in the 1930s. They created exemplary actions and Now it’s different. All of a sudden, there are new pos- Or the movement that we’re in right now—who organ­ they put themselves on the outside perimeter of the ac- sibilities! We can’t exactly map them, but we have to ap- ized it? Well, there were a lot of organizations in the tion, where they were more likely to receive the blows of preciate them and widen them. Black Lives Matter movement, and many others. But you the cops. That was a very important part of the teachings MI: Do you mean that deeper changes may be possible could not say that an organization created the movement of the Communist Party USA at the time. They told the now than in the past? or should inherit the movement. comrades that they should always be on the outside to be FFP: Yes. I don’t think that we can do a Green New We have to be very careful, very cautious. If what we the first to receive the blows. Deal or we can conquer the problems of global warm- say we should do now is collect those dues cards, we may MI: You don’t see the disruption and the riots as a re- ing without strong central authority, for example. That be forfeiting the power that we gain through collective flection of disillusionment with electoral politics? requires big changes in all rich countries. action that is more loosely organized. It’s for that reason FFP: No, and I’ve never seen that before. I’ve never MI: So this is a moment that is calling for something that the return of popular protest after Seattle, after the seen the way in which they bolster each other and the like a revolution? Zapatistas, the turn away from conventional forms of or- way that people explicitly talk about the two kinds of FFP: Certainly a revolutionary transformation, yes. ganization, was a good thing, actually. It loosened us up. activism. Something like a revolution. It’s hard to imagine a rev- We have to take advantage of that. I also think we are at a historic juncture where the is- olution in the old style, the French style, in the United MI: But do you see any role for organizers and organi- sue is survival. More and more people, especially young States. But a revolutionary transformation in the United zation during this uprising? people, are beginning to recognize it. Maybe that will States, and in European countries as well. FFP: Maybe. We haven’t developed that role very well, make a difference. I’m not sure. But the prospects of Nobody has been in this situation before. So we have to but maybe we should. Maybe that could be done. I think global warming and the exhaustion of fossil fuels really figure it out if we want to survive. There are no models. there is a role for organizers. I know quite a few people may create historic turning points. We have to hope that This interview was first pulished at jacobinmag.com. who are good organizers. They know how to talk to peo- that’s true. It has been edited for clarity and length. ple, they know how to talk to a crowd, they know how to Three weeks ago, I was feeling very somber about the Mie Inouye is a doctoral candidate in political science keep up the momentum of a protest. political situation in the United States. I saw this party, at Yale University, where she’s writing a dissertation on But what they’re wrong about is the overall role that the Republican Party—that had become a fascist party, theories of political organizing in the 20th-century U.S. they play. They are not the architects of action. They certainly under fascist leadership, with the wholehearted labor and civil rights movements. Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 5 But we not only have the long-term abolition goal, we Abolish Prisons need to exercise abolitionist principles right now because ­COVID-19 has created a human rights crisis that ampli- … continued from page 5 fies the already existing human rights crisis. That’s why we had Herman Bell in a cage. That’s why To live in a U.S. prison right now is to live with a death we continue to have everybody from here and around the sentence. Whether you’re there for three months or six globe caged, when they have the audacity to speak out months, whether you’ve gotten a life sentence, you are against the empire. on death row right now if you’re in a U.S. prison. The We call for the release of all political prisoners right type of social distancing that the best medical experts— now because it is the right thing to do. But we also make not the President, but the best medical experts—suggest a bolder call, a more radical call, and that is the abolition can’t be exercised in prison. The type of protection that of prison itself. you want to be able to engage in, you can’t in prison. So anybody who’s incarcerated right now doesn’t even Moving Outside the ‘Logic’ of Prison things, that means we have to dismantle laws that crimi- have the means to defend themselves. What they’re get- nalize. We have to decriminalize, get rid of this logic of ting is cruel and unusual punishment. In areas of the We must move into a moment that no longer uses the criminalization. We must think about restraint of the few; world right now, infection rates were 1 and 2 out of prison as the resolution to our social contradictions. The we must think about how we can protect society from 1,000. Then you go into Rikers Island in New York City, prison must no longer be a resolution to harm that is harm that is done, but outside the logic of the prison. and you got 54 out of 1,000. done. The prison must no longer be the resolution to all And we must build a caring community. We must de- Can you imagine being anywhere in the world with 54 out of our challenges in society. velop the resources and the infrastructure; we must find of 1,000 people as the infection rate, and not see that as a hu- We must call for the end of prison construction right ways to protect those who are vulnerable. We must find man rights crisis? Unless it’s poor people, unless it’s Black now. We must call for decarceration. That means we must ways to invest in those who have not been invested in. people, unless it’s Brown people. Free all political prisoners! begin to let people out of prison immediately. We must We must find ways to provide food, clothing. and shelter Marc Lamont Hill is an author, activist, and televi- call for ex-carceration. That means we have to stop put- for every single person. sion personality. He is a professor of media studies and ting people in prison. That means we have to legalize That’s what this is about—what abolition is about. urban education at Temple University in Philadelphia. Mumia Abu-Jamal Speaks Out from Prison Mumia Abu‐Jamal is a former Black Panther, an award-winning journalist and author of nine books, most recently Murder Inc.. In 1982, in a trial that Am- nesty International says “ failed to meet international standards,” he was convicted of killing Philadelphia po- lice officer William Faulkner and sentenced to death. That sentence was overturned by a district court and he is now serving a life sentence in the Pennsylvania State Prison System. He has written and broadcast more than 2,500 essays from prison. Below are two of his recent commentaries; more can be found at prisonradio.org

The Perils of Reform or years, indeed for decades, we have seen the mi- rage of reform being presented by neo­liberal lead- Fers and their media tools only to awake too late to ghoulish nightmares of shattered promises and hopes be- trayed. So reform is betrayal. A devil’s bargain of better days to come. That only brings worse days. Today, the nation shocked by the savagery of George Floyd’s curbside execution for all the world to see. Just five years ago, politicians claim- fin for it meant nothing when it came to changing cop This movement, this mass, multi-racial not to mention ing themselves progressive, sold illusions of police body behavior. Today’s reformers in Congress promise much, multi-gender and many-aged movement, is led by people cameras as some kind of solution. But George Floyd, not but they can and will deliver little but new illusions. Re- who occupied the lowest rungs of America’s ladder of race to mention, Rayshard Brooks, put the nail in that cof- forms are but reformulations of old promises, of old wine and class. Black women, mostly very young black women. in new bottles, of things to come that never make it. For They have seized the hour and brought forth people from that is the nature of capitalist society. New items to sell almost every segment of society. won’t you celebrate that ended up producing new problems. They are the nucleus of the Black Lives Matter Move- New days need new ways of thinking. They need cre- ment, and they are ringing the bells in the night, warn- with me ativity. They need deep change. That truly transforms. ing America, and the world, that the American house Not discussions, but relationships. And who will dare is on fire. They are, to quote the iconic scholar-activist By Lucille Clifton (1936–2010) say that this miserable present is awash in outright op- up there, Angela Davis, “smarter and better than their won’t you celebrate with me pression, not the lie of service, but truly repression, sup- elders of the sixties.” They are students of history, and what i have shaped into pression, and oppression. New oppressive systems can they’ve proven that they are masters of organizing. a kind of life? i had no model. only bring more of the same. The issue of state terror against Black and poor com- born in babylon To quote Dr. Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black munities has been thrown on the table. And few, if any, both nonwhite and woman Panther Party, “We want freedom, not another reform.” politicians have a meaningful response. Marks and Engels what did i see to be except myself? From Imprisoned Nation, this is Mumia Abu-­Jamal. argued that the state is but the executive committee of the i made it up rulers and voilá, they have no real answer to this problem here on this bridge between The Other Women’s Movement that has lasted for generations. So ideas are coming from starshine and clay, the movement and fought by politicians. Politicians who my one hand holding tight n the frenzied aftermath of the police asphyxiation of allegedly represent the will of the people and the media, my other hand; come celebrate George Floyd, we have seen the emergence of a re- or, should I say, the corporate media. We’re in the midst of with me that everyday Imarkable and sustained movement against racism and a movement, kind of like chilling in the eye of a hurricane something has tried to kill me the state terror of police. As I watch it in wonder and re- and everything is being shaken, if not removed. and has failed. ally awe, it occurred to me that the organizers of this new What a day. What an hour. From Imprisoned Nation, movement are women. this is Mumia Abu-­Jamal. 6 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 Mass Mobilization Key to Military Siding with Democracy

By Jeff Paterson

ecently, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden grabbed national headlines by sharing that Rhis greatest fear is that President Trump will “try to steal this election.” Looking at Trump’s own comments, it’s a legitimate fear. Trump has on many occasions shown open admira- tion for rulers of countries known for suppressing politi- cal opposition and violating international human rights Photo: U.S. Army/Charles E. Spirtos in their quest to maintain power, including Vladimir Pu- tin of Russia, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, and Tayyip to President Trump during the June 1 event. Ex-­Defense Guard members who refused to deploy against peace- Erdogan of Turkey. Secretary and retired United States Marine Corps gen- ful protesters. Supporting these brave service men and This raises the question: If Trump tries to interfere eral James Mattis condemned Trump’s actions and pub- women is one way to send a message that can embolden with a fair election or refuses to leave office if he loses, licly voiced support for the goals of the Black Lives Mat- more to take a moral stand in the future. what will citizens like you and I do? ter protests. And four-star General Robert Abrams held a Additionally, civilians and veterans have an important These past few months, the Black Lives Matter pro- town hall with Black service members calling for action role to prepare for. We need to be ready for a “people’s tests have been a powerful testimony to the impact of to address racism in the military’s own ranks. eviction” if necessary. The military is much more likely collective action. Hundreds of thousands of people have An increasing number of National Guard members to “do the right thing” with tens of thousands surround- filled the streets in cities across the United States in re- and other U.S. soldiers on the frontlines are expressing ing the White House and every county courthouse or sponse to the murder of George Floyd to draw attention political objections to Trump’s anti-democratic actions city hall in America. to systematic racism and call for reforms. In response to as well. If Trump tries to order the military to further degrade the public pressure, the House has proposed a sweeping One National Guard member, who enlisted with hopes our democracy, massive nonviolent mobilizations are our police reform bill. to help provide medical services in natural disasters, told best chance to create pressure for service members to stand Trump, on the other hand, has threatened to use the Truthout, “I can’t do it. Even looking at my uniform is down, and side with the people and the Constitution instead. military to suppress domestic protests and citizens’ free- making me feel sick that I’m associated with this, espe- Jeff Paterson is an Oakland, Calif.-based peace and dom of speech. On June 1, President Trump ordered mili- cially after [the National Guard unit] shot that man who justice organizer, and the director of Courage to Resist, tary and police to clear peaceful protesters from the front owned that barbecue shop [in Louisville, Kentucky].” an organization dedicated to supporting U.S. military of the White House to make way for a photo op. They Another stated, “I feel that I cannot be complicit in any war objectors. In 1990, Marine artillery controller Cpl. did so using dangerous rubber bullets, noxious gas, and way when I’ve seen so many examples of soldiers and Paterson publicly refused Gulf War deployment. flash-bangs. According to The New York Times, Trump police acting in bad faith,” and expressed concern that “we have not had any training or conversation relating to de-escalation tactics.” “I can’t do it. Even looking at Yet another told Politico that “a lot of us are still strug- ‘Necessary Trouble’ gling to process this, but in a lot of ways, I believe I saw my uniform is making me feel civil rights being violated in order for a photo op. What I … continued from page 2 just saw goes against my oath.” came known as the Fort Hood Three. They spoke out, sick that I’m associated with this, The military oath of office says, “I, [NAME], do sol- stuck to their principles and inspired a movement. They especially after [the National emnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend were court-martialed and spent over two years in prison the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, for following their consciences. Guard unit] shot that man …” foreign and domestic.” Articles by retired Chief of Staff As a national consciousness awakens to the undeni- at Special Operations Command, Central, Andrew Mil- able racist police violence, corporate mainstream news burn on the U.S. Army’s own website and elsewhere as- and liberal politicians take a knee and promote peace also wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act to override sert, “Any member of the military has a commonly un- based on reform. Primarily sold to the public as a so- objections of U.S. governors in deploying active-duty derstood obligation to disobey an illegal order” and “As lution to racism and police violence, they want to see troops to other states. Trump has been a consistent advo- officers, our oath is to the Constitution rather than to any less disruptive, more peaceful protests and then modest cate for expanding the use of military on U.S. soil, hav- individual or administration.” reforms to return to a slightly better normalcy. But as ing already set a dangerous precedent by using the mil- However, we know that in practice, soldiers disobey- Mumia Abu-Jamal warns us on page 2, “For years, in- itary for civil law enforcement at the southern border. ing orders for conscientious reasons often face punish- deed for decades, we have seen the mirage of reform be- Who’s to say he might not try a similar tactic to under- ment after court-martial unless they have strong political ing presented by neoliberal leaders and their media tools mine our democracy around the election? support on their side. Research shows military personnel only to awake too late to ghoulish nightmares of shat- As citizens, I’m afraid we can’t afford to just sit by and can play an important role in helping stop authoritarian- tered promises and hopes betrayed. Reform is betrayal. see what happens next. The string of lies and corruption ism, such as in Tunisia, Egypt, and Myanmar (Burma), A devil’s bargain of better days to come.” that have been a hallmark of this presidency reveal what but in each case public pressure played a crucial role in It is the editors’ hope and intent that this 24-page paper is at risk. Biden has said that if Trump hesitates to leave convincing members of the military to break ranks. encourages much more than “reform.” We want to see office after losing the vote, he believes the military would While the United States may not be in as dire of a po- racist capitalism and the militarized police violence that escort him out. However, while members of the military litical crisis yet, it’s not out of the question that we could protects and defends it abolished. Four hundred years of refusing illegal orders in order to side with democracy find ourselves there soon. We have an administration genocidal crime, slavery, almost constant wars for profit will be critical to any resistance movement, I believe the that has succeeded in desensitizing much of the public to and the oppression of working people is enough. We be- actions of regular citizens will play a crucial role in en- regular violations of previously valued norms and civil lieve in a humane and environmentally sustainable so- couraging members of the military to do the right thing. rights. History in countries around the world, from Nazi cialist alternative. We want this paper to stand the test We have seen already how this can work in the case of Germany to the Congo, tells us that given the right cir- of time and hope that what is included here will still be the Black Lives Matter protests. Following massive public cumstances, the slide from democracy to dictatorship relevant in a year or many years. outcry, prominent military personnel have been objecting can be quick and unexpected. In the meantime, lets “get in the way and get in good publicly to Trump’s use of the military to attack peace- This makes the actions of vigilant citizens and activ- trouble, necessary trouble.” A lot depends on that. ful protesters. