Category Archives: Government Oppression

Charles M. Blow| The New York Times

As the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach Donald Trump for a second time, some Republicans argued that such a move a constitutional obligation, really was unnecessarily divisive at a time when the nation should be healing and proposing unity.

The irony is that this plea is being made by many of the same legislators who just last week were supportive of Trumps scheme to fraudulently overturn the results of a free and fair election, thereby disenfranchising millions of voters who formed the majority of the electorate.

But, beyond that, whenever I hear politicians appealing for unity, I am befuddled. What do they mean by unity? What does unity mean to America?

Yes, America can be unified in pride or defense. But unity doesnt always exist, even when our country is attacked or when we are engaged in war.

Support for the American Revolution was by no means universal, and at one point, failing to entice enough recruits for the rebellion among white colonists, the government began to enlist thousands of Black ones, a move it had resisted.

Resistance to the wars in Vietnam and now Iraq and Afghanistan is well-known and somewhat entrenched. In the case of the Vietnam War, for instance, the percentage of people who believed that the United States did the right thing by fighting in Vietnam has remained below a quarter of the population, according to polling. If anything, America is united against the governments approach to the war.

We may think that something like an international competition and accomplishment would rally and unify the country. Not necessarily. Looking back on the space race of the 1960s with hagiographic hindsight, one would think that most Americans were cheering on the effort. They werent. As Gallup points out:

In most polls conducted by Gallup during the 1960s, less than a majority of Americans said that the investment in getting a man to the moon was worth the cost. For example, a 1965 poll found only 39 percent of Americans thought that the U.S. should do everything possible, regardless of cost, to be the first nation on the moon.

At times a sense of national unity and community exists when America is attacked like on 9/11 when there is a national disaster like Hurricane Katrina or when there is a national tragedy like the shooting at Sandy Hook.

But once the politicians became involved or dont the divisions that exist become more evident. After 9/11, politicians lied us into Americas longest war. After Katrina, the federal response was too slow and anemic, and people died as a result. After Sandy Hook there was much talk about new gun control measures, but few materialized.

Many people frame the ideas of division and unity around political polarization, which has grown in recent years. As the Pew Research Center pointed out in November:

A month before the election, roughly eight-in-ten registered voters in both camps said their differences with the other side were about core American values, and roughly nine-in-ten again in both camps worried that a victory by the other would lead to lasting harm to the United States.

But this seems understandable to me. Political polarization has increased as the percentage of nonwhite people in American has increased. So, as identity politics takes on more of a central role in politics Republicans electing a white power president after Democrats elected a Black one it stands to reason that there would be a strain.

By the way, America is expected to be equal halves white and nonwhite by 2045.

I dont object to this form of division at all. I dont want to be unified with anyone who could openly cheer my oppression or sit silently while I endure it.

Furthermore, equality in America has a history of being divisive from freeing the enslaved, to recognizing Black citizenship and granting Black suffrage, to expanding womens suffrage, to establishing Reconstruction, to establishing and then abolishing Jim Crow, to our present state of criminal justice and mass incarceration.

People now regularly invoke names like Martin Luther King Jr. when talking about equality, as if there was always a consensus around the issue, as if he wasnt incredibly unpopular, particularly among conservatives, when he was alive. A Gallup poll taken just two years before King was assassinated found that only a third of Americans had a favorable opinion of him.

Some people point to Abraham Lincolns first inaugural address when talking about how to unify a country across differences. Lincoln closes the speech by saying:

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.

What they dont say is that in that same speech, he had expressed support for the Fugitive Slave Act as a way of showing conciliation to Southern slavers.

For this Frederick Douglass blasted Lincoln as an excellent slave hound and the most dangerous advocate of slave-hunting and slave-catching in the land.

It seems to me, the unity of America is often conflated with the silence of the oppressed and the pacification of the oppressors.

As long as you can put your foot on my neck without the protestations of your neighbors or the wails of my pain, America is happy. That, to America, is unity: quiet capitulation.

Charles M. Blow writes for The New York Times.

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Blow: What unity? - The Register-Guard

Despite the twin problems poverty and insecurity that have faced Niger in the past few decades, President Mahamadou Issoufou successfully completed his two-term tenure. In December 2020, the country held the first election to transfer power from one civilian regime to another since independence from France in 1960.

The 27 December election was inconclusive as no candidate got the constitutionally mandated 50% of the vote to emerge as president. A runoff is now scheduled for 21 February.

When President Issoufou assumed power in 2011 (a year after a coup detat which led to the removal of Mamadou Tandja), the country was overwhelmed by widespread poverty and insecurity. Persistent agitations came from the Tuareg ethnic groups, stemming from perceived marginalisation and oppression. Issoufous first step towards stabilising the country was to appoint Brigi Rafini, a Tuareg leader from Agadez, as prime minister.

Many rebel leaders were appeased with political positions, a gesture which helped stabilise the country and reduce calls for secession. Another boost to the countrys democracy was Issoufous decision not to seek a third term but instead organise a free and fair election.

The increase in the number of African incumbent presidents extending or ignoring term limits has been described as reversing democracy.

In addition to achieving relative political stability and entrenching democracy, Niger has grown its GDP during Issoufous tenure. GDP grew from $8.7 billion to $12.9 billion between 2011 and 2019, and by 6.3% in 2019. This was achieved through investment in agriculture, which represents about 40% of GDP, as well as the prevention of internal conflicts.

One of the key issues which plagued Niger was trafficking (weapons, humans and drugs). Although this still constitutes a menace, Niger has benefited financially from the European Union in its quest to reduce trafficking. It has been awarded over $840 million since 2011 to help curb the flow of migrants from Africa to Europe through the Sahara. This has helped the country combat trafficking through upgrading security infrastructure.

But despite the efforts of the Nigerien government to attain political stability, economic growth and security, conflict in neighbouring countries has hindered development. Islamist or terrorist groups operate in six of the seven countries that surround Niger (Algeria, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mali). Benin is the exception.

Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb which was formed after the Algerian civil war in the late 1990s operates along the northern border of Niger with Algeria. The war in Libya also polarised parts of the countrys north-eastern border where Islamic State operates. Boko Haram, formed in Nigeria, operates along Nigers south-eastern border between Chad and Nigeria. The group claimed responsibility for the massacre of 28 civilians in the town of Toumour in December 2020.

Since 2018, the western parts of the country have also witnessed sporadic attacks orchestrated by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. This group is an affiliate of Islamic State which was formed in Mali but operates in Burkina Faso and along the border with Niger. As the results of the presidential election were being released, terrorists attacked two villages, killing over 100 people.

Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reveal that insurgent activities have increased in Niger in the past few years. A total of 167 conflict related events resulting in 506 fatalities were recorded in 2018. The numbers grew to 476 conflict related events resulting in 1046 fatalities in 2020. Most events happened around the borders of the country. These data reveal the impact of insecurity on the stability of Niger.

Although 30 candidates contested the presidential elections, there are believed to be two front runners. Mohamed Bazoum, the former head of Nigers interior and foreign ministries, is one. The other is Mahamane Ousmane, Nigers fourth president, who held office between 1993 and 1996 before being removed in a military coup. Since no candidate was able to garner 50% of the votes in the first round of elections (Bazoum got 39.33% and Ousmane got 17%), runoff elections have been scheduled for February 2021.

The three key issues which have dominated the presidential campaigns are insecurity, poverty and corruption. Despite the progress recorded by the incumbent president in the past nine years, the World Bank states that poverty remains high: 41.4% of the population lived in extreme poverty in 2019.

Since the runoff elections will be between two popular figures in the country, intense political calculations are expected.

One key issue which is likely to be prominent in the build up to the runoff election is the ability of the candidates to sustain the balance of power. This has been essential in keeping Niger relatively stable since 2011.

While the prospect of a peaceful democratic transition in Niger is welcome in the country and across the region, the eventual winner faces an uphill task to surmount the twin problems of insecurity and poverty.

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Nigers democratic transition is good news, but the threat of insurgency remains high - The Conversation CA

A series of uprisings and anti-government protests spread across the Arab world in the 2010s.

By Reya Mehrotra

From the violent US Capitol riots that jolted the world and the George Floyd protests for equality to the anti-CAA and farmer protests in India, protests have seen many forms in recent times. Here, we look at some of the most impactful protests and movements that changed the course of history.

Arab Spring

A series of uprisings and anti-government protests spread across the Arab world in the 2010s. It was a movement in response to the oppressive regimes and started in Tunisia. The protests then spread to Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria with riots, insurgencies and civil wars. The pro-democracy protests led to regime changes in some of the protesting countries but for some countries, the period since the Arab Spring has been marked with oppression and instability.

Salt March

The Dandi March was one of Indias most significant protests in the fight for freedom. It is also called the Salt Satyagraha. It took place from March to April in 1930. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, the act of civil disobedience was undertaken by Gandhi in which he marched from Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea Coast, a distance of 240 miles, followed by thousands of Indians to break the salt law. The protest was based on Gandhis principle of non-violence.

The Orange Revolution

The Ukranian presidential election of 2004 in which Leonid Kuchma was cleared to be appointed for the third term led to the Orange Revolution. Kuchma endorsed Viktor Yanukovych who emerged the leading opposition candidate. When Yanukovychs health began to fail, it was revealed that he was poisoned allegedly by the Ukrainian State Security Service. When he was declared the winner, his opponent Yushchenkos supporters staged mass protests known as the Orange Revolution.

Boston Tea Party

The political and commercial American protest was organised by the Sons of Liberty, a revolutionary organisation in the Thirteen British Colonies on December 16, 1773. It was against the Tea Act that was passed in the same year which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea in American colonies without paying taxes. In protest, an entire shipload of tea was thrown into the Boston Harbour. The event marked one of the first major rebellions against the British colonisers eventually leading to the American Revolution.

Womens Suffrage

The decades-long fight of women to win the right to vote in the US is what is called the Womens Suffrage movement. Activists and reformers fought for almost a century to win the right. The campaign first begun in the 1820-30s when all white men had gained the right to vote. At the same time, what was to be a woman and a citizen of the US was being rethought. On August 18, 1920, the US Constitution was finally amended to enfranchise all American women, like the men, the right to vote and all other rights.

Womens March

A day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, a worldwide protest started on January 21, 2017, due to his statements that were marked as anti-women and offensive. The main protest took place in Washington, DC and is known to be the largest single-day protest in US history. It is estimated that approximately 1-1.6% of the US population participated in the protest.

Storming of the Bastille

This event marked the beginning of the French Revolution of 1789. Bastille, a royal fortress and prison of the Bourbon monarchs, has become a symbol of dictatorial rule. It was stormed into by Parisian revolutionaries on July 14, 1789. Major historic events took place post the event, including a violent decade full of political turmoil in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and was executed along with his wife Marie Antoinette.

Civil Rights March

The Civil Rights March in Washington occurred in August 1963 when 2,50,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to draw attention to the inequalities and the challenges faced by African-Americans. The protestors also met the then President John F Kennedy and members of the Congress. The protestors stood non-violently for hours appealing for equal rights for them and all minorities. American civil rights activist Martin Luther Kings famous I Have a Dream speech was delivered on the day, through which he appealed for an end to racism and civil and economic rights.

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The road to revolution! Dandi March to Arab Spring, movements that changed history - The Financial Express

Trump spite at work

The publishers scarlet letter column of Jan. 10 was amusing. The subject was deadly serious, of course, but his treatment of the incident at the Capitol was so over the top that it became funny. I began to ask myself, can he possibly top the sanctimony of the previous paragraph he did! Wow!

