THE NEW JIM CROW Online documentary

The New Jim Crow is a name given to a category of race-related social and political phenomena in the United States and the name of a best selling book published by The New Press and written by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. Alexander deals in the book primarily with the issue of the current mass levels of incarceration (the United States, with 5% of the world's population, has 25% of the world's prisoners) and other means of societal suppression of African-American men (Latino men to a lesser degree), and the social consequences of the policies described, for the "people of color" and for the country as a whole.
According to Alexander, the majority of young black men in large American cities are "warehoused in prisons" (their labor no longer needed in the globalized economy) or, after having criminal records and labeled as "felons", are permanently trapped in a second-class status. The conventional point of view holds that discrimination has mostly ended with the Civil rights movement reforms of the 1960s. However, the U.S. criminal justice system uses the “War on Drugs” as its primary tool in the continuation of many of the traditional and new forms of discrimination.
In an article addressing the status of contemporary African Americans, Alexander said, "The clock has been turned back on racial progress in America, though scarcely anyone seems to notice. All eyes are fixed on people like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey who have defied the odds and achieved great power, wealth and fame". Alexander sees the masses of ordinary African Americans as being relegated to the status of a "racial caste", even though the official approach to dealing with the minorities has been redesigned, to avoid explicit use of racial attributes. According to Alexander, the forms of "racial control" evolve as required by changing political circumstances and contemporary standards, with the current "criminal justice" activities replacing the Jim Crow laws, which in turn had replaced slavery. Michelle Alexander aims to mobilize the civil rights community to move the incarceration issue to the forefront of its agenda and to provide factual information, data, arguments and reference for those interested in pursuing the issue. Her broader goal is the revamping of the prevailing mentality regarding human rights, equality and equal opportunities in America, to prevent future cyclical recurrence of racial control under changing disguise.

Read more


Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently on parole.
--FROM THE NEW JIM CROW
As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status--much like their grandparents before them.

In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.

Legacy of Slavery: Reparations

Reparations for slavery is a proposal that some type of compensation should be provided to the descendants of enslaved people in the United States, in consideration of the coerced and uncompensated labor their ancestors performed over centuries. This compensation has been proposed in a variety of forms, from individual monetary payments to land-based compensation schemes related to independence. The idea remains highly controversial and no broad consensus exists as to how it could be implemented. There have been similar calls for reparations from some Caribbean countries and elsewhere in the African diaspora, and some African countries have called for reparations to their states for the loss of their population.



"The Shocking Truth In: Slavery, Reparations & White Supremacy" is an educational manuscript about the atrocities of slavery, how it is still effecting African-Americans today, and what should be done to help improve their present state in this nation and world. It is by Salim Abdul-Khaliq, and edited by Hannah Faye. WARNING: What you are about to read may wake you up, shake you up and cause you to take immediate action!









“My face is black is true but its not my fault but I love my name and my honest dealing with my fellow man.” –Callie House (1899)In this groundbreaking book, acclaimed historian Dr. Mary Frances Berry resurrects the remarkable story of ex-slave Callie House (1861-1928) who, seventy years before the civil-rights movement, headed a demand for ex-slave reparations. A widowed Nashville washerwoman and mother of five, House went on to fight for African American pensions based on those offered to Union soldiers, brilliantly targeting $68 million in taxes on seized rebel cotton and demanding it as repayment for centuries of unpaid labor. Here is the fascinating story of a forgotten civil rights crusader: a woman who emerges as a courageous pioneering activist, a forerunner of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.



