By Star Zagofsky I recently watched Whose Vote Counts, Explained, a 3-episode Netflix series about voting that should be required viewing for anyone interested in racial justice. The first episode, “The Right to Vote,” starts things off with a long list of eye-opening facts like how, until the mid 1800s, it was common for non-citizens to vote in US elections. As it turns out, many voting restrictions that seem normal in the US are, in fact, not. Today more than 45 countries permit non-citizens to vote, and in 35 countries either all or most people convicted of felonies can vote, even while in prison. So why is the US different?  People March for Voting Rights in Washington, DC, 1963. Photo credit: Marion S. Trikosko. Colorized by: Jordan J. Lloyd Originally published in Common Dreams. Author: Ifoma Modibo Kambon (also known as Daryel Burnett, CDCR #B60892). I am a survivor the terrible disease of Covid-19 at Folsom State Prison. I am a survivor of the terrible negligence and deliberate indifference of individuals responsible for my care. This experience reaffirmed for me that our lives simply don’t matter. I am one of the voices and numbers assigned to a cage, a cot, a shelf, in my human warehouse. My legal name is Daryel Burnett. My California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (CDCR) number is B60892. My physical body has been imprisoned for 46 years. But my spirit is strong, free, and resilient. I too laugh, smile, feel, care, and love. I hold a profound respect for humanity. I am a father, son, brother, uncle, nephew, and friend. I dare to challenge people outside these walls to see and judge me through a humanistic prism.  Isolation "tent city" set up on the grounds of the Folsom Prison in California in response to a coronavirus outbreak. (Photo: Getty Images) By Heather Millar Like most people in this country, I’ve been arguing a lot this year. Pointing out racism and lack of empathy on social media. Bristling a bit when made aware of my own racist missteps. Doomscrolling and raging against the headlines. I’ve been a journalist for most of my life, though I’m now pandemically unemployed. Among many other things, I’ve covered jails and prisons, politics and social policy. I thought I “got” this country’s racism. I knew it was foundational to our nation’s problems, central to our history. I volunteered regularly; protested occasionally.  A discussion between a younger woman and an older woman hits a sticking point. By Felicia Gustin ...But will Donald Trump Destroy the Postal Service? For most of my life, like most people, I pretty much took the post office for granted. I wrote a letter, put it in an envelope, slapped on a stamp, dropped it in the mailbox, and off it went, thousands of miles away for mere cents.  By Eli Kaplan The moratoriums on evictions in California will end soon, and renters across California who were unable to pay rent during the COVID-19 emergency will suddenly face months of back rent and the possibility of homelessness. Millions of people have lost their jobs, and with huge numbers of tenants potentially facing eviction, we need to act now to protect renters and keep people off the street.  People power at the state capitol building in Sacramento before the pandemic. The photo shows a large gathering in front of the capital in 2019. Now we must do it by telephone.  A portion of the border wall painted with a butterfly, a symbol of migration. Used with permission from Lili Shidlovski The center for Al Otro Lado was a short walk from the border at Tijuana. To reach it, Heather Appel flew to San Diego and went by taxi to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. “It was shocking how easy it is to cross with an American passport,” she recalled.
Responding to a call for volunteers who speak Spanish, Heather accompanied five other members of SURJ Bay Area to spend a week at the US-Mexican border in November 2019. Heather wanted to do more to address family separation and the crisis at the border, and she appreciated the chance to join experienced SURJ leaders from other committees who provided both mentorship and kinship. A photo essay by Micki Luckey and Lili Shidlovski  Natalie Teyolia Puente paints a mural in the Fruitvale district of Oakland. Photo with artist’s permission by Lili Shidlovski. Protests against police violence are occurring daily in thousands of cities and towns across the country since the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The brutality of this modern lynching followed closely upon the killing of Sean Reed, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbury, and then Rayshard Brooks was shot in Atlanta on June 13. In recent years police killed about 1000 people per year all over the country , a disproportionate number of them Black.
By Felicia Gustin As thousands of white people join protests nationwide, it’s important to look at not just why people are showing up but also how. Given this nation’s history of racism, we, as white people, want to make sure we are part of the solution, not the problem.  Photo of June 1st, 2020, Oakland youth march — Description: Hundreds of people face speakers with fists and cell phones in the air. Photo © Brook Anderson @movementphotographer By Micki Luckey
“We at the Movement For Black Lives believe that it is our mandate, in a moment where the police and vigilantes have increased their terror, that we make a clear and proud commitment to be in Defense of Black Lives.” M4BL |
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