Who really benefits from Stop and Frisk policies?

"if in fact the issue is safety, then how does violating both the human and civil rights of especially African American and Latino men and boys make the aforementioned males safer? I mean, are they deserving of such social comfort from the abuse of police/other citizens?"

Dear friends,

One of the biggest problems in the structure of any society lies with the fact that: in order to operate in a cohesive manner the various cultural institutions such as the government and its instruments of threat capacity through the courts, police, and military, along with slightly less coercive institutions like schools, churches, media, and many others, seem to necessarily embrace a “collective conscience”.

Yet, what room does that leave for each of the individual members of any particular society to really think as a person who has a “sense of self”? That is, although we are social beings, each of us, even babies, exists as an individual. Likewise, police officers are each responsible for maintaining his or her own well-being.

Moreover, with both state authorization and a pistol, unfortunately, it is not difficult for one of these folks to take improper stock of himself or herself. In a society that is based upon White Supremacy (i.e., “white” rules); this leaves tens of millions of people who are not considered “white” to being possibly victimized, at any time, by state sanction. Did someone say Trayvon Martin?

Hence, the ongoing controversy regarding the Stop-and-Frisk policies of urban police departments in the United States is not about public safety. Rather, those humiliating measures are about control. After all, if in fact the issue is safety, then how does violating both the human and civil rights of especially African American and Latino men and boys make the aforementioned males safer? I mean, are they deserving of such social comfort from the abuse of police/other citizens? And why should such a large body of citizens have a vested interest in the proliferation of our society, when their dignity is violated solely for the purpose of affording the opportunity to certain police officers to inflate their shallow egos?

Finally, if a collective conscience is deliberately directed towards benefiting only specific groups here, then why all of the pretense of “freedom and democracy”? I mean, for the big corporations that control our society, how important is it to them to have police and military forces make sure that any collective conscience is profitable to the former, with no one stepping out of line.

Liberation!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Philly cop lies about being shot by "Black man"

"The latest scar caused by the black-man-did-it excuse was left to fester..."



Dear friends,

While this latest insult to the African American community by the Philadelphia Police Department seems “par for the course”, hopefully the protest held in response to it will finally make folks start moving towards community control of the force.

On the link below, award-winning journalist Jenice Armstrong was at the small rally. Historically, protests have usually begun with only a handful of people. Consequently, there’s no surprise that not a lot of people turned out. Still, those who attended were proud and determined to display their dignity for themselves and all of us.

All power to the people!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20100519_Jenice_Armstrong__Cop_s_lies_draw_few_protesters.html#axzz0oOMvAGCw
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New Orleans Police Dept. cover-up about Katrina killings revealed after a former detective pleads guilty

"Far too often, the relationships between ordinary citizens and the police officers from whom the aforementioned citizens are looking for various types of assistance find thenselves find themselves caught up in conflict..."

Dear friends,

Communities should control their police departments - not local governments. Far too often, the relationships between ordinary citizens and the police officers from whom the aforementioned citizens are looking for various types of assistance find thenselves caught up in conflict, due to the very real fact that the two parties have different interests.
On the link below is an article that makes this point quite clearly. It involves the local police response during the deadly hurricane that was called Katrina.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.propublica.org/nola/story/former-new-orleans-detective-pleads-guilty-in-katrina-shooting-cover-up-224
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