This entry in the Lucent Library of Black History series looks in depth at the arguments for and against compensation for the descendants of slaves. Prominent activists cited in the book blame slavery for continuing racial inequality and cite compensation paid to Japanese Americans imprisoned during World War II and to victims of the Holocaust. Opposing views come from conservatives and those who fear compensation could increase hostility and send damaging, victimizing messages. With detailed source notes and occasional photos, this important title will deepen students’ understanding. Grades 7-12. --Hazel Rochman

Slavery and Freedom in the Caribbean and Latin America

The Lesser Antilles islands of Barbados, St. Kitts, Antigua, Martinique and Guadeloupe,Saint Lucia were the first important slave societies of the Caribbean, switching to slavery by the end of the 17th century as their economies converted from tobacco to sugar production. By the middle of the 18th century, British Jamaica and French Saint-Domingue had become the largest and most brutal slave societies of the region, rivaling Brazil as a destination for enslaved Africans.
The death rates for black slaves in these islands were higher than birth rates. The decrease averaged about 3 percent per year in Jamaica and 4 percent a year in the smaller islands. The main causes for this were overwork and malnutrition. Slaves worked from sun up to sun down in harsh conditions. They were supervised under demanding masters, who gave them little medical care. Slaves also had poor living conditions and consequently they contracted many diseases. The diary of slaveowner Thomas Thistlewood of Jamaica details the extreme violence against slaves, and constitutes important historical documentation of the conditions for Caribbean slaves.
For centuries slavery made sugarcane production possible. The low level of technology made production difficult and labor intensive. At the same time, the demand for sugar was rising, particularly in Great Britain. The French colony of Saint-Domingue quickly began to out-produce all of the British islands' sugar combined. Though sugar was driven by slavery, rising costs for the British made it easier for the British abolitionists to be heard.





A leading authority on Latin American slavery has produced a major and original work on the subject. Covering not only Spanish but also Portuguese and French regions, and encompassing the latest research on the plantation system as well as on mining and the urban experience, the book brings together the recent findings on demography, the slave trade, the construction of the slave community and Afro-American culture. The book also sheds new light on the processes of accommodation and rebellion and the experience of emancipation. Klein first traces the evolution of slavery and forced labor systems in Europe, Africa, and America, and then depicts the life and culture which some twelve million slaves transported from Africa over five centuries experiences in the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Particular emphasis is on the evolution of the sugar plantation economy, the single largest user of African slave labor. The book examines attempts of the African and American-born slaves to create a viable and autonomous culture, including their adaptation of European languages, religions, and even kinship systems to their own needs. Klein also describes the type and intensity of slave rebellions. Finally the book considers the important and differing role of the "free colored" under slavery, noting the unique situation of the Brazilian free colored as well as the unusual mobility of the free colored in the French West Indies. The book concludes with a look at the post-emancipation integration patterns in the different societies, analyzing the relative success of the ex-slaves in obtaining control over land and escaping from the old plantation regimes.

Aristide est convoqué par la justice

L’ancien président d’Haïti est notamment accusé de «crimes économiques» 4 janvier 2013 | Agence France-Presse | Actualités internationales Photo : Agence France-Presse Thony Belizaire À Port-au-Prince, des partisans de M. Aristide sont descendus dans la rue. Port-au-Prince — L’ancien président haïtien, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, visé par plusieurs plaintes, a obtenu un report de sa convocation devant la justice, fixée à mercredi prochain au lieu de ce jeudi, a-t-on appris de source judiciaire. Les avocats de l’ex-président n’étaient pas en mesure jeudi de confirmer si M. Aristide répondrait à cette convocation. Suite à une demande de report de ses avocats, M. Aristide a été convoqué mercredi alors qu’il était initialement attendu jeudi devant un tribunal haïtien pour être entendu sur des plaintes pour « crimes économiques, vols, abus de confiance et association de malfaiteurs », a indiqué le chef du Parquet.

