RAYMOND HERRERA:
Good evening and
welcome to the 28th annual
Martin Luther King community
celebration at Washington
State University.
I am Raymond Herrera, Assistant
Dean of the graduate school
and director of our McNair
Achievement Program.
I'm honored to serve as
your emcee this evening.
To begin our program please
direct your attention
to God's Harmony Gospel Choir.
[APPLAUSE]
GOD'S HARMONY GOSPEL
CHOIR: (SINGING) Ain't
gonna let nobody.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let
nobody Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
Ain't gonna let
[? great ?] hatred.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let
[? great ?] hatred.
Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
Ain't gonna let segregation.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let segregation.
Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
Ain't gonna let no policeman.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let no policeman.
Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
Ain't gonna let Alabama.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let Mississippi.
Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
Ain't gonna let New York City.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let no person.
Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
Ain't gonna let no building.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let no building.
Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
Ain't gonna let nobody.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Turn me 'round.
Ain't gonna let nobody.
Turn me 'round.
I'm gonna keep on walkin'.
Keep on talkin'.
Marching up to freedom land.
[APPLAUSE]
God has not given us
the spirit of fear.
But the Lord has
given us-- Power.
God has not given us
the spirit of fear.
But the Lord has
given us-- Power.
Lord has not given us
the spirit of fear.
But the Lord has
given us-- Power.
God has not given us
the spirit of fear.
But the Lord has
given us-- Power.
Power and Love.
His joy and peace.
His happiness.
He has given us a sound mind.
Power and Love.
His joy and peace.
His happiness.
He has given us a sound mind.
God has not given us
the spirit of fear.
But the Lord has
given us-- Power.
God has not given us
the spirit of fear.
But the Lord has
given us-- Power.
Power and Love.
His joy and peace.
His happiness.
He has given us a sound mind.
Power and Love.
His joy and peace.
His happiness.
He has given us a sound mind.
Never shall I be afraid.
Never shall I be afraid.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Lay your hands on me.
Stir up the gift.
Lay your hands on me.
Stir up the gift.
Touch me Lord.
Stir up the gift.
Come on.
Touch me Lord.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Stir up the gift.
Never should I be Never should
I be Never should I be Afraid.
Stir up the gift.
[APPLAUSE]
RAYMOND HERRERA: Thank
you, God's Harmony.
Beautiful.
We have a special
evening planned
for you featuring our special
guest, Professor Angela Davis.
[APPLAUSE]
This year marks the
50th anniversary
of the 1965 voting rights
campaign in Selma, Alabama.
In January of that
year, Dr. King
joined local activists
who had spent years
building a movement.
The activists endured jail,
beatings, and even death.
But the movement persevered,
and successfully pushed
for the passage of the
1965 Voting Rights Act.
In recognition of this
and many other key events
during that period we
gather this evening
to celebrate Dr. King and
the many others who struggled
with him for a better America.
At this time I would like to
Mr. Jeff Guillory, director
of Diversity Education
and Diversity Programs
here at WSU for a
few words of welcome.
Mr. Guillory.
[APPLAUSE]
JEFF GUILLORY: Well,
where do I begin?
This is just a fantastic
history and story.
I think I'll begin
at the beginning.
Professor Davis was born
in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Birmingham.
Yes.
The Birmingham, Alabama.
Her family lived on a
place called Dynamite Hill.
It's a neighborhood which was
marred by racial conflict.
Dr. Davis was occasionally
able to spend time
on her uncle's farm and with
friends in New York city.
Her brother Ben Davis
played defensive back
for the Cleveland
Browns and Detroit Lions
in the late 1960s and 1970s.
And by the way I played
against him in those days,
but I digress.
Dr. Davis also has another
brother, Reginald Davis,
and a sister Fania-- and I hope
I pronounced that correctly,
Davis Jordan.
Dr. Davis attended
Carrie A. Tuggle
School, a black elementary
school, segregated school.
Later she attended Parker
Annex, a middle school
branch of Parker high
school in Birmingham.
And during this time
Dr. Davis' mother
was a national
officer and leading
organizer of the
Southern Negro Congress,
an organization
heavily influenced
by the communist party.
Consequently, Dr. Davis
grew up surrounded
by communists organizers and
thinkers who significantly
influenced her intellectual
development growing up.
By her junior year,
she had applied to
and was accepted by an American
Friends Service Committee
program that placed black
students from the South
into integrated
schools in the North.
She chose Elizabeth Irwin High
School in Greenwich Village,
New York City.
And there she was introduced
to a socialism and communism
and was recruited by a
communist youth group, Advance.
She also met children of some
of the leaders of the Communist
Party USA, including her
lifelong friend Bettina
Aptheker.
Hopefully I pronounced
that one correctly as well.
Dr. Davis is an American
political activist, scholar,
and author.
She emerged on the scene as
a prominent counterculture
activist and radical in
the 1960s as the leader
of the Communist Party USA.
And had close relations
with the Black Panther Party
through her involvement in
the civil rights movement,
although she was
never a party member.
Her interest included
prisoner rights.
She founded Critical
Resistance, an organization
working to abolish the
prisoner industrial complex.
She is a retired professor with
the History of Consciousness
Department at the
University of California,
Santa Cruz, and a former
director of the university's
Feminine Studies Department.
