View allAll Photos Tagged DefundThePolice.
Yesterday, I attended a protest in Chicago because of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. Rittenhouse murdered two protestors at a Black Lives Matter rally in Wisconsin last summer with an assault rifle he was too young to even own and claimed as a white entitled piece of crap that he was "in fear of his life." The judge and jury sided with him.
I attended 15 Black Lives Matter rallies just a state away in Chicago, Illinois in that summer and none of them were violent. In fact, most of the footage I've seen of people "looting" at different protests in my country has been white opportunists who took advantage of the protests.
Here, we have two sides of the story of America. In Washington, Trump made sure Black Lives Matters protestors were tear gassed just before proselytizing with his upside down Bible. (It's ok, Trump-we know you don't really care what a Black Jesus had to tell people, anyway). In some states in this country, it is actually legal to hit protestors with your car...just make sure they aren't protesting against wearing masks, getting vaccinated, actually counting votes, or against a woman's right to choose things for her body. The police seem to love protecting those people. (Several of our police unions also don't feel the police should have to get vaccinated themselves)
So, we have an America where you can murder a protestor and, just like the cops do, say you were "afraid for your life" to get out of taking any kind of responsibility. Meanwhile, the GOP caused treason, were planning to murder congress people in the January insurrection, tried to intimidate people counting votes to the point of planting fake votes and even planning bombs to go off in key states (Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona), and let's not forget how they shouted death threats in Tennessee at pediatricians recommending kids wear masks in school to stay safe. That apparently is just fine, though. Everything is fine...nothing to see here. Just an entire system built on doing whatever it takes to suppress people of color, the differently abled, and women and getting away with it.
Meanwhile, we have a "Democrat" who is, as I thought he might end up being when I voted for Bernie to be the candidate instead, just Trump lite-going along with the status quo. He's a few less calories as Trump but perhaps just as deadly to those who aren't in power. Biden's statement about trusting the justice system is laughable. There's a reason why Biden was elected and it wasn't white people. We all need to come up with candidates that are truly progressive and break these racist systems down.
**All photos are copyrighted**
We spoke out. We marched at a time when we didn’t know if it would kill us and it was all because we couldn’t imagine that we could continue to live in a world so cruel as to not see the value in Black joy, talent, ideas, sorrow, stories, traditions, and identities. And, in most cities across America, budgets have not significantly changed to put more money into communities instead of policing. The only tool a cop has is a gun and the badge is his/her/their get out of jail free card. Why do we expect anything different to happen in America if we pour more money into police budgets and reforms that clearly don’t work instead of putting money into public education, job opportunities, the elimination of food deserts, equitable housing and health care, and mental health clinics? Do we really want to be a country where only rich white people survive?
Black Lives Still Matter…they still matter to me every day.
In my own city, our mayor lied about not being aware of a wrongful raid of a social worker in which her home was violated and she was naked. (Anjanette Young). Apparently, this is a pretty regular occurrence:
chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/11/08/chicago-police-raids-wron...
Here’s a list of men who are Black recently murdered by police in America:
newsone.com/playlist/black-men-boy-who-were-killed-by-pol...
Here’s how Wall Street profits from police brutality and America’s violent yet lucrative (for some) tradition of white supremacy:
acrecampaigns.org/research_post/police-brutality-bonds/
Every day we don’t demand change is a day wasted when we were not our best selves. Humans are still dying out there and we need to vote out those who only protect some of the population and leave the rest to be murdered. So, Trump will soon be gone…will Biden be any better? We must insist that it is so! Humans who are Black are not suddenly white and they still need kindness, protection, love, and policies that look out for them.
**All photos are copyrighted**
The writing's on the wall
All empires and tyrants will fall
Too many of us have been killed
We don't need another wake-up call
Out in the streets we gave it our all
Watered by blood and tears, the streets bloomed with rage
The cavalry came, how can we forget
We were the ones they were ordered to attack
All the tear gas made it clear
What we can do when we overcome our fear
Justice and humanity are the truths that inspire
Our desire to set the night on fire
The above photo is actually from the Chicago Teacher's Union Strike this past fall. One of our key issues was that we wanted a nurse and a social worker in every school every day. Now, during a pandemic, it is even more so the case.
