[Reader-list] One Day/ All Day April 27

[Trebor Scholz]

> 
> (apologies for cross-posting)
> 
> Right2Fight 
> 
> A cross-disciplinary initiative on the theme of police violence.
> 
> One day, all day.
> 
> Sarah Lawrence College, New York
> 
> 27 April 2002
> 
> http://www.molodiez.org/right2fight/slc.html
> 
> 
> BROOKLYN, NY: A Haitian New Yorker named Abner Louima is tortured by members
> of the NYPD.
> A broken broomstick is shoved into his rectum and mouth while his attackers
> scream racist epithets. The crime takes place on August 9, 1997. Four officers
> are convicted. On February 28, 2002, three of the four convictions are
> overturned. One officer is granted a new trial; two others are set free
> outright.
> 
> As weapons and methods of surveillance become more sophisticated and grass
> roots dissatisfaction with political and economic systems grows, in many parts
> of the world policing is becoming increasingly brutal and intrusive. From 80s
> video surveillance, alarming in its own right, we have moved on to far more
> invasive forms of policing:  automated face recognition technologies in use on
> the streets of London; iris scans imposed on Hadj pilgrims arriving in Mecca;
> techniques elaborated to spy on the most private exchanges online and off;
> ³Echelon,² an espionage system devised to scan vast quantities of e.mails and
> telephone calls worldwide, in real timeŠ
> 
> From a world best described as an analog panopticon, we have moved into what
> independent curator Inke Arns calls a pancodicon* :  a world of digital
> surveillance and electronic space in which our most intimate thoughts can be
> charted. In this world, what few protections were afforded those who stand in
> opposition to the status quo are lost, snatched back by systems of policing --
> local, national and global -- bent on breaking all but the tamest forms of
> resistance.
> 
> Such attacks on liberty are, needless to say, not new. Entire systems of
> economic and political domination have been built upon policing at once
> extraordinarily violent and intrusive. Among these, one might cite the very
> system on which the country we live in was founded. From the arrival of the
> first slave ship at Jamestown Harbor in 1619 to the contemporary streets of
> our largest cities, from the era of Jim Crow lynchings to the beating of
> Rodney King and the killing of Amadou Diallo, the United States has been a
> place of violence meted out at the hands of a few bent on controlling and
> silencing the many.
> 
> Once, men and women of African descent, in this land, were deemed 3/5th of a
> human being; today, so many men of African heritage -- one in every ten -- are
> behind bars or otherwise ensnared in the criminal justice juggernaut**  that
> one can legitimately speak of a genocide under way. In Atlanta, Detroit, Los
> Angeles, women and men of Native American, Latino and, increasingly, Asian
> heritage are questioned, arrested, incarcerated at rates in no way
> commensurate with their representation in the population at large. Post 9/11,
> over a thousand Arab men are in US jails, still waiting to be charged with a
> crime; in many cases, their own families have not been told where they are.
> 
> Elsewhere too, state violence has broken and continues to break lives,
> spirits, entire peoples. Violent repression was the cornerstone of the
> colonial project, in Africa and Asia alike.  Patrice Lumumba of Congo,
> murdered by Belgian-trained gunmen mere months after his country gained
> independence; Ruben Um Nyobe, heartbeat of Cameroon¹s struggle for
> self-determination, killed in a French ambush in 1958;  Steve Biko, beaten to
> death by South African police in 1977... Theirs are but the best known names
> -- a paltry few ³history² deigns to recall among those of hundreds upon
> hundreds of thousands who died, many resisting, killed by authorities in power
> only because they had the means to destroy.
> 
> In Europe, as the industrial age emerged, workers died by the thousands. In
> Napoleonic Paris, boulevards were cut through the city in wide swaths to make
> the task of shooting discontented factory hands easier, should they take to
> the streets en masse. As the 19th century drew to a close, in the UK and US,
> strikers seeking better wages were clubbed and shot. In the wake of a May Day
> protest that brought 80,000 workers to Chicago¹s Michigan Avenue, police
> violence exploded. Within days, eight men were arrested.  A  trial was held,
> centering on a bomb all agreed none of those indicted had planted. Five of the
> men were sentenced to death; the three others were remanded to prison for
> life.
> 
> One would like to think that such excesses are a thing of the past. They are
> not: 
> 
> ABNER LOUIMA
> 
> AMADOU DIALLO (1)
> 
> LUC BENOIT BASILEKIN (2)
> 
> SUSANA GOMEZ, RONALD RAUL RAMOS (3)
> 
> SEATTLE, QUEBEC CITY, GENOA (4)
> 
> SEOUL, JAKARTA, BRISBANE (5)
> 
> JOHANNESBURG, PARIS (6)
> 
> BULGARIA, ALGERIA (7)
> 
> VIRGINIA (8)
> 
> 
> (1) THREE YEARS AGO, A GUINEAN IMMIGRANT NAMED AMADOU DIALLO WAS STRUCK DOWN
> IN A HAIL OF BULLETS FIRED BY NEW YORK CITY POLICE. HE WAS REACHING FOR
> IDENTIFICATION; THE OFFICERS ASSUMED HE WAS REACHING FOR A GUN. THEY FIRED
> FORTY-ONE BULLETS. NINETEEN HIT THE TARGET.
