Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts

Friday, July 02, 2021

bon repos


Trigger warning: Indian Residential Schools
_______________




We stole your children.

We buried them in whiteness.

We buried them in the fields.

News is getting out.

We fly the colonizers' flag at half-mast, 
a false apology at best.



Poem and photo by rob goetze

Thursday, May 12, 2016

things god forgot to put into the Bible (#5)


caption: things god forgot to put into the bible. Picture of clouds with god sitting on throne, jesus on a chair beside him. God suggests that he forgot to put in: "Don't be surprised when centuries of cultural genocide destroy the soul of a people." Jesus replies, "Sadly, it wouldn't have changed much, even if you had defined 'people'". Concept and drawing by rob goetze

Would it have changed much if God had put that verse in the Bible? Would the world be a better place? Would we no longer have a history of centuries of cultural genocide of indigenous peoples, of colonization, of white supremacy?

I mean, Jesus himself said things like:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43 - 48, NIV)
and yet look at the world around us and what people who call themselves Christians are saying and doing...

Monday, February 08, 2016

an apology from the Mesa Arizona Police Department

Kayden Clarke. Photo by self.In memory of Kayden Clarke, age 24, killed by Mesa Police Officers who were sent to follow-up on reports that he was suicidal, when he allegedly lunged at them with a kitchen knife. Mesa, Arizona. February 6, 2016.

Kayden's video of his service dog calming him during an Asperger's "meltdown" went viral last year.








we just want to say

Suicidal
from being trans
or having aspergers
but illegal in either case

we two kings responded with guns
and (reportedly) stun guns
at least one of us trained
in mental health crisis intervention

Forgive us
for killing you
we were called in to uphold the law against suicide
but really we just wanted to go on admin leave

poem by rob g



Read the story here.

See the video of Kayden and his service dog.

Twitter.

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams. If you are new to my blog, be aware that this is a social commentary blog. Most posts are rather frank and some are hard-hitting. Read more about this blog.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

an apology from Senior Deputy Ben Fields of the Richland County Sheriff's Department


To the unnamed black female high school student at Spring Valley High School who was violently assaulted by Deputy Ben Fields for refusing to get up and leave after being written up for not putting away her phone. Columbia, South Carolina. October 26, 2015.

Deputy Ben Fields of Richland County Sheriff's Dept. assaulting black female student at Spring Valley High School, Columbia, SC. Photo from AP.




i just want to say

Sitting at your desk
you wanted to use your phone
teacher said no
but you didn't listen

your parents didn't teach you right
so I taught you a lesson
about learning
while black

Forgive me
for teaching you the back flip
in math class
I should have dragged you down to the gym first

poem by rob g




This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Friday, September 11, 2015

making a difference, one baby at a time


manitoba - making a difference, one baby at a time. cartoon by robg


Our white friends to the south managed to do it. Jim Crow laws which enforced racial segregation in the southern states were in place until the 1960's. As the Civil Rights movement brought about legal changes, the state and local laws regarding segregation were overturned. In some ways, however, not that much changed and the U.S. situation evolved to what is known as the new Jim Crow, which is seeing (among other injustices and inequities) high percentages of black people (black men in particular) end up in for-profit prisons and many other barriers in place to prevent equal participation in society.

Here in Canada, one of our historical evils was the Indian residential schools: Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families and put into residential schools, forbidden to use their own languages and not allowed to practice their culture. Abuse was wide-spread. This took place roughly from 1876 to the late 1960's. The recent Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls it cultural genocide.

Understandably, Indian residential schools are done with. However, that doesn't mean that those in power suddenly believe that Aboriginal lives matter.

Around the end of the Indian residential school system, the Manitoba government began "systematically apprehending aboriginal children starting in the 1960s and placing them with non-aboriginal families — a practice known as the ’60s Scoop." (source). Read more here and here. Thousands of children were taken and placed in foster and adoptive homes. Just this past June 2015, the Premier of Manitoba apologized on behalf of the province for the 60's scoop. Yes, this is Canada - the Canada we don't here much about.

But is it over?  And now what's happening in Manitoba?

Child and Family Services workers are seizing an average of one newborn a day, without assessing the parents or their ability to care for their baby, according to Cora Morgan, First Nations Children's Advocate. She says,

“In this system, you are guilty until you can prove you’re innocent. They’re not going in and investigating to see if there is another side of the story. They’re not going in there to say, ‘How can we help you?’ … They just take the kids.” (source)

You can imagine the effects on a baby of being removed from its mother, put in care for the key months of attachment, and then handed back. And the cycle continues...



Read more about the seizures of babies.

Read Christi Belcourt's indictment of Manitoba's child welfare system.

Estimated numbers:
The numbers of children in the system are staggering – it is estimated that there are today anywhere from 60, 000 – 70, 0000 Native children in foster care in Canada , a much higher proportion than the 20, 000 children taken in the horrific Sixties Scoop, where 20, 000 children were taken and placed into adoption or in residential schools, those institutions meant to “kill the Indian in the child”.

