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Palestinians express solidarity with the people of Ferguson August 17, 2014

We the undersigned Palestinian individuals and groups express our solidarity with the family of Michael Brown, a young unarmed black man gunned down by police on August 9th in Ferguson, Missouri. We wish to express our support and solidarity with the people of Ferguson who have taken their struggle to the street, facing a militarized police occupation.

From all factions and sectors of our dislocated society, we send you our commitment to stand with you in your hour of pain and time of struggle against the oppression that continues to target our black brothers and sisters in nearly every aspect of their lives.

We understand your moral outrage. We empathize with your hurt and anger. We understand the impulse to rebel against the infrastructure of a racist capitalist system that systematically pushes you to the margins of humanity.  

And we stand with you.

We recognize the disregard and disrespect for black bodies and black life endemic to the supremacist system that rules the land with wanton brutality. Your struggles through the ages have been an inspiration to us as we fight our own battles for basic human dignities. We continue to find inspiration and strength from your struggles through the ages and your revolutionary leaders, like Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Kwame Ture, Angela Davis, Fred Hampton, Bobby Seale and others.

We honor the life of Michael Brown, cut short less than a week before he was due to begin university.  And we honor the far too many more killed in similar circumstances, motivated by racism and contempt for black life: Ezell Ford, John Crawford, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tarika Wilson, Malcolm Ferguson, Renisha McBride, Amadou Diallo, Yvette Smith, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Kathryn Johnston, Rekia Boyd and too many others to count.

With a Black Power fist in the air, we salute the people of Ferguson and join in your demands for justice.

Signatories

Susan Abulhawa, novelist and activist

Linah Alsaafin, graduate student, SOAS

Budour Hassan

Rinad Abdulla, Professor, Birzeit University

Ramzy Baroud, Managing Editor, Middle East Eye

Diana Buttu, Lawyer, Palestine

Rana Baker, graduate student, SOAS

Abbas Hamideh, activist and organizer

Abir Kopty

Ahlam Muhtaseb, Professor, CSU

Alaa Milbes, Ramallah, Palestine

Alaa Marwan, Ramallah, Palestine

Nour Joudah, Washington DC

Ali Zbeidat, Sakhnin, Palestine

Areej Alragabi , Jerusalem, Palestine

Areej Saeb, student, Jerusalem

Asma Jaber

Beesan Ramadan, Nablus

Dina Zbidat, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Dr Jess Ghannam, UCSF

