10 Reasons Why Defunding Police Should Lead to Defunding War

Much as unaccountable police in riot gear are a danger to our communities, so, too, an unaccountable military, armed to the teeth and functioning largely in secret, is a danger to the world. 

Medea Benjamin
Zoltán Grossman
By Medea Benjamin
And Zoltán Grossman
Minneapolis Riot Police

Since George Floyd was murdered, we have seen an increasing convergence of the “war at home” against Black and brown people with the “wars abroad” that the U.S. has waged against people in other countries. Army and National Guard troops have been deployed in U.S. cities, as militarized police treat our cities as occupied war zones. In response to

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Polls: Four Weeks of Protest Have Radically Altered American Views on Police

American voters now support sweeping changes to policing; 83 percent want a ban on racial profiling, 92 percent want police to be required to wear body cameras and White Americans’ concern over police violence has increased by 50 percent since 2019.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Black Lives Matter Photo of the day

Just four weeks of protest have radically altered Americans’ views on the police and what their role in society should be. Once almost exclusively the domain of activist groups, moves to comprehensively change, defund or even abolish the police are rapidly gaining momentum with the public. A new study published this week by Data for

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The System Is Rigged: Qualified Immunity Is How the Police State Stays in Power

Lawyers tend to offer complicated, convoluted explanations for the doctrine of qualified immunity, which was intended to insulate police from frivolous lawsuits, but its real purpose, writes constitutional attorney John Whitehead, is to rig the system,

John Whitehead
By John Whitehead
DC Protests Feature photo

CHARLOTTESVILLE (Rutherford) –– The system is rigged, the government is corrupt, and “we the people” continue to waste our strength by fighting each other rather than standing against the tyrant in our midst. Because the system is rigged, because the government is corrupt, and because “we the people” remain polarized and divided, the police

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Struggle Theater: Don’t Let Theatrics Shroud the Reality of Systemic Oppression

America’s power brokers are hoping murals, kente cloth, and a series of half-baked legislative reforms will appease activists into giving up the fight for real change.

Eleanor Goldfield
By Eleanor Goldfield
Black Lives Matter Feature photo

The crowd cheered. I hustled to slide the fresh battery into place, snap the latch closed, click on, and survey the scene. On their knees, protestors in front of the newly erected fence applauded as a cop on the other side took a knee. Around him, other cops seemed to take no notice, shifting in their riot gear as the sun slowly dipped behind the

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Glen Ford: Having Not Yet Won Any Real Power Over Police, This Is No Time for a Truce

The oligarchs that rule the country and control both of its corporate parties and all of its major media want the people to believe that politics is limited to the electoral process, and that street activism, labor militancy, and community organizing are outside the realm of “real” politics.  

Glen Ford
By Glen Ford
Black Lives Matter Feature Photo

New York City (BAR) — The awesome power of massed, militant people in motion has been manifest since the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Much of the world now knows Floyd’s name; majorities of Americans say they support  “Black Lives Matter”; New York City’s mayor pledged to slash his cops’ budget in deference to the Black Lives

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Rebellion, Confusion and Kente Cloth: The Establishment Can’t Handle Black Lives Matter

Suddenly, workers are publicly criticizing their bosses. Politicians are backpedaling and newspapers face revolts when they are caught spreading propaganda. In Europe and the United States monuments to genocidaires are defaced and pulled down.

Margaret Kimberley
By Margaret Kimberley
Democrats Police Reform Feature

New York City (BAR) — Everything has changed since the world witnessed George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police. Suddenly, workers are publicly criticizing their bosses. Politicians are backpedaling and newspapers face revolts when they are caught spreading propaganda. In Europe and the United States monuments to genocidaires are defaced and

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