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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, and author of The School-to- Prison Pipeline: Education, Discipline and Racialized Double Standards, is the Editor of CI. Kay Whitlock, co-author of Queer (In)Justice and Considering Hate, is co-founder of CI. Criminal Injustice is published every Wednesday at 6 pm CST.

#BlackAugust and the Movement for Black Lives
editor’s comments from nancy a heitzeg

We are in the midst of Black August. 45 years since the assassination of George Jackson. 2 years since the murder of Mike Brown. The demands remain the same.

Black August 2016, SF Bayview

“Black August is a month of great significance for Africans throughout the diaspora, but particularly here in the U.S. where it originated. “August,” as Mumia Abu Jamal noted, “is a month of meaning, of repression and radical resistance, of injustice and divine justice, of repression and righteous rebellion, of individual and collective efforts to free the slaves and break the chains that bind us.” The concept of Black August grew out of the need to expose to the masses the glorious and heroic deeds of those African women and men who recognized the need to fight against the injustices heaped upon people of color on a daily basis in Amerika.

To clear our minds, I propose that we eat but one meal a day throughout the month of August and fast completely  on Aug. 7 in honor of Jonathan Jackson and on Aug. 21 in honor of George Jackson, and again on Aug. 31 in honor of Hasan Shakur, the original minister of human rights of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party Prison Chapter (NABPP-PC), who was executed by the state of Texas for a crime he did not commit. On Aug. 31, we also remember Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Rekia Boyd, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Gus Rugley, Alan Blueford, Trayvon Martin and all the many young people who have been murdered by the cops and gang violence. “

#MikeBrown and #Ferguson, Special Issue of ProudFlesh

“ProudFlesh: New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics, and Consciousness recently published a Special Issue on Mike Brown and Ferguson. Guest Editors for this Special Edition are myself  and Rose M. Brewer, Ph.D. Professor of African American & African Studies, University of Minnesota.Much gratitude to her and the many contributors.

ProudFlesh: New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics and Consciousness is a peer-reviewed journal, a terrain for promoting exchange, thinking, for igniting the common impulse to create, to perform, to interrogate in spite of the odds fueled by repression and rootlessness.

This Special On-line Issue is modeled after the Special Issue Dedicated to Trayvon Martin, offers a collection of critical responses to Ferguson in the first six months of the struggle. It begins with the death of Mike Brown and closes with the Department of Justice Report on Ferguson,”

The Movement for Black Lives: Platform

“Black humanity and dignity requires Black political will and power. Despite constant exploitation and perpetual oppression, Black people have bravely and brilliantly been the driving force pushing the U.S. towards the ideals it articulates but has never achieved. In recent years we have taken to the streets, launched massive campaigns, and impacted elections, but our elected leaders have failed to address the legitimate demands of our Movement. We can no longer wait.

In response to the sustained and increasingly visible violence against Black communities in the U.S. and globally, a collective of more than 50 organizations representing thousands of Black people from across the country have come together with renewed energy and purpose to articulate a common vision and agenda. We are a collective that centers and is rooted in Black communities, but we recognize we have a shared struggle with all oppressed people; collective liberation will be a product of all of our work….”

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