Daily Archives: July 25, 2020

"African American history has too often been overlooked, whitewashed and relegated to the confines of a single month," Heastie said. "I am proud to serve in this incredibly diverse legislative body, and one that continues to work to represent the diversity of our people and our history. I am also proud that today I can tell Association for the Study of African American Life and History New York State Director Bessie Jackson, a constituent of mine who for years has advocated for the recognition of Abolition Day, that her hard work has finally paid off."

Legislation passed today would establish Abolition Commemoration Day, which would be observed on the second Monday in July. This commemorates the Abolition Act, which passed the New York State Legislature on March 31, 1817 and abolished slavery effective July 4, 1827. Abolition Commemoration Day, not only marks the end of slavery in New York, but also honors the bravery and sacrifices of abolitionists (A.10831, Pretlow).

"Slavery was not an institution confined to the south New York had its own long history with its cruelty and horrors. Our state also has a legacy of abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman and countless others," Pretlow said. "By recognizing Abolition Commemoration Day, we remember and shed light on both sides of Black and African American history, and New York State's history, including the parts that are too often glossed over."

"Freedom was never given, it was fought for. Today marks the creation of a new holiday Abolition Commemoration Day to recognize the end of slavery in New York State and a start to teaching our full uncompromised history. New York was one of the largest slave-holding states in this country and we are convinced that a civilized state should do no less than spend at least one day a year in atonement for its participation in the horror, fear and trauma that sustained slavery for more than 200 years. We are proud to have led this fight and stand with the entire state legislature to recognize the sacrifices of African Americans and other abolitionists in their fight for freedom," said Bessie M. Jackson, NYS Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

Also passed was legislation that would recognize Juneteenth as a public holiday in New York State. Juneteenth, June 19th, marks the day Union General Gordon Granger and federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, taking control of the state and enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, Juneteenth commemorates Black and African American freedom and achievements, while encouraging continuous self-development and respect for all cultures (A.10628, Hyndman).

"It is long past time that we commemorate and honor important dates in Black history," Hyndman said. "Juneteenth must be recognized across the country as a public holiday, and I am proud that, working with my colleagues, we are able to mark a piece of Black liberation on the calendar and in our cultural consciousness here in New York State. The hope is that this day is celebrated far and wide."

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Assembly Recognizies Abolition Commemoration Day and Juneteenth - The Lansing Star Online - Lansing Star

The story of Shuters ascendancy to Landlord and Tenant Officer is the latest chapter in a nearly 50-year-old failure to reform Philadelphias eviction process.

A unique feature in Pennsylvania, the citys current Landlord and Tenant Office dates back to 1970 and was initially introduced as a civil reform to the citys ancient constabulary system. That 17th-century system of appointing men to handle tax collection and court service had, by the 20th century, lost many traditional powers due to government reorganization. By the 1960s, people elected to constable positions in Philadelphia functioned primarily as politically connected bounty hunters, charged with enforcing court eviction orders for profit often by any means necessary.

During that decade, the constabulary system became a lightning rod for criticism over graft and lack of oversight. Renters routinely reported being harassed out of their homes or evicted without cause. The men doing the evictions held constable sales or distress sales to recoup their costs and time, auctioning off furniture or clothing belonging to displaced tenants.

A 1965 state attorney generals inquest into the system recommended abolishing the positions and transferring their duties wholesale to the city Sheriffs Office.

[Philadelphias] constables are engaging in practices designed to terrify the average citizen, the report reads, describing many constables as glorified bill collectors operating under official marque.

Sam Stretton, a longtime ethics lawyer in Philadelphia, said he recalled now-deceased U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter making a case for dismantling the constabulary system as a central plank of his campaigns for Philadelphia District Attorney in the 1960s.

It was the wild west out there, he said, of the constables. It was bribes and everything else.

