US Govt. Complicit in Police Killings of African-Americans: Anti-Racist Activist

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An American anti-racist strategist and activist said the US government is complicit in police-involved shootings and killings of unarmed black men across the country.

• May, 31, 2020 - 

“The United States government has been not only complicit in Black death but an active participant and agitator in our deaths. Right now protestors are fighting back against heavily armed cops in riot gear. These cops are shooting tear gas and other projectiles as peaceful protestors. Imagine the level of cruelty it takes to shoot tear gas in a crowd of peaceful people,” Desmond Abrams told Tasnim.

Abrams is a Black American community organizer and anti-racist strategist. He is the founder and executive director of Brothers Doing Better, a US-based racial and social justice organization.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Tasnim: Protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd continue to rage across the US. What do you think about the protests and the role of the US government in them?

Abrams: The United States government has been not only complicit in Black death but an active participant and agitator in our deaths. Right now protestors are fighting back against heavily armed cops in riot gear. These cops are shooting tear gas and other projectiles as peaceful protestors. Imagine the level of cruelty it takes to shoot tear gas in a crowd of peaceful people. Then imagine how cruel you would have to be to do this during a pandemic that attacks your breathing.

Tasnim: US President Donald Trump, in a tweet after midnight on Friday, called the protesters in Minneapolis “thugs” and said, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” His tweet was widely criticized for inciting violence. What is your take on his tweet?

Abrams: Trump’s tweets about "Thugs" doesn't shock anyone I know. And in all honesty, his tweets really are just a continuation of the race/class war that American presidents always wage against their citizens, in particular their Black and darker skin population. He mentioned there will be shooting, and my reply is "so what". You (and the presidents before him) have already enabled the police to kill Black people at a whim. So the thought that people who are already pushed to the brink by way of American anti-Black hatred and dominance are just gonna pack up and go home because Trump called the Black community a racial slur and made more threats is inaccurate. The protest, the uprisings, they are still happening and they are expanding day by day.

Tasnim: The United States is a contradiction. Its founding principles embrace the ideals of freedom and equality, but it is a nation built on the systematic exclusion and suppression of communities of color. From the start, so many of this country’s laws and public policies, which should serve as the scaffolding that guides progress, were instead designed explicitly to prevent people of color from fully participating. What are the reasons behind this?

Abrams: That's a great question. And there are a lot of reasons for this contradiction. First and foremost is the practice of slavery in America; this country would not be a superpower if it were not for our ancestors forced free labor. The wealthy in this country have coasted off the wealth that that period created and they are hoarding those ill-gotten gains still.

Also the system of exploitation known as capitalism cannot thrive without an outgroup or bottom caste group to hold up the entire system. That is what Black people are in this country, we hold up this country and institutions through our labor and our suffering. When California wants to put out wildfires they pay Black imprisoned people less than a dollar a day to risk their lives. That's just one example. But there are plenty.

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Trump Fueling Racial Animosity to Stay Another 4 Years in Office: US Analyst

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An American political analyst based in Detroit said US President Donald Trump is seeking to divide the country through fueling racial animosity between African Americans and whites in an effort to convince right-wing elements that he should be given another four years in office.

“Trump has built his political career upon racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant bigotry. He is attempting to inflame tensions between people in the United States against Caracas and Beijing along with Tehran. On a domestic level, he has fueled racial animosity between African Americans and whites in an effort to divide the country further in order to convince right-wing elements that he should be given another four years in office,” Abayomi Azikiwe said in an interview with Tasnim.

Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire and a co-founder of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) and the Moratorium NOW! Coalition, both based in Detroit. Azikiwe has published numerous articles, pamphlets, and books on African affairs along with working as a consultant for various satellite television news networks throughout the world. He has traveled extensively in Africa conducting field research on political economy and history.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Tasnim: Protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd continue to rage across the US. What do you think about the protests?

Azikiwe: These demonstrations and rebellions are a direct response to not only the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The unrest reflects the overall atmosphere of anger and despair within a racist and capitalist society. The mass frustration has been building for years in regard to the attacks upon African Americans by law-enforcement agents and white vigilantes. The outrage comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has eliminated more than 100,000 people in the United States and sickened some 1.6 million. This is by far the worst humanitarian and healthcare crisis in the US for more than a century. African Americans are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. In states such as Michigan and Illinois, African Americans are being hospitalized and are dying in numbers far greater than their percentages in the general population. 41 million people have been thrown out of work. There are many who do not have money and food as a direct result of the economic collapse. Consequently, the horrendous execution of Mr. Floyd was not only illegal it was a provocation of the highest order. Therefore, no one should be surprised at the level of disorder taking place in cities across the country for the last several days.

