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Published bimonthly since 1986, AGAINST THE CURRENT is a Solidarity-sponsored analytical journal for the broad revolutionary left. The May/June 2013 editorial focuses on what is at stake in the decision to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. Malik Miah’s Race and Class column takes up the immigration debate and calls for open borders; Chokwe Lumumba outlines the strategy behind his run for mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. Dan Georgakas paints an overview of the Greek financial crisis and the struggle against their “odious” debt while Maïa Pal recounts the occupation against outsourcing at England’s Sussex University and Jaime Rivera, Secretary of the Sindical de Trabajadores de Sector Electricos in El Salvador explains the latest attempt by Washington and the World Bank to impose another round of privatization. Comics artist Ethan Heitner depicts the great Flint sitdown strike – and more!
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Austerity and criminalization of youth
Below is a great speech made at an earlier protest by Alana S., an ISO member and rec center activist. She makes some points I forgot to mention here—that while the city is closing recreation centers, the state is spending $150 million to build a new youth jail in Baltimore, and that the combination of the new youth jail and the rec center closures constitute part of a continuing assault on Black communities, particularly youth. It seems to me that the criminalization of black youth is a distinct and separate issue from austerity (which is a wealth transfer from the working class to the rich) and needs to be acknowledged as such in our struggle.
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As we've heard from everyone here today, more and more and at an ever-younger age, Black youth are being criminalized. We see them portrayed as hoodlums and gang members in the media. We've heard a state delegate make reference to Black youth mobs in the Inner Harbor. City schools are increasingly policed and racial profiling has led to the traumatization and even death of Black youth at the hands of the police. A clear message is being sent to Black youth that they are considered worthless and that no future other than mass incarceration is expected of them when millions of dollars are earmarked for the construction of a new youth jail while schools, youth jobs, after school programs, and rec centers are underfunded. We are dealing here with systemic, institutionalized racism. If we are going to preserve a future for today's Black youth, we all have to take a stand directly against racism, together.
When I say that the closing of the rec centers is an issue of race, I want to be very clear about what I am not saying. I am not saying that we need rec centers so that Black youth will be contained instead of out on the streets. I refuse to participate in this racist narrative that sees all Black youth as potential criminals. They deserve freedom of movement and the civil right to walk, shop, and socialize anywhere without being threatened or harassed.
We need to say that the reason we need rec centers is not because Black youth are potential hoodlums, but because they are potential leaders. The truth about Black youth is that they are talented, creative, athletic, brilliant, and full of potential. THAT is why we need rec centers. They deserve to have mentors, leadership opportunities, room to grow and develop their skills, a place where they can try out their talents, practice, and excel -- and to do all of this in a place that is a safe haven from racial profiling and police brutality.
Taking a stand to save the rec centers means standing up for our city's Black youth and affirming their worth. It means taking a stand against criminalization. The fight to save the rec centers is itself a fight against racism.
So, please join us this Friday, August 10th for a day of action to save the rec centers. There are several events throughout the day, culminating in the march that Ms. McCray spoke about at the Mary E. Rodman recreation center at 7:30 pm. All of the events can be found on the Occupy Baltimore calendar online, so please join us for as much as you can of this important day of action to save the rec centers.