Beyond Congrats, a Brown Line Needed for Biden-Harris

 Beyond Congrats, a Brown Line Needed for Biden-Harris

By ROBERTO Dr. CINTLI RODRIGUEZ

The Progressive Populist Dec 1, 2020

"After these past four years, there has to be a brown line for Biden-Harris: They can lead the world in effectuating the concept of “No human being is illegal.” They can start by humanizing their migrant and refugee policies, also by bringing down the wall, destroying the cages, ending child separation and also by ending the genocidal war against people of color."

For the full column, go to: https://www.populist.com/26.21.Rodriguez.html

For the full issue, go to: Populist.com

Foundational Lies & Foundational Myths: Or The ‘Genius’ of the ‘Founding Fathers’

 

By ROBERTO Dr. CINTLI RODRIGUEZ

(Vea la versión en español a continuación.)

I am from the school that believes that the past, present and future are not separate, and all actually form one seamless continuum. For example, in the realm of US politics, Providence, Manifest Destiny and American Exceptionalism are not dated concepts, but what constitutes the foundation of this nation’s psyche.

These concepts also affirm that the religio-white supremacist ideals that were present during the nation’s founding, continue to be a part of this nation’s moral fabric, which is clearly on display during these 2020 elections. These truths are generally left out of US K-12 textbooks. Students are taught that the “Founding Fathers” ushered in democracy, but not that the nation was actually founded upon genocide, land theft, slavery and de jure and de facto discrimination.

This helps explain why the current White House occupant opposes the teaching of the significance of 1619 (slavery). Instead, he wants 1776 (Independence) to be taught as the nation’s founding. The year 1492 (colonialism) is arguably an even better year to recognize because that’s when these destructive ideologies and worldviews were first introduced into this country/continent.

For the full column, including in Spanish, go to: https://www.populist.com/26.20.Rodriguez.html

OCT 22: VIOLENCE AND IMPUNITY CONTINUE TO REIGN:

In writing my Yolqui book on law enforcement violence, a couple of things happened along the way. I have met and been in contact with more and more families who have had family members killed or brutalized extrajudicially by law enforcement – that is, without indictments or trials, etc. The trauma is immeasurable, especially sans justice. What I have further learned through my life-long monitoring of such abuse is that violence by law enforcement against Red-Black-Brown peoples is not random, but targeted, especially when considering the complicit role of the judicial system in failing to hold officers and departments accountable. No advanced country in the world has a similar track record. Some 1100-1200 people are killed yearly, absent trials.

Most cases remain virtually invisibilized, especially the cases West of the Mississippii. Unknown to most people, California and Texas lead the nation, year after year in such killings. Also unknown to most people is that the highest rates of killings happen to Indigenous peoples in this country. We know the killing of Black youths and young Black men are through the roof, and so too is the killing of Raza, with major undercounts by both the government, the media and those that count these deaths (look for a Raza database shortly on these deaths and the significant undercounts). Also, this violence is out of control generally, but the violence against these three peoples/communities can literally be traced on this continent to 1492, when Europeans viewed everyone they encountered as less than human. This is still true to this day and the evidence is that impunity. Despite the advent of videotaped evidence and social media (Youtube), prosecutions and convictions are still less than extremely rare. And thus, the unjustified killings continue unabated.

Lastly, at the end of the process of writing the book, I made a connection I had not previously made; women from these same communities are being subjected to extrajudicial violence, not by law enforcement per se, though they are guilty too, but primarily by non-state actors. The connection with that violence, and the violence by law enforcement, is that it is also being carried out with impunity. The connection is the nation’s judicial system. No investigations, thus no prosecutions, no trials, no convictions and of course, no prison time. The exceptions are extremely rare. And this applies to both of these violences. And of course, government and politicians are complicit in their failure to step forward on this issue.

Thus, on this day, Oct 22, when people and organizations bring to light law enforcement violence throughout this country, we need to also bring to light the Murdered and Missing Indigenous, African American and migrant women, who are also being hit hard by this violence. And this also includes trans women who are also being killed at extraordinary rates. The levels of violence against all these communities are literally at pandemic levels.

Solutions? Since Rodney King. Since Michael Brown. Since George Floyd. Whenever there is a high-profile killing, there is always talk of reform, but have we seen any substantial reforms? Every human rights organization, including the UN, has denounced this violence, though the killings continue. The violence continues. The impunity continues. The promises continue. The invisibilzation and the silencings continue. The lack of justice also continues. Without any other seeming recourse, it is high time to bring a legal case not simply to the UN’s International Criminal Court at the Hague. It should also be brought to the OAS. The time of impunity has to come to an end.