In America, Trump has already been threatening public school districts saying if they don't go back full time they won't be funded, even in areas where there are extreme surges in cases and 20-30% of the population is testing positive. In Chicago, our positivity rate for Coronavirus is down to 4.2% which is remarkable but there are still around 1,000 new cases every day. A preliminary study from South Korea suggests kids 10 years old (5th grade) and up can spread the virus to adults similar to adults can spread it to other adults though they need to do more research with larger sample sizes:
wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-1315_article
Still, at the very least, what we can learn from day cares that have managed to be safe during this pandemic is that we need to have social distancing or smaller number of students in each room, temperature checks, regular cleaning, and masks. Chicago Public Schools released their tentative plan recently and it is proposing 2 days on 2 days off sort of schedule but is "budget neutral" which means that they aren't planning on hiring staff to handle remote learning while teachers are teaching. They also are most likely expecting us to buy our own masks and cleaning supplies to clean up (which we are used to doing before the pandemic but some deeper cleaning would be nice) and kids to bring their own and the schools to figure out how they will afford regular temperature checks.
We also still don't have a nurse and a social worker in every school every day. But you know what we still have money for? You guessed it! Cops! We have money for cops to arrest kids in schools and not money for nurses or social workers or basic safety measures. This really shows where our priorities are.
I remotely attended a meeting of several parents, community members, and teachers of this school district last night who are meeting to try to vote their police out of schools. There has not been any movement by the mayor to cancel a $30 Million+ contract with the police just for placing them in schools, however. Meanwhile, there have been several complaints of the police being aggressive with kids and racially targeting kids who are not white. Again, when you would rather arrest kids than teach them, you are not changing the world in a better way but causing irreparable damage.
**All photos are copyrighted.**
Peaceful protest in front of the Los Angeles Hall of Justice, held in honor of families that have lost their children because of police violence.
Thousands of protesters filled the streets of Brooklyn on June 2, 2020 in a massive march to demand justice for George Floyd, killed by Officer Derek Chauvin and to make a loud call for the defunding of the police force. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
Weekly protest at Los Angeles Hall of Justice in DTLA whee mothers and family members share their stories of their children and loved ones murdered by LA cops
It was a true honor to be able to make it to the BLM LA gathering today. Although I wasn't able to march, I so glad I was able to hold space at the park.
As I've said many times before my camera is my therapist. Today I realized just how much I miss being in therapy.
As a photographer documenting Black Live is the most important thing to me. It's been a honor to stand on many red carpets and have the honor of capturing every major award show, but nothing absolutely comes to capturing the heart of soul of my Blackness, the foundation I was sat upon by my great great Grandma, like being able to capture amazing organizations like Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.
Today made me once again fully realize how completely blessed I am to be a Black man and how it is my duty to document Black life and all its greatness, unfiltered, unwatered down and unapologetically Black.
Weekly protest at Los Angeles Hall of Justice in DTLA whee mothers and family members share their stories of their children and loved ones murdered by LA cops
Protesters by the thousands converged at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn marching down Flatbush Avenue on June 4, 2020 to decry the death of 46-year-old George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, with demonstrators denouncing acts of racism and police brutality across the country. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
Peaceful protest in front of the Los Angeles Hall of Justice, held in honor of families that have lost their children because of police violence.
Dear America,
We’ve known each other for a long time now and I feel like I’ve seen you in your best and worst moments. We’ve always been close and so I really feel it when you’re hurting. I felt that it would be the right time to tell you…it’s time you break up this abusive relationship you have with Police. I know what you are going to say…but this time Police said they would reform and try harder…that they would make some changes. But, Police keep abusing you and making you feel like your worst self. Police do not keep you from danger…Police only heighten it. Police have not been honest with you either, and you’ve given Police joint custody over your children at public schools. What kind of message does it send when you allow your children to be around Police who can’t control basic impulses and use violence to murder others? This is the opposite of what you should be teaching your kids, America, and this needs to stop.
