Hey y'all, I really think the Flying Brick should endorse this! Look it over, and let me know what ya think.<br><br>
“<span class="quote">DO THIS.
<p>“Become an Endorser ** SAMPLE LETTER ** please circulate widely:</p>
<p>“CeCe’s Committee is working on getting different people and
organizations to stand is solidarity with CeCe by either signing on to
the letter provided at the end of this e-mail or creating one of your
own. Please read on and let me know if this is something you or any and
all organizations you are associated with can do.</p>
<p>“Early this past summer, a young, African-American, transgender woman
survived a violent attack motivated by racism and transphobia in the
heart of South Minneapolis. After one of the attackers was stabbed and
bled to death at the scene, Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald now stands falsely
accused of two counts of felony murder. First the target of a racist,
transphobic assault and since, the hostage of a legal system incapable
of fairly serving transgender people and people of color, CeCe needs
support from the community in order to achieve justice. Your
organization’s endorsement of a letter of support calling for the
charges against CeCe to be dropped could free CeCe and end this tragedy.</p>
<p>“Many people are unfamiliar with what happened to CeCe that night and
the extent of the oppression she continues to face in the criminal
legal system. While there are varied accounts of what happened that
night, CeCe and her companions all agree on the following details. Late
at night, CeCe was walking to the grocery store with some friends, all
young, African-American, and queer or allied. As they passed a local
bar, a group of older, white people standing outside the bar’s side door
started hurling racist and transphobic slurs at them without
provocation. One of the white women smashed her glass into CeCe’s face,
puncturing her cheek all the way through and lacerating her salivary
gland. During the incident, one of the attackers, Dean Schmitz, was
fatally stabbed.</p>
<p>“Even though CeCe was the subject of an utterly unprovoked and
unjustifiable assault, she was the only person arrested that tragic
night. Instead of receiving adequate medical attention for her injuries,
she was interrogated for hours before being placed in solitary
confinement, where she stayed for her first month in jail, and was
consistently denied adequate further medical care. Although she was
released on bond after a few months, she was recently taken back into
custody because of allegations that she violated the terms of her
conditional release. Despite this new hurdle, CeCe continues to prepare
for trial, which is currently set for April 30th, and her supporters
across the nation and throughout the world continue to demand that the
charges be dropped and the injustices against her be stopped.</p>
<p>“Please, join with CeCe and her supporters to bring an end to this
tragic injustice, which began months ago with an unprovoked hate crime
that resulted in the lamentable death of Dean Schmitz and has only
continued to worsen as she has been denied the opportunity to pursue her
education, heal, and move on with her life.</p>
<p>Your organization’s endorsement of a letter of support for CeCe and
insistence that Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman drop the
charges against her are equally essential to achieving justice for CeCe
and to creating a Minneapolis that is safe for trans people of color and
all other residents. We have included the letter we are asking you to
sign on to, below, but we also encourage its use as a guide for creating
a statement that more specifically represents your organization’s
values and commitment to CeCe, justice for her, and justice for all
trans people of color.</p>
<p>“Please send us your endorsement, or let us know if you would prefer
to proceed with an individual letter of support. Your endorsement, as
well as any questions, can be directed to Billy Navarro Jr.,
<a href="mailto:mntranspr@gmail.com">mntranspr@gmail.com</a>.</p>
<p>“As an entirely volunteer-run support committee, we understand the
importance of coming together as a community to stand for justice and
demand an end to racism and transphobia. As such, we appreciate the
opportunity to work with you and the rest of CeCe’s supporters across
the globe in the struggle to end oppression against CeCe and other trans
people.</p>
<p>“Thank you,</p>
<p>“The CeCe McDonald Support Committee”</p>
<p>+++++++++</p>
<p>SAMPLE LETTER:</p>
<p>Mr. Michael Freeman<br>
Hennepin County Attorney<br>
C-2000 Government Center<br>
300 South Sixth Street<br>
Minneapolis, MN 55487</p>
<p>Mr. Freeman,</p>
<p>We, the groups and individuals listed below, are aware of the hate
crime that was committed against Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald and her
friends on June 5th, 2011, and of the developments in her case in the
months since. As organizations committed to justice, we are standing
with Ms. McDonald and her sizable support community in demanding the
charges against her be dropped.</p>
<p>We are also aware that your office has stated its commitment to
pursuing justice in this case. Justice demands that the charges against
Ms. McDonald, the victim in an unprovoked attack, be dropped, so that
she may recover, return to school and go on with her life. The racism
and transphobia that fueled the hate crime against Ms. McDonald and her
friends are not acceptable to our community or on Minneapolis streets.
Although the tragic events of that night led to the lamentable death of
Mr. Dean Schmitz, continuing the injustice against Ms. McDonald does not
serve the community’s interests and we support you choosing to drop the
charges.</p>
<p>The issues affecting our community that are apparent in this case all
show the necessity of your choosing to drop the charges. These issues
include:</p>
<p>-White supremacy, as the white adults who attacked Ms. McDonald and
her friends yelled racist epithets at them before assaulting them
because they are African-American. Additionally, Ms. McDonald’s friends
and family endured repeated threats and harassment from members of
Schmitz’s family and individuals from the scene of the June 5th incident
for weeks afterwards. In addition to numerous threatening phone calls,
some of Ms. McDonald’s friends were surrounded and chased in public, and
told to “Go back to Africa.”</p>
<p>-Transphobia, as the white adults also yelled transphobic slurs at
Ms. McDonald and her friends. One of the attackers even said that Ms.
McDonald was dressed as a woman in order to rape the late Mr. Schmitz.
Unfortunately, Ms. McDonald being targeted that night was just another
instance of the systemic oppression that transgender people, especially
transgender women of color, experience every day at the hands of other
community members and within governmental institutions. Transgender
people are ten to fifteen times more likely to be incarcerated at some
point in their lives than non-transgender people, because transgender
people who experience violence due to their gender presentation also
receive little understanding and respect from non-transgender police,
jail and court officials. African-American people are targeted by higher
rates of racial profiling and harsher sentences throughout the legal
system; therefore these numbers are even more egregious for
African-American trans people.</p>
<p>As you can undoubtedly see, pursuing these charges against Ms.
McDonald protects white supremacy and transphobia at the expense of
ensuring safety for all members of our community. You have long been
recognized for your commitment to protecting the community and
professional judgment when doing so, as can be seen in these instances:</p>
<p>-Your work to protect domestic violence survivors, seniors and
vulnerable adults demonstrates your understanding that marginalized
voices and people are often in greatest need of protection. Ms.
McDonald, as a young, African-American trans woman, is similarly in need
of our understanding and protection, as she was violently attacked
without provocation. Pressing charges against Ms. McDonald increases the
hardships she faces as a young woman and sends a message that several
large populations in Hennepin county—young women, female students,
African American youth, LGBTQ youth, and transgender people—cannot rely
on government officials to promote their safety and security.</p>
<p>-In 2011, you exercised your professional judgment by declining to
prosecute at least three other cases of individuals who have been
attacked and whose attackers have been subsequently killed. We know you
have the ability to choose not to prosecute in cases of self-defense,
and we support your making that choice in this case. It is tremendously
unfortunate that Ms. McDonald was attacked, and even more unfortunate
that she has not yet been freed and enabled to recover from this tragic
incident. We support your choosing to drop the charges against her and
standing up for the right for people to protect themselves from
hate-motivated violence.</p>
<p>-You have spoken multiple times about the importance of keeping kids
in school, citing that 98% of young people who commit felonies were
truant first. You have also said that staying in school is essential to
young people having a chance in this world. Our organization agrees
wholeheartedly about the importance of young people being in school, and
we are especially troubled that Ms. McDonald has already missed more
than a semester of college because of the murder charges she is facing
after being attacked. We believe that the right place for a 23-year-old
woman is college, not jail or prison. We have supported your commitment
to keeping kids in school and would support your choice to extend Ms.
McDonald an equal opportunity for this as well.</p>
<p>Once again, we want to express our absolute support of you choosing to drop the charges against Ms. McDonald.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>[SIGNATURE LIST]</p>
<p>African-American and African Studies Department, University of MN<br>
Anti-War Committee<br>
Communities United Against Police Brutality<br>
Department of Multicultural Life, Macalester College<br>
Freedom Road Socialist Organization<br>
House of Transfiguration<br>
Leslie Feinberg, NWU/UAW, Co-founder of Rainbow Flags for Mumia<br>
Minneapolis Autonomous Radical Space<br>
MN Committee to Stop FBI Repression<br>
TGI Justice Project<br>
Tongues Untied, University of MN<br>
Trans Youth Support Network<br>
Transgender Law Center<br>
Twin Cities IWW General Defense Committee Local 14<br>
Twin Cities IWW General Membership Branch<br>
Queers for Economic Justice<br>
Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department, Macalester<br>
Women’s Prison Book Project</p></span>”
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<a href="http://freececemcdonald.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">http://freececemcdonald.tumblr.com/</a> (via <a href="http://leslie-feinberg.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">leslie-feinberg</a>) </td>
</tr></tbody></table><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Always with Solidarity<br><br>Nathan<br>