Space tourism firm Space Perspective will send passengers into the stratosphere aboard giant balloon from 2024 – The Sun

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A SPACE startup company is planning to launch tourists way up into Earth's atmosphere in a giant balloon.

This trip to the stratosphere would give lucky guests spectacular views of the planet and the curvature of the Earth.

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Space Perspective is the company behind the out of this world travel plans.

It recently announced the development of its 'Spaceship Neptune', a flying space balloon that carries a pod.

This pod aims to hold nine people, a minibar, a toilet and plenty of large windows.

The aim is for the giant balloon to fly tourists 10,000 feet into the stratosphere in a pressurised capsule.

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The trip would involve a two hour ascent.

Once there, the plan is to hover over the Atlantic Ocean for two hours and then there's a two hour trip back down.

Unmanned test flights are expected to begin in 2021.

If all goes well, tickets could be sold as early as 2024.

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However, reports suggest these will cost a whopping $125,000 (100,000).

Space Perspective was founded by Jane Poynter and Taber McCallum.

Their website states: "For the first time, we can make the thrill of spaceflight accessible to you, our Explorers, in a safe, comfortable manner with minimal physical requirements and as simple as boarding an airplane.

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"Our pressurized capsule affords a shirt-sleeves environment, and comes with a refreshments bar and lavatory, of course."

The nine people onboard will include a pilot.

The aim by the end of the decade is to have 500 of these missions taking off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, each year.

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What is the stratosphere?

Here's what you need to know...

The stratosphere is the middle level of the Earth's atmosphere.

Within it is the very important ozone layer that helps to protect us from radiation from the Sun.

The stratosphere is 22 miles thick and gets hotter the higher up you go.

It doesn't count as outer space and falls around 100,000 feet short.

However, you can still see the curvature of the Earth at this level.

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In other space news, a huge asteroid is set to skim past Earth next week.

Nasa's Curiosity rover hascaptured a snapshotof what Venus and Earth look like from Mars.

And,six billion Earth-like planetscould be awaiting our discovery in the Milky Way.

What are your thoughts on space tourism? Let us know in the comments...

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

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Space tourism firm Space Perspective will send passengers into the stratosphere aboard giant balloon from 2024 - The Sun

Ensure the tray table is up and your mask on: air travel in the era of COVID-19 – CityNews Edmonton

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OTTAWA Watching the farms and highways of Ontario out of the oval windows of an Airbus A320, its easy to forget for a moment how COVID-19 has so thoroughlychanged familiarroutines.

From cruising altitude, the fields look as they always do, abucolic quilt of greens and browns, shadows moving over them as the clouds cross underneath the sun.

But then, your field of vision goes blurry. Your glasses have fogged up, again, because of the mask youve had to wear from the moment you stepped into the airport.

Welcome to the dystopian experience that is air travel in the pandemic era.

At the Ottawa airport, circles dot the floors at check-in, at security and in the hallways to show where it is safe to stand.

With passenger air traffic nearly non-existent, boarding announcements are few and far between.

Instead,a cheerful but stern disembodied voice repeatedly reminds people to wash their hands, cough into their sleeves, and wear a mask.

In the departure lounge, seats are cordoned off so people dont sit too close. As those whove chosen to take a midday flight to Toronto take every other spot, theyre kitted out in everything from homemade masks to full face shields.

The anticipatory energy normally buzzing at a gate ahead of a flight has morphed into an eerie sense that whats at the end of the ramp isnt a modern jet but a spaceship beaming people to an unknown world.

Dutiful queues form for a mandatory temperature check, and once past that, the normal scanning of boarding cards and checking of IDs. The gate agent asks for masks to briefly be pulled down so faces can be matched to photos. She tells one passenger there is a camera watching to make sure its done.

The musty smell of the airplane cabin is cut with the scent of cleaning solution, and the flight attendantsmiles with her eyes, her bilingual Hello! Bonjour!greeting muffled by her mask.

Each passenger is handed a kit not a fancy eye mask or cozy slippers, but aclear plastic bag with a face mask, rubber gloves, tiny bottleofhand sanitizer and cleansing wipes.

Theres a small bottle of water too. Physical distancing restrictions mean no in-flight service.

After takeoff, the seat-belt sign dings offand the in-flight reminders crackle over the speakers, with new additions to the familiar lyrics: use the air sickness bag to dispose of a soiled mask, and also, remember to wash your hands.

That slightly disorienting sense of arriving in a different place, even if it is a familiar airport, is kicked up a notch when everyone is in a mask.

There are nothrongs of smiling family and friends waiting just outside the luggage carousels at Torontos Pearson international airport. No one but passengers and staff are allowed inside. That romantic moment in the movies where people are wrapped in the love of family and friends they havent seen in months? It is replaced by dire signs reminding of COVID-19 symptoms, and yet another plea to wash your hands.

