Miles Davis arrested outside Birdland on August 25, 1959. Miles was standing on the sidewalk between sets for an Armed Forces Day broadcast on Voice of America and was told to "move along" by NYC cop Gerald Kildduff.
Miles didn't budge. A plainclothes detective came up on him from behind and hit Davis on the head with his blackjack, dropping him to the ground. He took ten stitches in his scalp, was jailed, charged with disorderly conduct and assault. His arrest was later ruled illegal and a "travesty of justice" by a three-judge panel. #BlackLivesMatter
12 comments:
Miles Davis, a true artist. Sketches of Spain, one of my favorite albums.
The US justice system offered prescious little justice for the black man. Its the way its been for 400 years.
But, those loser confederate generals and confederate statues the LOSER presnit is enamored with represent the EVIL that the colonies and later the states freely perpetuated and claimed it was the RIGHT pf white folks to enslave an entire race of FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS for profit.
That is what Dotard is attemlting to glorify. He is, in any decent persons mind, a completely immoral pile of orange human garbage.
RN, I'll be posting a series of these injustices to remind people about what our fellow citizens suffered at the hands of white supremacists.
I've also been reading what the white folks over at the Mother Ship have been whining about. It's always amusing to read what a bunch of white people have to say about the lives of black folks and how they should improve themselves. They know nothing about it, but they're full of solutions. Absolutely sickening. But they're Trumpers, and I expect nothing better from them.
We will hear from people that whatever instances like this we put forward, it's still a small number, it's individuals, etc.
But we know it's not true. Sadly, until we accept the vastness of the problem, we will never get to a solution.
I sent a note to your email on one of these...
So I've been thinking a lot on this the last few weeks.
The dividing line seems to be between those who see racism as an issue of personal injustice and those who see systemic issues.
The solution prescribed for the personal believers is this... they can declare themselves not racist, which they may be, and it's all good, because every man is responsible for him or her self. As such, as an individual issue, government has no role. You either change yourself, or you let God change yourself. But not government.
On the systemic side, the problem is all on the system, giving the individuals making that argument a free pass on their own personal racism. Since the problem is systemic, the argument goes, I don't have to change personally and modify my behavior.
How do we get past this?
It appears that nothing has changed in the last sixty+ years because some can only point to the past. Now the buzz word is systemic racism which takes a medical term and turns it into everybody is a racist because if it is systemic it applies to everyone.
What is absolutely sickening is to say a few bad cops or individuals represent all cops. Now the call is to de-fund police. Who would this affect the most, RN the answer would be the poorer areas of any city because that is where the largest percentage of crime is committed. How many murders have been committed in Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury. Where are the outrage and protests about the shootings and murders in Chicago. Is attacking the police going to make these areas safer or are we saying open warfare is good. Is this because it is black on black and not associated with the police doing the shootings. Where is the outrage over children and spouses beaten and killed. These are just not political opportunities so they don't matter unless you happen to be on the receiving side.
It is apparent that the liberals and their media only want to blame others for issues that are politically beneficial and just ignore the rest. The former president had eight years to work on crime but it went up. Botox nan is on her second stint as speaker and her accomplishments are a failed impeachment and a failed national healthcare but according to the media only the republicans are responsible for failed race relations.
Skud,
How many times does somebody have to explain to you that defunding the police departments is only talking about re-directing a portion of the budgets into community-based counseling, homeless services, food pantries and other crisis management programs?
There is a great new documentary on Miles right now on NetFlix streaming. Incredible tunes. Good history even for an enthusiast who knows many details of this amazing gentleman. I had not heard of the police clubbing of Miles at the Birdland in Manhattan in 1959 previously. I found myself mentioning it on The Field negro.
Some things never change.
Well Skud, maybe the system is indeed bad. Maybe those "few bad apples" have spoiled the entire bunch.
