MONTRAL, Aug. 4, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ -Montral Pride Festival, presented by TD, reiterates that the full recognition of the sexual and gender diversity (SGD) people's rights and freedoms is still not achieved, pointing out that merely 30 years ago, the violent police raid at the Sex Garage party became the "Stonewall of Montral". The organization unveiled this morning the political and social demands that will be made during the 360 Edition of the festival.

On the night of July 14, thirty years ago, one of the most violent police raids took place at the Sex Garage party, an inclusive evening organized clandestinely to avoid discrimination. Although accustomed to this type of police raid, our communities rose up in the face of extreme brutality experienced that night. Thus, the protest movement was organized on July 15 in the Village, resulting in a peaceful kiss-in on July 16 in front of the police station in downtown Montral. However, the police team once again reacted with violence, brutally scattering the crowd and arresting several people.

Thirty years later, at a time when the world situation is exceptionally fragile, Montral Pride intends to carry and encourage people to react to the following demands:

Fully Recognize the Identity of All Trans and Non-binary People Regardless of Age, Citizenship or Parental Status.In Canada, gender identity and expression are protected by individual liberty laws. Trans and non-binary migrant minors and people with children are still discriminated against by colonial and oppressive laws. Trans and non-binary people have the full right to determine their own gender identity and expression in order to live full and fulfilling lives.

Therefore, Montral Pride asks:

Let's Stop Mutilating the Bodies of Intersex People.Montral Pride reiterates, as do the United Nations (UN), that intersex children are perfect as they are and urges the international medical community to put an end to the subjecting of intersex people to unnecessary practices.

Montral Pride reminds us that the measures to be taken are clear:

Let's Respond to the Call to Action to Ensure Justice for All Black Communities.We recognize that our society is rooted in colonialism, racism and oppression, that good intentions are not enough, and that apologies are worthless without change and restorative justice.

One lesson to be learned from this pandemic is that it's possible for the government, for institutions and for us as individuals to act collectively and quickly to preserve lives. Anti-black racism also exists in our sexual and gender diversity communities and we need to recognize it in order to properly put an end to it.

Montral Pride will continue initiatives it has undertaken in this regard:

While reflection and introspection are beneficial for situations such as these, Montral Pride wishes to encourage and nurture reflection on police funding in Qubec. Indeed, we believe that an effort must be made on exploring alternatives for redirecting this funding in order to better support vulnerable communities, including people of the sexual and gender diversity.

Let's Be Visible to Those Who Can't!Montral Pride calls for an end to state-sponsored LGBTQ+ phobias around the world. No one should have to face jail, violence or death for who they are or whom they love. We call on the Canadian government to ensure its foreign policy includes standing up for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, especially in countries with state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia.

Let's Recognize, Act and Become Better Allies in Supporting the Cause of Missing and Murdered Women, Girls and Two-Spirit Indigenous People.Since colonial times to the atrocities of residential schools, what has happened and is still happening to indigenous people in Canada amounts to genocide. We support and want to reiterate all the calls for justice contained in the final report of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, including:

Pandemic, Isolation and DiscriminationMontral Pride wishes to draw attention to the consequences of the pandemic on the health of the people of the sexual and gender diversity. The pandemic has had a negative impact on many individuals, particularly with regards to isolation and increased discrimination. For many of us, withdrawal from the supportive environment, often referred to as the "chosen family", has greatly contributed to social isolation and loneliness. The influx of discrimination propagated on social media, which we use more frequently during these times feeds hatred towards our communities on a daily basis. Also, the recent whistleblower movement sheds light on situations where victims in our communities are heavily represented.

"For the Montral Pride Festival 360 Edition, we invite the population to learn more about the political demands put forward this year and to see how they can contribute to them. However, in these difficult and extraordinary times we also wish for everyone in our communities to take care of themselves, to listen to their needs and, above all, not hesitate to refer helping resources when needed. Our festival will be a great message of love and compassion for our peers. Despite adversity, we stand together with Pride!" said ric Pineault, founding president of the festival.

About the Montral Pride FestivalSince 2007, at the initiative of Montral's LGBTQ+ communities, the Montral Pride Festival has been promoting their rights and celebrating their cultural richness and social advances. The largest gathering of the communities of sexual and gender diversity (SGD) in the Francophone world works locally on a daily basis while serving as a beacon of hope for people living in LGBTQ+ hostile regions of the globe. In 2019, the festival generated a total attendance of 3.4 million admissions. In 2020, the festivities will be held from August 10 to 16. More information is available on theweb page, the Facebookpage, as well as Twitterand Instagramaccounts.

SOURCE Montral Pride Celebrations

For further information: For all inquiries: Franois Laberge, Director, Communications, [emailprotected], Cell: 514 779-6134; For interview requests: Nathalie Roy, Consultant, Media Relations, [emailprotected], 514 889-3622

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Defending the People of the Sexual and Gender Diversity's Rights, 30 Years After the Police Raid of the Sex Garage Party - Canada NewsWire

Chairman Fred Hampton was 21 years old when he was assassinated by the FBI, who coerced a petty criminal named William ONeal to help them silence him and the Black Panther Party. But they could not kill Fred Hamptons legacy and, 50 years later, his words still echolouder than ever.

I am a revolutionary!

In 1968, a young, charismatic activist named Fred Hampton became Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who were fighting for freedom, the power to determine the destiny of the Black community, and an end to police brutality and the slaughter of Black people.

(Center front-back) LaKEITH STANFIELD as William ONeal and DANIEL KALUUYA as Chairman Fred Hampton in Warner Bros. Pictures JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH, a Warner Bros. Pictures release.Photo Credit: Glen Wilson

Chairman Fred was inspiring a generation to rise up and not back down to oppression, which put him directly in the line of fire of the government, the FBI and the Chicago Police. But to destroy the revolution, they had to do it from both the outsideand the inside. Facing prison, William ONeal is offered a deal by the FBI: if he will infiltrate the Black Panthers and provide intel on Hampton, he will walk free. ONeal takes the deal.

Now a comrade in arms in the Black Panther Party, ONeal lives in fear that his treachery will be discovered even as he rises in the ranks. But as Hamptons fiery message draws him in, ONeal cannot escape the deadly trajectory of his ultimate betrayal.

Though his life was cut short, Fred Hamptons impact has continued to reverberate. The government saw the Black Panthers as a militant threat to the status quo and sold that lie to a frightened public in a time of growing civil unrest. But the perception of the Panthers was not reality. In inner cities across America, they were providing free breakfasts for children, legal services, medical clinics and research into sickle cell anemia, and political education. And it was Chairman Fred in Chicago, who, recognizing the power of multicultural unity for a common cause, created the Rainbow Coalitionjoining forces with other oppressed peoples in the city to fight for equality and political empowerment.

Judas and the Black Messiah stars Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Widows, Black Panther) as Fred Hampton and LaKeith Stanfield (Atlanta, The Girl in the Spiders Web) as William ONeal. The film also stars Jesse Plemons (Vice, Game Night, The Post), Dominique Fishback (The Hate U Give, The Deuce), Ashton Sanders (The Equalizer 2, Moonlight) and Martin Sheen (The Departed, TVs The West Wing, TVs Grace & Frankie).

Judas and the Black Messiah is directed by Shaka King, marking his studio feature film directorial debut. The project originated with King and his writing partner, Will Berson, who co-wrote the screenplay, story by Berson & King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas. King, who has a long relationship with filmmaker Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed, Fruitvale Station), pitched the film to Coogler and Charles D. King (Just Mercy, Fences), who are producing the film. The executive producers are Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler, Kim Roth, Poppy Hanks, Ravi Mehta, Jeff Skoll, Anikah McLaren, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth, Ted Gidlow, and Niija Kuykendall.

The ensemble cast also includes Algee Smith (The Hate U Give, Detroit), Darrell Britt-Gibson (Just Mercy, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk), Amari Cheatom (Roman J. Israel, Esq., Django Unchained), Caleb Eberhardt (The Post), and Lil Rel Howery (Get Out).

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave, Widows), production designer Sam Lisenco (Shades of Blue), editor Kristan Sprague (Random Acts of Flyness) and costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones (Raising Dion)

The film is a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with MACRO Films, Participant and BRON Creative, and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

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Film: Judas and The Black Messiah New Trailer - Dallasweekly

Mark Wynne says there are two sides to the story.

"It's a territory that's disputed, there's no question about that. But trading inside these disputed territories is under United Nations guidelines. In effect, the New Zealand Government - along most governments in the world - has signed up to that protocol. What we do is we go to that region to make sure that OCP, the supplier, is abiding by that protocol. So I'm very comfortable that ethically we are okay, legally we are certainly OK."

Wynne says he's been hosted OCP three times and has seen first-hand the benefits to Sahawaris.

"So for as many people as you interview on one side, there is an equal number on the other side that can tell you a fantastic story of economic development, career pathing and female enhancement, agricultural development, health programs, education programs."

Mine owner OCP says all profits go back to the region through various programmes and infrastructure development. And it says 75 percent of staff are locals.

Joel Ngaatuere says he connects with what Sahawaris in Western Sahara say they're going through. He says his heart breaks for his "indigenous cousins".

He had this message: "We will do all that we can to allow your story to be heard here in Aotearoa, New Zealand especially knowing that our country is supporting the oppression of your people."

In 2008, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Sahawaris' refugee camps in Algeria. At the time she was the president of the International Union of Socialist Youth. Ardern declined our request for an interview.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it does not encourage or discourage trade with Western Sahara, but says businesses must comply with international law.

The department has told Ballance and Ravensdown to look elsewhere for phosphate - and they say they are, including in Australia, Canada, Togo, Algeria, Syria and South Africa. But there's no action and no timeframe.

"I would say enough is enough. You have done this for a long period of time, you've got away with it so far. You cannot keep doing it," Fadel said.

When asked why other countries had withdrawn from importing phosphate from Western Sahara and New Zealand hadn't, Ballance said New Zealand farmers' needs are different from the rest of the world.

"Most of the countries that have pulled out from Western Sahara are not making superphosphate. New Zealand soils need super phosphate, which is a combination of both phosphate and sulphur. Most countries in the world are not pasture based or grass based systems," Wynne said.

"We need to ask ourselves this question, as a country who do we want to be? Do we want to just bury our head in the sand?" Ngaatuere said.

And he says that's what the government is doing too when it comes to air quality at Whareroa.

Ngaatuere wrote to Ardern in August last year - a letter that went unanswered.

"I can't help but be disillusioned and see the hollowness in talk when you have a marae and you have Mori writing a formal letter to the Prime Minister asking for help and clearly identifying the issues. And almost a year on we yet to hear a response from her."

