Va’Shona Dixon went on Facebook and live-streamed her reaction to the police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota that have been at the center of these latest protests.Here's the video — a bit long, but worth your time:
Another woman's "conversation"...Chicago Activist: We Need to Abolish the Police, Period.
Yesterday in D.C.:
ReplyDeleteSuspect shoots at police during chase that prompts Capitol lockdown
WASHINGTON — A suspect fired a “mini machine gun” at police during a chase through D.C. that caused a lockdown at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday afternoon.
Around 4 p.m., D.C. police say they received a call about a man with a gun in the Navy Yard neighborhood. When police arrived, they saw three suspects in a silver four-door sedan that gave chase.
The vehicle led police on a chase to the Third Street Tunnel, where one suspect leaned out of the vehicle with a “mini machine gun” and opened fire on the pursuing officers, D.C. Police Chief said during a news conference.
During the exchange, the suspect dropped the gun and some ammunition in the tunnel, Lanier said.
A short time later, the vehicle lost control and struck a wall near the exit to the tunnel at 1st and D streets in Northwest. The crash site is about a half-mile from the Capitol grounds.
No one was injured in the incident, Lanier said.
Police took three suspects into custody, and police have not yet released information about their identities.
The Tuesday afternoon shooting marked the second time in one day that D.C. police officers were the target of gunshots. One person was responsible for a shootout with D.C. police at the corner of Alabama Avenue and 6th Street in Southeast after a robbery early Tuesday. No one was injured and the gunman was taken into custody.
“There’s no way to tell people what it feels like to have people shoot at you, so there’s no perspective,” Lanier said.
“Obviously it’s a concern that somebody would turn a gun and shoot at a police officer twice in one day — it’s a big concern for us,” she added.
During the Capitol lockdown, which was in place for about a half-hour, both the House and Senate were in session, with House members voting. In the Senate, lawmakers were delivering speeches from the floor.
Va’Shona Dixon just spoke a lot of truth. The devil is on the loose.
ReplyDeleteShe also spoke this very powerful prayer: "Lord, let me see this like you see this."
That struck me, because I pray that daily. I don't understand what is going on, why it is going on, and most disturbing, I don't see how anything gets better. But, if I am wrong, if I am blind or deaf to the truth, I pray The Lord opens my eyes and ears, because I want to walk on right paths, and I want to be on his side.
FT, Perhaps the lesson is, don't be distracted by superficialities. This nation has been raped, plundered and left bleeding out in the gutter by well-dressed, well-spoken responsible-looking people who were actually psychopathic criminals.
Delete"Looks can be deceiving" is a trite phrase, but true.
SF,
DeleteYes, the suits have plundered our nation.
The racial strife we are suffering through has many threads. Here are but a few:
ReplyDelete* Police--out of malice, fear, poor training, or the wrong split-second judgment--sometimes kill a person who should not have been killed.
* Young black men commit crimes at multiple times the rate of other demographic cohorts, so the police focus more on them.
* Young black men in urban areas face an unemployment rate of around 40%.
* Some statistics show that cops kill more white people than black people, but nobody wants to talk about that.
* Innocent black people--because of various factors, including crime statistics and yes, racism--get stopped by cops at a higher rate than white people do in some areas.
* Local governments milk poor people for revenue with routine stops for petty offenses and ratcheting fines
* Some black people today are stuck in bad circumstances thanks to the legacy of slavery and institutional racism.
* We can also point to successful black people. Skin color is not as deterministic as some would have us believe.
Different groups will select certain threads to weave their tapestry, resulting in competing narratives.
No group appears able to face ALL facts. Yes, we have institutional racism. Yes, whites do have a privilege of skin color that gets you over where a black person may get snagged.
Much of black society is in crisis, most agree, but then fight over who's fault it is rather than how to fix it.
If you want to split this into two camps...
One camp blames black people for their misfortune and smugly walks away, not even daring to ask what they could do to help. Liberty and Justice? For ALL?
The other camp highlights a horrible video of a cop killing a black man, conflates that with all instances of cops killing perps, and the flames climb higher.
I thought I was going to say something with this post, but it's just one more ramble repeating what's already been said...
Lord help us.
SF,
DeleteNot just a ramble, my friend.
