As previously reported, a historic conference at Temple University intended to guide and radicalize activists in #BlackLivesMatter was held from January 8-10, 2016 in Philadelphia. We are going to post videos from the panels that have just become available online. Tune in next week for further coverage of this historic conference.

Titled Neoliberalism, Spatial Domination and Gentrification: the Struggle to Resist the New Urban Strategy, this panel features Rickie Sanders, Professor of Geography/Urban Studies and former Director of Women’s Studies at Temple University, James Dupree, artist and educator based in Philadelphia, Megan Malachi, educator, scholar, feminist, and activist based in Philadelphia, and Nellie Bailey of Black Agenda Report and Director of the Harlem Tenants Council, and was moderated by Patrice K. Armstead, a native of West Philadelphia, mother, community organizer and MSW candidate in the School of Social Work at Temple University.

This has not gone unnoticed by others in the landscape. The #BlackLivesMatter movement has come to a critical crossroads that many forebears have also faced. To the Left is the embrace of a radical tradition of African thought and action embodied by thinkers like Angela Davis, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Malcolm X. To the Right is the Democratic Party and neoliberal identity politics, a post-modern miasma that will suffocate the radical spark and turn these activists into a youth caucus to be politely ignored in the name of the American imperial project. It has happened many times before, including the LGBTQQI and feminist movements, and is known as the place where all good radicals go to languish, die, and put on a suit and tie for ‘respectability’.

Hoping to avoid a repetition of this disaster once again, key figures in the radical African tradition have come together to hold a free conference at Temple University in Philadelphia, RECLAIMING OUR FUTURE: THE BLACK RADICAL TRADITION IN OUR TIME, from January 8-10. Featuring keynote lectures by Angela Davis, Cornel West, Vijay Prashad, Tony Monteiro, and others, it is hoped to radicalize and invigorate the movement in ways that will prevent it from being co-opted. Those interested in attendance can get more information via the event website here or the FaceBook page here.

But wait! If you are interested in the conference but cannot get down to the City of Brotherly Love, have no fear, Rhode Island’s Future has contacted the organizers and verified that they will be putting the proceedings on YouTube shortly. We will post the videos as they become available online and work to further publicize any materials related to the conference as they become available.

As a preview of what to expect, consider listening to the first segment on the weekly radio show Black Agenda Report wherein Glen Ford interviews Dr. Monteiro about the conference and its trajectory.

The last day of Chanukah was celebrated in Providence last night by Jewish Voice for Peace Rhode Island, a group determined to rekindle their commitment to justice. Nine people held signs, made in the form of a menorah, declaring their opposition to Islamophobia and racism, and in support of refugees and #BlackLivesMatter. As the sun set the menorah was lit and people read their signs out loud.

The nine signs read:

1. We will not be silent about anti-Muslim and racist hate speech and hate crimes;
2. We condemn state surveillance of the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities;
3. We challenge, through our words and actions, institutionalized racism and state-sanctioned anti-Black violence;
4. We protest the use of Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism to justify Israel’s repressive policies against Palestinians;
5. We fight anti-Muslim profiling and racial profiling in all its forms;
6. We call for an end to racist policing #SayHerName #BlackLivesMatter;
7. We stand against U.S. policies driven by the “war on terror” that demonize Islam and devalue, target, and kill Muslims; and
8. We welcome Syrian refugees and stand strong for immigrants’ rights and refugee rights.

Lepore was not asked to dance in Providence this year, and he canceled an appearance in East Providence last night after protesters in sympathy with the Black Lives Matter  planned to protest him at the event.

Back in October, Lepore embroiled himself in a non-controversy regarding a 17-year old Dunkin’ Donuts employee who wrote #BlackLivesMatter on a police officer’s coffee cup on Federal Hill in Providence. Had Lepore stayed out of it, the entire story would have gone nowhere, but Lepore, a retired Providence police officer who is locally famous as the Dancing Cop, held a protest outside the donut shop, insisting that the young woman of color be fired for her temerity.

She was not fired, of course. And Lepore’s protest ended with him settling for an apology from the donut shop management. Lepore claims that through his protest he stood up for police officers and against the Black Lives Matter movement. When I spoke to him briefly the morning of the protest, he told me that the entire controversy was because of him. He was proud to have used his minor status as a pseudo-celebrity to go after the job of a high school student. I realized then that I was talking not so much to a former cop, but to a fading d-list local celebrity clamoring for relevance.

It was sad, really.

Predictably, Providence’s Mayor Jorge Elorza and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré decided to not have Lepore back to badly direct traffic downtown, something that had become a tradition in Providence during the holiday season. There was a small outcry over this, with some people claiming that Lepore was being discriminated against because of his politics, but let’s face it:

Freedom of speech does not mean that our words have no consequences.

Enter East Providence’s Mayor Tommy Rose and City Councillor Tracy Capobianco.

