Black Atheists Stand in Solidarity with Week of Action for Marissa Alexander

marissa alexander week of action

To raise awareness about mass incarceration and domestic violence, Black atheist groups will participate in the Mother’s Day Week of Action for Marissa Alexander from May 9th through 18th. Alexander is a Florida mother of three who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for protecting herself against her abusive ex-spouse in 2012. In November 2013 Alexander was released on bond and is currently under house arrest awaiting a new trial, which is set for July 2014. Florida prosecutor Angela Corey is now seeking a 60-year sentence for Alexander.

Alexander’s case exemplifies the disproportionate burden criminalization, domestic violence and mandatory minimum sentencing has on African American women and communities of color. According to the Sentencing Project, the lifetime likelihood of incarceration for Black women is 1 in 19; versus 1 in 118 for white women. The Black Skeptics Group of Los Angeles and Chicago, in addition to the Chocolate City Skeptics, will participate in fundraising, letter writing and other outreach to increase awareness of the impact of prison pipelining on communities of color.

About Us: The Black Skeptics Group (BSG) is a 501c3 organization provides resources, education and outreach to non-believers of color. BSG partners with community-based organizations across the nation on projects that promote social justice and humanism.

Black Atheists Stand in Solidarity with Week of Action for Marissa Alexander
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Bring Back Our Girls: May 5th Protests/Events

Bring Back Our Girls demonstration:
We ask you to join on on May 5th, 2014 at 6pm, on the corner of Crenshaw Blvd and King Blvd (by the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall) to stand in solidarity. These girls are daughters, sisters, and friends and we need to show them that we care and will not turn a blind eye towards them.

Please wear the color red, and wear your gele if you have one.
Location: King Blvd & Crenshaw in South Los Angeles
Time: 6pm PST

Black Freethinkers Podcast: Crisis in Nigeria with Anthea Butler (Penn U), Kamela Heyward-Rotimi (Duke U) and Teka Lark-Fleming (Morningside Park Chronicle)
Time: 5pm PST
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blackfreethinkers/2014/05/06/bring-our-girls-home-crisis-in-nigeria

Passionate Present: Protecting Black Girlhood with bell hooks & Salamishah Tillet
Location: Eugene Lang College, New School for Social Research, NYC
Time: 4pm EST
https://www.facebook.com/events/242391872612165/?ref=22

Bring Back Our Girls: May 5th Protests/Events

Bring Back Our Girls: African Agency & the Kidnapping of Nigerian School Girls

In the post, “Everyone is an Expert on Nigeria Now” blogger Atane discusses African political agency and why Western takes on the recent kidnapping of Nigerian school girls in Chibok by Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram reek of paternalism:

1. After the news broke that some of the kidnapped girls had been taken across the border into Cameroon and Chad, and some might have been forced into marriage, one of the most disgusting things I read was from someone going on about “Nigerian culture”. This person went on to say that this is normal in Nigeria. Yes, they were serious. If it isn’t clear by now, no it isn’t normal in Nigeria to storm schools with guns and kidnap young girls, take them deep into the bush, hold them against their will, rape them and then traffic them into neighboring countries as your new forced teen brides. WTF?

How can anyone insinuate that this is “Nigerian culture”? I’m sure people in Iraq and Afghanistan and those from Iraq and Afghanistan in the US were constantly in a state of uneasiness and anger by the outright lies propagated about their country by some westerners. I understand this feeling now. This is where I am at the moment. I’m angry. These people saying these awful things don’t understand that they are dealing with human lives. These are people. Your lies and distortion has an affect on public perception and day to day life. Ignorant people also imbibe this nonsense and it will shape their beliefs and ideology about people they don’t know and places they have never been. It’s why my former neighbor who is a Sikh had to prop up a US flag after 9/11, because he wears a turban and didn’t want to be assaulted by the roving gangs of white dudebros who wanted to exact revenge on any brown person they saw. The flag didn’t help him because he was still accosted and harassed. His store was vandalized several times.

2. Stop using Nigeria as a stepping stone for your talking points…More @ http://atane.tumblr.com/post/84316429194/everyone-is-an-expert-on-nigeria-now

Bring Back Our Girls: African Agency & the Kidnapping of Nigerian School Girls