Her research interests
are feminism,
African-American studies,
critical theory, Marxism,
popular music,
social consciousness,
and the philosophy and history
of punishment and prisons.
Her membership in
the communist party
led to Ronald Reagan's
request in 1969
to have her barred from
teaching at any university
in the state of California.
And she was twice a
candidate for vice-president
of the Communist Party USA
ticket during the 1980s.
Ladies and gentlemen.
I present to you
Dr. Angela Davis.
[APPLAUSE]
ANGELA DAVIS: Good
evening, everyone.
We inadvertently skipped
a very important part
of the program, which you will
see the distinguished service
awards winners.
So I would like to present to
you, Geneta Harris and Marina
Marvin.
[APPLAUSE]
And I will return to
the stage after they've
completed the awards.
GENETA HARRIS: Yeah.
We're going to
present the winners.
We're not the winners.
MARINA MARVIN: It's not
everyday that Angela Davis
says your name Wow.
GENETA HARRIS: Exactly.
MARINA MARVIN: Wow.
OK.
Good evening.
I am Rina Martin and
this is Geneta Harris.
And it is our
pleasure to announce
the winners of the 2015 MLK
Distinguished Service Awards.
When your name is called
please come to the stage.
GENETA HARRIS: In
the faculty category
the award goes to
Dr. Faith Lutze.
[APPLAUSE]
Associate professor
in the Department
of Criminal Justice
and Criminology.
Lutze is a founding member
of the Minorities and Women
section of the Service
Award for promoting
diversity and scholarship,
teaching and criminal justice.
She has produced numerous
publications relating
to improving the
criminal justice
system, domestic violence,
and human trafficking.
She helped start the
Prison Debate Project,
which allowed WSU
students to collaborate
on research with inmates at the
Coyote Ridge Correction Center
in Connell, Washington.
She is widely-known for
her community service
with groups such as
the Whitman County
League of Women Voters, WSU's
McNair Acheivement Program,
and the Green Dot Program.
Nominator Sisouvanh Keopanapay,
academic coordinator
for criminal justice,
said Lutze always
strives to make other
people feeling included.
She is one of the people
who helped me find my voice
and build my confidence
in this intimidating
world of higher education.
Congratulations Professor Lutze.
[APPLAUSE]
MARINA MARVIN: In
the staff category,
the award goes to Mariella Lora.
[APPLAUSE]
Enrollment counselor at
WSU Tri-Cities, Laura
helps students
reach their dreams
of earning a degree at WSU.
According to a
nominator Jordyn Wright,
she is an advocate
for all students,
but has a keen
interest in working
with underrepresented students.
She recently started
an HB1079 coalition
on the Tri-Cities
campus, a group
that helps undocumented
students get into and succeed
in college.
And she works with
ASWSU Tri-Cities
to promote a more
inclusive campus climate.
She also volunteered with
programs such as Cougs
in the Community and the WSU
Tri-Cities 25th Anniversary
Committee.
Off campus, Lora recently
took a mission trip to Bolivia
where she helped build
a church and volunteered
at an orphanage.
Summarizing her efforts
her nominator wrote,
her dedication to
student success
combined with her
personal commitment
to serving her campus,
local, and world communities
exemplified the values
of the MLK Service Award.
Congratulations
Ms. Mariella Lora.
[APPLAUSE]
GENETA HARRIS: In
the student category,
the award goes to Shain Wright.
[APPLAUSE]
A Human Development and Public
Affairs major at WSU Vancouver.
Serving first as a
volunteer, Shain now
works on campus as a team
leader in the Student Diversity
Center.
Wright has shown
leadership in many ways
by providing trans-ally
training staff,
and being the lead
organizer for V-day,
and co-chairing a team
of over 100 students
to promote Gender
Neutral Bathrooms Week.
According to nominator
Bola Majekobaje,
advisor to the chancellor
for Diversity and Community
Engagement, the
campaign transformed
over half the restrooms on
campus to be gender inclusive.
Shain was invited to
present on the campaign
at the Power of One
Conference in Salt Lake City.
The nominator reported,
the workshop was excellent
and it was great
to observe students
from other colleges
being inspired
to promote gender diversity
in their own campuses.
Wright also volunteers for a
Triple Point, an organization
that promotes a safe
place for LGBTQA youth
in Southwestern Washington.
Congratulations Shain Wright.
[APPLAUSE]
MARINA MARVIN: In the
community member category,
the award goes to
Dr. Linda Paul.
[APPLAUSE]
In May of 2013, Paul
retired after 26 years
of teaching law
courses and serving
as coordinator of Business
Law for WSU's Carson
College of Business.
She has practiced
law in Moscow, Idaho
and taught law at the university
of Idaho for many years.
Dr Paul's promotion
of social justice
started as early
as the 1970s when
she was appointed by Oregon's
governor to the first Oregon
Women's Commission.
She is a long time member of the
Latah County Human Rights Task
Force and helped create Moscow's
human rights commission.
She has previously served as the
chairwoman of the Idaho State
Bar Diversity
Section and continues
serving as a frequent presenter
and a member of the governing
council.
She is also co-founder of the
Love the Law program created
to encourage diverse high
school and college students
to consider careers in law.
