“It might just be that after devoting so much of our energy to the unfulfilled promise of respectability, a politics of deviance, with a focus on the transformative potential found in deviant practice, might be a more viable strategy for radically improving the lives and possibilities of those most vulnerable in Black communities.” — Cathy Cohen, “Deviance As Resistance: A New Research Agenda for the Study of Black Politics”
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Corner of E. Baltimore and Caroline St.
Mourning the Loss of a Colleague, Comrade, and Friend
We are deeply saddened by the loss of esteemed activist, writer, scholar, and NCV Contributor Joel Olson, who passed away while on sabbatical in Europe.
Joel was Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he specialized in political theory. A noted expert on racial politics and extremist ideologies, he was the author of The Abolition of White Democracy(University of Minnesota Press, 2004) as well as numerous articles and reviews. Joel was working on a second book, entitled American Zealot: Fanaticism and Democracy in the United States, at the time of his death.
During the 1990s Joel was involved with the Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation and later went on to form Bring the Ruckus! He was a well-known figure in the anti-racist and pro-immigrant movements in Arizona, working with grassroots groups including Copwatch and the Repeal Coalition.
Joel was a powerful voice in radical politics, a dedicated father, and someone who worked tirelessly through his words and deeds to raise critical consciousness and promote justice in the world. He will be missed by all of us here at NCV, and we ask that you keep him and his family in your thoughts.
White Picket Fences, White Innocence -
[N]ational security meant protecting white homes and white property values. Open carry and stand your ground laws merely reinforce this regime by giving white citizens carte blanche to police the “dangerous” racial other. Fifty-seven years after Emmett Till was lynched in the name of white womanhood, the murder of Trayvon Martin…is yet another testament to the terror of white picket fence innocence.
Baltimore
Racially-Approved American Murder: They Kill Because They Can -
Florida and lots of other states in recent years have noted that too many Black people are getting away with life, and need to be stopped, so they crafted legislation that would allow white fear to trump Black rights to breath air. In such jurisdictions, evocation of white fear now provides the same justification for summary murder as claims of rape of white women did for mob lynchings, back in the day…The racial intention was clear, the results totally predictable. George Zimmerman doesn’t seem like a very bright young man, but even he knew that Florida civil society wanted some Black folks dead.
When predominantly white “activist” types converge on public space downtown, it’s called Occupy Baltimore (@occupybaltimore), and it’s allowed to continue relatively unmolested by the state for many months. When predominantly black “non-activists” converge on that same space, it’s a “chaotic” “mob” and is met with the full force of the state almost immediately.
“To call #GeorgeZimmerman a monster is too easy. And it lets everyone off the hook. Nah. He’s not a monster; he’s an American—acting and behaving in the way that DEFINES what it means to be truly American. Let us deal with THAT.” — Son of Baldwin, for #TrayvonMartin (via sonofbaldwin)
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Two Visions of ‘Black’ Evil, One White Gaze: Reading Kony 2012 and the Murder of Trayvon Martin -
While Trayvon Martin is the farthest thing from Joseph Kony, the fear they cause, the criminality within the dominant imagination, and their presumed threats to civilization leads to similar treatment irrespective of their polar existences. If this wasn’t the case, maybe we could see a nationwide push to bring about justice for Martin. In this transformative world, financial contributions would be directed not to an organization that seems intent on supporting military intervention in Uganda; instead money would flow to groups committed to challenging the criminalization of blackness within the United States and throughout the globe. How about a Justice for Trayvon 2012 movement? What about a movement committed to eradicating AIDS or infant mortality throughout Africa? What about one that listens to and works alongside of those already engaged in these fights for justice? Under these circumstances we may actually see accountability, justice, and peace for millions of people.
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“They say, “I love Bessie Smith.” And don’t even understand that Bessie Smith is saying, “Kiss my ass, kiss my black unruly ass.” Before love, suffering, desire, anything you can explain, she’s saying, and very plainly, “Kiss my black ass.” And if you don’t know that, it’s you doing the kissing.” — Clay, from Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman (1964)
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