After a neighborhood watch captain killed unarmed Black teenager Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, I spent hours watching the media coverage. I turned to social media, posting, retweeting and sharing my outrage at this senseless act that prematurely took a young mans life.

Like many others, I changed my profile picture to a selfie in a hoodie, like the one Trayvon was wearing when he was killed a sign of solidarity with those who knew his murder should never have happened.

When Trayvons killer was acquitted in July 2013, Alicia Garza,Patrisse Khan-CullorsandOpal Tometi expressed my outrage and that of many others with the phrase Black Lives Matter online. This month marks the seventh anniversary of a movement born from a social media expression against police brutality and has grown to become a clarion call for racial justice around the world.

By the time Trayvon was killed, I had been working in social justice for 17 years. And even after working with two national organizations that had made significant gains in the fight for civil rights, it seemed as if we were not making any progress at all. When I committed to doing this work, I committed with fervor, vowing that my child and grandchildren would experience a vastly different America.

But I began to wonder if I would see any change in my lifetime.

As the Black Lives Matter movement has progressed over the last seven years, it has given me that fire I needed to carry on the fire I believe John Lewis and Fannie Lou Hamer spoke of. It has kept me in the fight. And as director of theCivil Rights Memorial Center, which honors martyrs of the movement and is operated by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, I continue to heed the call from Black Lives Matter to push for an end to police brutality.

As we mark the movements anniversary, Im profoundly grateful that its founders created a much-needed, inclusive, safe space for Black people to connect, explore and address issues of injustice in our communities. Its a movement that emphasizes the importance of local organizing over centralized, national leadership a model that has encouraged us to be at the center of discussions about how to tackle systemic racism.

A movement rises

In the beginning, however, it wasnt clear that Black Lives Matter would become such a force for social change. After Trayvon was killed, many feared his death would slowly fade from memory and that his name would be added to a quickly forgotten list of unarmed Black men who have died at the hands of police or vigilantes acting like police.

But that didnt happen.

In July 2014, a year after its creation, the Black Lives Matter movement took to the streets following the killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. At the same time, social media profiles echoed the phrase, I cant breathe, the words Garner used to plead for his life while being choked to death by a police officer on Staten Island. Protests in Garners name spread across New York City and the rest of the country.

A month later, Brown was killed by a police officer on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, where his body lay in the hot sun for over four hours. Protesters convened in Ferguson, and in just a few days, the worlds gaze was fixed on the city.

I, like countless others, was glued to the media coverage. This was different and we all knew it.

There was no turning back.

Images showed young people standing with courage and conviction. They seemed to be saying, We are not asking to be valued. We are telling you that we are valuable and our lives matter.

Ferguson was their own Bloody Sunday.

Much like Congressman John Lewis and Dr. C.T. Vivian, who stood firmly on their convictions in the face of Jim Crow, I saw that same determination in the Black Lives Matter protesters.

Its a determination that hasnt waned.

The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag would be applied to Sandra Bland in 2015 and Philando Castile a year later. Ironically, Bland, Castile and Garner all died in July the month the movement was founded.

And as weve recently seen, whenever a Black persons life is unjustly taken, #BlackLivesMatter immediately reappears online, urging action in our communities. Those three incredibly powerful words have commemorated the lives of George Floyd,Breonna Taylor,Tony McDade,Sean Reed,Yassin Mohamed,Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and countless others. And communities have responded with mass demonstrations and sit-ins in the wake of such deaths.

Whats more, public conversations have begun to shift in favor of Black Lives Matter. Weve seen states and cities remove Confederate monuments from public spaces a long overdue recognition that these monuments do not embody history but symbolize and honor white supremacy. Similar conversations are happening abroad as people begin to question what the symbols in their own communities represent.

Black Lives Matter is bringing change.

Onward

But the movement is far from over.

And like any movement, there will be more tough times ahead. Being anti-racist is a long, grueling road. When I learned of the police murder of George Floyd, I honestly couldnt do anything but just sit with my anger for a day something I dont think Ive done in over 20 years of fighting for social justice. I did not post on social media right away. I just wanted to grieve for Floyd, his little girl and the rest of the community.

Part of the Black Lives Matter movement is about self-care and self-empowerment, and this includes expressing anger over unjust killings. Its OK to experience every range of emotion. When people ask why there is so much anger, I tell them that anger is justified. It is vitally important that we move through it and work together to end systemic racism.

As John Lewis once said, Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.

For seven years, Black Lives Matter has ensured that there is continuous action for a more fair, more just society. We must prevail and in order to do so, there is no way to move, but forward.

Photo by Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images

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Black Lives Matter Meets the Moment - Southern Poverty Law Center

In her new collection of essays, Zadie Smith captures this moment like a watercolor painting.

The first scene of Intimations finds Smith with her fingers curled around an iron New York City fence, her face poking through to look at a tulip in the enclosed garden.

It was a few days before the global humbling began, she writes, when we would all be looking through barred windows, yearning for tulips.

Tulips are not the thing encaged, she writes. We are.

The New York Times called Intimations ultra-timely with a spirit both searching and brilliant. The proceeds from the book will go to the Equal Justice Initiative and the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund for New York.

While there will likely be many books written about 2020 historical, analytical, political Smith says this collection is none of those things. She says writing this book was her way of doing something.

Almost instantly, I was aware of my uselessness. I mean, I guess novelists always feel to some degree useless, but I think it's compounded, particularly in revolutionary times, she says. So I was stuck with the only thing I can do, which is write. And I suddenly thought of it as a way of participating, of raising money, of being active.

When the lockdown in New York City began, Smith says she assumed, as many writers do, that she would be more productive. But she found it just as difficult to focus as others.

I was just as destabilized by a complete revolution in time and space, and I guess for the first time in my life, I realized what I use writing for to control what's going on around me, she says. It's not something I'm particularly proud of as a personality trait, but I thought as that is the way I respond, maybe the most useful thing I can do is make the situation clear to myself.

Smith says she was in awe watching the racial justice protests that were sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Even though she writes about race and racism, Smith says she does not consider herself an activist.

I'm not one. I'm a writer, she says. My only role as I saw it's not a very large one was how can I perhaps create structures of thought that will help the kind of people who act, that will help them do what they have to do?

In her essays, Smith draws a parallel between the coronavirus pandemic and racism, writing that racism is a virus infecting so many white Americans. Some may be symptomatic, or filled with hate and racism, while others may be asymptomatic but still shedding the virus.