Outcry and a court injunction followed an episode in 1969 in which a constable sought to auction the furniture of a North Philadelphia family that put rental payments in escrow after the inspectors deemed their landlords property unfit for human habitation. In a subsequent lawsuit, filed by legal aid group Community Legal Services, federal courts ruled these sales unconstitutional, ordering the abolition of Philadelphias constabulary offices and the judicial appointment of theoretically more formalized Landlord and Tenant officers.

But the ensuing reform soon became a source of controversy itself. And the new system quickly came to resemble the old.

One of the first Landlord and Tenant officers, Edward A. Green, was sued by Community Legal Services for attempting in 1970 to shake down tenants for travel costs and service fees on top of what he was legally allowed to collect. Al Sacks, another Landlord and Tenant officer himself a former constable was also sued by the legal nonprofit in 1986 for allegedly bilking tenants into paying bogus legal fees.

The legislative reformsput the Landlord and Tenant Officers in Philadelphia in the same position as the constables were prior to those reforms, lamented plaintiffs in the suit against Green.

By the late 1980s, the position came under the aegis of the law firm of Robert H. Messerman. This attorney was appointed by Marisa Shuters father, former President Judge Silberstein, who presided over Municipal Court from 1986 to 1999. Messerman would hold this appointment for nearly 30 years.

Reached by phone in July, the attorney said he could recall few details of the offices operations. But records show Messerman subcontracted much of the eviction work to surrogates. A so-called deputy landlord-tenant officer that was shot and killed in a 1990s dispute with a West Philadelphia tenant was later revealed to be a contract worker paid by Messerman, according to an Inquirer report. A later lawsuit filed against Messermans office indicated that work was also sometimes subbed out to a local process service firm called B&R Services for Professionals, Inc.

Meanwhile, Silbersteins daughter, Marisa Shuter, graduated from Temple Universitys Beasley School of Law in 1993 and soon went to work in the family trade administering the citys court system. After a stint as an associate in the real estate department at Blank Rome, she began her career in the court system. While her father served as Municipal Courts president judge, the court hired her as a law clerk around 1996. She later joined Messermans office in 2006, serving as a staff attorney and office manager, according to First Judicial District spokesperson Marty ORourke.

When Messerman eventually retired from his post as Landlord and Tenant Officer, Marisa Shuter was appointed by then-President Judge Marsha Neifield Williams to replace him in January 2017.

Today, she runs the office much as Messerman did, relying on independent contractors to do the heavy lifting of writ service. ORourke said all these people are formally deputized, but court rules do not require them to be trained or certified law enforcement.

The court does not require the Landlord-Tenant Officer or the Deputy Landlord-Tenant Officers to meet any specific law enforcement credentials, ORourke said.

Marisa Shuter said, in practice, many did have a background in police work or had served as suburban magisterial constables. She reiterated that she requires deputies to have a license to carry a firearm, own a vehicle and that all received significant job training.

I personally explain all of the laws to them and the process from start to finish, she wrote. They ride along with an experienced deputy for a period of time before being assigned to handle evictions on their own so that they can learn the job.

Michael Williams, a Philadelphia housing attorney, said the distinction between these deputies and actual law enforcement was often vague.

Sometimes tenants will call them the sheriff, but thats wrong, Williams said. Theyre from the landlord-tenant office. Sometimes, they will still refer to themselves as constables.

Some, like ethics lawyer Sam Stretton, said the courts shouldnt be empowering private entities with little duty to disclose information to the public to force residents from their homes.

This office is held out as part of the government when, in fact, its a private law firm, he said. Theres still no standards. They could just get some monster, and say hes just the toughest guy I found.

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Philly Landlord Tenant Officer married to eviction court judge - WHYY

Somewhere in the fireworks and star-spangled attire of every Fourth of July lies an all-too-familiar historical script. Americans never tire of tales in which their freedom-loving forefathers took a stand against British tyranny and asserted their right to independence.

But the window dressing has invited more scrutiny than usual in 2020. In a curious adaptation of the traditional story, protesters threw Christopher Columbus into a Baltimore harbor this year. So much for the Boston Tea Party.

