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‘AMERICA’- A Musical Parody of the Classic ‘West Side Story’ Scene | Video Worth Watching

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I love Leonard Bernstein; I love the spirt, the sensibility, the music and dance of West Side Story. BUT! Anyone who has been to Puerto Rico, or has even a slight familiarity with Puerto Rican culture knows that the music and dance of the ostensibly Puerto Rican community of West Side Story is completely off-base.

News of a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner for a remake of the musical, motivated actor/comedian Suni Reyes to call attention to this egregious misrepresentation. Her method is to parody one of the key musical scenes in a clever, timely and pointed skit. She even manages to briefly get in some authentic Puerto Rican music! Latino Rebels features an interview with Suni where she discusses some of the issues she wrestled with while creating the number.   [Read more…]

Group Asks District Attorney Stephan to Recuse Her Office from Investigation into Earl McNeil’s Death

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Monica Montgomery, Tasha Williamson, Mark Lane, Yusef Miller, and other community members held a press conference on Wednesday to publicly request that District Attorney Summer Stephan recuse herself and her office from the investigation into Earl McNeil’s death while in the custody of the National Police Department.

On August 10, 2018 the National City Police Department turned the investigation into Mr. McNeil’s death over to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. They are also asking DA Stephan to re-open every case where Earl McNeil was used as a law enforcement informant for the Office. 
  [Read more…]

10 Ways to Fight Hate – a Southern Poverty Law Center Response to the “Unite the Right” Rally | More Video Worth Watching

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As we mark the one year anniversary of the death of Heather Heyer and two law enforcement officers during a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a year ago today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is promoting a web site it created dedicated to Fighting Hate—a guide to opposing the bigotry and hatred of white nationalism and neo-nazi movements. It presents a plan and suggests courses of action for creating a counter force of tolerance and inclusion.   [Read more…]

Can We White People Be ‘Woke’ to Our Privilege? If So, How and Why Should We?

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It starts with realizing everything you have been taught was skewed from the perspective of white males – the educators, the faith leaders, the doctors, the historians and the politicians. Everything I had been taught was controlled by a white patriarchal society.  

My journey began a few years ago when I met DeRay McKesson, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement. He explained the concept of white privilege to me. This is the concept that just because my skin is white, life has been immeasurably easier for me than for people of color.  

This fluke of nature automatically raised my social status above those born to parents with different skin pigment. It has nothing to do with how hard I may have worked. It has to do with understanding that my accomplishments were easier to achieve because I’m white.  On the flip side, my failures were not as significant because as a white person, my safety net was bigger and stronger.   [Read more…]

Truth and Justice in San Diego Takes Second Place in Quest for Police Oversight

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Two recent episodes give proof to my belief that the Police Department is the most powerful government agency in San Diego with the least amount of taxpayer oversight.

This is nothing new. America’s Finest City has gone through decades of scandal and corruption being followed by hollow promises of reform. The point I’m making today is that things still haven’t changed, despite two changes of leadership, lawsuits, and political posturing.

What makes these political games more serious than say, the machinations around Civic San Diego, are the practical implications and applications for those with less privilege (and more melatonin) as they live their lives.   [Read more…]

Responding to the Unconscious Bias and Racism at National City Council Meetings

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By Mark Lane and Shane Parmely

We went to the Tuesday, July 24, National City Council meeting to speak out against the police brutality that left Earl McNeil brain dead.

For almost six weeks, we’ve peacefully and loudly protested at the National City Council meetings. For six weeks, we’ve asked the National City Police Department (NCPD) to release the videotapes pertaining to the in-custody death of Earl McNeil. For six weeks, we’ve been ignored by the three men who control the National City Council and the NCPD. For six weeks, we’ve been treated to excessive force and violence by the NCPD.

And last week, after an hour of the police, including Chief Manny Rodriguez, repeatedly and openly pushing us and other people attending the meeting, we sat down on the floor and were subsequently arrested.   [Read more…]

QAnon Shock Troops Amplify Trump’s Lunacy

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By Mark Sumner / Daily Kos

Sometimes “deplorable” just isn’t deplorable enough. That’s the case with a core set of Donald Trump supporters who have come together around a new conspiracy theory that’s … not Pizzagate. Because it’s worse. And, as the Washington Post reports, this new conspiracy is already spilling from under the rocks of alt-Reich websites, into living, screaming Trump rallies.

