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| (Source: digitaltimes.org) |
MMIW Report: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women In Canada
The Canadian Parliament has been pressured by indigenous grassroots organizations to conduct a national inquiry into the overwhelmingly large proportion of cases involving missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW). In December the liberal government in Canada announced plans for the inquiry.
Yet there are already discrepancies in data collected by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The reported figure of 1200 cases has been contested by many grassroots groups as being way too small than the actual number. This February, Lisa J Ellwood's Indian Country report confirmed that RCMP collects its data solely from its affiliated police agencies. There is over 300 non-RCMP affiliated police agencies where homicide data on indigenous women has not been collected. Furthermore, police are biased, racists, and colonial in their interpretation of what MMIW cases count as homicides or missing persons.
RCMP has tried to skew its information in order to say that MMIW cases are a result of domestic violence and that the perpetrators are really Indigenous men. Yet RCMP ignores cases involving sex workers. Studies have proven that the majority of cases involve non-indigenous men.
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| (MarShawn McCarrel, Image: uinterview.com) |
Black Lives Matter Activist MarShawn McCarrel Commits Suicide
23 year-old Black Lives Matter Activist MarShawn McCarrel shot himself in front of the Columbus Building February 8, 2016. His last tweet read: "let the record show that I pissed on the state house before I left."
McCarrel was instrumental in organizing BLM protests in Ohio after the killing of Mike Brown in 2014. He was the founder of the youth mentorship program Pursuing Our Dreams. He also founded a Feed the Streets program for the homeless. McCarrel himself was homeless for three years after high-school and had since made it his duty to give back because so many had helped him. He was named one of Radio One’s Hometown Champions, an award for community activists and volunteers, earlier this year.
The McCarrel family believes that his work, dedication, and selflessness took an emotional toll.
Deray For Mayor
Prominent Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson announced that he will be running for mayor of Baltimore early this month. In just nine days he raised over $77,000 and has even put forth portions of his mayoral platform. He is the second candidate in the race to do so. Mckesson's plan focuses heavy on public school reform including radically altering Baltimore City Community College to improve graduation rates. Mckesson wants to expand public pre-K to enroll low-income children, release internal audits from city schools, and create literacy-rich educational environments. For policing, Mckesson wants to eliminate lethal policing methods such as illegal chokeholds and band the excuse that the suspect "was reaching for their weapon."
He is calling for standard firearms to be replaced by "smart guns," the redistribution of Baltimore police budgets towards communities most affected by crime, and the creation of a city commission to send drug addicts to treatment centers instead of jail. Mckesson also wants to increase the minimum wage in Baltimore to $15 and hour, expand youth employment opportunities in neighborhoods affected by unemployment, and establish employment programs for ex-convicts. Mckesson made his debate debut February 16th among 23 other candidates.
Peter Liang Convicted for the Murder of Akai Gurley
This February, Officer Peter Liang was convicted in the 2014 killing of Akai Gurley. Officer Liang and his partner were conducting a "vertical patrol" in a Brooklyn housing project. In the stairwell, Liang was suddenly startled and opened fire. The bullet reportedly ricocheted and hit Akai Gurley, who was walking down the stairs with his partner. Officer Liang did not call for help for Gurley nor did he offer medical attention. Liang, who is Chinese-American, was indicted by the grand jury on charges of manslaughter. The decision is a rarity and a relief for the Gurley family in a country where police officers are almost never indicted by grand juries. Still, Liang's status as Asian-American certainly plays a roll in the jury decision. The white police officer who killed Eric Gardner had been dropped of all charges, while the only black police officer on the scene was the only officer charged in the case. Grand Juries seem to readily indict people of color but are unable to indict white police officers. Liang is due back in court this April.
Flint Water Crisis Continues
An out-pouring of bottled water from all over the country has temporarily provided the citizens of Flint with clean water. But the Flint water crisis is about more than just poisonous water. Governor Rick Snyder claimed that the reason for switching Flint's water supply from Detroit sources to the Flint River was to save city money. Yet a report from the Motor City Muckraker confirms that Detroit Water and Sewerage Department offered the City a 50% reduction in prices if Flint remained with Detroit water sources. Snyder refused the plan which could have saved Flint $800 million. Snyder's motives for switching to the Flint River are unknown though many have suggested it was to further his own political and economic interests. Flint residents have described Snyder as a fascist dictator and have demanded that Snyder be removed from office and arrested immediately. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver has stepped in with a $55 million dollar plan to swiftly remove all of the lead pipes from the water system and replace them with new pipes. Weaver's plan has received insufficient funds from state and she is even considering opening a crowd funding campaign to bridge budget gaps. Snyder still remains in office.
Black Lives Matter Meeting with Obama: A Photo Opt and A Sham
On February 18, 2016 Black Lives Matter activists met with Obama and a number of long-time activist including Rev. Al Sharpton to discuss a range off issues including the administration's plans for criminal justice reform. Black Lives Matter activists DeRay Mckesson and Brittany Packnett were there as well as Missou students from #ConcernedStudents1950. Widely publicized as the "first-of-its-kind" and a positive step towards Black liberation, the meeting has also come under considerable critique from BLM activist and co-founder of BLM Chaicago Aislinn Pulley. Pulley respectfully declined the invitation, saying that "I could not, with any integrity, participate in such a sham that would only serve to legitimize the false narrative that the government is working to end police brutality and the institutional racism that fuels it. " She said that: "For the increasing number of families fighting for justice and dignity for their kin slain by police, I refuse to give its perpetrators and enablers political cover by making an appearance among them."
