Protests

Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: MIZZOU Student Body Power (Athlete Power)

Where to begin? Society is still sick and still shows that we have a long way to go with the regards to the never ending fight against racism and inequity. By now we’ve all heard the incredible turn of events which forced the resignation of the University of Missouri President due to his inaction and outright ignorance of a series of racial incidents occurring on campus.

This movement on University of Missouri’s campus shows us that it begins with one person standing up and saying NO this isn’t right and I won’t stand for it and getting that message across to others. Once a movement starts to capture the minds and hearts of others it becomes infectious and inevitable that a call to action for change will follow.

What’s key to note here is that the students who initially complained to the University president weren’t heard and weren’t really effective until fellow student-athletes with a large platform joined them in protest of the inaction of the University President. Athletes have a bigger voice than the average student but it began with the non athlete students bringing this issue to light.

The power of money and the political power of athletes comes to the forefront here. Until the biggest money making part of the student body (the football team) joined the rest of the students protesting the inaction of the President and threatened not to play which would have cost the school between a million to 2 million dollars, the protesting students didn’t really have much leverage to force the ouster of the University President.

A year or so ago the NBA with the help of the estranged wife of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling got his ownership stripped from him and the team was successfully sold to Steve Ballmer after Sterling’s racist rants to his then mistress were made public. The players stood in protest of Sterling’s ownership after his comments were made public and the public as well as the league demanded a change.

Money talks and the recognition of the influence athletes wield helped bring more attention to the protest and led to a change in leadership at the University. One small victory but a long way to go.

Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: The Day’s Climate: NYPD & Protests For Justice

I took the following photos during the day on weekends during this winter’s street protests in the city following both the grand jury’s in Ferguson, MO and NYC failing to indict officers in the killings of unarmed black males Michael Brown Jr. and Eric Garner.

The biggest difference between the two cases being one of the killings was actually captured on video in its ENTIRETY. There can be no justification or excuse as to why after seeing that video his killer is not charged but allowed to continue receiving a paycheck and go about his daily life.

We don’t condone the recent killings of two NYPD officers murdered in cold blood in their patrol car over the weekend. However, this is what was alluded to in previous posts. Now that killings of NYPD have happened people want to have “real serious dialogue” about race relations, the police, their interactions and policing of minority communities as well as Accountability.It’s important to note that with regards to Michael Brown Jr. he gets lumped in as a “man” even though he was only 18 yrs old because of his size, & ethnicity. Legally Michael Brown Jr. would be considered an adult at 18, but for all intents and purposes most reasonable people acknowledge that being 18 doesn’t make one a “man”. He was a kid. He was not perfect and he did make mistakes in his life as we all have.

The question is, does that mean he deserved to be gunned down in the streets like a wild animal and then be blamed for his death? With regards to 12 yr old Tamir Rice, there is no justification for gunning down a 12 yr old playing with a toy gun in 2 seconds. Can we recall a year hotter than 2014 for the police with the continued rampant reports of their killing of unarmed black males and youth?

Akai Gurley is yet another recent example. This man was shot dead in a stairwell by a police officer who then waited six minutes to call not an ambulance but his union rep while Akai lay dying. Tensions are boiling over and little is being done to quell the emotions of those who are unstable or unwilling to wait for the wheels of justice to turn in their direction especially when justice seems not to turn in their direction at all. Whether we like to admit it or not there has been a war waging for a long time against the disadvantaged and/or the poor. Addressing the symptoms or consequences of inequality, prejudice as well as injustice, instead of the source of these issues is part of the problem. The question is where does NYC and the nation at large go from here?