The Shawn Greenwood Working Group formed when some people in Occupy Ithaca expressed resistance to renaming Dewitt Park after Shawn Greenwood, an African-American man who was unjustly killed by Ithaca Police Officer Brian Bangs in 2010. The initial group members saw a need in Ithaca for a greater understanding that challenging economic injustice also means challenging racism in the system, particularly racism that shows up when police unnecessarily shoot and kill a Black man and justify it to the community by portraying him as just another drug dealer. The purpose of our group is to honor Shawn Greenwood’s memory by continuing to challenge police racism and to support the community to take action for justice.
SGWG ISSUE # 2 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2O13 SHAWN GREENWOOD THE SHAWN GREENWOOD WORKING GROUP The Shawn Greenwood Working Group formed when some people in Occupy Ithaca expressed resistance to renaming Dewitt Park after Shawn Greenwood, an African-American man who was unjustly killed by Ithaca Police Officer Brian Bangs in 2010. The initial group members saw a need in Ithaca for a greater understanding that challenging economic injustice also means challenging racism in the system, particularly racism that shows up when police unnecessarily shoot and kill a Black man and justify it to the community by portraying him as just another drug dealer. The purpose of our group is to honor Shawn Greenwood’s memory by continuing to challenge police racism and to support the community to take action for justice. Educating ourselves about the deep roots racism has within our criminal justice system is essential to this effort. SGWG has led workshops to educate the community about the system-wide racism within the prison industry, the ways impoverished communities of color suffer from extra policing and profiling, and the connections between poverty and racism. We have also put together a “Know Your Rights” training that aims to give people a better understanding of our rights when dealing with police and some key actions and words we can use to protect ourselves. We are interested in doing more of these trainings and also training people to lead “Know Your Rights” workshops in their own communities and organizations. We have also begun to build a local CopWatch group that actively observes and documents police activities to hold them accountable for any misconduct that may occur. We believe that by going out and observing police in action we can send a message to the police that we are actively seeking justice in this community and will not tolerate any more acts of illegitimate police force. We can also assist people in filing formal complaints against police misconduct that will be reviewed by commissioners on the Community Police Board. Finally, we are starting a campaign to work with Tompkins County employers to end discrimination against formerly incarcerated people. Since mass incarceration is the “New Jim Crow,” it is essential to work against the barriers men and women who have done time confront when looking for jobs. If you have stories to share or are interested in learning more about this group or participating in any way please contact us at (607) 301-0370 or [email protected]. WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO • Report Back from the Vigil to Honor the Life of Trayvon Martin • Vigil Introductory Statements from Kat Stevens & Kayla Young • Photographs of Vigil From Community Members • An Open Testimony from Jamel Booker, Imprisoned Ithaca Community Member Poetry & Spoken Word: • “You Know Her” by Sophia Terazawa • “America” by Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo aka Sammus • “Chaotic World” by Kierra Winston • Announcements About Upcoming Events • Report Backs and Photos from Prisoner Solidarity Event and the Boricua-Afro-Americana Festival • Keith Shumway Memorial • Honoring Our Lost Black Men & Reclaiming Ourselves by Gino Bush IN THIS NEWSLETTER Page 1
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SGWG ISSUE # 2 M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R AUGUST 2O13
SHAWN GREENWOOD
THE SHAWN GREENWOOD WORKING GROUP
The Shawn Greenwood Working Group formed when some people in Occupy Ithaca expressed resistance to renaming Dewitt Park after Shawn Greenwood, an African-American man who was unjustly killed by Ithaca Police Officer Brian Bangs in 2010. The initial group members saw a need in Ithaca for a greater understanding that challenging economic injustice also means challenging racism in the system, particularly racism that shows up when police unnecessarily shoot and kill a Black man and justify it to the community by portraying him as just another drug dealer. The purpose of our group is to honor Shawn Greenwood’s memory by continuing to challenge police racism and to support the community to take action for justice.
Educating ourselves about the deep roots racism has within our criminal justice system is essential to this effort. SGWG has led workshops to educate the community about the system-wide racism within the prison industry, the ways impoverished communities of color suffer from extra policing and profiling, and the connections between poverty and racism.
We have also put together a “Know Your Rights” training that aims to give people a better understanding of our rights when dealing with police and some key actions and words we can use to protect ourselves.
We are interested in doing more of these trainings and also training people to lead “Know Your Rights” workshops in the i r own communi t ies and organizations.
We have also begun to build a local CopWatch group that actively observes and documents police activities to hold them accountable for any misconduct that may occur. We believe that by going out and observing police in action we can send a message to the police that we are actively seeking justice in this community and will not tolerate any more acts of illegitimate police force.