Nominator Nicholas Lovrich,
WSU Regents Professor Emeritus,
wrote, in her teaching
she has touched
the lives of many students who
have come to understand and be
influenced by the
vision of a more
equitable and just society.
Congratulations Dr. Linda Paul.
[APPLAUSE]
GENETA HARRIS: In the WSU
organization category,
the award goes to the Nigerian
Students Organization.
[APPLAUSE]
The mission of the Nigerians
Student Organization
is to promote awareness about
the rich culture and heritage
of the Nigerian culture.
The group does this in many ways
including preparing and sharing
authentic Nigerian
cuisine, volunteering
at events such as Palouse Walk
to End Alzheimer's, helping
the elderly at
Avalon Care Center,
and donating books written by
influential African writers
to Neill Public Library.
Congratulations Nigerian
Student Organization.
[APPLAUSE]
MARINA MARVIN: And now our
last award of the evening,
In the faculty group
category, the winner
is the Team Mentoring Program.
[APPLAUSE]
This program was created in 2007
by the Office of Multicultural
Student Services in
partnership with the Colleges
of Agricultural, Human
and Natural Resource
Sciences, Arts and Sciences,
Engineering, Architecture,
and Veterinary Medicine.
The program's purpose is
to increase participation,
persistence, achievement,
and graduation
of underrepresented
minority students
and women in the sciences,
technology, engineering, math,
and pre-health disciplines.
Studies have shown that students
who participate in the program
graduate at a much
higher rate than those
who do not participate.
Faculty members include
Bill Davis, Asaph Cousins,
Louis Scudiero, Phil
Mixter, Mary Sanchez-Lanier,
Giuliana Noratto, Nehal
Abu-Lail, David Field,
Judith McDonald, Bob Olsen,
John Schneider, Alex Prera,
and Kirk Reinkens.
congratulations Team
Mentoring Program.
[APPALAUSE]
RAYMOND HERRERA: Social issues
related to criminal justice
persecution and
incarceration are
some of the most pressing civil
rights issues of our time.
Thus, this year's theme
for the WSU MLK Program
is, The Dream Behind Bars.
To share her thoughts,
experiences, and wisdom
on this theme, we're honored
to host Professor Angela Davis.
Dr. Davis is known
internationally
for her ongoing work
to combat all forms
of oppression in
the U.S. And abroad.
Over the years she
has been active
as a student, teacher, writer,
scholar and activist organizer.
She is a living witness to
the historical struggles
of the contemporary era.
Professor Davis' long standing
commitment to prisoners' rights
dates back to her
involvement in the campaign
to free the Soledad Brothers,
which led to her own arrest
and imprisonment.
Today she remains an
advocate of prison abolition
and has developed a
powerful critique of racism
in the criminal justice system.
She is a founding member
of Critical Resistance,
a national
organization dedicated
to dismantling of the
prison industrial complex.
Internationally, she is
affiliated with Sisters Inside,
an abolitionist
organization based
in Queensland, Australia that
works in solidarity with women
in prison.
She is the author of
many books including,
Women, Race and Class,
Are Prisons Obsolete?
The Meaning of
Freedom, among others.
Her work has appeared
in numerous journals
and anthologies.
She was a recent and outspoken
advocate and participant
in the 2011 Occupy protests.
And this month
published an essay
in the special of this
edition of Essence magazine
on the Black Lives
Matters Protest.
Dr Angela Davis is
Professor Emeritus
at the Department
of Feminist Studies
and History of Consciousness at
the University of California,
Santa Cruz.
WSU community, please,
give a warm welcome
to Professor Angela Davis.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
ANGELA DAVIS: So good
evening once again.
It seems I had
two introductions.
Let me say that I
am deeply honored
to participate in this 2015
convocation, which pays tribute
to the life, work, and legacy
of Dr. Martin Luther King.
I would like to thank the choir
for the very inspiring music.
And I'm especially happy
to have been welcomed here
by a member of the Nez Perce
Tribe or the Niimiipuu.
Because I think we need
to remind ourselves
that we have gathered here
this evening on Nez Perce land.
And I honor the people.
[APPLAUSE]
I honor the people on whose
ancestral homeland Washington
State University was created.
As we commit ourselves
to remember Dr. King
and the freedom struggles
with which he was associated,
let us also express solidarity
with First Nations peoples
and their struggles
for sovereignty.
[APPLAUSE]
I've visited this campus
almost exactly 31 years ago
when I spoke about my then
second-- third book, Women,
Race and Class.
I don't claim to have
such a perfect memory,
but I did remember being
here many, many years ago.
And the archives of
the Evergreen Daily
provided me with the details.
Before I arrived
here in this venue
I had the opportunity to
meet quite a few people
on this campus.
First of all, there
was a reception
at the president's house.
And I thank Mrs.
Floyd for hosting.
I understand that
the president is
lobbying for a medical school.
Am I right?
At this moment.
Also, I met with a very
large group of students
and answered many,
many questions.
And I hope the
remaining questions
that I did not have
time to answer,
they were all written
questions, and the remaining set
of questions had to do with
the criminal justice system.
But before I move on to
the content of my talk,
let me thank the MLK Committee
on this campus, which
is chaired by Professor
Mark Robinson for having--
[APPLAUSE]
--for having invited
me to deliver
the keynote address
this evening.
