Category Archives: Black Lives Matter

On the cover of Nitasha Tamar Sharmas recent book, Hawaii Is My Haven, is a striking image of Kamakakehau Fernandez wearing a pink bombax flower lei. The Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning falsetto singer and ukulele player was adopted from Arkansas by a Maui family when he was six weeks old, and was enrolled in Hawaiian language classes starting in kindergarten. He grew up in Hawaii and with Hawaii in him.

Fernandez is one of countless examples of Black locals who have contributed to Hawaiian culture and life for over 200 years, yet whose stories have largely gone unrecognized.

Black people have been evacuated out of the narrative of who is in Hawaii, Sharma says. Historically we dont think Black people were in Hawaii when they actually were.

Sharma was born and raised in Manoa and is currently a professor of African American Studies and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University. Hawaii Is My Haven is the culmination of a lifetime of research and a decade of talking with Black Hawaii residents. The result is a detailed, nuanced look at Black life in Hawaii, now and throughout history.

There is a continuing throughline from historical narratives of Black people escaping enslavement, Jim Crow and segregation, to young students today that Hawaii is a haven. Its a sanctuary, its a refuge. These are the terms Black folks use to describe Hawaii, Sharma says.

Historically, its easy to understand why; a free and peaceful life in Hawaii is clearly better than the racist violence that defined Black life in America for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. But even today, Hawaii offers possibilities that are rare on the mainland, if they exist at all.

Their Blackness does not become all-defining for their experiences in the islands, says Sharma.

Part of this is the local perspective of identifying with more than one race. In the same way someone can be Hawaiian-Filipino-Japanese-Portuguese, Black people in Hawaii are able to be Black and, which is not often the case on the mainland.

When Black folks come and stay for a long time, they come to a place where its common to be multiracial and account for all of your ancestries, where you dont really have segregated communities. They come to a place where people allow them to not only be reduced to Blackness, says Sharma.

This leads to one of the many paradoxes of Black life in Hawaii. Hawaii is an escape from Blackness in ways that are liberating but also isolating.

Black folks who werent born in Hawaii and come from the continental U.S. often feel a sense of loss and guilt. What does it mean to be your multiple beings? To be Black and a surfer, or Black and Korean? How do you raise a child with Black self-knowledge when there arent any discrete Black communities? Sharma says.

Part of the guilt, especially from Black mothers, emerged during the Black Lives Matter protests. Theres this sense of disconnect, like were not over there fighting that fight. Were here and its not happening to us here, and thats why we came here, but how can we help our people who are experiencing that there?

Sharma unpacks such tangled questions with fierce honesty and rigorous research. The result is a work that clarifies misconceptions and challenges common assumptions about race.

On the continent, if youre Black or white, the assumption is youre American. If youre Asian or Latino, youre seen as an immigrant. Indigenous people are seen as people of the past, who have experienced genocide, that this is no longer native land. In Hawaii these things are inverted, Sharma says, and not just because Hawaii is a place of active Indigenous resistance.

If youre Asian or brown in Hawaii, youre presumed to be from here. If youre Black or white, youre either a tourist or youre military. This leads to a collapse of the Black-and-white binary that becomes unsettling for a lot of Black folks, because it places them in alignment with white people, Sharma says.

It is difficult to square all of these contradicting narratives: that Black people are both local and immigrants; that they experience anti-Black racism while also being grouped with white people; that their experience of oppression in many ways mirrors that of Native Hawaiians, but they also contribute to Hawaiian dispossession. Black people may be a small minority in Hawaii, but they are large; they contain multitudes.

One of the great successes of the book is that it doesnt try to flatten all the angles into a single, easy story. It dwells in the complexity of its subject matter, and in doing so it illuminates new ways of understanding race in Hawaii.

Anti-Black racism is a technology of white dominance that transfers onto other people, Sharma says. In Hawaii as of late, those other people tend to be Micronesian.

Micronesians are seen as dark, prone to criminality, uneducated. These are the same tropes that were created in the European encounter with Africa to justify colonization and enslavement, Sharma says. If locals in Hawaii disparage Micronesians in the same ways, it shows how the transference of Blackness can happen.

The idea that racism exists in Hawaii can be difficult for a lot of local people to accept. After all, Hawaii is a place where everyone is intermingled, where everyone jokes freely about everyone else. Ethnic humor is not only common and accepted in Hawaii, many would argue its part of Hawaiis charm.

Local humor is an amazing practice. It attempts to flatten differences in tight spaces with lots of different kinds of people. Thats really important for day-to-day pleasure and laughs and community building, says Sharma.

But its important to also recognize that peoples life experiences in Hawaii are not flattened. Joking can show how much you know about the other person, but a lot of times its used to brush away actions that need to be taken. If joking means we dont have to do anything about inequality, thats a problem, Sharma says.

Hawaii Is My Haven is an ambitious and original work of scholarship. By focusing on an oft-overlooked demographic, it creates a fuller, more accurate picture of Hawaiis history.

I just want people to see that there are Black locals, Sharma says. There is a long history of Black participation in Hawaii, from the kingdom to today. I want people to understand their experiences and see what we can learn from them. Its not saying welcome them as part of our ohana, its recognizing theyre already in it.

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Eric Stinton: It's Time To Recognize That Black History Is Part Of Hawaii's History - Honolulu Civil Beat

One year ago, the nation watched as the city of Ferguson, Mo., erupted.

St. Louis police, dressed in riot gear, stood in a straight line, shields up and face masks down in a standoff with protestors. The media assembled on the sidelines, cameras poised to capture the latest. There was tear gas, burning buildings, chants and signs.

Protesters came armed with a message, a message that would echo through the Missouri night sky in the days and weeks after Michael Brown's death. It was a message heard across the nation in more protests for other black Americans who died by police hands. "Black lives matter," they chanted, wrote and tweeted. "Black lives matter," they chanted in throngs that blocked streets and demanded America's attention.

While demonstrators took to the streets of Ferguson and cities like New York and Los Angeles, a new generation of activists gathered both on the ground and online. The Black Lives Matter movement called for change with how police deal with minorities, and demanded a look at systemic racism and equity. And from it emerged a group of young people paving the way.

Brittany Packnett is one of them.

Packnett, 30, grew up in north St. Louis County in an African-American household lead by parents with advanced degrees. She is an activist, educator and a Member of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

She said the death of Michael Brown deepened her commitment to social justice.

"I think the most significant thing that has changed is that people can see this isn't just about Mike Brown, this isn't just about Tamir Rice, and it isn't just about Sandra Bland," she said. "It is about defending the humanity and the dignity of all people in this country and of people of color in particular."

