The battle to stop construction of the proposed militarized police training facility being referred to as “Cop City” in the Atlanta Forest has many components. Militarized policing At this time of endless instances of militarized policing the last thing we need is a facility to train police to use these tactics. To train police from … Continue reading Epic battle
The proposed construction of “Cop City”, an 85-acre, $90 million dollar project to build a police training facility in the South River Forest in Atlanta, is a prime example of so many injustices. And these concerns are not limited to Atlanta, or Georgia. The plan is to train police there from all over the country. … Continue reading Police vs Atlanta and the rest of us
There continues to be no public police response to the killing of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran. A private autopsy found they had been shot at least thirteen times. Their body was so badly mangled the exact count could not be made. (See other posts about this: https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/?s=Tortuguita+ ) DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (WUPA) – The family … Continue reading Family of Manuel Teran demands GBI release info
The killing of Tortuguita scares me. As an environmental activist, I often participate with my friends in public actions to try to bring attention to our evolving environmental crisis. I’ve realized for years that white privilege meant I didn’t feel particularly threatened by police during such actions in the past. I don’t think my Black, … Continue reading A dangerous trend toward authoritarianism
It’s clear what it means when the establishment proposes dramatically expanding the militarization of police as their response to police brutality and killings. There is a web of interconnections between the killing of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán (Tortuguita), who was resisting the plan to build “Cop City” in Atlanta, resistance to a police academy in … Continue reading No Cop Academy-Chicago
Why has the killing of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán (Tortuguita) affected me so profoundly? Does it bother you? One of the main reasons I write so much is to help me understand things. This is the tenth article I’ve written about Tortuguita. (https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/?s=tortuguita). One thing I’m realizing this morning from the article quoted below, Fred … Continue reading Context of Killing Tortuguita
How do you feel about the police shooting treesitter Manuel Teran (Tortuguita) in Atlanta? I’ve been wondering why I felt so much sorrow about this. Some of the statements below have shed some light on this. My whole life I have been in resistance to capitalism and the state. I quickly learned there were such … Continue reading We lost someone unnecessarily to police violence
Modern-Day Lynchings Last week I visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL. Together, they memorialize the legacy of enslaved Black people, especially the victims of racial terror lynchings in the United States. I realized then that racial terror lynchings still exist today, though they have shape shifted. Lynchings still exist today when … Continue reading Modern-Day Lynchings
Do you know about the appalling frequency of the killing of environmental protesters globally? And the accelerating trend of new laws defining fossil fuel infrastructure as “critical infrastructure” to justify charges of terrorism against even nonviolent protestors? Monday 13 September, 2021 – A report released today reveals that 227 land and environmental activists were murdered in 2020 for defending … Continue reading Killing and Criminalizing Activists
I’ve heard of tree sitting as a form of civil disobedience/protest for many years and admire those who do that. The Atlanta Defend the Forest movement of this story is also directly related to abolition and defunding the police. The Atlanta Police Foundation wants to destroy the forest in order to construct a national police … Continue reading In Solidarity with Atlanta’s Forest Defenders
Quakers and Mutual Aid 