A Note From Black Lives Matter:

Welcome to the October edition of “Blackness Can’t Be Banned.” 

 

It’s spooky season – and there’s nothing spookier than white supremacy. 

 

That’s what this newsletter is all about - identifying and eradicating white supremacy. Not only is this newsletter going to include facts and education on Black history and abolition, but also, anything that has to do with our efforts to achieve Black liberation. 

 

If you have a topic you'd like to learn more about, let us know by filling out this quick survey.

 

In love and solidarity,

 

Black Lives Matter
 

The Abolitionist Rundown:

October is LGBTQ+ History Month. Black Lives Matter was created with the voices and perspectives of LGBTQ+ as one of our core guiding forces. For us to truly liberate all Black people, we needed to start at the margins and highlight the intersectionalities of being Black and LGBTQ+ in our movement.

 

Abolition and LGBTQ+ intersectionality date way back, and have a history we cannot neglect. As Duke University Press: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies puts it: 

 

“Abolition and queerness, taken together, name the eradication of the current terms of order imposed by racial capitalism as an ongoing settler-colonial structure. As a capitalist and settler-colonial structure, the terms of order that queerness and abolition undermine must end, full stop.”

 

The fight for Black LGBTQ+ equity goes in hand-in-hand with #DefundThePolice.

 

Pride began as an uprising against police in the early hours of June 28, 1969. Police in New York City violently raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club that was a place of refuge for many queer Black and Brown folks. Police raids of gay spaces were common. But this time, fed up with the constant police violence against them, the patrons of Stonewall fought back in what came to be known as the historic Stonewall Uprising.

 

The language may have been different then, but the sentiment remains the same: Protect Black folks. Protect queer Black folks. And #DefundThePolice.

 

This year alone, lawmakers in 46 states have introduced more than 650 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. More than 650! And yes, a handful of them are being passed. These laws will hit Black LGBTQ+ folks the hardest. 

 

We must not forget the history of the fight and all the work we’ve still got to do, and educate on how abolition and LGBTQ+ rights go hand in hand. 
 

Take Action:

Federal student loan payments started in October after being paused for nearly 3 years. Our fight to completely eliminate student debt is still vital, and we've got your back with powerful tools and resources now that payments have resumed.

 

We're not just dropping information and leaving you to figure it out for yourself. We're committed to fighting alongside you until we achieve our shared mission. Click the link to create a repayment plan that works for you.

Earlier this month, we celebrated Black Poetry Day – because Black poetry isn’t just art; it’s activism! 

 

We are not living in a world where the creative Black spirit can freely express itself in moments of joy. Unfortunately, the forces of white supremacy are currently attempting to silence our poetic voices by banning our books – poetry included. Books and poetry written by Black people are so important to our ability to imagine and create a world where Black liberation is possible. We cannot let white supremacists write our future.

 

Pledge to fight against book bans because, believe it or not, Black poetry is the next thing white supremacists will decide to target>>
 

WHAT Happened? And WHEN did this happen? 🤔

October 2nd, 1967 Thurgood Marshall becomes first Black Supreme Court Justice to be sworn in

 

As chief counsel for the NAACP in the 1940s and ’50s, Marshall was the architect and executor of the legal strategy that ended the era of official racial segregation. The great-grandson of an enslaved person, he argued more than a dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, successfully challenging racial segregation, most notably in public education – including the victory in 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that segregation violated the equal rights clause of the 14th amendment.

 

Photo Source: Library of Congress

October 7th, 1963

Alabama Troopers attack Black people registering to Vote in Selma

 

The Student Nonviolent  Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized hundreds of local Black residents in Selma, Alabama to register to vote in what came to be known as “Freedom Day.”

Local vigilantes and sheriffs intimidated those who showed up, even arresting some of the organizers. Federal officials did not intervene. The intimidation and failure to protect the right to vote stood as a clear violation of the 1957 Civil Rights Act. This was two years before the Selma to Montgomery marches.

 

Photo Source: SNCC Digital

October 16th, 1986

Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise Black Power Fist at Olympic Medal Ceremony

 

Tommie Smith and Jordan Carlos were part of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, a project that organized around the welfare of Black people and Black athletes globally. Their raised Black power fists also came with beads and scarves to oppose lynchings, and shoeless Black socks to highlight poverty. They were suspended from the US team and forced out of Olympic Village. Their gesture stands as one of the most political statements in Olympic history.

 

Photo Source: Sports Illustrated
 

Black Lives Matter: Say Their Name

Leonard Cure was a Black man who spent more than 16 years of his life in prison – for a crime he didn’t commit. It wasn’t until 2020 that he was exonerated and released. 

 

At just 53 years old, he was enjoying his life of freedom – a life that was rightfully his for so long. And yet, the same white supremacist system that wrongfully threw him in jail also wrongfully took his life on Monday October 16th. 

 

On that day, a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia shot and killed Leonard for allegedly speeding. He was driving back home after visiting his mother in South Florida. 

 

We’ve said it so many times before: Traffic stops should not be deadly.

Leonard’s life mattered. He was loved by his family and friends, and known as smart, funny, and kind. He even dedicated his life to justice when he was released, often training state prosecutors to help ensure fairness and equity in all cases, despite his own circumstances. He was buying his first home, planning to go to college, and had dreams of working in broadcast radio production – all of this, before he was murdered by a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia.

 

Follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and our work to eradicate white supremacy. 
 

Our work is dedicated to ending state-sanctioned and vigilante violence, liberating Black people, and ending white supremacy forever. Your contribution helps to fuel our efforts.