Huwaida Arraf, Attorney, New York

Nejma Awad, Tetra Tech DPK

Monadel Herzallah, USPCN, San Francisco Bay Area

Ghassan Hussein

Dinna Omar

Randa C. Issa

Amal Khoury, MD MPH, Washington, DC

Amani Barakat Moorpark, California

Fadi Quran 

Fajr Harb

Falastine Dwikat, PCACBI

Hala Gabriel

Khaled Jarrar

Osama Ahmad, AMP Bay Area director

Hala Turjman

Halla Shoaibi, Birzeit University

Harun Arsalai  

Zaid Shuaibi

Hurriyah Ziada

Dima Eleiwa, Shujaiyah, Gaza, Palestine

Jamil Salem, Birzeit University

Karam Saleem, International Solidarity Movement, Palestine

Khaled Barakat

Khuzama Hanoon, Palestine

Laila Awartani, Ramallah, Palestine

Lana Habash, Let’s Go There Collective

Lana Khoury, Washington DC

Yousef Aljamal, University of Malaysia 

Safwan Hamdi

Leena Barakat

Lema Nazeeh, lawyer

Yara Kayyali Abbas, Palestine

Mariam Barghouti, Birzeit University

Mohammad Ayyad, graduate student, SOAS

Nader Elkhuzundar

Nancy Mansour, Existence is Resistance, New York/Palestine

Mohammed Alkhader, Birzeit University

Nazik Hassan, attorney, Riverside, California

Nora Taha

Rena Zuabi

Roleen Tafakji-Haidami

Samera Sood

Sana Ibrahim

Sherene Seikaly, UCSB

Taher Herzallah

Tamara Reem, Washington DC

Ahmad Nimer, Palestine

Riya Al’sanah, journalist, London

Alaa Milbes, Ramallah

Belal Dabour, Gaza doctor

Huda Asfour, PhD, Durham NC

Iyad Afalqa, Irvine, CA

Ruba Leech, Portland, OR

Rashad Al-Dabbagh, Network of Arab American Professionals

Maysoon Suleiman-Khatib, Civil Rights Specialist

Diana Alzeer, Ramallah, Palestine

Mona Kadah, Boston MA

Lucy Garbett, Jerusalem, Palestine

Hadeel Assali, Columbia University, NYC

Magid Shihade, Oakland, CA

Tamara Tamimi, Palestine

Hammam Farah, psychotherapist and editor

Dina Elmuti, Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture

Laila Hamdan, Portland OR

Bushra Shamma, VA, USA

Rev. Fahed Abuakel, Presbyterian minister , Atlanta, GA

Rehab Nazzal, artist, Canada

Ezees Silwady, Palestine

Dua’ Nakhala, freelance researcher, Belgium

Amal Oweis, Palestine

Shaheen Nassar, UCR

Amin Dallal, youth counselor

Dr. Tariq Shadid, surgeon

Zaha Hassan, Esq

Randa Issa, PhD

Murad Saleh, GED

Lila Sharif, Ph.D

Sa’ed Atshan, Ph.D

Rasha Khoury, MD Jerusalem

Hadeel Assali, Columbia University, NYC

Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, Associate Professor of Race and Resistance Studies, San Francisco University

Tanya Keilani

Shahd Abusalama

Organizations

American Muslims for Palestine

Free Amer Jubran Campaign

International Solidarity Movement, Palestine

Let’s Go There Collective

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Students for Justice in Palestine, University of New Mexico

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat

Bay Area Intifada, Bay Area

PAWA, Palestinian American Women Association

NSJP, National Students for Justice in Palestine

Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights

Mashjar Juthour, Palestine

Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee

Al-Awda NY, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition 

Stop the Wall

The US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Source Photo: Hamde Abu expresses solidarity with Ferguson.

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Whenever the police murder someone, they try to concoct a story, however implausible, that implicates the victim or the victim’s loved ones as the cause of the shooting. Cops will routinely use the They Tried to Grab My Gun! contrivance, along with They Made a Sudden Move and They Made Furtive Movements. For the murder of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, they used the first excuse. It worked. The jury couldn’t convict. Even though the charge, itself, was a tap on the wrist. And no one marched. And no one rioted. And our outrage was contained before it eventually dissipated. Because so few of us even know her name. Because no one marches or riots for black girls. Because most people thought like the person who examined Aiyana’s lifeless body: "You might say that the homicide of Aiyana is the natural conclusion to the disease from which she suffered," Schmidt told me. "What disease was that?" I asked. "The psychopathology of growing up in Detroit," he said. "Some people are doomed from birth because their environment is so toxic." So America’s feeling is that the cop should be absolved because the real murderer is black pathology. Whiteness is always innocent and Blackness is always guilty. FOH. The title of this article should be WHO Killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones—or better yet: We KNOW WHO Killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones. But the truth dies first. That’s how shit works in ‘Murrica.

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Daily Inspiration

"I still see the same people on the corner that were there when I was eleven years old. It’s tough to evolve when your surroundings never change. So I wasn’t sure that I could be the one to make it out. The first time I took the GED, I failed. But for two months after that, I did practice tests everyday. And my aunt is a teacher, so when she was finished grading her papers, she’d help me break down all the problems that I couldn’t figure out. And there were a lot of people in my corner. My mom encouraged me, and my sister, and my grandmother. Then the second time I passed. It felt so good to see something in yourself, and then to see it come true."

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Raise the wages! Erase the inequality. 

Interesting…

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Sign this petition if you support raising Minimum Wage! 

The Case For An $11 Minimum Wage

Sign the petition(s) at the bottom of this article to ask both Congress and the White House to…

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I believe profoundly in the possibilities of democracy, but democracy needs to be emancipated from capitalism. As long as we inhabit a capitalist democracy, a future of racial equality, gender equality, economic equality will elude us.

