Grassroots Message Against Police Violence--and All Violence--Stands Firm
Just minutes after unfurling a 50-foot banner on the side of the A.J. Muste Building in Manhattan (also dubbed the "Peace Pentagon" for the nonviolent social change organizations it houses) a friend called to tell me that two police officers had been shot, execution style, in Brooklyn. I was composing a Tweet about the banner but deleted it mid-phrase. The banner reads: "NYC to Ferguson: End Police Violence," and it was sponsored by the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.
Just minutes after unfurling a 50-foot banner on the side of the A.J. Muste Building in Manhattan (also dubbed the "Peace Pentagon" for the nonviolent social change organizations it houses) a friend called to tell me that two police officers had been shot, execution style, in Brooklyn. I was composing a Tweet about the banner but deleted it mid-phrase. The banner reads: "NYC to Ferguson: End Police Violence," and it was sponsored by the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.
My first thought was that the NYC Patrolmen's Benevolent Association would seize on the killings as a chance to condemn the mass movements calling for police reform that have filled the streets for the last several weeks. My second thought was that our building at 339 Lafayette Street--home to grassroots groups such as the War Resisters League, the Granny Peace Brigade, Deep Dish TV and Paper Tiger TV--would be a target. The timing of our banner drop could be construed as an affront to the slain officers, especially since its sponsoring group, working to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, has long been targeted by the Fraternal Order of Police.
I took a deep breath and asked myself: What would A.J. do? Would he remove the banner? Our namesake A.J. Muste was known for his saying: "There is no way to peace--peace is the way." He was a pacifist, anti-war activist and a leader of the civil rights and labor movements whose personal integrity won him rare, universal respect. In 1974, the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute was founded to keep A.J.'s legacy alive through ongoing support of the nonviolent movement for social change. The Institute provides grants and sponsorships to grassroots groups across the U.S. and the world, and provides office space at the Peace Pentagon to social justice organizations.
I decided that A.J. would be proud of the banner and that he would use it as an opportunity to engage in difficult conversations among individuals and organizations with varying viewpoints. The banner's call for an end to police violence is as urgent this week as it was last week; none of the issues have changed, and the tragic murder of two New York City police officers won't--can't--slow our efforts to end violence, impunity and abuse of power by law enforcement.
We display banners on our building for a reason. Three days after hijackers brought down the Twin Towers in September 2001, we put up a banner reading "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." We, and the groups we support, are committed to confronting injustice--not only when it's convenient and popular to do so, but all the time.
Our banners stand in sharp contrast to the high-end retail stores and new multi-million dollar apartments that surround us in Manhattan's "NoHo" district, one of the most financially exclusive neighborhoods in the borough. The A.J. Muste building itself and the work of its social justice groups challenge the growing inequality in income and opportunity that marks New York City and the entire country. Decades of tireless organizing from this building are living testament to the power of the people and the positive change that can come from sustained nonviolent action.
Our movements are nonviolent, and are not to blame for the killing of Officers Liu and Ramos. The peaceful demonstrations and direct actions carried out by tens of thousands of people of all ethnicities in recent months are born of a frustration with a system that guarantees impunity to state agents who kill young African American men.
We must question the motives of those who claim our nonviolent protests are inciting criminal violence. Are they driven by concern for the lives of officers like Liu and Ramos? Or are they more interested in discrediting our movements? Such attempts to shift the blame--instead of acknowledging the need for police accountability and oversight--only fuel the public's distrust of law enforcement and growing disillusionment in American democracy, further deepening the divide between the police and the public.
We will not be silenced. We hang this banner proudly on the Muste building, and we will continue to fill the streets with our feet and our voices, because racism and police violence are an affront to our values, and because we believe, as A.J. did, that persistent nonviolent protest will ultimately prevail in creating a more just world.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Just minutes after unfurling a 50-foot banner on the side of the A.J. Muste Building in Manhattan (also dubbed the "Peace Pentagon" for the nonviolent social change organizations it houses) a friend called to tell me that two police officers had been shot, execution style, in Brooklyn. I was composing a Tweet about the banner but deleted it mid-phrase. The banner reads: "NYC to Ferguson: End Police Violence," and it was sponsored by the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.
My first thought was that the NYC Patrolmen's Benevolent Association would seize on the killings as a chance to condemn the mass movements calling for police reform that have filled the streets for the last several weeks. My second thought was that our building at 339 Lafayette Street--home to grassroots groups such as the War Resisters League, the Granny Peace Brigade, Deep Dish TV and Paper Tiger TV--would be a target. The timing of our banner drop could be construed as an affront to the slain officers, especially since its sponsoring group, working to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, has long been targeted by the Fraternal Order of Police.
I took a deep breath and asked myself: What would A.J. do? Would he remove the banner? Our namesake A.J. Muste was known for his saying: "There is no way to peace--peace is the way." He was a pacifist, anti-war activist and a leader of the civil rights and labor movements whose personal integrity won him rare, universal respect. In 1974, the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute was founded to keep A.J.'s legacy alive through ongoing support of the nonviolent movement for social change. The Institute provides grants and sponsorships to grassroots groups across the U.S. and the world, and provides office space at the Peace Pentagon to social justice organizations.