Smith writes that she used to think that one day there would be a vaccine against the virus of racism that if enough people became aware of the racism in their everyday lives that we would develop some kind of herd immunity.

But structural racism, she says, is overcoming human nature. Getting rid of statues and symbols isnt enough to defeat the virus, she says.

Whatever faith I had in personal morality is long gone, she says.

On the questions she wanted to answer in writing these essays

Questions that I know came to everyone: What is it to suffer? What is it to know that other people suffer more than you? What is it to know you're in a transformative moment in history? I wanted to make those things clear for myself. And I've been reading Marcus Aurelius, and what struck me about that book 'Meditations,' though it's thousands of years in the distance, it was actively helpful to me. It was about structures of thought, how to think, and I could use it to apply to lots of different contemporary situations.

On the nature of suffering revealed by racism and the pandemic

There can be difference and equality at the same time. You can be having a different experience from someone else, and yet the extremity of it, for you, can feel equally extreme. But those are two hard thoughts to contain simultaneously, and I guess I noticed, especially with the speed of communication online, that it's hard to express those two things simultaneously. But I guess I think of my writing as a form of resistance against exactly that speed, resistance against 140 characters, a resistance against the idea that my thoughts should be given to me each day by massive capitalist conglomerates of social media companies. Just, I wanted to try and give readers the thing I try to fight for myself, which is a space to think your own thoughts, whatever they might be.

On the notion of racism being a virus

I guess the difference I feel from a lot of American thought on this topic is that I'm not actually particularly interested in personal morality. I'm interested in structures that are strong enough to keep us from behaving the way we tend to behave. And I was very struck when I got to England, I went to my little brother's birthday barbecue, and I was standing in this very small garden with about 40 people all standing separately two meters from each other, trying to, and they were of many different races, religions, classes. And I saw that my family was struck by this, and what I noted about it is it's not that England is such a multicultural, happy-go-lucky post-racial society. It's none of those things. But that garden represented structures that have been put in place that allow people to live near each other, to go to school together, to expect the same health care at the same point for free, that allowed full relations of equity. Not perfect. There is no such thing as perfect equity in England, in Europe or in America. But that was a deep foundation of that barbecue. No one in the barbecue would have thought that way, but that's the truth. That's why they're all the same. It's not an accident. Structures allow them to live in such a way that a party like that was far more likely than I'd ever experienced in New York, for example.

Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Tinku Ray. Samantha Raphelson adapted it for the web.

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Writer Zadie Smith Reflects On Pandemic, Black Lives Matter Movement In 'Intimations' - Here And Now

#BlackLivesMatter, #TakeAKnee. Slogans, symbols and emblems have proven to have the power to fuel social progress and advance the fight for equality.

Presently, social justice movements take shape within a digital landscape. Hashtags, viral videos and online petitions all contribute to getting messages out in seconds to millions of people.

In centuries past, it was a much different story. Ceramics, glassware, metal and paper were the primary ways to mass produce any sort of messaging about a social movement.

Slogans, emblems and symbols help reduce justice movements to "its most basic part," said Bonnie Siegler, a New York-based graphic designer and author of "Signs of Resistance: A Visual History of Protest in America."

Siegler said graphical representation is also one of the most "beautiful ways" to deliver messaging about a movement and that there is indeed precedence before Black Lives Matters. "'I Am a Man' -- from the Memphis sanitation march [in 1968] -- that was essentially saying Black lives matter," said Siegler.

"And then 200 years earlier, the abolition symbol, 'Am I not a man and brother?,' all the same sentiment. And now we've been able to reduce it to just three words. And that gives us all something to gather round without it being an essay or a book," she said.

The cover of Bonnie Siegler's book "Signs of Resistance, A Visual History of Protest in America."

Siegler said one of the reasons she wrote her book was to let designers know the power of their graphics to represent and fuel social movements.

"The thing about graphic designers throughout history [is] people's conscience has been the client. And that's really powerful. [The Vietnam War] was a time when artists and designers really stepped up."

Siegler said that there are images and symbols representing social change that stand out for her. One was a flag with the words "A Man Was Lynched Yesterday" raised in front of the NAACP office in New York City between 1920 and 1938. They would hoist the flag every time a person, usually African American, was lynched.

A flag hanging outside the headquarters of the NAACP bears the words 'A Man was Lynched Yesterday', circa 1938.

Another example of an image that Siegler believes helped change the country's feelings about the Vietnam War was a poster featuring a photograph of the My Lai massacre.

"Just dead bodies. It's incredibly difficult to look at," she said.

Centuries before BLM, there were civil rights slogans and symbols, handcrafted and delivered to the masses, to educate about injustice and inequality.

National Guard troops block off Beale Street as Civil Rights marchers wearing placards reading, "I AM A MAN" pass by on March 29, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn.

Wedgwood's "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" medallion

The brand Wedgwood is synonymous with fine china dinnerware (full sets of Wedgwood dishware can sell for upwards of thousands of dollars). But some may not know that that the founder, Josiah Wedgwood, who started the company in 1759, was one of the first abolitionists who fought for the end of the slave trade.

In 1787, Wedgwood was already a famous potter. His artistry in crafting intricate ceramics had earned him the title of "Potter to Her Majesty," in 1766 after he created earthenware for England's Queen Charlotte.

But Wedgwood, who was also the grandfather of evolutionist Charles Darwin, had another calling -- seeing the end of the enslavement of African people. In 1787, Wedgwood engaged a sculptor and modeler to create a medallion made of Jasper featuring a cameo of an enslaved man with his wrists in manacles. Above the man was the inscription: "AM I NOT A MAN, AND A BROTHER?"

Josiah Wedgwood created a Jasper medallion to advance Britain's slavery abolition movement.

"The distribution and circulation of these medallions is very central to the whole ethos of the movement for the abolition of slavery," wrote Gaye Blake-Roberts, historian and archivist for the Wedgwood company, in a research document.

One recipient of the Jasper medallion was Benjamin Franklin, who had become actively involved in the abolitionist movement in his later years. In 1788, Wedgwood sent Franklin (at the time the head of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery), a packet of medallions and wrote, "I ardently hope for the completion of our wishes."

"I am persuaded [the medallion] may have an Effect equal to that of the best written Pamphlet in procuring favour to those oppressed people," Franklin wrote to Wedgwood, according to the Smithsonian Natural Museum of American History's website.