Between 15 million and 26 million Americans are estimated to have participated in Black Lives Matter protests since late May. This makes BLM the largest movement in the nations history and marks a sea change in racial attitudes. Most Americans, regardless of skin color, now agree that racial and ethnic discrimination in their country is a big problem.

Racism, however, is not confined to Americas borders or history. As a result, BLM has not just drawn support from around the world. Recent protests have prompted other countries, like the United Kingdom, to confront their own checkered legacies on race.

This takes us to the heart of the British capital, where University College London (UCL) is working to change the way it teaches history and thinks about its own past.

In 2018, the Royal Historical Society published a landmark report documenting significant and disproportionate levels of discrimination, bias and harassment towards Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) history students and researchers. Led by UCLs own Margot Finn, the RHS concluded that BME historians feel unwelcome and underrepresented in their field. This stems in part from a pervasive unwillingness to grapple with the uncomfortable aspects of white, Eurocentric curricula.

The reluctance to reevaluate traditional teaching methods contrasts with what British universities say they are willing to do in the name of racial justice. When surveyed this year, 84 universities declared a general commitment to making their curricula more diverse, international or inclusive. Only 24 were actually committed to decolonising their curricula.

According to Meera Sabaratnam, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, decolonization can mean several things. It rests, however, upon a willingness to challenge our shared assumptions about how the world is.

Universities can do this, for example, by providing greater representation of non-Western thinkers: Is it acceptable if writings and teachings about international regions or global affairs are done almost exclusively by writers from or based within the West?

But while representation is important, it is only one piece of the puzzle. Decolonising a curriculum requires scrutiny of what universities prioritize learning about, the models that they use to learn it, and the classroom culture that is created as a result.

All of these things contribute to an attainment gap in degree results between BME and white students that persists even at universities that pride themselves on diversity.

Decolonization is a difficult and comprehensive process, but it is what the RHS report concluded is necessary to redress systemic inequities in the field of history. Universities must not only include and draw attention to the work of BME historians, though that too is important.

Universities must make race and ethnicity essential topics of discussion while dissecting white histories and Eurocentric approaches.

Joe Cozens, a British historian at UCL, explained to The College Post what that might look like.

Diversifying the writers and central themes of British history, Cozens said, is how we facilitate more meaningful discussions on race and ethnicity than traditional curricula would permit.

I encourage my students to engage with the likes of C.L.R. James, Ron Ramdin, and Paul Gilroy, he said, and recently I have added Shirin Hirschs In the Shadow of Enoch Powell and Priya Gopals Insurgent Empire to my reading lists. All are celebrated BME colonial and postcolonial historians.

I have also integrated the themes of race, ethnicity, and migration into the broader story of social and political change in the long nineteenth century, referring to the period between 1789 and 1914.

Asked about how the role of his classroom in todays social climate, Cozens turned to a familiar topic.

I encourage students to think deeply and critically about the purpose of policing in the past and to consider what police reform in the future might look like. These issues seem all the more vital in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Department Head Eleanor Robson elaborated on how historians at UCL are tackling Britains whitewashed past from several angles.

Were the only History Department in the country that offers a programme of truly global history from antiquity to modernity, and are world leaders in the history of slavery and abolition, empire and post-colonialism, Robson told The College Post.

Our flagship Centre for the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership has been dominating the national news in recent weeks, she added as an example.

The Centre is known for tracing the beneficiaries of Britains Slave Compensation Act of 1837, which compensated slave owners for the abolition of slavery. Insurance market Lloyds of London and Greene King, the largest pub chain in the country, recently apologized and pledged charity donations to minority communities after some of their founding members were revealed to have been compensated by the law.

While the department has ramped up its reassessment of policies and teaching methods since the RHS report was released in 2018, it started doing so long before. In fact, Robson said, UCL historians have been working to decolonize their curricula since before the Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013.

Still, another challenge for reform-oriented educators is to diversify what it means to study BME history in the first place. According to the RHS report, there is a seemingly relentless focus on enslavement, abolition and exploitation.