Here is something else to consider:
ReplyDeleteCriminal gangs commit as much as 80 percent of the crime in many communities, according to law enforcement officials throughout the nation. Typical gang-related crimes include alien smuggling, armed robbery, assault, auto theft, drug trafficking, extortion, fraud, home invasions, identity theft, murder, and weapons trafficking. Source: FBI - National Gang Threat Assessment
It's all interconnected: The Illusion of Stopping Gang Violence
Why is our multi-headed beast of a government spending trillions on wars on other continents?
Why doesn't our government treat gangs here in America as the criminal terrorists they are?
For a depressing answer to my question, I recommend to everyone the book, Zero Zero Zero.
DeleteWe are at the point where incredibly-rich and powerful interlocking global criminal enterprises are run like efficient corporations. They move hundreds of billions of dollars through the same global banking network that pesters little people over a $10,000 withdrawal or attempt to open a foreign bank account.
We may be at the point where they have suborned international finance and many law enforcement agencies.
We may also be at the point where global organized crime has become bigger than any national government.
SF,
DeleteI just reserved a cooy of the book you mentioned.
Have you ever read John McWhorter's "Losing the Race"? If not, try to find a cooy. Excellent book!
Thank you for the book recommendation. I love John McWhorter and seek out his articles on-line. I wish more people would listen to him; he is a rare reasoned and dispassionate voice on the serious and emotional issues that roil our society.
DeleteOn "Zero Zero Zero:" The author tends to ramble a little and lapse into flowery prose in places (It is a translation from Italian), but those minor flaws do not detract from the book.
Rather than break it down academically, he gives us insight into powerful global gangs via stories about people who got caught up in them or became a victim of them.
I don't know if you remember the awful story of DEA agent Kiki Camarena, but one chapter is dedicated to his story, told in chilling detail.
Just call me old fashioned. I was taught to respect the police. It works out to be a few Sirs, and following directions. See, they have the gun. Don't run. Really a very good hint for staying out of difficulty. Even bad cops don't just pull a gun and shoot at point blank range. I do believe that. Oh, and keep your mouth shut. Just answer the questions. There. That should do it. That is my self examination on the matter as requested by our government.
ReplyDeleteThe sensible attitude!
DeleteSilver... Thank you. You mentioned a number of truths that belong on the cause side of the ledger, as opposed to the result.
ReplyDeleteIf conservatives really want to win over people of color, they would do themselves a favor and acknowledge the following, loud, clear and publicly...
* We still have some institutional racism and vestiges of slavery in our society.
* Local governments are milking poor people for revenue.
* Black people, partly because of racist police do get stopped without cause.
* Police do kill people without justification... Sometimes.
Why won't leaders say these things too, instead of focusing on the results of these realities?
Why is it police always seem to get the benefit of "let's wait for the facts" yet even peaceful black demonstrators are called thugs at the outset and even after evidence shows otherwise? Dallas is a good example. Everyone, including the cops, agrees the BLM protest was peaceful. Yet the demonstrators are still called thugs, racists and worse. Why?
A lot of persuasion is about how you choose to frame your arguments. If conservatives led with some of your causality facts, instead of the thug language, perhaps they could win over some folks.
Simple acknowledgement can go s long ways...
* Local governments are milking poor people for revenue.
Delete-------
This was emphasized briefly by Ferguson and a few local changes were made but now the topic has disappeared even though there is quality research demonstrating that the practice is widespread.
There has to be a way to pay for the anti-terror and similar military equipment and no politician will give up a revenue stream without a fight especially when the revenue comes from people with no political power.
And another problem with the militarization is the diversion of the funds from community policing which happened in Boston after the "Boston Miracle" when changes in policing techniques resulted in an enormous drop in murders and most violent crime.
DeleteThe money dried up, the violent crime rate went up and now we are getting back to what worked with pretty good results.
It's not that there aren't solutions but there may be a lack of will.
Another angle to the Ferguson (really north St. Louis County) problem of police writing tickets to produce a revenue stream for their little corrupt fiefdomz is the casting call that came during the Michael Brown murder grand jury where people with a backlog of traffic tickets got amnesty in exchange for witness testimony that didn't see Darren Wilson execute Brown with a double tap to the head after he was down. If you weren't on the scene that day you might even get two days to testify.
DeleteI'm going to piss people off with this but the good Lord filled the Eartb with plenty of sand for them to go pound. Here it goes: Maybe the woman is right. Disband police departments. Replace them with the same thing you replace cancer with - not a damned thing.