If White Supremacists Secede, Will POC sFollow?

By ROBERTO Dr. CINTLI Cintli Rodriguez

PROGRESSIVE POPULIST NOV. 1 ISSUE

If the current White House occupant were to lose the presidential election and refuses to step down, would his cult followers respond with a violent uprising? At minimum, we know they are on “standby.”

Akin to the breakup of the Soviet Union, could this also spell the “end of America?”

Some observers have speculated that his white supremacist followers have, in effect, already seceded from the nation (What could upset this political apple cart even further is if he were to succumb to COVID 19).

What of the opposite? What if he is thrashed at the polls, but again “wins” via the Electoral College, but this time, his opposition refuses to accept such a verdict? Also, what if Indigenous-Black-Brown peoples decide to secede from the nation, peoples that have historically been treated as “enemy others?” One only need to examine all of the nation’s critical indices – especially during the pandemic and the continued state violence and hate crimes with impunity against them, plus the reprehensible school to prison pipeline – to understand this rationale. Also, the denial of the UN-guaranteed right to teach their own histories, languages and cultures, accentuates this sub-human status.

Certainly, the rise of the Orange Madman and his white supremacist misogynist cult have caused people to question why peoples pledge loyalty to a nation that is not loyal to, and often wars against, them.

And yet, this secession talk is actually coming from his own base. Providence, Manifest Destiny and American Exceptionalism guides them, and it is they who fear displacement from their “God-ordained” lands. Apparently God is not Red, Black or Brown.

In regards to Chicanos specifically, the right-wing has had them seceding for decades now via Aztlan, “the original Homeland of the Aztecs,” and the “Reconquista.” In terms of Chicanos themselves, the dream of Aztlan was very much a 1960s-1970s thing, though it amounted more to a poetic/cultural/spiritual expression than to a widespread political movement.

However, as a result of the way this country has treated peoples of Mexican/Central American origin recently, such talk is on the rise again. What propels it is their continued silencing and invisibilization in virtually all matters in this country. Add to that children in cages and ICE’s hunter battalions, that continually wreak havoc in these communities, and this adds fuel to this fire. Due to such abuses, the social contract between Peoples of Color and government arguably has been null and void for decades now. The MAGA slogan is that reminder. When “America was great” was during the worst of times for POCs.

Is an Aztlan nation possible? FOR THE REST OF THE COLUMN, GO TO: https://www.populist.com/26.19.rodriguez.html

FOR THE FULL NOV 1 ISSUE: Populist.com

THE END TIMES, WALTER MERCADO AND THE ORANGE MADMAN

THE END TIMES, WALTER MERCADO AND THE ORANGE MADMAN.

PROGRESSIVE POPULIST OCT 15

By ROBERTO Dr. CINTLI RODRIGUEZ

I am sure that what has been happening around the world, including and especially in the United States with its raging forest fires, hurricanes, racial conflict and the COVID 19 pandemic, has given rise to doomsday prophets everywhere. The truth is, all of this has been foretold since time immemorial; the only thing missing is a hurtling asteroid, and of course, locusts.

FOR THE REST OF THE COLUMN, GO TO: https://www.populist.com/26.18.rodriguez.html

TO READ THE OCT 15 ISSUE OF THE PROGRESSIVE POPULIST, GO TO: Populist.com

Memory, COVID-19 and Sequelae Violence

 

COLUMNA BILINGUE/BILINGUAL COLUMN

Memory, COVID-19 and Sequelae Violence

By ROBERTO Dr. CINTLI RODRIGUEZ

(Vea la versión en español a continuación.)

In my book on violence, “Yolqui: A Warrior Summoned from the Spirit World,” a PhD student at the University of Arizona, Michelle Rascon Canales, contributed an essay: “‘Brokenheartedness’ or Systematic Killings: Testimonios and Sequelae Violence.” By doing so, she introduces the reader to a concept I had always known and lived but was unaware of its name: Sequelae violence. It might also be referred to as collateral violence or damage.