We can also assist people in filing formal complaints against police misconduct that will be reviewed by commissioners on the Community Police Board. Finally, we are starting a campaign to work with Tompkins County employers to end discrimination against formerly incarcerated people. Since mass incarceration is the “New Jim Crow,” it is essential to work against the barriers men and women who have done time confront when looking for jobs. If you have stories to share or are interested in learning more about this group or participating in any way please contact us at (607) 301-0370 or [email protected].
WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO
• Report Back from the Vigil to Honor the Life of Trayvon Martin
• Vigil Introductory Statements from Kat Stevens & Kayla Young
• Photographs of Vigil From Community Members • An Open Testimony from Jamel Booker, Imprisoned Ithaca
Community MemberPoetry & Spoken Word:
• “You Know Her” by Sophia Terazawa
• “America” by Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo aka Sammus
• “Chaotic World” by Kierra Winston• Announcements About Upcoming Events• Report Backs and Photos from Prisoner Solidarity Event and
the Boricua-Afro-Americana Festival• Keith Shumway Memorial • Honoring Our Lost Black Men & Reclaiming Ourselves by
As communities across the nation respond to the acquittal of George Zimmerman and the injustice that has been served to
the family and memory of Trayvon Martin, the verdict also produced feelings of pain, anger, outrage, grief, sadness, and
fear in the hearts, spirits, and chests of Ithaca community members. On July 17th community members gathered at the
Southside Community Center dressed in black they tied black balloons to their wrists and picked up signs reading, “No
Justice For Black People In Amerikkka”, “We Empower Ourselves To Protect Our Children”, “Justicia por Trayvon”
amongst many other passionate messages. Carrying photos of Trayvon Martin, Shawn Greenwood, Jamel Booker, and
others, the large crowd began on the sidewalk and then quickly took over the streets of Ithaca loudly chanting and yelling,
“No Justice, No Peace! So We Take The Streets!” all the way to the steps of the county courthouse. Once there the group
joined over 200 people from the broader Ithaca community who had come in protest of the acquittal and to honor the life
of Trayvon. The crowd took over the entire street blocking traffic and listened to a variety of speakers, two songs were
performed, and several artists shared their poetry and spoken word pieces. Afterwards space was opened up for community
members to come up and testify about their experiences with unjust police and the criminal “justice” system as well as
share the way they felt about the acquittal. Many young people of color came forward, young black men talked about the
way they are criminalized just for being young and black, mothers spoke of their fears for their children, students came
forward. Candles were lit and a fire was ignited in our spirits. We will not let that fire burn out. Justice for Trayvon!
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Systemic racism is evident when an unarmed young black boy who has done nothing wrong is racially profiled, followed, harassed, assaulted, and murdered and the media and public paint a picture of him as a thug, drug dealer, gang banger, and ultimately devalue and dehumanize him. This type of character smearing has recently been done to a young black man and member of the Ithaca community, 23 year old Jamel Booker, and was also done to Shawn Greenwood. What has happened to Trayvon might seem familiar because it happens to people of color, most frequently to black folks, specifically black men, ALL THE TIME in this country. Tonight we not only celebrate the life of Trayvon Martin but of all young black men who have lost their lives to state sanctioned violence and murder including the 1 out of every 3 black men who are spending or will spend time in prison during their lifetimes. We would like to read the following names of young black folks from the Ithaca community whose loss of life was sanctioned by the state, we ask for a moment of silence between each one:
Shawn Greenwood
Kieth Shumway
Takia Harris
Corey Henderson
We believe Stand Your Ground laws were designed specifically to protect white men and people of color who use their light skin privilege to access white privilege such as men like George Zimmerman. Today we also remember Marissa Alexander, a young black mother of an infant who fired 2 warning shots into the air during an incident where she was the victim of domestic abuse. Although no one was hurt, Marissa was not allowed to use Stand Your Ground Legislation and was convicted to 20 years in prison. Now is the time for all people of color and white allies alike to stand in solidarity with the black community. Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground. We must acknowledge that black men are the most targeted, persecuted and stereotyped group in America. The system has spoken, there is no justice for black people in Amerikkka. Now is the time to shift our energy to ourselves and our communities and recognize the power of the people. Since there has been no justice for Trayvon and countless other children like him, we
empower ourselves to protect ALL of our children and call out to you all to begin to organize for restorative justice.