The Hui

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Kiwi companies buying 'stolen goods' accused contributing to oppression in Africa - Newshub

Friday, August 7th 2020, 10:51 am

By: Associated Press, CBS News

The U.S. on Friday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong officials, including the pro-China leader of the government, accusing them of roles in squashing freedom in the former British colony. The Treasury Department announced sanctions on Carrie Lam, the leader of the government in Hong Kong, and other officials.

The sanctions are the latest in a string of actions the Trump administration has taken targeting China astensions between the two nations riseover trade disputes and the coronavirus.

"We will not stand by while the people of Hong Kong suffer brutal oppression at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party or its enablers," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted.

The sanctions were authorized by an executive order that President Donald Trump signed recently to levy penalties against China for its efforts to curtail anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has long enjoyed civil liberties not seen elsewhere in mainland China because it is governed under a "one country, two systems" principle in place since it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.

However, Beijing imposed asweeping "national security" lawon Hong Kong earlier this year, raising widespread concerns about the Chinese government cracking down on the anti-government protests.

Last week,four students were arrestedin Hong Kong in the first police operation to enforce the new law, officials said. Arrests have been made previously under the new law for banners and slogans displayed at protests.

"Three males and one female, age 16-21, who claimed to be students, have been arrested for breaching the #nationalsecuritylaw. They were suspected of secession by advocating #HKindependence. Investigation is underway," the Hong Kong policetweeted.

Prominent pro-democracy activistJoshua Wongsaid that one of those arrested was Tony Chung, a student activist, and that he was detained after writing a Facebook post about "#China's nationalism."

First published on August 7, 2020 / 11:23 AM

2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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US Hits Hong Kong Leader, Other Officials With Sanctions, Citing 'Brutal Oppression' - News On 6

We live in an era of resurgent nationalism. From Scotland to Sri Lanka, from China to Brazil, governments rely on nationalism as a source of communal identity and a vehicle for common action.

In countries where religious identity appears to dominate, as with Islam in Turkey and Hinduism in India, religion has bonded with nationalism. In nominally Communist countries like China and Vietnam, it is likewise nationalism that adds to governments legitimacy and political muscle.

This nationalist upsurge the world over is bad news for ethnic and sectarian minorities. Everywhere they are facing greater oppression and less autonomy from national governments maximising their power. At best they face marginalisation and at worst elimination. This is true for the Uighur in Xinjiang province in China, the Muslims population of India-controlled Kashmir, the Shia majority in Sunni-ruled Bahrain and the long persecuted Kurdish minority in Turkey, to name but four.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

All these communities are coming under crushing pressure to surrender to the political and cultural control of the national state. The same brutal methods are used everywhere: mass incarceration, disappearances, torture, the elimination of political parties and independent media representing the persecuted community. Any opposition, however peaceful, is conflated with "terrorism" and suppressed with draconian punishments.

The degree of mistreatment of these embattled communities varies with the balance of power between them and the central government. There is little the Bahrain Shia, though a majority of the population, can do to defend themselves, but the 182 million Muslims in India cannot be dealt with so summarily.

Even so, they are in danger of progressively losing their civil rights and residency through the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. The Turkish Kurds are well organised but their political leaders are in jail and Turkey leads the world in the number of journalists, many of them Kurds, whom it has imprisoned.

What makes these countries different is partly the political strength of the persecuted community, but above all the degree of international support they can attract. This in turn depends less on the cruelties they endure than on their ability to plug into the self-interested rivalries of the great powers. Related to this is the ability to attract the sustained attention and sympathy of the (usually Western) international media.

The Uighur deserve all the sympathy and attention they can get, but it would be nave to imagine that the sudden interest of the West in their fate over the last year has much to do with the undoubted justice of their cause. President Xi Jinping has been chosen as the new demon king in the eyes of the US and its allies, his every action fresh evidence of the fiendish evil of the Chinese state.

There is no reason to suppose that any of the films of Uighur prisoners manacled hand and foot are untrue or that a million Uighurs are not the targets of brainwashing in giant concentration camps. But the manipulation of public opinion has always relied less on mendacity, the manufacturing of false facts and more on selectivity, on broadcasting the crimes of ones opponents and keeping very quiet about similar acts of oppression by oneself and ones allies.

What is striking over the last year is the disparity between the international attention given to the fate of the eleven million Uighurs in the Autonomous Uighur Region in Xingjian and the thirteen million people in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The situations in Kashmir and Xinjiang are comparable in some ways. On 5 August last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis government stripped Kashmir - Indias only Muslim-majority state - of its special rights and split it into two federally administered territories. He claimed that the aim was the economic regeneration of Kashmir, but the prolonged curfews enforced by a heavily reinforced Indian military presence has ruined local economic life.

These lockdowns and the almost complete close down of the internet, is far more severe than anything resulting from the coronavirus epidemic, and have reduced Kashmiris to colonial servitude. This has been compounded, says Amnesty International, by a censored media, continuing detention of political leaders, arbitrary restrictions due to the pandemic with little to no redress.

The anniversary of the end to Kashmirs autonomy was marked this month by even tighter restrictions. Local political leaders were jailed or were forbidden to leave their houses. One year later the authorities are still too afraid to allow us to meet, much less carry out any normal political activity, said the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, on Twitter. But worse things than jail and house arrest happen at the hands of the Indian authorities. Since 1990 between 8,000 and 10,000 Kashmiris have disappeared according to the Association of the Parents of the Disappeared, a movement modelled on that of the Argentinian mothers whose children had vanished, mostly tortured to death or executed, by the military dictatorship.

Kashmir is only the apogee of the mounting persecution of almost 200 million Indian Muslims under Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The willingness of the government to double-down on humiliating the Muslims was exemplified this week when Modi laid the foundation stone for a Hindu temple to replace the sixteenth century mosque that was destroyed by right-wing Hindu mobs in 1992. Some 2,000 people were killed in the rioting that followed the mosques destruction.

Powerful governments tend to underestimate the amount of trouble that small minorities can cause them, despite an immense disparity in the balance of power between the central state and the minority in question. Look at the trouble a small ethnicity like the Uighurs have caused Beijing. Foreign powers may be exploiting their grievances for their own purposes, but those grievances are real. Look at the trouble a century ago that the Irish and the Boers caused the British Empire at the height of its power. Then as now, the very puniness of the opposition of small communities tempted seemingly all-powerful regimes to reject conciliation in the belief that they have no need to compromise. They do not understand why their overwhelming political and military power does not make them the easy winner.

Kashmir is a classic example of this syndrome. By ending the states autonomy, Modi said he would bring an end to the "Kashmir problem." In fact, he predictably made it worse and it is not going away.

The West has been prepared to back Modi unconditionally because it hopes India will be a counterbalance to China. They are the only states in the world with populations over one billion. But the states backing the BJP Hindu nationalist government have not taken on board what an extraordinarily dangerous game they and Modi are playing: seeking total victory over Kashmir though it is backed by neighbouring nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Attempting to marginalise Indian Muslims so numerous that. if they formed a separate country, it would be the eighth largest in the world is not possible without extreme violence.

The riots in Delhi in February were a taste of this. Ignoring this potential for disaster is like officials in Beirut who were blind to the danger of storing thousands of tons of explosives in the heart of the city.

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The rise of nationalism has led to increased oppression of minorities around the world but the Uighur and Kashmir are reported very differently - The...

Plans by Sudans army to file legal complaints against journalists for cyber libel and insulting the armed forces have echoes of the intimidation tactics used under the rule of ousted President Omar al-Bashir, local reporters say.

In a statement last month, the armed forces said a cybercrime military commissioner had been appointed. The commissioner, working under the military prosecutor, will monitor and document insults against the army, and any violations will result in criminal complaints brought against journalists in Sudan or outside its borders.

The army said the measure was needed because of systemic attacks and accusations against the Sudanese military.

The military is part of Sudans transitional government. A Sovereign Council, made up of six civilians and five military members, was set up to help the country return to civilian rule following the ouster of Bashir last year after mass protests.

It looks like the government is following the same path that the previous regime had followed, of stifling press freedom and silencing their critics, Ravi Prasad, advocacy director at the media network International Press Institute, told VOA. The army seems to be very, very sensitive to any kind of criticism, and the new law theyre trying to bring in would completely stifle press freedom in the country.

Aside from the army statement, the Ministry of Justice on July 10 announced several legal amendments including more severe penalties under the cybercrime law to protect privacy and prevent the spread of rumors and harmful information.

The Sudanese Embassy in Washington said it would provide comment but did not respond to VOAs follow-up calls.

Government should 'mend their ways'

Prasad said the army statement and cybercrime law were vaguely worded and open to interpretation, including on what constitutes insult or false news.

It is the right of journalists to report, and journalists speak truth to power. If the government of Sudan is sensitive to criticism, they should try to mend their ways rather than try to arrest journalists and stifle their voices, he said. Appointing a military commissioner to deal with media freedom is something that is unheard of.

Khartoum-based freelancer Dawood Abdulziz said the moves harkened to Bashirs rule, when authorities routinely cracked down on media freedom. Newspapers were confiscated before or after publication, publishing houses were shut down, and journalists and activists were arrested and harassed on criminal charges or for alleged offenses under the news-and-publication law.

Now we are going back to the Omar al-Bashir era, that dictatorship time, that crazy time, Abdulziz said. The former regime used the same language to target us, and now the same thing is happening. The army is now talking about spreading false news. This is just a trick to use the Newspaper Act and Crimes Against the State.

Publishing false news or knowingly causing public panic or disrespecting the state carries up to a six-month prison term or fine. Violating the Crimes Against the State measure which can refer to undermining the constitutional order or instigating war carries more severe penalties. In extreme cases it can lead to a life sentence or death penalty.

Sudans press freedom ranking improved after Bashirs removal, moving 16 places to 159 out of 180 countries, where 1 is the most free, in Reporters Without Borders 2020 Press Freedom Index. Bashirs ouster in a popular uprising in 2019 ended three decades of dictatorship during which Sudan was one of the worlds most hostile terrains for journalists, the media watchdog said.

'Bad signals'

The countrys journalists say these gains could be lost at a vital time for freedom of expression.

This new amendment is going to put press freedom back in the dark days and will not allow journalists to even criticize the military institution or the army, Mohamed Ali Fazari, chief editor at the English-language news website Khartoum Today, told VOA.

This is one of the bad signals of the Sudanese civilian government, which people think [under it] a new era of democracy and press freedom will take place.

Salma Sleiman, a Khartoum-based activist originally from Darfur, added that the army should not be telling activists what they can and cannot say.

The country is in a phase of revolution, so you cannot tell me not to insult the army," Sleiman said. "Besides that, there is the issue of freedom of speech which is no excuse for insults but at the same time the military institution is not benefiting the people and is implicated in violations of our human rights.

Reporters Without Borders, in its annual report, noted Sudan was at a critical time, with the promise of greater press freedom and access to the internet, despite repressive laws still on the books.

