Warrior Blogger on Marquette’s Cop Killer Mural

Two radio interviews on the huge fiasco surrounding Marquette’s mural honoring cop killer Assata Shakur.

First, an interview with Charlie Sykes, from May 18:

Next, an interview with Vicki McKenna, from May 20:

The Assata Cult

Assata Shakur, the subject of an adoring mural posted (until it caused a media firestorm) in the office of the Marquette Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, is a somewhat obscure figure to normal people. But the cop killer and domestic terrorist has quite a following on the hard left.

As explained by Michelle Malkin:

“What Assata taught me” is the new “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

For $35, you, too, can sport a politically correct black hoodie emblazoned with a fugitive convicted murderer’s name. Assata’s apparel is the new rage among perpetually enraged Baltimore and Ferguson social justice warriors. It won’t be long now before hipster actresses and cable news progressives are Instagramming themselves wearing this latest entry in radical chic to show their “solidarity.”

Here’s what Assata taught me: The left’s sick fetish for cop-killers is still going strong after four decades of violence, bloodshed, bigotry and excuses. The timing couldn’t be more blood-boiling. As the relatives, friends and colleagues of NYPD Officer Brian Moore, 25, prepare to bury their hero on Friday after he was brazenly shot in the face this weekend by a thug with a long rap sheet and a deep hatred of police, Assata’s army remains as militant as ever.

And just a little Googling shows plenty of examples of the cult:

Yassss! I just bought my Assata Taught Me Tee ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 Only available for the next 6 days. Go get you one! ----> https://t.co/raFfJGc0Zs

— Antoinette (@TheFancyFriend) April 30, 2015

So what did the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center think it was doing signing on to this cult? Somebody really concerned with social justice would Tweet something like this:

If we had more black youth wearing t shirts that said "MLK taught me" than "Assata taught me" #BaltimoreRiots wouldn't be happening.

— ✌ Eliza Beth ✌ (@InfidelLizaBeth) April 27, 2015

Marquette Student Government at Odds With Itself Over Cop Killer Mural

When this blog outed a mural, in the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, honoring convicted cop killer Assata Shakur, the University had to take action. It ordered the mural painted over, and fired the Director of the center.

Some pundits, like Journal-Sentinel writer Karen Herzog, have suggested that painting over the mural was some sort of violation of academic freedom. This, of course, is silly. A mural in a Marquette office, approved by a Marquette official, is an official statement by Marquette. Top administrators have a right to tell lower level administrators (but not individual faculty members) what statements they can make. Endorsing a cop killer was not one that Marquette wanted to make.

But the politically correct lobby on campus has rallied behind Susannah Bartlow, the fired Center director.

There is, first, a petition demanding that Bartlow be restored. Here is the first version (a Google Doc) and here is the second (on ipetitions).

First Petition

It turns out that a posting a petition as an editable Google Doc is a bad idea. Somebody has edited the first petition to say “This petition is for Dr. Bartlow, whose presence at Marquette is greatly needed to help show people how to love cop killers.” Since this will doubtlessly be removed from the document linked to above, here is a cached version.

Diversity Activist

Of course, support for Bartlow has come from the “diversity” crowd. According to the Journal-Sentinel:

A student government leader who coordinates a [Marquette University Student Government] Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee said Wednesday that students and others within the Milwaukee community were mobilizing to protest the university’s “actions against its Gender and Sexuality Resource Center” because they view the actions as “taking a step back on its initiatives surrounding inclusion.”

“This center, and its staff, have been responsible and successful in creating a campus environment of inclusivity, respect, and acceptance,” said the leader, Joshua-Paul Miles.

Miles has the politically correct rhetoric down pat. Miles was a recent winner of an LGBT leadership award.

Student Government

While Miles heads a Student Government committee, Student Government itself endorsed the actions of Marquette’s administration. A statement from the organization said:

Marquette University Student Government has been actively engaged in recent developments regarding the mural in the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. With the best interest of the Marquette student body as our top priority, we have been in collaboration with University leadership to address the situation.

MUSG stands with Marquette University and believes recent decisions were made through a thoughtful process and in accordance with the University’s Guiding Values. In order to effectively address the needs and concerns of every student, MUSG will continue to work in a collaborative and respectful manner with all parties involved.

MUSG will be working with University leadership to hire a new Director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center as soon as possible. We are committed to protecting the initiatives of the GSRC and supporting its role on campus.

Marquette President Michael Lovell responded with a Tweet that said:

@MUSG Thank you for your support as we continue the important work around diversity and inclusion.

Conclusion

Everybody involved in this fiasco looks silly. This includes Miles and the petition signers who are desperate for an organization on campus that is committed to the idea that Catholic teaching on sexuality is bunk and should be ignored.

Then there is Michael Lovell, who having been stung badly by an excess of political correctness continues to pay pious obeisance to the rhetoric of “diversity” and “inclusion.”

