Can We Head Off a Long Hot Summer of Riots and Rebellion?

[sheshe2]

We can surely expect more turmoil next year, too, if social and economic conditions continue to deteriorate, and if candidates for president and Congress fail to make specific suggestions for addressing the suffering and hardship facing the nation.

But promises can only quell riots for so long. Hope soon turns to frustration, and then anger, unless there's real action to change conditions.

snip

Since Baltimore exploded, many pundits have taken to quoting Martin Luther King, who once said that "a riot is the language of the unheard." But few pundits have discovered another one of King's profound insights: "There is no noise as powerful as the sound of the marching feet of a determined people."

Riots are not truly political protests. They are expressions of hot anger -- outrage about social conditions. They do not have a clear objective, a policy agenda or a strategy for bringing about change. They are a wake-up call to those in power.

In contrast, social movements reflect cold anger. They are intentional and strategic. They take place when people are hopeful -- when people believe not only that things should be different, but also that they can be different.

Riots tell us what desperate people are against. Social movements tell us what hopeful people are for.

Read More http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/can-we-head-off-a-long-hot-summer-of-riots-and-rebellion_b_7439474.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black%20Voices

Social Justice and Economic Justice Entwined.

"There is no noise as powerful as the sound of the marching feet of a determined people." MLK


Your fight is my fight. My fight is your fight. We do this together. Allies.

[NaturalHigh]

1. Seriously?

[sheshe2]

2. Want to expand on that?

I have no idea what means in your response.

[NaturalHigh]

3. Well, since you asked...

Your OP is entirely made up of hyperbole. This is not the summer of '68. We are not going to have widespread riots. Your OP is much ado about nothing.

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. Whistle past that graveyard.

In the past few months, we've seen two serious outbreaks, in Ferguson and Baltimore. We've also seen mass demonstrations of support, with further clashes and arrests, in any number of cities, especially around Ferguson.

The same conditions that apply in Ferguson and Baltimore apply in plenty of other places, too, and the past few months have shown that people's patience with lethal, race-tinged policing is at an end.

The summer of '15 may not be the summer of '68 all over again, but there is a lot of combustible material laying around. All it takes is a spark.

Calling an OP about addressing this possibility "much ado about nothing" is not only dismissive, it's rude.

[NaturalHigh]

6. Okay, I'll keep whistling. I stand by what I said.

[sheshe2]

8. Bull

No time is better to do this than during a national election season, when the country is focusing on what candidates for president and Congress have to say about America's problems and potential.

If the voices and concerns of ordinary Americans aren't at the center of this debate, we can expect the ticking time bomb of urban unrest to explode in more and more communities. Without major reforms, the recent upheavals in Ferguson and Baltimore may simply be a precursor to a wave of 21st century riots.

To avoid more turmoil in our streets, and to address the growing frustration of a large segment of our society, we must focus the nation's attention on bold policy prescriptions to address the roots causes of poverty, inequality, joblessness and economic insecurity.

This isn't just an insurance policy against future riots. It is also a blueprint for a more livable, prosperous, and healthier society.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/can-we-head-off-a-long-hot-summer-of-riots-and-rebellion_b_7439474.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black%20Voices

[NaturalHigh]

10. Okay, you have a very pleasant evening.

[sheshe2]

7. hyperbole.

K~

have you been listening.

U.S. Police Have Shot Dead 385 People In Five Months: REPORT

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026759659

[Major Hogwash]

4. It's 1967, all over again.

The Detroit riot of 1967 was the first of a long list of riots, leading up to the '68 Democratic National Convention.
Hopefully, history doesn't repeat itself this year.

[sheshe2]

13. I too hope history does not repeat itself.

However, you saw the stats from my other post. We are sitting on a powder keg. Frankly it scares me. I do not want to see people shot down in the street anymore than we already have.

Yet, I will say this to you. Something IS happening here. Yes, not exactly clear. Silly me, I am hoping that I am hearing the sound of change.

Thanks Major Hogwash.

[Major Hogwash]

14. The very same forces that were at work in 1967 are at work today.

A whole bunch of white people running for President, while ignoring the plight of the poor, the homeless, the underemployed, the disenfranchised, those who have lost all hope that things will get better, and those who have even lost the ability to vote in their own state's elections due to voter restriction laws.
Laws that were passed by Republican state legislatures and signed in to law by Republican Governors to ensure that the status quo stays in power in their state for at least the next 3 years.

Politicians running around Middle America to pander to those potential voters in the center, hoping to draw just enough supporters in to their campaign from either side of the political spectrum, just long enough to get elected, so they can ignore the masses for another 4 years.
Their names are different now, but the faces are the same.

If "1984" was a book that had not been written yet, the Republicans would sit down to make sure it was written today.
While supporting the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security department, the military-industrial complex, and the next war on whoever shows up next.
The front page of today's newspaper talks about how the Army is going to change the way they train, preparing for a large land war, sometime in the future.
A war that the Republicans will start, with no exit strategy in mind, if they have just half the chance to start one.