This is especially important to keep in mind as calls to reform British history education extend beyond universities. In the wake of recent protests, The Black Curriculum, an education reform group, has seen a surge in support for their nationwide campaign to make teaching black history mandatory in secondary schools.

"When I was at school, as a Black British girl, I couldnt see myself in the history books; none of my ancestors were there and our stories werent toldhow important can my culture be if it wasnt even taught in schools?" @GraziaUK #TBH365https://t.co/5SVUkzE11w

The Black Curriculum (@CurriculumBlack) July 20, 2020

It is also something to keep in mind as UCLs history department expands opportunities to study Native American, Caribbean, East Asian, and African history this year. This also includes a new postgraduate program in Black British History at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Departmental culture has also become an area of scrutiny. According to the RHS report, demeaning comments and stereotypes inhibit the success of BME scholars and further contribute to the attainment gap.

As a result, all students and Teaching Assistants will undergo inclusivity training this year as part of an initiative from the departments Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, which Robson chairs.

The department will also provide a new support network for BME staff and students amid complaints of inappropriate comments and behavior. The network, however, has declined to give details about how it will operate and how students can get involved.

After two years of implementing the recommendations of the RHS report, the department will soon audit its progress. But while not complacent, Robson said it has certainly moved in the right direction.

And considering that decolonizing a curriculum is not something that happens overnight, as Lecturer Sabaratnam wrote, such steps alone are laudable. The history departments recent reforms reflect a sensitivity to increasingly vocal demands for systemic change.

Supporting the now-global cause of racial justice manifests itself in many ways. In this case, the UCL history department is doing so by scrutinizing its traditional teachings and addressing inattention to its own underrepresented BME scholars.

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Decolonizing the Curriculum: The Black Lives Matter Approach to History - The College Post

Nearly 100 people gathered outside of the Maryland House of Delegates building in Annapolis Thursday in a call for their representatives to maintain funding and support for state and local law enforcement officers.

Hosted by Dels. Sid Saab (R-Anne Arundel) and Haven C. Shoemaker (R-Carroll), Republican lawmakers and police officials showed their support for officers in the field who have faced loud and very public criticism following the death of George Floyd at the feet of Minneapolis police officers on May 25.

Every time they go out, and theyre doing work and they leave behind their wives, their husbands, their kids, their loved ones they know the risks, and what were doing now in this world is not just the risks of they might get hurt, not the risks they might get shot trying to protect us, said Del. Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany). Were now creating the risks that their lives may be ruined, they may be tarred and feathered forever, because they were just trying to do their job to protect themselves, to protect their fellow officers, to protect us and its not good enough for somebody with a cell phone camera.

Since Floyds death nearly two-months ago, protests have erupted across the country calling for the defunding and abolition of police agencies, which House Republicans decried Thursday.

Del. Matt Morgan (R-St. Marys) called Floyds death tragic and indefensible.

But it should have been a unifying tragedy, he said.

Morgan accused Democrats of using this incident as an excuse to drive a political narrative and dismantle the police departments taking specific shots at legislators from Baltimore City who have joined in on those calls.

One-hundred eighty-five murders, he said, providing an approximate count of murders in the city so far this year. You know the last thing you need to be doing is defunding the police.

The crowd erupted in applause.

Shoemaker joined Morgan in lambasting Democratic lawmakers, saying that any silly politician that blathers about defunding the police should have his or her security detail defunded.

Shoemaker took it a step further, knocking advocates cries to divert funding to public health and safety programs.

We want the noble men and women of law enforcement to know that the overwhelming silent majority of Marylanders feel that if some criminal is breaking into our houses, we dont want a social worker dispatched to help the crook get in touch with his feelings, he asserted. We want you. With guns.

Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare also spoke at the rally. His message was one of support for current officers and a warning for citizens who support the police and protesters who call for their abolition.

Folks, something bad is happening in this country and in this county, Altomare said. There is no group of people in this country in its history that have done more for poor communities of color across this nation than the American policeman. Take it to the bank.

The largely white crowd cheered.