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen- ists that much more important. Courage to Resist has al- —Tarak Kauff eral Mark Milley apologized for appearing publicly next ready been raising funds for the legal defense of National Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 7 comes the front edge of a new era, one in which America finally falls off its horse, The Failed American Experiment its global standing properly diminished. Let it be, let it be, given how consistently Washington has abused the privilege that fell to it after the 1945 victories. Europeans have for years nursed their resentment of America’s overweening as- sertions of power even as they have man- aged to contain it. Now Jack springs out of his box. When Angela Merkel announced in May that she won’t attend this year’s Group of 7 summit in the United States, the Ger- man chancellor’s now-overt contempt for the Trump administration can be taken to reflect the Continent’s. Even French Presi- dent Emmanuel Macron, who has made a determined effort to accommodate Presi- dent Donald Trump since taking office three years ago, seems to have given up. This appears to be a river crossing from which there can be no turning back. One has waited decades for the Europeans to find their own place in global affairs, -al lied with the United States, but not be- holden to its every wish. This is at last the anticipated moment, in my read. Not even a president more palatable across the Atlantic than Trump is likely to reverse Burning building in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020, during protests around the murder of George Floyd. these emerging facts on the ground. Photo: Hungryogrephotos, CC0, Wikimedia Commons In May, I noted indications that the Chi- nese have determined to find their future By Patrick Lawrence they openly defy Washington’s hope- long claim to moral authority—“City on in the non-West, having given up on con- lessly miscalculated campaign to “con- a Hill,” beacon of the world, and all the structing mutually accommodating rela- he American experiment” is a tain” them. other fanciful rubbish—the stunningly tions with the United States. Its indiffer- familiar phrase among us. When These are excellent developments. Who swift collapse of this authority is of fun- ence to American censure over planned “Twe reference it, we do so fully would have guessed that our tragic failures damental consequence. Does anyone security laws in Hong Kong was a blunt confident that it has proven out: America at home would precipitate our worthy-of- think our decadent leadership is capable signal of this. is an enduring success. But experiments, applause failures abroad? At this point, it of reconstituting this presumption? Out of by definition, are just as liable to fail as to is to be noted, the two are inseparable. the question, given that our national pose ‘Cheap Grace’ succeed. Is it our fate to join the sad list of America’s unique brand of “free-mar- was bogus from the first. This is what failed or failing states? ket,” profit-über-alles capitalism has makes ours a turning point. Our corporate captains are treating us That is Cornell West’s take on our per- to a festival of “cheap grace,” meaning fect storm of calamities. “I think we are compassion without cost, with no skin in witnessing America as a failed social ex- Race is the immediate issue; behind it we the game. periment,” the Harvard philosopher said Jamie Dimon, the chief exec at JPMor- in a remarkable appearance on CNN’s An- find the failures of our radical neoliberalism— gan Chase, had himself photographed the derson Cooper 3600 program in May. It other day kneeling before a bank vault— says something about the gravity of what poverty, inequality, malnutrition, unlivable wages ”taking a knee” in supposed solidarity is going on around us that Cooper invited with those of us on the streets these past the plain-speaking West on the air and next to vulgar accumulations of wealth, poor 10 days. You’ve now got Goldman Sachs that his employer consented. Cooper and schools, collapsing infrastructure, mass pledging $10 million “to help address ra- CNN profess America’s righteous success cial and economic injustice,” while Intel with unflagging loyalty to the orthodoxy. deprivation of medical care. promises $1 million and Nike adjusts its Whether or not our troubled republic is signature slogan to suit the zeitgeist. failing in a way that will land us in the In a stunning display of nitwittery, The history books—and in my view it is— proven abjectly unprepared to manage a Let us ask ourselves: Have the Danes New York Times’ Tom Friedman published there is one feature of this spring’s back- mass public health crisis. The demonstra- or the Italians or the French or the South a column last week nominating “America’s to-back disasters that is to be affirmed. tions we are either part of or watch daily Koreans or the Chinese or, or, or swooned principled business leaders … to come to- Let us now praise the precipitous decline on our streets go to the same point; so do into mass unemployment while failing to gether to lead a healing discussion.” in American power and global primacy the violent responses of local police de- deliver benefits to many millions who de- The best take on this drift in the na- as hastened by the COVID–19 pandemic partments—and now the creeping threat serve them? Have they deprived as many tional discourse arrived over the weekend and now the crisis playing out on Ameri- of de facto martial law. of health care when it is urgently needed? on Twitter from Hamilton Nolan, a labor can streets. Race is the immediate issue; behind it Have they incurred unmanageable tril- reporter for In These Times and the Wash- The failure of empire is a dead certainty. we find the failures of our radical neo- lions in public debt? Have they given bil- ington Post’s public editor: There is no reversing this, however long liberalism—poverty, inequality, malnu- lions of dollars to corporations in no need If all the companies saying “Black and messy the collapse will prove, and long trition, unlivable wages next to vulgar of assistance? Do their corporations in- Lives Matter” would stop making it im- and messy are about it. Imperial decline is accumulations of wealth, poor schools, dulge in embarrassingly raw displays of possible for their workers to unionize it to be celebrated without reservation. collapsing infrastructure, mass depriva- greed? Are they about to begin a nation- would cause a transfer of wealth to black This waning of American authority is tion of medical care. wide wave of evictions among those who and brown working people a thousand now starkly evident across both oceans. The world is watching closely now. cannot make the rent? times greater than any charity donation The Europeans, setting aside the syco- Others have not been propagandized such Do any of these nations now face na- and that is exactly why they won’t do it. phantic British, have been restive within that they do not see what lies in plain tionwide protests over discrimination, of- Originally published by Consortium the American embrace for decades. At sight. They no longer confuse might with ficial violence, or the grinding depriva- News. last they appear set to go their own way. right: It is self-evident now that our nation tions underlying our national discontent? Patrick Lawrence is a longtime colum- The Chinese were never going to cave is powerful but at the same time weak. This hardly bears asking. nist, essayist, critic, and lecturer. He is a to U.S. intimidation and threats. Now Given the bedrock importance of our Here comes the price of all this. Here contributing writer at The Natiton. 8 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 Corporations Clamber on the Black Lives Bandwagon But real support for Black lives means paying a living wage and not busting unions

By Toni Gilpin

ever underestimate the American business commu- nity’s capacity for hypocrisy. N That’s one of the lessons to be drawn from the explosive reaction to George Floyd’s murder. As dem- onstrators flooded the streets, corporate PR departments flew into rapid response, issuing a flurry of agonized, apologetic pledges to do more to combat racism and ­inequality. Such statements may be personally sincere: the depth of righteous pain and anger expressed by African Amer- icans has induced widespread soul-searching, even in executive suites. Yet this high-profile handwringing is used to separate the outpouring of outrage from capital- ist practices now and always at the root of racial and eco- nomic injustice. Sept. 4, 2015: Hundreds fill the streets of downtown Los Angeles and essentially shut down traffic while practicing civil As they nimbly co-opted the language of the protests, disobedience. Workers from the LA Fight for $15 campaign were eventually arrested and detained. corporate leaders offered up “solutions” to structural rac- ism that won’t diminish managerial control or redistrib- able wages. Benefits, when offered at all, are paltry (the low-wage workers. The focus is the dearth of African ute power in the workplace. Their proposals won’t pro- lack of paid sick leave has become especially visible in Americans in top management. mote actual structural change of any sort. With a few COVID times). Schedules are unpredictable and job se- And in a stunning act of appropriation, the New York well-publicized contributions and new rounds of diver- curity tenuous. Working conditions are onerous. Stock Exchange observed a moment of silence to honor sity training, business elites hope to emerge from the How much do Black lives matter to America’s leading George Floyd. This took place just as the stock market present crisis with their privilege and their profits intact. corporations? Not enough to put any real money on the roared back to full recovery, alleviating the real anxieties “Tragic, painful and unacceptable,” Walmart CEO table. of the 1%, an irony that drew little notice. Doug McMillon described George Floyd’s death. “The Will corporate executives get away with purporting inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our They Want a ‘Dialog,’ Not a Union to be troubled by the structural racism and economic country must stop,” an Amazon tweet proclaimed. “We inequality that they perpetuate and benefit from? It’s do not tolerate inequity, injustice or racism,” McDonald’s Also not to be taken seriously is the desire for “dialog” through this sort of misdirection, and by narrowing the announced, with CEO Joe Erlinger insisting, “when any these big business titans claim. There is one meaningful “legitimate” terms of debate, that capitalists, as the early member of our McFamily hurts, we all hurt.” way to ensure that workers will truly be heard: through a labor historian Selig Perlman once noted, “convince union. Unions democratize workplaces, giving employ- other classes that they alone, the capitalists, know how Chump Change ees the collective voice necessary to put them on a more equal footing with management, to ensure their concerns To address this “hurt,” McDonald’s announced it will are heeded. donate $1 million to the NAACP and the National Ur- For people of color, unions are especially valuable. … this high-profile ban League and promised “tangible goals related to di- While unions are financially advantageous for all work- handwringing is used to separate versity.” Many corporations made similar commitments. ers, “the gains from union membership in terms of pay, Amazon said it will give $10 million to “organizations benefits, and stability are more pronounced among non- the outpouring of outrage from supporting justice and equity,” and Walmart pledged white families than among white families,” one recent $100 million over five years to create “a new center on study notes. African Americans who are unionized make capitalist practices now and racial equity” aimed at promoting “economic opportu- more money and are more likely to have benefits like always at the root of racial and nity and healthier living.” health care and employer-supported retirement plans, Such contributions are chump change. For Walmart, translating to greater savings and home ownership lev- economic injustice. $100 million over the next five years represents less than els. Union membership, in other words, is critical to nar- 1/250 of one percent of the nearly $3 trillion in income it rowing the racial wealth gap. expects during that period. Unions clearly empower African Americans—yet to operate the complex economic apparatus of modern And American CEOs are wealthy almost beyond imag- Walmart, Amazon, and McDonald’s are unabashed society.” ination: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, union-busters. To crush organizing efforts (very often After George Floyd’s death, Black Lives Matter activ- is worth $150 billion, a figure so much larger than the led by people of color), these companies invest far more ists and their allies refused to allow business as usual, average median household income of $63,000 it requires in lawyers, consulting firms, and employee surveillance and through massive protests and direct action achieved special graphics just to illustrate it. than they’ll ever dish out to promote “diversity.” the extraordinary: exposing to the world the brutality If these companies really want to address inequal- For Bezos, Erlinger, McMillon, and the other CEOs and racism that define American policing. For the mo- ity and improve opportunities for African Americans, who follow their lead, genuine “justice and equity” for ment, though, it seems that CEOs are maintaining their there’s a fix readily at hand: they could simply give more their workers would come at too high a cost: unions authority over the “complex economic apparatus of mod- money to their own employees, a substantial percentage would require them to relinquish the total control they ern society.” of whom are Black and largely concentrated in low-wage now exert. Union supporters must stand up and assert their own occupations. African Americans earn less than white This form of hypocrisy isn’t scrutinized by main- power, to ensure that the practitioners of economic op- workers in this country do, and the jobs they hold are stream media, which are, after all, corporate enterprises. pression are called to account—and forced to make more unstable and less likely to offer benefits, all crucial Much recent coverage of business initiatives to address ­concessions. factors that contribute to our persistent racial wealth gap. inequity has omitted issues like fairer compensation or Originally published by Labor Notes Walmart has a U.S. workforce of one and a half mil- union representation. A lengthy New York Times article: Toni Gilpin is a labor historian, activist, and writer. lion. Nearly half of Walmart workers are people of color. “Corporate America Has Failed Black America,” doesn’t She is the recipient of the 2018 Debra Bernhardt Award Yet Walmart, Amazon, and McDonald’s don’t pay liv- mention unions at all and allots only a few sentences to for Labor Journalism. Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 9 Black Lives Matter: The Best Thing to The Hoodie Happen to Palestinians in a Long Time Stands Witness By Nora Lester Murad I live, the police chief has resigned, pos- state of Israel are met merely with muted for Trayvon Martin sibly influenced by pressure for systemic criticism. And Israel’s historic decision to By Lauren K. Alleyne t her last class on her last day of change from our local Defund Newton illegally expand its territory becomes a 11th grade in Newton, Mass., my Police Department group. Changes like casual aside in a conversation among U.S. I was built for bodies APalestinian-American daughter re- support for Black businesses, the removal teenagers. like his, between boy and man, ceived a shock. Just before the Zoom call of statues glorifying Confederate racists, I argue that Black Lives Matter may be sauntering in angles he couldn’t hold ended, one student mentioned he’d be tak- and improvements to school curricula are the best thing that’s happened to Palestin- but swung his limbs from, careful ing a gap year in Israel after graduation. real. Embedded in these changes is a dis- ians in a very long time. Because BLM cool in every step. Another student smirked, ‘I hear there’s lodging of normalized inequality and the targets the power structure of the United a lot of land opening up over there.” The mainstreaming of ideas previously consid- States—the very heart of global capital- I can tell you the story of him, screen quickly went blank, and my daugh- ered radical—like social transformation. ism—the movement for Black lives is po- unexceptional— ter burst into angry tears. More and more white people seem to sitioned to make real changes in the co- he put change and candy I realize that many people reading this “get” that inequality isn’t accidental, but lonial, neocolonial, militaristic, capitalist into my pockets, the necessary article won’t understand why. The fact rather the natural outcome of a system that and racist DNA of the United States that jangle of keys and cellphone that Israel may annex an additional 30% has institutionalized white supremacy. is wreaking havoc around the world. hushed in the sock of me. of the Palestinian West Bank is not widely I watched him from the soft pile known or understood. In the United he made of me on the floor States and elsewhere, the discourse about of his messy adolescent room Palestinian rights has been distorted and where I lay beside his sneakers silenced, by fear of being called anti-­ and backpack. Semitic, by U.S. foreign policy interests, He did his homework by Christian Zionism, and by Islamopho- with chat windows open; bia. Perhaps worst is the common mis- white headphones hooked belief that Israelis and Palestinians con- him into some steady beat. stitute “two equal sides” and that being “neutral” does no harm. That day, he was thinking As a white anti-Zionist Jew from the of nothing in particular. United States who married a Palestin- He was quiet in his skin; ian Muslim and lived in Palestine for tucked into the shade of me, 13 years, I see things differently. I see a he was an easy embrace “side” that wants equality and peace for until an old ancestral fear everyone, and a “side” that believes that lay its white shadow Israel should be a state for Jews main- across us like an omen. tained by institutional racism and mili- tary control over non-Jews. I can tell you his many hairs raised in warning beneath me; The United States has long supported his armpits funked me up Israel with money and political support- with terror. His saunter slipped that gives cover to Israel’s land grabbing. into a child’s unsteady totter As a result, Israel, despite its ideology This is a new chapter for Black Ameri- I am hoping that the newfound popular- under the weight of a history of Jewish supremacy, has been “normal- cans, one that will surely see both great ity of Black struggles will lead white U.S. staggering behind him ized.” It is common for people I know to gains and violent pushback. It also appears people to listen more, act more, and make mad with its own power. take family trips to Israel to celebrate a to be a new chapter for white people. More reparations. I also hope they will consider Bat Mitzvah or just to hang out on the and more white people seem to “get” that BLM’s internationalist analysis and real- He clung to me then, wholly beach in Tel Aviv. Despite being liberals, inequality isn’t accidental, but rather the ize that the U.S. original sins of genocide unmanned, a baby clutching they are willing to ignore Israel’s ongoing natural outcome of a system that has insti- and