Black Lives Matter Releases Policy Agenda

NBC ^ | 8/1/2016 | Trymaine Lee

[Borges]

It has been nearly two years since the killing of Michael Brown Jr. by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, touched off outrage and a national movement to save black lives from state violence. Now, just days ahead of the anniversary of Brown’s death, a coalition of organizations that grew from that uprising have launched a policy agenda calling for deep criminal justice and policing reforms.

The Movement for Black Lives — under the catch-all banner of the Black Lives Matter movement — has put together what it describes as a “clear vision of the world where black humanity and dignity is the reality.”

In the plan, titled "A Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power, Freedom and Justice,” dozens of established activist and advocacy groups joined forces to offer six core demands and 40 policy priorities.

Related: Black Lives Matter Organizer Kei Williams on Being Black and Trans in America

“Our grievances and solutions extend beyond the police killing of our people; state violence includes failing schools that criminalize our children, dwindling earning opportunities, wars on our trans and queer family that deny them of their humanity, and so much more,” Montague Simmons of Organization for Black Struggle and the Movement for Black Lives Policy Table, said in a statement. “That’s why we united, with a renewed energy and purpose, to put forth a shared vision of the world we want to live in.”

The six platform demands are:

1. End the war on black people.

2. Reparations for past and continuing harms.

3. Divestment from the institutions that criminalize, cage and harm black people; and investment in the education, health and safety of black people.

4. Economic justice for all and a reconstruction of the economy to ensure our communities have collective ownership, not merely access.

5. Community control of the laws, institutions and policies that most impact us.

6. Independent black political power and black self-determination in all areas of society.

To achieve those demands the group offered a set of solutions that include the demilitarization of police and an end to systemic attacks on black youth, including black members of the LGBTQ community. They call for the passing of state and federal laws that acknowledge and address the impacts of slavery and the passage of H.R. 40 to form a commission to study reparations proposals. Another of the recommendations calls for the “retroactive decriminalization and immediate release of all people convicted of drug offenses, sex work-related offenses and youth offenses.”

“We recognize that not all of our collective needs and visions can be translated into policy, but we understand that policy change is one of many tactics necessary to move us towards the world we envision, a world where freedom and justice is the reality,” M. Adams, co-executive director of Freedom Inc., said.

Critics of the Black Lives Matter movement have lambasted the group for not having crafted any concrete demands or solutions. And while other groups under the broader BLM banner, including Campaign Zero, have articulated clear aims to end police violence against blacks, Monday’s release highlights the maturation of this leaderless movement into a more united front.

"As a Latina, as a progressive leader ... I’m not writing today to endorse this national platform,” said Jodeen Olguín-Tayler, vice president of policy and strategic partnerships for Demos Action. “The movement for black lives does not need my stamp of approval. Instead, I’m calling on other progressives — especially other light-skinned people of color, white people and leaders of the Democratic Party — to sit up and pay attention.”

The release comes just days after the close of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, in which Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and party leaders crafted a relatively progressive party platform that includes a call for criminal justice reforms. Yet many black activists remain wary of Clinton, given policies enacted during President Bill Clinton’s administration that some say fueled a dramatic uptick in mass incarceration and the criminalization of black people.

The new Democratic platform follows the Republican National Convention, where Republican nominee Donald Trump proclaimed himself “the law and order candidate,” a not-so-veiled throwback to the Nixonian policies of the 1960s and '70s that worked to suppress social movements and quash efforts by African-Americans to fight racism and systemic oppression.

“We seek radical transformation, not reactionary reform,” Michaela Brown, communications director of Baltimore Bloc, said in a statement. “As the 2016 election continues, this platform provides us with a way to intervene with an agenda that resists state and corporate power, an opportunity to implement policies that truly value the safety and humanity of black lives, and an overall means to hold elected leaders accountable.”

[timestax]

And corporations are funding this shit.

This

[Secret Agent Man]

no

and

hell no

[FormerFRLurker]

Isn’t #4 another way of describing communism?

It's impossible to have collective ownership without communism, so yes.

[goodnesswins]

“and investment in the education, health and safety of black people.”

Talk to the Democrats you UNGRATEFUL idgits...they really don’t want you to succeed...FIGURE IT OUT.