The young movers and shakers who have been leading the Black Lives Matter movement are now one year out and reflecting back on how far the movement has come. And what else they think still needs to be done.

"I think what we have seen primarily change is that people recognize that here we are 365 days later and we are still talking about it," said Packnett.

Since Brown's Death

On Dec. 1, 2014, Packnett stood outside the Oval Office with seven other young activists. While she waited to meet with President Barack Obama she reflected on the fact that it was her enslaved ancestors who had built the White House.

"We were responsible in that moment to speak truths about our community to the leader of the free world, and that was a real opportunity, but it was also a real responsibility," Packnett recalled.

The president announced the formation of the task force that day, and in the weeks to follow Packnett would be named as a member. In May 2015, the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing released a comprehensive report identifying best policing practices and offering recommendations to strengthen trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.

A recent survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that one year after the death of Michael Brown, more than 3 out of 5 blacks say they or a family member have personal experience with being treated unfairly by the police -- and their race is the reason. The poll also revealed that nearly 3 out of 4 white people thought race had nothing to do with how police in their communities decide to use deadly force.

Activist and 25-year-old data scientist Samuel Sinyangwe, who lives in San Francisco, says the movement is making a difference anyway. He is a Stanford graduate who grew up in Orlando 15 minutes from where Trayvon Martin was killed. He helped found the website Mapping Police Violence after the death of Michael Brown.

"I had a lot of questions and I was frustrated by the fact that I couldn't get answers because the federal government was not collecting comprehensive information and data on police killings," he said. "What I wanted to know was how prevalent and how widespread are police killings. How are they potentially targeting black people and young black people in particular."

Sinyangwe collected data by using two large crowdsourcing databases on police killings. He says Mapping Police Violence has come to many conclusions, including "Ferguson is everywhere."

Sinyangwe's data has found that since 2015, at least 184 black people have been killed by police in the U.S. so far. In 2014, over 300 black people were killed. In the last year, Black Lives Matter has protested the deaths of black people including Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice, to name a few.

"Not only is it happening everywhere, it's happening in some places more than others. We are able to shine a spotlight on why some of these uprisings are happening in some places," Sinyangwe said. "This is rooted in policy and the system can be changed."

Sinyangwe uses Newark, N.J. as an example. With about the same population and crime rate as St. Louis, and around the same amount of black people, crime in Newark is going down, Sinyangwe says. On the other hand, crime in St. Louis is going up. He says no black people have been killed by police in Newark since 2013, while 12 have been killed in St. Louis.

He says he hopes that the data Mapping Police Violence provides helps the problem of police violence be better understood, and helps towards addressing it.

Many of the protests held over the last year occurred after officers were not charged with crimes, as was the case in the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. But just last week, a prosecutor was quick to charge a Univ. of Cincinnati police officer with the death of Samuel DuBose during a traffic stop in Ohio.

An Associated Press analysis released in late July revealed that 24 states have passed at least 40 new measures after Ferguson. The AP reports that the measures have included addressing such things as officer-worn cameras, training about racial bias, independent investigations when police use force and new limits on the flow of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies.

While the effects of these policies are new and not yet known, Sinyangwe says it is still progress.

"You really haven't seen anything as impactful as we are seeing this one right now in terms of seeing immediate legislation being proposed and passed and signed at all levels of government," he said.

Criticism

The Black Lives Matter movement hasn't come without its share of criticism. Some have called it anti-police, others anti-white; the majority of criticism has come from those on social media. The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag sparked another controversial hashtag as well, #AllLivesMatter.

"I thought it represented a real misunderstanding, that, unfortunately, happens often when marginalized people finally begin to tell our own story," said Packnett about #AllLivesMatter.

Saying black lives matter is not the same as saying only black lives matter, Packnett said.

"What it is saying though is an acknowledgement of the fact that black lives, brown lives, that people of color in particular, are the ones suffering disproportionately from issues of police brutality, police violence and discrimination in the criminal justice system," she said.

A CBS News/New York Times poll released in July revealed that nearly 6 in 10 Americans say they think race relations in America are bad. And among those polled, blacks are more likely than whites to hold this view. Nearly 8 in 10 African-Americans believe the criminal justice system is biased against them, up from 61 percent in 2013.

Black Lives Matter was sparked by a woman who tweeted it after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin and it caught on, especially after the death of Michael Brown. It was also turned into an organization under the same name, Black Lives Matter. But the movement as a whole is also referred to as the Black Lives Matter movement.

As Packnett explained, the movement has faced criticism for not having a single leader, no one person the head of the movement.

A common misconception is that the movement is leaderless. But Packnett says it's actually "leader-full," and not being under the rule of one or two people allows many people to pursue change in the way they believe most beneficial and in a decentralized manner.

Sinyangwe said there is frustration from some people at the slowness of legislation, and he understands that. He said there is another common misconception about this movement, that nothing is happening. He says that's not true.

"Change is happening. And we will get free, but it is going to be a little while," he said. "What's happening really is unprecedented."

Social Media

Sinyangwe says Social Media has been the lifeblood of the movement.

"People would not have heard about Ferguson if it wasn't for social media. And when I say social media, I mean Twitter," he said.

Many of the activists have shared personal testimonies on Twitter, organized protests and spread their messages. It has also served as an educational tool for those outside of the movement.

"I think there is a misconception that the movement started with a hashtag," said Sinyangwe. "I think the movement started with everyday people."

But Sinyangwe says social media has still been powerful.

"It allows people to organize and build a community where it previously has not been," he said.

National conversation

Kayla Reed, 25, is field organizer for the Organization for Black Struggle. She is also a member of the Ferguson Action Council, a collaborative effort and coalition of organizations founded after the death of Michael Brown. She said the group comes together weekly to discuss action planning on the ground. The organization is responsible for the #UNITEDWEFIGHT weekend of events planned in Ferguson for the anniversary of Michael Brown's death.

Reed acknowledges that Black Lives Matter has now become a national conversation about race, and political candidates have had to answer questions about it. Most recently, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton have fielded questions about Black Lives Matter, as well as candidates during the first GOP debate.

"You are seeing both Republicans and Democrats having to address the issue of police accountability, injustice and the racial inequalities that exist in America in a way you haven't seen before," Reed said.

In late July, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley was heckled on stage by demonstrators at the progressive Netroots Nation convention. The Democratic presidential candidate responded to the Black Lives Matter protesters by saying, "Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter."

He has since walked back those comments, and, as Sinyangwe points out, he has recently released a comprehensive plan to address some of the issues the Black Lives Matter movement has raised.