"A free and independent press culture needs support, protection and training if it is to take hold after 30 years of oppression that entrenched self-censorship in most newsrooms, RSF said.

This article originated in VOAs English to Africa Division.

Continued here:

Sudan Armys Plan Is to Return to 'Dark Days,' Journalists Say - Voice of America

Get up, stand up, sing out!

A great protest song may not help change the world in the same way the civil rights and anti-war movements did a half century ago, or the way the Black Lives Matters movement has this year. But a great protest song can unify and provide inspiration for people seeking a better world by serving as a vital soundtrack for actions large and small, personal and universal designed to promote positive change.

Such songs can be rousing or soothing, provocative or contemplative, strident or understated. They can question the status quo or rail against it, offer a moment for reflection and renewal, or do both simultaneously.

They can be rallying cries against social and racial injustice, or a source of comfort during times of stress, uncertainty and upheaval. And they can endure for decades, whether as inextricable signposts of the causes they mirrored and amplified, or simply as stirring music that stands on its own.

This holds true whether the song comes from Bob Dylan (1964s"The Times They Are A-Changin ) or Bob Marley (1973s Get Up, Stand Up), Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969s Fortunate Son) or Public Enemy (1989s Fight the Power), Billie Holiday (1939s Strange Fruit) or Janelle Mone (2015s Hell You Talmbout).

Mones galvanizing song features the chanted names of Black Americans who died at the hands of the police and vigilantes, or while in custody.

The victims include Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner and more. The recitation of each is punctuated the phrase say his name or say her name, both of which are frequently heard today at Black Lives Matter marches. Sadly, that list of names has grown even larger with this years tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others whose names have become synonymous with police violence and vigilantism.

Rapper Trey Songz, left, country-music singer Mickey Guyton, center, and neo-soul singer Leon Bridges, right, are among the growing number of artists who have made songs in response to the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

(Associated Press)

The visceral power of Hell You Talmbout inspired Rock & Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne, the co-founder of the band Talking Heads, to perform Mones song as the encore at each concert on his 2018 American Utopia concert tour, which last year was transformed into a hit Broadway production, David Byrnes American Utopia.

Its an incredible song, said Byrne, speaking in late July from his New York home. When I first heard Hell You Talmbout, I really liked that (it) is a protest song that is not lecturing the listener in a very straightforward way. The song is not telling them exactly what to think. Its just saying: These are lives that have been taken from us. Dont forget them.

Of course, there is a political message people have been taken from us that is very moving and really works. I like protest songs that are not obvious and not preachy. Theres a new song by (Grammy Award-winning former San Diego singer-songwriter) Gregory Porter called Mr. Holland, that I think is beautiful and subtle. I really like people who do songs that engage with social issues and take them to a different place.

Porter agrees.

Sometimes, you can do more with subtlety, said the SDSU alum, whose at least partly autobiographical Mr. Holland examines racism from the perspective of interracial dating by high school students.

Woody Guthrie, whose original 1940 version of This Land is Your Land decried the social and economic inequities of American life, contended every song could be political, in varying degrees. But songs that are unabashedly political often make the greatest impact.

This holds true whether the song comes from artists protesting oppressive governments in South Africa (1965s Beware, Verwoerd by Miriam Makeba) or Brazil (1973s Calice by Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil), Haiti (1992s Nanm Nan Boutey by Boukman Eksperyans) or Egypt (2011s Leave by now-exiled singer Ramy Essam).

And it holds equally true for songs that come from artists in San Diego (2007s When Did Jesus Become a Republican by Cindy Lee Berryhill and 2020s America by Rebecca Jade, Erik Canzona and Alfred Howard), or from Los Angeles (2015s Alright by Kendrick Lamar).

Alright, a song by Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles rapper Kendrick Lamar, center, has provided a hopeful chant at many Black Lives Matter marches.

(Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)

Intriguingly, Lamars Grammy Award-winning Alright was not written as a modern-day protest song, per se, but as a reflection on suffering and a promise of better times to come. It was inspired by the legacy of slavery and by Lamars trip to South Africa, where he visited what had been Nelson Mandelas prison cell on Robben Island.

Accordingly, Alright is alternately ruminative and raw, using the N-word and referring to the police as po-po. Its lyrics include such couplets as: Wouldnt you know, we been hurt, been down before / N----, when our pride was low / Looking at the world like: Where do we go?; and N----, and we hate po-po / Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho / N----, Im at the preachers door / My knees gettin weak, and my gun might blow.

Alrights recurring refrain We gon be alright has been embraced in recent years by Black Lives Matter marchers nationwide as a chant of hope in troubled times. It extols resiliency in times of adversity by promising things are going to get better, regardless of how bleak they may be right now.

For demonstrators who are grieving and protesting the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others who have died this year alone, and in previous years, despair and anger should be tempered by a sense of optimism.

Four hundred years ago, as slaves, we prayed and sang joyful songs to keep our heads level-headed with what was going on, Lamar noted in a 2015 NPR interview. Four hundred years later, we still need that music to heal. And I think that Alright is definitely one of those records that makes you feel good, no matter what the times are.

Lamars comments underscore the fact that music can help invigorate, uplift and calm politically and socially inspired gatherings of like-minded people. A protest march can be a celebration, as well as a demonstration, a coming together of people with shared concerns, emotions and goals. Singing and dancing are as foundational to protests as speeches and declarations.

In any era, the timing of a protest song is as important as its lyrics, its melody and its beat. Whether offering a call to action or somberly reflecting on a moment of crisis or loss, the best protest songs perfectly capture a moment in time.

In some instances, they capture and transcend that moment be it Rev. Charles Albert Tindleys inspirational 1900 hymn, We Shall Overcome, the rousing gospel staple Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round or the 1965 Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions classic, People Get Ready.

And great protest music can be heard in an array of different genres be it a Beethoven symphony, jazz great Max Roach epic 1961 album, We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, or American composer Frederi Rzewskis 1975 solo piano opus, The People United Will Never Be Defeated, which is based on the Chilean folk song, "El pueblo unido jams ser vencido!

Alas, the impact of protest songs and the artists who make them can sometimes have dire consequences for those artists, even for those championing the cause of peace.

In 1968, Brazilian Tropicalia music stars Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso were arrested for on trumped-up charges, after having used their songs to express criticism of their countrys government. Their heads were shaved and they spent two months in prison, followed by four months of house arrest. They were then deported, spending three years in exile in England before they could return to Brazil.

In 1971, Chilean playwright and singer-songwriter Victor Jara wrote the song El Derecho de Vivir en Paz (The Right to Live in Peace), which is sung to this day at protests in Chile. The power of Jaras work, and his outspoken opposition to his homelands brutal dictatorship, led to his being tortured and murdered by Chilean soldiers in 1973.

In Nigeria, Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti was shot at least once and repeatedly jailed. His crime? Being a tireless human-rights activist who used his music and stardom to convey his fierce opposition to his countrys military leaders.

Starting in 1984, he was kept in government detention for almost two years. At one point in the 1990s, Kuti was shown in chains on state television. He died in 1997. In 2009, his life was celebrated in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fela!

Zack de la Rocha (left) and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Their music is striking a new chord with protesters, despite the band not having been active since 2011.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

In other instances, songs can resonate even more strongly years after they were made. A key case in point is the fiery music of Rage Against The Machine, which has disbanded and reunited several times since its first album was released 28 years ago.

In early June, the long inactive Los Angeles rap-metal band saw the online streaming of its music surge 62 percent, with more than 11 million online streams of its music in a single week, as a new generation of politically engaged young listeners embraced Rages music.

Two of the Rages songs in particular the anti-police brutality Killing in the Name and the anti-government oppression Bulls on Parade, both from 1992 have struck a new chord, specifically because they speak to this tumultuous moment so well. So, to varying degrees, do such recent songs as rapper YGs unabashedly brazen FTP, 12-year-old gospel singer Keedron Bryants I Just Wanna Live and Minneapolis-based Sudanese-American singer Dua Salehs Body Cast.

In 1970, 22 years before the release of Rage Against The Machines self-titled debut album, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young recorded the anti-war anthem, Ohio, which Neil Young wrote barely a week after four student protesters at Ohios Kent State University were shot to death by National Guard troops. It was released a week later and remains one of the best-known songs of that tumultuous period.

Ohios opening verse captured the grief and outrage over the fatal shootings with admirable concision: Tin soldiers and Nixon coming / Were finally on our own / This summer I hear the drumming / Four dead in Ohio / Gotta get down to it / Soldiers are cutting us down ...

But Young fell flat with his 2006 song Lets Impeach the President, which targeted President George W. Bush with such scathing lines as: Lets impeach the president / For lying and leading our country into war / Abusing all the power that we gave him / And shipping our money out the door.

And Young has yet to gain traction with his recently updated version of another one of his 2006 songs, now re-titled Lookin for a Leader 2020. The new version targets President Trump and endorses his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, with such lines as: America has a leader building walls around our house / Dont all black lives matter? / Weve got to vote him out ... Just like his big new fence, this presidents going down.

Youngs heavy-handedness is readily apparent, but some of the most effective protest songs hit their mark precisely because of their lack of subtlety. Either way, the best protest songs inspire reflection, if not action, by opening the hearts and minds of their listeners.

They can also help animate the goals articulated in their titles be it Sam Cookes A Change Is Gonna Come in 1964 and the John Lennon-led Plastic Ono Bands Give Peace a Chance in 1969, or Patti Smiths People Have the Power in 1988 and Lin-Manuel Miranda & Artists for Puerto Ricos Almost Like Praying in 2017.

The Vietnam War era inspired an array of memorable songs. They include Edwin Starrs War, Nina Simones Backlash Blues, Jimmy Cliffs Vietnam, Country Joe & The Fishs I Feel Like Im Fixin to Die Rag, The Byrds Draft Morning, The Fugs Kill for Peace, the Edgar Broughton Bands American Boy Soldier, Pete Seegers Bring Em Home and Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, Barry McGuires Eve of Destruction, and a good number more.

For every protest song that endures, many more fail to make an impact. Artists who wrote and recorded songs protesting the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq range from Pink, Pearl Jam and Eminem to Lenny Kravitz, R.E.M. and Merle Haggard. Hands up if you can name more than one or two of those songs.

Of course, it remains to be seen which songs inspired by the Black Lives Matter will still be sung 10 or 20 years from now. It also remains to be seen how many more belatedly woke White groups will change their names, as Lady Antebellum (now Lady A) and The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) both did in June. (See below for more on name changes.)

But there are new protest songs every month. Some of this years standouts include Mickey Guytons Black Like Me, H.E.R.'s I Cant Breathe, Beyoncs Black Parade, Trey Songzs 2020 Riots: How Many Times. Lil Babys The Bigger Picture, and Leon Bridges and Terrace Martins Sweeter.

How many times, indeed?