[Hambone 1934]

If anyone has seen THE MIRACLE WORKER,the blacks dems and whites are like the family at the dinner scene...family is eating and enjoying a pleasant meal and “the girl” comes in and acts like an animal.....Family are the dems and the girl are black dems...Anne Bancroft are the people who expect black dems to act human....

[Monty22002]

Noted, but still commented on.

[blueplum]

BLM co-founder assuring her cult that she’s a trained Marxist:
https://twitter.com/terriadventurer/status/1275183318796042241

[Jim Robinson]

“clear vision of the world where black humanity and dignity is the reality.”

Well, ain’t that special. I don’t think you can earn dignity by demanding it, much less by rioting.

[zaxtres]

These are their real beliefs... notice the difference between the two, notice the agendas here are different than the one above:

The Black Lives Matter Global Network is as powerful as it is because of our membership, our partners, our supporters, our staff, and you. Our continued commitment to liberation for all Black people means we are continuing the work of our ancestors and fighting for our collective freedom because it is our duty.

Every day, we recommit to healing ourselves and each other, and to co-creating alongside comrades, allies, and family a culture where each person feels seen, heard, and supported.

We acknowledge, respect, and celebrate differences and commonalities.

We work vigorously for freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension, all people.

We intentionally build and nurture a beloved community that is bonded together through a beautiful struggle that is restorative, not depleting.

We are unapologetically Black in our positioning. In affirming that Black Lives Matter, we need not qualify our position. To love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a prerequisite for wanting the same for others.

We see ourselves as part of the global Black family, and we are aware of the different ways we are impacted or privileged as Black people who exist in different parts of the world.

We are guided by the fact that all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status, or location.

We make space for transgender brothers and sisters to participate and lead.

We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.

We build a space that affirms Black women and is free from sexism, misogyny, and environments in which men are centered.

We practice empathy. We engage comrades with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts.

We make our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work “double shifts” so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work.

We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).

We cultivate an intergenerational and communal network free from ageism. We believe that all people, regardless of age, show up with the capacity to lead and learn.

We embody and practice justice, liberation, and peace in our engagements with one another.

[DoughtyOne]

Of course...

[VideoDoctor]

Plain and simple their demands are RACIST!

End of conversation.

[Gene Eric]

Well, all the major corps are making heavy investments in BLM.

[pepsionice]

Pure Marxism. Farms, industry, cafes, shops....all would have to be society-ownership, nothing private. You could go as far as saying all NFL and NBA teams would be society-ownership, and the players would only be paid ‘fair’ wages. On every level of test and practice over the past 150-odd years...it’s failed.

[dp0622]

I give them the benefit of the doubt of reading it. They’re insane :-)

It was amusing though.

They are so cute :-)

[Borges]

I’m glad you find it funny. They currently pose a grave threat to this country.

[Kickass Conservative]

Sounds like a list of demands from Thieves and Segregationists.

[FenwickBabbitt]

I strongly encourage people to look at business’s websites and social media before using their stores, websites, products, etc., especially if it’s something you use regularly. Many (but definitely not all) companies have been pandering openly to the radical left-wing Black Lives Matter, often including the words “Black Lives Matter” and information on their donations to left-wing political organizations like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Conservatives don’t need to be giving money to these (ironically pro-Marxist) companies, when there are conservative, neutral/apolitical, patriotic, and/or Christian businesses we should be using instead in most instances.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Most of this “program” is Marxist in origin, not just nature.

Contains elements of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Paul Robeson (secret CPUSA member and KGB asset), Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Toure or some shit-name like that), the Black Panther Party (made by the CPUSA, legally controlled with lawyers from the CPUSA), the Black Liberation Army (maoist), RAM (Revolutionary Action Movement, if I recall correctly, Maoist under Robert Williams), the Republic of New Africa (based on the Communist Party’s plans for Black America - somewhat Maoist, big in Mississippi), Castroism, Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals”, Chavezism/Maduroism, Ghana dictator Kwame Nkrumah’s “Nkrumahism” program, and Hispanic Marxists irredentism.

Other than that, they are just good old boy Democrats.

[Bob434]

Here’s the new policy- people, no matter what color- are not above the law- so don’t fight the police- grab for their guns, steal tasers, punch kick resist- and you will be fine-

There’s your ‘deep reform’- not too complicated-

[dp0622]

Take a Xanax. Here”s $5 buy a sense of humor

My God where do you freaks come from :-)

I know how serious it is but unlike you I don’t have a stick Wedged in me 24 hours a day.