Friday, August 28, 2015

an apology from the Portsmouth Police and the Hampton Roads Jail

In memory of Jamycheal Mitchell, age 24, found dead in his jail cell at Hampton Roads Regional Jail on August 19, 2015, four months after being arrested for allegedly stealing $5 of food.

Jamycheal Mitchell. Photo from Facebook



we just want to say

Hungry?
bad choice that
taking a mountain dew snickers
and zebra cake

jailed in april
you wasted away
taking up space
waiting for a hospital bed

Forgive us
for wasting tax dollars
we should have executed you
at the scene of the crime

poem by rob g



This poem seems more harsh than some of the others. I think I'm feeling particularly  angry today. Don't know how our black brothers and sisters cope with it, and especially as they know that  any given day might be their last, just because they're black.

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

an apology from NJ State Troopers and the Mercer County Sheriff's Office


For Radazz Hearn, age 14.  Shot seven times on Friday, August 7, 2015, by New Jersey state troopers and Mercer County Sheriff's officer for running away. In stable condition in hospital.

Radaaz Hearns. Photo from the Hearns family.






we just want to say

You went off at a run
in your sweatpants
red as blood
and reached for a ?

our instinct said gun
we shot seven times
to protect the neighbourhood
from thugs like you

Forgive us
for not liking you black and red fashion
it clashes with white folks'
sense of decorum
poem by rob g



Read an apology from the Waller County Sheriff's Office.

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.
Read an explanation of false apology poems.

Sunday, August 09, 2015

an apology from St. Louis Police Department Officer Darren Wilson


In memory of Michael Brown, killed August 9, 2014 by SLPD Officer Darren Wilson.

Michael Brown. Photo by AP
(Photo by AP)



i just want to say

Newly graduated from high school
you stole from a convenience store
walked down the street
with your friend

I shot you twelve times in the front
now you are dead and I am hated
how inconvenient for me
that I came by and did my duty

Forgive me
those cigarillos
would have killed you in the end
anyway

poem by rob g




Read more.

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

an apology from the Waller County Sheriff's Office


For Sandra Bland.  Pulled over July 10, 2015 for a standard traffic violation (failure to signal). Dead in a cell July 13, 2015 at the Waller County Jail, Texas.

Sandra Bland, in picture she posted to LinkedIn.






we just want to say

You were angry
dangerously black angry
to the point of
not signalling

we dragged you out of the car
face down
you were angry so angry
you killed yourself in jail

Forgive us
for interrupting your dream
of driving yourself
off a bridge
poem by rob g



Read more about On #SandraBland And The Life-Threatening ‘Angry Black Woman’ Myth

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Friday, July 17, 2015

an apology from NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo

In memory of Eric Garner, suspected of selling single cigarettes. Put in an illegal chokehold by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the process of being arrested on July 17, 2014 and died an hour later.

Eric Garner - Facebook profile picture




i just want to say

I heard you say "I can't leave"
and thought
of course you can't leave
I have you in a choke hold

and so you died
alone
surrounded by courtesy
professionalism and respect

Forgive me
I'm sure someone out there
somewhere
is crying for you

poem by rob g



Read more.

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Thursday, July 02, 2015

an apology from a white supremacist arsonist


I just want to say


Seven churches burning
within a month
black churches getting blacker
by the moment

give me matches
a can of gasoline
and transportation
I'll make it seventy times seven

Forgive me
I didn't think to bring
enough marshmallows
to share

poem by rob g



This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

[final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission]


Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Logo


Honouring the Truth,
Reconciling for the Future
Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

From the Introduction:
For over a century, the central goals of Canada’s Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and, through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in Canada. The establishment and operation of residential schools were a central element of this policy, which can best be described as “cultural genocide.”

Physical genocide is the mass killing of the members of a targeted group, and biological genocide is the destruction of the group’s reproductive capacity. Cultural genocide is the destruction of those structures and practices that allow the group to continue as a group. States that engage in cultural genocide set out to destroy the political and social institutions of the targeted group. Land is seized, and populations are forcibly transferred and their movement is restricted. Languages are banned. Spiritual leaders are persecuted, spiritual practices are forbidden, and objects of spiritual value are confiscated and destroyed. And, most significantly to the issue at hand, families are disrupted to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one generation to the next.

In its dealing with Aboriginal people, Canada did all these things.
(emphasis added)


Link to full PDF online.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

an apology from the Charleston shooter


For Pastor Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Rev Daniel Simmons Snr, Rev Sharonda Singleton, and Myra Thompson. Murdered June 17, 2015 during a prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, S.C.

9 members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church killed June 17, 2015. Photo from christianpost.com site (no credit given there).






i just want to say

You welcomed me in
to your prayer time
let me sit
were very kind

an hour of that
was all I could take
I shot nine of you
in little time

Forgive me
I shouldn't have pretended
that prayer
mattered to me

poem by rob g



Read more.