Writing on Facebook, Capobianco explained that when she noticed that Lepore was available for the holidays, she thought, “Hey, we should get him for a few days here during the holidays, families would like that.”

Capobianco called Mayor Rose. According to Capobianco, Rose “made it happen.”

What exactly Rose made happen is in dispute. According to Lepore, Rose got him a gig doing his traffic dancing schtick outside East Providence City Hall from noon to 1:30 from December 10-24. In addition, said Lepore, he would be at the 9th Annual Tree Lighting at the Crescent Park Carousel. Lepore told the ProJo that we was getting paid $2000 for his appearances.

Capobianco, however, maintains that Lepore has not yet been hired by the city. She says Rose, “made it happen” by putting the hiring of Lepore on the City Council docket for Tuesday evening’s meeting, and calling Lepore to see if hiring him for the season was an option. “I don’t know why [Lepore] has announced to [the] media [that] it’s a done deal when it’s on the docket for a vote,” she wrote.

As for the Carousel appearance, Capobianco said that as Rose spoke with Lepore, he either “asked him about [the] Carousel or put him in touch with someone at Carousel.”

Ironically, one of the sponsors of the Carousel Tree Lighting is Dunkin’ Donuts. I wonder how they feel about being constantly associated with Lepore in the press?

The hiring of Lepore surprised some people, and throughout Saturday residents reacted to the news positively and negatively. Many people who live in East Providence, including URI student Rodrigo Pimentel and lifelong resident Maryann Fonseca, went on Facebook and planned protests against Lepore, to take place at the Carousel Tree Lighting.

Pimentel wrote, on her Facebook event page, that the “city’s choice to employ the Dancing Cop has shown that it has disregarded the issue of institutional racism, and the city is allowing enablers of institutional racism to represent the city.” Fonseca, when we spoke briefly outside the carousel, wondered why her tax dollars were being spent to bring in a controversial and divisive entertainer that Providence let go.

Just before I set out to cover the protest (and probable counter protest) I heard that Lepore had decided to not to appear at the Tree Lighting. Lepore wrote on Facebook that Mayor Rose called him about the protests being planned by “various organizations affiliated with Black Lives Matter.” Apparently, Rose was concerned that a protest would ruin an event that was “supposed to be a festive holiday experience for children and their families.”

Rose, wrote Lepore, left the decision as to whether or not to perform at the Carousel Tree Lighting to him.

Lepore wrote, “because of my concern for the children’s safety, I have decided to cancel. It is unfortunate that leftist agendas must spoil this happy event. It is evident that these groups are biased.”

He also wrote:

Lepore may still have Mayor Rose’s backing, but Capobianco’s support appears to be waning. She wrote, “Seriously I thought this was such a fun idea but turns out maybe it wasn’t, not the first time I’ve been wrong and likely won’t be the last time either.”

The protesters in sympathy with the Black Lives Matter  movement who showed up at the Carousel, the ones that Lepore was so worried about, didn’t start any trouble of course. For the most part the people simply smiled and talked to each other and to the press. The tree lighting went off inside the carousel building without a hitch. Everyone seemed to be having great time.

But on Lepore’s Facebook page, the comments were ugly and racist. Aside from the ignorant and expected responses of “All Lives Matter” there were comments made about black fathers being deadbeats, black mothers being on welfare, and black on black crime.

One commenter called Black Lives Matter a terrorist group and the “scum of the Earth.”

Darker still were the comments that bordered on violent, as commenters spoke of bringing weapons to confront protesters, saying things like, “Carry arms then. I got my little 22 waiting. Little pistol… lots of damage” and “lol between me and you I got a .44 mag lmao.”

Lepore was right in his belief that his appearance might make children and families unsafe. But it’s not those in sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement he needed to worry about, it was his own fans and supporters.

There was an astounding response on Twitter from many Republican politicians exclaiming furiously that, “All lives matter!”

At issue is the meaning of #AllLivesMatter. The question must be asked, “Do all lives really matter?”

I work in the Massachusetts public defender’s office as an attorney representing indigent people accused of criminal offenses. I have stood in court and advocated for homeless people, the mentally ill and substance abusers. My Christian upbringing taught me what you do for the least among us — the hungry, the poor, the incarcerated, the sick — you have done for God. In other words, #AllLivesMatter.

What about the undocumented immigrants that many people want rounded up and deported immediately from this country? They too can be law-abiding citizens, who may have overstayed a Visa. They have parents, children, and spouses in this country. They should be acknowledged as people if #AllLivesMatter.

What about the Syrian refugees? Their country is being torn apart and many are fleeing to come to a safe place. They have nightmare stories of leaving their families, watching children die in the streets and fearing for their next breath. We should welcome them in open arms if #AllLivesMatter.