> 
> (2) IN FEBRUARY 2001, THE GOVERNMENT OF CAMEROON INSTITUTED THE OPERATIONAL
> COMMAND, A PARAMILITARY TASK FORCE BRINGING TOGETHER MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL AND
> NATIONAL POLICE AND THE ARMY. THE C.O.¹S OFFICIAL PURPOSE WAS TO END A CRIME
> WAVE IN THE CITY OF DOUALA; IT WAS MEANT IN FACT TO BRING TO HEEL SECTORS OF
> THE POPULATION OPPOSED TO THE REPRESSIVE RULE OF THE GOVERNING PARTY. IN ITS
> FIRST SIX MONTHS, THE C.O. PERPETRATED 500 EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS; BY
> YEAR¹S END, 1000 PEOPLE HAD DIED.  ONE OF THE FIRST WAS LUC BENOIT BASILEKIN.
> 
> (3) IN APRIL 1996 IN GUATEMALA CITY, SUSANA GOMEZ WAS RAPED BY TWO NATIONAL
> POLICE OFFICERS; SHE WAS SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. IN SEPTEMBER 1996, RONALD RAUL
> RAMOS WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY A TREASURY POLICE OFFICER; HE TOO WAS SIXTEEN.
> MORE THAN TEN OTHER STREET CHILDREN WERE MURDERED THAT YEAR, LIKELY BY POLICE.
> TWELVE MONTHS LATER, NONE OF THE PERPETRATORS IN THESE CASES HAD BEEN
> APPREHENDED.
> 
> (4) IN SEATTLE, QUEBEC CITY AND GENOA, OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, UNARMED WOMEN,
> MEN AND CHILDREN CALLING FOR A MORE MEASURED APPROACH TO GLOBALIZATION THAN
> HAS BEEN PROPOSED BY SUCH BODIES AS THE WTO AND WORLD BANK WERE ATTACKED BY
> POLICE WIELDING BATONS, RUBBER BULLETS, WATER CANONS AND TEAR GAS. SIMILAR
> VIOLENCE GREETED UNARMED PROTESTERS AT MAY DAY RALLIES THROUGHOUT ASIA AND THE
> PACIFIC IN 2001, FROM SIDNEY AND BRISBANE TO KARACHI, SEOUL AND JAKARTA.
> 
> (5) IN FEBRUARY 2002, A COLONY OF SQUATTERS WAS VIOLENTLY DISPERSED IN CENTRAL
> JOHANNESBURG. THE POLICE LEVELED THE INHABITANTS¹ MAKESHIFT HOMES AND
> DESTROYED THEIR BELONGINGS. THE SQUATTERS WERE MADE TO BOARD BUSES AND WERE
> DRIVEN OUT OF THE CITY, WHERE THEY WERE UNCEREMONIOUSLY DUMPED, MILES FROM
> FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THIS DISPERSAL WERE SIMILAR TO
> THOSE USED IN FORCED REMOVALS OF THE APARTHEID ERA.
> 
> (6) ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 17, 1961, ALGERIANS LIVING IN PARIS ORGANIZED A PEACEFUL
> MARCH TO PROTEST A CURFEW ON PERSONS OF ARAB DESCENT. THE POLICE MOVED IN.
> THEIR COMMANDER WAS MAURICE PAPON, WHO DURING WWII HAD OVERSEEN THE REMOVAL OF
> 1560 FRENCH JEWS TO GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. TWO HUNDRED UNARMED ALGERIANS
> WERE SHOT, BLUDGEONED AND DROWNED.  PAPON REMAINS FREE.  DAILY, FOR NO REASON
> BUT THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN, PERSONS OF NORTH AFRICAN DESCENT ARE DETAINED,
> ARRESTED, BEATEN AND SHOT ON FRENCH STREETS.
> 
> (7) SINCE 1994, RACIALLY MOTIVATED VIOLENCE AGAINST ROMA GYPSIES IN BULGARIA
> HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY. MUCH OF THIS VIOLENCE IS PERPETRATED BY POLICE AND
> PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS. IN THE COURSE OF ONE WEEK, IN APRIL 2001, EIGHTY YOUNG
> PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY THE POLICE IN KABYLIA, IN NORTH-EASTERN ALGERIA.  ALL
> WERE MEMBERS OF THE MINORITY BERBER ETHNIC GROUP.
> 
> (8) ON MARCH 1, 1999, A SEVERED HEAD WAS FOUND IN A RICHMOND, VA PARK.  THE
> VICTIM WAS A GAY MAN. THE PARK HAD BEEN THE SITE FOR SEVERAL MONTHS OF A
> POLICE ³STING²:  UNDERCOVER OFFICERS HAD BEEN APPROACHING GAY MEN, PROPOSING
> SEX, THEN PROMPTLY ARRESTING THOSE WHO SHOWED INTEREST. THE ARRESTS WERE
> WIDELY REPORTED. THE PUBLICITY GIVEN THEM MAY WELL HAVE ENCOURAGED THE
> MURDERER.  WHY THE MANY PLAINCLOTHES OFFICERS PRESENT IN THE PARK ON THE NIGHT
> OF THE MURDER FAILED TO SEE ANYTHING IS ANYONE¹S GUESS.