The medallions became fashionable throughout England. "Some had them inlaid in gold on the lid of their snuff-boxes. Of the ladies, several wore them in bracelets and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins for their hair. At length the taste for wearing them became general, and thus a fashion was seen for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom," wrote Thomas Clarkson, another abolitionist and a Wedgwood contemporary.

East India "Not Made by Slaves" sugar bowl

In what may have marked the beginnings of conscious consumerism, sugar bowls bearing a logo of a kneeling enslaved person and the motto "East India Sugar, not made by slaves," were promoted and endorsed in 1824 by the British-based Anti-Slavery Society.

Much of England's slave trade activity was connected to sugar manufacturing. These bowls helped make the link between the sugar industry and slavery widespread in English society, according to Clare Midgley in her book, "Feminism and Empire: Women Activists in Imperial Britain, 17901865."

Establishing that helped propel the anti-slavery movement throughout Britain.

The slogan was also printed and distributed on pamphlets. An estimated 300,000 people abandoned sugar as a result, according to the BBC.

"Whipped Peter" photo

Before videos, there were photos. And right around the Civil War in the United States, photography became available to bear witness to the horrors of slavery.

One of the most famous images is that of "Whipped Peter," also referred to as "The Scourged Back," taken in 1863. The photo shows a former slave's back covered in crisscrosses of ugly, raised scars with the caption, "Overseer Artayou Carrier whipped me. I was two months in bed sore from the whipping. My master come after I was whipped; he discharged the overseer. The very words of poor Peter, taken as he sat for his picture. Baton Rouge, Louisiana."

Gordon, also known as "Whipped Peter", a formerly enslaved man, shows his scarred back at a medical examination, Baton Rouge, La., April 2, 1863.

"Peter," who is also referred to as "Gordon" in some historical documents, was an enslaved person who escaped from a Louisiana plantation to a Union army camp in Baton Rouge.

The photo was one of the earliest instances of an image going viral and gave many who would otherwise have never known, a look at the brutality of slavery. Perhaps not until the image of Emmett Till's mutilated corpse was published in The Chicago Defender and Jet magazine almost a century later in 1955 after the 14-year old Till was brutally murdered by two white men, did an image have so much influence in the quest for justice and equality for Black people.

Civil Rights pins

While political lapel pins date back to the Revolutionary War, it wasn't until the presidential elections of 1840-1860 that pins were mass-produced due to the availability of cheap labor and materials.

Two SNCC pins. Founded in 1960, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee worked toward equality in everyday lives and the vote.

In the 1960s, the major civil rights groups at the time used pins to promote their messaging. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Congress for Racial Equality, the NAACP and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee all created pins featuring slogans or the names of the organizations.

Cheap and easy to make, some pins delivered powerful messages with simple images and words. A pin with only the words, "We Shall Overcome," was one of the most popular of the period as was the SNCC's image of a black hand shaking a white hand.

A 'Right On!' button, featuring an illustration of a clenched black fist to symbolize the Black Power movement, circa. early 1970s.

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Before Black Lives Matter: Black justice slogans, symbols dating back to the 1700s - ABC News

This is a letter to the editor from Tompkins County Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). To submit opinion letters, please review our letters policy here and submit them to Managing Editor Thomas Giery Pudney at tgpudney@ithacavoice.com.

Fellow residents of Tompkins County,

Nine weeks of protests against racist police brutality has led to a sea change in mainstream engagement with police reform and abolition. The Sheriffs of the Southern Tier chose to respond with a huge push back.

Led by Broome County Sheriff David Harder, who called the Binghamton grassroots activist groups PLOT and JUSTstupid, the sheriffs complained about NYS bail reform, which is estimated to reduce pretrial jail populations by 40 percent. The majority of people waiting in jail pretrial are Black and Brown people who simply lack the funds for their freedom.

Name-calling aside, it is the proposed policies designed to protect police officers that are terrifying. Every person who has said Black Lives Matter in the last few months needs to fight these proposals; especially Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne. Immediate action required.

One alarming proposal is to make resisting arrest a felony, punishable up to 4 years in prison. Completely out of sync with the progress we are witnessing in the nation to hold police officers more accountable for use of force, this change would incarcerate more Brown and Black people who instinctively resist attacks by police officers.

Another proposal is to make failure to retreat a felony, punishable up to 7 years in prison. This requires that those witnessing police in action maintain a distance of 25 yards. It isnt possible to properly document police abuse with a cell phone from more than 25 yards away. The increased use of cell phones to record police incidents has brought a sliver of justice to communities whose cries of injustice were ignored for years before this illuminating tool of documentation.

Yet another deplorable proposal criminalizes doxing of police officers. It seems likely that victims and protestors revealing the identity of violent police officers in efforts to hold them accountable will be told that their intent was malicious and they have, ironically, committed a hate crime. What an erosion of civil rights!

What are our elected county officials doing to keep federal law enforcement out of our county in the wake of Department of Homeland Securitys attempts to occupy the local law enforcement niche in Portland and elsewhere in the country? Why didnt they show up to speak out against these sheriffs proposed legislative changes? What reforms has Sheriff Osbourne put in place since his election? What is the Tompkins County task force for law enforcement doing and with whose input?

Chris Glaubitz

Elan Shapiro

Fran Manzella

Barbara Regenspan

Beth Harris

Kate Cardona

Ray Hage

Barbara Chasin

Richard W. Franke

Kim Knight

Adrian Sampson

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Letter to the Editor: "Every person who has said Black Lives Matter in the last few months needs to fight these proposals" - The Ithaca...

The phrase "Black Lives Matter" -- written in the baseball team's font -- was on Wednesday placed on a massive, 254-foot billboard running alongside the Massachusetts Turnpike by Fenway Park.

"Recognizing that we have work to do ourselves, we wanted to show that we stand with those who are working to achieve racial equity," Red Sox spokeswoman Zineb Curran told CNN in a statement. "The billboard is operated by the Red Sox Foundation and one of the ways we plan to feature the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the baseball season as a way to amplify the voices of those who share our values, but may not share our platform."

"I am so grateful to my teammates who consistently remind me that the Red Sox have an obligation to amplify the voices of those who share our values, but do not share our platform. Silence in the face of injustice is unacceptable," he wrote.

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The Boston Red Sox put up a Black Lives Matter billboard over the Massachusetts Turnpike - CNN

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) Cancel the rents and end racist police repression! was the message of demonstrators at a standout in Northampton Saturday.

People gathered at city hall on National Day of Action, a weekend protest event that is being held in Boston and across the country.