And finally there is Marquette University Student Government, which having approved a Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee now sides with the university while being opposed by the head of a committee it recently established.

Sheriff David Clarke Tweet on Marquette Mural of Cop Killer

http://t.co/8KZQX8tMoy These self-indulgent bastards have obviously never been here. pic.twitter.com/LtOVGeiMqu

— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) May 17, 2015

Firestorm: Marquette Mural Honoring Cop Killer Goes National (and Beyond)

The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center’s posting of a mural honoring cop killer Assata Shakur has garnered attention all across the nation, and even in the United Kingdom (the Daily Mail).

A Marquette in the News summary lists the following outlets as having covered the story:

Story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 19, 2015

Story aired on at least 11 news outlets, including: WNYW-TV (FOX 5, New York), WISN-TV (ABC 12), WTMJ-TV (NBC 4), WITI-TV (FOX 6), WLUK-TV (FOX 11, Green Bay), WTMJ-RADIO (620 AM), WISC-TV (CBS 3, Madison), KRGV-TV (ABC 5, Rio Grande Valley, Texas), WBOC-TV (CBS 16, Salisbury Md.), WSJV-TV (FOX 28, South Bend, Ind.) and WPVI-TV (ABC 6, Philadelphia), May 17-19, 2015

But that is merely the tip of the iceberg.

A Google News search, conducted earlier today, produced pages and pages of results.

Here are the first five pages of results.

And here are the second.

Is Marquette’s administration going to learn anything from this fiasco? We frankly doubt it. The most sensible thing to do would be to abolish the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. Any legitimate issue surrounding gender and sexuality could be addressed through the Counseling Center, Campus Ministry, Student Affairs and so on.

But in an administration lacking vision, the incentives for pandering to politically correct lobbies on campus are too large.

[Update]

It’s an honor Marquette most certainly didn’t want: being featured on Drudge.

Susannah Bartlow Knew About, Supported Assata Shakur

Susannah Bartlow, who was just yesterday apparently fired by Marquette, was the Director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, where a huge mural painted on the wall honored the cop killer and domestic terrorist Assata Shakur.

Until now, we have entertained the idea that this was merely an act of gross negligence on the part of Bartlow and the staff at the GSRC. Did they not know who Shakur is? Was it just “failure to Google?”

But an assiduous web surfer brings us this information: Bartlow signed a petition at change.org demanding that Barack Obama remove Shakur from the “Most Wanted Terrorists” list.

So Bartlow knew perfectly well who Shakur is. And she chose to present Shakur as a sage and a role model for Marquette students.

Susannah Bartlow Out As Director of Gender and Sexuality Resource Center

According to the Marquette Wire:

“Susannah Bartlow is no longer an employee with Marquette University,” said University Spokesman Brian Dorrington in an email. “We will work with the Center’s advisory board to search for a new director so that we can continue to grow the important programs in the Center.”

The obvious inference is that she was fired over the posting of a mural in the office she heads honoring black militant domestic terrorist Assata Shakur.

Certainly, Marquette wants people to draw this inference.  Otherwise they would have waited a decent interval after the scandal died down and eased her out.

Interestingly, there is a petition (begun even before the firing was announced) urging Marquette to keep Bartlow.

So how do we feel about this?

Back in the old days of the USSR, there was something known as the “vertical stroke.” If a lower level bureaucrat (an Army officer, perhaps) screwed up, not only was he fired or demoted, his immediate superior got the same treatment. And so did his superior’s superior, right on up. In the army, this could be up to the corps or army level. This had some negative consequences: it created a huge incentive to conceal problems. But it did embody a sound principle: higher level people are responsible for their subordinates. The top people put the lower level people in charge, had the power to fire them, and had the responsibility to properly supervise them.

It’s a shame the “vertical stroke” won’t happen here.  Bartlow screwed up badly.  But the ultimate responsibility lies with top Marquette administrators, who created a large “diversity” and “inclusion” and “gender” and “sexuality” bureaucracy, hired the kinds of bureaucrats drawn to those offices, and now find themselves embarrassed when the predictable things happen.

Tweet From Marquette Center Praised Assata Shakur as “Courageous”

Marquette, in the wake of our publicizing a mural in the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center lauding cop killer Assata Shakur, has been in damage control mode, insisting that higher level administrators didn’t know about it.

And that may well be so. But did staffers in the Center, who must have approved the mural know about the woman they were holding up as a sage or role model? Or was it all just a matter of ignorance, with the women of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority wanting to put up a mural of a woman nobody knew anything about? If it was ignorance, the ignorance was stunning.

Of course, the quotes in question came from Shakur’s autobiography. How could anybody read her autobiography and not know about her murder conviction? But maybe somebody simply found the quotes entirely out of context.

However The College Fix has turned up a Tweet, from the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, that clearly implies staffers there did know about the woman whose image they allowed to be painted on their wall.