There are plenty of examples where it can be shown it is way more then just those bad apples. look at the Gun Trace Task Force in Baltimore. Look at the Buffalo cops, over 50, who apparently approved of one of their own knocking down the 75 year old man and then watching him bleed onto the sidewalk, not even bothering to offer help.
A what point are any of you guys willing to say we've moved beyond a few bad apples into a systemic problem?
Is it when you have to disband the entire PD and start over as was done in Camden? When the PD is infected and charged with racketeering as in Baltimore? Is it when an entire division supports callous indifference as in Buffalo?
Just give us an answer.
What is MOST apparent in your pretzel logic is that YOU appear to be part of the problem skud. Turning a blind eye to the VERY problem of systemic institutionalizes racism is a sure fire way of perpetuating it into the future. Is that your desire skud?
skud: . "Now the buzz word is systemic racism which takes a medical term and turns it into everybody is a racist because if it is systemic it applies to everyone."
skud, there are dozens of sites on the internet dealing with what "systemic racism" means. Your atempt to simplify it by stating that "it turns it into everybody is a racist..." is shameful, because that is exactly NOT what systemic racism is. Either you don't care to educate yourself or you delight in reducing everything about America's race problems into nonsense grievances that have no basis in fact.
Have you ever heard of red-lining? Do you know what it is? Find out. That would be a beginning. Do you know what The Great Migration was about? Do you know what happened to the people who left or tried to leave the South? Do you know about African-Americans who tried to break the race barrier in sports? Medicine? Education? Politics.
There's a lot to learn. And the fact that so many white Americans don't know or are lazy and don't want to know is the reason we are where we are.
Your friends over at Geeez, and the blog hostess herself, are all older white folks who haven't a clue about our systemic racism, but they sure do know all the answers to why African-Americans in great numbers are marching against it. Their ignorance on the subject is emblematic of their white privilege and cluelessness.
skud: "What is absolutely sickening is to say a few bad cops or individuals represent all cops"
Your friend over at Geeez as well as lots cops make their assumptions about all black men and women based on the ones who are lawless.
Your comment sadly shows you don't have a grasp on the problem at all.
I have to ask sincerely, have you read anything about the stuggles of African-Americans post Civil War? If you haven't, you need to.
It will open your eyes and maybe put some understanding in your heart.
As long as folks like skud CHOSE to willfully ignore those documented historical FACTS and WILLFULLY deny there is institutionalized systemic racism NOTHING is going to change. And really Shaw, it is best to simply recognize that is just what they are hoping for.
FJ and Rev, You have some good points but in my view misguided. To defund the police is to divest funds from police departments. If you take funds away from a police department they have less to operate with. They will either have to have less officers or pay them less which will reduce the quality of candidate and result in less effective law enforcement. Community based counseling is not that effective during an armed robbery but a well trained police force is. Granted we need a better trained support system but not at the expense of protecting the public.
There are 700,000 full time law enforcement officers in the US. Yes some of them should not be in that profession but your pointing out a few instances is really weak. Better trained and better paid will result in a higher quality of applicant. If my toe is infected I would not consider that a systemic infection and would treat my toe same for bad cops. If few cops are bad why call it systemic and not look for ways to fix the problem instead of just labeling it. I know it is easier to label a problem as "systemic".
Ms. Shaw I have a first hand and an education base of the struggles Africans-Americans suffered post civil war. We have come a long way but have a long way to go but first we need communications which at this time is impossible. Your right that lots of cops have an assumption that blacks are lawless but that lots is a small percentage of the total so why not address the cure.
Skud... the events in Atlanta are a great picture of why something needs to be done.
Do we call plumbers for an electrical problem? Of course not. So why are we calling police, armed with guns, to deal with a man sleeping off a bender in his car?
Why not a community service officer who is trained in how to deal with ppl in these situations? It's that kind of thinking we need. Not more of the same.
The question really comes to this...
Do we need to do what we've been doing, only better? Or, do we need to do something else, and if so, what is it?
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