Something similar has been happening amid the COVID-19 crisis. It becomes clear when one examines the concept and rationale for contact tracing. One person is infected and the objective is to find out who the person recently came into contact with because chances are likely that they may have also been infected, especially if the contact took place in a large group indoors. The transmission often spreads among those closest to the person infected, who could also go on to infect those closest to them, and on and on. FOR THE REST OF THE COLUMN, GO TO: https://www.populist.com/26.17.rodriguez.html

IS THERE ROOM FOR RED-BLACK-BROWN VOICES IN NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON RACE?

IS THERE ROOM FOR RED-BLACK-BROWN VOICES IN NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON RACE? 

by Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez

Sept 15, 2020

THE PROGRESSIVE POPULIST: 

https://www.populist.com/26.16.rodriguez.html 

When you read the list here in the article of Raza killed since May 26, the day George Floyd was killed, the list has actually grown to at least 66. Here is the larger list.

Jose L Castillanos 5/26 Houston, TX
Jason J Gallegos 5/26 Lansing, Mich (w)
Modesto Reyes 5/27, Jefferson Co, LA
Robert Avitia 5/26 Los Angeles, CA
Rommel Mendoza 5/28 North Hollywood CA
Hector Hernandez 5/28 Fullerton CA
John Alvarado 6/1 Corpus Christi, TX
Jorge Gomez 6/1 Las Vegas, Nev
Sean Monterrosa 6/2 Vallejo, CA
Eric Galvan 6/4 Corpus Christi, TX
James Pharr “suicide by cop” 6/5 Socorro, TX (U)
Marcus J. Uribe 6/9 Edgewood, CO (w)
Erik Salgado 6/10 Oakland, CA
Gregorio Cruz Vanloo 6/11 DeKalb, Tenn (w)
Mason J. Lira 6/11 Paso Robles, CA (w)
Abel Rosiles 6/18 Round Lake Beach, ILL
Anthony A. Armenta 6/19 San Bernardino
Michael Torres 6/20, Lake Charles, LA (U)
Kevin Pulido 6/24 Pueblo, CO
Julie Colon 6/25 Plano TX (U)
Sandra Francis Guzman (plus 6 more) 6/25 EPT Migra chase
Martin H. S. Fregoso 6/26 Cobb County, GA
Nick Costales 6/29 Fresno, CA
Bonnie Figueroa Ortiz 7/16 Pasco, WA
Leonardo H. Ibarra 6/29 San Diego, CA
James P. Garcia 7/6 Phoenix AZ
Axel Perez 7/6 Jacksonville, FL
Carlos Baires 7/7 Fresno (U)
Name withheld by Calexico police 7/ 9, 2020
Antonio Mancinone 7/11 Monument CO (U)
Andres Guardado 7/11 Compton CA
Audon Ignacio Camarillo 7/12 McCallen, TX
Marcos Reyes 7/12 Chamblee, GA (U)
Julio Jaramillo 7/14 Deming NM
Jorge Gonzalez 7/15 Rio Grande Valley TX
Sean E. Ruis 7/15 Eaton Co, Michigan
Cristhian E. Ramos-Murrillo 7/14 Knoxville, Tenn
Abraham Rivera 7/17. Mesa, AZ
David Angulo 7/20 Chula Vista CA (U)
David Guillen 7/22 Aurora, CO (U)
Juan Carlos Ortega 7/27 Bronx NY
Julio C. Virula 7/27 Carmel Indiana
Ray A. Lara 7/28 EPT
Giovanni Cedano-Amaro 7/29 Las Vegas NM (U)
Gabriel Salinas 8/1 Mission TX
Roberto Hernandez Jr. 8/5 San Angelo TX
Ryan Shane Hinojo 8/9 EPT (U)
Americo Reyes 8/10 Grand Island, Neb (U)
Jose Vallejos 8/10 Albq, NM (U)
Fred JH Arcera 8/15 Oak Ridge, Tenn (w)
Ramon T. Lopez 8/17 Phoenix, AZ
Jose M Castro 8/17 Dos Palos, CA
Marco Antonio Sigala 8/17 Welasco TX
Santos A. Villegas 8/17 San Bernardino CA
Everardo G. Santana 8/17 Bakersfield CA
Jose Almanza 8/17 Chicago, ILL
Erik Jon Perez Bay 8/18 City TX
Derick Bonilla 8/18 Glendale AZ
Samuel Mata 8/19 San Benito, TX (U)

* (w) means they were listed as white and (U) means they were listed as Unknown.

To go to the entire Sept 15 issue of the Progressive Populist, go to: Populist.com