VIGIL INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS EXCERPTS OF STATEMENT FROM SGWG MEMBERS: KAT STEVENS & KAYLA YOUNG
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Greetings. My name is Jamel A. Booker, and before I tell you my story I would like to share a story called, “The Man on the Edge, With a Soul Full of Calm,” by yours truly, Jamel A. Booker. This man grew up in Brooklyn, NY. At the age of 9 he held his best friend in his arms as he bled his soul on his shirt. The officer stood there, gun still smoking, looking as if he took a training course to kill the innocent. His partner grabbed his arm, leaving his weapon, and called for assistance. The man starts out his tragic daydream, a nightmare when at the age of 13, the ambulance arrives to assist a body drenched in its pool of blood, which the man sees from his tenth floor window.
At 15 years of age, the man’s mother moves him and his siblings to a “better place”. Everyone’s excitement grew as we drove a mile closer to this place. We’re here! The man sees nothing like it! “Nigger,” one Caucasian boy yells at him walking the hall of his new middle school. Now, the man is suspended and the Caucasian boy is the victim. Now going to high school, the man is kicked out in his first year because he thought hearing “Nigger” meant “I want to get punched in the face”. Aah! What a “better place”! What a better place to be treated differently after reading about the ‘60’s and ‘70’s in Social Studies class. What a better place to be watched in stores and the owner asked, “May I help you?” which indirectly means “What are you doing here?”, and you know this because every time you look around, a different worker is on you following you down every aisle waiting to catch you in the act will result in a promotion. What a better place to witness in the courtroom watching a rapist get 6 months county jail time, 10 years’ probation. Yet, the drug dealer gets a 2 to 4 year prison term, 5 years post-realest! What a fucking BETTER PLACE, right?! So after this man experienced such, he walks from the Mobile gas station heading west. As he passes Pete’s liquor store, he sees cop lights everywhere. Guns are pointed towards this van that he knows belongs to man that tried to get this man out of the street life. A taser goes off, the engine is revved, a flurry of shots roger the sounds of the engine. Another point for boys in blue, society still remain on zero.
In awe the man hangs up his cell phone after getting a call from a friend yelling, “Your cousin just got killed by the police!” This happened in front of the famous State Diner. The man was down in Florida at the time. Rage built up in this man, but he never showed it. Closing his eyes he prayed as if his 10 year old friend was in his arms in front of Pete’s liquor store as the body of his role model was dragged out of his wife’s van. As all these memories played in his head he heard a voice. It was a deep voice but didn’t have no sound. It said “pick your head up. Victory is mine”. And he picked his head up and said Amen.
Running in this dry creek bed, the man is doing his best to get away from the police officers chasing him. Bag on his back, full of barber equipment and a gun in his palm. The only thing on his mind is losing the officers and his exit is right – he falls again. He gets up, falls. He gets up, falls. One officer shouts, “Stop, or I’ll shoot!” Now this get-a-away just turned into a life or death situation, over a stolen car. The man hears this and tries his best not to fall again or it could mean his life. In the distance he sees blood, tears, pain, and the Devil smiling as he takes one more leap to exit the creek bed… but once again, he falls. Heart racing, shaking by the vision of death, he looks up and sees a silhouette with a gun like object to his face. The man instantly gets up, pull the trigger once, and continues his flight. Finally getting to his friend’s house, not telling anyone what just took place, he opens his bible and prays.
Prayer after prayer in the county jail, being threatened, being called dehumanizing names, being sentenced to 25 years, and given a new nickname called, 13B 1947, the man still smiles as if nothing mattered. He realized he could breathe in those concrete walls, but can’t breathe in a coffin. He still thanks the Lord everyone’s alive. A lot of people may look at him as a no good loser… but HE won! Amen!
Now back to my story…
AN OPEN TESTIMONY
BY JAMEL BOOKER
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YOU KNOW HER BY SOPHIA TERAZAWA
You know her.
You know her in the way she scatters wooden beadsinto a small tin bowl at the foot of the shrine,presses the burning incense into her palms,raises the thin red reed into the heavens,smoke blessing her head,and with eyes cracked on a bamboo platformof silk and gold and the dreaming-still bodycleaned over once, then twice,she begins an offering passed down from generation to generationof mothers carving jade for dying sons,chanting warrior tongues,the wake of a Diaspora for a young man namedVincent Chin, Bang Mai, Joseph Santos Ileto, Anil Thakur, Thao Q. Pham, Ji-Ye Sun, Naoki Kamijima,Won-Joon Yoon, Mukesh Patel, Jim Loo, Luyen Phan Nguyen, Zhen Bo Liu
You know her in the way she calls the spirits of her brothers, young Asian-American men at the wrong place, at the wrong time to come rolling over the mountain and join the spirit of this soul, Trayvon Martin.