One organizer said it was time the government changes the way they are handling unemployment within communities of color.

Currently in Massachusetts, they just extended the eviction moratorium until October 1. We would like to see rents be canceled for the rest of the duration of the crisis, Liz Walber of Party for Socialism and Liberationtold 22News.

While holding signs, demonstrators called for the end of evictions and foreclosures to cancel rents and end police violence. Organizers of the nationwide event said millions of people who have lost their jobs during the pandemic especially in Black, Latino and indigenous communities are suffering from police harassment and brutality and are experiencing a growing homeless population.

Working people are being forced to pay for a crisis that isnt their fault and the government needs to provide relief to make sure people are not kicked out of their homes, said Michael Kowalchuk an organizer of the standout.

Saturdays event was hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation as well as other local organizations in alignment with the Black Lives Matter movement.

For resources and places to donate in connection to this cause, click here.

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National Day of Action for Black Lives Matter movement held in Northampton - WWLP.com

The movement is also hosting a virtual call on Facebook and Zoom at 6.30pm on Friday (July 31) to speak with residents and make an equality action plan.

Founding member Anthony Onwuzurike said the groups goal was to unite the community against one common enemy: racism.

We are not making it a white versus black thing; it is an us versus racism thing, the 26-year-old explained.

As a black teenager in East London, Anthony said being stopped and searched by police for crimes in different boroughs was normal for him and his friends.

He moved to Worthing 18 months ago, adding: For me personally, I havent had any tensions from living in Worthing. I have enjoyed my time here thus far.

But he said a black colleague of his had been stopped by police for driving a nice car: He got in, went to drive off and suddenly hes being pulled up by police.

Im not surprised any more, Anthony said.

This comes as Sussex Police data showed black people were 12 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

The Worthing group was formed in the wake of George Floyds death in the US at the hands of a white police officer, which reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

Anthony said they were not linked to religious or political groups, but worked closely with other coastal BLM groups such as Brighton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth. He spoke at the BLM rally in Brighton on July 11, and the group held a peaceful protest on Worthing seafront on Friday, June 12.

The expression I live by is the only thing necessary for the perpetuation of evil is for good people to do nothing, Anthony said.

For more details about the group and how to get involved, email blmworthing@gmail.com.

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Meet the organisers of Worthing Black Lives Matter - Worthing Herald

BOSTON (WJZ) The Orioles opened up their 2020 season at Fenway Park in Boston against the Red Sox Friday night.

A special pregame ceremony was held as a show of unity in the fight against racial injustice.

Both the Orioles and Red Sox took a knee before the National Anthem, holding a black ribbon to recognize the Black Lives Matter movement.

The entire Baltimore Orioles team kneels during a Black Lives Matter demonstration prior to first pitch against the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day at Fenway Park. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

During the National Anthem, the Orioles stood and locked arms in unison.

One team. United for change. #BlackLivesMatter. the team posted to its social media pages.

Martinez Has 3 RBIs, Red Sox Beat Orioles 13-2 In Opener

During pregame warm-ups, the Orioles also wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts.

The Orioles lost their first game of the season 13-2.

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Orioles Kneel During Pregame Tribute To Black Lives Matter Movement; Stand With Arms Locked For National Anthem - CBS Baltimore

Black Lives Matter(BLM) was founded in 2012 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, for what the organization terms as "the validity of Black life." It is also sometimes called an ideological reincarnation of the Black Panther movement that flourished in the '60s.

BLM was created in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who murdered and manslaughtered a17-year-old boy called Trayvon Martin.According to BLM, Zimmerman committed the crime as a result of the "virulent anti-Black racism"that "permeates our society"and continues to magnify "the deep psychological wounds of slavery, racism and structural oppression."

BLM has faced criticism over the years for itscontroversial statements and quotes. Here are some of them:

DeRay Mckesson, a Black Lives Matter leader, was under fire in May 2015 for his controversial tweets about the police.

McKesson had criticized former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who called the Black Lives Matter movement racist. McKessonsaid that the police were"engaged in ethnic cleansing" in one of his tweets.

Yusra Khogali, Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder, had faced criticism over atweet from April 2016. However, she had reportedly deleted the post as soon as people started re-tweeting it.

She also came under the scanner Monday after aFacebook post she wrote late 2015 came up amidcomments on her recent statementsat a protestlast week in front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto. During the protest,she was heard shouting slogans like "Justin Trudeau is a white supremacist terrorist"and encouraged the crowd to "rise up and fight back."

In her 2015 post, she had calledwhite people "sub-humxn" and said they sufferedfrom "recessive genetic defects."

Garza, the group's co-founder, in reference to Barack Obamas final State of the Union address, wrote on the BLM website: "I waited for him to discuss or even announce a plan to address the needs of black people in Americaespecially black cisgender and transgender women and black immigrant women, who continue to be overlooked, underpaid, undervalued and in the midst of continual attacks on our lives.

I was deeply disappointed, and, unfortunately, not surprised. There was no tribute for India Clarke, a black trans woman, who was killed in Florida last year. There were no condolences to Samaria Rice, who is still fighting for justice for her 12-year-old son Tamir Rice. There was no mention of the fates of Laquan McDonald, Sandra Bland, Natasha McKenna, Samuel DuBose or Eric Garner."

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Black Lives Matter: Most Controversial Quotes And Statements

An hour before the 2020 season could finally begin, a group of Phillies groundskeepers huddled Friday near the pitchers mound at Citizens Bank Park and tried to affix a stencil just right.

With black paint, they sprayed BLM on the back of the mound to represent Black Lives Matter after Major League Baseball gave teams the option to do so for their season opener.

Phillies players and staff members wore Black Lives Matter shirts before Fridays game and wore patches on the left sleeves during the game.

Before the national anthem, the Phillies and Marlins lined up along the first and third base lines with each player, coach, and staff member holding onto a large black symbolic ribbon to celebrate diversity and inclusion. No players on the Miami Marlins or Phillies knelt during the anthem.

The ceremony, which was held before every major-league opener on Thursday and Friday, was inspired by Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen. The idea, McCutchen said, came from a conversation he had with his wife, Maria.

McCutchen had planned to kneel this season during the anthem, believing that was the only way he could express his emotions after the death of George Floyd. But his wife asked if he could do more.

Phillies analysis in your inbox as we wait for the season to start.

I didnt quite understand what the more was at the time, McCutchen said. But opening up the door to being able to have the conversation to what the more could be and really sitting down, talking, and meditating on what that more was. Fast-forward and it became what it is now.

