by Jerilyn Bowen

We all watched in horror as the life went out of George Floyd under the impassive knee of the sadistic little man in blue on May 25th in Minneapolis.  Since then, uprisings against police brutality and racial injustice have swept the country and the world.  New Mexico is no exception.  Nor should it be, given in particular the squalid record of killings and other rank abuses of power by a militarized police force in Albuquerque.

Albuquerque Area

Under immense public pressure, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller has announced an intention to establish a new cabinet-level department of city government dedicated to dealing with many of the problems that police have up to now been handling–mental illness, homelessness, addiction, public drunkenness, abandoned cars and similar matters. The new Albuquerque Community Safety Department will dispatch unarmed, specially trained professionals to address such problems in a sensible nonviolent and caring way that recognizes the deep structural problems that produce so much of this misery–namely, poverty and social injustice.  This groundbreaking measure could well serve as a model for other cities around the country.

Mayor Keller will look at “restructuring and reallocating resources” so as to build funding of the new department into the budget he’ll submit to the City Council in August, a budget to be discussed and likely made final by the end of October.  Renewal of the APD contract with the city has meanwhile been postponed for review regarding stipulations designed to protect officers from being held accountable for abuse and misconduct.

Continue reading Police Brutality and Racial Injustice in New Mexico: What Progressives Can & Must Do →

by Jerilyn Bowen

At the March 7th NM Democratic Party Pre-primary Convention, US Representative Deb Haaland put a big thumb on the scale to keep progressives from serving on the Democratic National Committee that determines party rules, and that is already heavily stacked in favor of corporate Democrats.  Two eminently qualified long term Democratic Party devotees were running for the two open New Mexico DNC seats as progressives:  Pia Gallegos of Albuquerque and Jay Levine of Taos.  Their centrist opponents were Trish Ruiz of Lea County and former Albuquerque mayor Marty Chavez.

Continue reading Deb Haaland Moves to Shut Progressives out of NM DNC Delegation →

by Jerilyn Bowen

For three years now Stephen Colbert’s Late Show has been my much needed nightly dose of sanity in the midst of the Trump madness.  Ever since The Colbert Report gave wickedly skewering voice to the resistance during the Bush regime, I’ve seen him as a trusted and valued public commentator.  Of late, though, I’ve been taken aback and then shocked by his underhanded and unclever attacks on Bernie Sanders.  This came to a head following the Feb. 25th South Carolina debate when Stephen contrived to undercut Bernie’s significant landslide victory in Nevada and well earned front-runner status in the presidential nomination race by running a clip from the debate in which Bernie pointed out that the policies he advocates are already operative in many countries around the world, following which Stephen ended his monologue with a flourish by sardonically commenting that yes, this is true in places like Cuba and Venezuela.  As if he didn’t know perfectly well that Bernie was referring to Canada and the socialist democracies of Europe.  As if he didn’t know that Bernie has spent his entire adult life opposing authoritarian regimes of all kinds while fighting for humane and just policies in the U.S.  If anyone can be said to be a fierce enemy of the totalitarian forces that presently endanger our democracy, it is Bernie.

Continue reading Stephen Colbert Goes Corporate on Bernie Sanders with Red Baiting →