You know her in the way she praysthree times to the framed photographs of her ancestors,folded black and white like the wars never happened,like the shrapnel never filled the brown and mango bodies of young men in the rice fields,on Dragon Bay, Saigon City, like the white American soldiers never came.
You know her planting orange mines like careful, secret gifts, in the grieving dreams of a distant countryshe rarely speaks of.
You know her mourning ghosts with red rice paper burning gold.
You know her in the way she sleeps every nightwith hair pulled black, black irisessinking into ancient song and wails of her ancestor’sfuneral rites.
You know her skin is not quite black enough.You know her skin is not quite black enough.YOU KNOW HER SKIN IS NOT QUITE BLACK ENOUGH.
You know her skin is not quite white enough.
But if you were to pour a gallon of gasoline over her body,sitting in silent chant, eyes closed, humming peace and compassionand anti-violence into finger tips,magnetic dharma skin to skin, palm to palm,
balanced under chin, guiding meditation, and then set Buddha on fire,perhaps her skin will burn whiter, whiter, and blackerthan any fantasy of this nation’s Truth.
The system has not failed!It is here, alive in her bones, the Brown, the Black, the Yellow, the Red, andthe Gold, the Third World Left,the Gaza Strip Mamis throwing their bodies over sons,Filipina sisters taking bullets browned and blackened under sky that was once cradled by spirits of young dark brothers,Somalian daughters pointing at empty throats,singing hymns to Black fathers, Queens of Tiananmen Square.
The system has not failed!It is here, in her body, the Brown, the Black, the Yellow, the Red, andthe Gold, the Third World Left,shadow speakers,tongues forked foreign and American, untranslatable,incinerated, spreading its fever like a virus.
The system’s success is international,border-crossing immigration of violence.
You know her in the way she knows Trayvon Martin.31 years ago in Detroit he was beaten to death by a baseball bat and white paranoia.You know her.15 years ago she witnessed a white man and his young son castrate her father.You know her.You know her.Young men of color killing each other in Los Angeles, New York City, Houston, Oakland, Chicago, you know her, Cambodian against Black against Latino against Black against Black against Korean against Chinese against Black against Black against Black against Vietnamese.
So what of Trayvon and the movement of my community, my Asia America?Vincent Chin, Bang Mai, Joseph Santos Ileto, Anil Thakur, Thao Q. Pham, Ji-Ye Sun, Naoki Kamijima,Won-Joon Yoon, Mukesh Patel, Jim Loo, Luyen Phan Nguyen, Zhen Bo Liu
You know her in the way she calls spirits of her brothers,young brown and mango and rice paper bodies,growing up to be men at the wrong place, at the wrong time,come rolling over the mountain and join the spirit of one more, of one more Diaspora.
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CHAOTIC WORLD BY KIERRA WINSTON
In this chaotic world we live inTell me how you can beStable in the essence of confusion and crime you seeIn a blink of an eye, I cry
I weep by the images of death of the innocentlies I seeClose your sight and pictureA helpless mother holding a new born baby whose is deadMaybe because she was shot to death Because a soldier aimed wrong shooting the innocentPicture,the blood beneath the sheet were you layBecause your husband is a threatTo the FBI, Government, and CIA
For reasons, unreasonedAssassination of another I ponder..Shit thinkLet me recallFred Hampton is the nameThis shit is insane.. My thoughts tumble as my heart rumbles aching Close your sight and picturefreedom in a jail cellconfined space like privacy on a slave shipconfined space in the wound laid across your back from a slave hitthick whipMy thoughts tumble and concludeI am not your fucking animalI am a human beingA life living gift to the mother who held me Continuously for a 9 month sentenceNecessity, resistance!