What's next?

Sinyangwe would like to see the passing of a comprehensive package of federal legislation related to policing and criminal justice reform in the next year. In addition, he would like to see policies in police departments passed and enforced such as banning chokeholds, banning nickel rides, emphasizing deescalation, the carrying of non-lethal weapons and prohibiting shooting at moving cars -- to name a few.

Packnett said she too would like to see policies on paper become reality.

"What I am really looking to see is the foundation that we have laid to really turn into tangible outcomes and changes in peoples everyday lives," she said. "It didn't take just a year to get into this position. So it's going to take more than a year to get out of it."

She said she also hopes to see people continue to be creative, thoughtful and sustained in bringing forth what she calls a 21st Century human rights movement.

"I want to see us continue to live authentically as our generation does. I want to see some real wins that will help us figure out what the next win will be," Packnett said. "We will get there. We will keep going."

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Black Lives Matter: How the events in Ferguson sparked a ...

Black Lives Matter didn't form from nothing after the fatal police shooting of Mike Brown on Aug. 9, 2014, but it was then that the movement began to build the longevity to survive and grow for the two years to come.

Since that shooting, protesters have demonstrated against police brutality on highways, outside airports and in front of police stations across the country. Activists have built various actionable frameworks to fight police violence, racism in the housing industry, racism embedded in the nation's criminal justice system and more.

We've outlined some of the major protests and developments in the movement since Brown died, below.

In this Dec. 29, 2015, photo, a man yells at authorities during a protest of a grand jury's decision not to indict two white Cleveland police officers in the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice.Credit: AP Photo/Tony Dejak

Fatal shooting of Tamir Rice

Nov. 22, 2014

Tamir Rice was a 12-year-old black boy carrying a toy gun in Cleveland when police drove up to him and, less than a second after exiting the car, fatally shot him.

On the second anniversary of the death of Eric Garner during his attempted arrest by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, activists gathered at the site of his death.Credit: Albin Lohr-Jones/Sipa USA

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2015, file photo, a member of the black student protest group Concerned Student 1950 gestures while addressing a crowd following the announcement that University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe would resign, at the university in Columbia, Mo. The roots of the protest began decades ago, when the University of Missouri, founded in 1839, enrolled its first black student in 1950. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)Credit: AP

No indictment in killing of Eric Garner

Dec. 3, 2014

Protesters demonstrated across New York City after another grand jury chose not to indict a New York Police Department officer after he put Garner in a chokehold on Staten Island earlier in 2014 and refused to release Garner even as the man pleaded, "I can't breathe," over and over.

People take in the sights from the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8, 2015.Credit: AP Photo/The Casper Star-Tribune, Ryan Dorgan

Return to Selma, Alabama

March 2015

A sea of activists young and old descended on Selma, Alabama, in March 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, during which activists marched in one of the most iconic and infamous days of the Civil Rights Movement. Activists advocating for equality for black Americans in 1965 were brutalized by police.

In this image from video, police officer Michael Slager stands over Walter Scott after Slager shot him on April 4.Credit: Feidin Santana via AP Images

Fatal shooting of Walter Scott

April 4, 2015

On April 4, 2015, Walter Scott sprinted across an empty lot behind a pawn shop, away from North Charleston officer Michael Slager, who'd drawn his gun.

Demonstrators protest outside of the courthouse in response to a hung jury and mistrial for Officer William Porter, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, in Baltimore.Credit: AP

Freddie Gray fatally injured inside a police vehicle, protests ensue

April 2015

Days after Scott was shot down, officers in Baltimore threw 24-year-old Freddie Gray in the back of a police van unbuckled. By the end of the ride, his neck and spine were damaged beyond repair.

Hundreds take part in a Unity Walk sponsored by Emanuel AME Church and the Hate Wont Win Movement on Saturday, June 18, 2016, in Charleston, S.C. The Unity Walk was created by the family of the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., who was killed in the shooting at the church in June 2015.Credit: Grace Beahm/The Post And Courier via AP

Charleston shooting

June 17, 2015

Self-proclaimed white supremacist Dylann Roof sat in a late-night Bible study group with parishioners of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17. During the session, he stood, pulled out a gun, and killed nine people who were part of the fabric of the city's community.

In this July 22, 2015, photo, news media work outside the Waller County Jail, in Hempstead, Texas.Credit: AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

What happened to Sandra Bland?

July 2015

Sandra Bland pulled over on a Texas road three days before her death and waited for the police officer to walk up to her driver-side door.

Police talk to people after a shooting near a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9, 2015.Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Back to Ferguson

August 2015

On Aug. 9, 2015, police in Ferguson shot a black teenager named Tyrone Harris after Harris allegedly pulled a gun and began shooting at officers.

Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson is a co-founder of Campaign Zero.Credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Activists release campaign framework to combat police brutality

Aug. 21, 2015

In late August 2015, activists released a platform called Campaign Zero, which aims to reduce incidents of police violence.

In this Nov. 9, 2015, photo, a member of the black student protest group Concerned Student 1950 gestures while addressing a crowd.Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Protests across college campuses

November 2015

Student activists at the University of Missouri forced the university system president to resign after a series of protests during which they said he had not responded quickly to a series of racist occurrences on campus.

Black Lives Matter Minneapolis organizer Lena K. Gardner stands in front of a line of police as protesters shut down Interstate 94 on July 9.Credit: Annabelle Marcovici/SIPA USA

Fatal shooting of Jamar Clark

November 2015

A Minneapolis officer fatally shot 24-year-old Jamar Clark on Nov. 15, 2015, just blocks from a police station after police were called to the home for a domestic disturbance. Clark died the following day.

In this Oct. 20, 2014 image from video provided by the Chicago Police Department, Laquan McDonald, right, walks down the street moments before being shot by officer Jason Van Dyke in Chicago. Last year the family of McDonald, the black teenager shot 16 times by a white officer, received $5 million from the city. His death, captured in a shocking video, led to a murder charge against Van Dyke, the police chiefs firing and thunderous street protests with calls for Mayor Rahm Emanuel's resignation.Credit: Chicago Police Department

A reckoning in Chicago

November 2015

Chicago officials released video of a police officer fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times more than a year after the incident took place.

A man holds an American flag upside down as motorcycles pass during the funeral procession for Baton Rouge police corporal Montrell Jackson.Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The fatal shooting of Alton Sterling

July 5, 2016

Baton Rouge police officers pinned a black man named Alton Sterling to the ground before one of them pulled out a gun and fatally shot him.

