The case against Keith Davis Jr. is entangled in Baltimore politics and political allegiances. What has happened in these last five years has been on par with the neoliberal democratic misleadership engulfing the city. Keith Davis Jr. should not have survived on the morning of June 7th, 2015. Assumed to be a hack thief, a case of mistaken identity led four Baltimore police officers to corner Davis Jr. into a dark garage after an on-foot chase in West Baltimore. Those four officers let off up to 44 rounds of bullets in that garage, resulting in Davis Jr. being shot . . .
Ujima People’s Progress Party
Reenvisioning Harm Reduction As Reparations
Last year marked the 400th anniversary of the commencement of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in North America. As politicians and others began announcing their plans to run for President, reparations once again became a prominent mainstream talking point. Subsequently, a historic hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee in Washington DC, on the question of reparations, coincided with Juneteenth. The intent of the hearing was not to determine reparations but, instead, determine if the H.R. 40 bill, a bill to convene a commission to study, document, quantify and make recommendations for reparations, should move forward. For over a century, despite . . .
Revolutionary Organizations Matter
Like we often tell liberals invested in the two party system that offers them nothing, if you are unable to find a revolutionary organization that suits and protects you then what is stopping you from building your own for the world you’d want to see? . . .
BLACK ALLIANCE FOR PEACE- BALTIMORE DEMAND END TO POLICING SURGE
At the end of October, during the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago, President Trump announced, “In coming weeks, Attorney General Barr will announce a new crackdown on violent crime—which I think is so important—targeting gangs and drug traffickers in high crime cities and dangerous rural areas.” Attorney General Barr announced, right before the holidays, the initiative known as Operation Relentless Pursuit at a news conference in Detroit, Michigan. Joining him were leaders of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Marshals Service. Baltimore City is one of 7 cities, . . .
The Importance of Political Education and Class Analysis
What does organizing look like when Black radicals are being pushed out of spaces for ‘progressiveness’ that makes uncontested room for the centrist, right-wing and fascists narratives driving most platforms? When examining the conflicts between those fighting oppression under capitalism and the capitalist state’s ruling class alongside those who subscribe to “success” and riches obtained at the expense of the oppressed, few things strike me as obvious disconnects and contradictions. I am often asked about my relationship with the analytical science of Marxism- Leninism as it pertains to my studies, teachings, and praxis because it’s somehow shocking that a Black . . .
Human Rights Hypocrisy: Critical Analysis of Hong Kong Protests
Before adjourning for the Thanksgiving holiday, the US Senate unanimously approved HR 3289, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019. The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (417-1) to send the legislation to President Trump for his signature and in a rare bipartisan move, the bill was signed into law. The term “bipartisan” is a mere farce as both major political parties always seem to agree on funding and agitating wars. Trump signed the bill into law, along with another bill that prohibits the sale of tear gas, rubber bullets and other crowd-control munitions to the Hong Kong . . .
Abolition Beyond The Binary
“The prison, therefore, functions ideologically as an abstract site into which undesirables are deposited, relieving us of the responsibility of thinking about the real issues afflicting those communities from which prisoners are drawn in such disproportionate numbers. This is the ideological work that the prison performs—it relieves us of the responsibility of seriously engaging with the problems of our society, especially those produced by racism and, increasingly, global capitalism.” Angela Y. Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete? According to the Prison Policy Initiative, the American criminal justice system currently holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 109 federal prisons, 1,772 . . .
The Case Against Elizabeth Warren
My earliest recollection of Elizabeth Warren, politically, was in 2012 when she ran in Massachusetts against the incumbent, Scott Brown. I recall the headlines alongside the Brown campaign alleging Warren was using identity politics as a tool to sway voters. Years later questions of her ‘heritage’ resurfaced, but at the time it was obvious the attacks on her were racially-based attacks on her assumed racial makeup. Not too long after I was made aware of who Warren was, her infamous “you didn’t build that” speech that went viral. It was truly my first recollection of a (white) politician acknowledging what . . .