slavery are being recreated against his blankey. He pulled me close human rights violations against Palestin- tutionalized white supremacy. peoples of the Global South right now— and I stroked his head, caressed ians. This explains why my daughter and As for Palestinian rights, while there with U.S. funding and political support. the napps he had brushed to waves so many other Palestinians feel invisible, have been gains in recent years in U.S. I am hoping that white people, including that morning. I felt him brace dehumanized, and unsupported—even in discourse, including by progressive Jew- white people who identify as Jewish, will his bones beneath me, his heart self-proclaimed “liberal” spaces. ish groups, and while Black-Palestinian be able to expand their commitment to ra- a thousand beating drums. But there may soon be a historic devel- solidarity remains a strong pillar of both cial equality to include their engagement opment in the Palestinian struggle. liberation movements, white people in the with the Palestinian struggle, for the sake The bullet ripped through us It is August 2020 and we’re in the midst United States are far from understanding of my daughter and all our daughters and like a bolt of metal lightning. of arguably the most important escala- Israel’s institutionalized racism against sons. His blood, losing its purpose, tion of the movement for racial justice Palestinians, this despite strong parallels Racism (like all the other “isms”) is a ran into me and I wished we were truly a single body, in U.S. history. The movement for Black with the United States. global industry in the service of profit, that I could have held lives calls not merely for Black liberation, White colonists took North America and therefore, struggles against racism its rush and flow like a second, but for sustainable transformation of our by committing genocide against Indig- must be simultaneously local, national, sweaty skin. I can tell you communities. The movement is Black- enous peoples; Israel’s colonization proj- and transnational. Today’s Black libera- how his spirit slipped out— led, intersectional, multiracial and has ect is ongoing. Palestinian demands for tion movement will help challenge the like steam from cooling water mobilized people all over the world. On self-determination remain a threat—not root causes of inequality in the United —slowly, fading by degrees, the local, state, and national levels, actors to Jews as people, but to the position Jews States, in Palestine, and around the world. until he stilled. as diverse as corporations, schools, and hold at the top of a highly racialized hi- Nora Lester Murad, PhD, is a mother, even restaurants are making public state- erarchy in Israel. That explains, I think, writer, and social justice activist living Lauren K. Alleyne is the author of ments against institutional racism, a topic the continued portrayal of all Palestinians in Massachusetts. She is co-author of two collections of poetry, Difficult that was taboo in mainstream media just as terrorists and Israeli violence against Rest in My Shade, A Poem about Roots Fruit and Honeyfish. She is asistant months ago. Palestinians being justified by “security” and I Found Myself in Palestine: Stories director of the Furious Flower And the protests are making a differ- concerns. of Love and Renewal From Around the Poetry Center and an associate ence. Not only is there pressure for na- So, while the image of unarmed Black World. She blogs at noralestermurad. professor of English at James tional police reform legislation, there are men being murdered by U.S. police (fi- com and can be reached on Twitter at Madison University. surprising and visible changes happening nally!) sparks outrage, the persistent mur- ­­­@­NoraInPalestine. in local communities. In the city where ders of Palestinians by the U.S.-funded 10 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 The View from Europe Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan for the United States; it challenges Europeans to question our history and transform our present By Bue Rübner Hansen United States of America. Over the last years, a number of Euro- Black Lives Matter demonstrations pean countries have seen uprisings led across European capitals have been huge. by Black and brown people, such as the Predictably, pundits and politicians won- 2005 Banlieue Riots in France, the 2011 der why protests against police brutality England Riots and the 2016 riots in Swe- and murder in the United States would at- den. Back in 2013–14, people organized Mural in Naples, Italy. Photo: Alessandro Pone tract such masses in Berlin and Vienna,­ Black Lives Matter groups in many Eu- London and Copenhagen. Why do so ropean cities, and long before that, people rations,” which together had “become all “sacrifice zones,” where Black and Indig- many people in Europe care so much campaigned to demand justice for Black but universal in the greatest centers of enous people live. Climate refugees are about the fate of Black people across the and brown people murdered by police and modern culture.” Today, even if few con- abandoned to the sea or pushed back into Atlantic? against the EU and European countries’ tinue to believe in explicit race science, the arms of warlords. Europe continues to In some ways, this question mirrors trade, foreign and border policies, as well our institutions are still full of such con- consume and waste in ways incompatible the media complaint, in the early days of as against the exploitation and discrimi- tempt. Border regimes and policing, mass with halting the climate emergency. All the U.S. protests, that riots and protests nation of migrant workers. media, and school systems still act as if this suggests that many implicitly believe were instigated by “outside agitators.” Black and brown lives matter less, little, that European and euro-descended peo- But soon, protests spread so widely there A Global Color Line or not at all. ple—white people—deserve safer and was no longer a credible “outside” in the Statues to mass murderers of Black cleaner environments, more security, and United States. In Europe, the charge is the The murder and devaluation of Black people—like that of the slave trader higher, even unsustainable levels of con- reverse: not agitators from somewhere and brown lives is the living history of Colston, which was joyfully dumped in sumption than others. else, but agitation about somewhere else. centuries of colonialism, enslavement Bristol harbor from which his ships set Much would be different if European In his 1963 “Letter From Birmingham and imperialism—the common history out, or of genocidaire supreme King Leo- institutions took the worth of Black and Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. forcefully of what is known as “the West,” or “the pold II in Antwerp, which was set on fire brown lives as axiomatic. European bor- rejected the idea that only local folks Global North.” In the first half of the by protesters before being taken down by der management, which is currently de- could legitimately fight for justice in their 20th century, the Black American scholar the authorities—show that official Eu- signed to let thousands drown in the Med- towns: W.E.B. Du Bois spoke of a global color rope has failed to question its legacy of iterranean or suffer in EU-funded camps “ … I am cognizant of the interrelated­ line, which expressed and served to jus- white supremacy. Germany, a partial ex- in North Africa or Turkey would be the ness of all communities and states. I cannot tify the pillage of the colonies and divided ception, was destroyed and shamed for its first to fall. EU trade and foreign policy sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned workers in different countries just as the attempt to colonize Europe, its Nazi mon- would change profoundly, away from its about what happens in ­Birmingham. In- local color line worked to prevent class uments torn down long ago (curiously, support of extractive industries and in- justice anywhere is a threat to justice ev- solidarity within nations. people seem to remember that history tellectual property rights that block poor erywhere. We are caught in an inescap- For Martin Luther King Jr., justice was despite the absence of monuments), but countries’ access to essential medicines able network of mutuality, tied in a single always a strategic, and not merely a moral German schools still do not teach chil- and technologies, as well as EU coun- garment of destiny. Whatever affects one question, which could only be answered dren about the colonial crimes in Namibia tries’ involvement in wars and occupa- directly, affects all indirectly. Never again through the solidarity between those who and East Africa, let alone about its present tions in Africa and the Middle East. can we afford to live with the narrow, pro- are affected directly and indirectly act- ­neocolonialism. In short, the devaluation of Black, vincial ‘outside agitator’ idea.” ing together in solidarity. For Du Bois, A reconsideration of European history brown, and migrant lives continues to Just like King’s remarks on injustice, the color line was the “problem of prob- is overdue, and the assault on European be a problem that blocks the solution to and the old IWW slogan it resonates lems,” standing in the way of solidarity monuments to mass killers has already other problems. It stops us from recogniz- with—“an injury to one is an injury to between colonized people and workers started this process. However, the deep- ing that, in the words of Dr. King, “we all” — the affirmation that Black lives everywhere. est and most urgent challenge of the cur- are caught in an inescapable network of matter knows no geographical bounds. Its In Du Bois’ time, the color line was ra- rent movement concerns the present and mutuality, tied in a single garment of des- solidarity and struggle cannot be limited tionalized; “a theory of the inferiority of future. tiny.” A firm rejection of the color line is to any geographic region: neither Minne- the darker peoples” that was expressed a condition for dealing with global warm- apolis, Ferguson, and Baltimore, nor the as “a contempt for their rights and aspi- An Inescapable Network ing, ecological breakdown, imperial- of Mutuality ist war, poverty and inequality, and the global structure of capitalist competition Even less recognized than the crimes of that is a key driver of them all. colonialism is the current wealth of Eu- Black Lives Matter is not a purely ropean and euro-descended corporations American slogan or a simple fact. It is and states, as well as the climate and eco- a universal and generative truth, from logical disasters we face, are rooted in the which great implications flow. It is up competitive process by which those cor- to all of us to explore these implications porations and states grabbed land and ex- from where we are: complicit with, or tracted wealth. In the process of accumu- submitted to the color line, directly or in- lation, they transformed the relationship directly affected by its violence and cor- of humans to the land across the globe, rosion of solidarity. destroying Indigenous modes of life. Bue Rübner Hansen has a PhD from This treatment of the earth as private Queen Mary University, London. He is property, as a passive repository of re- an editor of Viewpoint Magazine, and sources and depository of waste, brought has been an activist researcher in stu- us onto the path of accelerated ecological dent, municipalist, and migrant solidarity and climate destruction. All this contin- movements. His current research focuses ues to this day. on social reproduction, ecology and in- Environmental degradation, waste and terest formation. Mural in Glasgow, Scotland. Photo: Jeff Mitchell. pollution is pushed to local and global Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 11 On the Front Lines in Portland A veteran’s-eye view of the protests Photos and story by Mike Hastie t has been more than two ties in Viet Nam, this current sit- months straight of nightly uation would get much darker. Idemonstrations and ear-shat- Since George Floyd was mur- tering protests in Portland, Ore. dered on May 25. there’s been A continuous drum corps is tear gas, flash-bang grenades, beating hypnotic rhythms that looting, statues coming down, give thousands of Portlanders a and the cops coming at us. With reason to be alive. two Nikon cameras, I take pic- The energy is electrifying, tures as fast as I can. as people take turns chanting The most significant thing that their built-up frustrations about was not happening in the past what they see as utter failure in is the overwhelming solidar- the U.S. government. They are ity of white people supporting extremely angry at President Black Americans. Young white Trump for sending in federal Americans, and older ones, police to make matters much men and women, are follow- worse. It is pepper spray, rubber ing the leadership of African- bullets, and cops hitting protest- Americans. The respect is ev- ers with their batons. erywhere. Black Americans are The chant, “All Cops Are Bas- feeling safer in their ability to tards,” has become much louder trust white Americans. At these since the feds started kidnapping rallies and marches, I do not I have been out on the streets aging or destroying federal prop- On one night, the cops chased protesters off the street in un- sense any separation between every night for days. I’m tired. It erty. There is graffiti everywhere. us a couple of blocks. They then marked vans, without identify- the races. Black Americans are has been exhausting, the intense But let's get real here. While started firing projectiles at us ing themselves. It has been swift more open with how they feel, demonstrations are beginning to the protesters are damaging from a couple of different weap- and terrifying for those who and white Americans are emo- run together. I have been tear- some federal property, including ons, to include more tear gas. have been arrested in this black tionally overwhelmed with the gassed multiple times. I am usu- ripping down the reinforced steel One round set off a fire, which ops fascist mentality. It is against honesty they are hearing. We are ally drenched with sweat, water fencing, the federal government the protesters quickly put out. I the law, as people are being sto- uses drones, jets, artillery, and took a few more pictures of the len without probable cause. The ground troops to blow the hell cops firing what they like to call crime is being committed by out of essential infrastructure less-than-lethal riot munitions. people who took an oath not to As the cops backed away from the and human lives in Third World As the cops backed away from do these kinds of things. intersection, one of them fired a round at countries all over the world. the intersection, one of them But, then again, in Viet Nam, American people have been fired a round at me. I saw it com- the U.S. military had absolutely me … A direct hit from one of these rounds dumbed down by mass media, ing and stepped out of the way. no rules in warfare. Geneva Con- corporate backed misinforma- It missed me by a few feet. A di- vention Rules were for fools. In a can kill you if it hits you in the head. tion, call it propaganda as Trump rect hit from one of these rounds way, this is the tragedy of what and company try desperately to can kill you if it hits you in the is happening in Portland and all own the narrative. head. This is exactly what al- over the country. We are seeing seeing genuine trust being born running down my chest from But the murder of George most happened to a 26-year-old the accumulation of terror that based on a common enemy. the medics flushing out my eyes. Floyd and so many other Black man in July who was hit in the the U.S. government commits all Black soldiers in Viet Nam The CS gas is a choker to say the Americans has set off a power- head by a projectile across the over the world. taught me a lot. I was always least. I run on adrenaline and ful rebellion. Black Lives Matter street from the Federal Justice People in Portland have seen jealous of them, because they caffeine. My 75-year-old body has become the consciousness of Center. His name is Donavan the truth. How much longer will had something I didn’t have— needs a high-octane mixture. a sleeping giant. La Bella. He was knocked un- the government persist with the solidarity. I was fascinated with The common denominator for Since Trump called in the conscious. You can still see his illusion that we are a country the bond they had for each other, all the protesters is that people feds, the turmoil and violence blood on the sidewalk. He was built on law and order? If we which was born out of mutual are sick and tired of the violence. has escalated. We all know what sent to the hospital where emer- started talking about U.S. atroci- pain and suffering. They are extremely angry, filled Trump is doing. Feds are bait- gency reconstructive surgery with rage at times. ing the demonstrators, and when was performed. He will survive. When you factor in the pan- they react to the police violence, The feds are playing a chess demic and the extreme stress peo- Fox News is there to convince the game with Portland. If there is ple are feeling from economic in- American people that the demon- more overwhelming violence security, the emotional cocktail is strators are the bad guys, and the against protesters, and more frightening. Every night the face- police are the good guys. This is a people get injured, or possibly off with the police is relentless. political recipe as old as lying it- killed, the call from social media We have been standing self. The feds and the news want will bring more people out to the our ground against President to portray protesters as violent streets. I have been around these Trump’s arrogance of power. The mobs of anarchists and thugs. If protesters a lot; they are fear- courage of resistance and dissent the American people really want less. As John Lewis once said: " has been remarkable. Thousands to know about mobs and thugs, Find a way to get in the way." His of Portland activists showed with they can go back in history and legacy is now in Portland, Ore. I the profound hope of permanent examine the U.S. Empire, be- need to close, as John Lewis is and dynamic change. ginning with the genocidal wars calling me to prepare for another FOX News sends camera against Native peoples living on night. crews out to film this battle and this land for millennia. After that Mike Hastie was an Army focus most of their attention on the U.S. military was sent all medic during the Viet Nam War. the behavior of the protesters. over the world to steal and mur- He is a member of Veterans For Mike Hastie on the streets of Portland. Photo: Daniel Shea They show the protesters dam- der for corporate profits. Peace Portland, Ore. 12 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 On the Front Lines in Portland A veteran’s-eye view of the protests Photos and story by Mike Hastie

Clockwise from top left: Protester in downtown Portland shortly after George Floyd’s murder. Police in mid-August marching toward protesters with smoke from flash-bang grenades. Police come out of the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse shooting tear gas. On the receiving end of the tear gas at the courthouse. African American family in front of the mural painted on plywood surrounding the Apple Store. Children adding their own drawings to the mural.

Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 13 Why We Explode Photo: Sue Brisk, The Indypendent

By Nicholas Powers oped a stoic fatalism. Nothing gets better. Just do your pressed it. A wobbly camera showed three cops crush- hustle, man. ing him with their knees. “I can’t breathe man. Please.” I refused to see him die. I did not look at the newspa- “I gotta go. Things to do,” T. said, and we bumped el- Chauvin grinds his knee into Floyd’s neck. “I can’t pers in bodegas or on Facebook, or texts from friends. bows. What hope he had left was stuffed into a zip lock move.” He gasps. “Mama.” Eyes shut. No breathing. I At a restaurant, a TV showed a white cop kneeling on a bag and thrown into the cavern we carry. Splash. stopped the video. Black man’s neck and I left before my food arrived. He had been arrested once. When he got out, we His last words echoed in the night. Helpless and scared, The video of Officer Derek Chauvin killing George cheered. Damn near everyone here has been in detention he called for his mother. The father in me wanted to push Floyd ripped the scab off our Blackness. Inside, where at one time or another. It is to be expected. the cops off and stand him up, wrap my arms around Color connects us, pain throbbed. We just buried our Jail gave us crazy hallway talk-a-thons, and midnight Floyd as if he were my son and tell him he’s safe. grandparents and friends who died from Covid-19. We stoop confessions. I laughed at neighbors’ tales of faking In a way, he was my son. He was my father too. And just lost our jobs. Maybe the worst was over? I mean illness to get out of jail and into a hospital, or mastur- brother. He was my uncle and grandfather. He was my damn, can we catch a break? bating so much it hurt. At some point, the tone shifted. aunt, sister, and mother. He was every one of us, because Outside the bodega, neighbors stared at cellphones, I heard of rape, of learning after the funeral that an aunt all of us can see ourselves or someone we love in him. faces twisted in horror. “Did you see how they did that or grandpa had died, of coming out and their child not When he died, a piece of us died. brother?” “I can’t breathe?” “Fuck the police!” I saw running into their arms. They gasped, mid-sentence, as I closed my eyes and Floyd’s face fell like a shooting open pain in their eyes. Beneath their mask of street ma- if drowning in themselves. star down, down into that place where the night in jail chismo was a deep underground cavern where life’s bit- It is easy to get caught out there. Lord. I’ve seen old was buried in my body. The deeper it went, the more it terness had pooled. And Floyd’s death was a lit match men stopped and frisked, and teens carrying grocer- illuminated. I saw again, Sean Bell in the casket, and falling in. ies. My ex-roommate, a Nigerian student, went out for a remembered how young he looked, and I heard again T. The next day the news showed Minneapolis burning. loosie and came back wild eyed and sweaty. The police saying how he missed his kid while locked up, and, fur- And then D.C. burned. And Brooklyn too. Headlines fo- stopped and frisked him. His hands shook while lighting ther in, I saw again Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Tamir cused on the fire. Pundits focused on police brutality. the cigarette. I tried to avoid that fate with middle-class Rice, even deeper, Emmitt Till and the Scottsboro Boys, But it was larger than Floyd’s murder. The white offi- camouflage. Nice clothes. Nice diction. Didn’t work. I and the nameless burnt bodies of Black people lynched cer who killed him was a symbol of racism. In this case, was busted for an unpaid fine. The cop clamped hand- as white crowds cheered, and, deeper yet, was the mem- police brutality. In other cases, the violence is muted. cuffs on me. I spent 16 hours in jail. I paced the dirty cell ory of white boys in a car, shouted slurs at me and speed- Our bodies carry the hurt that sloshes inside like a sea in an endless circle, breathing in and out slowly. ing off as I threw a rock, or hearing that my best friend’s of gasoline and it, not the latest headline, is what sets the After I paid the fine and was released, that night in jail dad had called me a “nigger friend.” world ablaze. plummeted somewhere inside me. I’m not sure what hap- The obscene light of Floyd’s death illuminated not my pens there. I’m not sure I can open it again. pain but the pain others shared with me, like the night a To Serve and Protect Black poet told me her sister, a sex worker who sold her- Breath Work self to mostly white men, died of a drug overdose, or a A police SUV whooshed by us. We swiveled our heads Black man I met walking home at night, lifted his shirt to follow it. Another police SUV sped by so fast it spun Helicopters circled the city, needling the protests be- to show me knife scars. Or a close friend, embarrassed the sidewalk trash into mini-tornados. One. Two. Three low with thin spotlights. I stood on the roof under a pur- at wearing wigs, after years of straightening cream had more. Loud alarms echoed down the street. ple New York night, scrolling my Facebook feed and burned her scalp bald. Story, after story, after story. “Man,” T. said, “I keep tracking these cops, I’ll sprain seeing friends’ protest photos. A beatific glow shined on Voices poured into the basin of the soul to form a sea my neck.” them. The truth that guided them was so sacred and so larger than space and time. And Floyd’s face touched its We laughed. I asked him if he was protesting. He said strong. They marched fearlessly into rows of police ar- surface and it ignited. In that brief moment, the ances- “naw.” He avoided my eyes. And fidgeted his COVID-19 mored in riot gear. tors’ one demand was clear: Take responsibility for that mask. We had had this talk before. When Sean Bell was Text after text came. pain and remake this world into one where everyone we killed by the NYPD, I went to the funeral and joined the “Are you coming?” “We’ll be at this rally. Join!” love can breathe. protests. He did not. When Eric Garner was killed, the “We’re bringing this system DOWN.” “Thank you, Floyd,” I said to the sky, “Thank you, same. Most of my neighbors do not march. “Maybe,” I texted back. I knew I was going. But the brother, for showing the way.” In their long New York lives, they’ve heard too many video had to be seen first. Googling up George Floyd, First published by The Indypendent, ­indypendent.com. gunshots and seen too many dead. They watched may- I saw his face on screen, lifted it to the sky where he Nicholas Powers teaches English at the State Uni- ors make promises that never came true or protests that looked like a patron saint, a big handsome man that versity of New York. He is a contributing editor at The shook the city but left no lasting change. To protect could blow the helicopters away. ­Indypendent. themselves from the vulnerability of hope, they devel- The link to his recorded murder was there and I 14 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 Dorothy Siemens, an artist who grew up in Eugene and A Working Alternative still lives there, said that she, her family, and her friends all call CAHOOTS, rather than the police, when they see them, CAHOOTS Operations Coordinator Tim Black someone in distress. The option makes her feel like a A 31-year-old program said in an interview. “We’re there to listen, we’re there more responsible community member. When Siemens to empathize, and we’re there to really reflect on what managed a downtown cafe, she used the service often. “I in Oregon is a model in they’re going through,” and to discuss ways to access really don’t have the tools, and I think the police in our resources to help them. CAHOOTS—a free, 24/7 com- community also don’t have the tools” for people in crisis, de-escalating situations munity service—is funded by Eugene and neighboring she said. “There really shouldn’t be one group of people Springfield at a cost of around $2 million, equal to just who is expected to cover all of those bases, especially a that could end with law over 2% of their police departments’ annual budgets. group a people who are weaponized and militarized. … Under the model, instead of police, a medic and a men- Their training shows them ‘that’s something I have to re- enforcement violence tal health worker are dispatched for calls such as welfare spond to with force.’” checks or potential overdoses. In 2017, such teams an- Community organizers are reaching out to CAHOOTS, By Anna V. Smith swered 17% of the Eugene Police Department’s overall hoping to develop similar programs. Since 2013, the city call volume. This has saved the city, on average, $8.5 of Portland, Ore., just a couple of hours north of Eugene, s citizens across the country fill the streets to pro- million each year from 2014 to 2017, according to the has seen a 60% increase in “unwanted person” calls to test police killings of Black people, the violent re- White Bird Clinic. 911. In 2017, an Oregonian analysis found that 52% of Asponse from law enforcement has added urgency to Though CAHOOTS uses the police department’s cen- arrests involved homeless individuals, even though they a national conversation about police brutality. Pressure tral dispatch, it is distinct from the department. Employ- make up less than 3% of Portland’s population. is mounting to reform or abolish police departments. As ees do not carry guns or wear uniforms; instead, they In 2019, Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty cities look for what’s next, there is already a proven sys- wear casual hoodies and drive vans with a dove painted and Street Roots, a homeless advocacy publication, in- tem of de-escalation for the high volume of mental health on the side. CAHOOTS’ methods are designed to prevent troduced Portland Street Response, a police alternative calls that police respond to, which often end in violence. escalation, Black said. “If an officer enters that situation based on the CAHOOTS model. Hardesty, the first Black Mobile, community-based crisis programs employ with power, with authority, with that uniform and a com- woman elected to Portland’s city council, said in a state- first responders that are not police to address distur- mand presence, that situation is really likely to escalate.”­ ment to High Country News, “There’s no doubt we need bances where crimes are not being committed. One of It’s a false assumption that people experiencing a men- to reimagine what it looks like to get the right responder the nation’s longest-running examples is CAHOOTS— tal health crisis will respond violently, Black said, and a to the right situation at the right time.” Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets—in Eu- police response is often unnecessary. CAHOOTS fielded gene, Ore. CAHOOTS has inspired similar programs in over 24,000 calls last year; less than 1% of them needed other cities in the region, including the Denver Alliance assistance from police, and no one has ever been seri- “The patient that we’re serving for Street Health Response, Mobile Assistance Com- ously injured. “By and large, folks who are unhoused, munity Responders of Oakland and Portland Street Re- who are experiencing behavioral health issues, are much is the expert in their situation. sponse in Oregon. more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpe- Such programs take police out of the equation when trators,” said Black. They know that we’re a voluntary someone is going through a mental health crisis, strug- CAHOOTS differs from other mental health partner- gling with substance abuse, or experiencing homeless- ships with the police in important ways: Staff employ resource and that we’re not going ness. When police show up, situations can escalate, and “unconditional positive regard,” a phrase from psychol- to take their rights away just the use of force can be disproportionate, especially to- ogy that means complete support and acceptance for the ward Black people; a 2016 study estimated that 20% to people they encounter, and the organization is run as a because we’ve shown up on scene.” 50% of fatal encounters with law enforcement involved “consensus collective,” rather than a hierarchy. Every someone with a mental illness The CAHOOTS model employee’s voice carries equal weight. shows those encounters aren’t inevitable: The CA- Each crisis worker completes 500 hours of training in Nationwide protests have spurred urgency for pro- HOOTS system relies on trauma-informed de-escalation areas including medical care, conflict resolution and cri- grams like these, which show a stark contrast to the typi- and harm reduction, which reduces calls to police, averts sis counseling. Around 60% of CAHOOTS’ patients are cal police response. harmful arrest-release-repeat cycles, and prevents vio- homeless, and about 30% have severe or persistent men- In Denver, in May, Vinnie Cervantes worked as a lent police encounters. tal illness. “The patient that we’re serving is the expert medic with the Denver Alliance for Street Health Re- The White Bird Clinic in Eugene started CAHOOTS in their situation,” Black said. “They know that we’re a sponse, which he also directs. It’s part of a mutual aid 31 years ago as an alternative for people who felt alien- voluntary resource and that we’re not going to take their nexus that emerged during protests in the city over the ated or disenfranchised from systems that had failed rights away just because we’ve shown up on scene.” police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Cer- vantes and others treated protesters who were left bleed- ing and bruised after police fired off tear gas, rubber bul- lets and flash-bangs and pummeled them with batons. To Cervantes and others, it was yet another example of how quickly police resort to excessive force. Policing and jails account for 30% of Denver’s overall budget. The repur- posing of those funds would be a huge opportunity for collective efforts like Denver Alliance, which resembles the CAHOOTS model. But no single model will work for every city, said Cervantes. Each program needs to be adaptive and reflect its community; Eugene, after all, is much smaller and has a whiter population than Den- ver, Oakland, or Portland. “It’s really important that it is community-based, by people that look like us and that have our shared experience,” said Cervantes, who is Latino. Otherwise, the program will only replicate the same systemic problems. In June, Cervantes’ organization helped start a pilot program in partnership with the city of Denver, called Support Team Assisted Response. Cervantes hopes to develop a full-fledged program by 2021. But, for now, on the streets, “We’re literally seeing our own proof of con- cept of how we can take ownership of crisis ourselves, and have solutions,” he said. “We don’t have to view ev- eryone as a threat.” First published by High County News, hcn.org. With just over 2% of the Eugene and Springfield police departments’ annual budgets, CAHOOTS teams answered 17% Anna V. Smith is an assistant editor for High Country of the department’s overall call volume, saving the city, on average, $8.5 million each year. Photo: Thomas Patterson News. Email her at [email protected]. Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 15 erals are part of a global military apparatus that spans 800 bases in over 70 countries. This “empire of bases,” as the late political scientist Chalmers Johnson has called it, has since 1945 reinforced a liberal international order predi- cated on free trade, structural adjustments, unbridled mul- tinational capital and global financial deregulation. Just as this empire of bases segregates the impoverished peoples of the Global South in a system of global apartheid, mu- nicipal police forces similarly enforce the boundaries be- tween urban poverty and suburban affluence. Stationed at these imperial outposts, CIA agents or other branches of the national security state have interfered with at least 85 elections worldwide since 1947, a number that does not include military coups and regime change following elec- tions of leaders opposed to U.S. ­interests. Racialized policing domestically is intricately con- nected to the exercise of U.S. international police power abroad. In the 1960s, Black Power activists referred to the structural conditions facing Black Americans as a sys- tem of “internal colonialism.” More than an analogy that metaphorically likens structural racism in the United States to colonial domination abroad, the idea of internal colonialism exposes how anti-Black violence and pov- erty domestically is systematically tethered to the exer- cise of U.S. imperial power and the foreign policy of the national security state. Defund Militarization from the The Black Lives Matter movement has recently re- vived this vibrant connection between anti-imperialism and anti-racism. In its 2015 policy platform, “A Vision for Local Police to the Pentagon Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power, Freedom, and Justice,” the Movement for Black Lives called for By Adam Dahl expanding the military budget masks the global roots the simultaneous “divestment from exploitative forces of structural racism in the United States. It neglects including prisons, fossil fuels, police, surveillance, and In the wake of the global protests against the murder of that racialized policing domestically is intricately con- exploitative corporations” and “investments in the edu- George Floyd in Minneapolis, activists have begun to re- nected to the exercise of U.S. international police power cation, health, and safety of Black people.” The platform claim public spaces by destroying statues of conquerors, abroad. Several sociologists and historians have shown went on to demand “a cut in military expenditures and slave traders, white supremacists and colonizers. In the how counterinsurgency tactics developed to quell anti-­ a reallocation of those funds to invest in domestic in- United States alone, protesters have torn down and de- colonial revolts boomeranged back to the metropole, in- frastructure and community well-being.” The drafters of faced statues of Confederate generals in Richmond, Va.; fluencing the tactics that urban police forces use to coun- the platform explicitly declared that “America is an em- Nashville, Tenn.; and Montgomery, Ala.; and statues of teract the tactics of Black-led protest movements. pire that uses war to expand territory and power.” Christopher Columbus in St. Paul and Boston. Globally, Calls to rename military bases exemplify what Aziz In framing the problem in this way, the platform cap- sympathetic protesters in Bristol, UK, threw a statue Rana calls “national security citizenship.” From Crispus tures the vicious circle of racialized policing and U.S. of Edward Colston—a prominent 17th-century slave Attucks fighting in the American Revolution to W.E.B. Du empire: Over-investment in the military budget designed trader—into the River Avon, while activists in Belgium Bois’s call to “close ranks” and set aside Black grievances to maintain global supremacy resulted in divestment defaced a statue of King Leopold II—the founder of the in support of U.S. entry into World War I to the demands of from domestic social programs to combat poverty, in- Congo Free State—prompting city officials to remove it. the NAACP to desegregate the military, Black Americans crease access to public education, ensure equitable health In response, the liberal intelligentsia and a bipartisan are frequently forced to align their demands for racial in- care and reverse patterns of hyper-incarceration. The so- coalition of congressional representatives have offered clusion with the imperatives of the national security state. cial problems arising from this divestment from poor and their own efforts to confront the racist history of the What the call to rebrand these military bases ultimately Black communities then became evidence of the need United States. In a recent opinion piece, The New York misses is the intertwined nature of domestic and interna- for greater investment in urban police forces to deal with Times editorial board charged the U.S. military with cel- tional politics. It misses how the terrifying displays of “Black criminality,” which, as we have seen in recent ebrating white supremacy, calling for the renaming of firepower by municipal police against the recent protests weeks, is merely a veiled reference to politically moti- vated resistance. The result is a self-fulfilling prophecy rooted in the militarization of U.S. society. What the plat- There is no question that military bases named form very simply shows is that bloated police budgets and bloated military budgets are two sides of the same coin. after Confederate generals should be renamed. But responding They are both causes and symptoms of a national divest- ment in poor people and communities of color. to the problem in this way while simultaneously expanding Renaming military bases that memorialize white su- the military budget masks the global roots of structural premacists through a spending bill that expands the de- fense budget by $20 billion amounts to nothing more than racism in the United States. a racially inclusive militarism domestically that remains imperialistic globally. In the wake of this year’s unprec- edented uprisings and protests, the demands of Black ac- military bases honoring Confederate generals. On June are enabled by a $721.5 billion military budget in 2020 tivists are beginning to materialize. But if calls to defund 10, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved an that makes up 37% of global military expenditures, an the police are to have any teeth, they must move in tan- amendment offered by Sen. Elizabeth Warren to remove amount larger than the next seven biggest military bud- dem with calls to radically defund the U.S. military. To the names of Confederate officials from U.S. military as- gets of major global powers combined. These military respond to the demands of protesters by leaving the para- sets in three years, a measure that would include renam- expenditures directly make their way to the police. In phernalia of U.S. empire intact is not simply to miss the ing military bases as well as aircraft, ships, weapons, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the point—it is to resign oneself to the self-defeating logic of and streets. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sup- 1033 Program, which authorized the transfer of surplus the adage expressed by composer Richard Wagner: “The ported a similar bipartisan amendment to the $740 bil- military equipment and weapons from the Department wound can only be healed by the spear that smote you.” lion defense spending bill, while also calling for the re- of Defense to local law enforcement. In 2015, President Adam Dahl is an assistant professor in the Depart- moval of 11 Confederate statues from the Capitol. Obama signed an executive order modestly limiting the ment of Political Science at the University of Massachu- There is no question that military bases named after program, only to be reversed in 2017. setts Amherst. He is the author of Empire of the Peo- Confederate generals should be renamed. But respond- The call to rename bases also misses how domestic ple: Settler Colonialism and the Foundations of Modern ing to the problem in this way while simultaneously bases honoring white supremacists and Confederate gen- Democratic Thought. 16 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 Support for Troops Who Refuse to Fight Veterans For Peace, Courage to Resist, be called to a “duty” that goes against our neighbors for demanding justice. You obeying orders. Many of us have faced and About Face: Veterans Against the War conscience. We urge all current National cannot be loyal to both. them ourselves. And many of us live with each issued statements opposing the use Guard members to lay down their weap- We know that it is your intention to be the consequences of following orders we of federal troops, including the ­National ons and refuse to fight against their neigh- of service and prevent more harm, but we shouldn’t have and can tell you that the Guard, to quell civil protests, even urg- bors and fellow community members. We urge you to remember the deadly legacy cost of moral injury is far greater. ing them to refuse orders if called upon urge you all to be fully informed as you of the National Guard enacting violence There is a long legacy of troops choos- to deploy against U.S. citizens. Below are make profound choices with possibly se- ing what’s right over what’s ordered. You excerpts from their statements. rious consequences. are not alone in your convictions. We condemn the inflammatory state- We, as veterans, know Veterans For Peace ments by Donald Trump. His declara- Courage to Resist tion of calling for military troops on U.S. the terrible aftermath of Veterans For Peace calls on all mili- soil to quell people exercising their First participating in actions Tens of thousands of National Guard tary leaders and personnel to refuse de- Amendment right is inflammatory and in- members have already been mobilized ployment. We, as veterans, know the ter- credibly dangerous. We stand unequivo- that are morally wrong in at least 29 states. If you know you rible aftermath of participating in actions cally with the protesters who are in the didn’t join the National Guard to attack that are morally wrong against commu- streets calling for an end to senseless po- against communities Americans who are using their freedom nities in other countries. Now is the time lice killings and white supremacy. in other countries. Now of speech and right to assemble to protest to refuse to participate in orders that are systemic racism and police violence, then ­unjust. About Face: Veterans is the time to refuse to now is your time to resist and stand with We are appalled to see military weap- Against the War the people. ons, vehicles and equipment once again participate in orders Courage to Resist (couragetoresist.org) deployed in U.S. cities to control com- Attention Members of the National is currently assisting members of the Na- munity members who are reacting to a Guard: We urge you to have the courage to that are unjust. tional Guard who resisted Trump’s orders long history of state-sanctioned violence. do the right thing. Refuse activation ­orders. to violently attack people on the streets When an already embattled community A moral choice lies before you. As against protesters—Watts in 1965, Kent of Washington, D.C., peacefully and law- is subjected to militarized intimidation, veterans who faced similar tests of con- State in 1970, Los Angeles in 1992, and fully protesting racial injustice. their environment becomes a war zone. science, only to realize too late that we many other examples in recent history. We want to make sure we’re there to We call on all those who are serving with chose wrong, we cannot stress enough the The military is designed to be lethal, support the brave men and women who the National Guard to refuse to serve vio- impact this decision will have on the rest not to de-escalate. continue to refuse these illegal orders. lent and racist interests. of your life. We all took an oath to defend No amount of property is worth a One guardsmen shared, “I feel that I can- We know that increased militari- the country from enemies foreign and do- single human life. Are you really pre- not be complicit in any way when I’ve zation in our communities will never mestic. Are Black protesters the enemy pared to carry out the violence President seen so many examples of soldiers and bring peace. We know that peace is only of this country? Today you have to de- Trump threatened against Minnesotans police acting in bad faith … No aspect of achieved with a strong commitment to cide whether you are loyal to the values and ­others? We ask that you stand up for my training has touched on this subject … justice. As veterans who served in vari- ­you swore to uphold or to the command- Black lives by standing down. We know We have not had any training or conversa- ous wars, we know there is a connection ers who would order you to turn on your the consequences you may face for dis- tion relating to de-escalation tactics.” between increasing racist violence in the United States and the massive indiscrimi- nate killing of hundreds of thousands of people in other lands. Growing racism against black, brown and Muslim peo- Militarized Police ple in the United States is a reflection of … continued from page 1 the racism that justifies killing non-white black, brown and Muslim people who die. people abroad. The U.S. military deliber- Civilian casualties caused by U.S. bomb- ately uses racism to motivate young men ing in Afghanistan, for instance, were and women to kill. higher last year than at any time in the As veterans, we know what it’s like to 20-year-long war. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. linked systemic racism and milita- rism as two of the three evil “triplets” Resources for he was committed to end. Yet that link- age remains a hallmark of U.S. policy in Active-Duty ­general—and of the militarization of po- lice in particular. Military Just in 2014, as Black Lives Matter demonstrations spread across the country, Resisting more than 500 law enforcement agencies received MRAP armored personnel car- Illegal Orders riers, designed to withstand bomb blasts in war theaters like Afghanistan and Iraq. National Guard troops facing Police in North Little Rock, Ark. (popula- possible deployment to U.S. cities can contact the National Lawyers tion: 62,000), got two MARCbots,­ armed armies? We can’t say for sure, but we do poor and working-class Americans—has Guild Military Law Task Force at robots designed for war in Afghanistan. know the relatively small town had two made ending the 1033 program a center- (619) 463-2369 and/or email Local and state police departments officer-involved shooting cases during piece of its demands. [email protected] for across the country do not ordinarily in- one two-week period this spring. Rather than tinkering around the mar- referral to a civilian attorney to clude budget lines to buy armored person- “When the government equips police gins, we need to end systemic racism and discuss your options. nel carriers. But under a once-­invisible departments like they’re equipping the the militarism that makes it even dead- program known as 1033, the Pentagon of- military, we undermine healthy relation- lier—from Kabul to Atlanta and Baghdad The GI Rights Hotline can connect fers “surplus military equipment” free to ships between the police and the com- to Minneapolis. active-duty military with veterans any police agency requesting it. munity,” explains Equal Justice Initiative The Rev. Dr. William Barber II is the ready to support them and stand And if the good people of North Lit- director Bryan Stevenson. “We have cre- president of Repairers of the Breach and with them in their decision; call tle Rock don’t ­really need armed robots, ated a culture where police officers think co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: (877) 447-4487 or email well, they’ve got them anyway. of themselves as warriors, not ­­guardians.” A Call for Moral Revival. Phyllis Bennis [email protected] Does all that military gear make police From the beginning, the Poor People’s directs the New Internationalism Project officers more likely to act like occupying Campaign—a national mobilization of at the Institute for Policy Studies. Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 17 A History of Institutional Violence at the U.S. Border entrance fees, and degrading hygienic inspections to Naturalization Services (INS) in Houston to run the first Not only is the Border “prevent” the spread of disease. Border Patrol Agents private detention center that same year. The Border Pa- Patrol culpable for the regularly beat, shot, and even hanged migrants. From trol’s culture of cruelty has spread to for-profit detention 1974 to 1989, in the California/Baja California border centers, migration policies, and militarization of the bor- murder of thousands alone, 44 people were injured or killed by Border Pa- derlands and xenophobic policies continue to dehuman- trol or by the Border Patrol/San Diego Police Depart- ize people while profiting from those who need to mi- forced to flee their ment collaboration called Border Crime Prevention Unit. grate for economic or political reasons. By the 1980s, migration from the South was not only homelands and migrate for the purpose of obtaining employment, but also be- Prevention Through Deterrence cause of the urgency of fleeing from conditions created north, it also aids in the by U.S. foreign policy and intervention. Central Amer- In 1994, the Border Patrol implemented its Prevention icans were significantly impacted by ongoing violence Through Deterrence strategy in an attempt to control mi- repression and violent and economic hardship in their countries—the major- gration from unauthorized points of entry. To do so, it murder of Black people in this country Editor’s Note: Following President Trump’s boasting that he was sending federal troops to Portland, Ore., and other cities because “the locals couldn’t handle it,” the Department of Homeland Security sent Border Pa- trol Tactical Units (BORTAC) to Portland. Many Bor- der Patrol personnel have been trained at Fort Benning in Georgia for use as paramilitaries wearing U.S. Army camouflage without identification. They have been re- sponsible for grabbing nonviolent protesters off the streets and forcing them into unmarked cars with no charges.

