It’s easy to freeze up in a tense or dangerous situation. We made the Self Defense Starter Kit because it has happened to us: we were threatened and we froze up—we didn’t know how to react, and that made us vulnerable in a bad moment. We wanted to know what to do if it ever…
From November, 2017
Black Liberation and the Abolition of the Prison Industrial Complex: An Interview with Rachel Herzing
True Leap Press (TLP): Hi Rachel, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. We are excited to have you as a contributor in this inaugural edition of Propter Nos. Our publishing collective thinks the specific timing of this issue is important to highlight, as it is set to be released…
Bernstein & Spencer
Regent Mark Bernstein said the only thing worse than Spencer being on campus would be stopping him from being campus. “We could do the easy thing. Others have,” Bernstein said. “We could ban Richard Spencer. Everyone would celebrate. The board would be cheered. President Schlissel would be applauded. But we would be dancing on our own grave. And on…
Abolition First, Oversight Last, Advice Never
A couple years ago, activists in the #FreedomTuesdayz collective told members of Ypsilanti’s city government that the Black Life police accountability platform they ought to study and take seriously was Campaign Zero’s, section two of which is called “Community Oversight.” Note the very particular word used there: oversight. I’m disappointed I didn’t find out until…
Abolition as Divestment
[Note: this thread by Nick Estes reminds us—especially now that Ypsilanti will be given a few hundred thousand tax dollars which its mayor has earmarked for hiring more cops—that we need to abolish, not remedy, the system of policing.] 1. we are conditioned to view police violence in the spectacular. what evidence shows us is…
Gilbert Wants More
Something unusual happened on Thursday. A Michigan billionaire told the government he wants taxpayer money, and he didn’t immediately get it. Dan Gilbert—who at an estimated net worth of $5.6 billion is Michigan’s wealthiest resident—is requesting $250 million in public money to help fund four of his projects planned for downtown Detroit. He claims they’ll…
Vigil for Aura Rain Rosser
On Thursday, November 9, 2017, at 6:00 p.m., the community will gather to remember Aura Rain Rosser, an artist and mother, who was fatally shot by Ann Arbor Police Department’s Officer David Ried in 2014. The community will meet at the Justice Center at 301 E. Huron, for a public speak out to remember Aura…