Some Recent Anniversaries

Olaseni Lewis

Recently, we have reached some crucial and tragic anniversaries:  

100 Years Since the Destruction of Black Wall Street.  

66 Years Since the Murder of Emmett Till.  July would have marked his 80th birthday.  

Meanwhile, this horrific roll call continues:  

 

Deaths of Olaseni Lewis and Sean Rigg.  Olaseni died in the UK in 2010, the same way as George Floyd, begging police officers to let him breathe.  Sean Rigg also died in London, in 2008.  

Go here for my show in which we asked:  Do Black Lives Really Matter? 

28 years since the death of Joy Gardner in London, UK.  

And these deaths keeps rolling on, on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Cressida Dick, Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, states that "no one is above the law".  Really?  Really, Cressida? 

According to Wikipedia, Cressida Dick held senior roles in the force's diversity directorate, in anti-gang and anti-gun crime operations, and in counterterrorism operations before becoming Commissioner.  She was a Met Police officer at the time of the death of Joy Gardner.  The documentary-maker Ken Fero called for her resignation with regard to the death of Joy Gardner. 

We live in a world in which MP Dawn Butler was racially profiled and stopped by the police because they thought her car was registered outside London (which has yet to be made a criminal offence).   

We live in a world in which a Black mother states that it is "not hunting season" on Black people (again - really?).  

Last year (2020), a Metropolitan Police Officer was the subject of a criminal investigation after kneeling on Marcus Coutain's neck during a stop-and-search operation.  The officer will not face charges, nor will he face disciplinary action.  

Yet, as reported in the Guardian,  Cressida Dick has said that the Met has transformed and is no longer institutionally racist.  (Say it with me:  really, Cressida?  Really????)

We need to realise and understand that this is not just a problem in the U.S.  This is not just an American problem.  Black deaths in police custody are happening all over the world.  Black men, women and children are dying in police custody and those responsible are not facing justice.  

We MUST find solutions.  Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is one such solution.  

I have blogged about this issue many times, and I shall continue to do so.  Our communities need to be armed with the skills of NVC, which can help to PREVENT these types of crimes.  

Go her for more Black history blogs.  

Go here for Zhana's conversation with Ken Fero, the director of Injustice. 

Go here for Nonviolence and NVC Resources.  

What do you think is a possible solution?  Please comment below and please share.  Thanks.  

Go here for my show in which we asked:  Do Black Lives Really Matter?  

 

Success Strategies with Zhana: 2020 Year-End Roundup

If you missed the 2020 year-end roundup, you can still listen to it here.  

We had a lot to talk about.   So much has happened in 2020.  

What are the parallels between the killing of Breonna Taylor and the shooting of Cherry Groce?  

Do people in the U.S. know about what is happening here in the UK and in other countries?  And when they find out, what do they think?  

We didn't talk about the racist comments about the Sainsbury's ads.  What did you think?  Please share this with your networks and please comment below. 

590 Black Deaths in Police Custody

Marcia Rigg Protest about the Death of Sean Rigg, London

Check out my previous blog posts:  Protecting Our Communities

We Need Solutions That Work. 

According to this article, 590 Black people in the UK have died in police custody.

This article fails to mention that some of the 500 people killed by the police, with impunity, were women. Some were disabled. Some were probably both. 

Call their names:  Cynthia Jarrett, Joy Gardner.   

Also, Cherry Groce was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life after being shot by the police in London.

This post appears to be pitting disadvantaged groups against each other. We need to stand together. I am Black, a woman and disabled. I have a problem with the way this site has posed the question, “If it was 590 women or 590 wheelchair users, would there be a national outcry?”.

All deaths in police custody need to be highlighted, awareness needs to be raised, but racism is something that affects Black people in every area of our lives, whether or not we are women or disabled. We need to keep highlighting this. 

These are just some of the many reasons why I am hosting the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2015.   

Plus check out this blog from Naturally Moi:  The Woman Who Filmed the Eric Garner Killing Is Suing the NYPD.   

Please leave your comments below.  And please share this with your networks.  Thanks.