By Dévora González and Azadeh Shahshahani

When it comes to the U.S. government, don’t confuse agency size for the likelihood of accountability. The U.S. Border Patrol is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest federal law enforcement agency, yet has oper- ated with little oversight and almost complete impunity. Nearly a century old, Border Patrol was created under the Department of Labor in 1924 to enforce xenopho- bic laws. Rooted in systemic oppression, the agency has fostered a culture of brutality among its agents since its inception. Mexican police stand near a skull discovered with other remains in what is thought to be a large grave in the desert of The Border Patrol was created as a way to calm white victims of recent drug violence on March 19, 2010 in the county of Juarez, Mexico. supremacist fears and and it functioned as an instrument of racist vigilantism. Early agents were members of the ity of which was exacerbated by U.S. intervention in the created mortal danger so that people would be deterred Ku Klux Klan and Texas Rangers or from border town form of military training and financial backing for re- from crossing. They drastically increased the number of police departments. It was also created in response to pressive regimes. Human rights violations and genocide Border Patrol agents, in addition to creating checkpoints, migration to the United States, which was controlled were perpetrated by U.S. trained dictators. Priests, en- towers, and walls to weaponize natural landscapes. This through a quota system that privileged immigrants from tire communities, and anyone challenging the state were strategy worked alongside inhumane detention con- Western European countries, while explicitly barring brutally murdered and disappeared by U.S.-trained mi- ditions, enhancing the profits of the prison-industrial complex and leading to enactment of policies such as Operation Streamline, which promoted increased crimi- nalization of migration with no regard for the conditions The Border Patrol’s culture of cruelty has spread to for-profit detention causing people to flee. In 2003, Border Patrol became centers, migration policies, and militarization of the borderlands and part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), tak- ing on a counter-terrorism mission as it was reorganized xenophobic policies continue to dehumanize people while profiting into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). No More Deaths, a humanitarian aid organization in from those who need to migrate for economic or political reasons. the Sonoran Desert, recorded footage from 2010 to 2017 of Border Patrol slashing, dumping, and destroying bot- tles of water left for those crossing. The leading cause others, such as people from Asia. Where exceptions litias. Those who survived were displaced, some to be- of death for bodies found in the Sonoran Desert is expo- were allowed for non-white migrants, they were made come refugees in the United States. As numerous coun- sure to the elements. Unfortunately, tracking the cause in service of capitalist interests; for example, Mexican tries were engaged in protracted conflict, migration to of death also reveals a depressing reality—namely that migrants were excluded from the quota system so that the United States, rather than being temporary, became the only evidence of migrants’ journeys to the U.S. are Southwest businesses could continue to profit from their more permanent. Non-white immigrants—such as Cen- often skeletal remains. While there are sometimes clues cheap labor. With the creation of the agency, and in or- tral Americans—entered and continue to exist in a po- as to how an individual died, for many the cause of death der to control migration from the South, ports of entry litical climate that remained highly unwelcoming. remains undetermined. The true number of those who became required for entrance into the United States. To Ignoring the consequences of U.S. intervention, the have disappeared crossing the U.S.-Mexico border will legitimize ports of entry, crossing from anywhere ther Border Patrol continues to operate in a political vacuum never be known. than a port of entry was criminalized, thus creating the that deems ongoing presence in the borderlands and Since 2010, 102 people have died at the hands of Bor- concept of “illegal” immigration to the United States. the development of for-profit detention centers justifi- der Patrol and thousands have disappeared, and yet no Violence in the name of “border protection” has been able and necessary. CoreCivic (formally known as Cor- Border Patrol agent has ever been held accountable for modus operandi for Border Patrol. People crossing over rections Corporation of America-CCA) was founded in murder, even when these cases violate the sovereignty of for work from Mexico were subjected to literacy tests, 1983 and entered its first contract with Immigration and continued on next page … 18 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 Border Violence … continued from previous page another nation-state. Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereca and José Antonio Elena Rodríguez are two of six peo- ple killed on Mexican soil by agents located on the U.S. side of the border, establishing a disturbing precedent for agents to take the lives of whomever they want with im- punity. Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereca was shot to death on June 7, 2010, while in Ciudad Juárez by Bor- der Patrol Agent Jesus Mesa Jr. There have not been any criminal charges filed against Agent Mesa. José Antonio Elena Rodríguez was fatally shot in the back 10 times through the border wall by Agent Lonnie Swartz on October 10, 2012. Elena Rodríguez was in his hometown of Nogales, Sonora, in Mexico. Swartz claimed that he was acting in self-defense, and yet had the oppor- tunity to reload his weapon to continue shooting at the teenager, who was already dead. Swartz faced trial twice in Tucson, Ariz.; during the first trial, he was found not guilty of second-degree murder and faced a hung jury on the charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. During the second trial, he was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter with a hung jury on voluntary manslaugh- Racism against Mexican-Americans clouds Texas history. ter. The case did not go to trial a third time. Years after his murder, Elena Rodríguez’s mother Araceli Rodríguez and ness during transport back to the same hospital. He was crowded, medical care is insufficient, children die in grandmother Taide Zojo continue to seek justice. pronounced dead at 11:48 p.m. A few months later, on custody, and pregnant women are mistreated and do not The human rights abuses by the Border Patrol stem May 19, 2019, Carlos Gregorio Hernández Vásquez, get adequate care. Now that we are in an era of a global from the expanded militarization of the borderlands and a 16-year-old who was also from Guatemala, died in pandemic that requires social distancing, frequent hand the increasing use of detention. Torturous conditions in South Texas at a Border Patrol station because he had the washing, and use of masks in order to stay and keep oth- short-term facilities such as malnutrition, lack of wa- flu and was not given adequate medical attention even ers safe, the Border Patrol has implemented the kind of rapid-fire deportation system President Donald Trump has long extolled as his approach to immigration en- Under the Trump administration, the Border Patrol forcement. Before even being taken into a Border Patrol station and without any medical evaluation, migrants are still operates with unlimited and unchecked power, essentially expelled in an average time of 96 minutes. The Border Patrol deports about 85% of detainees, and criminalizes functioning as a paramilitary organization continuously those who have prior deportations. The rhetoric of pro- violating human and civil rights. tecting borders from disease is once again part of the Border Patrol’s public narrative, as it now bars even chil- dren from protections they once received. New immi- ter, and lack of medical care, even imposed on preg- though his fever was at 103 degrees. A video from the gration rules implemented on March 21, 2020, under the nant women, are prevalent and have worsened under the detention facility shows him on the floor writhing for at guise of the global health pandemic have led to the Bor- Trump administration. From December 2018 to May least 25 minutes. It shows him staggering to the toilet der Patrol expelling and detaining over 10,000 Mexican 2019, five children have died in Border Patrol custody. and then collapsing on the floor. and Central American asylum seekers without allowing Felipe Gómez Alonzo, an eight-year-old from Guate- them to exercise their legal right to seek refuge and asy- mala, died of Influenza type B on December 23, 2018, in Border Patrol, COVID-19, and lum. Under the Trump administration, the Border Patrol Border Patrol custody. He was transported to a hospital Black Lives Matter Protests still operates with unlimited and unchecked power, es- in New Mexico where he was found to have a 103-de- sentially functioning as a paramilitary organization con- gree fever. After being observed for 90 minutes, he went The Border Patrol has made a practice of keeping peo- tinuously violating human and civil rights. back to Border Patrol custody. By that evening, he was ple in inhumane conditions: water is unavailable, the Amid COVID-19—which disproportionately impacts vomiting, nauseated, and lethargic and lost conscious- food makes them sick, the cells are freezing and over- people of color—large-scale Black Lives Matter pro- tests have erupted in the United States and globally to end state-sanctioned murder of Black people. As pro- It Was Always Going to Be Customs & Border Protection tests gained strength and Minneapolis police retreated, Trump tweeted: “when the looting starts, the shooting Portland was not the dress rehearsal. and was hit by a car. starts.” Later that day, a U.S. Customs and Border Pro- It is a play in acts though. No more details can be found at this time.” tection Predator drone, frequently used for surveillance Unknown. Known. in the borderlands, flew over protesters in Minneapolis. Anapra was the dress rehearsal. The Border Patrol is also aiding in the repression and El Paso the stage. Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin. violent murder of Black people in this country. Eagle Pass, Welasco, San Ysidro, Tucson, Lordsburg. 7 years old. Cardiac Arrest. “After being detained with On May 31, CBP spokesperson Morgan announced via The border tour. The occupation. her father in the New Mexico desert.” Twitter, “CBP is currently deploying officers, agents and Home turned Hellscape. It was always going to be CBP. aviation assets across the country at the request of our We told you. 2010-2020, a play in acts. At least 102 people died in as federal, state and local partners confronting the lawless We shouted as they chased us in the desert. many encounters with CBP. actions of rioters.” By June 1, the Border Patrol was also We fought as they kicked the water out from in We told you. present in Washington, D.C.; Buffalo; Chicago; Detroit; front of us. We told you they were growing. El Paso; Miami; and San Diego. We died under unmarked vehicles. We told you they didn’t care about due process. The Border Patrol continues to abuse its power without We told you. We told you they would take us in the middle of the accountability. It continues to act in a way that dehuman- night. izes and oppresses communities of color, reflecting its Carlos Hernandez Vásquez knew it would be CBP. We told you we were disappearing. white supremacist roots. These are examples of why now, 16 years old. A cell. The flu. more than ever, it is time to dismantle the Border Patrol. It was always going to be CBP. We always knew. Dévora González is a field organizer with the School of the Americas Watch; she tweets @SOAWatch. Azadeh Unknown. Unknown. Unknown. —Sarah Silva, New Mexico Shahshahani is legal and advocacy director with Proj- “The man fled from agents across a Texas highway ect South and a past president of the National Lawyers Guild. She tweets @ashahshahani. Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 19 Meeting the Moment Mass uprisings contain seeds of radical transformation By J.J. Johnson In 1963, my father a progressive trade unionist, asked me to attend the historic he strains of Sweet Honey and the March on Washington with his union Rock’s tribute to Ella Baker, “Ella’s brothers and sisters. I declined, uncon- Tsong,” ring continuously in my ear: vinced of the importance my dad assigned “We who believe in freedom cannot rest to the march and Dr. Martin Luther King, until it comes.” Jr. Less than a year later, Andrew Good- One stanza goes: “The older I get the man, with whom I loaded trucks in an af- better I know that the secret of my going ter-school job at UPS’s Manhattan head- on/Is when the reins are in the hands of quarters, shook my hand and informed the young, who dare to run/against the me that he was leaving his part-time job storm.” to head to Mississippi. Our parting barely At June 30, 1996, Fort Hood Three press conference: (standing) Dave Dellinger I ran against the storm many years registered. and Stokely Carmichael, (seated in background) A.J. Muste, (at table) ago, but today’s activists might be better Three months later, my heart sank when Staughton Lynd, Dennis Mora, J.J. Johnson and David Samas. equipped to handle the reins and meet the I saw his photo with those of Michael Photo: Finer/Memorial University of Newfoundland moment. When I was drafted in Decem- Schwerner and James Chaney accompa- ber 1965, my level of consciousness and nied by the headline “Slain civil rights rights organizations, including the NAACP. by athletes such as basketball legend Ka- knowledge about Vietnam was close to workers found.” I kicked myself for having I was also lifted up at the time by reem Abdul Jabbar and the iconic Black nil. Fortunately, curiosity overtook igno- failed to acknowledge his courage and sac- Muhammad Ali, the 25-year-old world power salutes of sprinters Tommie Smith rance. In advanced training as a switch- rifice while we were shaking hands. Later, heavyweight champion. In the prime of and John Carlos. board operator in a signal battalion, I whenever I heard Nina Simone’s “Missis- his career, the champ, who had converted Dissent and disobedience among GIs joined a study group that included Dennis sippi Goddam,” Goodman, Chaney and to the Muslim faith, refused induction. He reached record numbers. Notre Dame fel- Mora and ­David Samas, who, along with Schwerner came achingly to mind. was immediately stripped of his title and low David Cortright reported in his book, me, would become known as the Fort 1968, my last year at Leavenworth, sentenced to five years in prison. Soldiers in Revolt, that by 1971, there Hood Three. marked a major turning point. The anti- Ali asked, “Why should they ask me were 17 AWOLs and seven desertions I was especially moved by the writings war movement was raging. And the rebel- to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles for every 100 soldiers. According to the of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh and of his un- lions in our nation’s streets had reached from home and drop bombs and bullets Army’s own statistics, between 1969 and derstanding of our struggle. In the 1920s, the military. So great was antiwar senti- on brown people in Vietnam while so- 1972, there were 551 fragging incidents. while he lived in New York, among the ment that on March 31, 1968, President called Negro people in Louisville are resulting in 86 deaths and some 700 in- meetings he attended were some with Lyndon Johnson, who had won a land- treated like dogs? If I thought the war was juries. The resistance movement was the Black nationalist Marcus Garvey. Ho slide victory in 1964, announced that he going to bring freedom and equality to 22 most widespread revolt in the history of wrote, “American Negroes still endure would not seek re-election. Dave, Dennis, million of my people, they wouldn’t have our armed forces. Black soldiers played atrocious moral and material sufferings, and I cheered along with the overwhelm- to draft me. I’d join tomorrow.” the leading role, and for that suffered the of which the most cruel and horrible is the ing majority of the inmates. We felt we My act of conscience had been vali- harshest punishment. custom of lynching.” had a hand in removing the warmaker dated and vindicated by Dr. King and the That disparity was reflected in the After advanced training in Georgia, prison population. When we entered most of the study group members re- Leavenworth in late 1966, its population turned to Fort Hood. In June we received Today, the conjunction of an was 500. Two years later, it had swelled orders to ship out to Vietnam. While to 1,500, the majority African American. on 30-day leave prior to deployment, unprecedented public health crisis, the When the Fort Hood Three returned three of us—Dennis, who is Puerto Ri- to civilian life in October 1968, we were can; Dave, who is of Italian and Lithu- nation’s worst economic crisis in generations, welcomed as heroes. But I soon learned anian descent, and I—were joined at a and continued police killings and abuse have that the antiwar movement I had romanti- New York City press conference by Stu- cized looked different up close. Among its dent Non-­Violent Coordination Commit- sparked some of the widespread protests shortcomings in my mind was its failure tee’s (SNCC) Stokely Carmichael (later to address the centrality of race and its in- Kwame Toure), the Congress of Racial in our nation’s history. More, the terconnection with class and gender. Equality’s (CORE) Lincoln Lynch, Paci- uprisings have spanned the globe. I worked with the National Black Anti- fist legend A.J. Muste and peace leader War Anti-Draft Union, spearheaded Dave Dellinger. In a joint statement, we by Gwendolyn (Gwen) Patton, the first announced that we had made our deci- from the highest office in the land. people’s champ. I also derived strength women president of Tuskegee Univer- sion: We would not participate in an ille- Four days later, that joy turned to sor- and support from my family members, sity’s student government and a leading gal, immoral and unjust war. row with the assassination of Dr. Martin an exploding antiwar movement and my member of SNCC. Gwen was one of the We were soon arrested, court-­martialed, Luther King, Jr. By then my esteem for comrades, Dennis and Dave. many unsung women leaders in the anti- and convicted for disobeying a lawful or- Dr. King knew no bounds. I had deter- I was buoyed by the 1968 presidential war movement. der. We spent 28 months in prison, mostly mined that no one more eloquently tied run of Sen. Eugene McCarthy and later I eventually found my way to the labor in Leavenworth, Kansas. At the time, I the war to the nation’s domestic failings. the antiwar stance of Sen. Robert Ken- movement. There I could earn a living lacked the context to connect justice and His eloquence inspired me. nedy; like many young African Ameri- and help build the movement of working equality in the African American com- “I knew that I could never again raise cans coming to political consciousness, people to radically transform the politi- munity to self-determination in Vietnam. my voice against the