Ben & Jerry's Support Black Lives Matter
Rock on!
Stating that “systemic and institutionalized racism are the defining civil rights and social justice issues of our time,” Ben & Jerry’s has officially thrown its support behind the Black Lives Matters movement.
Racist pigs go ballistic. Call for boycott:
We reached out to Chuck Caterbury, the National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, an organization that calls itself “The Voice of Our Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers.” By email, he told MUNCHIES: “We are familiar with the Ben and Jerry’s issue and they have the right to support any cause they wish and of course we will let the public decide if they wish to purchase their products. The FOP has a long standing boycott of their products because of their support for cop killer. (sic)"
Visit Vice to see how low haters will go:
Rumors and misstatements are, no surprise, running rampant. A photograph showing Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of Ben & Jerry’s, holding a “We Hate Cops” sign has been whipping around the internet—as Snopes points out, it is a completely doctored image, photoshopped within an inch of its life.
Of course not all cops are racist pigs:
On the other hand, Malik Aziz, the Executive Director of the National Black Police Association, told us, “We applaud Ben and Jerry’s for being bold and brave in confronting the social issues of our day in a meaningful and well balanced perspective. We believe more companies should emulate Ben and Jerry’s so that we can move police-community relations and race relations forward in our great country."
That's what I'm talkin' about!
And an excellent analysis of 2015 police shootings:
People were killed by police at all ages and in every state except Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont, three of the country’s least populated states. Certain cities stand out as more dangerous than others: The most police by killings occurred in Los Angeles (14 dead), Houston (11), Phoenix (9), New York (7) and Oklahoma City (7).
Shooting was the most common cause of police-related death, at 680. Of the 161 unarmed individuals, 71 were shot by police. The second most common cause of death found in the study were Tasers, which led to the deaths of 39 people, followed by being struck by police vehicles (26). Twenty-eight people died in police custody, according to The Guardian, but this figure does not include victims like Sandra Bland, who died in a Texas jail under conditions many describe as suspicious, although suicide was listed as her official cause of death.
Of the 582 people who were armed at the time of their death, 374 were carrying firearms and 107 were armed with knives. Of course, the numbers also cannot account for whether those killed were actively threatening police with their weapons versus those who were not, like Paul Castaway, the Native American man killed July 12 in Denver while holding a knife to his own neck.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/776-people-killed-by-police-so-far-in-2015-...
Comments
I love those guys! It's funny how GOS gave Bernie grief for
his early response to Black Lives Matter, but when Clinton snubbed them--crickets!
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
I haven't had Ben & Jerry's for a while
but I think I will have to go get some today.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Yay! Me too!
Now I have an excuse again! . . . after holding back because it’s (1) expensive, (2) lotsa sugar and fat, and (3) Unilever.
The Ford Foundation is giving $100 Million over six years to
organizations that play roles in the Black Lives Matter movement. Fortune magazine reported that this figure is a very significant amount of money. The disbursement of the funds will be overseen by Borealis Philanthropy.
The Ford Foundation, like the Rockefeller Foundation, has been closely aligned with the US military and Intelligence services. The book The Cultural Cold War claims both foundations are "conscious instruments of covert US policy."
The aims of Black Lives Matter align with capitalism and the Democratic Party as constituted today. That's the opinion of the Ford Foundation's Director and he gave his views last year to Bloomberg News.
Since Black Lives Matter leaders only concentrate on African Americans, then it's reasonable to infer that the group is important to those who want to continue to divide workers by employing identity politics.
The above is from an analysis posted on the World Socialist Web Site.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
identity politics
While the leaders of BLM and similar movements must and should be careful to avoid even the appearance of race-baiting because it separates such movements from valuable allies, this does not mean that they should not continue their fights against the oppressions that are so patently obvious to them.
Moreover, I say that the organizations should accept the proffered corporate money. There's no better way to finance a revolution than to use the enemy's funds!
EDIT: This is assuming that the donations are actually occurring "as advertised". Since I posted this Comment, it has become evident that this is NOT the case, but rather the receiver of the cash is a pseudo-BLM organization controlled by the donors of that money. In such cases, the pseudo-donors can go fuck their lying selves.
Everybody on the Socialist side of society's divide needs to keep the words of Eugene Debs in mind:
source
or the more laconic terms the Preamble of the IWW Constitution uses:
source
The IWW Preamble also addressed this issue more directly:
ibid.
What the IWW said about the trade unions, especially those of the late 19th and early 20th Century period, can be said equally well about the "identity politics" movements of today -- with the exception that the identity politics movements are learning to not make war with their allies. As I said above, this is a lesson they really do need to learn. It is only when all of us are organized in opposition to all oppression that we will start making headway against any of it.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Nice post - thanks. Well stated and I appreciate the quotes
from the IWW & Debs.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
you're welcome, duckpin!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Black Lives Matter is an IDEA
... not an organization. Some individuals in #BLM might endorse this candidate or group or NGO, but as far as I know... an idea can't endorse a candidate or NGO.
The meme (myth) that Ford Foundation is funding Black Lives Matter is phony... Black Lives Matter doesn't have a centralized structure, and as far as I know not incorporated locally, nationally or otherwise in any sort of way that it could be funded.