I had the opportunity to have an
extended conversation with him
and Donna Arnold largely
because it takes a long time
to get here from
the Spokane airport.
And I must confess that due
to a failure of communication
on the part of the speaker's
bureau, who contacted me,
and it's generally a very
good speaker's bureau,
it's called Speak Out and does
a lot of good progressive work.
But they failed to tell me what
the title of my lecture was.
So I only learned of this
title, the Dream Behind Bars
a short time ago, perhaps
about an hour ago.
[LAUGHTER]
But I think that
what I prepared is
relevant to an
understanding of why
we need to focus our
attention on the more than 2
and 1/2 men, women, and trans
persons in our country's jails,
state prisons, federal prisons,
jails in Indian country,
immigrant detention facilities,
and military prisons including
Guantanamo, which we
have to further press
Obama to shut down before
the end of his term.
[APPLAUSE]
And everyone is
aware of the fact
that the events of the
last six months or so,
the police killings of Michael
Brown, and Eric Garner,
and the protests that have
taken place all over the country
and other parts of the world.
Because of these
events there is a very
special contexts this year
for our observance of MLK day.
There's also another
special context,
the release of Ava DuVernay's film, Selma.
And is Selma playing in Pullman?
OK.
That's good.
So I assume many of
you have seen the film.
Am I right?
Well, if you
haven't seen it, you
should see it as
soon as possible.
It offers us the
opportunity to seriously
reflect on the history of
black freedom movements
and to clearly perceive the
connections with struggles
that continue today.
Of course, there's been a
great deal of controversy
over the depiction of certain
characters in the film.
A certain character I
would say, but it's a film.
It's not a documentary.
And I have to admit,
I didn't think
it was so far off
particularly based
on the attitudes
toward LBJ at the time.
But let me say what I find
so important about this film
is that it portrays Martin
Luther King as a human being,
as a human being with all
of his monumental strengths,
but with his weaknesses as well.
And perhaps even more important
than the portrayal of the man
who is considered to
be the major figure
of the black freedom movement
of the mid-20th century.
Perhaps even more important
than that is the way
it revealed the heroism
of ordinary people,
of everyday people.
And the way we begin to
learn-- because many people
are not aware of this that women
played absolutely pivotal roles
in the freedom movement.
And of course some of
those women are named.
There's Amelia Boynton,
who was a local movement
leader who was played by
the actor Lorraine Toussain.
And there is Annie Lee
Cooper whose efforts
to register to vote helped
inspire the movement there.
And that is certainly the
scene-- one of the opening
scenes during which she
attempts to register to vote
and is asked to repeat the
preamble to the constitution.
And then to name, and then
to say how many judges,
county judges there were,
and then to name them.
And of course she had
all of the answers
until she was asked to
name-- what was it like 57--
something like that judges.
And that struck-- that created
a sense of familiarity.
Yes.
I knew of many
cases where people
were asked to recite-- paragraph
five clause two of the Alabama
constitution.
I also appreciated
the references,
the many references to the
four young black girls who
were killed in October of 1963
in the 16th street baptist
church.
And I can say that for those of
you who haven't seen the film
I won't reveal what
actually happens,
but one of the most
dramatic moments in the film
involves these girls.
And I've been asking people to
please remember their names.
Yes.
They were four
young black girls.
And Spike Lee did a wonderful
film for little girls,
but I think we should remember
their names, Carole Robertson.
I remember their
names because Carole
was the youngest sister
of one of my best friends
and a very good friend
of my younger sister.
I remember Carole Robertson.
I remember Cynthia Wesley,
who lived next door to us.
And Denise McNair whom my mother
taught as a student and Addie
Mae Collins.
So many people are quite
disturbed that the film
is only up for two Oscars, best
picture Oscar and best song.
And the song is amazing.
Has everybody heard John
Legend and Common's rendition
of Glory?
It has already won
a Golden Globe award
and it's up for a Grammy.
And is also up for an Oscar.
The movement is a rhythm to us.
Freedom is like
a religion to us.
Justice is juxtaposition in us.
One son died.
His spirit is revisiting
us, true and living,
living in us, resistance in us.
That's why Rosa sat on the bus.
That's why we walk through
Ferguson with our hands up.
[APPLAUSE]
A powerful song that
moves across time
and makes the
connections between those
struggles one of half
century ago, 50 years ago
and struggles that
are unfolding today.
Just as we watch Selma with eyes
that are conditioned by issues
and struggle today, we should
reflect on Dr King's legacies
in ways that help us
to further understand
what is required of
us as we continue
to participate and
support and encourage
struggles for freedom.
Every year around
this time I'd like
to return to my favorite
text of Dr. Martin Luther
King, which is called
Trumpet of Conscience.
It's a collection
of five talks that
were broadcast in November
and December of 1967.
That is some six
months or so before he
was assassinated by the
Canadian Broadcasting Company.
Revisiting that text
helps me to recall
the progression of his
thoughts and specifically what
he was thinking about around the
time he was taken away from us.
And this year I return
very specifically
to the lecture on
youth and social action
because I thought
it might offer me
some insight into the surge of
activism over the last period
that has been produced by the
involvement of young people.