McCutchen first wanted players to lock arms in the ceremony, but safety protocols prohibit players from touching one another, so they instead held the ribbon while a recording played of Morgan Freeman reading a script written by McCutchen.

Its everyone linking together, unified, and standing for each other, McCutchen said. Having a moment for us as baseball players, which is separate from Major League Baseball, which is separate from the anthem, this is for us having a moment that links our unity together.

We have to talk about this because I want to understand where youre coming from and I want you to understand where Im coming from, McCutchen said. Im a little confused about it. Lets talk about it.

Thats ultimately the point. The point is this is what we need to have. We need to have open dialogue. We need to talk. We cant just jump to conclusions without having a conversation with each other. We can choose to think the way were going to think, but if we really want to have an understanding, we have to have that conversation. We have to talk to each other.

We have had multiple conversations about different subjects and there have been better understandings with each other, not just with me but with other people as well and players and teammates. Its really good. Theyre not all comfortable. Some of the conversations are uncomfortable, but you need to have those.

Zach Eflin will start Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium after feeling good following Thursdays simulated game. ... Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker missed the opener due to an oral procedure. Baker is expected to return for the first homestand in August. Baker had announced 48 straight home openers. He was replaced Friday by Scott Palmer. ... Zack Wheeler will start Saturday against Marlins lefthander Caleb Smith.

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Phillies start season with Black Lives Matter painted on the mound - The Philadelphia Inquirer

There was a show of support and an effort to bring about change as people in Bloomfield gathered for a Black Lives Matter march and rally on Thursday.

Ithink its important for my son to see and witness whats going on. This ishistory in the making, said Paula Raines of Bloomfield.

Organizers called it Black Lives Matter in Bloomfield Schools: A Community March for Students, Teachers and Families.

The majority of our students are black and brown and we need to say to them 'you matter, your lives matter, we have your back forever,' said Mary Kay Rendock, a Bloomfield teacher.

Theypulled it together after seeing similar events elsewhere in the state.

One day, I thought we need to do something like that, said Mary Kay Rendock.

Some feel while many people struggle, now is the time to focus on the particular challenges facing the black and brown communities.

Itsalso unfair because black people are getting killed just because of their race,said Jacob Raines of Bloomfield.

Many event-goers praised Bloomfield schools.

Though, they believe there is always room for improvement, including when it comes to technology and the education of students.

Whatare we doing to make it equitable, to provide access to these kids and teachingthem about themselves and their histories, said Sally Etiene, a Bloomfieldteacher.

Asthey later gathered for poetry, music and speeches, there was optimism forchange among the group which represented all seven of the towns schools.

Thats why Im here today: to resolve this situation, said one student.

Thesuperintendent says honest conversations about race, racism and stereotypeswill continue in classes when school starts in the fall.

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We Need to Say to Them You Matter': Black Lives Matter Rally Held in Bloomfield - NBC Connecticut

MUSKEGON, MI - Organizers of a local Black Lives Matter group, founded in the midst of the national protest movement against racism and police brutality, say theyre working to strengthen Muskegon-area Black communities and end institutional racism.

It formed in order to maintain the momentum from local protests held in May and June, said Ationza Smith, 23, co-founder of the group and its chair.

We dont want to let the fire die down, Smith said. We live in a society, or a generation, where people follow trends. We dont want to be the next trend. We want this to be a lifestyle; we want this to be something that is continuous.

Smith and other group organizers came together after Muskegons peaceful rally outside the county courthouse on May 31. Smith found herself wishing there were more urgency to the event, and ended up taking the megaphone and speaking extemporaneously.

The positive reaction from other members of the crowd to her spontaneous speech encouraged her and co-founder Bri McPherson to try and create a structured group to focus on working with (local) Black communities and dismantling structures that end or harm Black lives, she said.

There are now five board members: Smith, McPherson, Jay Kilgo, Jenay Smith, and Dana Knight, an organizer with the Grand Rapids chapter of Black Lives Matter.

Smith said it felt important for Muskegon to have its own organization, rather than merging into the Grand Rapids chapter, to address specific local issues, like poverty and overpolicing.

We think that nobody cares for the city as it should be cared for, she said. Change starts within a community. Its hard to get the community to come out and volunteer if youre not doing anything for the community.

Their first event was a rally at Heritage Landing on July 4, to to get awareness that were not really free, were fighting for our independence, Smith said.

And their work will continue with a community clean-up event on Saturday, July 25, in Muskegon Heights.

Protesting brings awareness, but cleaning and being active in your community brings change, Smith said.

Volunteers plan to mow lawns for elderly people who struggle to care for their own yards, and pick up trash, Smith said.

But that event has hit a snag, because they did not file permits required within the city to host a cleanup event.

In an email shared with MLive, Muskegon Heights Police Chief Joseph Thomas, Jr., told the group that they could be issued a citation if they proceed with the event.

Thomas told MLive that the city ordinance says groups must receive city permits before gathering on public property, and that their plan to use Muskegon Heights High School as a meeting point required permission from the school system as well.

He declined to say whether he would issue a citation if the event took place, saying he cannot predict the future.

In order to have any type of event where youre going to be on public propertyor any time youre going to be working in the city of Muskegon Heights, we need to know who you are and what youre going to do, he said. Thats why we make rules and regulations.

Smith said the group plans to continue with the event, and will pay off a citation if needed.

We feel like cleaning up our community is worth getting a citation over, Smith said. Were not rallying or anything. Were just trying to clean up.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, Smith said, the group continues to plan for future events.

The board holds weekly meetings - mostly on Zoom, and sometimes outdoors, distanced and wearing masks. They plan to work towards holding elected officials accountable, raising awareness, and promoting education, in part by advocating for after-school programs and a youth center.

The ultimate goal is to put the needs of the community first, Smith said, while maintaining consistency as an organization.

Theres so many things that need to be fixed that are unique to Muskegon, Smith said. We needed something thats really focused on the improvement and advancement of the community in Muskegon.

Read more on MLive:

This is our time: Muskegon Black Lives Matter chapter hosts rally for equality

Increase in coronavirus cases has Muskegon health director on edge

Michigan rivers spewing record water amounts into Great Lakes

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New Black Lives Matter Muskegon group aims to keep the fire going - mlive.com

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) A 49-year-old Roseville man is accused of leaving notes threatening violence and arson at the homes of several residents with signs supporting Black Lives Matter and other messages of inclusion.

