Why We Can’t Allow the State to Set the Agenda For Our Liberation

Feeling Rebloggy

"Within hours of Omar Mateen shooting and killing 49 people at Pulse Nightclub, the media and political leaders jumped to describe this attack as yet another instance of radical Islamic terrorism. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Mateen was affiliated with ISIS. Mateen didn’t understand the differences between fundamentalist Islamic groups and his relatives even doubted his religiosity. Furthermore, the CIA has found no connection between Mateen and the Islamic state. Despite the lack of evidence suggesting any connection between this attack and the Muslim faith, the general public was led to believe that radical Islam was at play."

 

A few hours after first hearing of the Pulse Club Shooting, I was able to confidently post that Omar Mateen's actions should be categorized as mass shooting encompassed within a hate crime. Yet, the white-male-dominated, main stream media kept pushing Mateen's story in the direction of  "foreign, Muslim, terrorist," even when ex-wives and friends were coming out of the woodwork to describe Mateen's history, habits, and beliefs,  all of which defied the "ISIS Terrorist" narrative the public was being fed.  It was the "alternative" news sites where I first read that Mateen was likely in the closet.

As short as the American Public's attention span is, I'm sure there are some people who still believe the original story of "Muslim Terrorist"

"Black Lives Matter released a statement that reads “homegrown terror is the product of a long history of colonialism, including state and vigilante violence.” Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement released a video that states that people of color have a “history in the U.S. of never mattering” and that queer and trans people have experienced this violence since this land was colonized. The role of toxic masculinity has also been examined, as men’s fragility and entitlement has led to the death of many women, femmes, queers, and trans people."

~Black Girl DangerousEsperanza Fonseca

Read More:
http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2016/07/state-agenda-liberation/