And also it gives
you a different sense
of who Dr. King was.
Most people are familiar with
the I Have a Dream speech.
There's far more to Dr. Martin
Luther King than the dream
that he had.
Besides all of us have a dream.
Don't we?
But in any event he was
speaking about young people
during that period.
And he says that it
is ironic that today
so many educators and
sociologists are seeking
methods to instill middle
class values in negro youths
as the ideal in
social development.
Middle class values.
Bourgeoisie values.
It was precisely he says,
when young Negroes threw off
their middle class
values that they
made an historic
social contribution.
They abandoned those values when
they put careers and wealth,
and wealth in a secondary role.
When they cheerfully became
jailbirds and trouble makers.
When they took off their
Brooks Brothers attire
and put on overalls to work
in the isolated rural South,
they challenged and inspired
white youth to emulate them.
Many left school he said,
not to abandon learning,
but to seek it in
more direct ways.
They were he said,
constructive school dropouts.
A variety that strengthen
the society and themselves.
And so not as to encourage
people to leave school,
you should recognize
that many of them
also return and
finished their education
and got their degrees.
But the point that he
was making at that time
was that this vast
experiment, and he's
referring in part to
freedom summer of 1964
and also to the
movements of '65.
He said that their work preceded
the conception of the Peace
Corps.
And it is safe to say
that their work was
the inspiration for
its organization
on an international scale.
And so I want to share
one other passage with you
because it allows us to
understand the capaciousness
of Dr. King's thought.
And the fact that he was calling
for what he called a world
consciousness.
He was calling for
people in the US
To emerge from the
slumber induced
by American exceptionalism
and American provincialism
and recognize that we are
citizens of the world.
And we don't need papers.
[APPLAUSE]
The consciousness of an awakened
activists he said cannot be
satisfied with a focus on local
problems if only because he
sees that local problems are
all interconnected with world
problems.
The young men who are
beginning to see that they must
refuse to leave their country in
order to fight and kill others.
It's also interesting that
there is another picture up--
another film up for best
picture award, American Sniper.
The young man who are beginning
to see that they must refuse
to leave their country in
order to fight and kill others
might decide to leave their
country at least for a while
in order to share their
lives with others.
There is as yet
not even an outline
in existence of what
structure this growing world
consciousness might
find for itself.
But he points out,
a dozen years ago
there was not even an outline
for the negro civil rights
movement in its first phase.
He concludes by saying,
the spirit is awake now.
Structures will follow.
And this is in a
sense very prescient
because Dr. King could
not have imagined
the extent to which Facebook
and Twitter would connect us
with the rest of the world.
The spirit is awake now.
Structures will
follow if we keep
our ears open to the spirit.
Perhaps the
structural forms will
emerge from other countries
propelled by another experience
of the shaping of history.
So he was inviting
us to be humble
and to recognize that
the US does not always
produce the best
knowledge in the world.
It does not always have the
best perspectives in the world.
As a matter of fact,
if we recognize
the extent to which movements
especially black movements
for freedom have relied on
international solidarity--
could never have
achieved the successes
they achieved without
the involvement of people
all over the world.
Then perhaps we should begin to
recognise our responsibilities
to produce solidarity's to
assist our sisters and brothers
in struggle in other places.
I can say that I
would not be standing
here today had not it been for
global solidarity movements.
I faced at one point
the death chamber.
I was on the-- some of you may
know that I was on the FBI's 10
most wanted list.
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
And had not it
been for movements
that emerged all
over the world, I
doubt whether I would
be standing here today
regardless of the
fact that I was
innocent of the charges
filed against me.
[APPLAUSE]
But I want to move on and invoke
briefly the surge in activism
we have been experiencing over
the last period, Ferguson,
Missouri, New York,
all over the country,
indeed, and other
parts of the world.
In September, I believe it
was, I had the opportunity
to visit a rather
small city in Italy,
Savona, which is close to Genoa.
And I was invited to speak
about the Cuban Five.
Because at that point, three
members of the Cuban Five
were still behind bars.
And of course, you
know Obama's trying
to do some good things
during the last two years.
So I definitely
appreciate of the fact
that there is this
effort to normalize
diplomatic relationships
with Cuba and hopefully
also economic relations.
And so in the context of this,
that of the remaining three
Cuban Five have been released.
But what I went to Savona to
talk about the Cuban Five,
everybody was talking
about Ferguson.
And I didn't expect that.
This is a small town in this
sort of rural area of Italy.
And people wanted to know what
was happening in Ferguson.
And then I was in Oxford to
observe the 50th anniversary
of Malcolm X's appearance
in the Oxford Union,
and there were people
marching in the aftermath
of the grand jury, the lack
of a grand jury indictment
around the policeman who
killed Michael Brown.
And then around the
same time we heard
about the results of the
grand jury case in connection
with Eric Garner.
And I was really surprised.
I mean, I shouldn't be
because I consider myself
an internationalist
virtually all my life.
But I recognize how little we
do in this country in relation
to events that are
unfolding elsewhere.
The anti-apartheid
movement here was
very important during
the '90s leading up
to the dismantling of the
apartheid government in South
Africa, but that was
kind of exceptional.
And what also surprised me was
that people in other countries
were saying, hands
up, don't shoot.
