This week marks the 23rd anniversary of the attack by Al Qaeda hijackers crashing two planes into the Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both attended the ceremonies commemorating those lost.

This year the ceremony in New York took place not only against the backdrop of one of the most crucial elections ever facing this country, but in the context of growing movements for peace, challenging the military might of US empire. These movements, fueled by the courageous challenges to US military support of Israel, are the first real questionings of US military power since 9/11. Public attitude and polices combined in the aftermath of the attacks to effectively silence criticism of US corporate greed and use of military force to advance state interests. These movements today are challenging the powers of government to attack those whose conscience moves them to object to US policies. And they are challenging concept of the US military empire.

The Justice Coalition held a demonstration this week to increase the pressure on the Detroit Police Department to release the body camera images that were taken at the time of Sherman Lee Butler’s death, allegedly from shots fired by a bailiff from the 36^th District Court.

I was profoundly moved by the appearance of the Reverand Jesse Jackson at this year’s democratic convention. The Democratic Party and the country are better because of him. As Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said, “The progressive caucus arose from the vision of Jesse Jackson.” He paved the way for Barack Obama and made space for Kamala Harris.  His two-time run for the presidency brought a deeper understanding to the country of the dignity of those who had been locked out, locked up, despised and disrespected. His 1984 speech to the Convention, “Our Time Has Come” speech stands out as a compelling vision of the values essential for a living democracy.

The Democratic National Convention was filled with energy and hope for a better future. There was a recognition that we are facing historic choices with far reaching consequences. In her acceptance speech Kamala Harris named the moment saying:

“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a new way forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”

The convention offered thoughtful, rousing, courageous, and often playful comments about the choices in front of us.

This week much of the country will be watching the Democratic National Convention unfold in Chicago. For many people the parallels to the 1968 convention are unmistakable. It is a vivid reminder that public demonstrations matter. And that they are rarely welcomed by those in authority.

In 1968, demonstrations fueled by a desire for dignity at home and peace in Vietnam forced an incumbent president to withdraw from the presidential campaign. The nation was deeply divided over an increasingly unpopular administration and demonstrations demanding peace were growing stronger and more vocal.  The Chicago Police Department was well known for its anti-democratic, violent use of force.  The ultimate selection of Vice President Hubert Humphrey as the candidate was an effort to transcend these differences.  Humphrey was defeated by Richard Nixon, who went on to continue war policies and to crack down on demonstrations.

In the midst of political exuberance in the US as the Harris-Walz campaign gains momentum, much of the world is bracing for an escalation in the ongoing war in the middle east. The possibility of a cease fire in Gaza has been greatly diminished by the recent killings of top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah by the Israeli government.

Ismael Haniyeh, the chief negotiator of Hamas for a cease fire was killed while in Tehran attending festivities surrounding the presidential inauguration of Masoud Pezeshkian. Just hours after his murder, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued an order to strike Israel in retaliation.

The candidacy of Kamala Harris for President of the United States has excited young voters. In a few short days after announcing her candidacy, polls showed a surge in her popularity with people aged 18 to 30. Harris jumped 20 points above Joe Biden’s previous rating. She is leading Donald Trump by 24 points, 53 percent to 29. This is especially true in swing states.

For all of these young voters, this will be the first Presidential election in their lifetimes when the US has not been engaged in open warfare. Yet never in their lifetimes have we been closer to global war or nuclear holocaust. Never have we faced more critical questions about the role of our government in supporting military violence and terror.

In this election, in the midst of global conflicts, we have the opportunity to reassess our relationships to other people and the planet.

This week the Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability (CPTA) brought together people who had been experiencing police violence to tell their stories. When these stories are woven together a clear pattern of police aggression emerges. Police, under the direction of the Mayor and the Chief of Police are routinely violating individual rights and threatening the fabric of democratic discussion.

Yvonne Jones of CPTA began the conference noting that elected officials “have given police unlimited authority” under the guise of public safety. Citizens experience excessive force on a regular basis, knowing that often police called for help make situations worse.

Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon transitioned this week. She was a fierce, forceful voice for freedom, her music synonymous with the struggles for black liberation. Born in Dougherty County, outside of Albany, Georgia in 1942 she was field secretary of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) and a founding member of the original SNCC Freedom Singers in 1962. In 1966 she was a founder of the Harambee Singers and in 1973 she founded the internally known African American women’s a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Over the course of her life, she was a scholar, organizer, and an activist, acknowledged as a Macarthur Genius and awarded the Presidential Medal for her contributions to public life.

Our community has been shaken by a mass shooting unlike any we have experienced. Early Sunday morning, during the July 4th weekend, 21 people were shot and two were killed, a 20-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man, at a block party on the east side of the city. Nine guns were found at the site and over 100 shell casings were recovered. Over the week 27 people were shot at parties in six separate instances. Since May, the Detroit Police have received 500 calls reporting disturbances.

Community responses reflect deep concerns felt throughout the community:

On June 28, 1969, people in a small, working-class gay bar in New York City rose up against police harassment. The Stonewall Rebellion marks the beginning of the modern queer movement and holds important lessons for us today.

In 1969 to be gay, lesbian, or trans was illegal everywhere but in the state of Illinois. In New York City, queer culture was shaped by the heavy hand of police harassment, subjecting people to physical violence, arrests, and threats, especially in the small bars and clubs that served as gathering places.