In the meanwhile, expect more protest songs to ring out. And in an age of instant streaming, smart phones and TikTok, expect those songs to be heard by an increasingly engaged population eager to sing out, stand up and get involved.

Lady Antebellum members Charles Kelley, left, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood perform at the Stagecoach festival.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The still-growing impact of the Black Lives Matter movement has had a profound impact on many facets of American society, as the groups formerly known as Lady Antebellum and The Dixie Chicks can both attest.

The impact of that movement extends from the federal government, NASCAR and professional sports teams in big cities to small community organizations in rural neighborhoods. And it extends from Madison Avenue to the music industry, an industry that has made the members of the recently renamed Lady A and The Chicks wealthy and famous.

Actually, there isnt much of a distance between music and Madison Avenue, whose national and international corporate marketing strategies extend across America and around the world.

Many bands and solo artists are brands. Their names and images adorn countless products, from recordings, posters and clothing lines to in the case of Jimmy Buffett bars, restaurants, food products, furniture, pool floats, surf boards, yoga mats, cornhole games, and more.

But its no longer business as usual, thanks to Black Lives Matter, at least not for the groups formerly known as Lady Antebellum and The Dixie Chicks.

In June, the three members of Lady Antebellum announced they were changing their name to Lady A, the better to distance themselves from the pre-Civil War South in general and the slave owners mansions specifically that Lady Antebellum referenced.

In a statement on Instagram, the groups Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelly wrote: Weve watched and listened more than ever these last few weeks, and our hearts have been stirred with conviction, our eyes opened wide to the injustices, inequality and biases black women and men have always faced and continue to face every day. Now, blind spots we didnt even know existed have been revealed.

After much personal reflection, band discussion, prayer and many honest conversations with some of our closest black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop the word antebellum from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start.

Its unclear why those conversations with their closest Black friends didnt take place back in 2006, when the country-pop trio was formed, or if not then soon after the deaths of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and Eric Garner and Michael Brown in 2014.

But better late than never, even though the group Lady A subsequently sued Lady A, a 61-year-old Black Seattle blues and gospel singer (real name: Anita White). She has been performing as Lady A for more than 20 years. The trios litigation was spurred by Whites request that the group give her $10 million, $5 million of which she said she planned to give to Black Lives Matter organizations.

In a Rolling Stone interview, White decried the trios move to file multiple trademark registrations that would co-opt her stage name, saying: Theyre using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time. If it mattered, it would have mattered to them before. It shouldnt have taken George Floyd to die for them to realize that their name had a slave reference to it.

No, it shouldnt have.

As for The Chicks, who on June 25 dropped Dixie from their stage moniker, the groups three members initially explained their move in just six words: We want to meet this moment.

In subsequent interviews, The Chicks Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire maintained they had wanted to drop Dixie as far back as 2003, without really explaining why they didnt.

Ironically, their decision to do so now has led to cancel culture denunciations from some of the same people who vehemently attacked The Dixie Chicks in 2003. Those attacks came after Maines spoke critically on stage of President George W. Bush, telling a London concert audience: Were ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.

Embarrassment, if not shame, also spurred the recent decision by the London record company One Little Indian whose roster includes Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjrk to change its name to One Little Independent. And, in late June, the Sacramento post-hardcore rock band Slaves announced its own name change.

The new name, the band now formerly known as Slaves promised, will be announced later this year.

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Protest songs capture the times, from Black Lives Matter to civil rights and anti-war movements - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Angela Merkel has been facing growing dissent from Germans questioning her strategy to contain and eliminate the coronavirus threat once and for all across Germany. Thousands of protesters came together in Berlin over the weekend to denounce the Government's ongoing social distancing requirements, with some demonstrators accusing Chancellor Merkel of imposing strict measures to extend her power over them. DW News reporter Leonie von Hammerstein said: "Some of their demands were included by the organisers in a document before the event, and they called this the day of freedom.

"They called on the German Government to resign and for the state broadcasters also to be dissolved.

"These were the demands of many of the people I spoke to at the protest. What united them was a distrust in the Government's measures. This is kind of a paradox."

Ms von Hammerstein reported a common thread uniting the protesters was the ongoing imposition of social distancing measures despite the limited death toll Germany had compared to other European countries.

Chancellor Merkel was praised earlier in the pandemic for her ability to contain the spread of the virus, which claimed 9,226 lives so far in Germany, but she is now facing pressure as the infection rate appears to have spiked again.

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The DW News reported continued: "A lot of the people were telling me the Government was telling us to keep our distance and stick to all these restrictions in order for the hospitals not to be overcrowded, in order for people not to die.

"But not that many people died, the hospitals are still empty, so why did the Government tell us that in the first place?

"There is an inherit distrust in what the Government is telling them and that's why we saw tens of thousands of people taking to the streets, not adhering to the rules, not adhering to face mask use.

"A lot of them were telling me they see face masks as a symbol of oppression that the Government is forcing them to wear."

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Forty-five police officers were injured in clashes with the crowd during the Berlin protests.

The demonstrators, which included representatives from the hard right and left as well as conspiracy theorists, marched down the German capital shouting "we are the second wave" as they urged fellow Germans to "resist."

Saskia Esken, the co-leader of the centre-left SPD party, lashed out at the protesters for putting their health and those of other Berliners at risk.

Ms Esken said: "They are not only jeopardizing our health, they are jeopardizing our achievements against the pandemic and the revival of the economy, education, and society."

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Germany reported 955 new cases on Saturday and 870 on Friday last week, with the public being accused of becoming "negligent on hygiene and social distancing rules."

Berlin Police have launched legal action against the organizers of the protest for the "non-respect of hygiene rules."

The protest came as Education Minister Anja Karliczek called for the mandatory introduction of face masks in schools because of the coronavirus spike Germany is experiencing.

Ms Karliczek said: "It's comprehensible when regional states want to forgo the social distancing rules at schools because the spatial conditions would only allow limited in-person classes.

"However, in-person classes will only work when additional hygiene regulations and rules for wearing masks and social distancing in school yards and corridors are strictly observed."

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Angela Merkel urged to resign as Germans march to show 'lack of trust' over coronavirus - Daily Express

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A disturbing report has highlighted the widespread oppression and discrimination faced by LGBT+ Syrians at the hands of both the government and ISIS.

Interviewing 40+ LGBT+ people, three heterosexual men, as well as various caseworkers and humanitarian organisation representatives, the Human Rights Watch report found that LGBT+ citizens are being subjected to extreme acts of brutality and discrimination in Syria.

The 77-page report, which was published on Wednesday July 29 highlighted the disturbing range of oppression and cruelty forced against LGBT+ civilians by not only ISIS militants, but by government officials and non-state armed groups.

With instances of Mutilation that included mops inserted anally, electric shock, physical beatings, the burning of genitals, rape, and forced nudity where only some of the disgusting acts that have been inflicted o LGBT+ people in Syria even within the walls of state prisons, checkpoints and detention centres.

They rape you just to see you suffering, shouting, said Yousef, a 28-year-old gay man.

To see you are humiliated. This is what they like to see, explained a trans woman, as she described the horrifying moment when ISIS militants threw her gay friend from a high-rise rooftop to his death.

The papers authors add that Individuals who are seen to fall short of dominant masculine ideals, including by exhibiting traits or behaviours that are typically viewed as feminine, are perceived as weak and hence vulnerable to abuse.

The report also found that such acts of mutilation, rape, and abuse occurring on boys as young as 11 was commonplace.

The report further highlights the need for nations around the world to welcome LGBT+ refugees from the region who have endured such abuse against a backdrop of a nine-year-long war.

Last Updated on Jul 31, 2020 at 10:21 am

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LGBT+ Syrians Facing Extreme Oppression From Both Government And ISIS - Gay Nation

East Turkistan Government-in-exile has called on Muslim countries to break their silence on Chinese oppression and support people of Xinjiang in their fight against decades of occupation and genocide by the Chinese Communist Party. East Turkistan, also known as Xinjiang, Prime Minister Salih Hudayar made these remarks while extending greetings on an Eid-al-Adha. He urged Muslims across the world to oppose China's Genocide and Occupation in East Turkistan.

"On behalf of the people of East Turkistan, we wish all the Muslims across the world a blessed Eid Al Adha. What we expect from the Muslim world is solidarity and support be it politically, financially, diplomatically or any other means to help us seek justice and an end to China's decades of occupation and genocide in East Turkistan," Hudayar said in a video message. "We again call on the entire Muslim world to break their silence and do everything in their power to help liberate East Turkistan and its people from Chinese occupation and oppression," he added.

Elaborating on oppression by the Chinese government, Hudayar said over 3 million people in East Turkistan are currently being held in concentration camps. Mosques and other religious sites have been destroyed. "Qurans and other Islamic texts have been burned. Over 500,000 East Turkistan children have been forcibly separated from their families and sent to state-run orphanages to be raised as atheist Chinese citizens," said Hudayar.

"East Turkistan women are being sterilized, Muslims are being forced to eat pork and drink alcohol. The organs of East Turkistani Muslims are being harvested and sold to Muslims across the world as halal organs," he added. The Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking minority from Central Asia, are a distinct ethnic group from Han Chinese, with Urumqi being closer to Kabul than Beijing.

In 2009, the most infamous riots broke out in the streets of Urumqi, Xinjiang which pitted Uyghur Muslims against Han Chinese. The CCP government has turned the entire region into a highly controlled, open-air prison after the Urumqi riots in 2009.

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East Turkistan govt-in-exile urges Muslim world to break silence on Chinese oppression in Xinjiang - Devdiscourse

Here are two statements:

The NBA, by professional sports league standards, has a decently strong record on human rights. It allows players to speak their minds. It believes that Black lives matter. It uses its power to fight injustice in the United States.

The NBA, an adored global corporation, has also gone to great lengths to build and maintain a multibillion-dollar relationship with a human rights-abusing government halfway around the world.

They are two factual statements that at this time last year coexisted peacefully. Yet recently, theyve become entangled, pitted against each other, by U.S. senators and laypeople alike. On Thursday, when the NBA season resumes, activism will be inescapable; players will protest police brutality and racial injustice in America; BLACK LIVES MATTER will scream at viewers off courts. And perhaps the most common criticism of the NBAs initiatives will be a prickly diversion.

But what about China?!?

Its a fascinating retort, because its grounded in the most glaring demerit on the NBAs recent record. An ESPN investigation published Wednesday raised more red flags. For years, the league ignored authoritarian crackdowns and ethnic persecution as it built and monetized a rabid fan base in China. It ran an abusive basketball academy in a police state where Muslims are interned in concentration camps. When Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of Hong Kong last October, and the Chinese government attacking democratic freedoms in Hong Kong bristled, the NBA moved swiftly to salvage its relationship with that government. The leagues most prominent figures, from LeBron James to Steve Kerr, didnt rush to condemn injustice, as they had so often in the past and have so often since. Instead, they either criticized Morey, or remained conspicuously silent. Officials, in some cases, stepped in to silence them.

