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† Criminal InJustice is a weekly series devoted to taking action against inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system. Nancy A. Heitzeg, Professor of Sociology and Race/Ethnicity, is the Editor of CI. Kay Whitlock, co-author of Queer (In)Justice, is contributing editor of CI. Criminal Injustice is published every Wednesday at 6 pm.
#Oct22/Stolen Lives
by nancy a heitzeg
Today marks the 19th Anniversary of the National Day of Protest on October 22, organized by The October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. The October 22 Coalition also coordinates The Stolen Lives Project, which documents/honors those killed by police violence.
Hopefully you found an event wherever you are. Say the Names. Honor the Dead. Commit to Fighting like Hell for the Living. This has always been so, but especially now. From the full statement of The October 22 Coalition:
In the United States, this year has seen a litany of state violence, with increasing documentation and coverage making these ongoing atrocities more difficult to deny. Over 800 people have been killed by law enforcement nationwide, at least 200 since Mike Brown, and at least 23 people in one week. Although police criminalization of and violence against women and transgender people is nothing new, they have become more newsworthy of late. There seems to be no level too low for law enforcement to stoop in their violence, whether it is against children and young teens, the elderly, the deaf, or those who are emotionally or mentally distressed.
It is unsurprising that death by police has a racial dynamic. We have long been alerted to this by experience and many sources, including the tireless work of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and their reports — see Operation Ghetto Storm: 2012 Annual Report on the Extrajudicial Killings of 313 Black People by Police, Security Guards, and Vigilantes. Recently, an analysis of federally collected data on 1,217 fatal police shootings by Propublica verified what long time observers already knew: young black men are 21 times as likely as their white peers to be killed by police .
As with all matters related to the criminal injustice system, any efforts to redress police killings must openly confront the white supremacist underpinnings of the entire endeavor. There is no other way.
To that end, please also support the National Week of Action from #BlackLivesMatter. And, every day, as always, Let Your Motto Be Resistance.
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