Even in countries where
they don't necessarily
speak English.
Because I had the opportunity
to travel to Istanbul about two
weeks ago.
And people knew about the
slogans, and no justice,
no peace, no racist police.
And they were saying, I
can't breathe, as well.
And they were saying,
black lives matter.
Now, many have
characterize the protests
that have emerged over the
last period as spontaneous.
And I want to talk about why
they weren't spontaneous.
Here in this country
we often encouraged not
to have a long view of history.
Not even have a short
view of history.
As a matter of fact, not
even to remember what
isn't on the front page,
either in the newspapers,
on television, or
in social media.
And those who argue that these
were spontaneous protests
act as if all of this is
occurred with out the work
of organizers and activists.
And let me say nothing
happens by itself.
That is one of the
messages of the film Selma.
But we can ask, why now?
And that is a valid question.
A very important question.
Why are we witnessing
these protests right now
at this particular moment?
And I would suggest
that we are experiencing
a special conjuncture,
a coming together
of a number of conditions.
No.
First of all, this
is the second term
of the first black president.
And we are all aware
of the proclamation
of a kind of post
racial condition that
was assumed to be a natural
consequence of the election
of the first black president.
I wonder how many more?
We always say the
first black president
as if it's the beginning of a
long line of black presidents.
[APPLAUSE]
But I always like to point out
that the election of Barack
Obama was world historical.
It was absolutely important
even for those of us
who were critical, very critical
of the Obama administration.
I often like to
point out that it's
possible to be supportive
and extremely critical
at the same time.
[APPLAUSE]
But the importance
of that election
was not so much the
individual, Barack Obama,
it was the movement that
enabled his election.
It was the fact that
large numbers of people,
vast numbers of young people,
largely young people refuse,
refuse to accept that it was
impossible to elect someone
like Barack Obama.
Not only someone who
was black, but someone
who identified with the
black freedom struggle.
And the very fact
that he was elected
was an indication that movements
can create the impossible.
The impossible.
And I can tell you when I was
facing murder, kidnapping,
and conspiracy, nobody believed.
Even those, especially those
who knew that I was not guilty.
But nobody believed
that it was going
to be possible to
effectively stand up
to the three most powerful
figures in this country.
And that was Richard
Nixon, president.
Ronald Reagan, governor.
J Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI.
So no one believed that we could
be successful in our struggle
because they were too powerful.
But we won.
We achieved the impossible
through organizing a movement
that had global dimensions.
[APPLAUSE]
And also let's remember, it was
six years ago, so some of you
were really young.
But I guess everybody here,
except the very young ones
have this vague memory
of what it felt like when
Obama was first elected.
You know many people thought it
was the beginning of a new era.
Many people thought that
the messiah had arrived.
And that wasn't exactly
true, but particularly
in the immediate
aftermath of his election
there were people celebrating
everywhere in the world.
Not only everywhere
in this country,
but all over the planet.
And let's remember that.
Let's remember that
moment of global euphoria
because we have a sense
of being connected
with people everywhere.
And there was a sense of promise
at that moment, which we should
not forget because it can
inspire us to continue to work
to achieve the impossible.
The Occupy mobilizations in
this country, and of course
the movements that preceded
Occupy, the struggles in Tahrir
Square, Spain, all over
Europe, and Africa, and Asia,
and Latin America.
There was this sense
that finally we
had figured out how
to come together
to challenge capitalism.
You remember we first started
talking the 1% and the 99%,
and some of you may
have recently read
the report that indicates that
by next year, by 2016 the 1%
will control more wealth
than the rest of us.
1% will control more
than 50% of the wealth
of the entire planet,
and that is obscene.
Isn't that obscene?
[APPLAUSE]
And Occupy taught
us that there might
be different ways of
organizing movements
that we might not always have to
depend on the older paradigms.
That we could create movements
that did not necessarily
have leaders who replace
their movement in terms
of the focus of attention.
So instead of thinking
about an individual,
we have to think about
masses of people.
Occupy also taught us--
the encampments taught us
that we have to figure
out how to address
a whole range of issues without
automatically capitulating
to the impulse to
call the police.
And so it began to explore
different forms of justice
in the cases of harm
that might have been done
by one person against another.
Or even in the case
of sexual assaults
that happened in some
of the encampments.
People had to figure
out how to address
these issues without
capitulating to the state.
And that was really important.
Occupy also made
it possible for us
to engage in public
critiques of capitalism,
open public critiques of
capitalism in the United
States, perhaps for the first
time since the 1930s when
the Communist Party
was organizing.
And I have too much more to say,
so little time to say it in.
So let me just enumerate some of
the other enabling conditions.
There were a whole number
of cases, the Oscar Grant
case, which some of you
may be familiar with.
And the film Fruitvale
Station depicts his time
before he was killed.
And then of course there was
the Trayvon Martin case, which
was known all over the world.
And the failure to convict
George Zimmerman who
I understand was just arrested
again for domestic violence.
See, there's a connection.
And maybe we'll talk
about that connection
before the end of my talk today.
But also in response
to these cases
and the case of Troy Davis,
the largest anti-death penalty
mobilization developed around
the case of Troy Davis.
It did not unfortunately save
him from the death chamber,
but people were mobilized
all over the country
and new youth formations
began to emerge.