The silence was embarrassing. It enables and legitimizes oppression. Sure, the NBA actually stood up to China with more strength than most corporations do. But the widespread disapproval it received was deserved. Where things got messy, and problematic, was when that disapproval became bottomless ammo for whataboutism. When China became the catch-all counter. When injustice became the response to calls for justice.

We can, and should, criticize the league and its most prominent characters for refusing to outright condemn oppression in China. We also can, and should, support the league and its most prominent characters as they try to combat oppression closer to home. Our criticism and support arent contradictory. In fact, they necessarily go hand in hand.

When the NBA returns to action Thursday, some players will wear racial justice messages on their uniforms, and courts will declare, "BLACK LIVES MATTER." (AP)

Injustice clouds every second of every day in every country. To use the neglect of some injustice to detract from the fight against other injustice is to uphold all of it. Change is local. Successful fights for it are often hyper-focused. Black Americans, some of whom comprise a majority of the NBA, are trying to lead one. To support their fight, to affirm that Black lives matter, to do your part to dismantle systemic racism, is not an affront to Muslims detained in China, or families brutalized in Syria, or women denied rights in Iran, or LGBTQ+ people denied humanity everywhere.

To support NBA players advocacy is to fight for human rights, period. They are attacking one web of injustice among many. To refuse to support their fight because they havent attacked another web of injustice is hypocritical. It is unfair, and counterproductive, to criticize progressive action on the basis of inaction elsewhere. If we do, progress is unattainable.

Now, it is fair to separately criticize the inaction especially when that inaction could be described as suppression of action in the name of profit. We should acknowledge, and scrutinize, why the NBA cuddles up and cowers to China. It lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the wake of Moreys tweet. If it were to push harder for democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, it would lose more. Those losses hit the league, and spread to teams, and filtered down to players and employees. Which is why they all say nothing. The NBA believes in human rights, and recognizes how powerfully it can advocate for them. It pulled the 2017 All-Star Game out of North Carolina to pressure the state to protect them. But somewhere between Carolina and China, it drew its line. A line between social responsibility and money.

Story continues

We all have one. Every corporation, every institution, every individual. Even the most well-meaning people like and need money. Some arent willing to sacrifice any of it to make the world a better place. Some are. Everybody, though, is faced with the question of how much?

You can argue, and many would, that the NBA should sacrifice more. That the line should stretch well beyond China and those hundreds of millions of dollars. That no American company not the NFL, not Nike, not Apple should deal with China. (They all do.) But you probably cant argue the line shouldnt exist. If you believe the NBA should fight any injustice at any cost, then you, too, should quit your job and go fight injustice; then every company, regardless of industry, should cease production of their goods or services and pour all resources into the battle. Of course, thats unrealistic. The world will never be, cannot be, 100 percent selfless.

The NBA, like so many others, does the right thing until the right thing is too costly. We can, and should, criticize the billionaires who own it for not spending more in the name of human rights because thats essentially what this is. We can, and should, criticize the league for its response to Morey. We can, and should, criticize LeBron.

Because injustice is injustice, whether we, personally, feel it or not.

And that, precisely, is also why we must support the NBA players crusading against it.

You can, and should, call them out for not condemning all injustice. But if you do so to undermine their condemnations of some injustice, then youre not condemning all injustice yourself.

We care about Chinas oppression because were empathetic, and believe injustice is wrong. For the exact same reason, we will listen to NBA players on Thursday and beyond; we have heard them speak about the violence and prejudice they and their communities experience; we will hear them say, as a collective, that Black lives matter, and that systemic racism must end; and we will say, Yes. Absolutely.

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The NBA, China and racial justice: How to untangle the leagues messy relationship with human rights - Yahoo Sports

Chinese audience will finally be getting to watch much talked about film 'The Eight Hundred' on the big screen come August 21. The film was slated to release across China in 2019 but was delayed to due mysterious political circumstances.

The film will open in both conventional as well as Imax cinemas in China. Its the first big-budget Chinese film to release in theatres post-pandemic. China has started operations of cinema halls since last July.

Made on a reported budget of $80 million by Huayi Brothers and is directed by Guan Hu, it is the first Chinese film to be entirely shot with Imax cameras.

The film's story highlights the sacrifices made by a ragtag group of Chinese soldiers in 1937 Shanghai as imperial Japanese troops advanced. The group's operations were once praised by Mao Zedong himself as a classic example of a national revolution.

The theme of the movie, many felt, was patriotic and in tune with the Chinese government's celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic.

The film was even selected to open the Shanghai International Film Festival in June last year but got canceled 24 hours before the screening. The film's commercial release on July 5 was aslo called off.

The censor board in China had given its clearance but the film did not get screening at the prestigious fuilm festival due to political reasons. Interestingly, the incident revealed a new dimension to the censorship and approvals system in the country.The film was screened prior to the festival to a group of Communist Party scholars and experts who call themselves the China Red Culture Research Association . The film recieved criticism from this group. The members of the association criticised the way the film depcted the role of rival Kuomintang Party, which ruled China until it lost the civil war against the Communists in 1949 and fled to Taiwan. The two parties continue to fight with each other over their respective roles during war with Japan .The associations secretary general, Wang Benzhou, criticized the film by saying: The class oppression within the ranks of the Kuomintang army, the misdeeds of its officers and its evil oppression of the people have disappeared without a trace, making it seem that the Kuomintang army was the real peoples army.While there is no clear evidence that the film's release was stalled for this reason, the assocuiation's stance likely echoes that of that of the Partys Propaganda Bureau, which since mid-2018 took over as Chinas top film censorship authority.This is not the first time that a film in China has been stalled. Zhang Yimous Cultural Revolution drama 'One Second' was abruptly pulled down from Berlin festival in February 2019, while youth drama 'Better Days' was similarly cancelled from Berlin, but later on went on to have a stellar theatrical career.According to reports, the country is particularlyt sensitive towards the portrayal of the Communist Party and deeply scrutinise the content of such political films. Since last year was the 70 anniversary of the Party's rule, each and every film was deeply scrutinised to match the patriotic sentiments of the government.

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Controversial Chinese film `The Eight Hundred` finally gets a release date after one year of delay - WION

Slavery supported the American economy throughout its early years, and continues to do so today, albeit in a disguised form that still manages to elude the majority of the American public into thinking that slavery is a relic of a bygone period, like segregation or Jim Crow laws, both of which also still persist in slightly modified forms to this day.

Racist structures of systemic oppression that take advantage of the black community have allowed America as we know it to exist for centuries, and in order for true racial progress to be achieved, a concrete path forward needs to be devised to remedy past atrocities and provide future opportunities. One possible path forward is that of reparations.

Martin Hopkins, an activist and entrepreneur in Columbus, Ohio shared her insight about the concept of reparations for black Americans and what this process might look like.

Past Reparations

When one mentions the idea of the United States addressing the wrongs it has committed against certain groups throughout the nations history, many people almost immediately react as if the idea is something radical and unheard of. But the United States and governments of other countries around the world have used reparations as a way to accept responsibility for past wrongdoings and attempt to remedy the often horrendous situations caused by these offenses.

Reparations have been paid out to several groups in the United States in the past so its not something thats unheard of and its definitely not something thats a radical idea or anything, Hopkins said. Take a look at the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided reparations to victims of World War II era Japanese internment camps, which is basically just a polite way of saying concentration camps. As you can see, in certain instances the United States government has taken it upon themselves to address the issues they have created as a result of their treatment of certain groups.

However Hopkins argues that the compensation awarded to groups such as former Japanese internees did not properly address the extent of the governments wrongdoing:

Another thing that I want to be clear about is that I believe that all of these groups deserve more than what they were awarded by the government I feel like what they did receive was kind of a slap in the face. Even when these reparations have been paid, its still been a miscarriage of justice. Its almost like theyre saying, were going to take everything from you, and you should be happy that youre even getting anything.

Hopkins also noted the example of settlements paid to victims of police brutality, themselves a form of reparations, which he also argues dont happen enough and are usually a mere pittance when compared to the atrocities these victims have suffered.

What would reparations look like?

Calls for reparations are often met with severe backlash, and Hopkins believes that a driving force behind this opposition is that when people here the term reparations, they just think of a check when in reality and practice it would mean something completely different.

America was largely built by slave labor, and systems of economic and social oppression have continued to exploit the black community up to the present day. This isnt just a little cut that some monetary hand-outs will bandage and heal.

For over 400 years weve been put at a major disadvantage, Hopkins said. Were forced to live in the worst neighborhoods, attend the worst schools and have the worst access to healthcare. The mistreatment goes back too far and theres no amount of money that can remedy this mistreatment, but what has to happen is that people of color need a true seat at the table because weve been denied that for far too long.

So what needs to be done in order to give people of color this true seat at the table? As Hopkins explains, financial freedom is the only way to level the playing field, and to get to that point theres a couple things that I think need to happen. Reparations shouldnt just come in the form of a check, they need to be based on housing, education and taxes. As a result of redlining, discriminatory housing laws and predatory lenders we were denied access to being able to build generational wealth. So I think our housing should be paid for and we should be able to attend public colleges without paying tuition. Im not saying that I should be able to go to Yale without paying for it but if I wanted to go to Columbus State or my daughter wanted to go to Columbus State, we should be able to do that tuition free, based on the work of our ancestors. I also stand with Ice Cube when he says that black people should not have to pay taxes because weve already paid our taxes in the form of slave labor.

Hopkins told Citizen Truth that he has heard opponents of reparations say things along the lines of, Your ancestors are the ones who did the work, you didnt do anything, but my reply to that is that there are white families still benefiting from the money that slaveowners were able to take as a result of my ancestors free labor. The privilege that white people benefit from is a privilege that is gained from the oppression of other people.

Until the playing field is leveled and people of color finally are allowed the place the deserve at the proverbial table, American society leaves these communities with few routes out of poverty and destitution. Hopkins puts it bluntly when he says that Weve been told to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps for centuries, but we don have boots.

Generational Trauma

Africans were kidnapped from their countries and sold as a source of free labor, but the black community was and continues to be deprived of far more than a paycheck. These people had nearly all aspects of their culture robbed from them and in most situations were deprived of any opportunity to hold on to their language, religion and other customs under the threat of the harshest punishments imaginable.

Christianity plays a large role in many black communities throughout America, but at the end of the day this faith was one that was pushed on slaves by their white, Christian owners. Hopkins points out that the Christianity piece of things has been so ingrained in our society that people will fight to protect it. There are a lot of black people that really dont understand that there was a huge miscarriage of justice with regards to religion. They dont understand that we were pulled away from our religious and cultural history, where we come from, who we were, where we belong all of that was erased. But some people in the black community still look at that and go, Well, you know sometimes God works in strange ways and makes people have to suffer. And its a very troubling conversation to have and think about because you know if this suffering didnt happen, I wouldnt be here.

