OT-It's time for U of M to Host a Free Brittney Mass Event
[Yes, this is an Editorial/Op Ed-type post.]
WNBA star Brittney Griner has received a 9 year prison sentence for possession of .702 grams of hash oil. She has been locked up since February, as she was arrested one week before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She also has been a fearless opponent of misogyny and homophobia.
It's time for the Michigan Community to do for Brittney, a political prisoner, what it did for another political prisoner just over 50 years ago-- host a mass Free Brittney Event.
I was 23 when I attended the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in December 1971. It was held in the new Crisler Center, just 4 years after it had opened with Michigan hosting the segregated all-white Kentucky Wildcats.
The event was held to protest Sinclair's 10 year prison term for possession of two joints of grass. Iconic performers John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Archie Shepp, Phil Ochs, Commander Cody, etc. were there In support of Sinclair. Iconic radical leaders Allen Ginsberg, Bobby Seale, Father James Groppi, Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin, etc. were there to speak in support as well.
Whatever opinions one has about cannabis or Russia, one must look at Brittney's current situation with sympathy and concern. It's time for action by all who care about her, and about justice.
Can we not have original posts like this on this site please?
There are dozens of things that better deserve a protest rally than this.
Brazil destroying the Amazon rain forest at record levels.
Labs torturing beagles for experiments.
Ukrainian babies and grandmothers being intentionally targetted by Russia.
Media sources transforming from truth factories to click factories to the detriment of society.
Etc.
August 5th, 2022 at 10:45 AM ^
but we have to get our feels involved (I'll have to check with my kids to see if that is still a cool word to use)
August 5th, 2022 at 11:34 AM ^
I always say the youth of today that complain about the US should travel abroad and see how far their privilege and entitlement gets them.
August 5th, 2022 at 12:16 PM ^
America is not perfect by a long shot.
But 100% what you say.
Echo chambers are a powerful drug however.
There was an article in USA Today the other day about how much better France is than the US. Really?
I love France. I lived there for 2 years.
But I had to for something as simple as opening a bank account, I had to show papers to do so. Today's uninformed youth would call that profiling when someone has to show proof of citizenship here.
Also in France they lock you up and throw away the key for certain drug offenses.
This notion... because 'Murica, that sovereign nations' laws (even if we don't like them) are subject to interpretation or judgement of fairness using our personal experiences is perplexing.
I thought she already got out of her conservatorship?
Or perhaps, a mass event for prisoners of absurd drug laws with vastly harsher sentences much closer to home.
Flint, Michigan native John Sinclair attended the University of Michigan’s Flint campus. The John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler was held in response to Sinclair’s sentence of ten years in prison for possession of two marijuana joints. Three days after the rally, Sinclair was released from prison when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state's marijuana statutes were unconstitutional.
As angry as I may feel about the harsh prison sentence Brittney Griner received, even if I "look at (her) current situation with sympathy and concern", I’m reminded that she has no connections to the University of Michigan or Ann Arbor. She’s a native of Houston, Texas, played at Baylor and played professionally for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinburg in the women’s Euroleague.
The University of Michigan has closer connections to Paul Whelan, the other prisoner being held in Russia who may become part of the prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia that would get Brittney Griner home. Whelan was born in Ottawa, but was raised partly in Ann Arbor and graduated from Huron High School in 1988.
But Whelan might not seem like an appropriate person for a rally at the University of Michigan in support of his release. He received a bad conduct discharge from the US Marine Corps and falsely claimed to have a BA degree from the University of Michigan among other things that he seems to have lied about concerning his past activities.
August 7th, 2022 at 12:46 PM ^
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.