The last four years on the national scene have produced so much truly astonishing material for editorial and op-ed writers to write about. Vagina hats. Keystone-cop FBI and Justice departments. Bitter rejection of the 2016 presidential election outcome by the sore loser. Ludicrous Russia investigations. Vacuous impeachment hearings. Mostly peaceful arsonists and vandals. Nancy Pelosi.

The list is endless. Yet some discerning journalists and publishers have been able to express outrage about only one subject: Donald Trump. They have cut through the clutter of current events and identified the single cause of everything bad Trump. It has been an astonishing display of lucid thinking.

The question is, will these same insightful people be able to think about anything else now that President Trump is leaving the White House? I hope so because there is so much to ponder.

Such as can mainstream media ever return to its former model of issuing narrative-free, balanced, factual reports? Can Big Tech continue to deny platforms for free speech to people with whom they disagree? Can miscreant bureaucrats and corrupt elected officials be held accountable even if they are Democrats? Will long-proposed commonsense election reforms finally be instituted after the debacle of 2020? And the biggest question of all: How could a classy First Lady like Mrs. Trump an immigrant, no less be denied front-page coverage by magazines that always feature presidential wives?

So many questions. I am not holding my breath for any of them to be answered affirmatively any time soon. There still is too much unreleased Trump-spite. It may require a couple more years of hypocritical ranting to fully expel it. The spectacle likely will continue to the amusement of saner people.

Giles Lambertson

Uvalde

History will judge

Donald Trump didnt start a riot. History will tell accurately what happened.

But even if you absolutely hate Trump, you should be concerned about recent changes in politics.

Its not just that politicians are lying about him. Politicians always lie, even when proven wrong. Now the standard demanded is you must agree with the liars or be silenced and pushed out of society.

The House of Representatives impeached Trump again. The first attempt was so filled with lies, theres a special investigation in how it started. This attempt was so rash, no evidence was presented. Its demanded that you know how bad Trump is and demand hes guilty. If you dont agree, you are also guilty. It is a coordinated effort.

Whats new is the silencing and removal of anyone who disagrees with the progressive line. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Google suppressed negative news about Harris/Biden to help them get elected. They paid directly for the people who counted votes where election fraud is alleged. Then they helped suppress investigations of election fraud and told people theres nothing wrong. They have started removing communication access by groups that dont agree with them. A national manhunt is on for anyone who was at the protest.

This is thought control and it is dangerous. Biden has reportedly hired many senior employees of these corporations to work in government. What is being planned? In China, these corporations run the social credit systems by which the government tracks how well people comply. Are they planning this here? Why do they need total control and to silence all dissent? You should be concerned.

Ken Dirksen

Uvalde

Spiritual revival

I planned a non-profit event at Uvalde Memorial Park to raise awareness of efforts to combat bullying and suicide. The event was approved to begin at 10 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2021, but Uvalde city manager Vicent DiPazza rejected the ministry sport event with blank, cold disapproval on Dec 17.

He said public events are probably on hold until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This news came when I walked into city hall to ask DiPazza about pressure washing the basketball court and applying fresh paint with supplies and labor that would have been donated because of the poor conditions. It is in the same condition since my high school days, Class of 1998.

For over 10 months, this pandemic, or plandemic as many will say, has conditioned the minds of Uvaldeans to sanitizing and to practice social distancing. Due to the good practicing of safety precautions, the town has started reviving with Coyote football games, restaurant dining, hotels, Hunters Roundup, food pantries, movie theater, church assemblies, gyms, and stores packed with shoppers.

Uvalde Memorial Park is an escape; peaceful and active with talent. We will ask to take the same precautions of our free will in this religious tournament event. It was a mission in ministry work to organize the event, which I call the Get Back Up Tournament after listening to a skateboarder at the park tell me how he had trouble with bullying. Multiple potential donors were excited about the idea of hosting the tournament and are ready to donate support.

As a religious missionary, I had been experiencing aggressive anger in my hometown of Uvalde. Aggressive bitterness is the outlet. Im sad to feel that COVID-19 is the least of this towns problems.

Bullying is rooted in pride, anger, jealously and envy. It is a wicked spirit that can stay hidden for years and comes in many forms. It preys in the home, at work, at school, on the streets and especially on social media. Bullying can lead to divorce and suicide of the mind, body and soul. It can be life altering when silence feeds the oppression.

Victims more often prefer to tell a friend over a parent and unfortunately some keep it bottled inside, where it darkens, while some dont have a voice.

A young teen, age 19, unaware of my cause, spoke to me for two hours of how two suicides and other teenage deaths have been weighing heavy on him, making life gloom. It was a blessed confirmation.

As part of ministry work, the Get Back Up Tournaments of skateboarding, three-on-three basketball, disc golf and football challenges for everyone is a non-profit spiritual revival aimed to help each other get acquainted as a community to raise awareness, adopt a pet and to rise triumphant against bullying and machismo with the most cautious freewill and instruction given in Colossians 3:18-21, Ephesians 6:1-4, and Hebrews 12, 13. It has been written. Amein, Amein.

Mauro/Shamosh Avila

Uvalde

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Letters to the editor 011721 - Uvalde Leader-News

Sunday January 17, 2021 12:38

#Stopforcedcremations Demonstrations against the forced cremations of Muslims who die of Covid have popped up across the North and East

ECONOMYNEXT Sri Lankas Tamil political parties, Civil Society organisations and Victims Organisations have written to the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) demanding action against what they call is a deteriorating Human Rights situation in this country.

The letter signed by all the political parties representing voters in the Tamil majority areas in the North and East points out that all the major political parties in the country have categorically and without exception stated that they will protect the Sri Lankan armed force from prosecutions for what took place at the end of the separatist war.

The 46th session of the UNHRC will be held next month where Sri Lankas situation will be evaluated in light of previous resolutions.