According to Roseville police, Kevin Jay Karjalahti faces three counts of felony threats of violence in connection to the crimes.

From May 29 to June 1, four threatening notes were left at three residences in Roseville and one in St. Paul. Police say, based on the penmanship and content, the notes appeared to be written by the same person.

In one instance on May 30, a note was left at a residence on Fernwood and Roma Avenue that said it would be in their best interest to remove their Black Lives Matter sign, because payback is coming. Another note at another residence threatened that you and your home will burn real quiet while you sleep in it.

During the investigation, police say latent prints matching Karjalahtis fingerprints were found on two letters. Detectives then compared Karjalahtis handwriting to all the notes and found several distinct similarities.

Karjalahti was arrested on July 22 and was charged the following day. The investigation remains active and ongoing.

The Roseville Police Department recognized the fear and trauma crimes motivated by hate and bias cause for those targeted, especially persons of color, police said in a statement. The department will continue to thoroughly investigate all incidents and crimes that may be motivated by hatred or biases.

Police say there are several ways to report hate crimes in Roseville: Call 911 if the crime is in progress If the incident is over and there is no immediate danger, call 651-767-0640 Submit a tip online Reports of discrimination or bias can be reported to the MN Dept. of Human rights

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Roseville Man Accused Of Leaving Threatening Notes At Homes With Black Lives Matter Signs, Inclusive Messages - CBS Minnesota

President Donald Trump recently called Black Lives Matter a symbol of hate in response to New York Citys plan to paint Black Lives Matter on Fifth Avenue. Many view this as Trumps latest attempt to exploit racial tensions in order to appeal to his base.

But he isnt the only one. Walmart recently received backlash for selling T-shirts that included the phrases All Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, Irish Lives Matter and Homeless Lives Matter.

It is curious why such a simple, affirmative and humane phrase would become so emotionally provocative and politically divisive.

The exploitation of Black Lives Matter, whether for political or economic gain, is another manifestation of what Black studies scholar kihana ross argues is anti-Blackness, societys disdain, disregard and disgust for Black existence.

The Black Lives Matter phrase is intended to affirm the humanity of all Black people in the midst of deadly oppression in a country where long-standing racial disparities would suggest that Black lives really have not mattered. Take for example the following health and criminal justice data:

African Americans have the highest mortality rate for all cancers combined compared with all races, are 50 percent more likely to have a stroke compared with whites, and are twice as likely to die from diabetes as whites. African Americans have more than twice the infant mortality rate as whites, and Black mothers are more than twice as likely as white mothers to receive late or no prenatal care.

When it comes to criminal justice disparities, young unarmed nonsuicidal male victims of fatal use of force are 13 times more likely to be Black than white. Nearly half of the people serving life sentences are African American, and Black people make up 42% of death row inmates while making up 12% of the population.

These racial disparities and many more exist across education, housing, wealth and poverty. So it should be understandable that the phrase Black Lives Matter is said with such urgency. This is why it is so disturbing when certain elected leaders refuse to even say the words.

When Vice President Mike Pence was asked why he wont say Black Lives Matter, he indicated that he disagrees with what he characterizes as the radical left agenda, insisting he believes that all lives matter. In his mind, simply saying Black Lives Matter is a tacit endorsement of rioting and looting, rather than acknowledgement of the racism and anti-Blackness inherent in the lived experiences of Black people.

Pences rationalization is unconvincing given that Mitt Romney, a Republican, is willing to march with protesters and say Black Lives Matter. Sadly, the politicization of the words Black Lives Matter has even reached children.

As my 11-year-old was grieving after watching the video of the police officer with his knee pressed into the neck of George Floyd, we had to have the talk one of the most emotional conversations a Black father could have with his Black son. Later, while playing the video game Fortnite with his white friends, one of them mentioned that there were protests on Fortnite related to George Floyds murder. When my son said that Black Lives Matter, one of his friends countered by saying, All Lives Matter. For reasons that my son was not able to fully articulate, his friends words upset him very much.

After helping him to understand why he was feeling upset, my wife contacted his friends parents to express our anger and disappointment that their son would say this to our son. The parents were mortified, and after talking with their son, they wanted to talk with us. They apologized and explained that they had never said those words to their son, and when talking with him, it became apparent that he did not understand how those words could serve to negate or minimize the message of Black Lives Matter.

While a childs utterance of All Lives Matter may likely be uttered in youthful naivete, I do not extend the same considerations to corporations such as Walmart or politicians such as Pence. The refusal to even say the words Black Lives Matter is a blatant disregard of the pain experienced by Black people and suggests a racial skepticism that will never heal the racial divisions in this country.

Kevin Cokley is the Oscar and Anne Mauzy Regents Professor of Educational Research and Development, professor of African and African Diaspora Studies, and director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Distinguished Psychologist member of the Association of Black Psychologists.

A version of this op-ed appeared in USA Today.

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Don't Exploit 'Black Lives Matter' - UT News - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

In a show of support for social justice, Indians players put their hands on each other's shoulders during the national anthem.

CLEVELAND Social justice was a huge theme for the Cleveland Indians during Friday's Opening Day at Progressive Field.

The Indians held a moment of silence for the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as in tribute to Black Lives Matter and the cause of social justice reform in America.

During the moment of silence, several members of the Indians took to a knee.

When the moment of silence ended, giving way to the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner," all members of the Tribe stood together with their right hands over their hearts and their left hands on the right shoulder of their teammates during the national anthem.

This was similar to what took place in Pittsburgh last Friday during the team's exhibition game against the Pirates. Shortstop Francisco Lindor says the display is a sign of support for social justice. Lindor says the team held a lengthy meeting about what to do and came up with a plan they believe helps the call attention to the situation without being disrespectful to the American flag.

When the Tribe took the field at Progressive Field on Friday, they did so wearing their road uniforms.

Rather than donning their traditional white or red jerseys, the Indians will be wearing their navy road alternate that reads "CLEVELAND" across the chest. The team's use of its road uniforms at home comes three weeks to the day that it announced it was having discussions that could ultimately result in the franchise moving on from the Indians team name.

"We're wearing the Cleveland jersey to bring awareness and continue to bring awareness and we hope that's a start of change," Lindor said. "We know change is due and it is time, but I believe that positive change can happen. Shining the light on those minorities and people that are in need, it's extremely important. And today, by wearing the Cleveland jersey, that's what we're doing out there: bringing the spotlight on those people, minorities that need the spotlight on them, so their voices can be heard. Positive change can happen and we're due for it."