> 
> IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, IN NORTH AFRICA AND EUROPE, AMNESTY
> INTERNATIONAL AND THE INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
> REPORT CASE AFTER CASE OF RAPE, TORTURE AND MURDER INVOLVING TRANSGENDER AND
> BISEXUAL, LESBIAN AND GAY PERSONS, ALL TOO OFTEN BY POLICE.
> 
> From Cape Town to Ramallah and Queens, this state of affairs is drawing the
> attention of artists. In an age of mass media and cleavage to the status quo,
> voices, images, sounds are emerging that speak of this violence with power and
> outrage. Right2Fight showcases an important international group of cultural
> producers whose work stands at the forefront of this movement.
> 
> Right2Fight is an emphatically cross-disciplinary undertaking: from web-based
> projects to graffiti, from sculpture to video, installations to street wear,
> Hip Hop to posters, experimental music and photography to performance poetry.
> The event's contributors speak as few can to the social and ethical costs of
> police violence, to the dangers inherent in  allowing such violence to
> proliferate, and to the responsibility we share, as individuals and
> communities, to denounce and battle it in all its manifestations.
> 
> Right2Fight is not a symposium. It is a constellation of spoken word
> interventions, performances, film and video screenings, installations,
> showings of net art and web-based pieces intended to prompt dialogue and
> questions.
> 
> This day-long collision of ideas, technologies and images seeks to transcend
> mere catharsis. The goal is not to satisfy neo-liberal guilt but to engage in
> concrete action. Activists and representatives of human rights organizations
> dedicated to ending police violence will be present to explain their work.
> Those who wish will learn, here, how they can become actively involved in the
> fight, channeling their emotions into actions, their words into deeds.
> 
> Right2Fight is not an indictment of all police officers. It does, however,
> condemn the brutality to which more than a few law enforcement communities
> resort. In light of recent events, the organizers hold, it is more important
> than ever to address issues of intolerance, prejudice and violence.
> 
> In the US and abroad, these have a disproportionate impact on the poor and
> marginalized. Millions suffer, die, are broken daily. Against this, its
> dehumanizing effects and causes, Right2Fight takes aim.
> 
> Contributors include:
> 
> Pam Africa (Philadelphia)
> 
> Chris Bratton (Chicago)
> 
> Robbie Conal (Los Angeles)
> 
> Adam de Croix (Brooklyn)
> 
> Dee Curry (NewYork)
> 
> Graff (New York)
> 
> Ashley Hunt (Brooklyn)
> 
> Emily Jacir (Bethlehem/Brooklyn)
> 
> Carol Jacobsen (Ann Arbor)
> 
> Richard Kamler (San Francisco)
> 
> Jared Katsiane (Boston)
> 
> Deborah Kelly (Sydney)
> 
> Goddy Leye (Amsterdam/Yaounde)
> 
> Mr. Lif (Boston) 
> 
> Malam (Douala)
> 
> Brad McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry (Brooklyn)
> 
> Julia Meltzer and Liz Canner (Los Angeles/Boston)
> 
> No One Is Illegal (Germany)
> 
> Sally O¹Brien (New York City)
> 
> Pass-Fix (Munich)
> 
> Horit Herman Peled (Tel Aviv)
> 
> Jenny Perlin (Brooklyn)
> 
> Picture Projects (New York City)
> 
> Lesego Rampolokeng (Soweto)
> 
> Oliver Ressler (Vienna)
> 
> Martha Rosler (Brooklyn)
> 
> Jayce Salloum (Vancouver)
> 
> Dread Scott (Brooklyn)
> 
> Trebor Scholz (Berlin/Brooklyn)
> 
> Sara Scully and Jessica Rockstar (New York City)
> 
> Gregory Sholette (Chicago)
> 
> Merian Soto and Pepon Osorio (Bronx)
> 
> DJ SKI HI (Bronx)
> 
> Stolen Lives Project/ October 22 Coalition (USA)
> 
> Herve Yamguen (Douala)
> 
> Herve Youmbi (Douala)
> 
> The event's organizers are an urban historian who works in Central Africa and
> teaches at Sarah Lawrence College (Dominique Malaquais) and a Brooklyn based,
> East Berlin-born interdisciplinary artist whose work has been extensively
> shown in Europe and the Americas (Trebor Scholz). The two share a commitment
> to tactical media, street activism and visual culture. Both curate, speak and
> publish widely, focusing on issues of social concern and the everyday.
> 
> 
> *   Inke Arns, posting to the ³Spectre² online mailing list, 3/9/02.
> 
> ** Neil Websdale, Policing the Poor.  Boston:  Northeastern University Press,
> 2001. 
> 
> 
> Contact: Dominique Malaquais <malaquais at yahoo.com>
> 
>               Trebor Scholz <treborscholz at earthlink.net>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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