Issue: 824
June 25, 2020
Color of Law
Violent Protest Reflects the Violence of the System
Executive Editor
The violent reactions of the police and the US presidency are rooted in the very same system of oppression that led to George Floyd's death and the mass protests across the country.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis has upended the United States and has resulted in a civil uprising not…
Continue reading 7 min
Cover Story
Looters, Lowlifes, and Liars
Editorial Board
I stand with the looters and lowlifes and reject a man whose unfamiliarity with truth is a vexation, abomination, and a despicable affront to decency.
According to the Washington Post, the 45th President told 19,126 lies between his inauguration in 2017 and June 1, 2020. By now, the number has likely…
Continue reading 4 min
Commentary
Greg Grandin’s The End of the Myth
Editorial Board
the nation’s drive west in the creation of a democratic society for Caucasians is further evidence of the formation of white supremacy as a founding ideology. The demand for docile people of color in this Caucasian democracy to serve as a free labor force is contrary to a reality of a nonwhite (as it was at the beginning) society that is, thanks to conquest and enslavement, a bedrock of inequality.
A person does not lightly elect to oppose his society. One would much rather be at home among one’s compatriots than be mocked and detested by…
Continue reading 15 min
Commentary
How Low? – Solidarity America
Columnist
It will be a long haul, but it needs to be done and, as Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” And on another occasion, he said, “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
There is no need to use a depth finder to determine how low the U.S. has gone: Donald J. Trump is its president. That should be…
Continue reading 9 min
Sharp n’ Blunt
Is Mount Rushmore’s 4th Of July Celebration Going to be Little More Than Another “Confederate Flag Flying” Affair?
Columnist
Understanding the ‘Confederate States of America’ isn’t merely an historical geographical location. Instead, it’s a never abandoned, never forsaken, never disavowed nor rejected mindset and way-of-life. Rather it’s a racist Neanderthal philosophy of traitors which lives-on and breathes deeply in the cold hearts, small minds and I’d submit soul-less souls of millions upon millions, upon millions of White Americans who proudly wear the designation on their sleeves.
It’s been years since we embarked on a family road trip to South Dakota to visit the Crazy Horse monument, the mystical Black Hills — venture…
Continue reading 6 min
Commentary
Biden Picks VP ‘In Midnight Hour’
Columnist
the Biden campaign has yet to invest in a comprehensive strategy to counter voter suppression, enhance black and other minority voter turnout, monitor the increasing manipulation of the absentee/mail-in ballot process, and plan for preventing the election from being contested and ultimately decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the latter case, Trump will win as George W. Bush did in 2000.
To paraphrase Wilson Pickett’s R&B hit from the 1960s, “In the Midnight Hour when the political infighting comes tumbling down,” Joe Biden is nearly ready to…
Continue reading 6 min
View from the Battlefield
Moving from the Streets to the People’s Houses
Editorial Board
The common denominator in the meaning of defunding the police is that there will be no more increases in police budgets, and that funds diverted from the sacred, bloated budgets will be invested in meeting human needs. The divested dollars would be pumped into community mental health services, housing programs, youth recreation, training and employment, childcare, parks, and education.
The demand to “Defund the Police” is organic and legitimate. It has risen to a national discussion and we must be super clear on what this…
Continue reading 4 min