Huge injustices being ignored in US

Greetings,

Huge injustices being ignored in US: Yahkhahnahn Ammi

Press TV has conducted an interview with Yahkhahnahn Ammi, founder of SWIP Stop the Violence, from Saint Louis, to discuss racial discrimination in the United States.

What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

THE VIDEO LINK IS HERE

Press TV: It is quite amazing the differences in how suspects are treated. Do you think that given the same situation of what we do know what happened with Michael in Ferguson, had he been white, do you think the situation would have unfolded in the same way?

Ammi: Certainly not. But allow me to say this, first and foremost I want to say to the bereaved family that we certainly support you and we will do what we can to continue to seek justice for you.

Certainly not – if the shoe were on the other foot then the outcome would be tremendously different.

Press TV: You are on the ground there in Missouri. We have been seeing now a week of demonstrations. Tell me first of all [about] the demonstrations themselves and do you think that they will actually make a difference?

Ammi: Most certainly I think that it will make a difference. It has already made a difference so to speak. I have been out there on the battlefield protesting within the Ferguson community, standing in solidarity with the brothers and sisters that are also there.

On behalf of SWIP Stop the Violence committee for justice and peace, we are asking the local, national, international and alternative media to share this information to the rest of the world for one entire week. Thousands of people have demanded justice in the aftermath of the brutal police slaying of Michael Brown on Saturday, August 8, 2014.

Having braved tear gassing, police state law enforcement, harassment, rubber bullets and biased media, we wish to claim a symbolic victory over racism, domestic militarism, police impunity and the public apathy of young African-American people from all walks of life of that most African-Americans.

Press TV: What about that, Mr. Ammi, what our guest has said in Washington, for example recommending small cameras to be placed on the person of the policeman? We have seen now of course more and more people having their phones ready and rolling, basically. It appears that that’s why we’re seeing more and more videos now, because African-Americans have always claimed police abuse, but it was basically that individual’s word against the system and of course usually was never victorious. As although still there is video that are released immediately, still rarely are the police charged. Why is that the case, first of all, in your perspective?

Ammi: Again, a lot of crime goes unnoticed, goes unreported and sometimes the system fails us and turns a deaf ear on the factual evidence. Specifically in this case, had the police been wearing some sort of a camera in addition to the camera that may have been inside of the squad cars in Ferguson county, I’m certain that none of this would have happened in the manner in which it did happen.

I must say that I agree with the guest speaker and I want to thank him for those comments because they are certainly accurate and the people need to hear that.

Here and now as our movement for justice embarks on its second week, we believe it is critical to declare our intentions and make demands of both the state, local and federal authorities.

Media hungry, black activists and the young people of America and the world, in reverse order we want young people to continue to come to Ferguson and we encourage those too far away to select cities and towns in their vicinity where they can protest over militarized police and judicial corruption.

Press TV: You are demanding that the demonstrations continue, that the protests continue, and if that’s the case, that’s the demand, how long do you want the protests to continue and what are you trying to get from these protests? What would actually bring these protests to an end? What do you want to see happen?

Ammi: I think that the protests should continue until justice is served. By justice we mean the arrest of the officer that executed Michael Brown. By justice we mean that the political members who have come down, Al Sharpton, the attorney Crump for the Brown family, they must be in a position to hear our cry, to listen to our demands. We have a few demands and requests of them and we feel that if they’re not in a position to accept and respond to our questions and demands then we’re asking them to leave. The demands are pretty reasonable demands in spite of the current situation.

Press TV: It seems that all racism has to end. It seems that there’s still a very, very wide gap. I’m reminded of a case that took place in Aurora, Colorado, when James Holmes went into the theater and killed so many people, I believe 12 people and over 70 injured, with several weapons, then he walked out of the theater and police were rushing in, passed by him, went inside the theater. Now this was a guy who had dyed his hair orange and he was the one that basically told police outside the theater that I’m the one who did it.

It’s so odd then to compare that to a scenario where we just had a couple days ago where we had a black man in a Wal-Mart in Ohio that simply picked up a BB gun that was being sold and actually ended up dead in Wal-Mart.

There seems to be such a gulf, a wide, wide gulf between the way people are treated, especially by the police and judicial system. You said that the protest will continue until things are starting to be addressed but it seems difficult to address. What will it take to address this situation not just in this particular case that has taken place in Missouri but in general in the United States?

Ammi: There are a few key components to this, one is I stated earlier that we wanted certain demands to be met and I think it is universal. When you have a gentleman like Al Sharpton, and Crump as the attorney, and Jessie Jackson coming into town, it’s imperative that they be men of action.

By being men of action, what we are saying is this, that there has been many arrests made here in St. Louis as a result of the protesters. We’re asking that they put up that bail money to have those brothers and sisters released from jail for protesting. That is one of the major demands that we are asking of them.

If that is something that cannot be done, then we are sincerely asking them to leave. We are demanding that they leave because if they cannot do that then there is no reason for them to be here. We do not need hushpuppies. We do not need people here telling us to be quiet.

Press TV: I want to jump in here with what you just talked about, for example with Al Sharpton. There are those who say that actually there are several so-called black leaders who are actually put on the spot to make sure that any situation that comes up is defused and redirected.

As a matter of fact, very few times have we actually seen any real action taking place from, let’s say Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson, as you have just said. Your take on these so-called leaders of the black community because many African-Americans are saying these are not the leaders that have been chosen but the leaders that have been picked for them and put in place to actually make sure that situations are defused immediately.

Ammi: Certainly and I am in total agreeance with that. Leaders are chosen by the community and they have not been chosen by the community.

You know, you do not have to pay me $30,000 to march. We’ll march. We will lead marches. We’ve done that. We’ve done so. We will continue to protest and we will continue to support the Brown family because this is important.

We are not concerned about what happened prior to so-to-speak the officer’s executing Michael Brown. It happened with Denzel Carnel and Oscar Grant and LaVena Johnson – we remember her. Racism played a role in all of that. Trayvon Martin, you know? We feel that he and has family has received a great injustice. There are quite a few things that are still going on that we are not talking about and it all plays a huge role in the injustices that we’ve encountered here in America.

We are being treated as if we are for lack of better terminology niggers. The white racist individuals here have their foot on our necks and they are treating us as if we are no different than “niggers”. We are tired of that. We are fed up with being treated like that.

There are no employment opportunities. If there are, the wages are so minimal that you are not able to sustain yourself and your family.

When we speak about these demands, we are requesting that all of these matters get looked into from employment – which is one of the reasons why some of the rioting has been taking place throughout the US, because there is no employment. That is one thing that we need to reconsider and look at. Something needs to be done about that.

Social

Huge injustices being ignored in US