What about the people I represent? At every turn I make in life, people remind me that I represent the “dregs of society,” and I am wasting my time. But I have always seen my clients as people, maybe a little broken, but still people because I believe that #AllLivesMatter.

The #AllLivesMatter movement could be a great one. The idea is that every life is precious and should be treated with dignity, respect and compassion. However, it doesn’t seem like the people who say #AllLivesMatter have much care for people living in poverty, as undocumented immigrants or if they happen to be Syrian refugees.

If one were to truly believe that #AllLivesMatter, then the homeless matter; the incarcerated matter; the single mothers matter; the refugees matter; if it has a pulse then it matters. This means police lives matter.

The United States of America has a long history of treating black people like their lives do not matter. America enslaved black lives, segregated black lives, and still has laws that disproportionately affect black lives.

Therefore, to answer the question of whether black lives matter or all lives matter, there is only one true answer:

#AllLivesMatter cannot be true until #BlackLivesMatter.

#BlackLivesMatter

Providence Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Paré, in a brief statement, said that the police were investigating the event as a hate crime and asked that East Siders report any further baggies that the police may have missed as they swept nearby streets. They are also looking for any information about a person or car traveling through the area last night when the incident occurred.

Mayor Jorge Elorza said that the incident was devisive and not to be tolerated in Providence.

The East Side is home to many Jewish families and families of color, though it is too early to know if specific homes were targeted.

A similar incident occurred in East Greenwich recently last Winter. A #BlackLivesMatter march was held last month, partially in reaction.

After the march, there was a short program of speakers. Some speakers spoke of the importance of acknowledging the date, October 12, as Indigenous People’s Day, so as to ensure that one cause not overshadow another. Other speakers spoke of the history of America’s brutality against people of color and called for the abolition of police and prisons.

The rally was organized by the STEP-UP Coalition of Rhode Islanders for the Providence Community Safety Act Ordinance, which released the following statement in response to the incident:

“Across the country, communities are grappling with the reality of violent and discriminatory policing practices. From Ferguson, MO to the jail in Walter County, Texas where Sandra Bland was found dead, to Providence, where youth of color are routinely profiled and harassed, it is clear that something needs to change. The Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union released reports this year revealing that Rhode Island has even greater racial disparities in police arrests than in Ferguson. Those most directly affected by police brutality and profiling are society’s most vulnerable: people of color in poor neighborhoods with little access to stable employment and housing.

“In the face of this crisis, communities have been coming together to address a national and local state of emergency. Police brutality and state violence have lasting effects that ripple through communities and generations, effects borne in large part by Black communities and other communities of color. #BlackLivesMatter is a direct and courageous movement in response to incredibly high rates of Black people being killed by police. For some, it is easier to ignore these wide disparities; for others, it is an inescapable, daily reality.

“When a Dunkin Donuts employee wrote #BlackLivesMatter on a police officer’s coffee cup, she was expressing solidarity with a national, grassroots movement working for the validity of Black life. This affirmation is necessary because of the social, political, and economic disenfranchisement that continues to deprive Black lives of basic human rights and dignity. This affirmation is necessary because a Black person in killed by a police officer of vigilante every 28 hours.

“The Fraternal Order of the Police (FOP) has mischaracterized the #BlackLivesMatter movement as a threat to officers’ safety.  In fact, the rate of violence against police officers has actually decreased since the #BlackLivesMatter movement gained national visibility. Rates of police homicide have decreased from 2014 to 2015. Meanwhile, people of color continue to be profiled, brutalized, and killed by police. The current imbalance of power between the Police Union and the people directly affected by police brutality is immense.

“Writing #BlackLivesMatter on a coffee cup is fundamentally an act of free expression. This was an act of peaceful protest. However, the FOP’s stated: “We bring this incident to the attention of other law enforcement officers across this city, state, and country, to remind them to stay vigilant in your efforts to protect and serve.” In other words, the FOP is using this act to justify increased vigilance, which plays out as profiling of people of color.

“Therefore, organizations and individuals that support the Community Safety Act, a Providence city Ordinance, express disagreement with the statement released by the FOP. We feel that the Providence Police took a simple message of racial justice and equality as a personal attack and justification for even harsher policing, rather than an opportunity for reflection on the current realities of state violence. We need police to stop addressing acts of peaceful protest and dialogue as “unacceptable and discouraging” and start giving that label to acts of racial profiling and police brutality.”

Scratch that we can be a bit more specific here—This letter is for those who claim to love Black womanhood — our collective passion, histories, political work, bodies, and victories — but do not love Black women. This is for everyone and anyone whose rhetoric is stronger than their action.

We would love to open this with an epigraph — a portion of poetry from Lorde or Shakur—but I fear that would soften the coming words. This is not a message that will be sugar-coated. You should not feel good about yourself for showing up to this vigil or for reading this letter. This event is not your chance to practice abstract revolutionary theory. Black women in Providence are hurting, and we have been hurt and forgotten most remarkably by those who claim to be supporters and allies.