It can't happen again?
They said the same thing about the Iraq War back in the late 1980s, that we could never have another Vietnam.
Not in this day and age, they said.
They even claimed that liberals suffered from the Vietnam Syndrome, not having enough backbone to wage a long war like the Vietnam War was.
Now, some of these very same warhawks that were bellowing to the rafters about invading Iraq back in 2003 are running for President.

My question is . . didn't we learn anything from the last 12 years?
Are we going to treat the Iraq War veterans the same way that we treated the Vietnam War veterans, that is, ignore them?

If a Republican warhawk gets in to the White House in 2017, we can be assured of one thing . . they will want to get some payback by going after ISIS, and maybe even go after Iran.

Are we that stupid, as a nation?
Has our collective IQ dropped to the point that we can longer see through the total bullshit the warhawks are spewing these days?

Well, we can no more afford to rubber stamp someone from the Left just to keep control of the White House in 2016 than we could back in 1968.
If the Democrats are serious about retaining control of the White House, they are going to have to find a candidate who will address the social issues this country has without beating a drum for war.
If not, then it is 1968, all over again.
And there will be a riot at the DNC.

Abbie Hoffman was right about war, he was right about the establishment, and he was right about the military-industrial complex.

[beam me up scottie]

9. Inequality, Poverty, Joblessness and Economic Insecurity

Inequality, Poverty, Joblessness and Economic Insecurity

Some $7 trillion of Americans' household wealth evaporated in the housing crash that began in 2007. The burden has fallen disproportionately on African American and Latino families, who saw more than half of their total wealth disappear as a result of Wall Street's risky and reckless practices.

The current official unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, but it varies considerably by race. It is 4.7 percent for whites compared with 6.9 percent for Hispanics, and 9.6 percent for African-Americans. But several years into the so-called "recovery," the real unemployment rate -- which also includes discouraged workers who've given up trying to find a job and those who are employed part time but not able to secure full-time work -- is double the official rate.

Almost one-third of America's jobless have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Among those lucky enough to have jobs, women earn only 78 percent of what men make. African American women make 64 percent and Hispanic women 54 percent of men's earnings.

The United States is the most unequal of the world's wealthiest societies. The richest one percent of all Americans take home approximately 20 percent of the country's total income and owns 40 percent of the nation's wealth. Since 1979, wages for the richest one percent have increased by 138 percent; in contrast, wages for the bottom 90 percent have increased just 15 percent. In the last few years, as the country has struggled to recover from the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, this top tier has received nearly all of the added income generated from economic growth.

***

The shape of the current crisis is by now very familiar. The harsh reality is that no other wealthy nation allows the level of sheer destitution and misery found in the United States, including poverty, hunger, slums, homelessness and ill-health.

About 50 million Americans live below the official poverty line. One-third of the country-- over 100 million people-- cannot make ends meet. They don't earn enough to sustain their families. One in three American households say they are living paycheck to paycheck, continuously on the brink of financial disaster. A staggering 36 percent say that they or someone else in their household had to reduce meals or cut back on food to save money during the past year.

Very informative.

[Oneironaut]

11. I don't think so, no (that there will be "riots and rebellion")

[romanic]

12. I don't want to see more riots.

Change and reform shouldn't have to be brought on with burning cars, looting,and innocent people being caught in the middle of all that crap.

[Cha]

15. "Invest in Grassroots Organizing and Coalition Building".. from your link..

Thank Goodness for groups like these that I think would help with preventive measures in heading rioting off..

snip//

"Groups such as the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and the fledgling Black Lives Matter movement (created in 2012 after Trayvon Martin's murder in Florida) channel people's anger into constructive action around specific policy demands. Some of these groups are part of regional and national advocacy networks, such as the Center for Community Change, National People's Action, the Partnership for Working Families, US Action, PICO, the Industrial Areas Foundation and the Center for Popular Democracy."

Just Please don't have anymore Police killing innocent people .. Black, White, Brown, Asian.. or any persuasion.

Thank you for your OP, she~

[sheshe2]

16. You.

You are the best rapid response person here, Cha.

This~

"Groups such as the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and the fledgling Black Lives Matter movement (created in 2012 after Trayvon Martin's murder in Florida) channel people's anger into constructive action around specific policy demands. Some of these groups are part of regional and national advocacy networks, such as the Center for Community Change, National People's Action, the Partnership for Working Families, US Action, PICO, the Industrial Areas Foundation and the Center for Popular Democracy."

Thank you my dear Cha.

[Cha]

19. Thank you, she.. sorry it took

so long.. I had more places to go.

And, you're most Welcome~

[freshwest]

17. I think though... That at times they do make those in charge listen and give imtpetus to SJ movement

[Hekate]

18. I have to say it's not looking too good just now, She. Thoughts of a new Long, Hot, Summer ....

....have been on my mind since this last outbreak of police violence.