Altomare announced Wednesday evening that he would be retiring from the post hes held since 2014. Before serving on the Anne Arundel County Police Department for 21 years, he was a member of the Annapolis Police Department. His retirement is effective Aug. 1.

To be called racist because I wear a uniform makes me sick to my stomach. I cant do it anymore and be silent, Altomare said. Thats why I retired.

The police chief debunked rumors that Anne Arundel County Executive Stuart Pittman (D) was forcing him out, saying that Pittman called him asking him not to resign.

So far, I think hes trying to follow his heart, and I have immense respect for him as a human being, he said. I do think, however, hes caught between a rock and a hard place, and the silence of the majority is not helping him at all to make good decisions about who are the good guys and who arent.

Altomare clarified in an op-ed published in the Capital Gazette this week that his retirement is also not in any way linked to a lawsuit surrounding a 2019 event in which Anne Arundel County police officers are alleged to have used excessive force.

During the rally, Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees, who has known Altomare since his 2014 appointment, read the op-ed to the crowd.

Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees offered a final salute to Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare, who is retiring effective August 1.

There is a movement in this nation and in this county to remove the teeth of the police, DeWees read. It is wrong and it will have grave and lasting effects that you will see and feel.

Altomare wrote that the silence of constituents backs their elected officials into corners where they feel compelled to act on the word of those protesting.

The alternative is anarchy and entropy, the op-ed reads.

Altomare wrote that he is proud of the police force in Anne Arundel County, and hopes that officers will continue to hold each other accountable and do it right.

Im not leaving because I want to, the departing chief wrote. Im leaving because I will not be a part of a movement that endangers you or the people were sworn to protect.

Altomare told the crowd that he is proud of the thin blue line, and that just because it exists doesnt mean that officers act immorally or unethically. He also asserted that it doesnt mean they are perfect.

Theres 850,000 cops in this country, he explained. Of course were going to have some problems. So do elected officials; so do clergy; so does everybody else.

We hold ourselves accountable and we do the right thing.

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House Republicans Rally in Support of Police, Blast Democrats Who Call for Defunding - Josh Kurtz

The Future isMs.is an ongoing series of news reports by young feminists. This seriesis made possible by a grant fromSayItForward.orgin support of teen journalists and the series editor, Katina Paron.

Sarvani Kunapareddys dream of going into the medical field after college was halted by the green card backlog.

The 17-year-old, alongside one million other immigrants, awaits for permanent residency from a lagging, 1990s-established quota system that leaves immigrants with advanced degrees in limbo for 151 years, according to the CATO Institute. A Senate bill could relocate unallocated visas towards health care workers, but teens like Kunapareddywho are under their parents statusare plagued with doubled tuition fees and ineligibility for financial aid because they are considered international students in college applications.

Its not just me, but theres so many people in this boat. Id say just people arent talking about it though, Kunapareddy said. Its not the front cover kind of thing.

Before COVID-19 occupied headlines, 100,000 letters were sent to Congress by the Skilled Immigrants in America (SIIA). As an SIIA advocate, Kunapareddy empowered her peers to write letters detailing the unfairness of the immigration system.

As a result, Utah Sen. Mike Lee introduced the Fairness for High Skilled Act in 2019. The proposed bill would abolish the per-country cap for employment-based categories and increase the per-country cap for family-sponsored immigration.

While it does not increase the amount of immigrants allowed in the country, the abolition of the per-country limit will provide a more fair opportunity for the immigrants affected by the backlog.

Here atMs., our team is continuing to report throughthis global health crisisdoing what we can to keep you informed andup-to-date on some of the most underreported issues of thispandemic.Weask that you consider supporting our work to bring you substantive, uniquereportingwe cant do it without you. Support our independent reporting and truth-telling for as little as $5 per month.

Through advocacy, Kunapareddy takes any opportunity to educate. In February 2018, Kunapareddy traveled to St. Louis to meet with then-state Senator Claire McCaskill, propelled by her data that captured how the backlog disadvantages skilled workers and students like her.

I try to stay cool-headed and remember that you cant control what other people think; you can only control what your actions are, she said.