Tasnim: US President Donald Trump, in a tweet after midnight on Friday, called the protesters in Minneapolis “thugs” and said, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” His tweet was widely criticized for inciting violence. What is your take on his tweets?

Azikiwe: Trump has built his political career upon racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant bigotry. He is attempting to inflame tensions between people in the United States against Caracas and Beijing along with Tehran. On a domestic level, he has fueled racial animosity between African Americans and whites in an effort to divide the country further in order to convince right-wing elements that he should be given another four years in office. If the local municipalities and states where the demonstrations are occurring engage in even more repressive tactics, it will only make matters worse. Rather than the Trump administration directing its attention towards containing the COVID-19 pandemic and lessening tensions in the country, it is creating even more hostility sparking violent responses in the streets of Washington, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, Memphis, New York City, among other metropolitan areas. At present National Guardsmen are being deployed in Minneapolis and St. Paul, while other local police agencies are facing the wrath of the African American people and their allies who are making their voices heard through mass demonstrations and other forms of resistance.

Tasnim: The United States is a contradiction. Its founding principles embrace the ideals of freedom and equality, but it is a nation built on the systematic exclusion and suppression of communities of color. From the start, so many of this country’s laws and public policies, which should serve as the scaffolding that guides progress, were instead designed explicitly to prevent people of color from fully participating. What are the reasons behind this?

Azikiwe: The Declaration of Independence of 1776 did not call for the liberation of enslaved Africans. During the early phase of the United States as a nation, only white male property owners could vote and have representation within the government. Africans and other nationally oppressed groups, women and the working class were forced to wage a protracted struggle to gain fundamental political and democratic rights. Despite the Civil War which legally ended involuntary servitude after 1865, African Americans have been forced to continue their struggle for self-determination, equality, and economic justice. Whenever gains have been made historically, right-wing elements backed by the capitalist ruling class initiates measures to reverse the reforms which are enacted as a result of mass organization and agitation. What is needed is a total break with the racist and capitalist regime. Only the creation of a genuinely democratic and non-racial society can bring about harmony and peace. Unfortunately, there is a need for more confrontation. The outcome of these struggles will determine the future of the US and consequently the world.

Iran Urges US to Stop Intimidating Protesters, Change Its ‘Bankrupt’ Policies

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry called on the US government to stop intimidating anti-brutality protesters in the country and instead listen to its people and change its “bankrupt” policies.

• May, 31, 2020 - 16:00

“Failed to keep its promise of stopping wasting money on foreign adventurism & embattled in a COVID19 crisis of its own making, US regime now employs army, 'vicious dogs & ominous weapons' to intimidate protesters. Instead, US should listen to its people & change its bankrupt policies,” the ministry said in a tweet on Sunday.

It came three days after disturbing footage surfaced online showing a police officer, Derek Chauvin, choking unarmed black man George Floyd to death in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after forcing him to the ground and pinning him down with his knee.

The officer refused to relieve the pressure, although Floyd was being heard repeatedly pleading for his life and saying, “I can’t breathe.”

Floyd’s death, a poignant reminder of repeated unjustifiable killings of members of the African-American community by the US police, has been followed by protests across the country.

GEORGE FLOYD SOLIDARITY PROTEST TORONTO

Going global
The protests have spread north of the border to Canada, with thousands marching in the streets of Vancouver and Toronto on Saturday. In Toronto, protesters also held signs to remember Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a black woman who fell from her high-rise apartment balcony while alone with police who had been called to her home on Wednesday.

https://www.dw.com/en/anti-racism-protests-spread-to-berlin-and-london/a-53643710

MORE GEORGE FLOYD 

I CAN'T BREATHE 

PROTEST PHOTOS

 MAY 31, 2020

ANARCHIST GAMES STREET BOARDING

LARRY KRAMER FOUNDER OF ACT UP
AIDS ACTIVIST CREATOR OF THIS 
SLOGAN DIED THIS WEEK AS WELL

GEORGE FLOYD SUPERHERO ANGEL

WHITE SUPREMACISTS BOOGALOO BOIS
BURNED DOWN THE NATIVE CENTRE
 IN MINNEAPOLIS, REPRESENTATIVES
OF THREE MEXICAN INDIGENOUS TRIBES
ARE VISITING FOR A CULTURAL EXCHANGE

DURING PROTESTS

SHIVA'S BLESSINGS

COVERED IN MILK TO STOP THE 
TEAR GAS BURN

THIS BROTHER IS SAFER PROTESTING
IN LONDON,COPPERS DON'T CARRY GUNS

FASHIONISTA PROTESTER 

THIS IS WHAT THE FIRST AMENDMENT
 LOOKS LIKE

WHERE IS THE FEMALE COP TO ARREST
HER 

JUST GOOD NATURED FUN YOUTHFUL
EXUBERANCE AND ITS VANDALISM
NOT VIOLENCE

RIP WRAPPED
Artist Christo who wrapped Reichstag in fabric dies aged 84

The artist known as Christo, who made his name transforming landmarks such as Germany's Reichstag by covering them with reams of cloth, died on Sunday aged 84, his official Facebook page announced.