violence of the op- I was especially intrigued by the Black cal and economic system. Social justice My limited vision also blurred the con- pressed in the ghettos without having first Panther Party (BPP). My interest in- unions often rose to the challenge, but too nection between our armed forces and lo- spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor creased when in 1968 I learned that BPP often were swimming against a more con- cal police departments. of violence in the world today—my own planned to merge with SNCC. servative stream. During my incarceration, I hastened to government,” Dr. King declared at River- SNCC had been a strong supporter of And too often, the left and progressive fill the gaps in my knowledge and under- side Church in New York City on April 4, the Fort Hood Three. It also was the first movements found ourselves playing de- standing. I devoured whatever crossed my 1967, a year to the day before his death. civil rights organization to oppose the war. fense rather than advancing a bolder peo- path about the war, peace, and civil rights. He was excoriated for following his con- 1968 also gave us the militant demon- ple’s agenda. Today, the conjunction of an It was not long before I understood that science. Some 168 major newspapers, in- strations met by police riots at the Dem- unprecedented public health crisis, the na- the war was a symptom of far deeper ills. cluding The New York Times and the ocratic National Convention in Chicago. tion’s worst economic crisis in generations, I re-examined incidents in my life that Washington Post, joined the condemna- The role of sports in our society came into and continued police abuse and killings had lurked in the back of consciousness. tion chorus. He was also denounced by civil question with the boycott of the Olympics continued on next page … 20 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 possibility for a GI movement. Remembering the Fort Hood Three The three GIs had prepared a state- ment to read to the assembled crowd in bombing campaign in the north. Antiwar point was probably Donald Duncan, who the church auditorium. “We have decided ‘We will not be protest grew almost right away, with two served as a Green Beret in Vietnam. But to take a stand against this war, which we mass demonstrations in 1965. By mid- civilian organizers saw military person- consider immoral, illegal, and unjust,” part of this unjust, 1966, it was clear to many that the war nel mostly as moral symbols whose pres- they declared. They planned to report to wasn’t going away, and antiwar organiz- ence in the movement could help disarm the Oakland Army Terminal, “but under immoral, and ers, mostly long-time pacifists, students, hawkish, pro-war opponents who red- no circumstances” would they embark for and old radicals, began to deepen their baited protesters and criticized them as Vietnam, even if their refusal resulted in illegal war’ commitments and try to broaden their co- being against the troops. The notion that courts-martial. They spoke not only for alition to include new constituencies. the antiwar movement might actually or- themselves. “We have been in the army By Derek Seidman One of these constituencies was sol- ganize soldiers, or that they could help long enough to know that we are not the diers. Antiwar organizers in New York soldiers organize themselves, was yet only GIs who feel as we do. Large num- On June 30, 1966, dozens of people as- had consciously sought out refusers and a faint idea. It would take the actions of bers of men in the service do not under- sembled in the basement auditorium of veterans to speak at their events. The the troops themselves, of GIs like Samas, stand this war or are against it.” They the Community Church in midtown Man- most famous antiwar veteran up to that Mora, and Johnson, to crack open the explained how the soldiers around them hattan for a big announcement. Journal- became resigned to going to Vietnam. ists and photographers were there, and so “No one wanted to go,” they said, “and were key leaders of New York’s antiwar more than that, there was no reason for left, such as A.J. Muste and Dave Del- anyone to go.” linger. Stokely Carmichael, the chairper- They criticized U.S. support for the son of the Student Nonviolent Coordinat- government and military of South Viet- ing Committee (SNCC) who had recently begun to popularize the phrase “Black Power,” also showed up. All of them gath- [Their] revolt was an ered to hear the words of three soldiers, Privates David Samas and Dennis Mora, early indication of and Private First Class James A. Johnson. The trio had been stationed at Fort Hood, what happens when the Texas, and they had just been informed military’s trust in their they were going to Vietnam. They were given a 30-day leave before they had to leaders dissolves. embark. The GIs convened the press con- ference to perform a bold act: they in- tended to refuse their orders to go fight. nam, and they questioned the entire pur- By June 1966, the United States had al- pose of the war itself. In the army, they ready been entangled in Vietnam for close said, “No one used the word ‘winning’ to two decades, but its military aggression anymore because in Vietnam it has no had taken a turn toward major escalation meaning. Our officers just talk about five when President Lyndon Johnson began or ten more years of war with at least to send hundreds of thousands of ground half-million of our boys thrown into the troops beginning in 1965. This was ac- grinder.” The three young men agreed companied by the onset of a three-year U.S. soldier in Vietnam in 1966. continued on page 22 …

ity and global capitalism, as did the Fight itary budgets combined. Our official de- called into question not just racist oppres- The Moment for $15, while also underscoring gender fense budget stands at $721.5 billion, but sion but the entire political and economic … continued from previous page discrimination and racism. experts estimate that the total cost of war system. Activists see that another world have sparked some of the most widespread Those in the struggle for climate and spending exceeds one trillion dollars. without permanent war, widespread pov- protests in our nation’s history. More, the environmental justice—our indigenous We have militarized our southern bor- erty, rampant exploitation, and mass in- uprisings have spanned the globe. sisters and brothers in the first place— der, our sporting events, our schools, carceration is possible. The protests remind us of the unpre- have pointed the way toward healthy, and our police. Today’s marchers—over- We have reached a moment of reck- dictability of such uprisings. We never sustainable communities that foster the whelmingly peaceful—have been met by oning. “Which side are you on?” the old know what spark will ignite the fire. But rights of all in harmony with the earth. armored personnel carriers and have been union anthem asks. We cannot determine we do know that the fire cannot be started Immigrant rights activists have ex- assaulted by heavily armed police, troops, where today’s uprising will take us. But without ongoing organizing. Much credit posed the racism and cruelty that under- and federal officers with an assortment of we do know that it needs our participation should be given to those who have spent pins an immigration system that sepa- weapons. One can trace a direct line be- to succeed. During a pandemic, many of decades on the frontlines, but we also can rates families and locks children in cages. tween post-Civil War slave patrols and us for various reasons are not able to take learn much from today’s young leaders Advocates advance a family-based sys- the over-policing of our African-Ameri- to the streets. But that does not negate and all who picked up the baton. I count tem grounded in civil and human rights. can communities. joining the fight. among them teachers around the nation The women’s movement has made in- The call to defund or drastically reduce Regardless of one’s attitude toward elec- who have taken to the streets, including in calculable contributions by emphasizing police department budgets does not seem toral politics and our two-party system, it Republican-led states, to demand smaller how race, gender, class, and sexual ori- radical when we recall that in 1980 spend- would be foolish for anyone to argue that classes and better pay and conditions. entation intersect. That movement has ing on criminal justice and cash welfare the coming election doesn’t matter. As The rise of non-traditional unions and mounted the largest and most militant were roughly equal. Today spending on scholar-activist Barbara Ransby has ar- community-based workers’ organizations demonstrations against the current ad- law and order is double that of Temporary gued, the presidential election is about have helped to build bridges between tra- ministration. And it has consistently re- Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). damage control, stating, “If (Joe) Biden’s ditional unions and communities of color. minded us of the connection between I’m encouraged by The Poor People’s nobody dream, Trump is a nightmare.” “Black Lives Matter” would not have white heteropatriarchy and the menace of Campaign: A National Call for Moral The year I was drafted, Curtis Mayfield become today’s battle cry without the for- militarism. Revival, led by the Revs. Liz Theoharis recorded the soul anthem, “People Get mation of the Movement for Black Lives, The United States maintains nearly and William Barber, who follows in the Ready.” which got its start through the work of 800 military bases in more than 70 coun- footsteps of Dr. King. The campaign con- In it, he calls us to get on the train to Alicia Garza, Patrice Cullors and Opal tries and territories in every continent on nects economic justice—the demand of liberation. History calls us today. Let’s Tometi. the globe. The U.S., with about 4.4% of the original 1968 campaign—to broader get on board. Groundwork for today’s protests also the world’s population, accounts for 37% issues, including sexism, ableism, milita- J.J. Johnson is longtime activist and la- can be traced to Occupy Wall Street, of the world’s military spending, which is rism, and racism in all its forms. bor journalist and a member of Veterans which shone a light on economic inequal- roughly the amount of the next seven mil- Today’s protests and demands have For Peace Chapter 34, New York City. Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 21 of racism and support for the civil rights and swooped away to Fort Dix, N.J. Un- father was a steward with the Retail, Fort Hood Three movement were also major motivations. able to give their speeches, members of Wholesale, and Department Store Workers … continued from page 21 They were some of the earliest antiwar their families stepped in. James Johnson’s Union (RWDSU). District 65 of the AFL- on one thing: “The war in Vietnam must protesters to really connect opposition brother read his talk, and Dennis Mora’s CIO had a Peace Action Committee that be stopped.” The time for talk was over. to the war abroad to the fight for racial young wife read her husband’s statement. mailed a leaflet to members with the head- They ended their statement: “We want no equality at home. “We know that Negroes Meanwhile, the army fretted over how to line: “Jimmy’s Son Needs Your Help.” The part of a war of extermination. We oppose and Puerto Ricans are being drafted and handle the detained GIs. Fort Dix Com- flyer explained that “Jimmy Johnson is a the criminal waste of American lives and end up in the worst of the fighting all out manding General J.M. Hightower told 65er” who “takes his job and his union se- resources. We refuse to go to Vietnam!” of proportion to their numbers in the pop- the army’s chief of staff that he had “suf- riously,” and asked for readers to contrib- The three GIs first met at Fort Gordon, ulation,” they said at their press confer- ficient evidence” to charge the three with ute to the GIs’ defense fund and write to Georgia, where they were stationed be- ence, “and we have firsthand knowledge “uttering disloyal statements with in- them with letters of support. Al Evanhoff, fore they were reassigned to the 142nd that these are the ones who have been tent to cause disaffection and disloyalty assistant vice president of District 65 of the Signal Battalion of the 2nd Armored Di- deprived of decent education and jobs at among the civilian population and mem- RWDSU, put out a supportive statement. vision at Fort Hood. They bonded over home.” In a speech, Johnson discussed bers of the military forces.” He decided, “As a trade unionist,” he wrote, “long ago their shared critique of the war. They all the “direct relationship between the peace however, to issue movement orders to the I learned the fact that an injury to one is an had opposed the war before entering the movement and the civil rights movement,” soldiers to leave for Saigon on July 13. injury to all.” Evanhoff criticized the war army, but now, with shipment to Vietnam and he drew a connection between the This would be their last chance at avoid- and pledged to form a defense committee looming, the stakes were much higher. Vietnamese and African American strug- ing punishment. “Should orders be dis- for the Fort Hood Three. All three came from working-class gles. “The South Vietnamese are fighting obeyed,” Hightower wrote, “appropriate This support from sections of the la- backgrounds, and they all had some col- for representation, like we ourselves,” he action will be taken.” bor movement is worth noting, because it lege education. Mora was Puerto Rican, wrote. “[T]he Negro in Vietnam is just The orders to ship out actually came flies in the face of the conventional nar- Samas was Lithuanian and Italian, and rative that pits workers against the anti- Johnson was African American. “We war movement. While some union lead- represent in our backgrounds a cross sec- ers and members were certainly pro-war, tion of the Army and America,” they said. others opposed it. Major unions like the Mora was from Spanish Harlem and was American Federation of State, County a member of the Du Bois Club, a youth and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), group connected to the Communist Party. and powerful labor leaders like Walter He had participated in protests against Reuther criticized the war. Many locals U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam, Guate- and rank-and-file members were antiwar, mala, and Puerto Rico. A classmate de- and working-class people overall were scribed him as “a socialist who’s inter- more likely than the college-educated af- ested in the Marxist way of thinking.” fluent to be against it. GI and veteran dis- Mora’s links to the New York left proved sent would soon become one example of helpful when the three troops decided to working-class antiwar protest to make a act on their consciences. mark on history. After being ordered to Vietnam, the When the three soldiers were finally re- soldiers decided together that they would leased after serving their time, the Hunter refuse. During their leave they hashed College Du Bois Club hosted a celebra- out a strategy and reached out to a law- tory homecoming for them. It was called yer. With Mora’s connections to the an- “Salute the Ft. Hood Three,” and Pete tiwar left, they sought out civilian allies. Seeger, Ossie Davis, Dave Dellinger, They contacted leaders of the Du Bois and others attended. The GIs came out of Club and the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Family members and supporters of the Fort Hood Three demonstrate at Fort Dix. prison, still, as supporters of the antiwar Parade Committee. Antiwar leaders Dave movement. Dellinger and Fred Halstead met with the helping to defeat what his Black brother is down on July 14, 1966. The young men They also came out of prison to see a GIs, and together with famed pacifist A.J. fighting for in the United States.” were told they must go to Vietnam. They rising GI movement flourishing all around Muste, they all agreed to use the Parade Johnson also highlighted the contradic- refused. In doing so, they became one of them. Hundreds of active-duty service Committee, perhaps the most important tion for Black soldiers who were asked the very first examples of active-duty GI members had joined the antiwar move- antiwar coalition at the time, to mobilize to fight abroad while being denied equal refusal during the Vietnam War, and cer- ment by the late 1960s. Some, like the support for the three. They also agreed to rights at home. “When the Negro soldier tainly the most visible to date. They also Fort Hood Three, refused to go to Viet- use their refusal as a call to organize more returns, he still will not be able to ride became something more than just three nam. Underground GI newspapers circu- GIs against the war. in Mississippi or walk down a certain soldiers. To the antiwar movement, they lated throughout the military, and off-base This was the beginning of a civilian- street in Alabama,” he wrote. “His chil- were now the “Fort Hood Three.” coffeehouses were springing up around soldier alliance that would help sustain dren will still receive an inferior educa- The Fort Hood Three were court-­ the nation. Antiwar soldiers marched, the wave of GI protest to come. The or- tion and he will still live in a ghetto. Al- martialed in September of 1966. In de- protested, petitioned, and formed their ganizers in New York worked to mobilize though he bears the brunt of the war he fense of their refusal, the soldiers argued own groups to try to organize their fellow broad, national support for the soldiers. will receive no benefits.” Nor was it just that the war in Vietnam was illegal. The troops. Civilian support networks and le- They formed the Fort Hood Three De- these three GIs who were connecting the military refused this argument, and all gal defense organizations were aiding this fense Committee and sent out fact sheets dots between racism and the war. Their three were convicted for insubordina- rising tide of soldier dissent. And the GI to their contacts across the nation. They act of protest occurred within months of tion. Samas and Johnson each received movement had not yet reached its peak. lined up support for the GIs on the West Muhammad Ali’s draft refusal and the five years in prison at Fort Leavenworth. Little of this was true when David Sa- Coast, and they reached out to luminaries rise of the Black Panthers, who connected Mora received three years. All appeals mas, Dennis Mora, and James Johnson re- like Carmichael. colonialism abroad to racial oppression at would fail, including one to the Supreme fused to ship to Vietnam on June 30, 1966. It was opposition to the war that drove home. Martin Luther King Jr. would soon Court, though the army would later re- But a few years later, it was a reality. The the three soldiers to act, but their critique speak out against the war. “We were tak- duce Samas’ and Johnson’s sentence to Fort Hood Three set an example that oth- ing the Black young men who had been three years. ers followed, and David Samas, Dennis crippled by our society,” King would later The Fort Hood Three Defense Com- Mora, and James Johnson emerged from declare, “and sending them eight thou- mittee continued to mobilize support for their time in prison to see firsthand the GI sand miles away to guarantee liberties in the GIs after their conviction. They raised movement that they helped