Asked if the Indians would only be wearing Cleveland-branded jerseys moving forward, Lindor said he wasn't sure.

In addition to their jerseys, Indians players took the field for batting practice on Friday wearing black and white t-shirts that read "end racism." Progressive Field also displayed "Black Lives Matter" on outfield scoreboard throughout pre-game warmups.

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Cleveland Indians show support for Black Lives Matter during moment of silence, stand together during national anthem - WKYC.com

Katrina J.E. Milton - kmilton@shawmedia.com

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DeKALB - The DeKalb Black Lives Matter group will host a die-in demonstration on Thursday at Memorial Park.

According to the group's Facebook page, a die-in is a demonstration in which people lie down on the ground as if dead, to commemorate those killed or harmed by police brutality.

It will begin at 7 p.m. and last for 8 minutes and 45 seconds, to recognize the length of time Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, knelt on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, until he died. Chauvin was later fired, arrested and charged with murder.

There will also be a protest Friday at 3 p.m. at the DeKalb Police Department, 700 W. Lincoln Highway and a "Not on My Watch" protest and march at 1 p.m. Saturday at the NIU MLK Commons, 340 Carroll Ave.

Daily demonstrations have gone on for months across DeKalb County, beginning in May 30 following Floyd's death. Calls for local police and other reform surrounding Black communities have continued for weeks, and a local Black Lives Matter chapter is being formed.

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DeKalb Black Lives Matter to host die-in demonstration on Thursday in Memorial Park - DeKalb Daily Chronicle

According to the mainstream media, Black Lives Matter is a peaceful group fighting for civil rights. But this narrative flies in the face of hard truths concerning Black Lives Matters conduct since its inception in 2012.

Especially in light of the recent acts of anarchy and cop assassinations committed by members and sympathizers of the movement, its important that the public know exactly what this group participates in and stands for.

Here are five things you need to know about Black Lives Matter:

1. Black Lives Matter pushes a false narrative based on lies.

Leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement have expressed outrage over white cops allegedly targeting and murdering black men in cold blood with racial animus. The movement has depicted such horrors as an epidemic.

But such a narrative is false; statistical evidence has wholly debunked these claims and a new study has actually found no racial bias against blacks in police shootings.

Further, even the blown-up stories in the media helping to build the false narrative are built on lies: The Black Lives Matter movement earned its claim to fame by promoting the lie that Michael Brown was fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson while he was surrendering with his hands up.

This is false. It never happened. Instead, Brown was believed to have been reaching for Wilsons gun moments before he was shot and killed in an act of self-defense. This was evidenced in the Justice Departments own investigation, which completely exonerated Wilson of wrongdoing.

Still, even today, Black Lives Matter protesters chant the lie over and over again.

2. Black Lives Matter calls for anarchy, and they follow through on it.

Black Lives Matter protesters staple chant is no justice, no peace. They have also explicitly called to dismantle this system.

And yes, they act on those calls for anarchy.

For instance, in response to the acquittal and total exoneration of law enforcement office Darren Wilson, movement members set the city of Ferguson, Missouri on fire. Innocent people had their businesses trashed and looted while the peaceful people of Missouri (black and white alike) awakened to find their city in shambles, literally on fire.

Further, just this weekend, over 300 people were arrested at Black Lives Matter protests held in New York, Chicago, Minnesota and Louisiana.

3. Black Lives Matter has explicitly called for dead cops and the lynching of white people.

Black Lives Matter members have disturbingly called for the murder of innocent white people, white police officers in particular.

Here are four videos calling for such action.

At a Black Lives Matter protest held in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, one attendee told fellow protesters to evade the law and murder cops if they feel they have been targeted by an officer for a crime they did not commit:

Black Lives Matter protesters chant Pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon! at the Minnesota State Fair:

Black Lives Matter protesters chant What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want them? Now! in response to the death of Eric Garner:

A radio host affiliated with Black Lives Matter agrees with an anonymous caller demanding that white people be a sacrifice for alleged racially-motivated police brutality. The caller suggests that after black people murder innocent white people, they should hang them from a tree, take pictures of it and send it to mother f*ckers.

4. Black Lives Matter has pushed for segregation, even from Black Lives Matter sympathizers and their own members who are not black.

In November of 2015, Black Lives Matter members openly promoted segregation: Activists at the University of Missouri demanded a blacks only healing space where white allies and sympathizers of their cause were kicked out. This counterproductive move was in response to perceived racial injustices and white privilege at the college.

Earlier this month, Black Lives Matter members reportedly refused to sell a white supporter of the movement a Black Lives Matter t-shirt because of the color of his skin. Apparently the t-shirts were reserved for blacks only.

5. The Obama Administration has legitimized Black Lives Matter.

Despite all the racist, hateful acts committed and promoted by members of the Black Lives Matter movement, our president continuously legitimizes the group.

As recent as February of this year, Mr. Obama invited race-hustlers and prominent Black Lives Matter figures such as Deray McKesson to speak about race at the White House. He reportedly told McKesson and the other so-called activists that they have done outstanding work and made history.

Weve got some young people here who are making history as we speak.

Barack Obama, praising Black Lives Matter supporters

Weve got some young people here who are making history as we speak, said Obama. People like Brittany [Packnett] who served on our Police Task Force in the wake of Ferguson and has led many of the protests that took place there and shined a light on the injustice that was happening. People like Deray McKesson who has done some outstanding work mobilizing in Baltimore around these issues and to see generations who are continuing to work on behalf of justice and equality and economic opportunity is greatly encouraging to me.

Of course, the left as a whole, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and the mainstream media at large, have also pitched in to legitimize and pander to the hate group.

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5 Things You Need To Know About Black Lives Matter | The ...

Meanwhile, other portions of the movement are organizing bigger national actions. Woodard Henderson, along with the SEIU, the Fight for $15 advocacy group and other unions, orchestrated a strike for Black lives on Monday, with thousands of workers in more than 25 cities walking off the job.

Jessica Byrd, a strategist with Three Point Strategies and leader in the Movement for Black Lives, wakes up at 4 a.m. most days to prepare for the online Black National Convention on Aug. 28, which aims to engage 4 million Black people across the country. Ahead of the convention, roughly 1,000 Black activists will meet virtually to craft a 100-day agenda for a potential Joe Biden administration, which will be unveiled at the national gathering.

We have a new election cycle in which we are a central force, whereas in 2016, there were headlines saying that Black movement didn't care about elections, said Byrd, who oversees the Electoral Justice Project for the Movement for Black Lives, which launched in 2017.

Federal lawmakers have already responded to the dramatic shift in public attitudes toward Black Lives Matter, with the Democratic-led House passing a sweeping police reform bill at the end of June. Though multiple senior lawmakers have rejected the "defund the police" push, activists see the bill as just a starting point. They countered with their own piece of legislation: the Breathe Act, which seeks to eliminate federal agencies and programs that invest in and expand law enforcement.

We wanted to be clear that we could speak for ourselves, said Woodard Henderson. That we could actually write our own federal legislation that is incorporating the policy demands that we've been raising.

The bill has yet to formally be introduced by a lawmaker in Congress, but first-term Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) participated in its rollout with the Movement for Black Lives. Pressley, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and activists with the Movement for Black Lives are in ongoing conversations about the proposal.

I am thankful for M4BLs leadership and stand ready to work alongside them to fight for structural change, legislate accountability, and move in the direction of justice and healing, Pressley said in a statement to POLITICO.

But other national policy pushes growing out of the movement have inspired dissension within it.

One of the most widely known policy plans to come out of the Black Lives Matter movement is the 8 Cant Wait proposals from the racial justice group Campaign Zero. The package is composed of restrictive use of force policies for local police departments including banning chokeholds, mandating de-escalation and warning before shooting which the group argued would decrease killings.

Deray Mckesson, co-founder of Campaign Zero, said the platform was meant to normalize police reform policies. If the police are going to exist tomorrow, they should have dramatically less power tomorrow, he told GQ. But the release of 8 Cant Wait in early June was met with swift criticism from a number of activists who felt the proposals did not go far enough in a climate where calls to defund the police were gaining wider acceptance. Within a week, Campaign Zero co-founder Brittany Packnett Cunningham announced her departure from the organization in response to the backlash. Campaign Zero issued an apology on its website, saying its campaign unintentionally detracted from efforts of fellow organizers invested in paradigmatic shifts that are newly possible in this moment.

Excerpt from:

Why the Black Lives Matter movement doesn't want a singular leader - POLITICO

Black Lives Matter protests continue nearly two months after the death of George Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck.

Floyd's death sparked worldwide demonstrations that brought thousands to the streets, and people are still out there, including Miski Noor, an organizer and activist with Black Visions Collective.

Noor has been on the streets of Minneapolis every day since Floyd was killed. All four police officers involved in Floyds death have been charged, and now protesters have their eye on a larger goal defunding, and eventually abolishing, the police.

When activists say they want to abolish the police, they 100% mean they want no more police, Noor says.

What we're saying is that whatever it is that we're envisioning together to move toward is much safer than what currently exists, she says, because what currently exists is a police system that is entrenched in and comes from slave catching and union busting and that is incapable of keeping so many of us in mostly marginalized communities safe.

The Minneapolis city council unanimously pledged to abolish the citys police force last month and replace it with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention.

Abolishing the police force will require amending the citys charter, and activists are in the process of putting an amendment on the ballot in November, Noor says. According to a draft amendment, the new department would consist of peace officers working to ensure public safety through a holistic, public health-oriented approach.

The idea of defunding the police has caught the attention of other governments across the country, with many leaders pledging to reallocate funds meant for the police force into other initiatives, such as mental health services. But the movement has also drawn ire from critics, who say getting rid of police will lead to more violence.

Of course, people are scared, but our people don't know life without police and can't imagine it in so many ways, Noor says. So as organizers and as abolitionists, it's our responsibility to hold people in their fear and then ask them the questions of what actually [does] keep them safe.

Activists who support police abolition point to statistics that show where police havent been effective in curbing violence. They say marginalized communities are overpoliced but they still experience an undue amount of violence.

In Minneapolis for example, reporters at the Star Tribune found that in 2019 only 56% of homicide cases were solved by police. In 2016, the Minneapolois police cleared only 22% of rape cases.

Noor also points to a specific example where the police responded but didnt act.

I was involved in the 18-day police occupation of the fourth police precinct when Jamar Clark was murdered. It's about to be the fifth year anniversary of his murder this coming November, she says. And while we were protesting, white supremacists came and shot at us, and five people were shot and the police were right there and did nothing.

Ahead of the upcoming election, many conservatives are using the movement to defund the police to discredit Democrats. Noor says she is not concerned about alienating people because this moment is different.

Now it's a different world. We're inside of a pandemic, and inside of that, there's been police terror, which has led to an uprising, she says. And a lot of that is because of the missteps and poor decision-making of the current president, and the voters and the people will reckon with him for that.

Marcelle Hutchins produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Tinku Ray. Samantha Raphelson adapted it for the web.

Continued here:

Black Lives Matter Activist: Abolishing The Police '100%' Means Just That - Here And Now

It's certainly apparent someone forgot to mention that to these large inner cities, under Democratic mayors and governors, where 78% of all killings are Blacks on Blacks.

Example: Chicago, weekend of June 13 - 18 killed; weekend of June 20 - 104 shootings, 14 died, five kids.

This is going on all across our country. Baltimore, New York, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, Houston, D.C., Philadelphia, etc. Even our own Minnesota "Nice" in Minneapolis. These are all sanctuary cities - coincidence?

Under Obama's eight years of presidency (2008-2016), 4,412 killings in Chicago; his last year (2016), 762 killings, under his "own" mayor Rahm Emanuel. Where was the outrage from the "Reverend" Al Sharpton (probably out preaching hate), Jesse Jackson, Cory Booker and all the national Black leaders?

Why didn't Black Lives Matter under Obama - maybe he was Black?

As "racism" goes, who are these so-called Blacks (the news media and political correctness censors us to express ourselves) who many feel life owes them, society against them, gangs are their families, use the "system," it's their way of life, it's abused. Once frustration call it "White racism."

George Floyd (no saint) tragedy was wrong, but have a question - how many "questionable" whites are shot every year by Black police officers?

From the start, our own "Minnesota Nice" Gov. Walz's lack of guts, the first day, to put down this "paid" for riot (Minneapolis) only added fuel to the fire, and a green light for all "these" Black and misfits nationwide to go on rampages and destroy so many people's lives. It all falls in Walz's lap. Now he's asking for federal aid and the Black vote in November. Now that "does" take guts.

Radical violence now rules our country without any retaliation. Pitiful.

Jack Schmidt,

Pequot Lakes

Original post:

Letter to the Editor: Black Lives Matter? - Pine and Lakes Echo Journal