TFW and Black Lives Matter

This past weekend members of the Editorial Collective journeyed to Ferguson, MO with “Black Lives Matter Ride (BLMR),” a national advocacy effort organized in the spirit of the early 1960s Freedom Rides, with the intention of collectively calling out, responding to, and ending state sanctioned violence against black people. This call to action, a collaborative effort between BLMR, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, and the Organization for Black Struggle, was in response to the recent murder of 18-year old Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson as well as the national crises of “blue on black” violence and death more generally. Black people make up only 13% of the U.S. population, yet more than 1/3 of those killed by officers are black. To be clear: an unarmed black male is killed by police or vigilantes every 28 hours. This impacts entire communities in a range of ways. Further, “blue on black” crime extends to black women and girls as well. TFW believes our oppressions are linked, as is our thriving. And calling out and resisting antiblack racism is central to our mission. We will be talking a lot more about this in weeks to come. In the meantime, please visit our Facebook page for live updates and photos from last weekend.