When I have tried to talk to you about this before as your dear friend, America, you’ve always tried to emphasize the positives about the strength of Police and that much more handsome side. But, that’s a lie too…a fake out. Police haven’t really been keeping in good shape either and haven't aged well, I’ve got to say. You look pretty ugly as a couple with such a loser bringing you down. Not to mention the fact that Police keep taking your money and never giving you anything back for it or contributing positively to your relationship. Police profit off of you and so you’ll be mistreated until you do the rejecting. Of course, I know you so well I can guess what you’re going to say next. Police promised you they would change again, didn’t they? Police swore and committed to taking more remedial sensitivity trainings and that this was just a “slip up.” But, remember, we’ve been friends for enough time for me to know objectively that isn’t going to happen because I’ve seen Police lie and cheat and it’s time you dump this loser. You’ve given Police so many chances to get it right and turn it around and meanwhile Police are wearing you out and terrifying you and then you come back to me shaking and bleeding. Loving you like I do, I’m willing to hold you while you cry but I still have to tell you how it is because I care so much about you and can’t bear seeing you in so much pain. As long as you continue on this path, you will not truly be free because Police won’t allow it. So, you need to stand up and break it up. For good this time.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking being that we’re close and all….you’re worried this is going to be an impossible break up because you and Police have had a really long relationship and you’re right…a shared history makes this break up so much more difficult. It’s also hard to escape the fact that there are so many images out there of you and Police and, I hate to tell you but, many of those images aren’t all that positive and in the ones where you two look happy together, it’s just a staged media illusion. It isn’t real. I would definitely venture to say as soon as the camera is turned, Police start that old hateful pattern of behavior right back up again because Police just aren’t all that into you, America, and not truly willing to commit to making you better. Because, the reality of it is that it was never truly great and the more you’ve found out over the years about Police, I think the more you’ve also realized that this relationship cannot continue like it is. You’re wounded America and you’re scarred too. Though sometimes it’s painful to look at a relationship honestly, you are damaged and battered right now, America, and this is only going to continue if you don’t end this.
I know you and Police have some shared friends, too and I have to tell you, those friends are not helping support you or making you any happier. Like, Prisons, for instance. You really can’t trust Prisons. Prisons are doing a lot of things behind your back that you don’t want to even want to begin to know about. And, ICE. Did you know ICE is actually putting your children in cages? Your children, America! It’s time for you to be a better parent and choose your children over these harmful relationships. Oh, I know what you’re trying to do now…you’re trying to get out of it by saying they are your neighbor Mexico’s children. Well, I think if you are really a good parent, you care about all children. And, this lack of empathy for others really doesn’t suit you. It makes me terrified that there might not be any way to change the damage already done.
But you know what, America, there are plenty of others that you might find a better relationship with that will actually support you and your children. America, you deserve someone who respects you! And you are filled to the brim with talent and wisdom and kindness and beauty so I highly doubt you’ll be single for very long. Look for the social workers, the art teachers, the librarians, the nurses and doctors. Look for the musicians, the farmers, the counselors, the environmentalists, the healers and the givers. Because, right now you’re going to need to be in more relationships with them so that you can heal and get to a better place. Otherwise, no one is going to want to be near you America, and you’re going to end up completely devastated beyond hope. I don’t want to see that happen to you so you really need to treat Police like a bandaid and rip it right off. Say no to legalized violence, to zero accountability, to continued abuse and neglect. You really deserve better and someone who appreciates you for you and sees your potential. I’ve been still seeing that glimmer of light in you and that possibility of redemption there for awhile, so I just had to have this intervention.
