JACOB BLAKE’S shooting was not a low point in American race relations and police brutality, but just another reminder of what African-Americans face every day.
BLM protests have become a fixture of American activism since George Floyd’s death – but what have they acheived?
Without a fixed, clear plan and list of demands, BLM has managed to dominate the discourse – but the right have turned the movement into another tenet of the culture war.
Activists must be praised for bravely standing up for their rights – but without that clarity of action, grassroots protests will always struggle. Step up, the National Basketball Association – could highly influential players, often from working-class backgrounds, help the communities they grew up in?
THIS NEWSLETTER IS AVAILABLE EARLIER ON SUBSTACK. SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE HERE TO GET THE NEWSLETTER TO YOUR INBOX AS SOON AS IT IS POSTED.
The Milwaukee Bucks are a high-flying NBA team situated just 40 miles away from Kenosha, Wisconsin – albeit they are now playing in the ‘bubble’ in Orlando.
Their unilateral decision to strike – which triggered strikes across the NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS – threatened to be a monumental moment in labour history.
But it ended after 24 hours with vague promises of social reform – all related to electoralism.
What would have happened if players and coaches demanded more? If they withheld their labour until some justice was acheived? We will now never know.
Of course, it took moderate hero Barack Obama to convince the players to resume the season, per The Athletic.
TO GET THIS NEWSLETTER 24 HOURS EARLIER, BECOME A PATRON NOW.
While useful, voting is never a way to bring about systemic change. There could be an essay written on this subject, but to be concise, it appears NBA players, after taking an unprecedented step, just gave up too easily.
On the other side, President Trump is continuing to narrow the polls with a relentless message of ‘Law and Order’, capped off with some bizarre speeches at the Republican National Convention.
Also released this week were the so-called ‘isolationist’ President’s foreign policy promises for his second term. In our latest editorial, we went through all of them to uncover the untruth that is Trump’s ‘America First’ stance.
Here’s the best of our other articles from the past week:
LIBERAL INTERVENTIONISM
When one thinks of imperialism, the mind is immediately drawn to the US, or even the UK. But after exposing Ottawa’s links with Saudi Arabia previously, Scott Costen reports on Trudeau’s bid to topple the Venezuelan government.
Jorge Arreaza: Canada doing Trump’s bidding on Venezuela
And here’s one of Mr Trudeau’s potential challengers at the next election, who wants the GPC to be ‘unapologetic’ in its socialist stances.
ASYLUM SEEKERS
Amid far-right raid on hotels housing refugees and asylum seekers, Declan Carey looks at the lack of support they receive from central government.
UK is ‘dehumanizing’ asylum seekers as charities fill in essential needs and services
ISRAEL AND THE UAE: THE BEST OF FRIENDS?
To some, it was a bizarre deal; to many experts, it was inevitable. Guest writer Nazanin Zarepour dissects the logic behind the Israel-UAE peace deal in her first piece for this publication.
The Sharpening of the Dialectic: The UAE and Israel’s ‘Peace Deal’
LOOKING FORWARD
Keep an eye out for our coverage on the Jamaican election – Monday will see a special feature on the two parties vying for power this Thursday, the JLP and the PNP.
We’ll also know whether Green New Deal co-sponsor Ed Markey fended off Joe Kennedy. Spoiler: polls are looking progressive…
Subscribe to stay updated, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Redaction cannot survive without your help. Support us for as little as $1 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RedactionPolitics.
Redaction Report 