© Niklas HALLE'N Christo made transforming internationally known landmarks his speciality

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff died of natural causes at his home in New York City, the statement said.

The Bulgarian-born artist worked in collaboration with his wife of 51 years Jeanne-Claude until her death in 2009.

Their large-scale productions would take years of preparation and were costly to erect; but they were mostly ephemeral, coming down after just weeks or months.

"Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible but realising it," said a statement from his office.

"Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artwork brought people together in shared experiences across the globe, and their work lives on in our hearts and memories."

In accordance with Christo's wishes, the statement added, a work in progress, "l'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped", would be completed. The event is on schedule to be shown from September 18 in 2021.

Born on June 13, 1935 in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, Christo left his home country in 1957, living in several countries before arriving in Paris, where he met his future wife.

Next year's work in Paris will be accompanied by an exhibition at the city's Pompidou Centre about their time in the city. That show is due to start in July this year, running through until the end of October 2021.

As well as the German Reichstag, another of their major projects was wrapping the Pont Neuf, Paris's oldest bridge, in 1985.

Sunday's statement from Christo's office concluded: "In a 1958 letter Christo wrote, 'Beauty, science and art will always triumph'. We hold those words closely today."


'Wrapped Reichstag' artist Christo dies, aged 84
He was most famous for wrapping huge buildings and spaces, such as the Reichstag in Berlin and Paris' Pont-Neuf. American-Bulgarian artist Christo has died at the age of 84.



His last monumental work was to be the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. In the fall of 2020, Christo was to cover the famous landmark with 25,000 square meters (270,000 square feet) of silver blue recyclable polypropylene fabric, tied with 7,000 meters of red rope.

Christo however didn't get to witness the unveiling of his ambitious installation. On May 31, the world famous Bulgarian-American artist died of natural causes at his home in New York City.

"Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible but realising it," said a statement from his office.

Wrapping to awake curiosity

Shiny fabrics that covered buildings, objects or entire areas were his trademark. Together with his wife Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009, he wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, trees in Switzerland or paths in Kansas City. And sometimes he just covered up air in big "air packages."


Christo's big 'air packages'

Christo and Jeanne Claude planned together large-scale projects such as the oversized Valley Curtain installed between two Colorado mountain slopes in the early 1970s.

Other spectacular works include the pink Surrounded Islands in Florida and the Pont-Neuf Wrapped bridge installation in Paris in the 1980s. In 1995, the artist couple wrapped the German Reichstag in silver glittering fabric.

In 2016, some 1.3 million visitors walked on his Floating Piers across Lake Iseo. "I love real things, real wind, real dryness, real wet, real fear and real joy," Christo told a group of Italian students in the documentary Walking on Water.


Christo's Floating Piers across Lake Iseo

Christo started wrapping or covering items such as cans, bottles and boxes early on in his artistic career. Yet he always rejected being defined as a "packaging artist."

He left the interpretation of his art to others, but his basic approach was to arouse the curiosity of viewers by concealing objects, without ever changing them beyond recognition — a process the artist's biographer, David Bourdon, described as "revealing by hiding."

Famous artist couple: Christo & Jeanne-Claude

Christo Vladimiroff Javacheff was born in Bulgaria on June 13, 1935. In the 1950s he studied painting, sculpture and architecture in Sofia. In 1956, he fled the communist country across the Czechoslovak border.

In Paris at the beginning of the 1960s, he joined a group of artists known as the "Nouveaux Réalistes" — the new realists — who, among other things, integrated real-life objects into art by transforming them.


Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 2006

To earn money, Christo also painted portraits. While working for a general, he met his daughter, Jeanne-Claude, who was born on the same day as he was. Jeanne-Claude was first seduced by Christo's charm; her enthusiasm for his art came later. She contributed to his artistic talent through her organizational skills.

Relations with Germany

Wolfgang Volz became the couple's official photographer in 1972. "Although Christo had a worldwide reputation, I never worked 'for' the two of them, but 'with' them as equal partners," Volz once told DW. That's why their relationship lasted so long, even though Christo could also be difficult, having a reputation for being short-tempered and stubborn when it came to realizing the detailed concepts of his works exactly according to his plans.

