Speaking in Portland (July 25, 2010)
I’ll be speaking at the Anti-Racist Action conference in Portland, on July 25 at 4pm (PSU Smith Center, room 236). I will discuss the history of the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on its role in maintaining racial inequality. I will outline both the historical linkages between the Portland Police and avowedly racist organizations like the Klan, and will also describe the racism inherent in policing a stratified society.
Interviews
The first of a two-part interview, “Police Violence and Class Conflict: An Interview with Kristian Williams,” is in the Summer 2010 issue of The Portland Alliance. It originally ran on KBOO back in December. But the Alliance version also includes a graphic I created, titled “Fire the Cops.”
Submedia also just ran another segment of their interview with me, relating my statements about police violence to the recent events surrounding the G20.
Re-Prints
Since the Supreme Court just tossed out Chicago’s handgun ban, Bring the Ruckus decided to re-run an article Peter Little and I wrote concerning the racial history of gun control. The essay originally appeared in In These Times back in 2008, but the Ruckus version, titled “Gun Rights Are Civil Rights,” is quite a bit longer.
Reading Group
North Star Infoshop (833 SE Main St. #108 in Portland) will be hosting a reading group of Our Enemies in Blue, starting July 21. August 11 at 7pm.
Update:
Part two of the Alliance interview is out now as well: “Police Violence and Class Conflict, Part Two: An Interview with Kristian Williams.” Bill Resnick. The Portland Alliance. July 2010. It also started out as a radio interview on KBOO back in January.