Thursday, April 24, 2014
Thursday, May 2, 2013
The thing about government censorship here is how it is accompanied by so much hypocrisy about "free speech" and "free press." Only if you toe the local government line and maintain its lies will you be heard from in its media. This is the most repressive media we have encountered anywhere, but even so it will be defeated. We are not totally dependent upon the gutter press or government/corporate media in the 21st century.
March 2013 was one of the most draining, nerve wracking, and tiring months ever, We organized two demonstrations, the March 15th International Day of Action Against Police Brutality, with a rally at city hall, replete with 13 caskets for all those who had been murdered by cops in the last year, as well as well as a protest at central police headquarters at 201 Poplar Ave. These were firsts in Memphis, where there has been no real activism in years, and hardly any against police brutality. As usual, this was not covered by the press that had been told by the Mayor to stay away. The next day, we held a conference attended by activists in ten different Southern and Midwestern cities, coming together to create a national anti-police brutality network. Two weeks later, we held a anti-Klan demonstration, where 1,500 anti-racist activists stared down the Klan and 400-500 riot cops organized to portect their "rights" to intimidate the Black community here. It did not work, although the media here now tries to pretend that this did not happen, and that the only story is the one they told about the cops who "protected the peace" and the weak Klan protest. More government censorship.
We were interviewed by Al Jazeerah News last week. Since buying Current News Channel from Al Gore, they have been working on building an American news division. Our frustration came from them coming to Memphis in a story around infant mortality, rather than police murder, corruption, or the recently concluded March 30th anti-klan demonstration. They did an excellent story on police brutality in Anaheim, CA., but it is a lot worse here in Memphis, the poorest big city in the country with the most violent police force. Nevertheless, they stayed all week and we were able to get some important points in about racism, corruption, and oppression in Memphis, which if it makes it to air, will serve as an important antidote to the lack of knowledge about this place.
So much has happened since we, my wife JoNina and myself, moved to Memphis. We did not know a soul here, and she complained that there was seemingly "nothing to do" as far as activist work. Well, I always say what watch out what you ask for, because you just might get it. We did a conference last June, called "Let's Organize the Hood: Memphis Black Power Conference", and it has been nonstop ever since. It has especially been busy in the police brutality fightback movement. Over 17 people primarily Black civilians have been killed by Memphis cops since last February, in a number of brutal and highly questionable cases. The cops always claimed "self defense", and it is always hurriedly covered up as "justifiable homicide" by the police, District Attorney, and other members of the judicial establishment. They have killed six people since January 2013, and this police death squad is still at work. The struggle therefore goes on.
Hello from Memphis
This is the first post for Memphis Free Speech, we have been so preoccupied with Facebook, forgot about this blog. Yet, with ever more media censorship by the Memphis commercial media, which refuses to even say our name in public, we needed to develop options to the old mass media concept. Thus we jump on this blog. You can keep up with many of the campaigns of the Memphis Black Autonomy Federation, and get reports here that the commercial mass media will not touch. So, by attempting to censor us in the local mass media, they have made us create new alternatives that may make us stronger.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)