In the process of creating and planning this event to honor Black women’s lives who have been lost we ran into an all too common problem. Sitting and planning, we quickly found ourselves asking, “But where are the others?” There is no question that there will be an audience at the event itself, particularly in a community such as Providence where a political event is unlikely to have only a few in attendance. But, when people attend for the product but do not really assist in its creation, it is easy for this phenomenon to feel like another way various individuals and groups siphon off of the work and energies of Black women. What we create is good enough to be consumed, but what about us?

We could pin this scenario on the age old trope of the strong Black woman. Many people do not assume that Black women need help. They believe we’ve got this shit locked down. Or, they do not recognize our pain and our need for help and care. It is unlikely that these thoughts are in the forefront of any of our so-called allies’ minds. It is more likely that these thoughts are subconscious feelings that guide their (in)action. Conscious or subconscious, this belief that Black women are beyond help — perhaps the public assumes Black women are able to handle our suffering by ourselves or has decided that we just aren’t a priority in the grand scheme of liberation politics — is so incredibly violent and has the ability to cause irrevocable damage. To be surrounded by people who have the same general beliefs as us, who cry the same rallying cries of “Liberation” and “Revolution,” and yet are nowhere to be found when we need them, leaves us in an exhausting predicament. We are exhausted.

This is to everyone and anyone who has ever underestimated, overestimated, or simply did not care about the Black women who surround them, while highlighting, quoting, and screaming the words of the Black women revolutionaries they’ve chosen to mythologize. This habit of calling for liberation all the while leaving your Black sisters all around you absent of your care is not sustainable. This is not how we build a sustainable community. And please do not listen to these words and snap and cheer and think to yourself “Preach! And oh, I know they’re not talking about me, they couldn’t possibly be”. Because, we are. These words are for everyone. Take a step back and think. Really, think through your past and future actions think about your interpersonal engagements with Black people— particularly Black women! Really reflect on how you have treated us. Look for the inconsistencies. Look for where your words and your actions do not match up. Do better. Build with us. Truly build with us, not on our backs but alongside us.

–Andrea. Dania. Helen. Monay. Organizers of Juneteenth: A Community Assembly to Honor Black Cis and Trans Women

“Any movement that seeks to establish community control of the police must begin by challenging the legitimacy of the police,” said Glen Ford, journalist and executive editor of the Black Agenda Report and former member of the Black Panthers, “With Ferguson we saw a burgeoning movement that challenged the legitimacy of the system itself.”

Ford was speaking at New Urban Arts in Providence as part of a panel sponsored by End Police Brutality PVD entitled The Struggle for Community Control Past and Present: From the Black Panther Party to Providence Today.  Also on the panel were Monay McNeil, a student at Rhode Island College, Steve Roberts and Servio G., protesters awaiting trial for allegedly blocking the highway during a Black Lives Matter protest last November, Suzette Cook, whose son was allegedly assaulted by members of the Providence Police Department in 2013, Justice, founder of the “Original Men” and Ashanti Alston, black anarchist and former Black Panther.

Over 100 community members were in attendance. My only quibble with the excellent discussion was that the number of panelists meant that some speakers were not afforded the time needed to fully expand upon their ideas. Still, this was a fascinating discussion in which the new movement is seeking to learn from civil rights movements of the past.

Moderator Andrea Sterling loosely set the parameters of the discussion as being about “Black Autonomy” and “Community Liberation.” The panel was concerned with the classic problem all nascent social movements must confront: “Where do we go from here?” The description of the event asserts that “activists must choose whether to challenge the foundations of the system that made Black lives immaterial in the first place, or be sucked into the morass of patchwork reforms that enfeeble the movement while failing to alter relationships of power.”

In other words, does the movement seek to reform or overthrow the system? Most of the panelists seemed to think that there was a need for system change, and that such change will not come easily.

“The system is a very racist system,” said Justice, who spent 10 years in prison, “We have to acknowledge that. The relationship between African Americans and establishment power in this country has always been based on violence.”

Suzette Cook, after outlining some of the circumstances in the beating of her son, agreed, “We are literally in a state of war in our own country.”

“I was a soldier in the Black Liberation Army,” said former Black Panther Ashanti Alston. Things in America are no different “than in Palestine. We’ve got to fight.” Then Alston grew philosophical, “The acceptance of death allows us to live for our highest ideals.”

Servio has been involved in radical movements for a few years, starting with Occupy, but quickly became disillusioned. “I found out that the Occupy movement didn’t care about anyone who wasn’t white.” Still, he is unwavering in his commitment to system change, observing that, “This is a system of power that uses the police to keep us in our place.”

Minor reforms won’t do, in Servio’s opinion, “The change has to be way more fundamental than that.”