Here is what Ford Foundation is up to:
Its called preempting...
"What many call?"
The Movement 4 Black Lives is, "a collective of more than 50 organizations representing thousands of Black people from across the country have come together with renewed energy and purpose to articulate a common vision and agenda."
I have read M4BL's platform, in fact, posted it around. But the funds well, "The BLMF does not currently accept unsolicited requests for support." In other words, they will fund whatever group or "leader" they feel fits capitalist ideology leaving the more progressive groups flapping in the wind. The Ford Foundation needs a new Black Elite to take the place of the present group of aging sell-outs.
From the Light House.
I'd be interested to know what the Ford Foundation thinks it's
getting for this money, same with George Soros, and I would be very interested to know what is believable from the Perspective piece at WSWS. I was surprised to see this presentation along with what looked like believable citations.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Nowhere in the WSWS piece did it claim any money is going to
Black Lives Matter and I don't think my summation of part of the essay said any money is going to Black Lives Matter. I think you've got that wrong. If I said otherwise, then I was wrong.
I agree that those in control of the political economy need compliant "sell-outs" to borrow your term and I wonder what, if anything, has been promised in return for a sizable chunk of money.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
That's one of my problems with BLM
That's a real issue, as it leaves BLM as little more than a directionless idea that attracts many good folk, but also many bad folk. And too often, those bad folk are given a pass, using the same argument that the police have hidden behind: "not all {x}." I don't accept that argument when cops use it, and I'm not hypocritical enough to accept it when a "movement" like BLM does it either.
At the very least, holding the racists that BLM has attracted accountable would be a nice change of pace. It's hard to take a movement that engages in hypocrisy seriously.
not all {x}
It's also hard to help a movement resist very real oppression when it insists on making war on its own allies. If we want to make headway against any oppression, we all need to be organized, engaged, and allied against all of it. Success will come in no other way. It can come in no other way.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I don't buy that
You don't beat opposition by becoming the thing you oppose. That's like the idea that we can bomb terrorism out of existence. The same goes for oppression. You can't beat oppression by adopting the tactics of the oppressors.
?????
I never suggested any such thing. On the contrary, I suggest that all of us resist all the oppressions, all the time. When any of us suggest that only those exactly like them count as being oppressed at all, these set us all up to fail -- in a place where it is vital that we all succeed. The racists who materialize in movements like Black Lives Matter only harm their own cause, and do their enemies' (who are our enemies!) vile works for them. Even though they seem to be allied to the cause, in reality they are traitors to it in the most classic of definitions: giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
With respect to oppression, either all of us succeed or all of us fail. There is no "some" term applicable here.
Now, if you're talking about the money grants by the Ford Foundation, I've edited my comments since they were first published due to the evidence posted by other commenters that these weren't what they were advertised to be.
Otherwise, I utterly fail to understand where I suggested becoming like the oppressors in order to defeat them. Could you clarify, please? Thank you!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I may have been misunderstanding what you were originally saying
With your emphasized words, it came across to me as if you were suggesting that we have to tolerate the racists on our side.
Where Are The Racists In BLM?
Please give me some examples, because I missed that part.
I also do not understand which allies BLM is alienating and what they are saying or doing to alienate allies.
Could you help me out with a couple of links?
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
alienating allies
Whose Presidential campaign did BLM disrupt first? And repeatedly? Bernie Sanders'. The most reliable ally they had in the race, and for the previous 50 years as well, getting himself arrested numerous times for actions in support of equal rights for black people.
Whose campaign did they never disrupt at all? Hillary Clinton's. The candidate who considered young black males "predators" who needed to "be brought to heel".
I assure you, those actions alienated BLM from supporters it needed to retain. In spite of Bernie's own efforts to prevent just that, I might add.
If you require more examples, go to TOP and read Denise Oliver Velez's comments on these events. Or Brooklyn Bad Boy's. Note well how anyone daring to question these matters ended up treated -- and that's before the Ides of March Decree banned any substantive support for Bernie or questioning of Hillary at all.
And if you want links to the evidence outside TOP, simply Google "black lives matter bernie sanders". You will be flooded with many pages of them.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I could do that
But I'm sure you'd just attack the source again, like when I brought it up in an essay. So what would be the point? You made it clear then that any criticisms of BLM will be completely ignored by you, and the individuals making said criticisms slandered.
Which actually is a great example of the alienating of allies that you wanted.
I was going to ask the same question MM
I certainly don't feel that as a Bolivian ally. I follow a lot of BLM on facebook pages and they post about all police brutality without regard to the race of the victims. I also understand, that like Palestinians, Blacks and Latinos are living under what amounts to military occupation and de-facto apartheid... unlike most poor whites.
From the Light House.
My Experience As Well Alex
I don't do Facebook, but have not crossed paths with actual BLM racists in L.A. The BLM rage expressed against America's white supremacist law enforcement policy can be interpreted as racist, exactly like Ben and Jerry's support has been called racist.
As far as alienating allies goes, we should remember that some of MLK's harshest critics were black.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn