Today in Wikincubate, the ever-expanding encyclopedia of ways to get engaged with socially conscious issues:

Police brutality

Racism

Racism multimedia, including this Dave Chappelle classic:

Pollution

Organic food

I just read one of most disturbing stories I have read in some time. Last week, a police SWAT team broke into into a man’s house in the DC suburbs, the mayor of that area actually, accused him of being involved in a drug ring, shot his two black labs and interrogated he, his wife and his mother in law.   The drugs?  A package of 30 pounds of unopened marijuana still sitting outside their house.   One of the dogs tried to runaway and the cop just shot it and proceeded to question Cheye Calvo and his wife Trinity Tomsic while the dogs just lay there and died.

Did the dogs attack?  Nope.   Has there been a problem in the area with drugs being shipped to random folks houses and intercepted by the drug dealers?  Why yes there has.   You may also wonder exactly how much is 30 pounds of marijuana?

This picture is from a different raid but apparently shows how much 30 pounds is.

Even if it turns out the pot was delivered to Calvio on purpose (which there is no real proof of yet) and he was involved in some illegal drug activity - is the amount of marijuana pictured enough to warrant murdering 2 innocent dogs?  Unless the dogs were attacking the officers or the homeowners threatened the cops, I don’t think any amount of drugs would make it OK to shoot 2 dogs.

Read the rest of this entry »

For an update on the disgusting story of the NYPD officer that body-checked a cyclist that I wrote about last week, head on over to Gothamist, where they discuss how city council members are urging a much needed investigation into the recent harassment of cyclists by the police.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter that the council members wrote:

There has been a history of police harassment of cyclists, especially during the monthly Manhattan Critical Mass group bicycle ride. Most often, these attacks are unprovoked and aggressive, and the behavior of police towards cyclists is anything but the courtesy, professionalism, and respect on which NYPD prides itself. The recent incident involving Mr. Long is a particularly disturbing example of the NYPD’s attitude towards cyclists, one that happened to be caught on video tape.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an awful, yet important video, making it’s way around the internet right now that features a NYPD officer body-slamming a cyclist off of their bike during the last Critical Mass. The cop is claiming that that the rider, 29 year old Christopher Long, rode into him - the video would seem to suggest otherwise:

What do you think? In a surprising turn of events, action is actually being taken against the cop and he was stripped of his gun and badge pending an investigation. Although it is quite disturbing that Long was bruised, arrested for attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct and spent 26 hours in jail.

Read the rest of this entry »

A new installment of the Robocop series is coming in 2010, as MGM and director Darren Aronofsky are teaming up to bring it to life once again:

Darren Aronofsky has signed on to direct and David Self is penning a new installment about the hero whose tagline is “part man, part machine and all cop.”

MGM is keeping the logline under wraps, but insiders say it will take the sci-fi vigilante classic in more of a noir direction. [variety]

Interesting - I wonder how the cops will be portrayed in the film - with the acquittal of Sean Bell’s killers etc.. I am curious about how the cops will be portrayed. I would be overjoyed for a real critique of the power they seem to be accumulating.

As far as the movie itself, It’s almost not even worth talking about whether this is a good idea or not - since it seems all old movie series are coming back to life these days. But what makes this news awesome is that I can post a bunch of Robocop videos!!

Awesome videos after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

About a year ago New York City’s Critical Mass, a group that supports riding bicycles as an alternate mode of transportation in our gas guzzling society and once a month gathers for group rides across the country, met up to ride not only in support of the environment but in protest of a New York City law that says more than 50 people cannot gather without a permit. I went with my camera and my pals went with their bicycles and what we experienced was awful and intense. Many people were arrested and given summons that they did not deserve.

The Glass Bead Collective has made a collection of videos from lot’s of folks footage (mine included!) about the event and about the police’s role in the situation:

The Sean Bell verdict has provoked outrage and action, as Gina blogged. Tonight, you can learn about police brutality and by attending a screening of Every Mother’s Son, Tami Gold’s award-winning documentary about the mothers of three victims of police brutality whose stories made headlines around the country: Amadou Diallo, the young West African man whose killing sparked intense public protest; Anthony Baez, killed in an illegal choke-hold; and Gary (Gidone) Busch, a Hasidic Jew shot and killed outside his Brooklyn home. The film follows the victims’ three mothers as they come together to demand justice and accountability. The film won the Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award and was nominated for an Emmy. And it was chosen to be part of National Video Resources’ Human Rights Video Project, a national library project created to increase the public’s awareness of human rights issues through the medium of documentary films. The screening and discussion is part of the Culture Project’s Women Center Stage Festival and is at 6PM @ The Puffin Room @ 435 Broome Street. Order tickets or buy them at the door tonight at the The Puffin Room.

NAACP Image Awards, Academy Awards, Grammy’s are nothing new to the actor/activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. But for the first time ever, the dynamic duo win my Valiant Valentine Award. Valentine’s Day Week, kicked off my Valentine’s week-long series on the 5 coolest activist couples. I honored activist & actor Susan Sarandon and her partner, activist, actor & director Tim Robbins with a VVA, that’s a Valiant Valentine Award, for those of you just tuning in. Now I’m awarding another VVA to a couple who have shown their love for each other and for civil rights, human rights, and peace. And the award goes to…

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were not only award-winning and distinguished actors, but social change-winning and distinguished civil rights activists. The couple, married for 56 years, won NAACP Image Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was honored by the Kennedy Center, not only for their roles on stage and screen, but for their roles as trailblazers who opened the door for so many black actors who came after them.

Read the rest of this entry »