On this day, 6 April 1968, just two days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, 17 year old Black Panther “Little” Bobby Hutton was murdered by police in Oakland, California.
Hutton had been the very first recruit to the Black Panther Party. He had been involved in a shootout with police until he surrendered. He left his weapon, took off his shirt and emerged from the basement where he was holed up, barechested with his hands up.
He had been advised by a comrade to surrender naked, but he was embarrassed and left his trousers on. Police shot him at least 10 times, killing him.
Six days later, over 1000 people came to his funeral, at which actor Marlon Brando delivered the eulogy.
His killing spurred rapid growth of the BPP.
You can learn more about the Panthers in these books by former members of the group: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/black-panthershttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1394002520784894/?type=3
We’re all going to have PTSD and agoraphobia by the end of April
Like, my grandparents lived through the Great Depression and never really managed to give up their learned habits from that experience. Now, instead of “Why are you guys sitting in the dark? You can afford to turn lights on…” it’s going to be “Why do you feel guilty about going to the grocery store? You aren’t infecting anybody.”
I’m already planning to have big bottles of hand sanitizer, and gloves for the rest of my life, also I want to buy an old school freezer, you know those ones that look like a coffin? I want one, and I want to fill it with frozen meat so I never EVER have to feel this fucking terror of what I’ll do if I run out of food.
This is an actual phenomenon called collective trauma, and yeah it can do just that.
Oh shut up, this is nothing. People are starving all around the world. Crybabys
Like really? You’re comparing this to the great depression?? You people are so privileged its disgusting
You know what? It’s not ‘nothing’ to people who have lost their jobs. It’s not ‘nothing’ to the millions of people experiencing greater food insecurity because of this. It’s not ‘nothing’ to the people trapped with their abusers. It’s not ‘nothing’ for the people with other health problems this is exacerbating. It’s not ‘nothing’ to the people worried about their loved ones. It’s not ‘nothing’ to the people who have lost loved ones.
Economist David Blanchflower, a professor at Dartmouth, is predicting that unemployment could soon surpass numbers from the Great Depression. Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economist and historian who co-authored a book that analysed the past 800 years of economic crises, says “We are going to see a recession, at least in the short term, the likes of which we have not seen at least going back to World War II,” and that this experience is tantamount to a war or even an alien invasion. Meanwhile, several writers have published in-depth articles comparing this event to the Dust Bowl.
On top of all that, psychologists with expertise in the realms of grief and trauma have been weighing in to explain how this will be a shared traumatic for the vast majority people:
Like, sorry, but if you think this is all nothing because you’re not feeling impacted, then I hate to break it to you, but the privileged person here is you.
I lost my job and therefore have no income whatsoever, the benefits system is overwhelmed by the number of new applicants so I have no idea when I will ever see another cent, I can’t continue to access the mental health treatment that has been so beneficial in the last few months, and I’m trapped on the opposite side of the world from vulnerable family members who don’t stand a snowflake’s if they catch this virus, but yeah it’s nothing 🤷♀️
Up now on my eBay! Classic Marvel romance comic from 1965! Patsy & Hedy Career Girls #103, featuring Patsy “Hellcat” Walker by Stan Lee and Al Hartley! Also up for grabs: my indie comics collection and random Radio Comix books! My house is super small, and I am still selling off thirty years’ worth of collectibles to raise money for ongoing back taxes & various upcoming large expenses (plus, work is still closed), so every little bit helps. Thanks for looking & sharing!
Relief depicts the pharaoh Merneptah is greeted by the sun god Ra-Horakhty, detail of a wall carving from the Tomb of Merneptah (KV8). New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1292-1189 BC. Valley of the Kings, West Thebes.
“Our institutions and conditions rest upon deep-seated ideas. To change those conditions and at the same time leave the underlying ideas and values intact means only a superficial transformation, one that cannot be permanent or bring real betterment.”
— Emma Goldman, My Disillusionment in Russia (via philosophybits)