She models herself after her mother, Krishna, an independent advocate who immigrated alone from India in 2006 for her masters degree in urban planning at University of Texas at Arlington, obtaining an H-1B visa, rather than a dependent on her husbands. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services states about 80 percent of H-1B holders are male.

She said it is difficult for backlogged families to advocate for their unstable residency status.

Even though there are people going through the issue, they dont want to accept it, Krishna said.

As a green card applicant under her parents, Kunapareddy is forced to reapply as an adult in four years if her parents are still stuck in the backlog. If she doesnt, she could face deportation.

Some people have been denied visas and stuck outside the country separated from their families, said Brent Renison, an immigration lawyer based out of Portland, Ore.

SIIA advocate, Prasenjit Shil, worries after he obtains residency, his nine-year-old son will face his own complications.

The way math stacks up, looks like Im not gonna get my green card until my son becomes 21 years old, Shil said.

Once a medical school hopeful, Kunapareddy set her eyes on computer science instead. University of Missouri-Kansas City, which used to be her college of interest, does not admit international students into their M.D. program.

Even people who are affected are like Oh its not a big deal, But in the end, its a very big deal, Kunapareddy said. Its going to affect how you live your life.

The Future is Ms. is committed to amplifying the voices of young women everywhere. Share one of your own stories about your path to empowerment at SayItForward.org.

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Teens Demand Action for Immigrants Halted by Green Card Backlog - Ms. Magazine

You are trapped in a net cast by a white man reeking of rum and smoke, and then dragged miles to the coast. You are processed, bound into chains, and led to vast wooden ships. You are packed into the hold and spend months on the ocean. You have little to eat, little to drink, little air to breathe. All around you there is coughing and fever. On deck, they make you dance to keep your muscles taut, to preserve your price at the market. If you resist, they will beat you; if you die, they will throw you overboard.

In time, you see land. You are paraded on the dockside, prodded and inspected. They feel your arms; they look at your teeth. One man says Yes. You are loaded on to a cart and driven over rough land along dirt tracks until you arrive at a house and fields. You suffer searing pain as a burning iron pushes into your skin. You are taken to a shed and thrown to the floor. You collapse and sleep, but the sun rises and then you work. You have not done this work before, but if you do it badly, they will whip you. If you complain, they will whip you again. If you refuse to work, or you fight back, they will kill you in front of the others. So, you work.

This was the life to which British planters and merchants subjected millions of African people from the late 16th century to the 1830s. These are the truths of slavery within the British empire. And yet, as Nicholas Rogers shows in his micro-history, Britons were capable of even worse.

The antagonist of Rogerss tale is John Kimber, a veteran of the slave trade who in 1791 skippered the Recovery, a near-200-ton ship, from Bristol to the slaving coast of west Africa. Kimbers first major crime on this voyage came at New Calabar in the Niger Delta. On finding that the locals would not provide him with either slaves or water, Kimber and his fellow British captains two more from Bristol, three from Liverpool bombarded the town. As Rogers tells us, the British sailors believed that a good volley of cannonballs would resolve outstanding contracts and force down the price of slaves. This prediction proved correct.

Back in London, the news of the attack caught the attention of the group of philanthropists who, since 1787, had been campaigning for the abolition of the trade that Kimber practised, under the political leadership of William Wilberforce. For Wilberforce, Kimbers actions were nothing more than bloody and inhuman butchery. It was during his brief investigation of the New Calabar outrage that Wilberforce learned of the murder onboard the Recovery that dominates Rogerss book.

It is trite to describe life on a slave ship as hell; as the historian Marcus Rediker has put it, there is no way to quantify horror. Even so, Rogers gives vital, awful details of the conditions that prevailed on British slave ships. There was piss and shit and blood, and plenty else besides. John Newton, the clergyman who wrote Amazing Grace and a former, repentant slave trader, recalled that when the women and girls are taken on board a ship, naked, trembling, terrified they are exposed to the wanton rudeness of white savages. He lamented how one of his sailors had seduced a slave down into the room and lay with her brutelike in view of the whole quarter deck. The former slave merchant and adventurer Olaudah Equiano had also witnessed sailors gratify[ing] their brutal passions with females not 10 years old.