Banners block the entrance gate as demonstrators gather outside the Minnesota governor's residence on July 8.Credit: AP Photo/Jim Mone

The fatal shooting of Philando Castile

July 6, 2016

One day later, a police officer in Minnesota fatally shot Philando Castile at a traffic stop.

Law enforcement officers salute the casket of Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Lorne Ahrens during his funeral service.Credit: AP Photo/LM Otero

A sniper kills five police officers in Dallas

July 7, 2016

Just a few days after that, during one of many protests against police brutality that took place across the country that week, a sniper fired on police in downtown Dallas, killing five officers.

The funeral procession for slain Baton Rouge police corporal Montrell Jackson leaves the Living Faith Christian Center.Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

A gunman kills three police officers in Baton Rouge

July 17, 2016

The fatal shooting of police officers in Dallas wasn't the final such incident that month. A former marine killed three officers in Baton Rouge as protests in the city were still ongoing.

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, at podium, holds a news conference near the site where Freddie Gray was arrested.Credit: AP Photo/Steve Ruark

Charges dropped in Freddie Gray case

July 27, 2016

The day six officers were charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray was seen as a potential watershed moment, though few black Baltimore residents were under the illusion that charges meant convictions.

Protesters march through Chicago in response to the shooting of teenager Paul O'Neal.Credit: Max Herman/NurPhoto/Sipa USA

Activists across the U.S. release broad plan to fight many forms of racism in America

Aug. 1, 2016

The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of groups associated with Black Lives Matter, released a broad, detailed list of demands earlier this month that they believe will help fight racism in housing, education, criminal justice, and many other aspects of American life.

Read the original:

Black Lives Matter: The timeline of a movement

The organization Black Lives Matter has removed from its website a page that included language condemning Americas "Western-prescribed nuclear family structure."

The page, titled "What We Believe," included various public policy positions unrelated to police brutality and police reform. The Washington Examiner discovered on Monday the page had been removed.

"Page Not Found. Sorry, but the page you were trying to view does not exist," the page now reads.

The Wayback Machine archived the page, however, and it contains a lengthy description of the organizations tenets and objectives. Among the views expressed is a desire to disrupt the traditional family structure.

We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and villages that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

According to the Examiner, BLM did not respond to the papers request for comment, so its unclear if the page was deliberately removed.

Whatever the case, BLMs endorsement of this language should come as little surprise. As Brad Polumbo has shown, there are effectively two Black Lives Matter phenomena: the Black Lives Matter organization and black lives matter as an informal movement.

The latter involves people fighting in good faith for police reform who believe African Americans suffer disproportionately from police violence. The former, Black Lives Matter, is an organization co-founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi that has roots in Marxism.

We actually do have an ideological frame[work], Cullors said of her organization in 2015. We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories.

As I pointed out in a 2017 article, Karl Marx was interested in abolishing much more than just private property. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and his associate Frederick Engels defend attempts by Communists to abolish the traditional family.

Abolition [Aufhebung] of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists, Marx wrote. On what foundation is the present family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. In its completely developed form, this family exists only among the bourgeoisie.

Marx and Engels proceeded to compare the nuclear family to public prostitution, before explaining why it was natural and desirable for the institution to vanish.

The bourgeois family will vanish as a matter of course when its complement vanishes, and both will vanish with the vanishing of capital, Marx and Engels wrote. The bourgeois clap-trap about the family and education, about the hallowed co-relation of parents and child, becomes all the more disgusting, the more, by the action of Modern Industry, all the family ties among the proletarians are torn asunder, and their children transformed into simple articles of commerce and instruments of labour.

From where does this hostility to the family stem? Marx and Engels offered clues.

The modern family contains in germ not only slavery (servitus), but also serfdom, since from the beginning it is related to agricultural services, Engels wrote in The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, quoting Marx. It contains in miniature all the contradictions which later extend throughout society and its state.

The hostility to the traditional family did not die with Marx and Engels, however. One of the first steps the Bolsheviks took after seizing power was to begin a decades-long struggle to abolish marriage and weaken the traditional family.

The issue was so central to the revolutionary program that the Bolsheviks published decrees establishing civil marriage and divorce soon after the October Revolution, in December 1917, writes Harvard historian Lauren Kaminsky. These first steps were intended to replace Russias family laws with a new legal framework that would encourage more egalitarian sexual and social relations.

A 1926 article from The Atlantic, written by a woman living in Russia at the time, describes these efforts in detail. The term illegitimate children was abolished, and a law was passed that allowed couples to divorce in a matter of a few minutes. Legislation was introduced to eliminate distinctions between legal wives and mistresses, including granting property rights to the unmarried consorts.

Chaos was the result, the Russian woman wrote. Men took to changing wives with the same zest which they displayed in the consumption of the recently restored forty-per-cent vodka.

About a half century later, the Chinese Communist Party introduced a different version of state-enforced family orchestration. Its one-child policy (19792015), the most extreme population planning policy in world history, placed limits on the number of children Chinese families could have.

Decades before the policy went into effect, Party Chairman Mao Zedong (18931976) famously explained why it was necessary for the state to manage family procreation and the labor stock.

(Re)production needs to be planned. In my view, humankind is completely incapable of managing itself, Mao said. It has plans for production in factories, for producing cloth, tables and chairs, and steel, but there is no plan for producing humans. This is anarchismno governing, no organization and no rules.

Even today the aversion to the traditional family remains strong in socialists. A 2019 article in The Nation titled Want to Dismantle Capitalism? Abolish the Family offers a glimpse of the modern socialist critique of the institution.

We know that the nuclear private household is where the overwhelming majority of abuse can happen, author Sophie Lewis explains. And then theres the whole question of what it is for: training us up to be workers, training us to be inhabitants of a binary-gendered and racially stratified system, training us not to be queer.

For true believers of collectivism, theres little question that private family matters are also state matters. Socialism requires collective control of resources, and humans are the ultimate resource. This is why the traditional nuclear family, which places authority in the hands of parents rather than the community, is an affront to so many socialists.

The scholar Robert Nisbet has explained that the family is one of the three pillars of authority outside the state, along with the church and civic organizations. All three of these institutions offer humans something essential to the human experience: community.

Nisbet believed all three pillars served as important checks on centralized political power, which is why Nisbet saw the decline of the family, church, and civic organizations in America as an ill omen for liberty.

...the quest for community is an impulse that stems from human nature. All yearn for participation and for a sense of belonging within a cause or body greater than the single person, Nisbet wrote in The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics and Order of Freedom (1953). If the desire for community cannot be filled in church, in family, in neighborhood, or in locality, then it will be filled instead by the central State.