Love,
Kirstie
******
Here’s an article about the Black Lives Matter movement and about a call to action for defunding the police. Even I recently learned that ten years ago, MN police murdered a different Black human named David C. Smith. Part of that family’s settlement was that the police be required to attend additional training to prevent police from ignoring positional asphyxia and then they murdered George Floyd the exact same way. When I found this out, I was so enraged I felt like it had become glaringly obvious that this needs to stop.
I don’t want anyone to tell you it’s a radical idea to care about human lives. These cops are protecting and serving no one but themselves and, as we chant in the streets, “Silent cops are guilty, too!” Never forget what’s happening indeed or what’s already happened. This country needs to start going in a different direction today! We have waited far too long!
www.theringer.com/2020/6/29/21304911/summer-of-protest-am...
The above photo was taken during one the Black Lives Matters rallies in Chicago recently and if you notice the cop in the far left hand side is weaponized even farther by the alignment of the street art guns. One of the other chants called out on these protests is “Why are you in riot gear? I don’t see a (no) riot here!” I’ll never forget the night when I was at a different Black Lives Matter rally without my camera and a brave human with only a housecoat or on went up to a cop and said, “You’re in riot gear? For what?! I don’t even have shoes on."
We’re better than this, America.
**All photos and words are copyrighted**
Black Lives Matter: West Haven Green - Artists Against Racism | July 26, 2020
Link to Google Photos:
photos.app.goo.gl/7fMz8rGZsu9V11Es9
#GeorgeFloydProtests #BlackLivesMatter
#NoJusticeNoPeace #antifa #DefundThePolice #NotAnotherBlackLife #GeorgeFloyd #anarchism #HumanRights #BLM #Housing #Healthcare #Education #Food
The writing's on the wall
All empires and tyrants will fall
Too many of us have been killed
We don't need another wake-up call
Out in the streets we gave it our all
Watered by blood and tears, the streets bloomed with rage
The cavalry came, how can we forget
We were the ones they were ordered to attack
All the tear gas made it clear
What we can do when we overcome our fear
Justice and humanity are the truths that inspire
Our desire to set the night on fire
For the record Black Lives Matter nor the protesters were violent. The police and instigators were the ones who caused the problems and the violence.
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
The writing's on the wall
All empires and tyrants will fall
Too many of us have been killed
We don't need another wake-up call
Out in the streets we gave it our all
Watered by blood and tears, the streets bloomed with rage
The cavalry came, how can we forget
We were the ones they were ordered to attack
All the tear gas made it clear
What we can do when we overcome our fear
Justice and humanity are the truths that inspire
Our desire to set the night on fire
The "Blue Lives Matter" campaign in the United States was a pro-police, Trumpist "Law & Order" reaction to the "Black Lives Matter" movement which was started in protest of endemic police brutality targeting blacks and other minorities.
Lee Lawrence (left - who's own mother was shot inside her home by the police in 1985) consoles Chris Kaba's parents outside New Scotland Yard in central London. Their anguish is obvious and very real.
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
The writing's on the wall
All empires and tyrants will fall
Too many of us have been killed
We don't need another wake-up call
Out in the streets we gave it our all
Watered by blood and tears, the streets bloomed with rage
The cavalry came, how can we forget
We were the ones they were ordered to attack
All the tear gas made it clear
What we can do when we overcome our fear
Justice and humanity are the truths that inspire
Our desire to set the night on fire
Lee Lawrence (left - who's own mother was shot by the police inside their own home in 1985) consoles Chris Kaba's mother outside New Scotland Yard in central London. Chris Kaba's father stands just behind his wife holding the placard. Their anguish is obvious and very real.