The letter notes that a week after the separatist war a joint communiqu issued by the Government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations was issued at the conclusion of the UN Secretary-Generals visit to Sri Lanka on 23 May 2009 said: Sri Lanka reiterated its strongest commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, in keeping with international human rights standards and Sri Lankas international obligations.

At the time the Secretary-General underlined the importance of an accountability process for addressing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The Government will take measures to address those grievances

The letter went on to say that upon Sri Lanka failing to take meaningful steps to address the above commitments, the UN Secretary-General appointed on 22 June 2010, a three-member panel to look into human rights and accountability issues during the final stages of the armed ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. This report of the Panel of Experts (POE) was handed over to the Secretary-General in March 2011.

Thereafter the UNSG referred the matter to the President of the UNHRC and the High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2011 which led to the adoption of Resolution 19/2 Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka.

Subsequently, the Government of Sri Lanka after the regime change in 2015 co-sponsored Resolutions 30/1 (October 2015), 34/1 (March 2017) and 40/1 (March 2019).

However, the letter states that it is now time for the Member States to acknowledge that there is no scope for a domestic process that can genuinely deal with accountability in Sri Lanka. The continuing and intensifying oppression against the Tamils including militarisation, indefinite detention of political prisoners, land grab in the name of archaeological explorations, the denial of traditional, collective land rights like cattle grazing rights, intensifying surveillance of political and civil society activists, the denial of burial rights during COVID19 to our Muslim brethren and the denial of the right to memory underscore the urgency of addressing the deteriorating situation.

The letter demands that the Council pass a resolution that must declare that Sri Lanka has failed in its obligations to investigate allegations of violations committed during the armed ethnic conflict and atrocity crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In such a context the Resolution must acknowledge that there is no prospect for accountability in Sri Lanka by way of its own domestic mechanisms or through hybrid mechanisms.

The signatories request the following:1. Member States urge in the new resolution that other organs of the United Nations including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly take up the matter and take suitable action by reference to the International Criminal Court and any other appropriate and effective international accountability mechanisms to inquire into the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.2. The President of the UNHRC refers to matters on accountability in Sri Lanka back to the UN Secretary-General for action as stated above.3. Member States to mandate the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to continue to monitor Sri Lanka for ongoing violations and have an OHCHR field presence in the country.4. Without detracting from that which has been stated in point 1 above, take steps to establish an evidence-gathering mechanism similar to the International Independent Investigatory Mechanism (IIIM) in relation to Syria established as a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly with a strict time frame of twelve months duration. We reiterate the need for concrete action with accountability and for the above the matter to be escalated to higher forums.

Signatories1. Hon. R. SampanthanMember of ParliamentLeader Tamil National Alliance2. Hon. G. G. PonnambalamMember of ParliamentLeader Tamil National Peoples Front3. Hon. Justice C.V. WigneswaranMember of ParliamentLeader Tamil Makkal Tesiya Kootani4. Rev.Fr. Leo AmstrongTamil Heritage Forum, Mullaitivu5. Mr. Sabharathinam SivayohanathanEastern Province Civil Society Forum6. Mr. Rasalingham VikneswaranPresident Amparai Civil Society forum7. Mr. Amarasingham GajenthiranGeneral secretary Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF)8. Ms. Yogarasa KanagaranjiniPresident Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances, North and East.9. Mr. Subramanium SivaharanPresident Tamil Thesiya Vaalvurimai Iyakkam (TTVI)10. Velan SwamikalSivaguru Aatheenam11. Rt. Rev. Dr. C. Noel EmmanuelBishop of Trincomalee(Colombo January 17, 2021)

Reported by Arjuna Ranawana

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Sri Lanka Tamil parties want UN action against the government for HR violations - EconomyNext

Alkebulan, Ph.D., is Chair & Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at San Diego State University. He lives in El Cajon.

In 2020, the African American experience was situated at the center of national conversations about race and the historic systematic discrimination and oppression that help define that experience. From the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities to unprecedented racial justice protests across the county, cosmetic changes abound.

Assemblymember Shirley Weber, who was recently appointed to be Californias next secretary of state, authored Assembly Bill 3121 to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans. AB 3121 was the only substantive policy or legislative change as a result of the renewed focus on racial justice. The unprecedented bill was signed into law on Sept. 30 and authorized the creation of a commission to explore ways the state of California might provide reparations. Because of Dr. Webers vision and leadership, California stands as a pioneer for the entire nation.

We provide this platform for community commentary free of charge. Thank you to all the Union-Tribune subscribers whose support makes our journalism possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider becoming one today.

But does America have the moral integrity to not only right the wrongs of the past but also the political courage or inclination to address the contemporary forms of oppression facing African Americans? Reparations are not just about enslavement. Reparations are about subsequent Jim Crow and other forms of oppression that exist today.

There needs to be a public acknowledgment of the historic and contemporary injustices committed against African Americans. There also has to be an apology to the tens of millions of African Americans for these historic and contemporary wrongs, followed by a sincere commitment to embrace reparative justice. After 155 years, were now in the early stages of having conversations about reparations that extend beyond the African American community. America has a moral imperative to make amends for her crimes against African Americans.

But first we must ascertain the negative impact of enslavement, Jim Crow and other contemporary forms of oppression. What is the physical, psychological, economic, and educational impact on African Americans today? We must first understand the nature of the loss to African Americans: forced migration, forced deprivation of culture, forced labor, forced deprivation of wealth by segregation and racism, lynching, educational deficit, economic instability, poor health conditions, overpolicing, police brutality, mass incarceration, and on and on and on. The contemporary lifestyles of African Americans, collectively, have been negatively impacted by enslavement, subsequent Jim Crow, and other forms of oppression.

Maulana Karenga, chair of Africana Studies at California State University at Long Beach, offers five fundamental aspects of reparations that should be preceded by a national conversation about enslavement: public admission, public apology, public recognition (via monuments, media and education), compensation (via money, land, free health care and free education from kindergarten through college) and preventive measures (such as creating a just and good multicultural society.)

