Charles Preston Profile picture
Sep 25, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read Read on X
I have something to tell y'all.

My job @injusticewatch is sending copies of our judicial election guide to 1000+ voters in the Cook County Jail.

You can help us get our guide to folks in the county with a donation today. (Please read the entire thread)
injusticewatch.org/donate/
If you donate $25 or more, you'll receive a set of beautiful postcards, pictured below. We commissioned the art from local artists, including a couple from Stateville Prison thanks to @ArtsPrison.

But let me tell you why this important (see next tweet)
injusticewatch.org/donate/
Groups like @ChicagoVotes were funamental to passing SB2090 (which ensured voters who are eligible and incarcerated have access to the ballot, making CCJ the first jail in the country a polling location, and folks in the re-entry process able to receive voter education).
Imagine the incarcerated being able to vote on judges, elected officials who determine cases and sentencing. Imagine if they are able to receive the education needed to make a more informed decision on each judge up for retention.

We no longer have to imagine; it's happening.
Personally, I'm proud of this effort. I don't hold it as revolutionary, but giving the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated the information to empower their political decision-making matters to me.

It doesn't come cheap because of capitalism.
Donate: injusticewatch.org/donate/

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More from @_CharlesPreston

Dec 15, 2023
I'm reading about boycotts in Mississippi during the 1960's.

There are cases where Black folks betrayed a boycott and patronized the targeted white business, only to be met by their community — Black boycotters — delivering a punishment.
“Folks go shop, break the boycott, they didn’t get home with the damn groceries ... cause somebody was waiting for them when they got there.” Image
"Names of Blacks who violated the NAACP boycott were announced at mass meetings."
Read 5 tweets
Nov 8, 2023
Chicago actually has more Ukrainian refugees than Venezuelan refugees. But the United States’ geopolitical relationship with Ukraine is vastly different than the one with Venezuela.

And you know…there’s you know…that thing.
“…Ukrainian refugees arrived with a status granted by the federal government that made their path easier, including programs that opened the door to obtaining work permits immediately.”

abc7chicago.com/amp/venezuelan…
The benefits people thinking Venezuelan refugees received, like work permits, were immediately granted to Ukrainian refugees.

But no one wants to talk about that because people just like to be mad and don’t do research!
Read 6 tweets
Nov 2, 2023
I thought this was timely for Chicago.
Pictured is a white power rally flyer from the 1960s in response to MLK's End Slums campaign.

What caught my attention about this flyer is that they were using the fact that Black people were moving into Chicago's white neighborhoods as a means to organize.

"...FIGHTING THE BLACK SLUM INVASION OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS."
Image
Hmm... are there any groups in Chicago that aren't wanted in neighborhoods today that people are willing to organize around...just like the white power people? 🤔🤔🤔

Hmmm...
"The only reason Martin Luther King keeps winning is because he PUTS BLACK MOBS IN THE STREETS"

"Then we will march on the blacks in THEIR neighborhood with masses of "Back To Africa" signs"

"WHITE CHICAGO WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY INVASIONS OF WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS BY BLACK SCUM" Image
Read 5 tweets
Apr 23, 2023
There have always been Black men in Chicago that mobilized in response to violence. There are so many historical examples of this.

In my opinion, their mobilization is an indictment of a corporate political class that refuses to eradicate the root causes of violence.
See Pastor Robin Hood helping to organize mothers who've lost their children, or Pastor Donovan Price that arrives at the scene of many shootings, or New Era Chicago patrolling the Red Line Station...

And these are just recent examples.
We can go back decades!
When Chairman Fred Hampton was organizing the Black Panther Party, one of his and the party's goals were to organize peace treaties amongst young Black gangs to mobilize Black Power against the city government. COINTELPRO and the Chicago Police Department undermined his efforts.
Read 5 tweets
Nov 3, 2022
Whenever "cancel culture" is brought up amongst celebrities, no one ever mentions Paul Robeson.

During the height of his career, the United States government revoked his passport for eight years for being a communist, advocating for Black Americans and independence in Africa.
The NAACP wouldn't touch him.
Jackie Robinson and Roy Wilkins denounced him.
Paul Robeson was blacklisted from performing.
Paul Robeson's yearly income dropped from more than $150,000 to less than $3,000.
Paul Robeson's All-American Athlete status was scrubbed by Rutgers Univ.
He literally had to testify before the government...

(Testimony of Paul Robeson before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 12, 1956)
Read 5 tweets
Nov 2, 2022
The non-profit industrial complex exists. Non-profits can deradicalize work and be an engine for philanthropists, foundations, and government to derail revolutionary momentum.

However, some non-profits have the potential to foster and expand a radical project — like abolition.
Tell me how cash bail was eliminated in Illinois and what organizations were responsible.
If you have a non-profit and were able to get space that you own, there is potential to use said space for community gatherings, political education, and more. You can literally leave the keys to anyone you trust to do whatever they want — activists, organizers, whatever.
Read 5 tweets

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