This is an existential conundrum that the majority of black people in America must grapple with on a daily basis. Hopkins analyzed the situation from his perspective, explaining that with regards to slavery If it didnt happen, I wouldnt have met my wife and three year old daughter, who I love more than anything. Sometimes I think I would rather not exist and have all of this so that my ancestors didnt have to suffer like they did. And how do you even begin to process that and remedy that problem? Im forced to accept that my existence is only possible due to a massive amount of suffering.

The traumatic crisis of identity doesnt end there. Hopkins told Citizen Truth, America is my home, but it doesnt really feel like home. Countries in Africa dont feel like home. Black people in America have been misplaced throughout history. I have the blood of slaves and slave masters coursing through my veins so Im experiencing an incredibly intense internal struggle as well as an outer one. What number can be put on that? Theres nothing that can really be done to make things truly right. The only that can be done is that it is addressed.

The Persistence of Slavery

Theres a huge misconception that slavery was completely abolished in the United States, whereas the 13th amendment actually says that Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Hopkins described how slavery persisted on like a dormant virus long after the Emancipation Proclamation. You had black people with no land and no money being arrested for vagrancy and being put right back into the system they had just escaped. Many criminal charges such as vagrancy and loitering were explicitly created so that black people could continue to be exploited as a source of free labor long after slavery had supposedly ended.

The Path Forward

According to Hopkins, If America is supposed to be the shining beacon of light for the world, then we need to start leading by example. Once we take care of these situations at home, then we can start addressing other issues.

With regards to reparations, Hopkins wants to be clear. I dont want there to be any misunderstanding that this isnt something that were asking for. Its what were owed, its our inheritance, its our birthright. Give us our due and proper so that we can move forward. And the sooner we can move forward, the better off the whole world would be. And its at the risk of giving up just a little bit of power, thats basically the only risk factor involved.

America still has a long road ahead before broken systems are done away with and generations of mental and physical wounds can finally begin to heal. In keeping with this mindset, Hopkins told Citizen Truth that, Its the only way that theres going to be any progress made. And reparations dont just have to benefit black people. For example, I feel like the whole country would benefit from tuition free public education and free public housing. Whatever youre willing to do for black people in terms of reparations you should be willing to do for other disenfranchised groups as well. The other benefit is that it will open up the conversation about reparations more and make the discussion more inclusive. If theres too much emphasis on this being something exclusively for black people that white people are going to have to foot the bill for its never going to be received well by the general public.

After centuries of systematic oppression brought to the forefront by police violence during a global pandemic, America is finally being forced to confront her racist past and present and realize that a new road must be paved forward or what little remains of the flame of American liberty will be extinguished for once and for all. However, it will be impossible to build that new road without addressing and remedying the wrongs of the past in a way that ensures this new road provides everybody with equal rights and opportunities.

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Not a radical idea: The United States has previously paid reparations for the sins of its past - Milwaukee Independent

Last Updated On 29 July,202008:46 pm

Indian govt crosses all limits of oppression in IIOJK: Moeed Yusuf

(Web Desk) - Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security, Moeed Yusuf says the 5th August will be observed as Youm-e-Istehsal to mark one year of military siege in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing an interactive session with Attaches and foreign media in Islamabad today (Wednesday), he said after the 5th August illegal action when the whole world was busy fighting against Coronavirus pandemic, India started demographic apartheid of Muslims in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The Special Assistant said Pakistan always stood by the Kashmiris and will always stand by them till the decisions of 5th August are reversed and Kashmiris achieve their right to self-determination.

He the present Indian government has crossed all limits of oppression, human rights violations and breach of international laws by abrogating the special status of the disputed territory.

Moeed Yusuf said the global media needs to view India afresh by recognizing the fascist ideology being promoted by the ruling BJP against Muslims and especially Kashmiris.

He said if all is well in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir as India advocates then why it doesnt allow foreign media and the United Nations observers to visit the held territory.

Moeed Yusuf warned the international community that India can make a false flag operation to justify its expansionist designs by initiating military action against Pakistan.

He said Indian expansionist policies are becoming a threat to Indias neighbours and peace of the region.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Information and Broadcasting, Akbar Durrani said in the light of UN Security Council resolutions, any action aimed at justifying Indian occupation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir is illegal.

He said Kulbhushan Yadavs case is living example of Indian sponsored terrorism and with the latest conflict with China, it has emerged as the epicentre of tensions in the region.

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Indian govt crosses all limits of oppression in IIOJK: Moeed Yusuf - Dunya News

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As federal police pour into U.S. cities, the Trump administrations crackdown on racial justice protests has taken its most authoritarian turn yet. At the same time, during a global pandemic, the Trump administration has continued to ratchet up devastating sanctions on Iran, while edging toward more overt military confrontation.

Iranian-Black Solidarity is a must now more than ever. We need strong, transnational movements to democratize and de-militarize our states, reverse hostile foreign policies, and call for solidarity between our communities against racism and authoritarianism.

In the face of mass protests against institutionalized racism, police brutality, and militarism, U.S. authorities deployed police and military forces across the country. Images of tanks and soldiers confronting protesters in Washington, D.C. and other cities drew analogies to Kabul and Baghdad the capital cities of Afghanistan and Iraq, which no doubt reminded Iranians of the endless U.S. wars in their region.

To stop police killings and different forms of violence against Black people across the United States, activists have demanded urgent reforms including defunding police departments and investing in communities, with some early successes. These demands could be extended to call for defunding the Pentagon, which not only supplies local police departments with military-grade weapons but also exports violence against people of color all over the world.

While civil rights activists in the U.S. have been trying to connect anti-racist struggles with the anti-war movement since the Vietnam War, the post 9/11 war on terror has made the point dramatically. By the most conservative estimates, 157,000 Afghans and 295,000 Iraqis have been killed during the U.S. wars in those countries, alongside many others in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Libya, and beyond.

Iranians have also suffered, dating back to the CIA-led coup detat in 1953 to overthrow Irans democratically elected government and install a brutal dictatorship in its place.

The unconditional support of the U.S. government for Saddam Hussein during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and decades of devastating economic sanctions against the Iranian people have also exacted a terrible toll including the destruction of the countrys infrastructure, widespread economic instability, and medicine shortages continuing well into the global pandemic today. These sanctions have hurt all Iranians but especially betrayed the most vulnerable groups, including the working class, immigrants, and Afghan refugees.

In Iran, the politics around the U.S. movement for racial justice are complicated by the regimes relationship with Washington.

While the Iranian government has its own record of oppression, a number of regime hardliners have expressed support for the movement for Black lives in the United States. Opposition figures on the other hand, some of which are funded by the U.S. government and its regional allies, have often criticized the movement. Many have claimed that racism in the U.S. is not comparable to the systemic violence that Iranians experience, or blamed Black Americans themselves for failing to secure their rights in the U.S. constitutional system.

These discredited claims are further intensified by the whiteness illusion among some migrant Iranian and Iranian American communities. Although Iranian Americans have not been equally privileged as their European white peers, they are still officially counted as white in the U.S. census. Some embrace this identity, despite being the target of racist harassment up to and including the Trump administrations Muslim travel ban.

Iranians and Iranian Americans need to overcome these illusions. To bring meaningful peace and justice to our communities, we should be determined to address the intersections of racism and state oppression against all human beings, regardless of their religion, nationality, and ethnic background.

Historically, numerous barriers have limited opportunities to unite across borders to end Americas racist policies in the U.S. and abroad. That needs to change. As fellow victims of long-standing state oppression, Iranian communities, along with their American Black and brown peers, should break these barriers to demilitarize, end sanctions, and imagine a peaceful word based on equity and freedom.

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Iranian Communities Should Stand With Black Lives Matter - Foreign Policy In Focus

Within a couple of years, annexation of the territories morphed from a distorted vision in right-wing quarters to the declared policy of the Israeli government. The puzzling decision by Blue and White and Labor to join the Netanyahu government stoked the publics illusion that such a move was possible. Many of us shrug their shoulders and say, Actually, why not?Thus, without fully understanding the implications for our future, the Israeli Right with Netanyahu at the helm marketed one of the greatest dangers to the State of Israel as a legitimate achievement, without telling the public that such a unilateral declaration of annexation and its attendant legislation would install an apartheid regime in Israel.It should be stated up front: The idea of annexation was planted on the first day of the occupation, after the Six Day War. Already in late 1967, the Israeli government annexed eastern Jerusalem and its surroundings containing many Palestinian villages. The territory was annexed but the people one third of the citys population remained bereft of basic civil rights, giving rise to the first instance of institutionalized ethnic discrimination. It was not yet called apartheid, even though South Africas apartheid regime was at its height at that time and diplomatic relations between the two countries were almost a foregone conclusion.It bears noting that the word apartheid provokes moral revulsion worldwide as it recalls a deplorable criminal and inhuman regime, whereas among many Israelis it elicits a yawn and denial. However, the reality is clear: Laundered annexation is tantamount to apartheid. Its sad to see how the laundry works overtime in Israel.According to the Rome Convention, which serves as the source of authority for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, apartheid is a crime against humanity. The Israeli occupation regime in the West Bank is defined as temporary, and therefore the international community distinguishes between the military regime in the occupied territories and democracy in the State of Israel, despite the latters responsibility for the situation in the army-controlled West Bank, which bears clear characteristics of apartheid. Replacing the military occupation with annexation, or the synonymous application of Israeli law and jurisdiction in the occupied territories, is expected to make the world realize that an oppressive apartheid regime exists in Israel, with all that this implies.It is distressing that few of us know what took place in South Africas fearsome apartheid regime, how dark it was, and what institutions were established and laws enacted to allow the white minority to enjoy a high quality of life, at the expense of a violent and corrupt oppression of the black majority. The resemblance between then-South Africa to present-day Israel is heart-wrenching: one-sixth of South Africas population was white (a rate of 5:1), whereas in the West Bank settlers are one-sixth and Palestinians are five-sixths of the population (a rate of 1:5). In South Africa, whites enjoyed full privileges and blacks were deprived of any rights or future; in the West Bank, in contrast, it is the settlers who enjoy unique privileges and the Palestinians who have no rights or future, to the point that some even fantasize about deporting them to Jordan. Yet we deny reality and shrug off its consequences: Apartheid is already here! PEOPLE PLAY with laundered words and call it annexation, but the moment is approaching when Israeli institutions, including the Knesset and the government, will be able to enact laws that will apply to the occupied territories as well. In other words, a single regime may soon rule from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean with no recourse to the Supreme Court to stop it. This situation will turn Israel into an apartheid regime.A report by the Zulat Institute published this week under the name Laundromat shows how the Netanyahu government has methodically inured the Israeli public into believing that becoming an apartheid state is a legitimate and rational act. The systematic and deliberate use of laundered concepts such as annexation and applying sovereignty has become increasingly commonplace over time and has been advanced by politicians and media figures to divert attention elsewhere.As a result of this deliberate laundering, use of the term applying sovereignty in the media increased by 3,425% between December 2019 and January 2020, while mention of the word apartheid remained unchanged, and even declined in some media outlets.Applying sovereignty and partial annexation have been normalized and embedded in the public discourse, and have become policy moves expected to be approved by the Knesset with the passive/active support of Labor and Blue and White members, who are in the Knesset by virtue of the ballots cast by center and left-wing voters unfamiliar with their repercussions.It should be noted that the laundering mechanism strictly used the term applying sovereignty in the initial phases, while in subsequent stages the process went up one notch and the effort focused on emptying the concept of annexation itself and uploading it with a softer, more moderate and tolerable meaning. One of the key methods used to this end was to constantly emphasize the apparent difference between full and partial annexation.As part of the shift from the fringes to the mainstream, a growing number of voices started to be heard in Israeli politics and in the media much of it coming from the left-center whereby the implications are not disastrous, if at stake is only a partial annexation of settlement blocs or of the Jordan Valley. However, any annexation of territory that is not part of negotiations with the Palestinians be it large, partial, minimal or even symbolic runs counter to international law and to the post-World War II order created to prevent its recurrence. Annexation is annexation, and there is no fundamental, constitutional, political or security-based difference in the international arena where the chances of establishing a Palestinian state or our relations with the Arab countries, especially Jordan, are concerned.The sooner we understand it, the better: A bunch of laundered words will not change the fact that we are on the brink of the State of Israel becoming a full-blown apartheid regime, a move that will seriously impact our moral fortitude, international standing and national security.The writer is one of the founders of the Zulat Institute for Equality and Human Rights. He previously served as Israels ambassador to South Africa, and is currently chair of the Policy Working Group, an advocacy team on policy issues.