I have a friend who's apartment was broken info, car keys stolen, car driven away and totalled out. The car thief was someone she briefly dated. The police response? "It's a civil matter." Sue the car thief instead of charging him with a crime when he's caught dead to rights?
Maybe cops are just the point of the turd spear. Another friend, now dead, sought a protection order due to death threats and harassing phone calls. The judge denied granting the petition because my friend could not prove he had received said death threats and harassing phone calls. Well, those threats were carried out days later. It's not like that piece of paper could have stopped the bullets anyway but it would have been nice to at least have someone interested in providing a redress of grievances. You better believe if someone threatened the judge or a cop or another "civil servant" the goddamn SWAT team would have gone apeshit.
So, world without cops. Federal case after federal case shows they are immune to public duty doctrine in negligence cases. They serve the "public" as long as the public never includes individuals.
Chaos and disorder ensues, until equilibrium brings us to a society of polite armed individuals. Steam up the pain train, we're getting out of this bullshit.
Beamish,
DeleteI have a friend who's apartment was broken info, car keys stolen, car driven away and totalled out. The car thief was someone she briefly dated. The police response? "It's a civil matter." Sue the car thief instead of charging him with a crime when he's caught dead to rights?
Something similar occurred to us in 1972 when our car was stolen right out in front of our house. The police found the car stripped and burned, and the police report read: "Case closed. Vehicle recovered." The police wrongly assumed that we had theft insurance; as a newly married couple with no assets to speak of, we did not carry total coverage on a VW Beetle that was six years old.
And last summer, a friend of mine had his cell phone stolen. The police made no effort to recover the phone, which was an iPhone with the feature "Where's my phone?"
My friend knew exactly where the phone was, but the police refused to go into that house. "Not worth the life of an officer or your life. Get another phone."
On the other hand, when my husband and I were pinned down during a cinema robbery, we were SO GLAD to see the police arrive and take charge -- and GET US OUT OF THERE WITHOUT BEING SHOT BY THE ROBBER. The robber had nabbed a child and was holding him hostage. The police talked down the criminal.
If there were no police, and everyone armed, it would have been more unlikely the robber would have risked robbing the theatre. And the money you saved not being taxed to fund a police department could have gone towards more ammunition.
DeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteThanks, but I am not a conservative, so I can't speak for them or for the GOOP. I view movement progressives and the Democrat party with equal contempt, so I am a man without a camp, and it feels pretty good.
I also believe BLM is to blame for stoking rage. They're special pleading wears thin. So, its a #BLM protest, but it's all non-#BLM people chanting "Pigs in a Blanket, Fry 'em Like Bacon" or other catchy tunes calling for the death of cops? That strains credulity.
I realize paid professional agitators are another negative factor, busing in and twisting a peaceful protest to their own violent ends. As I said, its a complex mosaic with many unpleasant truths.
This woman knows/feels far more than we do, being a Black woman, and she has a LOT of guts. One of the problems in her community is, as she says, she'll be regarded as an "Uncle Tom" for saying her truth.
ReplyDeleteA deep dark secret is not everyone will feel that way in the Black community. Some feel like HER. I have Black friends who'd echo what she says. They're successful, they are too well aware of the problems in that community and the causes, but also more aware than some of where the blame lies in those problems.
They (and I) put much blame on Black "leaders" who are constantly reminding Black America of the problems, doing little to help, and doing much to foment unrest and division.
I SO hope this awful Dallas incident will not "just go away" as they so often do. It broke my heart to know that the very night after 5 cops were killed, Baton Rouge protesters were back at violence again. I had so naively thought they'd at least respect the deaths for a while. That said a LOT.
What a vicious circle; Cops vs Blacks....truth on both sides. But only one truth's really being admitted and that's that cops are sometimes bad (which they are).
I have many Black friends, close friends, some Dems, mostly Republicans, and one of my Black Dem girlfriends once said "Z, I agree with everything you say, but I could never vote Republican..it's a family thing...it's our history." That has to change.
Republicans need to reach out; Not sure Trump's the one to do it..(or anything else, by the way).
I do know that as long as we're too politically correct to actually OPENLY discuss the problems and actually put SOME blame in the Black community's leaders (and all that implies), we'll get nowhere.