The death of a child the life of a killerThe difference between the innocence and the sinnerGod is watching , seeing my frustrationsIn this chaotic world it is only he whom can save usFrom gangbangin’ to name slangin’The nigga of no one Shall I ever beA bitch of another has been deceasedRespect of the opposite sex, of a ladyCorrupt system has failed me culturallyAnd my thoughts tumbleTwistedLike the Illuminati minds of politiciansAnd I won’t give itGive it up that isBecause my analytical mindWon’t fall and crumbleInto 9/11 rubble
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“AMERICA” BY ENONGO LUMUMBA-KASONGO aka SAMMUS
It's the best of +mesIt's the worst of +mesAnd for the first +meA lot of blacks first in lineWe emerged though they told us we was too far behindWe reversed what they schooled us on by using our minds
Hey -‐-‐ we on the come upYeah we making movesTook a while to get our forty acres and a muleA lot of people winningWanna move up out the hoodSo a couple of us feelingLike we all be living goodNah it's s+ll a big gapFor the poor and rich catsAin't enough changedSince the days when they whipped blacks
We got a middle classAnd that's a big dealWe can't forget our past though
I goFa keep it realYou at the office rocking locs they inves+gateIf a cop spot you on the block then he ins+gateWhen you want to get a job send your resumeBoss spot Lakisha at the top now he hesitate
Got your hoodie onThey want to stare at yaThey think you fully armedBlack in AmericaI want to turn my whole back on AmericaThey make it hard to be blackIt's empirical
Black kids guilty '+l a jury find 'em innocentThat is clearly why some children get so militantSchool be feelin' like a world war death campStudents staying in they homes a la Anne FrankTextbooks older than the teachers at the schoolBut the checks ain't coming when that features in the news
They talk about the drugsAnd the crimes every dayNot the blood leL behindWhen they came and they raped usFought back they would beat a nigga's lights outNever thought blacks could be
living in the white houseYet the right's so unkind to our presidentThey remind me that I'm not a resident
We survived genocide we a testamentTo the pride of who lies in the sedimentSo I remain too aware of all my melaninCuz Uncle Sam don't really care that I'm a rela+ve
Got your hoodie onThey want to stare at yaThey think you fully armedBlack in AmericaI want to turn my whole back on AmericaThey make it hard to be blackIt's empirical
The fourth annual Boricua Afro-Americana Festival and Parade was held in Conway Park this year. The Shawn Greenwood Working Group was there to support and participate. The festival celebrates the blending of Native, African and Hispanic roots. There were singers, musicians, dancers, DJ’s. There was theater and a variety of food vendors serving up unique and delicious ethnic dishes. Many thanks to organizers Ana Ortiz and Eddie Moran.
SOLIDARITY WITH POLITICAL PRISONERS
7/13/13
Heeding a call for solidarity actions, community members and students gathered at the Shawn Greenwood Park to show support for imprisoned people on an indefinite hunger strike to demand humane treatment and an end to forms of torture like solitary confinement as well as those in their 5th month of hunger strike in Guantanamo Bay.
"We are here today to show our solidarity not only with imprisoned people whose backs are against the wall and have gone on indefinite hunger strike but also prisoners everywhere.We acknowledge that people of color, especially Black and Latino men, are specifically targeted by police and the “justice” system. We understand that this country was founded on white supremacy and colonization and we seek to help draw connections between the unjust structure of our society and the incarceration of young men of color.”
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SHAWN GREENWOOD WORKING GROUP MONTHLY ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Shawn Greenwood Working Group invites
you to a special showing of the 90 minute film,
Fruitvale Station, winner of the title, "Best Movie"
at the Sundance Film Festival. Tickets will be offered for a showing at
Cinemapolis for the reduced price of $6.50 at
2:40pm. Please use passphrase
"OAKLAND" at box office to receive discount. After the film Dr. James
Turner, founding director of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell, will lead us in a discussion about racial
inequality and the ongoing criminalization
of black men in this country. The discussion
will focus on the grassroots movements
that followed the murder of Oscar Grant and how they are linked to local
movements.
SATURDAY - AUGUST 17TH - 2:30PMFRUITVALE STATION: SHOWING AT CINEMAPOLIS FOLLOWED BY DISCUSSION LEAD BY DR. JAMES TURNER. REDUCED PRICE TICKETS - $6.50, PASSPHRASE, “OAKLAND”
WHAT IS THE STANDARD FOR USE OF DEADLY FORCE IN OUR
COMMUNITY?The people who suffer from mental health issues are especially vulnerable to abuse. The response of the police to crisis situations involving these community members requires special attention to de-escalation. All too often these interactions result in unnecessary death especially when community members of color are involved.
The Shawn Greenwood Working Group aims to create spaces for testimonials and dialogue in order to identify and address these concerns in our community with regards to excessivepolice violence. We believe the issues in our communities will not be solved by increasing police presence, but rather throughlarger structural transformation. Only WE can change our community by getting involved in the community issues!
• We honor our Creator, the prime mover of the Universe and provider of our needs
• We honor Black men lost in the severance from Africa
• We honor Black men lost in the middle passage
• We honor Black men lost in the slave trade• We honor Black men lost to addiction• We honor Black men lost to anger, hate,
and violence• We honor Black men lost to self
exploitation and the exploitation of Black people
• We honor Black men who seek the spirit of Africa within themselves
• We honor Black men who seek resurrection from cruelty
• We honor Black men who seek to overcome the scars of slavery
• We honor Black men who seek to restore the family and his community
• We honor Black men who seek strength in discipline and self-control
• We honor Black men who seek abundance through sharing and giving
HONORING OUR LOST BLACK MEN & RECLAIMING OURSELVES