Preventive measures are particularly important. They speak to the intersection of reparations and social justice. If, as a society, we dont eliminate persistent injustices and pervasive systemic racism in this county, reparations can only go but so far. It would be tantamount to putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound. Reparations must be paired with social justice. We must address mass incarceration and the racist drug war, overpolicing, the school to prison pipeline, environmental racism, housing discrimination, and explicit and implicit bias in hiring practices and in education. There must be a priority placed on creating a just and good multicultural society.

Who has the responsibility of addressing these wrongs? Those who reject reparations are seemingly content with African Americans remaining in a perpetual cycle of oppression. They say there should be no accountability. Ever. The reality is that the system of White supremacy that negatively impacts African Americans is the same system that affords privileges to White Americans. They are the beneficiaries of past and present discrimination of African Americans.

Most of us are not responsible for Japanese internment during World War II, Jewish internment in Europe or the genocide and oppression of Indigenous people. But the U.S. government still paid reparations. Direct involvement in historic oppression has never been a criterion for paying reparations.

We must also understand that White Americans have always had access to employment opportunities, wealth, educational opportunities and health care at the expense of African Americans. The second-class status of African Americans afforded White America the kind of lifestyle that makes White Americans complicit or, at the very least, beneficiaries of African American oppression. That White Americans benefited, and continue to benefit, from enslavement is undeniable.

Reparations are not just about past wrongs. We currently live in a society that not only necessitates the need to create a Black Lives Matter movement but also has to even implore the nation that Black lives, in fact, matter. Its not just about history. Its also about the ways in which historic discrimination and oppression are still manifesting today. Its time.

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Opinion: Reparations are needed for Black Americans and California is leading the way. Here's how. - The San Diego Union-Tribune

What happened to the American dream? It came true. Youre looking at it. The Comedian, Watchmen (2009)

Many of the faces were already familiar. We saw them in real-time, smashing Capitol building windows, scaling walls, and parading through the halls of Congress, beaming with self-satisfaction. We could see their every emotion as they desecrated monuments, urinated on carpets, and sat behind lawmakers offices as if winning something they had fought so very hard for; a treasure they had valiantly won after a long and brutal struggle. We saw their faces because they wanted us to.

This was not an insurrection, it was a livestreamed social media white fantasy. They had chosen their costumes with great care: some ridiculous American caveman cosplay or a patriotic Pinterest outfit with a new hat they thought made them look cute for their selfies that captured them looting and destroying and damaging and assaulting.

Most did not make an attempt to conceal their identities: a product of how emboldened they felt in this aggression, how unafraid of accountability they were, and the story theyd told themselves about how righteous they imagined their cause, as they committed a deadly act of collective terrorism against the very heart of our democracy.

We saw their radiant cheshire cat grins; their sweaty, red-faced tirades; the snarling, disfigured fury as they assaulted police officers and crushed one another in crowded hallways on their way to what they believe was their destiny: a grand revolution.

But the question decent Americans are asking today is the same one we were asking on January 6, the same one weve been asking since November of 2016: A revolution of what?

What precisely were they overthrowing? What exactly were they protesting? How specifically had this nation so grievously wronged them? As critical as those questions are, they are a fruitless endeavor, because the truth of the matter is they would not be capable of a response.

This was a nothing revolution: an empty display of cheap anger formed in staggering privilege, made of fake oppression, inflamed by a massive lie and directed toward a man who fully embodies them: one who has had everything in this life handed to him and is perpetually outraged when he cannot have more.

As the stories of these wannabe revolutionaries are being revealed, we are seeing the truth: that these were not the poor, rural whites the media has been telling us were the heart of this trashcan despots rabid base who Blue voters need to understand.

They were people wealthy enough to travel across the country on a whim after a year of economic disaster: people with businesses and government jobs and private planes and huge sponsored social media platforms. These were not the downtrodden and misrepresented and vulnerable of our nation finally rising up to fight the powers that be: they are the powers that be who cant recognize that by attacking the system they were assaulting themselves.

Martin Luther King Jr. famously said that a riot is the language of the unheard. This, is not that.

These people have been the most heard since they were bornsince this nation was first founded on genocide, erected on colonialism, built upon slavery, and maintained by racism. They have always had a voice, always been catered to, and never been marginalized in any true measurewhich is why losing an election now feels like some horrible systemic wrong that is that last straw in a fictional pile of injustices they have had to carry and could no longer. Their violence was not a desperate cry for justice, it was a spoiled toddlers tantrum with deadly consequences.

I cannot help but think that the great season of personal loss for these fairy tale white patriots began when a Black man was elected president 12 years ago; that the mere reality of that mans existence fully accelerated it all: their rabid gun lust, their toxic religious apocalypse visions, their irrational fear of immigrants, and every defense mechanism, against America doing to them what they had been doing to America since they were born.

It was a marvel to see the absolute most privileged humans walking the planet still manage to convince themselves that they are oppressed to be culpable for a murderous act of terrorism and to somehow be even more defiant after it.

History will record and quantify the events of January 6th, but it will tell a very different story than the one playing in the heads of the perpetrators and of their disgraced, emotionally bankrupt white messiah.

It will pass the judgement without prejudice: This was an empty insurrection. It was a hollow treason. It was a meaningless rebellion. It was a deadly, costly nothing revolution.

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The sad irony of Trump patriots using "Back the Blue" flags to beat police during a criminal act of sedition - Milwaukee Independent

Srinagar: Father of minor killed in alleged Srinagar gunfight has appealed the public to assemble at the grave of his son that he has dug in his native village in south Kashmirs Pulwama district.

In a video message that is viral on social media, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani requested people to arrive at the graveyard with a black cloth as a mark of protest against the state, I appeal people to assemble at the graveyard on 19th January, where I have dug the grave of my son, I have to say something important to you on that day,

I am going to fight against injustice till the end. Tomorrow it is you who has to answer before Allah whether you stood against oppression or not. On 19th January, I am requesting media personnel to cover the event as I have to say something important, Wani can be heard as saying in the video.

