This research blows out of the water the notion that hiring more Black, Latinx, Native, or Asian stop police from killing Black people.

This makes sense although I admit I'm still stunned. It shows the power of institutions above individual identity.
psmag.com/social-justice… After pulling the research article, I'm not certain we can say that Black officers are as deadly since all nonwhite officers are lumped together into one category.

But, I don't doubt that it COULD be true that Black cops are just as likely after what has happened in Baltimore.

I would hate for @BenJealous to lose because no one sat him down and gave him an operative definition of democratic socialism that he could EMBRACE and contrast with Hogan’s business-friendly capitalism that hurts Marylanders’ with lower incomes. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a democratic socialist. Like you can link yourself to Dr. King and rock it. But if Maryland Democrats can’t find the gumption to challenge their corporate wing, they will lose not only whatever soul they have but the upcoming gubernatorial race too.

Folks, if you work with a big organization and want to "solicit my input" or "pick my brain" to help you do your work, that's called consulting.

Don't dance around this when you contact me. I don't want to randomly meet. I don't want to go to insipid meetings. I'm a consultant. Big organizations in Baltimore are rife with sending invitations for people to come and help them do THEIR work, but will not either compensate people for their efforts.

Like don't disrespect me by coming at me this way. Times out for the foolishness.

We must discuss how police violence against Black people impacts the mental health & health outcomes of Black people.

First @profsassy's research shows how police violence against Black family members impacts the health of Black women. Think Erica Garner. hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-police… Second, research conducted by social scientists at the University of Pennsylvania shows that after police violence against Black people, there is a mental health toll that is exacted. Black mental health is affected.
yesmagazine.org/mental-health/…

So let’s talk about Black cops and Black plantation overseers.

Slavery was such a lethal and devious system that White slavemasters often put Black people in charge of keeping other Black people “in line.”

Thus, Black people were given power to enforce and punish others. The Black overseer is pernicious relic of White America’s slavery and Black bondage. The Black overseer is a complete sellout, a vile extension of white supremacist terrorism.

This role was explained with terrifying genius in Django Unchained by the characters Stephen.

What a freaking night y’all.

I had just gotten my Nandos (❤️) and was headed home when I saw people fighting on Charles & Fayette (I think).

Seeing a lot of grabbing, I thought I could get out of my car and break it up. So I pulled over and got out. But I’m on the other side of the freaking street so I have to let cars pass and wait for the red light to cross over. The fight kept on raging.

Red light came and I crossed over. When I stepped in, a couple of other guys stepped in too and we pulled everyone apart.

It's pretty clear that urban uprisings in response to police violence typified clashes during the Obama presidency.

During the Trump presidency, violence is being spurred by Neo-Confederate, Nazi, and white supremacist groups rallying in Charlottesville, Portland, and now DC. It's also pretty clear to me: racial violence in America is an ongoing phenomenon.

Did the Civil War actually end? Historian Douglas Egerton literally wrote a book called "The Wars of Reconstruction."

Once the South was militarily defeated, Confederates resorted to terrorism.

I wondered what sort of large scale violence we would witness during the Trump presidency after urban uprisings during Obama’s term (i.e. Ferguson/STL, Baltimore, Charlotte, etc.).

Here it is—white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville and now Portland. theguardian.com/us-news/2018/a… Really the “violence” in all of these cases has been precipitated by either the police (killing unarmed Black people) or white supremacy groups—Unite the Right in Charlottesville and Patriot Prayer in Portland.

Apparently, the June 30 Portland Riot was under-reported nationally.

This brilliant thread by @klawsofwakanda got me to thinking about how many of the elements of a “Wakanda Doctrine” already exists in the real life African Union’s Agenda 2063 visionary framework.

https://twitter.com/klawsofwakanda/status/1023367414778671106?s=20

As a fellow traveler of Afrofuturism, I consider the African Agenda 2063 to be quite literally an Afro-futurist document that says where Africans want to be and see themselves in 50 years. It’s a clear statement of that vision.

150 years ago today, the 14th Amendment was ratified.

150 years ago today, Black people became U.S. citizens.

150 years ago today, equal protection under the law was enshrined.

For 3 years after the Civil War ended, Black people were refugees.
history.com/this-day-in-hi… The 14th Amendment was passed as a part of Black Reconstruction led by the Radical Republicans. The U.S. government had to establish military control over the slaveholding South to enforce Black freedom (Amendment 13), citizenship (Amendment 14), and voting rights (Amendment 15).

