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Thursday, May 8, 2008
216 Held in Protests of Police Acquittals
The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network sponsored a series of protests in response to the April 25th acquittal of three NYPD detectives in the murder of Sean Bell. The
protests were designed to halt late afternoon traffic at major New York City points, among them the entrance to the Holland
Tunnel, the ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge in lower Manhattan, the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge and others. The protests
were peaceful but overall met their disruptive design: 216 people were arrested on Wednesday, May 7. In his New York Times article "216 Held in Protests of Police Acquittals," Thomas J. Lueck writes: "The protests were staged at six locations in the city. In the largest one, about 400
people assembled about 4:30 on the Centre Street approach to the Brooklyn Bridge and blocked Brooklyn-bound traffic for more
than an hour. About 60 people in that demonstration were arrested, including Mr. Sharpton and Nicole Paultre Bell, who was
to have married Mr. Bell on the day he was killed in a hail of 50 bullets fired by the officers outside a nightclub in Jamaica,
Queens, in 2006. "Two friends of Mr. Bell's, Joseph Guzman and Trent
Benefield, who were injured in the fusillade, were among those arrested at the Brooklyn Bridge site. "Demonstrators also stopped traffic at the Manhattan entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, where about
20 were arrested. They sat in front of cars waiting to come off the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, where 23 were arrested,
and blocked ramps at the Triborough Bridge at 125th Street and Second Avenue, where about 40 were arrested. "The scope of the protests on Wednesday contrasted with the relatively muted response to a state
judge's acquittals of the detectives on April 25. At the time, Mr. Sharpton and other activists, politicians and community
leaders praised the overall peaceful response that followed the verdict, but vowed to fight the judge's decision in strategic
rather than bellicose ways."
1:25 pm est
Clark Atlanta Professor Releases Afro-Latin Journal, Negritud African studies in Latin America and the Caribbean found its headquarters for American academia in
Atlanta with the launch of the scholarly journal, Negritud," writes Redding News Review's International Editor Bruno Gaston. "Luis Miletti, an Afro-Puerto Rican and assistant professor of Spanish
at Clark Atlanta University, released the journal in March after an overwhelming global response to his announcement last
year to start the publication. Negritud is published in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Some academic fields of study will include
literature, history, anthropology and archeology. "
'This is the only journal that accepts all writing styles within American academia,' Miletti said. 'That is unheard
of because in the US, they tend to be very uniform.' " Luis Miletti with a copy of Negritud (Bruno Gaston photo) Negritud could indeed be setting a
new precedent for the academic medium. In addition to the Web edition, a weekly public radio program for the annually published
journal is also under development. The radio show will showcase lectures, panel discussions, and current events regarding
Afro-Latinos in the US and abroad."
10:54 am est
Monday, May 5, 2008
Leading Scholars, Activists and Diplomats Participate in Venezuela Symposium
Marc Becker wrote about the Venezuela Solidarity Network's
Symposium "What's Up With Venezuela? Participatory Democracy or Democracy as Usual?", which took place at Washington,
DC's Howard University from April 18 through 21, 2008. Becker, a Latin American
historian and a member of Community Action on Latin America (CALA), in Madison, Wisconsin, wrote about how Jorge Guerrero,
the Venezuelan Consul in New Orleans, "explained the growing role of communal councils that are leading toward self government.
In the future, Guerrero predicated [sic] they would not need mayors because people will
solve their own problems. Julio Chavez, the mayor of Torres, Venezuela, said that he was one of those working to realize that
goal. 'How can they accuse of us being authoritarian and centrali st,' Chavez asked, 'when we are giving power to the people?' " Jorge Guerrero, the Venezuelan Consul in New Orleans (http://picasaweb.google.com/marcbecker2/VenezuelaSymposium)
"Guerrero presented Chavez as a tool that embodies the hopes and aspirations
of historically oppressed and excluded peoples to build a new protagonistic and participatory system. Imperialists are opposed
to the Venezuelan government because it has allied with the downtrodden. This extends to international policies, as
Venezuela has significantly expanded its diplomatic relations with Africa and the Caribbean. For example, students from Mali
are studying textile manufacturing in Venezuela so that they can help their country gain value from cotton production rather
than exporting the raw materials. These are not vertical relationships of domination, but horizontal ones built around ideas
of solidarity."
12:25 pm est
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Would 125th St. Rezoning Mean A Dream Deferred?
"By the end of this month, [New York's] City Council will decide whether
to approve a rezoning of Harlem's main commercial thoroughfare that many consider not just ano ther contentious land use matter, but a judgment that could forever alter the historic home of the African diaspora," writes Kate Pastor in the
City Limit's article "Would 125th St. Rezoning Mean A Dream Deferred?" Adam Clayton Powell Jr statue on Harlem's
125th Street (www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/125th/index.shtml) ..."To be sure, the 125th Street rezoning enjoys
varying degrees of support in Harlem along with reaping criticism. The proposal is described by the Department of City Planning (DCP) as a way to 'sustain the ongoing revitalization of 125th Street
as a unique Manhattan Main Street, enhance its regional business district character and reinforce the street’s premier
arts, culture, and entertainment destination identity.' "
9:20 pm est
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sounding the Bell for Justice
On April 25, 2008, yet another set of New York City Police were found not guilty in the death
of a young Black man. "50 was a number that was on everyone’s
mind. '50 shots equals murder,' protestors shouted, then giving way to repeated counts from one to fifty," write Yonathan Dessalegn and Amy L. Dalton of the People’s Justice Coalition in a story posted here. "As the march then passed through a tunnel, near the Long Island Railroad
terminal that was lined with police, the crowd honored Sean Bell, through spontaneous uproars, clappings, and raising of fists.
In his honor, many just invoked his name, shouting: Sean Bell, Sean Bell, Sean Bell — raising up the memory the courts would
rather bury.
Sean Bell verdict protesters (Robert J. Mercado photo) "The march concluded at 8:00 p.m., shortly after sunset, near the place of the brutal shooting.
Organizers from the People’s Justice Coalition addressed the crowd, urging people to continue the spirit of vigilance
into tomorrow and the next day. One speaker spoke especially of the need for community members to step up and take on the
role of monitoring police activity. As she gave examples of common racist and classist police practices, people yelled out
in recognition and conviction."
The murder of Sean Bell will not go unpunished: many activists are planning protests and other actions
to keep this case in the spotlight. Check out this one minute clip of the march that took place a little before 7 pm that night in Jamaica,
Queens.
2:31 pm est
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