He further requested the Lieutenant governor to investigate the Srinagar gunfight, I request and beg the governor through this video to investigate the case, he (LG) is an upright man, I am hopeful that he will do it.

In the over five minute video, Wani further says, Unfortunately three innocents were killed, out of whom two are children of police personnel. I appeal the police to raise their voice against the oppressors, for the sake of humanity we have to raise against tyranny and oppression so that the oppressors are punished.

He also thanked media for amplifying his voice, I am thankful to those journalists who amplified my voice all across the world, he says.

On 30 December 2020, the government forces killed three persons, who were later identified by their families as innocent civilians: Wani, an eleventh standard student from Bellow, Aijaz Ganaie, a graduate from Putrigam, both in Pulwama district, and Zubair Lone, a carpenter from Turkwangam from Shopian.

On the day gunfight concluded, the Armys General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Kilo Force, H. S. Sahi, said: With the first light the firefight again resumed and militants used heavy ammunition against security forces. Sahi claimed that the three militants killed in the gunfight at Lawaypora on Srinagar outskirts were planning a big strike. However, after the photographs of the bodies went viral on social media, three families from south Kashmir claimed the killed trio and vouched for their innocence.

Earlier, in a statement, the police claimed that background check also reveals that Aijaz and Ather Mushtaq, both OGWs [Over ground workers] variously provided logistic support to terrorists.

Antecedents and verifications too show that both were radically inclined and had aided terrorists of LeT (now so-called TRF) outfit. [sic] One of OGW presently under police custody has also corroborated Aijazs association with LeT terrorist Faisal Mustaq Baba who was killed in Meej (Pampore) encounter in June last year, the statement added.

We have always come to you for help: The Kashmir Walla is battling at multiple fronts and if you dont act now, it would be too late. 2020 was a year like no other and we walked into it already battered. The freedom of the press in Kashmir was touching new lows as the entire population was gradually coming out of one of the longest communication blackouts in the world.

We are not a big organization. A few thousand rupees from each one of you would make a huge difference.

The Kashmir Walla plans to extensively and honestly cover break, report, and analyze everything that matters to you. You can help us.

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"You have to answer Allah": Killed minor's father calls on people to assemble at son's grave - The Kashmir Walla

Seventeen year-old Kosa Muchaki, a bright young Adivasi boy who tops his class held promises for his father and his late mother, who had once hoped her son would become a"babu" (government officer) some day. But aspirations like these barely find room to breathe in a terrain as militarised as Chhattisgarh's Bastar, which is home tonot only alarge tribal population, but is also host to one ofthe longest-running insurgencies between the Indian State and the Naxal-Maoists.

Director and writer Mohit Priyadarshi's debut filmKosa which poignantlybrings to life this fictitious tale based on real events made its Indian premiere at the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) held from 8-15 January this year, after premiering internationally at UK's Raindance Festival in October last year. It could simply have been a story of mistaken identity, with the policearresting the wrong Kosa while looking for a Naxal leader by the same name, 30 years of age. However, the screenplay almost inadvertently lends itself toadopting a panoramic view of the plight of the Adivasis, whose oppression has been systemically perpetuatedto facilitateinvasivecapitalistic development. Kosa is only one among the hundreds jailed wrongfully every day on fabricated charges of terrorism, awaiting trial in court.

Kosa, in parts, is sharply documentarian, as it meticulously places the key players in the Naxal-belt ecosystem the locals, the government, the army, the insurgents, the police, the fearless reporter, the rebellious lawyer, the toothless judiciary and the avaricious businessman complete with their obvious, and rarelyimplied,motives.This jarringly evinces the skewed power dynamics and magnitude of violence internalisedby the local residents. The Naxals, however, while manifestly driving the narrative, remain curiously invisible through the film.

In a conversation withFirstpost, Mohit Priyadarshi talks about the making ofKosa, why he hopes for the film to be screened at protests, and how most of his actors were simply playing themselves.

Tell us a little about yourself, your background, body of work, and your journey in cinema.

I belong to Patna. My love for writing has been there since I was a kid. I was always composing poems and limericks, but my love for cinema is more cultivated. Like every Hindi cinema fan, I obviously loved the over-the-top, melodramatic form of commercial cinema. But it was around the time when I finished my board exams that I began getting exposed to other kinds of cinema.

And then this exposure just exploded with Torrents, which is the time I was pursuing my higher education. I studied literature in Delhi University, which helped me delve deeper into the human condition. By the time I finished my graduation, I knew I wanted to do something related to cinema. Since the Jawaharlal Nehru University was one of the few places in Delhi which offered a film course, I enrolled myself there.

Director Mohit Priyadarshi

It was a life-changing experience; JNU truly is a microcosm of India. And then, the teachers, the cinema that we were exposed to it just made things clear for me. I was a writer, yes, but filmmaking felt like a calling. This is why I went on to pursue scriptwriting from the Film and Television Institute of India. I formed relationships and connections during my years studying that would later help me make Kosa.

How did you decide on making a film that talks about the plight of the Adivasis caught in the crossfire between the State and the Naxals? Does the story stem from any personal experiences or encounters?

After I passed out of FTII, I moved back to Delhi and began working as a freelance writer. I was always interested in the Adivasi condition but was aloof from it in many ways. With some of my friends who were pursuing MPhils and PhDs, we formed a collective called 'Matidari'. We hoped to get more insight into peoples movements around the country and also draw artists into using their forms to express resistance. I dont believe in arts for arts sake, especially in our country. Where people cant afford basic human dignity, it was impossible for me to think of art as detached from peoples actual lives.

Although Matidari existed only briefly, my friends and I organised some amazing small-scale film festivals and talks where we invited artists, journalists, lawyers, activists and people representing oppressed groups to share their experiences. It was during one of these talks that I first heard the story that inspired Kosa.