Angela Y. Davis on what’s radical in the 21st century (via thepeoplesrecord)

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The Bill in question proposes that the curfew be pushed up to around 9pm. Local activists including a few of us here at New Lens have been speaking with city officials and stakeholders to make sure that young people in Baltimore City have a strong voice on the issue. The new curfew law also prohibits youth from being in public places and establishments between 7:30AM and 3:00PM. While this may seem totally feasible for some students (those who do not have to travel on public transportation) for others this law will only bring more trouble. Many students have to wait hours at a time for a bus, due to overcrowding, bus tardiness and blatantly irresponsible drivers. How will this law alleviate underage violence and illegal activities in Baltimore? 

Baltimore: Despite protests, council adopts stronger youth curfew laws

Activists protested  outside Baltimore City Hall Monday against a proposed curfew law. On the agenda of the City Council was  Bill No. 13-0261, which opponents claim will “dramatically expand Baltimore’s (youth) curfew law.”

Instead of a newer, harsh curfew law, the protestors want more community and recreations centers and youth-outreach programs and “housing for homeless children.”

To learn more about this controversial issue, check out the Facebook page.   To check out how the new law, if passed, will be tougher than the one currently on the books.

One of the speakers at the demonstration was community activist, Marvin “Doc” Cheatham. At press time, it was disclosed that the Baltimore City Council had voted by a 13 to 2 vote to enact a “stricter curfew law.”

Report and photos by Bill Hughes

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Wes Moore will be speaking at Beth Am Synagogue on June 7th! Come Join us in an enlightening, fun filled after service conversation about life decisions! We hope to see you there!

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From the Department of Education:

Black students accounted for 18 percent of the country’s pre-K enrollment, but made up 48 percent of preschoolers with multiple out-of-school suspensions.

Black students were expelled at three times the rate of white students.

American Indian and Native-Alaskan students represented less than 1 percent of students, but 3 percent of expulsions.

Black girls were suspended at higher rates than all other girls and most boys.

American Indian and Native-Alaskan girls were suspended at higher rates than white boys or girls.

Nearly one in four boys of color, excepting Latino and Asian American students, with disabilities received an out-of-school suspension.

One in five girls of color with disabilities received an out-of-school suspension.

A quarter of the schools with the highest percentage of black and Latino students did not offer Algebra II.

A third of these schools did not offer chemistry.

Less than half of American Indian and Native-Alaskan high school students had access to the full range of math and science courses, which consists of Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics.

Black and Latino students accounted for 40 percent of enrollment at schools with gifted programs, but only represented 26 percent of students in such programs.

Black, Latino and Native American students attended schools with higher concentrations of first-year teachers (3 to 4 percent) than white students (1 percent).

Black students were more than three times as likely to attend schools where fewer than 60 percent of teachers meet all state certification and licensure requirements.

Latino students were twice as likely to attend such schools.

(h/t The Nation)

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A child got arrested for passing gas in school? We all should be arrested then.

It is ridiculous that we live in a country that treats us like slaves instead of people. How can you fight a power that is determined to destroy you and every generation that bares your phenotype? It's time to fight back. As a collective people, we must fight for greater equality in this country or perish under the thumb of oppression. 

Jim Crow for kids: Schools prepare children for life behind bars March 26, 2013

Gone are the days of children dreading a trip to the principal’s office or spending their lunch time in detention. Instead, children are now facing the possibility of being dragged out of their classrooms in handcuffs for conduct violations, such as a schoolyard brawl or being accused of stealing a student’s lunch money.

Increasingly, children of color and children with learning disabilities are being prepped for a life in the American injustice system as police officers have become as common of a figure at schools as the nurse. After the Newtown massacre in December, police presence in schools across the country jumped leaving the authorities to deal with school children just as they deal with criminals, in an arrangement commonly referred to as the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

Recent cases of criminalization include a 12-year-old junior high student who was handcuffed and arrested for doodling on her desk in New York City; a 13-year-old Florida boy arrested and charged with disrupting a school function after passing gas; and a 6-year-old child handcuffed and arrested for throwing a tantrum in Georgia.