The dream defenders in
Florida for example,
and in Chicago, in New York,
in a number of urban areas
you have witnessed the
development of very
radical youth organizations.
And then the emergence of
a youth movement over time,
over the last perhaps
15 or 20 years
that focuses on the
prison industrial complex.
And this is a movement
that not only challenges
over-incarceration,
but also the extent
to which incarceration has
become a profitable industry.
And it challenges
the globalization
of the prison industry
and the security industry
both in terms of private
prisons and in terms
of punishment or security
services, in general.
And in terms of
the United States
providing the global
model for incarceration
as an alternative.
Imprisonment as an alternative
to jobs, to health care,
to education, and a
whole range of services
that human beings
need to survive.
Look at the global
South where you
see the proliferation of
prisons, and at the same time
the deterioration of
education, and a deterioration
of accessible health care.
What we have witnessed in
terms of the Ebola epidemic
should not have
happened in that way.
And as a matter of fact has
been exaggerated precisely
because of the policies
of structural adjustment
that have led to a
shift of capital away
from human services to
more profitable sectors
of the economy.
Precisely in order to
satisfy the demands
of world financial
institutions like the World
Bank and the IMF.
[APPLAUSE]
And so these young
activists understand
that structural racism is
incorporated into systems
of over-incarceration.
They recognize that black people
are vastly disproportionately
represented among
incarcerated populations
as are Latino communities.
And that native people are
per capita more incarcerated.
That is to say they have the
highest rate of incarceration
than any other group of people.
And that trans people of
color, who are the most
over-criminalized group
of people in this country
especially black trans women
who cannot easily pass.
So the point that I'm making
is that these young people
have developed a
very sophisticated
political consciousness
that recognizes
the role that racist
police departments play
in the systematic
criminalization of people
of color.
[APPLAUSE]
They also understand the need
to be inclusive in our analyses
and to realize that we cannot
abstractly focus on race
without considering how
class and gender figure in.
And how anti-racists
struggles require
us to resist homophobia
and transphobia.
And how the over-incarceration
of our communities
has been helped along by
the use of incarceration
as a strategy against
physically and intellectually
disabled people.
[APPLAUSE]
Now,
so why have we been seeing
these mobilizations recently?
In large part
because people like
that have been
engaged in grassroots
on the ground organizing
for a long time.
And I think that it is
so important to recognize
the role of the organizer.
Dr. King could
have never emerged
as the spokesperson
for that movement
had not there been organizers
to create the movement.
He didn't do-- I mean, I
of course respect Dr. King
a great deal, but he didn't
do the most important work,
he didn't do the work
that made the movement,
he simply gave voice to those
people who were organized.
And I have to say that it
was largely youth and largely
women.
[APPLAUSE]
And it was sometimes young men
and women and then older women.
I mean older--
older, older women,
like Rosa Parks and Ella Baker,
and all of these amazing women.
But let me-- I
did have a section
in which I was going
to talk about-- all
of the cases of people who
have been killed by the police.
And I want us to beware of our
tendency to exceptionalize,
to individualize
and exceptionaliize
because oftentimes
we are implicated
in the reproduction
of racism when
we assume that a racist act,
which we know is quite normal
given the historical
and existing conditions
in this country.
When we perceive that
racist act as exceptional,
as somehow shocking.
And besides even if
police perpetrators
are found guilty what real
difference will that make?
And let me say that
we've been assisted
in asking these
kinds of questions
about the way in which
we should approach
these issues of racist police
violence by the questions
that the prison abolition
movement has been raising
for a long time.
If imprisonment does not solve
the problems it is putatively
designed to solve, how do
we conceptualize strategies
to address problems
facing people in prison,
and those who may have been
harmed by people behind bars?
And so abolitionists have
developed a dual strategy.
On the one hand,
devote resources
to education, and health
care, and housing,
and jobs et cetera.
And I think it's good
that Obama has come up
with this strategy to make
community education effectively
free.
[APPLAUSE]
Community college education.
But it should not only
apply to community colleges,
It should also apply
to four year colleges.
[APPLAUSE]
As a matter of
fact, it should be
possible to get an
education from child care
all the way up to the
postgraduate level.
But these are
precisely the kinds
of developments that would
reduce prison populations.
But then there are those
who say, well, what
about the really bad people?
Shouldn't we put them in prison?
But abolitionists ask us
to re-envision what it
means to move toward justice.
And to try to imagine
a justice that
does not depend on violence,
and revenge, and retribution.
[APPLAUSE]
And a justice that
also would help
us to understand why
certain people commit
such horrible acts, so that
we can eventually purge
our societies of that violence.
So you see the role
that prison plays
in reproducing that violence
over and over again.
Often times people
who go to prison
for having committed horrendous
acts of violence they
only become more violent
within the context
of an institution that
is grounded on violence
and that reproduces
violence every day.
But then we have to ask, if
prison, and of course the death
penalty in this country,
which is very much linked
to over-incarceration
in the US is still
the only so-called
advanced industrial country
in the entire world
that uses the death
penalty as a routine
mode of punishment.
So we should ask, if prison
and the death penalty
don't work in general
and especially
for the communities that are
systematically criminalized.
Why would they work
for police officers
who commit acts of racism?