My friends and colleagues were my mentors. Id write and consult with them, theyd give me their honest opinion and wed take it from there.

A still from Kosa. Kunal Bhange playing Kosa (right).

Kosa is not even so much about the crossfire between the State and Naxals but more about a Constitution promising rights to its people and then successive governments not living up to even a word of it.

What was the process of researching for the film, and how long has it been in the making? How did you get sponsors/producers to fund a film that is critical of the State and its consistent violation of human rights?

In theory, I had done quite a bit of research. I was aware of how the State had behaved with impunity in these parts over the decades but I wanted to see for myself, be a witness. So, I asked my colleagues if theyd help me take field trips to Chhattisgarh. This was at the beginning of 2017. What I saw astonished me I was not prepared for it. It seemed like a war zone in many ways. Maybe only Kashmir could be a more militarised zone in the subcontinent.

And I heard stories from people I talked to young men; I met many Adivasi people whose predicament was all too common. Even more bizarrely, I could always feel someone was watching me...theres that feeling, and it was the first time I knew how activists and dissenters feel in this country. Sure enough, the authorities keep their eyes on the most innocuous of visitors. You cant freely visit your own country, which would make anyone think: does this standoffishness and a deep willingness to control movement mean theres something to hide? Well, theres a lot of stuff that never gets out.

So, from then to now, it has been three years in the making. And now we have entered the fourth year since the process started.

It was very difficult to find producers. Honestly, I didnt approach many people because I didnt want to curtail my freedom. Also, we were inexperienced, my entire team was new. We all had experience making student films but most of us had never made a feature. I didnt want someone to begin exerting control over this team because they had funded us. So, I started the process with my own money. Every step of the way, I asked for help, and sooner or later, somebody would chip in. I never had any proper producers but my friends and colleagues helped when they could.

This was perhaps the most intimidating part of the process. When you begin making a film and have to stop shooting not knowing if you will ever begin again, it can get stressful very quickly. But nothing was stopping us, so we were patient and finally, we managed to pull through.

Where was the film primarily shot? (The end credits mention Chara, Purnea, and Cuttack...) Could you tell us a little about the actors, especially the ones playing the locals and Adivasis, including Kosa and his family, and your experience of working with them?

We didnt shoot in Chhattisgarh because of the situation I mentioned. Theres a lot of surveillance and I didnt want to create trouble for people who were already struggling to make themselves heard. My friend and I scouted many states and finally began shooting in Madhya Pradeshs Dindori district which has very similar villages to Bastar and where the Gonds also live. Therere always differences but it seemed like the best place for us to shoot.

We shot the village scenes there without electricity, with very basic equipment. But the villagers supported us, guided us, and gave us enough strength to keep doing what we went there to do.

For the town scenes, we went to shoot in Cuttack first but because of unforeseen reasons, we had to shut down shooting. It was a traumatising time. But then we planned it all again and shot the last parts in Bihar, because I was more comfortable shooting there and it also cost less money.

We tried to cast non-professionals in those roles. We scouted for actors when we were conducting recce for locations; so many actors are from Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, including Kunal Bhange (Kosa), who is from Bilaspur. Gopal Dhurve, who played his father, is a village elder from Chara itself, so basically, I asked him to play himself. The girls Kareena and Mona are Adivasis from working-class neighbourhoods in Bhopal. The group which sings the song is an actual folk group from Chhattisgarh called 'RELA'. So I just tried to surround myself with people who knew what they were doing.

And then some of them, like Nooryaab (Saira) and Vitthal (Keshav), are connections from FTII.

The film very blatantly juxtaposes the idea of development at the cost of systemic oppression of the disenfranchised, which completely dismantles thenotion that development defeats stigmas attached to castes and tribes. Ironically, such stigmas seem to have received a new lease of life in light of the prevailing 'development'. How did you navigate such sensitive nuances while making a film on the subject?

I knew it was a very complicated topic to try and address, but in the end, it was just about being truthful. Many such cases exist. Innocents have been killed and many captured innocents are serenaded [sic] as Naxals. You dont even need to research a lot; just talk to the Adivasi people living in those areas. Hundreds of ground-level journalists remain incarcerated in Indian prisons, pro bono lawyers are threatened on a daily basis. Sexual violence is used repeatedly against Adivasi women.

The real-life cases are even scarier, more haunting. I actually had to tone it down. The real-life situation of the person who inspired Kosa was even worse. I just wanted to tell the real story without intervention, the way it happened. And while I knew it might be construed as being too direct, that was precisely what I wanted to let people confront the inhumanity of the situation, no sugar-coating.

In that respect, the problem appears to be quite simple. The Adivasis have protected, mineral-rich lands but corporations need those minerals. So, it is about the acquisition of lands, and certainly, the Adivasis are going to resist it.

In your film, the depiction of violence is both obvious and insidious but never aestheticised enough to desensitise the audience towards its subject. Even in the scene where Kosa is picked up from his home by the police right at the end where only blurry, shaky silhouettes and shrieks blending into each other against a dusky sky are shown the disruptive, uncontrolled nature of the violence against the innocent is underlined. Could you talk a little about this approach and why it is so key to understanding the film?

Although I am a fan of Hollywood, I was careful not to make an aesthetic out of the violence in our film. Again, I believed in naturalism, the scenes speaking for themselves.

We wanted the film to feel raw, make the audience witnesses to Kosas life. In that way, I didnt want to be distracted by the demands of a heroic narrative. So, we didnt overly stylise anything.

But it was also a practical decision. We couldnt use sliders or tracks or more expansive equipment, we had to make do with natural lighting, so we decided to shoot the entire film in a guerrilla sort of way. It gives the film a sense of urgency, which is what we are after. As filmmakers, our attempt was to turn our disadvantages into the language of our film and this story lent itself to it.

What were some of the most difficult bits to film, and how did you prepare your cast and crew for it?

