They can't kill us all

[MaverocK]

I am not from the US. I am not a dark skinned individual, and I most likely don’t count as “white” as well. I didn’t share anything in social media and didn’t join the protests where I live here in Germany (but I am no German btw). But my silence comes from the fact that I want to cope with my PTSD. I do not want this black lives matter movement to mute or to get suppressed. Watching the police brutality in the US is EXTREMELY emotionally taxing for me. I CAN’T FUCKING BREATH WHEN I WATCH IT.

There is a book that I have read in the past, and I find it … kind of… really good. It is titled: “They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement”.

If you cannot afford to buy it etc., there are alternative ways to get it (i.e. pirating but I am not endorsing it).

[Kimstu]

@MaverocK

I do not want this black lives matter movement to mute or to get suppressed.

It won’t, if people keep putting even little bits of effort into acknowledging and supporting it. Your efforts are appreciated, but take care of yourself and don’t stress yourself out too much by watching horrific footage that really, and rightfully, traumatizes you.

[Wesley_Clark]

My only concern is that police brutality isn’t only a white cop vs black victim issue. Police of all races can be brutal to targets of all races.

I saw a video recently of police shoving over an elderly white man walking with a cane, knocking him to the ground. He could’ve had some pre-existing serious orthopedic issue that being shoved over would aggravate. I’ve seen videos of cops attacking young white women and putting their knees on the necks of young white men.

Black people get treated worse by the police than white people. Thats not really up for debate, but police brutality is an issue that also transcends racial and gender lines.

They need to weed out the 10% of cops who cause a lot of problems and not only fire them but put them in prison when possible. Also police brutality is also a major issue the seriously mentally ill face too. Its not an effort to take attention to the fact that blacks get worse treatment by the police than whites, but police brutality is an institutional issue that transcends clear racial lines.

[Kimstu]

See the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project for a good take on how all these forms of abuse need to be addressed together.

The policies and actions of the police are instrumental in deciding who gets stopped, searched, arrested, and funneled into the criminal justice system; indeed, the United States’ overincarceration crisis begins at the front end of the system. Meanwhile, often under the guise of our failed drug war, abuse of civil asset forfeiture is rampant, while federal grant programs enable the increasing militarization of local police departments. […]

We also pursue litigation against departments enforcing unconstitutional and counterproductive policies and tactics that harm the communities the police are responsible for protecting. Ultimately, our efforts are intended to address the longstanding adversarial relationship between police and communities and to help create police departments that work collaboratively and democratically with all of the communities they serve, increasing transparency, accountability, fairness, and public safety.