More on Justice

“Well, if one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected—those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most!—and listens to their testimony. Ask any Mexican, any Puerto Rican, any black man, any poor person—ask the wretched how they fare in the halls of justice, and then you will know, not whether or not the country is just, but whether or not it has any love for justice, or any concept of it. It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” —from No Name in the Street (1972) James Baldwin

These are some of the most powerful words we have ready by James Baldwin, or any other human. The final sentence inspired our mission and organization and this longer quote offers more context on what this statement means. We are seeing this so clearly right now, this moment in the US. Those protected by white supremacy, corruption, oppression, they have no idea about justice or what is truly unjust. Their entitlement is likened to a spoiled child who only knows the discomfort of not getting their own way.

But if you speak to the “unprotected,” those who know what it means to fear, to lack, to go without, you will see the degree of injustice in this country.

That such privileged people can claim “cheating” or that somehow the system is unjust to them is confounding.

Justice needs to be administered now to those truly suffering, from disease, racism, lack of basic needs met. This country must turn it’s eyes from the entitled protected class and truly see the injustice that has pervaded the fabric of our country.

Justice Now!