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Mid-Week Round Up: February 5

February 5th, 2015     by Ronak Ghorbani     Comments

Illustration: Erin McPhee

The white Detroit police officer who shot dead Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a 7-year-old African-American girl, in May 2010 has been cleared of all charges. Stanley-Jones was killed in her family home during a raid in which the police targeted the wrong apartment unit. A spokesperson for Stanley-Jones’ family said the family has filed an appeal to the US attorney general to pursue a case for the violation of their daughter’s civil rights. Speaking on the dismissal of charges Dante Barry, organizer and executive director of the Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, said:

“When we look at accountability and an institution that was not designed for black people and that was not designed in the interest of black people,” he says, “how do you find justice in an already unjust system?”

New anti-terror legislation has been introduced in Canada. The new legislation, Bill C-51, sees an increase in power for CSIS. As CBC reports, C-51 sees “a sweeping range of measures that would allow suspects to be detained based on less evidence and let CSIS actively interfere with suspects’ travel plans and finances.” There are many concerns about the new legislation and how it will impact the lives of Canadians (from an increase in racial profiling by the state to Parliament not overseeing or supervising CSIS’ new powers):

Bitch magazine reports on the gender gap in comedy writing and how much stage time female comedians get (not a lot).

Domestic workers in Lebanon have, after much struggle and resistance, established a labour union. As Alakhbar reports, under the Lebanese migrant sponsorship system, migrant domestic workers do not have protection from the state, they are “left at the mercy of their employers. It restricts workers from moving to a new job before their contracts end unless they obtain their employer’s consent, and handing over their passports to their employers, trapping many in abusive situations” such as sexual assault, physical abuse, and not being paid.

Yes! magazine has published a feature on Black farming and social change. The article “Radical Farmers Use Fresh Food to Fight Racial Injustice and the New Jim Crow” features work done by organizations such as Soul Fire Farm, Freedom Food Alliance and Project Growth, a restorative justice program based in Albany County, New York.

Canada’s immigration department has refused to allow a 3 ½ year old boy to be reunited with his family who immigrated to Canada from India in 2013. The child’s parents are permanent residents and have been fighting to have their son live with them in Canada:

Applications for Shameless’ volunteer circulation manager are due this Friday. If you love spreadsheets and feminism, check out the posting.

Tags: activist report, gender, news flash, politics, race and racism, recommended reading

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