How in the world could they think she was “courageous?” If they had any information about her at all, they would know that Shakur is a cop killer who is on the FBI’s list of the Ten Most Wanted Terrorists. Who judged her to be “courageous?”

Campus Mural of Cop Killer: Marquette Responds

It has been a massive public relations fiasco, and Marquette had to engage in damage control.

The University just supplied the following statement to Fox News. This, presumably, is what they will tell all media outlets:

Marquette University statement:

Our university’s senior leadership just became aware of a mural that was created and displayed in a remote area of campus. This is extremely disappointing as the mural does not reflect the Guiding Values of Marquette University. It is being removed immediately. We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the mural and will take appropriate action.

Since they could hardly defend the mural, this statement is not surprising.

It’s possible they just heard of the mural, since they can hardly keep track of everything that occurs on campus. In fact, the bureaucrats who run the University spend most of their time holed up in Zilber Hall, talking to each other, and don’t get out much.

But they should not have hired the sort of leadership for the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center that would allow this to happen.

Further, the office is on the 4^th floor of the union. That’s not some “remote area.” The Union is smack in the center of the campus. It’s true there is not a huge amount of foot traffic up to the 4th floor.

What Marquette has done is to install bureaucracies to cater to the demands of politically correct victim groups — or more properly people claiming to represent politically correct victim groups. In those places — the “diversity” bureaucracies, Student Affairs, Campus Ministry and so on — a very narrow and insular worldview prevails. Those folks don’t seem to realize that glorifying a cop killer is a bad thing.

Gender and Sexuality Resource Center

But worse still, the higher administration doesn’t fully comprehend what they have put in place. Rather, the top administrators are proud of their “initiatives” about “diversity” and “inclusion” and “gender and sexuality.”  They have pandered to the politically correct, and now are embarrassed at what the politically correct have done.

The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center has already embarrassed Marquette once, with the Femsex Workshop, a program that runs roughshod over virtually every Catholic teaching about sex, in addition to having the participants do very silly things, like color pictures of female genitalia. Marquette had to cancel university sponsorship of the program.

It’s interesting that, when the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center was first established, Marquette officials were touting it as a major initiative with huge value to the institution.  Now they are saying it has been relegated to a “remote area of campus.”

Who Knew?

Literally dozens of people had to know about the mural. There were, first, all the staffers at the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. Then there were the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, who sponsored the project. Then there was everybody who visited the Center since the mural was installed in March. Finally, there was everybody who visited the Facebook page of the Center since March 24. And none of these people found the whole enterprise sufficiently objectionable to raise some hell.

This incident is thus a window on the culture of political correctness at Marquette.

Marquette’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Center: Glorifying a Black Militant Cop Killer

Marquette’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Center was set up as a sop to the campus gay lobby in the wake of Marquette’s refusal to hire aggressively lesbian Arts & Sciences dean candidate Jodi O’Brien. Not surprisingly, it has consistently pursued a leftist secular agenda including, for example, the Femsex Seminar, which was so raunchy and so opposed to Marquette’s supposed “Catholic mission” that the Administration ordered that sponsorship be withdrawn.

But now we have yet another case of the extreme leftist agenda of the organization. An entry from its Facebook page:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Yes, it’s a mural, in the offices of the Center, celebrating one Assata Shakur.

(Here is a larger view of the image.)

So who is Assata Shakur? A black militant who was convicted of murder and fled to Cuba, where she is still protected by the Communist government. According to Wikipedia:

Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron on July 16, 1947[1]), whose married name was Chesimard,[2][3] is an African-American activist and member of the former Black Panther Party (BPP) and Black Liberation Army (BLA). Between 1971 and 1973, Shakur was accused of several crimes and was the subject of a multistate manhunt.[4][5]

In May 1973, Shakur was involved in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike, in which she was accused of killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and grievously assaulting Trooper James Harper.[6] BLA member Zayd Malik Shakur was also killed in the incident, and Shakur was wounded.[6] Between 1973 and 1977, Shakur was indicted in relation to six other incidents—charged with murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, bank robbery, and kidnapping—resulting in three acquittals and three dismissals. In 1977, she was convicted of the first-degree murder of Foerster and of seven other felonies related to the shootout.[7]

Shakur was incarcerated in several prisons in the 1970s. She escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba in 1984 after living as a fugitive for a few years, and received political asylum. She has been living in Cuba ever since. Since May 2, 2005, the FBI has classified her as a domestic terrorist and offered a $1 million reward for assistance in her capture. On May 2, 2013, the FBI added her to the Most Wanted Terrorist List; the first woman to be listed.[8] On the same day, the New Jersey Attorney General offered to match the FBI reward, increasing the total reward for her capture to $2 million.[9]

More information on her can be found here.

Yes, this is the sort of person the “sexuality” bureaucrats at Marquette feel deserves to be honored.

[Update]

With a hat tip to Charlie Syles (who Tweeted this), the wanted poster for Shakur.