But on a hot night in June, at a time when the country was bursting with new political energies, the crowd of mostly young, black, Latinx and white working-class people pushed back, forcing the police to take cover in the bar. For five glorious nights people claimed the streets and the idea of “gay power” was born.

Our institutions are afraid of us. This fear is driving authoritarian and controlling behaviors, eroding the fragile fabric of our civic life. The decision by the Mayor and the Detroit Police Department to close down 11 public parks during the annual fireworks display has sparked renewed outrage. Once again, we are told “public safety” is the most important thing. And this “safety” can only be achieved by a heavy police presence, scrutinizing people, restricting what they can carry, and where they can go. Getting much less attention than the park closures are reports of check points set up around the downtown area. People were stopped and forced to produce identification, often before being allowed to go to their own homes.

The recent tasing by a Detroit police officer of a 10 year old boy has sparked justifiable outrage. The incident at a birthday party was captured by a relative on video, widely circulated on social media, and reported in the mainstream press. It provided some of the context for the renewed demands that the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) assume responsibility for putting boundaries on police behavior. The BOPC has fallen woefully short of its oversite obligations. They voted against the recommendation of the police chief to suspend the officer involved without pay.

At this week’s BOPC meeting Congress person Rashida Tlaib helped sharpen the debate around the lack of oversight by the commission. In early June she wrote to the commission saying that the Detroit Police were targeting legal observers who attend demonstrations to protect first amendment rights. Tlaib wrote:

The Detroit Police Department has learned nothing over the last five years; or the last several decades.

The moral outrage that emerged after the police killing of George Floyd was met almost immediately by increased police violence. In city after city, police used excessive force and escalated tensions. Reports of police misbehavior uniformly concluded that generally the police made things worse, causing injury, trauma, and death. Detroit was no exception. The police brutally attacked demonstrators, and when demonstrators attempted to hold them accountable, the police doubled down, charging organizers with conspiracy.

Ultimately the demonstrators prevailed in court, winning a million dollar settlement.

The student encampments established to demand a cease fire, the end of US military aid to the Israeli government, and divestment of university funds in war making have offered valuable contributions to peace making. These contributions are now part of how we understand our world and will persist long after the encampments have disappeared.

On a conceptual level, the encampments have shattered the decades long effort to repress public conversations about the call by Palestinians to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) the state of Israel. The efforts to outlaw boycotts, limit the actions of public bodies, and label BDS antisemitic, have crumbled. The term BDS is now widely understood as a critical call for engaging people across the globe in campaigns that can directly influence governmental and corporate support for war making.

Early Thursday morning a combine police force in riot gear cleared the encampment on Wayne State University’s campus. As with almost every campus occupation across the country, the police used tactics of violence and intimidation against a peaceful gathering of students and their supporters. At one point US Congressperson Rashida Tlaib confronted police for assaulting a young woman and ripping off her hijab.

After the removal of the encampment students gathered to continue protests. Later in the day they regrouped at the Detroit Detention Center for the release of the 12 people arrested. It was reported that one student had to go to the hospital because of how she was treated by police.

This week the University of Michigan brutally shut down the student encampment established in solidarity with Palestinians. Nearly 3,000 students have been arrested across the country as police, at the request of university officials, use violence to repress and punish dissent.

By now two things are clear. First, the calls to divest, boycott, and sanction Israel represent a shift in public perceptions and will continue to grow. Second, repression will become more brutal.

Professor Ilan Pappe was in Detroit for a series of public conversations about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and what we can do to stop it. The events were packed. But upon his arrival he was detained at the airport by the F.B.I. The agents questioned him for two hours, wanting to know about his Arab and Muslim friends, and if he was a supporter of Hamas. They took his cell phone and copied the contents. He wrote of the encounter in a Facebook post saying:

The two-men team were not abusive or rude, I should say, but their questions were really out of the world! Am I a Hamas supporter? Do I regard the Israeli actions in Gaza a genocide? What is the solution to the "conflict" (seriously this what they asked!) Who are my Arab and Muslim friends in America... What kind of relationship [do] I have with them?

"They had [a] long phone conversation with someone, the Israelis?" he added, "and after copying everything on my phone allowed me to enter."

The removal of student encampments should be opposed by anyone concerned about our future. The use of violence against them is unconscionable. University presidents who called police on to a campuses should be the ones removed.

The world is shifting rapidly, and most presidents are on the wrong side of history.

Across the globe, energized by the courage of students, people are surging against corporate states that have deemed human life disposable. Sophisticated understandings emerging from these protests are providing a critical perspective on the interconnectedness of racialized capital, settler colonialism, military force, and the degradation of people and the planet. The encampments are providing new political spaces as students experiment with ways of living and being together that reflect intentional values of care and intellectual curiosity.

On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard shot and killed peaceful student protesters. In 13 seconds, soldiers fired 67 rounds killing four students, and wounding nine other.

The images of these killings rocked the country.

The images emerging from over 200 campuses today call upon us to support and protect our young people and their demands for peace and justice. The use of force to silence students is reprehensible. No city or state police should be allowed on to a campus. No National Guard should be called in. History tells us where this leads.

Unless we act now to protect and support the freedom of people to gather and demonstrate against injustice, those in authority will only accelerate their use of violence.