Sunday links, 12/14/14

I realized I haven’t posted any food pictures in a while. So here is some delicious Indonesian fried rice.

#BlackLivesMatter
-Absolutely gut-wrenching: Eric Garner’s daughter staged a “die-in” at the same spot where her father was killed.
–Eric Garner said “I can’t breathe” 11 times–now activists are making 11 demands in his name.
–The civil rights movement came out of a moment like this one.
-Must-read profiles of DeRay McKesson, one of the organizers behind the Ferguson protests, and Frankie, a protester.
–Today in solidarity: incredible women and girls of Ferguson.
–Police violence happens to black women, too.
–Whose lives matter? Trans women of color and police violence.
-“We live in a country full of racism, but no racists; rape, but no rapists. And the common denominator is power.”
–Black poverty is state violence, too: why struggles for criminal justice and living wage are uniting.
-“I’ve been attending and observing protests for thirty years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like what I’ve experienced in New York City over the last week.”
-These pictures document the unprecedented scale of the protests. You can also see powerful pictures from a few of Boston’s actions here, here, here, here, and here.
-A list of concrete ways that white people can act accountably within the movement.

An important sign I saw at a recent protest.

Sunday links, 12/7/14

Thursday night’s protest on the Boston Common.

Eric Garner/Mike Brown/#BlackLivesMatter
(I know this is an overwhelming amount of links, but 1.) this shit is important and 2.) there’s been so much necessary and powerful writing, I couldn’t pick just a few pieces.)
–Can you breathe? Reflections on non-indictment, activism, and black life.
–White America’s scary delusion: why its sense of black humanity is so skewed.
-This is painfully true, and be forewarned that the painting at the end of the post might make you cry: The 10 stages of what happens when there’s injustice against black people.
-Katherine Cross writes about why she was not surprised by the Eric Garner decision, as a trans woman of color who has seen her sisters regularly face brutality from the NYPD.
–Meet the BART-stopping woman behind “Black Lives Matter.”
–This country needs a truth and reconciliation process on violence against African Americans–right now.
-Another incredibly fucked-up decision: charges were dropped against the police officer who shot 7-year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones while she slept in her own home.
-In a rare example of someone (although not a cop) being held accountable for killing a black person, Renisha McBride’s killer was found guilty of murder.
-“Twelve years after getting my Vassar College faculty ID, I sit here and know that the nation can’t structurally and emotionally assault black kids and think they’re going to turn out OK.”
–This stops today: seeking strategies to end discriminatory policing. A key point: “support [solutions] that take power and money away from the cops, and those that give power to the people.”
–Police “reforms” you should always oppose. Likewise: Body cameras won’t stop police brutality, and Eric Garner is only one of several reasons why.
-An important analysis of public space and power: After Ferguson, we have to ask: who owns the streets?

It just never ends.

“I can’t breathe.” – Eric Garner’s last words, illustrated by Shirin Barghi (source)

Last night, a grand jury declined to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who choked Eric Garner to death.

I don’t have words.

But I follow a lot of brilliant and thoughtful people on Twitter, so, read their reactions.

Here in Boston, there will be a protest tonight at the tree lighting on the Common. If you live elsewhere, check the Ferguson Response Tumblr to find an action in your area.

Now, because all of the news lately has been so intensely horrifying and painful, here are some snuggling puppies:

source