Its unclear why Black Lives Matter scrubbed the anti-nuclear family language from its website. Whats clear, however, is that its previously stated goal to disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure fits the Marxist paradigm that stretches back a century and half.

Perhaps the removed page reflects a change of heart. On the other hand, it could simply be a tactic to conceal its Marxist roots. As Dan Sanchez and I wrote in a recent FEE article, in recent decades purveyors of socialism have shown a tendency to shun the Marxist label even while embracing its ideals.

''There are a lot of people who don't want to call themselves Marxist, Eugene D. Genovese, an eminent Marxist academic, told The New York Times in a 1989 article on the mainstreaming of Marxism in US universities.

We dont know for certain why many individuals and groups advocating doctrines rooted in Marxism tend to reject the Marxist labelCullorss 2015 confession that she and Garza are trained Marxists appears to be a mistake of candorbut it seems likely adherents have gleaned a basic truth once observed by the writer Upton Sinclair.

The American People will take Socialism, but they won't take the label, Sinclair observed in a private 1951 correspondence with fellow socialist Norman Thomas.

Many people and organizations of good faith support the black lives matter movement because they believe all people deserve equal treatment and due process before the law.

But Americans should be careful to not confuse the broader black lives matter movement with Black Lives Matter, an organization whose goals may be antithetical to freedom and familyeven if they no longer say so.

Excerpt from:

Black Lives Matters Goal to Disrupt the Nuclear Family ...

The official website of Black Lives Matter (BLM) has dropped its controversial call to "disrupt" the "nuclear family structure."

RedState reported on Monday that the organization"quietly deleted" its "What We Believe" page, which laid out a list of its objectives.

BLACK LIVES MATTER SUPPORT SLIDES 12% THIS SUMMER, POLL SHOWS

One of those objectives, which many critics of BLM highlighted, read: "We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and 'villages'that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable."

Fox News verified that the "What We Believe" page was inactive. BLMdid not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

BLM has seen a sharp drop in its favorability ratingin recent weeks amid ongoing riots and violence in cities across the country.One surveyconducted by the Pew Research Center showed that just over half of American adults (55%) support BLM, down from a high of 67% in June. The percentage of people who say they strongly support the movement stands at around 29%, a nearly 10% decrease from three months ago.

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The movement enjoyed broad supportfollowing the deathofGeorge FloydinMinneapolispolice custodyMay 25. Floyds death sparked nationwide protests thatquickly descended into riots, destruction of property and violent confrontations with police.

The Pew survey found that around 16% of Republicans currently view BLM favorably, compared to37% in June. The organization has the support of 88% ofDemocrats, down slightly from 92% support in June.

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

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Many brands are speaking out against racial injustice -- but not all of them are donating to the cause.

The killing of George Floyd last month while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers has set off a wave of protests and dialogue on racial injustice that has continued unabated for weeks. And many corporations, big and small, have joined the conversation, issuing statements vowing to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. Some tech behemoths -- like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and others -- have followed up on their supportive words with major donation pledges, too. Other companies have yet to put their money where their mouth is.

Below, we've rounded up major companies, from big box retailers to clothing stores, game publishers, fast food chains and more, that are giving substantial donations in the fight against racial injustice and systemic oppression. They're giving to organizations that include the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative, among others helping to create change.

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In addition to joining local protests, signing petitions anddonating time and money, the ability to "vote with your wallet" -- to patronize companies that are making substantive donations -- is another way to support the cause of equal justice.

Please note, however, that this list doesn't address any accusations of discrimination by various companies that have cropped up in media reports and social media in recent days as well. CNET encourages you to spend some time researching the companies you buy from to ensure they align with your values and ethics.

Many of the large tech companies in the US have donated substantial sums to the cause. Google has committed $12 million, while both Facebook and Amazon are donating $10 million to various groups that fight against racial injustice. Apple is pledging a whopping $100 million for a new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative that will "challenge the systemic barriers to opportunity and dignity that exist for communities of color, and particularly for the black community," according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Check out CNET's guide to learn more about how tech companies are supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

Walmart announced that it will contribute $100 million over five years to create a new center for racial equity. In an email to Walmart employees, CEO Doug McMillan said the center "will seek to advance economic opportunity and healthier living, including issues surrounding the social determinants of health, strengthening workforce development and related educational systems, and support criminal justice reform with an emphasis on examining barriers to opportunity faced by those exiting the system."

Target announced a $10 million commitment in an effort to advance social justice through supporting partners like the National Urban League and the African American Leadership Forum. The brand also committed 10,000 hours of pro-bono consulting for small business in the Twin Cities that are black-owned or owned by people of color.

Home Depot CEO Craig Menear announced a $1 million donation to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in a statement released on the company website. In the letter, Menear also said the company will work for change internally, "I have begun working with our associate resource groups to facilitate internal town halls to share experiences and create better understanding among us all," he said. "We are dedicated to supporting you and our communities during this time with the goal of emerging more united than ever."

EA announced a $1 million donation to improve racial equality, starting with donations to the Equal Justice Initiative and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. The brand says it will donate to more partners in the future.

In a tweet earlier this month, Square Enix announced a $250,000 donation in addition to matching employee donations to the Black Lives Matter organization and other charities.

Gaming companyUbisoft tweeted that the company will donate $100,000 to the NAACP and Black Lives Matter organization and encouraged others to donate.

Etsy announced a total contribution of $1 million in an Instagram post. The company is donating $500,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative and $500,000 to the Borealis Philanthropy's Black-Led Movement Fund and will be matching employee donations.

Clothing retailer H&M is pledging $500,000 across three different organizations, according to an Instagram post by the brand. The groups are the NAACP, ACLU and Color of Change.

San Francisco-based clothing company Everlane announced two $75,000 donations to the Equal Justice Initiative and the ACLU in a recent Instagram post. Everlane employees also compiled a shared document with educational resources on how to take action and support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Toms Shoes announced a pledge to donate $100,000 over the next several months to organizations that support the movement.

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(1/2) #GeorgeFloyd, #BreonnaTaylor, #AhmaudArbery, #TonyMcDade and countless others. We will not forget them, and we know that we need to be part of the change. Over the next three months, we are donating $100,000 to organizations that are working to combat racial injustice, starting with a donation to Black Lives Matter (@blklivesmatter). We will also continue to listen, learn, and act. Join us.