 M. Aristide est notamment accusé par d’anciens pensionnaires de sa Fondation La Fanmi se la vi, qui recueillait des enfants des rues dans les années 90, d’avoir abusé de leur situation pour gagner de l’argent. Un autre groupe de victimes d’une arnaque de banques coopératives en 2003 accuse aussi l’ancien président d’avoir tiré des avantages personnels de cette activité, au détriment des sociétaires. Dans une lettre au chef du Parquet (commissaire du gouvernement), un avocat de l’ancien président, Me Mario Joseph, avait demandé de lui transmettre une copie des « prétendues plaintes » et indiquait que la convocation par la justice lui était parvenue tardivement, le 2 janvier. L’avocat estimait que le délai de 24 h n’avait pas permis à l’ancien président d’«organiser la logistique nécessaire pour assurer sa sécurité ». Interrogé par l’AFP, un autre avocat de M. Aristide, Me Newton Saint-Juste, a jugé la convocation « abusive ». « Elle n’a rien à voir avec le droit. C’est une démarche à motifs politiques. Le commissaire du gouvernement agit sous la dictée du pouvoir en place », a-t-il déclaré. Des unités de la police haïtienne avaient été déployées devant le tribunal où était attendu l’ancien président, alors que deux groupes de partisans et adversaires de M. Aristide manifestaient sur place sans faire de victimes. La police a tiré des gaz lacrymogènes pour disperser des centaines de partisans de l’ancien homme fort de Port-au-Prince. « Vive Aristide ! », scandaient les manifestants qui brandissaient des pancartes en faveur de l’ex-président. « Aristide doit être jugé et enfermé dans une prison », lançaient de leur côté des groupes de jeunes se présentant comme des victimes de l’ancien président. M. Aristide a effectué trois mandats écourtés à la tête d’Haïti, en 1991, de 1994 à 1996 et de 2001 à 2004. Il a regagné le pays en mars 2011 après 7 ans d’exil en Afrique du Sud.

Tel que sur Le Devoir

Saluons les femmes autochtones et leur courage

Idle No More - Des actions qui se multiplient dans le monde

Saluons les femmes autochtones et leur courage 

La chef crie Theresa Spence en était jeudi à sa 24e journée de grève de la faim, symbole du mouvement de contestation Idle No More, dont l’ampleur rappelle à certains autochtones la crise d’Oka.

Cette fois-ci, par contre, pas question de laisser la crise s’enfoncer dans la violence, assurent les acteurs du mouvement.
Dans la communauté innue de Betsiamites, au sud-ouest de Baie-Comeau, l’Attikamek Herman Niquay prépare depuis des semaines une expédition de plus de 400 kilomètres qui le mènera de Waskaganish à Attawapiskat… en traîneau à chiens.
L’homme de 41 ans a participé à quelques barricades, « à Restigouche pour soutenir les Micmacs » et, en tant que Warrior, comme avaient été nommés les combattants mohawks alignés de l’autre côté des barricades d’abord dressées contre les policiers, puis contre l’armée canadienne, pendant la crise d’Oka, en 1990.
À présent, et à l’instar de plusieurs autochtones du Canada, M. Niquay a pris la voie de l’action pacifique. Avec les six malamutes qui tireront son traîneau, il part en expédition le 15 janvier pour « sensibiliser les gens » à la cause de Mme Spence, qu’il a aussi faite sienne.
La chef crie demande de rencontrer le premier ministre Stephen Harper et le gouverneur général David Johnston afin de faire respecter les droits conférés aux autochtones en vertu des traités signés par le Canada et les Premières Nations. L’ampleur de ses demandes semble cependant laisser les autorités fédérales perplexes.
M. Harper n’a toujours pas rencontré Mme Spence, qui refuse par ailleurs de rencontrer le ministre des Affaires autochtones, John Duncan, car elle croit qu’il n’a pas le pouvoir de faire changer les choses.

Montreal police chief speaks about badge no. 728

Le SPVM refuse de renvoyer le Matricule 728 , elle aura meme une promotion en travaillant maintenant en administration afin de mieux pouvoir falsifier les dossiers !!!

Dj Boogy's Blog: Some Random and Not So RandomThings I Remember fro...

Dj Boogy's Blog: Some Random and Not So RandomThings I Remember fro...: At the end of each year all of us have things we can and should reflect upon. We assess all that has happened and make promises to build ...