As the murder of George Floyd set the streets alight, revelers in New York City lit up the night skies with volleys of fireworks smuggled in from out of state. The celebration seemed fitting — the people had risen up, the Minneapolis precinct burned. Apparently overnight, the police had lost their legitimacy in the eyes […]
When the PBA Defends Bad Cops
I wrote the following letter to the editor of The Irish Echo in 2000. Patrick Lynch, the current President of the NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), had just been elected to his first term. Suffice it to say that he has continued acting in a despicable tradition, so what I wrote then still stands. Pictured […]
Middle of the Road
“The middle of the road is no private cul-de-sac I can’t get from the cab to the curb Without some little jerk on my back” Middle of the Road – The Pretenders During the Ariel Sharon reign, the Israeli Defense Force (the IDF) was particularly prone to brutal attacks and incursions into Palestinian refugee camps. […]
Today We Mourn
Hard Crackers is pleased to publish this recent message from Abahlali baseMjondolo, the Shack Dwellers Movement in South Africa. The message was released on the anniversary of the Soweto Revolt in 1976. We thought it would be helpful to readers if we said a little about the group. The Movement is a grass roots organization […]
“Preserving Our Capacity to Act:” An Interview with Kristian Williams
Hard Crackers: If I understand correctly the argument you’ve made about the efficacy of riots, it’s that they impose, far more effectively than legal limits, that communities can place new limits on police brutality. That seems quite evident in what’s happening now at the official political/media level. They can’t seem to move fast enough to […]
In the Streets of Philadelphia
A lot can happen in a week. On Saturday, May 30, a beautiful sunny afternoon, we joined thousands of others at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum to protest the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police. This was the first major protest of Floyd’s death in Philadelphia, the poorest big city in […]