Baltimore mayors have closed 90 rec centers since the late 1970s nearly all in Black neighborhoods.

@BaltCitySchools has closed nearly 70 Black public schools since 2000.

@BmoreHABC has demolished Black public housing w/ HOPE VI & privatized more via RAD.

It’s all a pattern.

https://twitter.com/lukebroadwater/status/1021493441300258816

But that’s Baltimore, folks. We tear down and downsize the redlined Black Butterfly to boost and build the greenlined White L.

That’s Baltimore Apartheid in a nutshell.

Map from equitybaltimore.org

The largest 5 philanthropic organizations in Baltimore have 40 board members.

Out of 39 such members whose race could be identified, there were 29 White board members.

This means that 74.3% of Baltimore's largest 5 philanthropic board directors are White. What does this mean in terms of actual policy? Austrailian researcher Madeleine Pill (@pillmad) conducted an analysis of governance in Baltimore. She found that elite actors help set the priority agenda for what policies and practices are passed and implemented in Baltimore.

I think Santelises made a terrible mistake letting go of Principal Nikkia Rowe at Renaissance Academy, especially for the rationale laid out in this article.

Holding principals “accountable” means very little when Black schools are deeply underfunded & BCPS lacks racial equity.

https://twitter.com/TaliRichman/status/1018906380009443328

I have a hard time holding teachers & principals “accountable” to apartheid metrics & test scores, especially when we aren’t dismantling the apartheid education system that closes nearly 70 Black schools, reduces Black teachers by 50%, and centers whiteness in the curriculum.

Can we talk pure political strategy? Not “hope” or “despair”? Democrats have no political vision. And they have no political strategy. They’ve focused on Russia as opposed to voting rights, pushed aside #BlackLivesMatter in 2016, and hurt their base in urban areas across America. As in any relationship, the foundation is TRUST. Democrats can’t win with the equivalent messaging of: “we’re better than them! We only have the knife 3 inches in your back. They have it 6 inches in your back.”

The damn knife is still in my back! And in cities, they push it in.

I was excited to purchase @Nnedi's new Black Panther: Long Live the King comic book and graphic novel today! 🙌🏿✊🏿🌍 Right off the bat, on the first page of @Nnedi's "Black Panther: Long Live the King," you can see why Black critical urbanists & urban planners appreciate Black Panther.

Look at the way that nature is integrated into the buildings in Wakanda. Look at the conical building shapes.

I completely agree with @BreeNewsome about voting. People think they can vote every 2-4 years while sitting at home between time.

Voting is one of the very basic & easiest things to do. Forming mass social movements and engaging in struggle against the state takes real effort. By all means we should vote. But when you have a neo-Confederate party on the right and a pro-corporate apartheid party on the left, we’re choosing to keep white supremacy alive either way. There has to be a struggle to dismantle racist systems at the core, not just swap parties.

I keep reading urban scholars make the claim that gentrification is not the biggest problem for Black neighborhoods. They say poverty is.

The problem with this is Black folks know we catch hell BOTH WAYS, from policies that induce poverty AND capital influxes that displace us. These scholars seem to make the inference that Black neighborhoods should be grateful for the influxes of capital in redlined areas. But Black folks are not stupid.

When new capital & businesses come, Black folks begin to ask: "Exactly who are these new establishments for?"

I just witnessed a Black couple arguing in the street. Brothaman was trying to block the sista from leaving because he said she damaged his property and that he had called the police. After a few moments, I approached them and told him to let her pass. He stepped aside. She left. Why did I intervene? I believed it was a no-win scenario. If the police showed up while both of them were in the street arguing, both would have been taken to jail. I also feared that police might show up with much more force and someone would have gotten hurt.

Just as there was a slowdown in homicides after the 2nd Baltimore Ceasefire in November, there's been an even MORE impressive slowdown in homicides after the 3rd Baltimore Ceasefire held Feb. 2-4.

This strengthens the case that it's not policing, but the power of the people. If efforts of @BmoreCeasefire & Baltimore residents could help slow and prevent violence and homicides so dramatically, then that goes back to the question of why do we need the Baltimore Police Department at all.

What we always needed was peacebuilding from within.