Day of Blogging for Justice

Many of my fellow AfroSpear members have blogged on 30th July about the rising numbers of tasings. Like many abuses of the criminal justice system, the victims are disproportionately African Americans.

We don't have tasing in the UK as yet but, in my opinion, it is only a matter of time.

I find it difficult to say how I feel about this. I feel so strongly, it's hard to find the words.

The violence must stop.

On nearly a daily basis, there are reports of tasing 'abuse', that is to say, tasing used in extreme cases such as, for example,

Blind, cancer, diabetic woman tased

http://overanalyzeit.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/blind-cancer-diabetic-sufferer-tasered-by-dayton-police/

But tasing in and of itself has been characterised as torture.

This is part of a much bigger problem. African people have been characterised as violent, brutish and animalistic for hundreds of years - first by the Arabs, then by the Europeans. This was used to justify the enslavement of African people.

In recent years, we have seen many manifestations of this, such as the Rodney King case and others like it. Children as young as five being incarcerated. The disporportionate number of African American people on Death Row. And tasing is a part of this overall pattern.

In the Niger Delta, African lives are worth very little, compared to the value of oil:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/14/10341/

In other parts of Africa, the search for conflict diamonds costs many lives.

I could go on and on and on and on. There is so much more to say. But I try to be solution-focused.

Bottom line, the violence must stop. THE VIOLENCE MUST STOP.

We can find peaceful means to air our grievances. We can find peaceful means to bring about justice. I am working alongside many other people all over the world to bring about peace through Nonviolent Communication (NVC). And miracles are happening.

To read more about NVC, visit: http://tinyurl.com/ywjm33 and

http://www.blacksuccess1.com/improvingcommunication.htm

To read posts by other AfroSpear members, visit:

Partial List of Participants in Day of Blogging for Justice

Sorry I cannot list everybody here. Well done to all the bloggers who have helped to bring this issue to prominence.