A post shared by TOMS (@toms) on Jun 1, 2020 at 6:41pm PDT

Women's lingerie brand Spanx announced a $200,000 commitment on Instagram. In the post, Spanx said, "We are donating $100,000 across national organizations focused on combating racial injustice: Black Lives Matter, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and The Minnesota Freedom Fund. In addition, we are committed to donating an additional $100,000 to organizations in our own home of Atlanta."

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"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Desmond Tutu At Spanx, we always aim to be a source of bright light and positivity in this world. Today, we cannot ignore the injustices and darkness of our outside world. We are overwhelmed with sadness, frustration, heartbreak and anger over recent events. We want you to know that though you see us as a brand, we are made up of real people who care deeply about the justice and equality of everyone. We share your outrage and sorrow over the injustices that led to the tragic loss of the life of George Floyd, along with Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and so many more. Its time to not only stand up for what's right and speak out against racism, but to take action. We know that its in all of our hands to create a better world. Today, were using our social platforms to reiterate that we are committed to being a better ally to fight systemic racism. We will actively practice anti-racism through awareness and education, self-introspection and action. We are calling leaders, we are signing petitions, we are spreading ways to take action but there is so much more that can still be done. We are donating $100,000 across national organizations focused on combating racial injustice: Black Lives Matter, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and The Minnesota Freedom Fund. In addition, we are committed to donating an additional $100,000 to organizations in our own home of Atlanta. To be an ally is to speak out against injustice and to be ears to listen to the POC experience. To be an ally to us means having a heart for empathy for the oppressed and a hand to make change. The time for silence is over. Its time to learn, to grow, to change. #BlackLivesMatter #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd #AntiRacism Art/Image Credit: @quotesbychristie

A post shared by SPANX by @SaraBlakely (@spanx) on May 31, 2020 at 5:00pm PDT

Levis is donating $200,000 to the movement; $100,000 to the ACLU and $100,000 in grants to Live Free USA, an organization working to end mass incarceration.

Gap brands pledged a total of $250,000 in donations to the NAACP andEmbrace Raceon behalf of the brand that includes Athleta, Old Navy and Gap.

Eyewear manufacturer Warby Parker committed $1 million to fight systemic racism, although the brand didn't disclose which organizations it will give to.

Athletic wear brand Lululemon originally announced a $100,000donation to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, but due to an abundance of donations, "we have been asked to channel our resources into other foundations standing for change. We contributed a total of $250,000 to local Minneapolis organizations Rebuild Lake Street and Friends of Hennepin County Library (East Lake Library), as well as national organizations NAACP, Black Lives Matter and Reclaim the Block."

Nike promisesto donate $40 million over the course of four years to social justice organizations that support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Fast-food giant McDonalds is committing $1 million to the NAACP and the National Urban League, according to Business Insider.

Wendy's pledged a $500,000 donation "to support social justice, the youth and education in the black community starting with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund."

Coca-Cola released a statement titled "Where we stand on social justice," and committed $2.5 million in grants from Coca Cola foundation to the NAACP, Equal Justice Initiative, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Honest Beauty, the beauty brand founded by Jessica Alba, pledged $100,000 in donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative.

Anastasia Beauty is pledging $1 million to various organizations, writing in anInstagram post, "This weekend, we began with a donation of $100,000 across the following organizations: Black Lives Matter, The Innocence Project, The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Black Visions Collective, and The Marshall Project."

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Anastasia Beverly Hills stands in solidarity with the Black community. We are pledging 1 million dollars towards the fight against systematic racism, oppression, and injustice. This weekend, we began with a donation of $100,000 across the following organizations: Black Lives Matter, The Innocence Project, The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Black Visions Collective, and The Marshall Project. We are taking the time internally to discuss new initiatives that will financially support Black owned businesses and artists in the beauty industry. When the details have been finalized, we will announce the process for submission or nomination, and we will update you monthly on recipients. We vow to remain constant and vocal supporters of equality. We vow to use our platform and our privilege to amplify the voices of marginalized groups that deserve to be heard. Thank you to our community for being a continued source of inspiration and accountability. #BlackLivesMatter

A post shared by Anastasia Beverly Hills (@anastasiabeverlyhills) on Jun 1, 2020 at 12:45pm PDT

Beauty brand Glossier plans to donate $500,000 to organizations that are "focused on combating racial injustice," and will donate an additional $500,000 in grants to black-owned beauty brands.

Health care giant, UnitedHealth Group announced a $10 million commitment to support George Floyd's children, and Minnesota businesses impacted by civil unrest. UnitedHealth is giving $5 million to the YMCA Equity Innovation Center of Excellence. UnitedHealth employs 20,000 people in Minnesota and is headquartered outside of Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed.

Whoop announced a $20,000 donation to the Equal Justice Initiative in an announcement by CEO Will Ahmed on Instagram that outlined other ways the fitness tracker company will work to improve diversity and promote racial justice.

Peloton announced a $500,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in a social media post that encouraged others to donate and contribute to the Black Lives Matter cause.

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These are the major brands donating to the Black Lives Matter ...

You may have heard lots of people using the phrase 'Black Lives Matter' in recent times.

It's a statement which has become an important way for people to show their support for members of the black community who have experienced discrimination simply because of the colour of their skin.

How did 'Black Lives Matter' start?

'Black Lives Matter' has become an important statement phrase for many following the death of an African-American man called George Floyd, But it was first used widely back in 2013 after a teenage boy called Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighbourhood watch volunteer who did not face any punishment.

Nobody involved in the Black Lives Matter movement is saying that only black lives matter, or that all lives don't matter, or that white lives don't matter.

Lots of people took part in protests following Trayvon's death and many turned to social media to speak out against what had happened.

They felt upset about the injustice that was taking place in America and wanted to express their anger that that the lives of black people did not have the same value as other people's lives. This led to the birth of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

Since then, as well as a phrase of support, Black Lives Matter has grown into a campaigning organisation too.

Ged Grebby is the chief executive of the charity Show Racism The Red Card, he told Newsround that the Black Lives Matter movement was established in reaction to black people in the US being over three times more likely than white people to be killed by a police officer, according to figures published by the American Journal of Public Health.

"It is a movement for equality and against racism" he said.

The police brutality that was happening made black people feel "their lives simply did not matter" says ex-footballer and honorary president of Show Racism The Red Card, Shaka Hislop.

Since the events of 2013, more incidents have taken place across America and other parts of the world which have led to increasing calls for the protection of black lives.

The discrimination black people face dates all the way back to slavery and colonialism and many charities and campaign groups have been challenging racial inequality for years. However, racism still affects many black people today.

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What about the phrase 'All Lives Matter'?