We need thousands more CHief David O. Browns.
In other words you really don't care about a black man who bleeds out when his arm is shot off by a cop who can't handle a non-violent traffic stop.
DeleteThe minority population is just being overly sensitive when they say they are tired of being profiled, tired of stop & frisk and being given criminal records for trivial drug busts.
We should concentrate rather on making sure the violence never intrudes on "the ladies who lunch" and minorities in America just go back to accepting the lack of jobs and public infrastructure.
No Dallas won't "go away". Neither will the anger and the guns so expect another incident.
"in other words" that's how I FEEL? Who are you to say how I FEEL, particularly after I was pretty darned clear about it above and it can't be interpreted as you suggest? ridiculous.
DeleteCan you show where I even intimated that I don't care about Black men being shot, let alone stopped for no reason?
Please read more carefully...don't ascribe your ridiculous liberal preconceptions to ME anymore...they don't wash and, the truth is, you have read enough from me to know how I feel about race and it's not, as you well know, how you just totally misinterpreted it.
I hope Dallas doesn't go away...but I mean it in a positive way, I don't hope for more unrest, I hope for peace, I hope for truth to come out of this. That's a tough one for Dems, you're spoiled rotten by a media which only portrays the worst...which covers for problems that must be brought out into the open and, believe me, anybody who thinks it's 'just those bad cops' is too ideological to even have a decent conversation about it. That's a huge problem. You're part of it.
If accurate, NOT helpful:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.weaselzippers.us/283163-naacp-leader-dallas-shooter-was-defenseless-and-lynched/
Teared me up just approaching the 2-minute mark. Yeah, let’s ask God for HIS view, please.
ReplyDeleteBTW, let's remember who clamored for heavier penalties that brought more jail time to young black criminals: the rising tide of political influence in the black community. And for good reason!
Did Shirley Chisholm vote for a Nixon drug law because she liked HIM? No way! It was the “drug plague” in black communities. The whole congressional black caucus led by Charlie Rangel was right in step. Nelson Rockefeller, an NAACP member who ‘felt the pain’ of the black communities under drug siege, had strong black support when he rolled out tough drugs laws in NY, and black leaders were right by his side and called for yet more. Jerry Brown followed suit in California.
It doesn't mean the solutions crafted were ideal or even right. But the groundwork laid for 'trivial drug busts' came at a time of and partly as a result of the rising political power and influence of blacks in America who earnestly wanted to lift a scourge from their urban communities. (They should have tried fathers.)
Institutional racism? What crap.
PBS broadcast an interview with the trauma surgeon(Brian Williams, a black man) who treated some of the wounded in Dallas. Didn't get the kind of play that the chief of police did because it was emotionally ambivalent.
DeleteHe was visibly moved by the shooting but also had a lot to say about living as a black man in an upscale neighborhood.
As for the war on drugs. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time but it has been an absolute disaster. Of course a lot of the blame goes to the Clintoons but it has been an absolute disaster.
Just that attitude that drugs were primarily a scourge in minority communities is an example of your blinkered vision.
Duck,
DeleteThe interviews with that doctor were shown on both Fox and CBS.
The interviews were shown quite a bit and you can see them on Youtube. On Facebook, too...one of my sisters has that interview on her page.
DeleteHe didn't discuss living as a black man in an upscale neighborhood as much (or at all in the few interviews I saw with him) as he discussed how killing cops has to stop and ignoring the plight of Blacks has to stop.
He wept with Don Lemon of CNN, having told of how upset he was to not be able to save the cops. That's what gets him crying every time he speaks...it's very hard to watch.
I wonder if most of you know that Chief Brown's own son, shortly after Brown took office, killed a cop and a civilian, then was shot to death with twelve Cop's bullets? Talk about a hideous thing for a new Police Chief to go through.
Z,
DeleteYes, the doctor's interviews were all over Facebook, too.
Thanks for pointing out that fact about Chief Brown's son. I didn't hear about it until today, did you?
Baysider,
DeleteThe video in this blog post really IS powerful, isn't it?
I haven't see the video or any portion thereof on the news, have you?
Duck,
DeleteJust that attitude that drugs were primarily a scourge in minority communities is an example of your blinkered vision.
What world are you in? Hardcore drugs -- most certainly a MAJOR cause of crime in minority communities. Visit the inner cities between 10:00 P.M.-6:00 A.M.