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24 year old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative..... When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout, "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force; not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-62886400
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
Thousands of protesters gathered at Mc Carren Park in Brooklyn on June 7, 2020 for a massive march around Williamsburg, making a loud call for the defunding of the police force. This comes after NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio promised 'intense change' with police reform proposals amid calls to defund law enforcement, including shifting resources from NYPD and publicizing officers' disciplinary records. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
The writing's on the wall
All empires and tyrants will fall
Too many of us have been killed
We don't need another wake-up call
Out in the streets we gave it our all
Watered by blood and tears, the streets bloomed with rage
The cavalry came, how can we forget
We were the ones they were ordered to attack
All the tear gas made it clear
What we can do when we overcome our fear
Justice and humanity are the truths that inspire
Our desire to set the night on fire
Thousands of protesters gathered at Mc Carren Park in Brooklyn on June 7, 2020 for a massive march around Williamsburg, making a loud call for the defunding of the police force. This comes after NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio promised 'intense change' with police reform proposals amid calls to defund law enforcement, including shifting resources from NYPD and publicizing officers' disciplinary records. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
The writing's on the wall
All empires and tyrants will fall
Too many of us have been killed
We don't need another wake-up call
Out in the streets we gave it our all
Watered by blood and tears, the streets bloomed with rage
The cavalry came, how can we forget
We were the ones they were ordered to attack
All the tear gas made it clear
What we can do when we overcome our fear
Justice and humanity are the truths that inspire
Our desire to set the night on fire
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...
Thousands of New York activists participated in a massive march across the Brooklyn Bridge on July 25, 2020 to condemn what they see as an overreaching approach by federal authorities in Portland, Oregon. Participants were accompanied by Street Riders NYC, a collective offering support to marchers by sending bikes to act as a buffer and shield protesters from cars and police. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
Join the 57,000+ people who (as of the morning of 19.09) have already signed the petition to demand #JusticeForChrisKaba
www.change.org/p/demand-justice-for-chris-kaba
On Saturday 17 September, hundreds of people gathered outside New Scotland Yard in central London to protest the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old black man in his car, by an armed police officer twelve days earlier at Streatham Hill in South London. There was no gun found either in the vehicle or anywhere nearby. Several of the protesters I spoke to, maintained that the young man and expectant father wouldn't have been shot dead had he not been black. Neither could they understand how Chris Kaba could have posed any possible immediate threat to life to justify the use of lethal force.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, told the crowd that
'When Chris Kaba was shot and killed, the narrative we heard from the media was that he was a drill artist, that he was a rapper, that he had been to prison before. Look at him. He's clearly a criminal.... almost as if to say that because of any of that and because he was a black man, he may have deserved what happened to him. That is a really popular narrative. When people get up and shout "Black lives matter" and people shout "Don't be ridiculous - all lives matter," there's a clear reason why they are doing it, because in popular narrative black lives don't, if they did people wouldn't be giving justifications for Chris to die in that way; nobody deserves to die in that way, let's be absolutely clear.'
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn spoke and was critical of the police response.
"We are here today to mourn his (Chris Kaba's) death, mourn his passing, to remember his life, but also to show that we will never allow him to be forgotten. We will never allow the victims of this kind of violence on either side of the Atlantic ever to be forgotten. We cannot have a situation where somebody is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned is not immediately suspended from the police force, not from duty, from the police force. And as Bell (the MP) and others have pointed out, in any other job or profession or walk of life, if someone dies as a result of possibly your action you get suspended. If you are a train driver, a bus driver or a delivery driver involved in a terrible accident, you need to be suspended so that enquiries can take place. And so, I absolutely support the demands made by the family."
Some of those present at the protest had seen their family members either shot by the police or die in police custody. Among them was Lee Lawrence. In September 1985, when he was only eleven years old, his mother, Cherry Groce, had been paralysed from the chest down after being shot by a police officer inside their home, after she got up from her bed to investigate the noise caused by an early morning raid by officers who were looking for Lawrence's older brother Michael. His mother died in 2011, the year when Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham sparking widespread civil unrest.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/05/the-man-who-shot-my...
"We never got justice," Larwrence told the crowd. "Justice is about fairness and if we received justice my mother would not have been killed. We will hold their legacy and their deaths will stand for something. We owe it to them to never give up."
socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-demand-justice-for-...