Some people have been using the phrase 'All Lives Matter' in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

On the surface, it seems to suggest that people should be united. However, it's still viewed by many campaigners as a problematic statement. This is because it's seen to take away from the important issues that are affecting black lives in a bad way, and which need to be addressed.

"Nobody involved in the Black Lives Matter movement is saying that only black lives matter, or that all lives don't matter, or that white lives don't matter. The issue is that is white lives have always seemed to matter more," Shaka Hislop explained.

"What Black Lives Matter as a movement is saying is that all those lives matter equally. Black lives have to matter just as much as everybody else's."

This is a belief held by many other organisations working to hard to tackle racial discrimination including the charity Stand Up To Racism.

"The reason Stand Up To Racism and so many people are saying 'Black Lives Matter' right now is because for a very long time, black people in America, Britain and many other places have been treated so badly by people with power, we have to speak up and say that black people do not deserve to be treated this way," said Sabby Dhalu from the organisation.

"Saying black people deserve to be treated better isn't saying anyone else should be treated worse. But sadly, for many reasons, some people are happy for this injustice to continue, so they say things like 'white lives matter' or 'all lives matter' to take our attention away."

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A gathering at Greater St. Marks Family Church in St. Louis on August 12, 2012, to discuss Michael Browns death. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

This aint your grandparents civil-rights movement! Rapper Tef Poe yelled from the stage of the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on October 12, 2014. Several of us stood in solidarity and turned our backs on the religious leaders who organized the rally in the wake of Michael Browns killing at the hands of white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The Black church, once the moral compass of African American politics, would not lead this new generation of protest.

But the exodus from church is not a flight from faith. It is an escape from the bondage of patriarchy, queer-antagonism, and respectability politics that have long plagued the religious terrain. Activists are embracing other pathways through the wilderness of racial oppression. We are leaving in search of a practice[s] that is overtly inclusive of our sexuality, ancestral practices, and race, Meagan Jordan wrote for the Black Youth Project. While we may not be going to church in the traditional sense, we are gathering together in unique spaces.

Jordan invites us to question the question: Where is the church in Black Lives Matter? What if, in our search for the church, we miss the spirit erupting beyond its walls?

On August 9, 2014, just hours after Mike Browns killing in Ferguson, Missouri, local residents adorned the stretch of Canfield Drive where the teenagers lifeless body lay face down for over four hours. Many brought flowers, candles, teddy bears, balloons, cards, and photographs. Some poured out liquor and placed the empty bottles between bouquets and baseball caps. Others paid their respects with prayer or a moment of silence.

As protests exploded across the country, the makeshift memorial blossomed into a beloved community. Activists planted signs that read Hands Up Dont Shoot and End Police Brutality! Vigils around the shrine sparked actions across the city. Mourners stood silently for four and a half minutes to symbolize the four and a half hours that the police left Mikes bleeding body on the street, baking in the summer sun. Mothers wept. Healers burned sage. Protesters formed circles, joined hands, and chanted Black lives matter and Mike Brown means we got to fight back!

The street memorial was a sacred place of political struggle. And it embodied the spiritual life of contemporary activism.

Black Lives Matter is spiritually promiscuous. It embraces a range of rituals: ancestral worship, call-and-response, chanting, libation, prayer, mysticism, the lighting of incense. Each does its own work. Chanting releases rage. Prayer offers comfort. Magic possesses the dispossessed with faith in the miraculous. Call-and-response turns a Lil Boosie song into a movement anthem. Libation transforms Hennessy into holy water. And all articulate a refusal to give death the last word. It is a makeshift spiritual practice rooted in a love of justice and a reverence for the sanctity of Black lives.

In Toni Morrisons novel Beloved, a stunning scene unfolds when a community of freedmen and former slaves assembles in the woods. After a moment of prayer, Baby Suggs slams her stick on the ground and beckons everyone to let loose. A frenzy ensues. Children laugh. Men dance. Women wail. And, before long, their twisting hips and roaring laughter and salty tears melt into an ecstatic choreography of praise and protest. After the earth settles, Baby Suggs the 70-year-old unchurched preacher addresses the multitude who, every Saturday afternoon, carry their scarred backs and calloused hands into the clearing. Here, she said, in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard.

The sermon is short and the message is clear: Only love can save us.

The ring shout, as Morrison masterfully depicts it, is among the earliest forms of African American resistance. A remix of African religions and Black Christianity, the shout! was a spiritual triumph where enslaved and free Blacks stole away in back woods and danced counterclockwise, as the ring leaders voice thundered into the night and the groups collective voice hollered back. Facing the evil of chattel slavery, without redress from the courts or access to the classroom, Black folk created religious rituals to seek solace, honor ancestors, assert a sense of self-regard, and dream of better days.

The ring shout was a circle of life drawn from the shadows of death.

The ritual faded as Black religion in America formalized. But its essential elements echo throughout African American music, dance, religion, and activism. Just spin the records of Sarah Vaughan, John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Billie Holiday, Lauryn Hill, Kendrick Lamar, and Young Thug, and youll hear the rhapsodic sorrow of the blues, the improvisational genius of jazz, the supreme virtuosity of hip-hop, and a trap rapper mumbling his way through the tradition. Or attend Sunday service at a Black church and glimpse the Holy Ghost enchanting the feet of elders as the preacher cries out for a witness. Or join a protest against racial violence and let the shout ring through your body.

This is my testimony. In the middle of Canfield Drive, standing at Mikes memorial, I got lost in the ring. As protesters chanted and loved ones lit candles and strangers became comrades and a community gathered to mourn and rebel, I was possessed with the spirit of freedom and the truth that another world is possible. And, as Baby Suggs demanded, I loved it. I loved it hard.

Ferguson exploded two months after I graduated from seminary, and I felt called to do something. Following the legacy of the 1961 Freedom Rides to challenge racial segregation, activists Darnell Moore, Patrisse Cullors, and others organized Black Life Matters Freedom Rides from over 12 cities to help turn a local rebellion into a national movement. Eager to turn up, I got on a bus from New York City to St. Louis. Twenty-one hours later, 42 of us arrived at St. Johns United Church of Christ.

We used the sanctuary to conduct teach-ins, strategize campaigns, and prepare for acts of civil disobedience. Several of us slept in the basement where we shared stories of what brought us to Ferguson. Perhaps owing to the setting, some protesters talked about their experiences in church. Many of us had been harmed by pastors and parishioners that professed to love all of Gods children. We knew that a place of refuge for some could be a site of repression for others. And that Black liberation not only requires protesting police violence in the streets and systemic racism throughout society. It means confronting the violence of policing women, queer people, and Black youth in the church and throughout our communities.