More guns, officers aggravate injustice

In his recent gun control proposal, President Obama slipped in a call to staff schools with police officers, further exacerbating the school-to-prison pipeline that unequally marginalizes black and Latino children. According to a study by the Civil Rights Data Collection—one that covered 85 percent of the nation’s students and 72,000 schools—black students are three and a half times more likely to be arrested than their white peers. The study also showed that 70 percent of students arrested were either black or Latino. Running in sync with the National Rifle Association’s call to put armed guards in every school, Obama’s plan will only intensify the school-to-prison pipeline, endangering children of color across the country.

Students with disabilities are also the victims of these harsh policies. Officers already receive very little training on how to handle suspects with mental disabilities, but even less so when it comes to children. Even though 8.6 percent of children in public schools have been found to have some sort of disability, they make up 32 percent of the youth in detention centers.

In a prison system that author Michelle Alexander has called “The New Jim Crow,” mass incarceration has led to one in six Latino men living behind bars, people of color making up 60 percent of the prisoner population and more black people in prison than there were slaves before the Civil War began. These same principles used to lock up people of color for petty “crimes” have found a way into classrooms, preparing these children for the racist injustice system they are statistically likely to encounter later in life by forcing them into the prison system early.

Not only have more security guards and police officers resulted in more bogus misdemeanor arrests, but they drain the already scarce funding for schools. School districts have spent upwards of $51 million on school security, while other much more vital aspects of education go underfunded, especially in poor urban neighborhoods of color.

A child is not a criminal

School-to-prison pipelines have been under fire recently with the expansion of the police state into elementary and middle schools, especially in places notorious for racial discrimination. In October, Meridian, Mississippi was sued for operating a pipeline where students were denied basic constitutional rights once they were arrested and taken to juvenile court. About 86 percent of the students in the Lauderdale Country School District are black, and every single one of the students referred to the court for violations were students of color. Not only were these students arrested, but they were denied legal representation, detained without probable cause, and weren’t advised of their Miranda rights.

Texas isn’t far behind when it comes to criminalizing students for minor infractions, such as disrupting class. According to The Guardian, the state tallied more than 300,000 Class C misdemeanor arrests in 2010 because of zero-tolerance policies and increased police forces on school grounds.

But this extension of the New Jim Crow has been found to have been the worst and the largest in Florida. According to the Orlando Sentinel, 12,000 students were arrested 13,870 times in public schools last year. Black students made up 46 percent of the referrals, even though they make up only 21 percent of the Florida youth.

According to the Center for Behavioral Health Services and Criminal Justice Research, these arrests make for long-lasting psychological damage to the student. Incarcerated youth are more likely to exhibit symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety issues. Detained students are also more likely to lose ground academically from juvenile detention. According to a study done on inner-city Chicago high school students, those arrested in the first two years of high school were six to eight times more likely to drop out than those who hadn’t been arrested.

Instead of focusing on education, school-to-prison pipeline policies are preparing America’s youth for a life in the injustice system. Scare tactics, zero tolerance policies, and police forces are quickly threatening the future of millions of young students. But this criminalization won’t end for them when they graduate high school because, as Alexander states, “mass incarceration in the United States has, in fact, emerged as a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to Jim Crow.”

- Graciela The Boston Occupier Larger graphic here

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Yeah, we knew that. :)

That great thing is, even though the prior is advertised by the media and the government conspires to keep us all down...we still manage to rise above it! Keep going brothers and sisters and let no one stand in your way. Peace and Longevity. New Lens.

I want this to go viral

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(5) Tumblr on We Heart It.

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But Aspira does make a good point. Young workers often have the stamina and creativity that some older workers do not. 

Rates of the unemployment among youth are very high and are growing by days. As silly as it is, instead of moving straight forward from education to long-term steady employment, a lot of young people struggle with temp jobs and their professional careers are delayed and complicated.

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Attention Baltimore youth: We need your help to make this summer super by spreading the word about summer meals for kids and teens in Baltimore! We’re going to be offering cool prizes for participation in our Baltimore City Super Summer Mobile Meals social media contest. We’ll be celebrating our...

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truth.

The genius of Buckminster Fuller

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President Barack Obama's recent grant award to three Prince George's county schools for the development of student apprenticeship programs in high-demand Science, Technology, Engineering and Math...

How we feel: 

Small progress but this is definitely a step in the right direction!