Are drugs used any more in black neighborhoods than white?
DeleteOpiates are everywhere not just in minority neighborhoods.
The crime stats are inflated in minority neighborhoods due to the statutes on crack cocaine vs. powdered cocaine (upscale drug).
Meth is much more common among poor whites.
It's not to say that poor black neighborhoods don't suffer from drugs but they suffer from heightened enforcement also.
The decision to focus the effort on harsh enforcement has been a disaster disproportionately affecting black neighborhoods.
@Ducky: "that attitude that drugs were primarily a scourge in minority communities is an example of your blinkered vision." Just so we're clear, you're accusing Shirley Chisholm (who I quoted), Charles Rangel and other black 'leaders' in the Congressional Black Caucus of having a 'blinkered vision' on the drugs in the urban communities in the 60's, 70's and later? Wow!
DeleteJust so you're clear, a lot changed after Saint Ronnie Raygun signed legislation to establish a multitude of mandatory minimum sentences and start disproportionate application of the law to minority youth.
DeleteThen came the "crack" hysteria and the current dissent to the sentencing laws.
You seem to think the situation has been static.
The so called war on drugs has been a disaster for minorities.
that's right...as non minorities force their mouths open or force the needle in...disastrous.
DeleteNonsense on static. I don't need to document the whole history to show the genesis of the 'war on drugs' sprang from a more empowered black political participation at the time the drug culture took root in poor urban areas. People were rightly upset and wanted to stop it. And some of the loudest and most powerful voices were black ones. I lived in such an area at the time and knew some of those players.
DeleteI don't agree with the 'solution' since it left the drivers of such problems intact. But that's not germaine here.
Duck,
DeleteI am responding based on what I know about the goings on here in the D.C. area. I can't speak for the whole nation, of course.
Are drugs used any more in black neighborhoods than white?
Yes.
Opiates are everywhere not just in minority neighborhoods.
But many of the opiates bought are bought "downtown" or by dealers who come from downtown to sell.
The crime stats are inflated in minority neighborhoods due to the statutes on crack cocaine vs. powdered cocaine (upscale drug).
Some truth to that.
Meth is much more common among poor whites.
Yes.
It's not to say that poor black neighborhoods don't suffer from drugs but they suffer from heightened enforcement also.
And the "enforcement" barely makes a dent.
The decision to focus the effort on harsh enforcement has been a disaster disproportionately affecting black neighborhoods.
Enforcement has to start somewhere. Why don't the straight people in those neighborhoods police their own neighborhoods? Hmmmmm....
Duck,
DeleteThen came the "crack" hysteria and the current dissent to the sentencing laws.
How many crack addicts do you know or have you known? Crack addiction ruins lives.
Baysider,
Deletethe 'war on drugs' sprang from a more empowered black political participation at the time the drug culture took root in poor urban areas. People were rightly upset and wanted to stop it.
Yes, I remember that. Age does have advantages, huh?
Ducky's a Modern Day Marie Antoinette:
Delete"Let them smoke crack"
SF,
DeleteGood one!
There’s a war in America right now. The rage is at a boiling point. Angry blacks have declared war on law enforcement officers sparking a nationwide spree of violence against cops. They have also declared open season on white people in general. It’s insane.
ReplyDeleteWell, there is ONE truth to institutional racism: the liberal Democrats creating a new plantation of dependence on the federal government which launched as big a war on black families as slaveholders selling off family members to different owners. And it institutionalized the thinking that 'we can never get ahead because ....'
ReplyDeleteBaysider...bravo.
ReplyDeleteI listened to that video, and was very impressed with how sincere that woman is and how right she is in everything she said. She may not speak very good English, but she's very smart, very good hearted, and has the situation sized up perfectly. I wish the same could be said for most of the people who wrote in here earlier. I guess being self-centered is normal for people, but I was raised to try never to let it show. The woman in the video understood it was not all about her, but about something much bigger. Good for her, and may God bless her. I just hope people will really listen to her and learn from what she says.
ReplyDeleteThanks to those here who have, so far, watched the video and have addressed and considered what the young woman stated.
ReplyDeleteMaybe ALL of you watched the video, but I can't tell that such is the case from some of the comments.
If you haven't yet done so, please watch the video. Thank you.