to create. Southeast Asia which they had not found funds, spread awareness of the case, paid Derek Seidman is an assistant professor in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.” for newspaper ads, and circulated peti- of history at D’Youville College in Buffalo, On July 7, 1966, the three GIs were tions. Sponsors of the defense committee New York. He is currently writing a book once again scheduled to speak to sup- included Tom Hayden, Stokely Carmi- on the history of soldier protest during the porters at the Community Church. Nearly chael, Harvey Swados, Noam Chomsky, Vietnam War. To reach him, or to see a 800 people turned out to the event. On and Floyd McKissick. version of this article with citations, con- The Fort Hood Three (L-R): Dennis Mora, their way there, however, Samas, Mora, Some in the labor movement also ral- tact him at [email protected]. David Samas, and James Johnson. and Johnson were stopped by the police lied behind the soldiers. James Johnson’s 22 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 go out and turn tricks so my kids can have the window at them, but the posse had Rhodessa Jones milk and cereal. gone out on horses with shotguns. They … continued from page 24 They were so down on themselves. I came up on my grandfather and they said, could grow food. And it was like, well we just knew instinctively that we all have a “Look, nigga, if you value your life, you were very, very poor. I mean, one winter right to a life, and that had a lot to do with leave now.” And he asked, “Can I go and was so heavy they dropped the cheese and how I came up from that dirt road in up- say goodbye?” They said, “No, you have cornmeal and all that stuff in by plane be- state New York. I would ask the women to leave the state of Georgia now.” And cause we couldn’t get out. what happened. Because I had a handle my grandfather left and didn’t return for DR: Your brothers Bill and Steve and on literature and some sense of myself, years and years and years. In the wake of Gus told me about going out with a sled to and my grandmother, mother, and my fa- that, my grandmother felt abandoned. She find wooden packing crates and any other ther were all great storytellers, and I saw had nine children to raise on her own. My scrap wood to take home for firewood. that these women had stories. I got the mother’s dream of being a nurse ended; They had socks on their hands because had endless radical theories that made idea of these women acting out their pre- my mother had a father who had a regu- they didn’t have gloves, and the white sense to me. That was you, Denny. You’d dicaments, and once they started, I saw lar job on the railroad so she could dream boys in Wayland would kid them about say you got all your best lines from me. real passion, I felt real theater. That’s how of being a nurse and all of a sudden, he’s it. And your brothers would say, no, we’re This shaped me, moved me toward activ- the Medea Project was formed. gone. Finally, he gets word to them but building a fort. ism. I tell people my life has been very To be down on yourself was a way to he’s afraid to come back. So my grand- RJ: Yeah. Nobody in that part of New mythical. I feel like I was sent. I didn’t go deal with the pain and to deal with the mother had to raise nine children by her- York was wealthy. Wayland was a poor to art school. I didn’t say, okay, I’m going idea of being not counted. You could al- self. This is like the turn of the century. hamlet. German and Italian immigrants. to be an activist. My grandmother was a most ignore the pain because you thought She would live and work on a plantation Even there black folks were the monkeys. great storyteller. you were supposed to have it. I still strug- where life hadn’t changed much from We were the ones who weren’t quite hu- Then Riley, you and I and my daugh- gle with that myself. I think that white su- slavery. But if she saw a better job on mans, so the other white boys could say ter Saundra woke during a snowy win- premacy affects all of us. Like if most peo- another plantation, she’d tell the planta- all kinds of stuff. The other side of that ter night with our apartment on fire. We ple say you’re no good, you’re no good. tion owner she was leaving for a better was that when my sisters and I were like made it out almost okay and left town, You don’t matter. I’m going to hang your job. The owners would say, no you’re not. 12, 13 and 14, we moved into Wayland. headed south and camped our way down brother. I’m gonna rape your sister and I She’d say yes, I am. One owner beat my My mother and father had decided that to Central America and lived on a beach don’t even care if you tell. Who gives a grandmother because she was leaving. they were going to open a restaurant. And in Costa Rica. From there we came to San shit? At the same time, what does that do My grandmother said, “Unless you kill at night the fathers of kids I knew from Francisco. California at that time was the to the white guy who’s saying this? How me, I’m leaving here.” He left my grand- the school would be knocking on the door enchanted state. My brother Azel moved entirely full of misery and hatred must mother in a pile in the yard, but she left. downstairs, wanting to know if they could out here and wrote a musical, Port Royal he be? For people of color there’s a lot of The only freedom she had was that she buy one of us girls. As if we were whores. Sound, about the freeing of the first slaves shucking and jiving that goes along with And my father was beside himself. He in the Civil War. It’s a musical. It all came simply staying alive, like Stepin Fetchit, knew these men. They had kids too. Yeah, out of who we were. It wasn’t like Azel you know, you play that part. It may be that happened too, that happened. said “I’m going to be a great playwright.” degrading but it gives you a little space I’m reminded of Toni Morrison saying Azel was a Buddhist and he thought, how to move around. What does the white su- that her grandmother told the grandfa- do I examine my reality through the lens premacist filled with righteous hatred do? ther, we have to leave here. We have to of theater? And so we formed The Jones My daughter would say in street lan- leave the South because the white boys Company and did this musical about the guage, “I see you.” I see you, I know you, are circling. She had beautiful young freeing of the first slaves and the Civil I’ll remember you. Right now I don’t have daughters and these guys would come War. And all of us were in it. There was the power, but I see what’s going on. And and just sit and look at them. If you were money for the arts. I loved Isadora Dun- then the people that are killed because can. She touched something in me, her they look at a cop eye to eye and go, yeah, early bearings as a citizen of the West I’m looking at you. Emmett Till. Emmett They came up on my Coast. I began to dance with Tumbleweed Till was just a kid who supposedly saw dance company. All of the other dancers a pretty white lady and whistled. Later, grandfather and they were white girls who’d gone to good col- we found out none of that happened. She leges. We toured all over the States and lied, but they came into his grandparents’ Rhodessa Jones with Denny Riley, 1970. said, ‘Look, nigga, if Europe. Then I was asked to go into the house and just took this kid away. And you value your life, you San Francisco jails and teach aerobics to he was never seen alive again. But in the incarcerated women. words of David Chappelle, nobody was could leave so she did what she wanted. leave now.’ And he I got in there and looked around and ready for “what a fucking gangster his She was always looking for a better job. was like, what does incarceration have mother Mamie Till was!” She had to feed her children, and also, she asked, ‘Can I go and to do with rehabilitation? What does She demanded, “Leave the coffin open. had that fury, she was furious. say goodbye?’ They said, this jail have to do with saving the lives I want them to see what they did to my She moved all over Georgia, ended up in of women? But I kept going because I baby.” And Chappelle feels like that be- Pavo where my mother met my father. My ‘No, you have to leave the was curious, and I realized there were so gan the action of the civil rights move- grandmother bought a shotgun and kept many black and brown women arrested ment. It’s like because the whole world it loaded. She made a name for herself. state of Georgia now.’ because of their relationships to men. I saw this 14-year-old boy who had been “You’re a crazy nigga, you know?” And come from a family of 12 brothers and murdered, you know, just slaughtered. she was like, “Yeah, I’m crazy. Step up on sisters, so I know something about Black Back to your question about how has my yard and see how crazy I am.” It must smart, you just got the hell out of there. men being incarcerated, but I had no idea civil rights influenced my life. Estella, my have been awful. My grandmother lost all You know? So it was very, very layered, there were so many women in lockdown. mother, was a woman who had lived with- of her teeth. She was big and black. She because from another angle I’m so glad In most cases it was due simply to as- out rights for so long and had lost her fa- wasn’t pretty and soft with golden skin I grew up there. I was educated there. I sociation with men. Being caught in the ther to white supremacy and nevertheless, and soft hair. She was a big, broad black mean, I write a great letter. I enjoy read- wrong place at the wrong time with the she would still say, “Y’all have rights, you woman who took care of her family. She ing. I can add. I can subtract. I’ve read the wrong guy. Women would just be taken know?” was a midwife. She was a root worker. classics, Victor Hugo, the Brontë sisters, along to jail. “Come on, bitch. You’re go- My grandfather, Walden, was a brake- She did all these things to take care of that Joseph Conrad, J.D. Salinger. I mean, that ing too, because you’re in this house with man on the Southern Railroad, just out- family of children and still lost some of was a part of our learning. We were all him, that’s why.” side of Savannah. Grandpa Walden was them to smallpox. She was married five studying this in school and my brothers The realization I brought into the jails coming home from work at two in the times. She was filled with grist. It sustains and sisters and I loved it. When I moved and all I could say to the women came morning. Can you imagine he was a me to know this. How do they say it? I am to the city, I looked like a snob because I from my own experience was that you brakeman on the train? This was a real standing on the shoulders of the genera- spoke well. I had a handle on language. have a right to a life. The women there job. So he’s walking through this area tions who came before. And I could talk to white people truth- just felt like they lost the contest. It was and there’s only one house on the road. Denny Riley is an Air Force veteran of fully, which was a whole thing. “You can like, I’m not good. I got busted or I’m a Two young white girls live there. They our war in Vietnam, a writer, and a mem- talk to white people?” I had a white boy- junkie, or because I’m a junkie I’m a said a Black man, who they found later ber of VFP Chapter 69 in San Francisco. friend. He worked in a soup kitchen and whore, or I’m a whore and I’m a mother. I was a white man in blackface, looked in Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020 23 Rhodessa Jones: ‘If You Don’t See Color, You Don’t See Me’ Rhodessa Jones is an actress, teacher, people begging for their lives. And she director, writer, and the founding direc- had to witness their murder as a way of tor of the Medea Project, a performance telling us that we had no rights. We had workshop designed to achieve personal no power. There’s a great line from Mar- and social transformation with incarcer- garet Walker’s Harriet Tubman poem, ated women and women living with HIV. where she writes, “Stand in the field Har- Her published works include A Begin- riet; Stand alone and still; I am still the ner’s Guide to Community-Based Arts. overseer, mad enough to kill. This is slav- She was recently invited to be a Mont- ery Harriet, bend beneath the lash. This is gomery Fellow at Dartmouth College. slavery Harriet bow to poor white trash.” Denny Riley interviewed her for Peace & And that’s what my mother was living. Planet News. And then for her to come along in the sixties and be able to vote as well as to be By Denny Riley able to file a claim, a complaint against an institution or our landlord. My mother Denny Riley: The term Black Lives was good at it. She sued people to dem- Medea Project in performance Matter entered the lexicon a while ago, onstrate her rights. My mama had only but now has come to the front. Many peo- a fourth-grade education but my brother colored woman in the 21st century. A col- to examine where we are. ple and many corporations are changing Azel gave her a wonderful copy of Angela ored woman who has to find a way to hold DR: Could you describe the way the attitudes and logos. Black Lives Matter Davis’ biography. She’d sit at the kitchen it all together.” Jones family lived and your progress is half of every news report. I know you table underlining passages and mouthing James Baldwin said, “To be black and through to the point where you’re known were born in 1948 into less than afflu- some of the words. conscious in America is to be in a con- as a successful artist, awarded various ent surroundings. I’d like to know what Yet a whole lot hasn’t changed at all. stant state of rage.” honors including a U.S.A. Fellow and When we think about the death of George We can’t live like that. So we birthed honorary doctorate in Fine Arts, a pub- Floyd we see it woke the country to what the blues. We got rap. We got the walk. lished playwright, and other tributes, still has always been going on. We got the talk. And it’s all part of how you are often pigeonholed as simply a I love my country. I love America, even we cope. How we live. Black artist. In the beginning few would with the killings still going on. The police I am so grateful for Black Lives Mat- have imagined your life taking this road. are murdering people right now. George ter. The flags are flying everywhere. It’s RJ: I’m a migrant child. My mother and Floyd died on the 25th of May and already too bad it had to come to this, but if we father were migrant workers. Actually, we the police are involved in four question- can embrace it, if we all can embrace all were. If your parents pick, you pick. At able deaths. And everybody can see it. Black Lives Matter, it can change all our one point, my father had a crew of more I’m an activist, and I love all kinds of peo- lives. It’s a shame that in this great coun- than a hundred people. In 1948, the year ple. I’ve been blessed to have all types of try we have to say, Hey, y’all, black lives I was born, Daddy set out to do this, be- friends and community. Right now, there matter. And then you have a whole group cause in America, if you could pull a crew are people that I love who I have to check. of people saying, well, all lives matter. together and get contracts from all up and Such as one friend of mine, she told me Of course, all lives matter, but why am I down the Eastern states, you could make that she didn’t see color. A white woman. standing here screaming at the top of my a living as a gypsy caravan. It was fan- We’re talking about all of what’s going lungs that black lives matter? Why? Let’s tastic. That’s one way to see it, to travel on and she goes, “Oh Rho, I love you so examine this. Let’s unpack this historical up and down the Eastern seaboard. But much I don’t even see color.” The world trauma. And that’s what we’re doing right the winters were hard after we left Flor- put the brakes on. I went, “Wait a min- now with Black Lives Matter. ida. We ended up on a dirt road in upstate ute, wait a minute.” She goes, “I just love Why are we at this place? We hear about New York. My parents wanted us to get you Rho.” I said, “If you don’t see color the cops resigning because they can’t use an education and they knew we’d have to kind of civil rights progress you’ve seen you don’t see me. You insult me if you tell the choke hold. I hear this and it makes get off the migration. At that point, there in your time. me you don’t see color. You come to my me want to disappear. I want to go live in were nine of us and we were poor. As Rhodessa Jones: The kind of progress shows and you tell me you love it when Trinidad or Tobago, but I can’t, as long as Nikki Giovanni would say, “I didn’t know I’ve seen is more reflected in my mother. I’m up there when I’m pouring it out, and people gather and I can share with them I was so poor,” We were kind of living on She loved that she could vote. She didn’t you tell me you wish the show could go our collective history so we can move the the outskirts of America, a black fam- want to mail in her vote. She wanted to be on forever. What do you think that show whole thing forward. The Black Lives ily snowed in on a dirt road. I loved even at the polls. She wanted to stand among is? That’s my color. That’s part of being a Matter movement at least encourages us then the idea of being an outsider. I think the people, as she would say. She’d tell part of my journey has been that I didn’t us this, and then she would go into the know any better. I’m going to do this. I’m whole, painful history of watching … going to do that. My sister Flossie and I my mother was taken to a lynching when The man had a shotgun went with two white guys to the first Viet- she was nine years old. She remembered pointed at them. They nam War moratorium in Washington. being taken to a lynching of a family of They were veterans. They served, as peo- seven brothers. This was in Georgia. She were forced to watch ple say. We were in the streets. I tell peo- and her family were gathered up by the ple, when they ask me about protesting, white folks, put on wagons. They took all this, and these were that I went to the very first big one. They the black folks who lived in that area, you people [my mother] ask how’d I do that? I tell them it was the know, to see the lynching. I remember company I was keeping, the man I was in- Mama telling us something happened, knew, neighbor people volved with, you, Riley. Your brother was something happened, and she saw seven a Franciscan friar in D.C. and we stayed brothers castrated. She saw the pregnant begging for their lives. at the friary. Flossie was just along for the wife of one of the brothers begging for ride, but she had a ball. It was the begin- her husband’s life. One of the white men And she had to witness ning of a cultural revolution. But back to stomped the baby out of this woman. My their murder as a way of your question, the scenario you’re creat- Mama was a nine-year-old girl and she ing. I had a baby. I was a mother before I said they weren’t allowed to look away. telling us that we had was a woman. I had a baby at 16 and thank The man had a shotgun pointed at them. Augusta and Estella Jones, Rhodessa’s God my parents said, “You’re not going to They were forced to watch this, you know, parents. Photo: Property of Jones Family no rights. give this baby away.” We had land and we and these were people she knew, neighbor Foundation/Used with permission continued on page 23 … 24 Peace and Planet News Special Black Lives Matter Issue Fall 2020