Over time, his art projects became increasingly ambitious. "The 'working family' grew with the size of the projects," said Volz on the occasion of Christo's 80th birthday. "Engineers, professional climbers and other specialists were needed."


The veiling of the Reichstag in 1995 was one of Christo's most ambitious projects

Christo's panels of fabrics were made in Germany, where he also realized one of his most ambitious projects, the veiling of the Berlin Reichstag in 1995.

Within two weeks, five million visitors had admired the impressive sparkling Wrapped Reichstag. Christo had been waiting for over 20 years to realize this project.

Freedom as a driving artistic force

As a representative of so-called Environmental or Land Art, Christo, together with Jeanne-Claude, undertook many spectacular wrapping and design campaigns for buildings, parks and entire areas.

In the 1960s, a time of social upheaval, Land Art had a political dimension. Geographical spaces were transformed into works of art that could not be owned — a form of protest against property and the bourgeoisie.


One of the artists' most spectacular installations, 'Umbrellas,' from the early 70s

Christo remained true to this ideal until the end. His large-scale installations were only visible for a short period, but they were open to the public and free of charge for everyone. "The fact that they disappear is part of the aesthetic concept. They are deeply rooted in freedom, because freedom is an enemy of property — while property is linked to durability," said Christo as he worked on the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin.

Freedom has always been a central concept for the former refugee from Bulgaria. In order to remain independent, he financed his projects from the sale of sketches and merchandise related to his works.

An artist with a political stance

Christo's socio-critical ambitions became artistic happenings that fascinated the public. Jeanne-Claude often described their work this way: "We create temporary works of art of joy and beauty."


Christo and Jeanne-Claude working on their project 'Over the River'

But all while promoting beauty and joy, Christo remained political. He gave up his Over the River project in Colorado, which he had been developing for 20 years, in protest against US President Donald Trump in 2017. "The US government is our landlord here," Christo told The New York Times. "It owns the country. I cannot do a project that benefits this landlord."

Oil barrels for a grave

Christo not only covered buildings and landscapes; oil barrels were another recurring material in his art. In 1962, he blocked the Rue Visconti in Paris with a wall made of 441 oil barrels. He called the work The Iron Curtain, created in protest against the East German regime and the construction of the Berlin Wall.


The Mastaba in Hyde Park

In 1977, Christo and Jeanne-Claude designed The Mastaba, inspired by Ancient Egyptian tombs. They aimed to build a colorful pyramid without a tip made of 410,000 oil barrels in the United Arab Emirates desert near Abu Dhabi.

Christo realized smaller versions of this pyramid, most recently a floating Mastaba of 7,506 oil barrels in London's Hyde Park in 2018. The Abu Dhabi Mastaba in the desert, which would have been the world's largest sculpture and his only large-scale permanent installation, remained one of his longstanding unfulfilled dreams.



CHRISTO AND HIS LARGE-SCALE ARTWORKS
Wrapping the Arc de Triomphe (2020)

The "Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped" was announced as the last large-scale project completed by Christo during his lifetime. The Parisian landmark at the end of the Champs Elysees was to be covered in September 2020 with a silvery-blue recyclable fabric, tied by a red rope. Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude had developed the concept for this installation back in 1962.

Packaging air (1968)

Christo developed his first elaborate installations in the 1960s, wrapping everyday objects such as chairs, magazines and oil drums. Later he created "Air Packages" such as this 5,600-cubic-meter installation at the Documenta 4 art fair in Kassel in 1968, which earned him worldwide recognition.

CHRISTO AND HIS LARGE-SCALE ARTWORKS

A monument to the artist couple

The Mastaba in London was a foretaste of the great mastaba that Christo and Jeanne-Claude had planned for Abu Dhabi. The gigantic pyramid of 410,000 oil barrels was to be the artist couple's first major permanent project. They often visited their desired location in the desert of the United Arab Emirates. "The Mastaba," featured on Christo's homepage, remained a dream.

Author: Gaby Reucher

SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE
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Date 31.05.2020
Author Gaby Reucher
Related Subjects Christo, Reichstag, Norman Foster
Keywords Christo, artist, Reichstag, New York City

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3d5WI

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

 MAKES THE WORLD LESS SAFE AGAIN

Growing US-China rivalry seen fueling UN paralysis amid virus crisis

For nearly a decade, the UN Security Council has been frequently paralyzed by Russia's obstinacy over the Syrian crisis. Today, however, it is the US-China rivalry that has infected a growing array of issues, according to officials and diplomats.