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What the government isn't telling you about annexation opinion - The Jerusalem Post

NYPD officers clash with protesters. (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

On July 28, a couple of hundred protesters in Manhattan watched helplessly as 18-year-old trans woman Nikki Stone was snatched off the street by plainclothes officers, shoved into an unmarked van, and taken who knows where.Ad Policy

Protesters who attempted to intervene were met with pepper spray to the face. Shortly after, video of the kidnapping was posted on Twitter for the world to see.

Stones crime that warranted a literal kidnapping? Allegedly damaging police cameras and spray painting.

In the months since the murder of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests against systemic racism and unjust policing practices, weve witnessed in person and on video federal and local law enforcement officials terrorize and brutalize protesters with impunity, making it ever more clear that were on the road away from democracy and getting closer to fascism. Just days before, we watched federal officers in Portland, Ore., snatch a protester in similar fashion. So, naturally, when Stone was taken, messages of fear and confusion proliferated quickly online. Were these federal officers? NYPD? Without clear markings, were these officers at all? An NYPD social media account came forward to take credit for the kidnapping, while also falsely claiming that officers were assaulted with rocks and bottles.

To those outside New York Citys border, and some within, this was new, novel, and terrifying. To those of us who have fought police terror in the city, its the same NYPD weve always known.

The division responsible for Stones kidnapping is known as the warrant squad. The name makes it sound like the officers ride around town like the A-Team, taking down the toughest criminals with unorthodox tactics, but for the right reasons. Quite the opposite. The warrant squad marshals the full weight of the departments multibillion-dollar budget to terrorize the citys most vulnerable communities.

A 2015 investigative report by John Surico for Vice highlighted the warrant squads repeated raids of homeless shelterswith a majority of arrests coming for nonviolent, minor offenses.Current Issue

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When I asked homeless people why this is happening, most said it was to meet quotasthe statistics-based policing that critics (and even some police officers) say is encouraged by One Police Plazaand that the homeless arrests can act as fodder for the stats, Surico wrote. This, they argued, may explain why the raids fluctuate: Some months have low numbers, perhaps meaning the cops dont need as many arrests; when the raids go up, the cops are presumably in need of some juice.

As a former public defender, Ive witnessed this police work masquerading as public safety up close. In the early years of my career, parades of warrant squad detainees were regularly marched into court, the rattle of chain gang shackles filling the room. Some were partially clothed, others missing shoes. The infractions that justified their appearing in this dehumanizing state were almost always dismissed. One by one, they were unshackled and sent on their waythe state acting like nothing had ever happened. Until the next raid.

Unlike many of the warrant squads incursions over the years, what happened to Stone on Tuesday night was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people via cell phone cameras and social media. Several New York City Council members joined the righteous torrent of outrage, but many chose to look good rather than to do good when the time arrived to hold police accountable.

Last month, a multiracial coalition of New Yorkers did their part in working to disempower an out-of-control police force by advocating a $1 billion divestment from NYPD and an investment in social services. Those efforts were met with political chicanery when the City Council passed a budget that failed to cut the police budget in any meaningful way. The same legislators who are standing up now to express outrage and demand answers about Stones arrest sat down when their time came not just to demand accountability but to make real and lasting change.

If you like this article, please give today to help fund The Nations work.

What happened to Stone should be a wake-up call to anyone who thought police violence would confine itself to Black, brown, and poor communities. That she was snatched from a dense throng of protesters shows the sophistication of NYPD surveillance. This was an intentional act meant to send a message to protesters: Speak out, and you too can be disappeared. If this happened in another country, wed be condemning the regime responsible, as we frequently do when foreign regimes that arent allies use their police forces to brutally suppress dissenting speech.

But it is easy to call out oppression beyond our borders, harder to do so when our government is waging violence and oppression against our own people. Difficulty cannot be a deterrent. History shows what happens when we fail to uproot oppression. The prophetic prose of Martin Niemllers First They Came rings loudly in my head. First they came for the Communists / And I did not speak out / Because I was not a Communist What started in the dark of night at homeless shelters is now in the streets in broad daylight. We are the last to speak for us. If you have not been already, its time to start shouting.

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The NYPD Took a Step Toward Fascism When It Kidnapped Nikki Stone - The Nation

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We must unmask the true source of so-called Black-on-Black violence

News Analysis

A 17-year-old young Black man was killed on Thursday, July 23, three blocks from the George Floyd Memorial. No one knows the circumstances, but many inherently know the reason, and it goes deeper than the reported dispute that ended with a gun and a death.

The police report will say where and how he was shot and suggest a possible motive, but it will not capture the true genesis that, according to the experts, most likely began in an environment deprived of the social and economic resources needed to feel good about oneself and be successful in the competitive society we know as the U.S. Some suggest that the violence stems from the same motive that caused the first Black man to shoot his brother after being kidnapped from Africa: racial oppression.

Any violence within the Black community is always connected to levels of oppression, poverty, or the involvement of State agencies in infiltrating and imposing weapons, conflict, etc. onto an already existing unequal society, explains Morgan State University Professor Jared Ball.

Though this recent murder occurred near the scene of Floyds murder, there was no apparent change in the demeanor of the Minneapolis police who responded to the scene, no sense of shame. Instead there was thinly disguised hostility toward the crowd that had gathered, coupled with an obvious us-versus-them attitude.

The murder was reported far and wide, the 37th such killing this year. It was recorded as just another death among many in the Black community with no real attempt to scientifically analyze or politically evaluate the cause of such tragedy.

Historically, Minneapolis and other major cities have proposed solving the problem of violence in the Black community by employing more police. Yet so-called Black-on-Black violence persists.

Adding more police in the Black community has proven paradoxical since, according to a New York Times report, over the last five years police in Minneapolis used force against Black people at a rate at least seven times that of White people.

It escapes few that Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin while he was fulfilling the supposed duties of law enforcement. In 2019, according to a Star Tribune report, the Minneapolis police reported solving only 56% of the murders committed in the city. Nationally, police solve about 62% of murder cases.

Internecine Black crime is used by some to mock Black efforts at racial progress and racial justice. They imply that because a small minority of Black people participate in committing violence against other Black people, then they have no right to make demands on a system that African Americans categorically say is discriminatory and oppressive.

Critics of Blacks who protest police violence appear hypocritical when they say that Black people should oppose so-called Black-on-Black violence, yet object to them expressing outrage or even protesting violence committed against them by those from outside their community, namely the police.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune engaged in this practice recently in an editorial written by Katherine Kirsten, apparently a Strib favorite since her columns appear somewhat regularly in the newspaper. Kirsten claimed that to be an adherent of racial justice and police reform (Woke as she called it) one must at the same time ignore the issue of violence in the Black community.

However, the idea that Black people are soft on crime while being tough on police violence is viewed by most in the Black community as comparing apples to oranges, as unfair and unfounded. The accusation, though false, seems to play well in conservative and right-wing segments of society unwilling to face the truth or in denial about the source of the violence. In Minneapolis alone there are numerous groups dedicated to addressing the issue of violence that occurs in the Black community.

Street crime is perpetrated mainly by strangers who may be in close proximity, but strangers nevertheless, who have no compact with anybody. The government, on the other hand, represented by the police department, has a compact with all of its citizens, mainly to protect and serve the citizenry.

Therefore the government is supposed to protect the interests of its citizens who pay allegiance to it and even taxes, so when the government or an agency of the government kills or brutalizes someone, they have committed a betrayal. Unlike the street thug, the government has a responsibility to protect and not injure.

Ironically few critics of the Black communitys supposed lack of response, and even fewer articles that seek to address the issue, ask why the police are not successful in eliminating violent crime in the Black community. None point the finger at the police themselves for failing to stem the tide.

Conservative Black academic Orlando Patterson places the blame for Black violence on the victim. There is one long-term, fundamental change that can come only from within the Black community: a reduction in the number of kids born to single, usually poor, women.

Two of the identified causes of violent crime, drugs and access to illegal firearms, have not been successfully corralled by police. Nor does there appear to be any concerted effort to stop the flow of illegal drugs and illegal guns at their sources.

Recently, the Minneapolis City Council voted to reduce funding to the Minneapolis Police Department. The idea of defunding the police has become popular among some activists. The City has promised to put the funds into efforts to stem violence in the city. Some activists suggest the City go further and, after defunding, allow the Black community to decide how those funds should be invested.

The Center for Popular Democracy suggests rerouting funds from policing to educational, community, restorative justice, and employment programs that have been shown to improve community safety, including investments in community-based drug and mental health treatment.

But simply reducing and redirecting some police funding will not address the structural problems of the correctional system as it relates to the Black community. According to Professor Amos Wilson in his book Black-on-Black Violence, The criminal justice system is best understood as a multi-billion-dollar industry wherein the African American is utilized as its basic raw material, the processing and the refining of which provides income for White families, vendors, construction firms, professionals, law and security enforcement agencies.

