ARE URBAN SCHOOLS A SITE OF OCCUPATION?
In the third season of Black Lightning, the fictional Black city of Freeland was living under a military occupation by the ASA (the quasi governmental organization occupying Freeland). Not only did the city have heavily armed troopers patrolling the streets, but also had troopers patrolling the schools– detaining anyone they deemed a threat – using violence if necessary. In episode four, students are in a classroom discussing similar military occupations in multiple countries around the world and their harmful effects on the people being occupied. Some students agree, but then others claim the ASA occupying their city might be a good thing, suggesting that the ASA’s presence comes with safety. As they are discussing, the ASA comes into the classroom to detain (and abduct) a student named Tavon, under the suspicion of having powers. Although his teacher tries to protect him from the ASA’s unlawful detainment, his teacher is beaten with the butt of an ASA officer’s gun, and Tavon is taken away and murdered by the ASA. Enraged by the murder of their classmate, students confront the ASA with a protest to get them out of their schools as well as demand answers for what happened to Tavon. As one student tries to show ASA officers a picture of their murdered classmate (pictured above), another ASA officer beats the student with their gun and tries to detain him until Guidance Counselor Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning) arrives to protect his students. Although Black Lightning is a fictional show with CONTINUE READING: Are Urban Schools A Site of Occupation? - PopularResistance.Org