Letter from Birmingham Jail

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action

The Radical Martin Luther King Jr.

ML King 

by Jenn M Jackson 

The earliest lesson I learned about Martin Luther King Jr. was that he had “a dream.” Delivered in his most well-known speech at the 1963 March on Washington, as posed to me and as I understood clearly in my adolescent mind, that dream was a colorblind one.

That manufactured perspective — often told to young children and supported by mainstream, predominantly white commentators — was focused on erasing the divisions between black and white people, not necessarily by blaming white people for their participation in systems of anti-black racism, but by moving beyond racial difference altogether.

But that was never actually King’s dream. His was much more radical than that.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at 2019 Women's March in New York City

Trump's Shut Down Ocasio-Cortez

Choosing Democracy: Los Angeles Teachers On Strike -testimony

Choosing Democracy: Los Angeles Teachers On Strike -testimony

Why Los Angeles teachers are on strike, for the first time in decades

Billionaires Vs. Teachers in Los Angeles

Choosing Democracy: Billionaires Vs. Teachers in Los Angeles: The Los Angeles teachers' strike isn't all about wages. At its core, the strike is a fight against a hostile takeover of public sc...

It’s Time for Federal Workers to Get Sick

It’s Time for Federal Workers to Get Sick: A sickout by unpaid federal employees could bring the impasse—and their status as hostages to the president’s whim—to an end.

How to Win a Teachers Strike

Choosing Democracy: How to Win a Teachers Strike: You need a movement to win a strike. https://www.rethinkingschools.org/articles/you-need-rank-and-file-to-win-how-arizona-teachers-bu...

Federal Workers Hit The Street To Protest Shutdown

2013.  Time for response now !

White Citizen Kills Davis Police Officer

Kevin Douglas Limbaugh

DAVIS 

The gunman who shot and killed Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona Thursday night has been identified as Kevin Douglas Limbaugh, a 48-year-old, White male, U.S. citizen who was ordered last fall to surrender a semiautomatic rifle after he was convicted in a battery case.

Yolo County Superior Court records show Limbaugh was charged in September with battery with serious bodily injury, a incident that a source said stemmed from him punching a co-worker at Cache Creek Casino in the face after a dispute.

The case was resolved as a misdemeanor conviction, and California Department of Justice records show he agreed to surrender a black .223-caliber Bushmaster AR-15 rifle in November. Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article224372145.html#storylink=cpy

Davis police Officer Natalie Corona died as the result of a chilling, resolute ambush by Kevin Limbaugh, a terrorist on a bicycle who rode up to an accident scene she was investigating Thursday night, then opened fire with a hail of bullets from a semiautomatic handgun, police said.

As  the  officer stood talking to one of the motorists, the gunman glided up on a bicycle, stopping in the shadows on a sidewalk, then walked toward the 22-year-old Mexican American rookie police officer and began firing.

“The suspect basically just opened up firing, shot her once and she went down to the ground, and he ended up shooting her multiple times,” Pytel said at a news conference Friday night at police headquarters. “At that point, he unloaded a magazine, reloaded and started shooting in another direction.”

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article224336545.html#storylink=cpy

( Identification of the ethnicity and citizenship of the shooter was added to parallel reporting on the recent killings of Officer Singh )

Trump claims there is a crisis at the border _ Reality?

Trump claims there is a crisis at the border.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/01/11/us/politics/trump-border-crisis-reality.html?

Trump Wants to Use California Disaster Funds to Build Wall

Trump Wants To Build Wall With Disaster Recovery Funds

Border wall funds could be diverted from a pool meant for Puerto Rico, Texas and other areas hit by disasters. CNN: “The Trump administration is actively examining using billions of dollars in unspent Defense Department disaster recovery and military construction funds for the construction of a border wall in the event the President declares a national emergency, according to a US official.

Congress appropriated $14 billion in supplemental funds to repair infrastructure in areas of the country hardest hit by disasters including hurricanes, like Hurricane Maria which slammed Puerto Rico in 2017 and resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. In anticipation of a national emergency declaration, the official tells CNN that the Pentagon was asked to provide lists of unspent funds including those earmarked for civil works projects that are part of disaster recovery in Puerto Rico, Texas, California, Florida, and elsewhere. The official said the funds were only recently received. There is more than $13 billion not yet physically spent on the infrastructure repair projects, but that have been promised to these communities. For instance, more than $2 billion planned for projects in Puerto Rico has not yet been spent. More than $4.5 billion for projects in Texas, including those related to 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, has also not been spent. Trump was briefed Thursday on a proposal to use $5 billion for portions of the wall based on priorities identified by the Department of Homeland Security, the official said. Under a current proposal, a 30-foot high steel slat wall — the so-called bollard wall — would be put up across 315 miles of federal lands over 18 months. As the government shutdown continues with no deal between the White House and congressional Democrats in sight, President Trump inched closer to declaring a national emergency to approval to begin construction of the border wall.”

The Courage to Change | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Who is this new Democrat ?  A DSA member.

Governor Newsom

Governor Newsom and the Return of Laboratories of Democracy. This week, a number of states are swearing in new Democratic administrations. California, of course, was Democratic before November’s election, but it’s more so now, with Gavin Newsom taking the oath yesterday to succeed Jerry Brown as governor, and with the share of Democrats in each house of the legislature rising from just under two-thirds to a hegemonic-and-then-some three-quarters.

Newsom’s inaugural address held few surprises, save that when his two-year-old son toddled over and embraced him mid-speech. But the health insurance policies Newsom laid out in his speech and subsequent executive orders provide a good model for how a state can set a template for a policy shift on the federal level, should the Democrats capture the White House and the Senate in 2020.