Kimbers victim in this case was a girl only slightly older. Since her enslavement and imprisonment on the Recovery, the girl had been raped, brutalised and inflicted with a severe case of gonorrhoea; of course, the blame for the spread of the disease was attached to the African women on board, not to the British sailors. When the girl would not dance with the other enslaved Africans, Kimber flogged her daily with whips and ropes. Soon, she was struggling to walk, suffering from a crooked knee. This presented Kimber with a problem: if the girl was infirm, she would fetch a much lower price when the ship docked at Grenada.

Kimbers solution was atrocious even by slaving standards. From the mizzen-mast of the ship he strung the girl up by her bad leg, then her other leg, and then by her arms. In each position he whipped her. The ordeal lasted half an hour, after which the girl crawled to the hatch, fell down the stairs into the hold, collapsed, convulsed and died. The bitch is sulky, Kimber concluded. There is no record of her name, her story, or her family; accordingly, and disturbingly, she is referred to as No-name throughout this book.

After denouncing Kimber in parliament, Wilberforce quickly brought charges of murder before the High Court of Admiralty, which was the only place to try a man for alleged crimes committed on the high seas. It is the result of this trial and its aftermath, rather than Kimbers brutality, that say most about Britains historical attitude towards slavery.

With the slaveholding West India Interest mustering an array of witnesses who spoke to Kimbers supposedly good character, the judge, Sir James Marriott, simply stopped the trial and directed the jury to find the accused not guilty. Even more perversely, Marriott immediately charged the prosecutions witnesses, two members of Kimbers crew who had testified against the captain, with perjury: one of them was convicted and sentenced to transportation.

As for Kimber, he tried to sue Wilberforce for damages but contented himself with lurking menacingly outside the abolitionists London home; only the intervention of the Earl of Sheffield put an end to the stalking. Growling, Kimber returned to the slave trade.

How could the British judicial system acquit a man of such crimes? How far did Kimbers monstrosity characterise British traders overall? Indeed, if Britain was the liberal bastion of abolitionism and philanthropy that is often imagined, how could such a killing not have caused a greater furore?

As ever, context is everything. The Haitian revolution had begun in 1791, jeopardising the future of slave colonies across the Caribbean; by the next year, the French Terror was in train; and the slave trade was still a vital artery running through the core of the British empire. To chastise Kimber and to prosecute men of his ilk was considered dangerous commercially, politically and strategically. These were the same concerns that would forestall abolition until 1807.

This was the cold and callous pragmatism that informed so much of British imperial policy; there was no room for sentiment here, and this is the world that Rogers exposes in recounting the death of a teenage girl. It is this history and not the triumphalist accounts of abolition and later emancipation that we must heed; it is this history that reveals the darker, shameful, but essential truths of our imperial past.

Michael Taylors The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery will be published by Bodley Head in November. Murder on the Middle Passage is published by Boydell & Brewer (16.99).

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Murder on the Middle Passage by Nicholas Rogers review slavery and the British empire - The Guardian

Featured photo: Activist Brittany Battle speaks at a Triad Abolition Project and Unity Coalition event. (photo by Michaela Ratliff)

Brittany Battles parents still laugh about the time she led a walk-out in her eighth grade class.

I felt like my teacher was being unjust, so I inspired my classmates to walk out of this mans class, Battle says in an interview.

She has had an eye towards social justice for as long as she can remember, aligning herself with Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem shortly after moving there last year. Her involvement with the activist group recently drew her to John Nevilles case.

I cant breathe, inmate John Neville repeatedly told Forsyth County detention officers as they placed him in a prone restraint. He would later die from a brain injury caused by the restraint. Many people were outraged that the Dec. 4, 2019 death was not made public until July 8, 2020, when Forsyth County District Attorney Jim ONeill announced five detention officers and a nurse were being charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Neville in a press conference.

Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem called an emergency meeting and then gathered outside of the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center that same day to protest the lack of timely communication to the public and the case of police brutality. The crowd of protesters erupted into cries of, Let them go! as five protesters were arrested for leaving the sidewalk and walking into the street. Battle was one of them.

She expressed that law enforcement held positive attitudes during the local protests for the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, saying that they rode bikes alongside them and blocked off streets for their safety.

Oh, those are bad cops in Louisville, those are bad cops in Minneapolis, she predicted the police said then. But when we start talking about bad cops in Winston-Salem and Forsyth county, the light is shone in their own house. They didnt like that.

They came out there with zip ties, she recalls. They came out there with an LRAD, which is a long-range acoustic device. Its frequently used against protesters. It can make them deaf or hard of hearing. Its supposed to be inconspicuous because people think its a speaker. They admitted it was an LRAD in the paperwork of one of my comrades who was arrested. They said they warned us via LRAD not to be in the street..

And yet, Battle remained fearless.

Theres no way in hell Im gonna let them intimidate me, she says.

Battle felt her arrest was intentional, saying police targeted those they recognized from being organizers of protests in the city. The drive to continue fighting even harder for social justice after her arrest wasnt the only thing she left the protest with. She now flaunts a black splint on her right wrist as a result of the recent arrest as she waits for her follow up appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to examine the extent of her injury.

After I got released, I went to the ER first for the wrist injury they did to me, she said, and then I went right to an organizing meeting after that. There was no stopping.

In addition to amplifying the actions of Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem, Battle is affiliated with the Triad Abolition Project, a newly-formed grassroots collective of people interested in sharing ideas and resources about abolishing the carceral system, as well as educating others about the meaning of abolition. The Triad Abolition Project, in partnership with the Unity Coalition, another newly formed group in Winston-Salem with similar objectives, organized Occupy the Block Winston-Salem, an ongoing peaceful resistance in Bailey Park which started on July 15. The group intends to hold a protest every day until the four main demands of the Triad Abolition Project are met which include: responding to all questions posed by the Triad Abolition Project and the Unity Coalition, banning the use of prone restraint on any civilian, incarcerated or not, sick or not, notifying the public of any death involving an officer or deputy immediately, and dismissing all charges against protestors from July 8th and 9th arrests.

An activist on the streets and in the classroom, Battle is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Wake Forest University. She earned her masters in African-American studies from Temple University in 2012, and her PhD in Sociology from Rutgers University New Brunswick in 2019. She finds it difficult to balance her time between teaching and fighting racial injustice as her activism tends to infiltrate her classroom.

In spring I taught a class, Social Justice in the Social Sciences, she said. We talked about how social justice shows up in social theories, social research methods, and actual activist movements. I teach from a Black feminist perspective. I create syllabi that highlights the voices of Black women and Black queer folks.

She says she values elevating the voices of minorities as she was also a member of the NAACP and the Black Student Union during her undergraduate years.

Outside of activism and teaching, she can be found creating keepsake baby quilts for her friends who are new moms. She also loves to sew and create jewelry. When social-justice work gets to be overwhelming, she escapes to what she calls her happy place the beach. She also values relaxation exercises like meditation and sage burning to stay grounded, activities she incorporated into Occupy the Block.

We have people who will be coming out to lead a yoga session, she says. Every evening we have a vigil. Were out here burning sage and incense and stuff so were really taking the spiritual part of it seriously as well because this is a lot to be out here twelve hours a day. Weve gotta make sure people are taking care of themselves spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Battle is okay with the fact that her ultimate vision abolishing the carceral state will likely not happen in her lifetime, but that doesnt mean her efforts towards it will stop.

My real motivation is that my freedom and liberation is tied up in everybody elses, she says. If there are some of us out there that arent free, none of us are. Thats what inspires me to keep doing this type of work.

Learn more about the Triad Abolition Project by visiting their website at triadabolitionproject.org.

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Fearless activist Brittany Battle: Theres no way in hell Im gonna let them intimidate me. - Triad City Beat