Miriam,
Same here. We listen to a book in the evening, or watch
Jeopardy...reruns this time of the year. But the two conventions have
bumped Jeopardy off, so it's book or bed. As I've said before, when
it comes to political parties, I'm just an onlooker.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I didn't listen to the Democratic convention, just what I heard on Democracy
Now and other podcasts. I never have listened to this stuff, nor to the
debates. It's all just show business. But I found what the Democrats did,
particularly disgusting. I understand their thinking. I know why they did
what they did. I just can't deal with it.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 3:58 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: UPRISING: Protests Break Out in Wisconsin
After Police Shoot Black Man in the Back Multiple Times at Point-Blank
Range
The first time I saw a movie with Step 'N Fetchit, running at the camera
waiving his arms and hands, wide eyed and open mouthed, I wondered how a
Negro could sell out not just himself, but all Negroes.
And I was just a little kid at the time. Of course later on I figured it
out. The work paid better than sweeping the stage floors or cleaning the
toilets, and it wasn't going to change the public attitude at all.
Later, as a blind man, there were things that I would not do. My self image
was very important to me. But long ago I gave up trying to figure out what
makes other people tick. I remember riding the bus, headed home after work,
with a co-worker, also totally blind. My friend told me that she usually
avoided riding this bus because several of the workers from the Lighthouse
for the Blind were also on board. She said she did not want people to think
that she was one of them. She told me a great deal with that one comment.
But still, I understood her discomfort.
The way that I handled those Black supporters of Donald Trump was to not
listen to the Republican Comedy Hours. Just as with the Democratic
convention, it is a staged pep rally, a call for members to come together.
I'm not a member of either Party. I am an American Citizen...looking for
like minded leadership. What does pain me is the way both Parties must
totally trash the other in order to prove that they are the "true
Americans".
It's all just as bogus as the Reality Show it is based on.
And worse than that, it is highly destructive.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Those two black Republicans who spoke at the Republican convention
last night, I wonder how they can look themselves in the mirror or
face other African Americans. I wonder of they are completely free of
conscience and self respect.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 12:08 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: UPRISING: Protests Break Out in
Wisconsin After Police Shoot Black Man in the Back Multiple Times at
Point-Blank Range
Miriam,
In trying to cover everything, I often become side tracked.
Speaking of Black folks never losing their color, I heard a story
about Jackie Robinson. The reports were that "Robinson had been
selected to play", not that he'd earned the right. He still needed
the White owner, Branch Rickey, to "select" him, to give him his
approval. It also implied that Jackie Robinson was selected because
he was the best of the best Colored players. This was probably not
true, although he certainly was Major League quality. But still, the
way the article put it, Robinson was better than all the other Colored
players, suggesting that only the best Blacks could hope to compete with
the superior White Folk.
And yesterday the Republicans made clear that we are not a racist
nation...just ask any of them...well, maybe not that Colored fellow...
Carl Jarvis
On 8/24/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
You're omitting one vital component, a treatment to cure racism.
Racism isn't going to disappear with solely economic measures.
There's a lot of talk about a new book, Caste, by Wilkerson, the
author who wrote the book, a few years ago, about black people who
migrated north. From what I've heard and read about the book, one of
the points is that even the people who attain fame and fortune, won't
lose the stigma of being black.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 6:03 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: UPRISING: Protests Break Out in
Wisconsin After Police Shoot Black Man in the Back Multiple Times at
Point-Blank Range
Miriam,
Nothing is going to change until we make some basic changes. And
just firing police officers is not going to do the trick.
I'd start by introducing something new into our society...democracy.
Then I'd admit that a little socialism is the glue that holds
government together. Services such as the Post Office and fire
protection, public education and public works are all important in
any nation whose role is to protect and nurture its citizens.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/24/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
All of these news stories repeated over and over again, make no
difference at all, nor does our outrage. It just keeps happening.
Miriam
UPRISING: Protests Break Out in Wisconsin After Police Shoot Black
Man in the Back Multiple Times at Point-Blank Range August 24, 2020
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said 29-year-old Jacob Blake's
children were in the car he was attempting to enter as police fired
seven shots at his back.
A cellphone video posted to social media shows Kenosha, Wisconsin
police officers firing seven shots at 29-year-old Jacob Blake as he
tries to enter his vehicle on Sunday, August 24, 2020.
(Screengrab/Twitter)
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
Protests broke out in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the state's Justice
Department launched an investigation Sunday evening after police
officers shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake in the back multiple times at
point-blank range as he tried to enter his vehicle.
Witnesses told local reporters that Blake was attempting to break up
a fight prior to being shot by the officers, who closely followed
Blake to his car and fired seven shots after he opened the
driver-side door.
According to civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Blake's children were
in the car when the officers shot their father.
Blake is reportedly in serious condition. "He is out of surgery and
in the ICU," tweeted Daniel Poneman, a friend of Blake's family. "He
can make it through this. He is fighting for his life."
Watch [warning: the following video is disturbing]:
In a statement posted to Twitter after cellphone footage of the
police shooting circulated on social media, Wisconsin's Democratic
Gov. Tony Evers
said: "Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in
broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kathy and I join his family,
friends, and neighbors in hoping earnestly that he will not succumb
to his injuries."
"While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for
certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been
shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in
law enforcement in our state or our country," Evers said. "We stand
with all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity, and
accountability for Black lives in our country - lives like those of
George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, Tony Robinson, Dontre Hamilton,
Ernest Lacy, and Sylville Smith."
Following the police shooting, hundreds of Wisconsinites marched
through the streets of Kenosha and gathered outside the Kenosha
County Public Safety Building chanting, "No justice, no peace!"
As the Washington Post reported, Kenosha police quickly arrived at
the site of the demonstration "with riot gear and armed with rubber
bullets."
A video from the scene shows police deploying tear gas against
protesters:
"Thinking of Jacob Blake's family. Thinking of the Kenosha community.
Thinking of Black folks across the country falling asleep to this
news and those who will be waking up to it," tweeted Clint Smith of
The Atlantic.
"I'm sad. I'm furious. I'm tired of seeing this happen over and over
and over and over and over again."
Jeffery Robinson, the director of the ACLU's Trone Center for
Justice and Equality, said in a statement Monday that "with each of
the seven shots fired, police made their intent clear - they
believed they had the right to kill an unarmed Black man for the
crime of walking away from them."
"The fact that incidents of police violence like this, the murder of
Breonna Taylor as she slept in her home, the murder of George Floyd
across the street from a grocery store, the murder of Eric Garner
outside of a neighborhood bodega, and countless others have become
commonplace shows that the very institution of American policing is
rotten at its core," Robinson added.
This article is from Common Dreams.