Thread by @_400and1

400+1 is engaged in a protracted struggle for Orisha Land, an autonomous home for Black folx to be free from state sanctioned violence. This thread is meant to provide further context & communicate next steps following the state’s dismantling of Jordan’s Place. #martialtheblock

400+1 is martialing the block for Jordan Walton because:

✊🏿 We believe in establishing a government that employs trained and compassionate professionals to determine what risk individuals experiencing mental health crises pose to themselves and others.
#maritaltheblock

According to a 2018 report, Austin Police has the worst reputation in the nation for killing people experiencing mental health crises. Police Departments, especially APD, are not qualified to respond to mental health emergencies. Police don’t keep anyone in these situations safe

We still remember Johnny Cornell. We still remember Sophia King. We still remember David Joseph. Jordan’s murder was not an isolated incidentt. Austin police don’t take seriously Black people’s diagnoses when responding to 911 calls.
#sayhisname #sayhername

✊🏿 We believe in establishing a government that observes the ways the state responds to white people, particularly white men, who impose violence on our society and closes the gap between the response to white men who pose explicit threats and to Black folx who may or may not.

How is it that Robert Aarong Long can murder eight people and be apprehended safely?

Jordan murdered no one.

Jordan didn’t physically hurt anyone.

He was shot to death.

The MAGAs stormed the White House and killed 5 people. They walked right out of The Capitol and waved to cameras as they left. Yet, we’re told by the state that Jordan’s life couldn’t be spared.

Patrick Wood Cusius shot up a Walmart and killed 23 people, targeting them because they were Latinx. He was apprehended safely.

Remember when Stephen Paddock killed 61 people and injured 867 at a country music festival? Police didn’t pursue him, physically, until 65 minutes after he ceased fire-all to try to safely apprehend him.

The state had compassion for Dylan Roof, who murdered nine Black people in a church, but couldn’t be bothered to contact Jordan Walton’s family; though he’d physically harmed no one.

When will our expectation be that Black life is valued, unconditionally?

✊🏿 We believe in establishing a government that leans on intersectional frameworks to better understand root causes and build social programs that respond to them.

The work of Monnica Williams @DrMonnica , Dr. Joy Degruy @DrJoyDeGruy and, of course, Frantz Fanon, undergirds the argument that Black people are *all* experiencing psychological disorders, namely post traumatic stress, as a result of racism.

What does it mean for us, globally, that our racial identities are a major risk factor for mental illness and that the state’s response to mental health care needs is gruesome violence????

Orisha Land is an ongoing effort to establish a Black, autonomous zone in East Austin. 400+1 believes that alternatives work. The federation hopes that OL will serve as a proof of concept for Black poor and working class people who have doubts about the feasibility of revolution.

400+1 is not the first to prioritize autonomy and self determination. We are preceded by Chokwe Lumumba, The Black Panther Party, and Mississippi Freedom Schools to name just a few contributions to the movement for Black alternatives.

We continue in this tradition while diverging from the practice of embracing autonomy as a stand-alone strategy.

What we develop in East Austin will over Black folx an opportunity to witness the power of Black autonomy and the viability of alternatives to the apparatus in which they are currently invested.

But autonomy programs alone are unsustainable in the long term, as the institutions and alternatives we build are not safe in America’s current political climate.

What we develop under the current conditions must be but an example that garners faith and investment, not a permanent structure that exists in parallel to institutions of oppression.

We must also prioritize destabilization because liberty and tyranny will never coexist.

This was made apparent by the intersectional suppression 400+1 faced during its 26 DAY OCCUPATION of Jordan’s Place. @AustinCityParks, the NAACP, Austin Police Department, and Texas Parks and Wildlife @TPWDparks and mainstream media all coalesced to neutralize 400+1’s efforts.

We have to make police (in all forms) answer for their harassment of activists by responding in kind.

We have to drive divestment from state funded institutions and spaces, effectively abolishing them.

We have to address Black misleadership and make shameless coons toe our own political line or risk irrelevance and obsoletion.

We have to stop buying for-profit newspapers and watching corporate owned broadcasts.

(And invest in principled alternatives. We see you Hood Communist and @MAKCapitalism)

400+1 is moving forward with its community meeting today at Jordan’s Place at 5:30 pm CST. Folx interested in signing up for long term volunteer opportunities with the #MartialtheBlock campaign should attend.

Every Saturday in April we will host Orisha Land Scavenger Hunts to onboard new volunteers. Just show up at Jordan’s Place at 3:00 p.m. CST

The vetting and training process for 400+1 volunteers is extensive and we require commitments of 9, 5, or 2 months from everyone interested in supporting.

Finally, please donate as this battle continues to unfold. Our opposition has a war chest at its disposal. Help us build our own.
PayPal.me/400and1
CashApp: $400and1
Venmo: FourHundredandOne

#martialtheblock #handsofforishaland #justiceforjordan #blacklivesmatter