Shooting everything in Chara was a monumental task. There was hardly any clean water and no electricity, so things that should take a day would take three days. More than half of my crew was hospitalised at some time or the other, and each time we needed to take them to Dindori, 70 km away. But we were not getting clean water or electricity or phone coverage for a period of a month imagine the villagers who live there in such conditions for their entire lives. But the Adivasis are amazingly one with nature, and it is amazing to see how they can sustain themselves entirely on what is around them.

We also could not afford a lot of production design stuff, so we adjusted. We would shoot in schools, real houses; Kosas home is a villagers home.

Thankfully, my crew was always driven by the idea, and we all wanted to tell this story. For technicians, it becomes difficult because they had to juggle between projects. They suffered as much as I did. We all went through it and it made us stronger the process more exhilarating. Almost all of my crew members didnt take their fees, which helped with the budget too.

Did you, personally, have to unpack any of your privileges and prejudices to really understand the story you were telling?

Yes, of course. I am a city-bred guy, and I had to confront a different reality. People would tell me to be apolitical in my work, but for me, apolitical is not neutral, its just not taking responsibility. But trying to be truthful carries its own baggage and Ive had my fair share of it.

I needed to identify with the people, understand what they were going through. But, also, the problems are so stark and so in-your-face that its really difficult not to notice them. You dont really have to be an Adivasi to see whats going on, you merely need to be human.

Where else will the film be travelling in the coming days? Are there plans of an OTT release?

The film is still on the festival trail. Next month, Kosa will be shown in the International Competition section at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). I expect the film to stay on the trail for a bit. But, what I would love is for the film to be shown to as many people as possible. I want the film to have screenings in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, the forested heartlands, but also working-class neighbourhoods in big cities. I want to see if the Adivasi people like it. I wish students would organise screenings; I wish it is shown at protests.

It might be too ambitious but we need to see cinema as being more than just a form of entertainment. There has to be that escapism, sure, we all love that, but at times it can be much more than that.

Eventually, yes, I do see the film making its way to OTT platforms but Im not in a position to talk about it now, because those decisions are still some time away.

What was the biggest lesson you learned from making and telling Kosa's story?

As a filmmaker and an artist, the biggest lesson I learned is to tell the story that moves you, that you feel in your bones. Then, even with all the obstacles in your path, you will be able to navigate them because you never lose the motivation you remember why you started.

We have also shown that there is no one way to make a film. There were lots of doubts on whether we would ever be able to complete the film and tell the story the way we wanted it told, but here we are. You dont need to be in Mumbai or Chennai or Kolkata to make films. There is a democratisation of resources and if you have the will and commitment, you can follow through. It is tough, but it works.

Original post:

How writer-director Mohit Priyadarshi made Kosa, a searing look at human rights violations in Chhattisgarh - Firstpost

Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Max have revealed the new trailer for Judas and the Black Messiah, starring Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Widows, Black Panther) as Fred Hampton and Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta, The Girl in the Spiders Web) as William ONeal. You can watch the trailer using the player below.

The movie also stars Jesse Plemons (Vice, Game Night, The Post), Dominique Fishback (The Hate U Give, The Deuce), Ashton Sanders (The Equalizer 2, Moonlight) and Martin Sheen (The Departed, The West Wing, Grace & Frankie).

The film will open in theaters and be available on HBO Max February 12. The movie will be available on HBO Max for 31 days.

Chairman Fred Hampton was 21 years old when he was assassinated by the FBI, who coerced a petty criminal named William ONeal to help them silence him and the Black Panther Party. But they could not kill Fred Hamptons legacy and, 50 years later, his words still echo louder than ever. I am a revolutionary!

In 1968, a young, charismatic activist named Fred Hampton became Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who were fighting for freedom, the power to determine the destiny of the Black community, and an end to police brutality and the slaughter of Black people.

Chairman Fred was inspiring a generation to rise up and not back down to oppression, which put him directly in the line of fire of the government, the FBI and the Chicago Police. But to destroy the revolution, they had to do it from both the outside and the inside.

Facing prison, William ONeal is offered a deal by the FBI: if he will infiltrate the Black Panthers and provide intel on Hampton, he will walk free. ONeal takes the deal.

Now a comrade in arms in the Black Panther Party, ONeal lives in fear that his treachery will be discovered even as he rises in the ranks. But as Hamptons fiery message draws him in, ONeal cannot escape the deadly trajectory of his ultimate betrayal.

Though his life was cut short, Fred Hamptons impact has continued to reverberate. The government saw the Black Panthers as a militant threat to the status quo and sold that lie to a frightened public in a time of growing civil unrest.

But the perception of the Panthers was not reality. In inner cities across America, they were providing free breakfasts for children, legal services, medical clinics and research into sickle cell anemia, and political education.

And it was Chairman Fred in Chicago, who, recognizing the power of multicultural unity for a common cause, created the Rainbow Coalition joining forces with other oppressed peoples in the city to fight for equality and political empowerment.

Judas and the Black Messiah is directed by Shaka King, marking his studio feature film directorial debut. The project originated with King and his writing partner, Will Berson, who co-wrote the screenplay, story by Berson & King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas.

King, who has a long relationship with filmmaker Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed, Fruitvale Station), pitched the film to Coogler and Charles D. King (Just Mercy, Fences), who are producing the film.

The executive producers are Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler, Kim Roth, Poppy Hanks, Ravi Mehta, Jeff Skoll, Anikah McLaren, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth, Ted Gidlow, and Niija Kuykendall.

The Judas and the Black Messiah ensemble cast also includes Algee Smith (The Hate U Give, Detroit), Darrell Britt- Gibson (Just Mercy, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk), Amari Cheatom (Roman J. Israel, Esq., Django Unchained), Caleb Eberhardt (The Post), and Lil Rel Howery (Get Out).

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New Trailer for Judas and the Black Messiah Debuts - VitalThrills.com