In the Blog
WEEKLY ROUND UP: JANUARY 1
Illustration: Erin McPhee
On Monday it was announced that the Cleveland officer who shot and killed 12-year Tamir Rice would not be indicted. Tamir Rice’s mother Samira Rice released a statement citing the injustice her family is receiving:
“Prosecutor McGinty deliberately sabotaged the case, never advocating for my son, and acting instead like the police officers’ defense attorney. In a time in which a non-indictment who have killed an unarmed black child is business as usual, we mourn for Tamir, and for all of the black people who have been killed by the police without justice. In our view, this process demonstrates that race is still an extremely troubling and serious problem in our country and the criminal-justice system.
I don’t want my child to have died for nothing and I refuse to let his legacy or his name be ignored. We will continue to fight for justice for him, and for all families who must live with the pain that we live with.”
To read the full statement click here. You can also read the Black Lives Matter Network Statement on the non-indictment decision here.
Marking the start of 2016, protestors in Cleveland picketed the home of Cleveland prosecutor McGinty. The Guardian reports that in 2015 a total of 1,134 Black men were killed by law enforcement officers in the United States.
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the start of the Zapatista uprising in Mexico. For more than two decades the Zapatistas have fought for justice for Indigenous peasants in southern Mexico.
Some essential 2015 roundups:
Indian Country Today Media Network’s “9 Stories of Indigenous Triumph in Canada This Year”
Buzzfeed’s “15 Most Badass Feminist Moments In Canada In 2015”
Al Jazeera’s “The world in 2015: Are we becoming more polarised?”
Huffington Post’s “The Most Important Writing From People Of Color In 2015”
Bitch Media’s “15 Favorite New Songs from 2015” and “My 10 Favorite Albums From Female-Fronted Bands in 2015”
Alternet’s “2016 Wish List: Scientists Share New Year Hopes for the Climate”
From the Shameless team to you, we hope you have a wonderful 2016.