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

[traumatizing]







This is a common theme on my Twitter feed these days -- black people mentioning that they are feeling traumatized by the continuous news reports, looping videos, etc. depicting police violence against black people.

This might be difficult for those of us who are white to relate to. We've grown accustomed to watching news of wars in far off places involving people whose skin is a different colour than ours, and this seems like a variation of that. Our senses have become dulled.

But for black Americans watching what is happening to their brothers and sisters in their own neighbourhood or in a city across a few state lines, this is real. Not just because real people are being killed -- in many cases, murdered -- by the police. But because they know it could happen to them just as easily. Just for walking down the street or looking at someone the wrong way.

The result is trauma, perhaps similar to being in a war zone. The world is not safe.


news reports on racial injustice ... can be traumatizing. Austin Channing on Twitter, March 11, 2015

#racialtraumaisreal. Tweet by Zakiya Naema Jackson, April 30, 2015
Related article.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

god relieved by erasure

Here in Edmonton, the atheist society is about to start a bus ad campaign claiming it's good to be godless.

Here is God's response:

Edmonton atheists society bus ad, with (possible) god's response added by robg.



Christian Post article about the ad campaign.

Original ad as seen at edmontonatheists.ca:


Sunday, February 08, 2015

an apology from the Fairfax County Sheriff's Department

In memory of Natasha McKenna, age 37, who died on February 8, 2015 after a stun gun was used on her at the Fairfax County Jail on February 2, 2015, while she was fully restrained.

Natasha McKenna grad photo from family.




i just want to say

Fully restrained
handcuffs behind her back, leg shackles, mask
bad girl wouldn't bend her knees for the chair
I tasered her four times with my buddies watching

she had a heart attack
was resuscitated
and died
six days later

Forgive me
even for a black person
a life of mental illness
is just not worth living



poem by rob g



Read the story here.

This is a false apology poem.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

chris the messiah


chris the messiah (a.k.a. american sniper). cartoon by rob g


“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43 - 48 (NIV)



This cartoon was inspired by an article "Why Are So Many Christians Worshipping The American Sniper?" by Benjamin L. Corey. Read it here. HT to Jim Robertson for sharing it on FB.


Update: It seems my cartoon has inspired a HuffPo article. Not really, but wouldn't it be nice?
Read Clint Eastwood's Sniper, and the American Messiah.

And read Chris Hedge's article, "American Sniper": Killing Ragheads for Jesus to understand more of the connection between religion and hostility.

Monday, January 19, 2015

just can't do it...


jesus: I just can't use the faces of real human beings - not even Roman soldiers - as target practice. Cartoon by rob g.


Can you imagine Jesus throwing spears at soldiers of the occupying Roman army? Or even at the pictures of faces of soldiers, for practice?

I can't. Would Jesus be acclaimed as the leader of the Jewish resistance movement? Certainly some of his people were hoping he'd be that kind of Messiah, but that's not who he is nor what he came to do.

Instead, he willingly gave up his life to show us that violence is not the way to go.



And in the world late last week, outrage on Twitter at news of a South Florida police department using mugshots of black people for target practice. How's that for continued dehumanization of black people?

Granted these men were charged with crimes. That doesn't change the fact that they are human beings, with mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, other family members and friends. They are men created by the God of the universe, and no matter what, some glimpse of his image remains. Jesus loves them and gave his life for them.




And in very related news, the BBC reports that Sgt. Deant, a soldier in the National Guard was shocked when she saw her own brother's face as one of the target images at the North Miami Beach Police firing range which she was using after a training session.
The photo of her brother Woody Deant had been taken after his arrest as a teenager for drag racing. It had been shot several times.

Mr Deant said he was "speechless" when he heard the news.

"Now I'm being used as a target? I'm not even living that life according to how they portrayed me as. I'm a father. I'm a husband. I'm a career man. I work nine to five."
The first shall be last and the last shall be first.

South Florida Police department mugshots of black men-target-practice-2014-01-15



And for a small glimmer of solidarity from WP:


Reminds me slightly of the Catholic priest Maximilian Kolbe who at Auschwitz took the place of a man who was going to be killed by starvation.


Clergy in uniform send in photos - "use me instead" - twitter post by Shane Claiborne

Saturday, November 29, 2014

an apology from Cleveland Police Department Officer Michael Brelo

For Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, an unarmed couple shot 137 times by 13 Cleveland Police Department police officers at the end of a high speed chase, November 29, 2012. This apology is from Michael Brelo, one of those officers.

Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. Picture courtesy of family




i just want to say

you had been speeding
in your nice car
speeding unarmed
with your love

I was afraid
shot 49 bullets into you
while standing on the hood
of your car

Forgive me
if I had spent more time on the firing range
I'd have done the job
with two bullets

poem by rob g




Read more.

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams.

Back-posted to November 29, 2014, to match the anniversary of their death.