For decades, Black preachers have sought to redeem the soul of the country. A new generation of activists is reckoning with the soul of the church. And herein lies the spiritual force of the movement. It calls us to confront the ways we have sinned against each other as we protest the ways others have sinned against us. The need for actions, campaigns, and policy changes while vital for the success of social movements can eclipse the need for what the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called a revolution of values. As important as politics may be: An ethic of love guides us to our North Star.

This is what connects Baby Suggs to Black Lives Matter. Beyond calls to transform a loveless society, both demand that we embody a love that will transform each other. The two make a road we can all travel. To change the world we must remake ourselves and to change ourselves we must remake the world. This is hard work. Most of us will fall short. But if we journey together, we can reach heights even in the valley of death.

I stopped by the memorial before we left Ferguson. The heat was merciless. I imagined Big Mikes body sprawled in the street, blood dripping from his head, as neighbors watched in horror. I thought about Lezley McSpadden, who will spend her holidays grieving her most precious gift. I mourned the days Mike will not see and the secrets he will never have the chance to share.

And as the sun rose and my heart sank into my chest, a small crowd began to assemble. A few people lit candles. Some replaced soiled teddy bears and handed out water, while others stood in silence. Many of us wept. And after a few moments, we all joined hands and formed a circle around the shrine. Children, elders, parents, protesters, clergy, residents, out-of-towners, queer organizers, white activists, Black kids from the neighborhood. It felt like an altar call. Except salvation was not about joining a church or having faith in a higher power. It was about believing that every life is holy and joining a movement that protects the living while mourning the dead.

Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism. If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the January 31, 2022, issue of New YorkMagazine.

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The Religion of Protest: Finding Spirituality in BLM - The Cut

DEKALB COUNTY, GAThe second annual Black Lives Matter at DeKalb Schools Week of Action kicked off today, Jan. 31, and will be held virtually through Feb. 4, in the DeKalb County School District (DCSD). The week-long event features daily Black Lives Matter school-based instructional activities, including a social media celebration of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and a celebration of Black-owned businesses in DeKalb County.

An array of dynamic speakers and topics has been curated around this years theme, Celebrating Black Contributions to America. The virtual symposium will include speakers and topics for individuals to engage in and learn more about African Americans impact in America. Some of those sessions include African American History & Heritage, Black People and STE(A)M, Mental Wellness in Black Communities, Wealth Equity in the Black Community, and Unbalanced Judicial and Legislative Systems.

After our success in 2020, were excited to host once again a week that celebrates the beautiful diversity in DeKalb County School District, Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris said. Black Lives Matter at DeKalb Schools Week of Action 2022 gives our scholars and staff an opportunity to recognize racial and social injustices in our communities, but also a platform to celebrate our wonderful achievements.

Black Lives Matter began as a social media hashtag in 2013 in response to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch coordinator in Sanford, Fla. The social media movement transformed into a global organization with the goal to build power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe. The Board of Education adopted the resolution for Black Lives Matter at DeKalb Schools Week of Action on July 13, 2020.

I am proud to be a part of a district that encourages courageous conversations concerning systemic racism, racial injustice, ethnic bias, and so much more. The DCSD Black Lives Matter Week of Action showcases great discussions and equips our students to be the voice of change. Im excited that we are equipping our scholars with the tools they need to address stereotypes and stigmas so that they can reach their fullest potential, DeKalb County Board of Education Vice Chair Diijon DaCosta said.

For more information on Black Lives Matter At DeKalb Schools Week of Action 2022, visithttps://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/news/black-lives-matter-at-dekalb-schools/.

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Arthur Ashe Monument in Richmond, Virginia, on June 17, 2020. Photo: Kris Graves c/o Sasha Wolf Projects

Between 7:06 and 7:11 p.m. on June 1, 2020, equipped only with a Bible and the long, muscular arm of history, Donald Trump became a hero.

As fumes from the chemical compound approved by his accomplices officials from the Secret Service; the U.S. Park Police; the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department; the D.C. National Guard; the Federal Bureau of Prisons; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the attorney general of the United States; and the top two commanders of the mightiest military force on the planet began to irritate the eyes, throats, lungs, and skin of nonviolent protesters, the conquering hero posed in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church and hoisted a Bible to the heavens. The president of the United States had just tear-gassed his own peacefully protesting citizens for a photo op. But Trump treated this chaos as if it were the final panel of a historically accurate graphic novel.

For what is America if not an epic story? We have all absorbed, to varying degrees, the basic premise and plot of the great American tall tale. Once upon a time, an innocent group of freedoms-loving people were minding their own business enjoying their freedoms (freedoms is always with an s). Out of nowhere a dark force of freedoms-hating others arose, threatening to steal the peace, tranquillity, and stuff the spunky freedoms-lovers had built with nothing but hard work, ingenuity, and definitely no help from the others. There was only one choice: They had to eliminate the threat posed by the others.

In this myth, Black Lives Matter is simply the youngest descendant of a foe that has bedeviled America since before there was an America, and the Dylann Roofs of this world are the heirs of a long line of white people who have taken up the mantle of violent, deadly anti-Blackness in defense of this American myth.

Attaching oneself to Black peoples desire to be free, equal, or even human has always been seen as a seditious act worthy of violent retribution. At the beginning of the American experiment, it was literally unconstitutional: The Federal Constitution therefore, decides with great propriety on the case of our slaves, when it views them in the mixt character of persons and of property, wrote hero, Father of the Constitution, and human trafficker James Madison when debating the value of Black lives in Federalist Paper No. 54. This is in fact their true character. It is the character bestowed on them by the laws under which they live; and it will not be denied.

Even the idea of Black lives mattering was the enemy of this America. In the prequel to our current story, both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were communists bent on a violent overthrow of the American government. So were W.E.B. Du Bois, the Black Panthers, the Freedom Riders, and every Black person who organized a peaceful coalition. In our current chapter, kneeling silently before a football game begins is as much a riot as marching in the streets, and Trumps impromptu tear-gas photo op was simply a throwback to George Wallace sending state troopers to bar Black students from integrating the University of Alabama.

How can you render this tale so that the so-called villains perspective is understood or perhaps embraced? You cant. Not a single Black movement in the history of this country has been universally supported by lawmakers, law enforcers, and white people. You are free to believe that Black people are worthy of their humanity and liberty, but doing something about it means accepting the violent backlash and the collective scorn of a country whose Constitution calculated the value of a Black life at 60 percent of a white one.

Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism. If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the January 31, 2022, issue of New YorkMagazine.

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The Lure of White Martyrdom - New York Magazine