Often times with no intention
at all to be racists
because many of them
can with good conscience
say, I'm not a racist.
But I think all of us have been
infected by racism regardless
of our ethnic or
racial backgrounds.
So Neo-liberal
ideology constantly
drives us to focus
on individuals,
on individual victims,
individual perpetrators.
And so how can we call on
individual police officers
to bear the burden
of this long history?
We've only now become
attentive to the fact
that all over the
country all the time
people from criminalized
communities of color
are targets of police violence.
And this is been going on.
It has a long history.
It can be traced back
to the era of slavery.
It can be traced back
to the colonization
of indigenous people.
Now, just very
briefly because I know
I've already run out of time.
Well, the organizers
might not think so.
But let me just say very briefly
that it has been important
that we have come to
associate with these cases
of racist police violence larger
issues over the last period.
And one is the
militarization of the police
because when we saw the images
of this small town police
force in Ferguson, Missouri
wearing military fatigues,
and carrying military
weapons, and driving
in military armored
cars, armored vehicles,
people began to ask,
what is this all about?
Is this the US?
Or is it Palestine?
And then we found out that
the Defense Department
has this excess property
program through which it
has been offering weapons,
and garb, and strategies,
and technology, and
so forth to police
departments all
over the country,
including campus
police departments.
And so that makes us
ask the question, well,
why this militarization
of local police forces?
Police are supposed
to protect and serve.
Some people think
they do at least.
But members of the military
are supposed to shoot to kill.
And so what is happening
to our police departments?
Well we found out
that many of them
have been trained in Israel.
Trained in counter-terrorism.
As a matter of fact, the
Sheriff of St. Louis county
has sent members of the
Sheriff's department
to be trained in
Israel in strategies
of counter-terrorism.
And this has been happening
all over the country.
We found out shortly after
Oscar Grant was killed.
He was killed by BART
police, but that the Oakland
police had, had a
joint training session
with the Israeli military.
And all this of
course began to happen
in the aftermath of 9/11.
So I think it's so
important for us
to recognize all
of the damage that
has been done in the name of
fighting the war on terror.
And the anti-Muslim racism
that has developed globally
in this context of protecting
the world against terrorism.
It reminds me so much of the
way the term communism was
once used.
And all of the
violence and damage
that was done in the name
of fighting communism.
And just two final points.
One has to do with the fact
that Assata Shakur, who
was one of the most important
figures of the black liberation
movement, who now lives in Cuba.
And she was recently
named one of the 10 most
wanted terrorists in the
world at the age of 67.
Right?
I mean, it's not saying that
older people can't-- but you
know what-- but it's
like ridiculous.
She has been living in Cuba
since she escaped from a US
prison in the 1980s
and she has been
productively contributing
to society there, teaching,
and writing, and
learning, and working.
And suddenly she's
placed on the 10 most
wanted terrorist list and
a two million dollars award
is offered to any mercenary.
And the with the
privatization of the military
we have many
private soldiers now
who might be willing to travel
to Cuba to kidnap her and bring
her back in order
to collect that two
million dollars reward.
I wanted to also
talk about feminism,
but unfortunately I am not
going to be able to share
all of this with you.
But let me just say that
I wanted to emphasize
that personal is political.
And--
[APPLAUSE]
And feminist
strategies that help
us to make the connection
between and among issues
and conditions that
might otherwise
appear to be unrelated.
And so my very last example
reflects a global pandemic
from which no population
in this country is exempt.
From which no
community is exempt
and I'm referring
to sexual violence.
I'm referring to
intimate violence.
What we often call
domestic violence.
What we consider to
be private violence.
Intimate violence is not
unconnected to state violence.
Where do perpetrators
of intimate violence
learn how to engage in
practices of violence?
I wanted to briefly evoke the
case of Marissa Alexander who
fired a weapon in the air and
attempting to protect herself
from her abusive husband
who was attacking her.
No one was hurt.
No one was hit.
But in the same
judicial jurisdiction
where George Zimmerman
was found not guilty,
Marissa Alexander
was found guilty
and initially sentenced
to 20 years in prison.
And then the
prosecutor attempted
to bring about a re-sentencing
that would cause her
to spend 60 years behind bars.
So I want us to think
about the connections.
I want us to recognize
that while we
tend to focus on young black
men and young Latino men
as the most usual
targets of violence
because this is the violence
that happens in public places.
We should remember
that women are
the most consistent targets of
violence in the entire world.
[APPLAUSE]
And so I want to
urge us to imagine
the expansion of freedom
and justice in the world
here in Palestine,
in South Africa,
in Turkey, in
Colombia, and Brazil,
and the Philippines and the US.
And I think now is
the time when we
have to recognize that we have
to stop pivoting the center.
That we have to stop being
concerned about moderation.
We have to be willing
to stand up and say no.
To create communities
of struggle.
Communities of resistance.
To combine our intellects.
To combine our passions.
To combine our voices.
And finally, Dr. King wrote
in that essay or that lecture
I shared with you earlier he
says, we do not have much time.
The revolutionary spirit
is all ready worldwide.
If the anger of the peoples
of the world at the injustice
of things is to be channeled
into a revolution of love
and creativity,
we must begin now
to work urgently with all of the
peoples to shape a new world.
Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
