On June 17th, 2016 at 6:05 pm pst, Take a Moment of Silence Against Hate ,and for all Victims of Hate

From the NAACP: 

Forty-nine people were viciously slain last weekend because of their sexual orientation—during Pride Month, no less—in the deadliest mass shooting in American history. 

And now I'm on my way to Charleston, South Carolina, where nearly one year ago, 9 of our brothers and sisters were murdered during Bible study simply because they were black. 

It is morally incomprehensible that this keeps happening.

Join me in a moment of silence tomorrow at 9:05 p.m. ET to honor the victims and families of Orlando, Charleston, and anyone who has fallen victim to hate. Share it with your friends, too:

It's been a trying week for our country: the grief is palpable. But out of this pain, we must rise up and take action. Silence can't protect us, but speaking out against hate and limiting access to weapons that can so easily destroy so many lives—that can turn things around.

The ignorance that moves terrorists to take so many lives is fueled by the hateful rhetoric we hear every day on talk radio, cable news, and even from our own elected officials and someone seeking to be our nation's next president. This rhetoric seeks to paint minority groups as "other," or "the problem with this country today."

The real problem with this country today is too much hate.

The NAACP has always stood against hate. We have consistently called for responsible gun control, and today we'll raise our voices even louder. 

We are angry, we are heartbroken, we are tired. But in times like these, we have to come together to heal. 

Please join us in a moment of silence this Friday at 9:05 p.m. ET, and encourage your friends to join as well.

In solidarity, 

Cornell William Brooks

President and CEO

NAACP

From an LGBT Massacre, to more Xenophobic Rhetoric, White Privilege, and Anti-Activism, the US is Primed for a Revolution

Let us all take a moment to send our deepest condolences, and the greatest amount of love possible to the victims of the Orlando attack.

For all of those who swear behind second amendment rights, get over yourselves! That law was written over 250 years ago at a time when women weren't allowed to vote, slavery was just starting to boom, and Indigenous people were not considered people. There is a very real problem in the US when is comes to gun control, among other things, and people need to stop perpetuating fear that in order to be "safe" one must be armed.

As mentioned previously on this blog, our collective takes the stance that the rise of Donald Trump is what will incite necessary revolution across this land. It will have global outreach. The xenophobic remarks he's made in the wake of the Orlando tragedy is but another instance of how heavily he is bringing out the worst of the worst. Yes, it's both scary and sad that he is in the position he is in, but think about how this might be the act that truly gets false "progressives" (Democrats and the like) to truly see the inherent flaws in the systems that support US Empire and move to make actual change. Some thing has to give, and perhaps this is it!

Among the many other beyond unfortunate news feeds as of late has been the padding of white privilege with regards to the sentence handed down to rapist Brock Turner, while Jasmine Richards is handed down years in jail for trying to take a person out of police custody. The term, "felony lynching" is no coincidence, and in all accounts, from blaming the total Islamic faith for terrorism in the US, to the outright denial that this country continues to enforce a system of power that supports white, heterosexual, christian, men, the US seems it could catch a fire at any moment.

What can you do? Anything you can that ultimately supports peace, sustainability, and justice.

In Solidarity.