Report: Hate crime laws lack uniformity across the US (AP News, Aaron Morrison)
A new report analyzes biases in hate crime laws and hate crime-related data collection across the US.
According to the report, in at least 13 states, law enforcement-recorded hate crimes listed Black offenders at a rate roughly 1.6 to 3.6 times greater than the size of the state’s Black population.
“These repeated disparities … show that — despite the fact that people of color are far more likely to be the victims of hate violence — the instances of hate violence that are actually documented by police … are disproportionately those alleged to have been committed by Black people,” the report states.
As racist attacks on Asian Americans and Asian immigrants gained widespread attention in recent months, so did a false perception that Black Americans were the main culprits of such attacks.
“We don’t have a true and accurate understanding of what anti-Asian hate during the pandemic has looked like,” said Marita Etcubañez, senior director for strategic initiatives at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC in Washington D.C.
“But we do know that these commonly discussed perceptions that the perpetrators of anti-Asian hate are mainly Black or African American are not accurate,” she said.
What does Asian and Black racial solidarity look like? (Los Angeles Times, Ada Tseng and Jessica Q. Chen)
A series of interviews discussing the move from allyship to meaningful solidarity between communities.
It’s complicated. President Biden signed a law that designates a point person at the Justice Department to review potential hate crimes, which many regarded as a political win for the Asian American community and a rare moment of bipartisanship in Washington. At the same time, more than 85 Asian American and LGBTQ groups opposed it, arguing that its focus on more policing and punishment disproportionately harms Black and brown communities.
What’s clear is that the work of solidarity takes time, is difficult and isn’t always straightforward. And that more Asian Americans are thinking deeply about how they fit into the larger American narrative around race.
To continue the conversation, The Times is looking at these issues from several perspectives: First, we hear from a 13-year-old Asian American girl who organized a solidarity rally in Oakland. Then we listen in on a conversation between two Los Angeles-based academics and activists about what Black and Asian solidarity means to them. And lastly, two racial justice advocates explain how to move beyond allyship and toward solidarity.
Still Fighting for Liberation: Unpacking the Revolutionary Spirit of Black August (The Root, Felice León)
Accompanying article for a video discussing George Jackson, an integral figure to the modern abolitionist movement.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an educator, a writer and host of the podcast Undistracted with Brittany Packnett Cunningham. The lifelong activist joins this episode of Unpack That and starts by offering a bit of historical context into the month of reflection.
“A man named George Jackson was imprisoned in California reportedly for stealing $7 and he got a term of one year-to-life. He died in 1971 inside that California prison.” Packnett Cunningham continues, “Freedom fighters, resistance organizations, Black liberation organizations have really been taking the month of August, not just to honor the memory of George Jackson’s life, but really to challenge the multiple systems that killed him—the systems that continue to criminalize Black bodies, the system that continues to imprison and enslave, the systems that continue to render our communities unhealthy and over policed.”
Packnett Cunningham—who learned of Black August as a child—says that during the month, some observants discipline themselves by fasting or refusing to watch television. But reflecting on the meaning of liberation—a term that has evolved since the days of the Black Power movement—is critical.
Fighting for Freedom From the Inside: Celebrating the Advocacy of Jailhouse Lawyers (Center for Constitutional Rights)
Upcoming free talk with ASL interpretation and live transcript on August 17th.
This year for Black August, join the Center for Constitutional Rights for a riveting celebration of the legacy of jailhouse lawyers, who fight for freedom from inside the prison-industrial complex.
This event highlights the leadership and activism of incarcerated people and coincides
with the release of the Sixth Edition of the Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook. Speakers include:Dee Deidre Farmer – Pioneering Jailhouse Lawyer and Lead Plaintiff in Farmer v. Brennan
Paul Redd – Noted Jailhouse Lawyer & JLH Contributor
Jenipher Jones Bonino – Lead Counsel, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak International Law Project
& other special guests!
From Black August to Black Liberation: Commemorating the Struggle of Political Prisoners (The Black Alliance for Peace)
Upcoming free Zoom webinar on August 19th.
“From Black August to Black Liberation: Commemorating the Struggle of Political Prisoners” is a Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) webinar illuminating the indispensable role of political prisoners in our struggle for Black Liberation. The discussion will focus on the experiences and realities of current and former political prisoners, the efforts of these freedom fighters to convene the Spirit of Mandela International Tribunal, the organizing and grassroots work being done to free political prisoners, the ongoing significance of Black August, and Assata Shakur’s exile as a form of political imprisonment. The panelists also will consider what all of this means in the struggle against imperialism, colonialism, racism and war.
COVID-19 Recovery Fund (The Marsha P Johnson Institute)
A relief fund currently accepting applications from Black trans folks in need of financial aid.
The Marsha P. Johnson Institue’s COVID-19 Recovery Fund provides one-time direct-relief in the amount of $500 to BLACK transgender or non-binary identified people. As our commitment is to always center the needs of those most beyond the margins, priority has been given to BLACK trans women and those who have experience as sex workers, have been formerly incarcerated, and other vulnerable community members.
We are now accepting applications. We know that this program is vital to our community members and you can apply for recovery here.
THREAD: Podcast discussion, “Black August and the Captive Maternal”
TWEET: Social Media Intern Job Posting, $20/hr, 15 hours a week at Black and Pink National
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