Believers in “QAnon,” as the conspiracy theory is known, were front and center at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall, where Trump came to stump for Republican candidates. As the president spoke, a sign rose from the audience. “We are Q,” it read. Another poster displayed text arranged in a “Q” pattern: “Where we go one we go all.”

Who or what is QAnon? It’s the handle for a racist troll who pretends to be “a government agent with top security clearance” working with Donald Trump to take out the “Deep State.”   [Read more…]

‘Black Identity Extremists’ Report Is FBI’s COINTELPRO 2.0 | Video Worth Watching

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From the NOW THIS YouTube page:

Decades ago, the FBI targeted Black activists who were fighting for equality — now, this sad chapter of history is repeating itself.

A 2017 report identified “black identity extremists” as a threat to law enforcement. Critics say this report is eerily similar to the FBI’s counter intelligence program, a.k.a. COINTELPRO, which was established in the 50’s by J. Edgar Hoover to specifically target African-Americans who were fighting for justice and equality, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and many members of the Black Panther Party.

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Racism 101: White Lady Reporter Wants You to Know Black Lives Matter is Coming to National City to Riot

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“…They are demanding answers and they say they are not going to go away until they get them. The groups say next they plan on collaborating with the National Black Lives Matter group and staging riots in the streets if necessary; that is if the National City Police Department doesn’t release police body worn camera [footage] of an incident where a man died in custody.” —NBC 7 Reporter Wendy Fry

UPDATE: “Never mind” says NBC7. “An NBC 7 article referred to demonstrators staging riots in the streets in their pursuit of information. NBC 7 could not attribute that development to a specific community leader and has corrected the text. We greatly regret the error.”

UPDATED UPDATE: The reporter in question is sorry/not sorry

Protests are sometimes loud. They’re always messy. And they’re emotional. They’re challenging for reporters to cover because of the linguistic shorthand used by activists to make their points. 

NBC7’s Wendy Fry takes the cake for decorating her reporting with racist suppositions drawn from the tumultuous protests ongoing at council meetings in National City.
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Building Trust With Police is Like Trying to Assemble a Jigsaw Puzzle

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“Trust is the Issue” was one of our rallying cries at the City Council’s Rules Committee meeting Wednesday.

And the committee came through, voting 3-2 to pass the idea of creating a Commission on Police Practices on to the full Council.

That sounds hopeful to me but trying to build trust with the police in San Diego, for communities of color, has been like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle. One with too many pieces – due to years of bad history.

My own history with the San Diego police goes back to when I arrived in town in 1962, my first Sunday here, shooting hoops with some guys at Mountain View Park until a few cops barge in on our fun: “Looking for some burglars.”   [Read more…]

A Blight of White Fright Infects the United States

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I can’t let another day go by without saying something about the increasing number of incidents being reported of intimidation and abuse being directed at people of color in the United States.

White people acting out their racism isn’t anything new. But cellphone cameras have been around for long enough to tell us these confrontations are on the increase. Anybody who thinks they can separate what’s happening on the local level from the tone set by our nation’s leadership needs to stop watching Fox News.

These incidents aren’t likely to make it into statistics about hate crimes (up 17% last year in California), especially the outbursts and racist rants happening without law enforcement witnesses or participants.   [Read more…]

‘He was full of dirt and lice’: Court Documents Describe Cruel Treatment of Migrant Kids, Families

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By Gabe Ortiz / Daily Kos

Hundreds of pages of sworn affidavits and court documents from forcibly separated migrant parents, immigration attorneys, immigrant rights groups and others reveal intentional cruelty, neglect, and chaos behind the Trump administration’s barbaric “zero tolerance” policy that has torn thousands of children from families at the U.S./Mexico border.

Over the past several weeks, officials have made it increasingly difficult for elected leaders and media to access both detention facilities and detained families. U.S. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, among the first to attempt to access a children’s detention facility in Texas, was asked to leave the property. Scanning the pages of court documents, some tweeted by reporter Adam Klasfeld, gives an insight into why.   [Read more…]

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