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发帖数: 3173 | 1 Dear MoveOn members,
All eyes are on Baltimore. Massive protests are ongoing in memory of Freddie
Gray, a 25-year old man who died of spinal injuries he sustained while in
police custody.1 Media coverage has focused largely on episodes of violence
in the streets—often missing essential pieces of the rapidly unfolding
story.2
In this moment of crisis, we can learn something from Ferguson: the most
important voices to listen to right now are local ones. And the most
important images and videos will be captured not by out-of-town
professionals but by the people of Baltimore themselves.
That's why MoveOn is partnering with our friends at the online civil rights
organization ColorOfChange.org to launch a website and a support team to
find and spread videos, tweets, and images from local organizers, observers,
and residents of Baltimore. We'll help elevate important stories and
perspectives through the site, our social media accounts, and our
relationships with journalists.
Here's how to get involved: Check out moveon.org/baltimore—we'll be posting
there regularly over the next week, as this story continues to unfold.
If you're in Baltimore or connected to people there, or if you can offer
technical assistance, email us at [email protected]
/* */ or send us a direct
message on Twitter at @MoveOn. (You can also share your thoughts and
perspectives on what's happening in Baltimore, and what else you'd like to
see from MoveOn, at those addresses.)
And if you see something you think the nation should see, please tweet it
with the hashtag #BaltimoreUprising or #FreddieGray and tag @MoveOn and @
ColorOfChange in your post so we don't miss it.
The media wants to focus on broken windows and damaged property. But the
overwhelming causes of violence must be addressed. What Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. said in 1968 is still true today:
But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn
riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the
same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in
our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel
that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to
get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the
unheard.3
Make no mistake: the conditions in Baltimore have been intolerable. Not just
in the death of Freddie Gray. To a degree that shocks outsiders, the Black
citizens and people of color in Baltimore have been bleeding for years under
the unprovoked clubs and fists of some Baltimore police officers.
As a shattering Baltimore Sun investigative piece last year documented, more
than 100 cases of police brutality led to court judgments or settlements
between 2011 and 2014 alone.4 And that surely represents only a small
fraction of the incidents that actually took place. The details of many of
these cases are shocking. Here's a quote from the Sun:
Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old
pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling
church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and
an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.
Those cases detail a frightful human toll. Officers have battered dozens
of residents who suffered broken bones—jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles—
head trauma, organ failure, and even death, coming during questionable
arrests. Some residents were beaten while handcuffed; others were thrown to
the pavement.
Today, the nation is starting to wake up to what the residents of Baltimore
have already been dealing with for a very long time.5 But this history of
violence can easily be obscured by images of flipped cars in the streets.
And unless local voices are heard, many Americans may react to the
escalating violence as they did in King's day: by supporting more aggressive
policing, rather than a reckoning with the structural conditions that
turned Baltimore into a tinderbox.
What happens over and over in crises like these is that America and the
world see a distorted picture, refracted through a sensationalist press
corps and the power of public officials to define the media narrative. But
social media offers a chance to turn the tables, to make sure people see
what's really happening and how it affects regular people's lives.
Let's help amplify the voices that need to be heard in this moment, and
stand in solidarity with the movement in Baltimore and across the nation
fighting for a day when no new name becomes a tragic hashtag.
Thanks for all you do,
–Corinne, Ben O., Joan, Nick, and the rest of the team
P.S. Our friends at Showing Up for Racial Justice are holding a conference
call aimed primarily at white Americans who want to take action in
solidarity with Black communities to stop police violence. RSVP to find out
more (or share with a friend): http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=304236&id=113684-29707318-wYe0kLx&t=2 |
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