I decided that A.J. would be proud of the banner and that he would use it as an opportunity to engage in difficult conversations among individuals and organizations with varying viewpoints. The banner's call for an end to police violence is as urgent this week as it was last week; none of the issues have changed, and the tragic murder of two New York City police officers won't--can't--slow our efforts to end violence, impunity and abuse of power by law enforcement.
We display banners on our building for a reason. Three days after hijackers brought down the Twin Towers in September 2001, we put up a banner reading "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." We, and the groups we support, are committed to confronting injustice--not only when it's convenient and popular to do so, but all the time.
Our banners stand in sharp contrast to the high-end retail stores and new multi-million dollar apartments that surround us in Manhattan's "NoHo" district, one of the most financially exclusive neighborhoods in the borough. The A.J. Muste building itself and the work of its social justice groups challenge the growing inequality in income and opportunity that marks New York City and the entire country. Decades of tireless organizing from this building are living testament to the power of the people and the positive change that can come from sustained nonviolent action.
Our movements are nonviolent, and are not to blame for the killing of Officers Liu and Ramos. The peaceful demonstrations and direct actions carried out by tens of thousands of people of all ethnicities in recent months are born of a frustration with a system that guarantees impunity to state agents who kill young African American men.
We must question the motives of those who claim our nonviolent protests are inciting criminal violence. Are they driven by concern for the lives of officers like Liu and Ramos? Or are they more interested in discrediting our movements? Such attempts to shift the blame--instead of acknowledging the need for police accountability and oversight--only fuel the public's distrust of law enforcement and growing disillusionment in American democracy, further deepening the divide between the police and the public.
We will not be silenced. We hang this banner proudly on the Muste building, and we will continue to fill the streets with our feet and our voices, because racism and police violence are an affront to our values, and because we believe, as A.J. did, that persistent nonviolent protest will ultimately prevail in creating a more just world.
Just minutes after unfurling a 50-foot banner on the side of the A.J. Muste Building in Manhattan (also dubbed the "Peace Pentagon" for the nonviolent social change organizations it houses) a friend called to tell me that two police officers had been shot, execution style, in Brooklyn. I was composing a Tweet about the banner but deleted it mid-phrase. The banner reads: "NYC to Ferguson: End Police Violence," and it was sponsored by the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.
My first thought was that the NYC Patrolmen's Benevolent Association would seize on the killings as a chance to condemn the mass movements calling for police reform that have filled the streets for the last several weeks. My second thought was that our building at 339 Lafayette Street--home to grassroots groups such as the War Resisters League, the Granny Peace Brigade, Deep Dish TV and Paper Tiger TV--would be a target. The timing of our banner drop could be construed as an affront to the slain officers, especially since its sponsoring group, working to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, has long been targeted by the Fraternal Order of Police.
I took a deep breath and asked myself: What would A.J. do? Would he remove the banner? Our namesake A.J. Muste was known for his saying: "There is no way to peace--peace is the way." He was a pacifist, anti-war activist and a leader of the civil rights and labor movements whose personal integrity won him rare, universal respect. In 1974, the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute was founded to keep A.J.'s legacy alive through ongoing support of the nonviolent movement for social change. The Institute provides grants and sponsorships to grassroots groups across the U.S. and the world, and provides office space at the Peace Pentagon to social justice organizations.
I decided that A.J. would be proud of the banner and that he would use it as an opportunity to engage in difficult conversations among individuals and organizations with varying viewpoints. The banner's call for an end to police violence is as urgent this week as it was last week; none of the issues have changed, and the tragic murder of two New York City police officers won't--can't--slow our efforts to end violence, impunity and abuse of power by law enforcement.
We display banners on our building for a reason. Three days after hijackers brought down the Twin Towers in September 2001, we put up a banner reading "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." We, and the groups we support, are committed to confronting injustice--not only when it's convenient and popular to do so, but all the time.
Our banners stand in sharp contrast to the high-end retail stores and new multi-million dollar apartments that surround us in Manhattan's "NoHo" district, one of the most financially exclusive neighborhoods in the borough. The A.J. Muste building itself and the work of its social justice groups challenge the growing inequality in income and opportunity that marks New York City and the entire country. Decades of tireless organizing from this building are living testament to the power of the people and the positive change that can come from sustained nonviolent action.
Our movements are nonviolent, and are not to blame for the killing of Officers Liu and Ramos. The peaceful demonstrations and direct actions carried out by tens of thousands of people of all ethnicities in recent months are born of a frustration with a system that guarantees impunity to state agents who kill young African American men.
We must question the motives of those who claim our nonviolent protests are inciting criminal violence. Are they driven by concern for the lives of officers like Liu and Ramos? Or are they more interested in discrediting our movements? Such attempts to shift the blame--instead of acknowledging the need for police accountability and oversight--only fuel the public's distrust of law enforcement and growing disillusionment in American democracy, further deepening the divide between the police and the public.
We will not be silenced. We hang this banner proudly on the Muste building, and we will continue to fill the streets with our feet and our voices, because racism and police violence are an affront to our values, and because we believe, as A.J. did, that persistent nonviolent protest will ultimately prevail in creating a more just world.