So-called Black-on-Black crime is born of a multi-decade attempt to distract from this truth, that people hurt and kill who they live near or with, says Ball. Most violence is personal. Whites have been killing each other for millennia and long before they even knew the rest of the world existed.

Even today Whites have mostly only other Whites to worry about regarding their safety. Its all meant to put the focus on mythologies of White superiority and Black inhumanity as reasons for any existing world problem.

Related content: WORD ON THE STREET | Why the increase in violence and whats the solution?

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Another day, another dead Black body - MSR News Online

Celebrity sells it always has. But in the digital age, the boundaries of celebrity have changed. Once it was the prerogative of movie, sports or music stars to front a fashion label or promote perfume. But nowadays the marketplace is saturated with any number of online lifestyle and wellness influencers, social media users who by virtue of their taste, niche expertise or marketing savvy develop audiences of thousands sometimes millions who seek to emulate their lifestyle.

And promoting products is only the beginning. Such influencers can have a profound effect in imparting attitudes and beliefs, too.

Most of the time, this is harmless, a new thread in the media milieu. Yet at a time of pandemic, where medical advice is heavily contested and conspiracy theories from the dark reaches of the internet have proliferated, some online lifestyle influencers are amplifying misinformation and disinformation.

In a new twist during the Covid-19 crisis, three formerly distinct online ecosystems those occupied by lifestyle/wellness influencers, QAnon conspiracy believers, and violent extremists have in some instances become intertwined, through shared conspiracy-related hashtags and wild claims about the dangers of vaccines, 5G and the evils of the deep state.

QAnon is not only a conspiracy movement. It has also been deemed adomestic terror threat by the FBI.

Numerous recent studies and news reports have shown that extremist groups are exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic in an attempt to justify their narratives, recruit followers or incite violence. Extremist narratives have always contained strong conspiratorial elements, and this time is no different. Coronavirus-related conspiracies are deftly interwoven through extremist narratives and mobilisation efforts.

But the connection with online lifestyle and wellness influencers marks a change. This crossover came about after some online lifestyle and wellness influencers became entrepreneurs of conspiracy theories, using them to boost their profiles and to promote and validate their views of wellness. One of the more dangerous conspiracies promoted by lifestyle/wellness influencers are QAnon conspiracies.

The QAnon movement has its origins in the so-called pizzagate conspiracy of 2016. In its current form, QAnon alleges that there is a US government insider with a Q-level clearance who is communicating cryptically with his followers online. QAnon followers believe there is a deep state within the US government that is controlled by a cabal of Democrats and liberal Hollywood celebrities who are also Satan-worshiping paedophiles. Through Q, President Donald Trump was manifested to expose and shut down these ritualistic paedophile rings. During the Covid-19 pandemic, QAnon conspiracy groups and posts have also promoted the idea that the pandemic was, alternately, another deep-state plot, a hoax, and a Chinese bio-weapon, among other health disinformation.

However, QAnon is not only a conspiracy movement. It has also been deemed a domestic terror threat by the FBI. A leaked FBI memo written in May 2019 assessed QAnon believers as conspiracy-driven domestic extremists and that QAnon and other crowd sourced conspiracies would very likely motivate some domestic extremists to commit criminal and sometimes violent activity.

The memo cited two violent incidents linked to QAnon, but there have been at least three other violent incidents since its publication, with researchers also examining its spread beyond the United States. What started as a US-based pro-Trump conspiracy movement has now gone global and includes a number of proponents in Australia, reportedly including a family friend of the Prime Minister with a substantial social media following.

A recent article by Insider magazine highlighted a number of lifestyle influencers who were posting QAnon conspiracies related to the pandemic. Outlets such as Buzzfeed, Mother Jones and Huffington Post have also revealed a string of other popular lifestyle, design and wellness influencers who have become vectors of Covid-19 and QAnon conspiracies. Some have latched onto the discredited plandemic film released in May or QAnon memes, variously claiming the coronavirus is fake, or that the deep state is responsible for spreading the virus, or that pandemic lockdown measures are a tool of oppression. Still others have encouraged followers to attend anti-lockdown protests which have included a number of far-right extremists in their midst.

Ironically, one of the most widely shared erroneous memes about the virus being spread by people in China eating bat soup, which was created and circulated by conspiracy theorists and extremists alike, was itself appropriated from a Chinese online influencer and celebrity vlogger, who said that a video of her eating a local delicacy of bat soup in Palau for her vlog was hijacked by accounts fanning out malicious panic.

By promoting conspiracies or alternative information in the name of wellness and alternative lifestyles, the online influencers of today can serve, however unwittingly, as a gateway directing users to further, darker corners of the internet.

The intersection between wellness and violent conspiracies seems unexpected, but the wellness movement has its origins in anti-establishment and anti-mainstream medical circles. Scholars such as Charlotte Ward and David Vaos have examined the confluence of new age wellness and conspiracy, which they termed conspirituality, an intersection between new age wellness, belief in the dangers of a new world order and big pharma, and a shared emphasis on awakening and revealing truths.

Until recently, the convergence of wellness and conspiracy in a drive for awakening and societal change emphasised the non-violent and the peaceful. However, the emergence of the QAnon movement has pushed things in a more troubling direction.

The online links between far right, QAnon conspiracy groups and some online wellness and lifestyle influencers have grown during the pandemic, the ensuing lockdown and response to restrictions. Online wellness and lifestyle influencers who peddle QAnon conspiracy theories about the pandemic can potentially drive traffic to online extremist groups through shared QAnon related hashtags such as #QAnon, #TheGreatAwakening, #Plandemic, #GermJihad, #MAGA, #whitegenocide #WWG1WGA or #coronavirushoax. This can also be done when influencers have used memes and iconography also appropriated by right-wing extremists for example red pill blue pill, falling down the rabbit hole, or where we go one we go all.

More analysis is needed, but there is emerging evidence to suggest that online influencers posts related to QAnon are being cross-posted and referenced by extremists groups on online forums.And by promoting conspiracies or alternative information in the name of wellness and alternative lifestyles, the online influencers of today can serve, however unwittingly, as a gateway directing users to further, darker corners of the internet.

Social media lifestyle influencers posting about QAnon not only serve to normalise this fringe movement, but can potentially undermine efforts by internet companies to de-platform purveyors of disinformation, label misleading posts and weed out prohibited content (as identified in their terms of service). Internet companies such as Reddit have banned QAnon forums for inciting violence. Facebook has banned a number of QAnon pages for inauthentic behaviour ,and Apple has removed a QAnon app from its store. Twitter recently announced it is suspending thousands of QAnon accounts. But QAnon posts still flourish online.

Because lifestyle and wellness influencers generate substantial revenue, have helped build social media businesses, and have not generally intersected with extremist movements before, there is a danger that influencers will escape extremist content reporting and moderation. Furthermore, influencer posts are likely to reach a wider audience than extremist group posts as they are less scrutinised by social media mechanisms monitoring extremist content.

Lifestyle and wellness influencers are particularly challenging because, as numerous surveys have found, influencer marketing has exploded. More and more people are turning to influencers and online personalities for inspiration, recommendations and purchasing advise. Online influencers whove latched onto QAnon present conspiracies in an engaging, appealing and relatable manner, often interspersing posts promoting QAnon among stylised photos of fashion, workouts and recipes. The same skills that these influencers use for consumer brand marketing have helped turn an outlandish conspiracy theory into an acceptable option in the market place of ideas.

A expanded version of this article is available at Global Network on Extremism and Technology of which the Lowy Institute is a core partner. This post is part of a year long series examining extremism and technology.

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Under the influence: Peddling conspiracy in a pandemic - The Interpreter

Universities, Saul Bellow, the US novelist and Nobel prize-winner, once declared, were anti-free-speech centres. An absurd caricature surely. Yet in 2018, Christine Lagarde, former head of the IMF, and Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state, were forced to withdraw from US university commencement addresses for being too controversial.

Still, you might think, this could not happen in tolerant Britain. Sadly, a report published today by Policy Exchange, based on the largest poll of UK-based academics in recent years, warns that we are not exempt. It shows little support for dismissal campaigns against academics holding unpopular views, but widespread support for discrimination on political grounds in publication, hiring and promotion. The report finds no evidence that the Left discriminates more than Right. But there are many more academics on the Left in the social sciences and the humanities than on the Right, and around half of the Right-leaning minority have self-censored, reporting a hostile climate for their beliefs.

There is, then, a chilling effect whereby minority views are kept under wraps. At Oxford, my old university, Nigel Biggar, regius professor of theology, leads an inquiry on the ethics of Empire. He has been excoriated by colleagues, entirely without justification, as racist and imperialist. A younger untenured colleague would have to be brave to take part in such an inquiry, yet its intellectual value could prove great.

Among students, the chilling effect occurs through no platforming, whereby organisers of meetings are pressured to disinvite speakers with unpopular views. At Oxford, Amber Rudd was disinvited by the UN Womens Society at 30 minutes notice; Prof Selina Todd was disinvited by an academic conference because of her views on transgender rights.

The effects of the hecklers veto can be devastating. Instead of being able to sharpen their wits through a robust exchange of views with those with whom they disagree, students find themselves cocooned at university, in a hermetically sealed intellectual environment which traffics only in pre-approved ideas, where they must think twice before speaking out.

Biggar has rightly pointed to the discrepancy between what counts as common sense in a university and among the public; and indeed, one could get a more vigorous debate on Empire, or on Brexit for that matter, in a pub in Hartlepool, than in the average senior common room or student union.

In his defence of free speech, John Stuart Mill pointed out that the greatest threat to it in a democracy came not from government but from prevailing opinion and feeling, which could give rise to a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression. It was, Mill suggested, legitimate to avoid contact with someone whose views one finds offensive. What was not legitimate was to use social pressure or boycott to deter the expression of unpopular views.

When the 1988 Education Reform bill was debated in the House of Lords, liberals, led by Roy Jenkins, insisted on statutory protection of academic freedom. They feared that Margaret Thatcher would use the abolition of tenure to discriminate against radicals in the universities. Today, by contrast, we need government to prevent discrimination by radicals in the universities. The Conservatives, in their 2019 manifesto, promised legislation to strengthen it. But legislation is not enough.

For the universities have been the great exception to that central trend of postwar politics, the decline of the state. They are almost as much of a public monopoly today as they were in the days of the Attlee government. Indeed, when, in the late Eighties, Thatchers education secretary, Kenneth Baker, visited the Soviet Union, he was congratulated on the degree of central control that he had achieved. A public monopoly is always in danger of encouraging conformity. Freedom is best defended not by the state, but by a healthy diversity of institutions. We have, at present, just two private universities Buckingham and the New College of the Humanities. We need many more.

Vernon Bogdanor is professor of government at Kings College, London. His book Britain and Europe in a Troubled World is out in September

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Universities are failing to protect academic freedom from the anti-free speech radicals - Telegraph.co.uk