Links: good news (about the bad news)

[sonia]

I keep hoping this is a turning point, and then things get worse. And then I hope maybe that's the turning point... Here are a couple of actual possibly good signs.

"I don’t know yet, though several of us on the council are working on finding out, what it would take to disband the MPD and start fresh with a community-oriented, non-violent public safety and outreach capacity." Twitter thread from MplsWard3 about taking radical action to disband the Minneapolis Police Department.

Gen. Mattis says he’s ‘angry and appalled’ at Trump’s response to protests by Michael Isikoff. That's the current administration's first Secretary of Defense, James Mattis.

I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind.

ETA: *heart-eyes* to Multnomah County Library! Multnomah County Library: committed to meaningful change by the director, Vailey Oehlke. "This library will be part of the change that’s gonna come." Lots of good links, and a detailed commitment to be part of the solution.

And, reassuring because it cuts through gaslighting and confusion with clear witnessing about events in Minneapolis: Minneapolis & Outside Agitators" by Naomi Kritzer.

Something I honestly did not know before this past week is how deeply confusing living through a crisis like this is. Speculation gets turned into rumor gets turned into “I know this for a fact!” more quickly than I would have thought possible.

But there are hundreds of eyewitness reports from around Minneapolis that arsons were being committed by small groups of white men, apparently outsiders, moving rapidly around the city mostly in vehicles without license plates; watching that get endlessly dismissed on Twitter as “what the authorities always say” from people outside the state has been enraging.

Comments

[runpunkrun]

Thanks for all the links! I always open at least one.

[sonia]

Thanks for letting me know! Just added another good one to the post!

[silveradept]

Will you keep an ear out on Multnomah and see what they're doing for actions as well as statements? It certainly wouldn't hurt to know what others are doing when you need to give a shove at your own organization.

[sonia]

I'm glad you saw that link. I figured you would be interested!

So far I'm noticing they have a list of resources, including an ebook of Me and White Supremacy that is always available.

I have noticed in the past that their website and onsite photographs include people of many skin colors. I see librarians of color at the branches. They provide computers for people to use and other services in an open and welcoming way. There is an Equity and Inclusion page that has been there for a while.

I can report on what I notice, but my closest branch is in the process of moving (SIGH, more change) and of course none of the branches are open right now. I visit the website to search for specific ebooks, but not that often.

[silveradept]

Nothing extra needed, just wanting to know if they keep it going and do things or whether they end up stumbling on a thing or two.

[sonia]

Ok. I'm predicting it will be both, some good efforts and some stumbles.