© Ludovic MARIN The flag of the UN outside the New York headquarters of the world body, seen in a photo taken on September 23, 2019

As recently as 2017, an understanding between Washington and Beijing allowed the United Nations on three occasions -- involving separate sets of economic sanctions -- to project international unity in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat.

Three years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a ferocious competition erupt between the UN's two main contributors, prompting the organization's chief, Antonio Guterres, to bemoan a "lack of leadership" during the world's worst crisis since 1945.

"Where we see power, we sometimes do not see the necessary leadership," he said recently.

Even after more than two months of negotiations, the 15 Security Council members were unable to reach agreement on a resolution supporting a call from the UN secretary-general for a global cease-fire while the world battles the novel coronavirus.

The sole reason? US-Chinese differences over a passing mention in the draft resolution to the World Health Organization (WHO), with which President Donald Trump on Friday said he planned to sever ties.

Both UN officials and diplomats say the US-Chinese conflict seems to be spreading, leaving them increasingly pessimistic.

"The Security Council has been frozen for 45 years between 1945 and 1990, because of the Cold War," one ambassador said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The last thing we need is another Cold War that would freeze again the Security Council."

"Importing bilateral disputes in the Council would be a disaster," he said.

Added another ambassador: "We really shouldn't enter in a new Cold War. But it doesn't look very good at the moment," whether regarding leadership, the pandemic or US-Chinese relations, three subjects "very closely tied to each other."

© Greg Baker UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, seen at a news conference in Beijing on November 28, 2016

- Fragility and humility -

At the UN, there is a sense of a dangerous drift into new and dysfunctional territory.

"In the past, when you had disagreements among members of the Council, it was compartmentalized," said a UN official, speaking on grounds of anonymity. "So your adversary one day on a particular issue was your best ally the next day on another issue. What we see now is everything spilling over.

"So there are camps, or there are disagreements which just spill over from one issue to another," the official said, clearly alluding to the situation in Hong Kong, where tough new Chinese security legislation has pitted the two leading permanent members of the UN against each other.

"The tensions between the US and China are really problematic" for the world body, meaning the Security Council is "not able to move forward on a range of things," the official added.

Several ambassadors shared that view.

"There is a huge fracture in the global multilateral architecture right now. And it's very serious," said Olof Skoog, the European Union ambassador to the UN.

"We are witnessing a polarization in the Security Council," said Ambassador Christoph Heusgen of Germany, currently a non-permanent member of the council, alluding to an ever more bitter volley of tweets being exchanged by the US and Chinese missions.

At a press conference Thursday, Guterres expressed his regret that the pandemic had not evoked a greater sense of humility from the big powers.

"If the present crisis shows something, it is our fragility. Collective fragility. When we are fragile, we should be humble. When we are humble, we should be united and in solidarity," he said, in remarks directed to members of the Security Council.

He then made it abundantly clear that he had in mind the United States and China -- which as permanent Security Council members enjoy the veto power that greatly magnifies their influence.

"I have never seen the Council's work being paralyzed by (non-permanent) members," he said.

prh/cjc/bbk/dw

WHAT IS SITUATIONISM? A READER STEWART HOME ED.

https://www.academia.edu/39692391/Home_-_WHAT_IS_SITUATIONISM_A_READER

From Watts to Wall Street: A situationist analysis of political violence

Chapter · April 2020 with 10 Reads 

DOI: 10.4324/9780429460357-2

In book: Cultures of Violence, Edition: 1st, Chapter: 1, Publisher: Routledge, pp.16-39
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340726696_From_Watts_to_Wall_Street_A_situationist_analysis_of_political_violence

This chapter applies ‘The Decline and Fall of the Spectacle-Commodity Economy’ – the Situationist account of the Watts Rebellion (Los Angeles, 1965) – to the August riots (England, 2011) and the global Occupy movement that followed. It draws two conclusions: that both May ‘68 and Occupy were formed by the political violence that preceded them; and that, although the Situationist essay makes problematic claims about race, its assessment of the Spectacle-Commodity Economy remains valuable. In fact, if combined with intersectional theory, it can provide a useful counterbalance to identity politics that can prevent what Alain Badiou calls an ‘immediate riot’ from becoming a ‘historical riot’ by fragmenting mass social movements and undermining unity.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

OCCUPY THE FUN PALACE

BRITT EVERSOLE

Thresholds

No. 41, REVOLUTION! (Spring 2013), pp. 32-45

Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43876495

Page Count: 14

Topics: Situationism, Modern art, Palaces, Dialectic, British culture, Radicalism, Graphics, Riots, Collage