Stepping outside and into the sunshine, the deep inhale of fresh air after a flight feels even fresher without a mask blocking the way. Its quiet and not just because there are few people, no screeching luggage carts, or idling cabs or shouting security officers.

There are also no roars from departing or landing jets.

Its not just the routines of travel changed by COVID-19. Its also the rituals.

Arriving at the departure zone to begin the trip home, theres always a little game to play. On the six or eight screens listing dozens of international flights leaving soon: which exotic locale would you jet off to at a moments notice, if you had the chance?

On this weekday, the number of flights is under a dozen, nearly all to Canadian cities. Timmins, Ont. Hmmm.They say its nice this time of year.

The airport shop is open, its normal sundries and souvenirs bolstered by one for the ages: a T-shirt, for $12.99, that reads: Ive been social distancing since before it was cool.

Headed to security, an art installation catches the eye. The images are of what happens to atoms when they are frozen to the coldest temperature possible.

Theyre striking, these photos, but it is the title of the exhibit itself that perhaps best sums up travel in the time of a pandemic: A New Way of Seeing Reality.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2020.

Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press

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Ensure the tray table is up and your mask on: air travel in the era of COVID-19 - CityNews Edmonton

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality The future of tourism in the Americas – Travel & Tourism News Middle East

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Ministers from across the Americas have met to map a course for the sustainable growth of the regions tourism sector, a lifeline for many millions and a key driver of economic growth.

Though kept apart physically due to the extraordinary circumstances, the 65th meeting of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Regional Commission for the Americas saw Member States more united than ever in their determination to harness the power of tourism to recover from the economic and social impact of Covid-19 and drive future growth.

The second of the UNWTO Regional Commission meetings to be held virtually, the high-level discussions were opened by Chairman and Minister of Tourism for Jamaica, Edmund Bartlett. He was joined by UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, and Ministers of Tourism for 22 Member States from across the Americas. The meeting was held as destinations across the region continue to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, as well as allowing Member States to share their responses to the shared challenge, discussions also focused on plans for sustainable recovery and future resilience, with an emphasis on the potential of digitization and new ideas and in boosting investment in green business models.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: The temporary suspension of tourism has had a significant impact on the Americas. This meeting showed the shared determination to grow back stronger and better once the conditions allow. Sustainability and innovation will be at the heart of tourisms recovery, both in the Americas and in every other global region. The sectors return to growth will be a lifeline for many millions of people across the Americas while also helping protect and promote the regions many cultures and natural heritage.

Strong partnerships for innovative and sustainable tourism

Reflecting the dynamic nature of tourism and the sectors ability to adapt, the meeting featured the announcement of a joint collaboration between UNWTO and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) designed to promote digital transformation and positive change. The Beyond Tourism Innovation Challenge, will identify the best new ideas for the disruption of tourism, with a focus on sustainability and creating opportunities for all.

The meeting of the Commission for the Americas also saw a presentation of UNWTOs joint project with the IFC (International Finance Corporation). The Green Investments for Sustainable Tourism initiative is designed to promote more investment in the greening of the sector, with a special emphasis on hospitality and on small-and-medium-sized businesses. - TradeArabia News Service

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Travel, Tourism & Hospitality The future of tourism in the Americas - Travel & Tourism News Middle East

Into the Wild bus removed from the Alaskan wild, citing safety issues – Happytrips

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The bus where Chris McCandless breathed his last, the one we saw in the movie Into the Wild, has now been lifted from Alaska. According to reports, the Alaska Army National Guard has now removed the bus from its original site, and placed it at a secure location. The decision has been made after the death of two hikers, and countless other travellers coming here in search of the bus as a pilgrimage.

The Magic Bus, stranded in Alaska, was where Chris McCandless, also known as Alexander Supertramp spent his last few days. The Virginia born McCandless had rejected society to go on a self-exploration journey, and live life close to nature. His story was beautifully adapted by the film Into the Wild that gained a lot of attention the worldover. The bus was parked in Stampede Trail, which is near Denali National Park. Visited by travellers from across the world, it has posed threats to hikers in the past that led to rescue operations. In fact two people had even drowned in the Teklanika River in an attempt to reach the bus.

The iconic bus is from the 1940s that was home to construction workers who were employed here to build an access road. Removing the bus was not an easy task, as it is deep in the heart of Alaska, parked right at the centre of all things wild. The authorities had to use a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to airlift the bus. It is being reported that a suitcase was also removed from the bus that is dear to the McCandless family. Even though it did not belong to Chris, it could contain some journals left behind by him or others.

Into the Wild is a novel that is written by Job Krakauer, and was published in 1996. The movie, directed by Sean Penn was released in 2007. Chris McCandless took shelter in this Magic Bus, which was his last stop. He died on August 18, 1992 after getting poisoned from consuming the seeds of a wild potato. In his last postcard to his friend, Wayne Westerberg, he concludes by saying, If this adventure proves fatal, and you dont ever hear from me again, I want you to know youre a great man. I now walk into the wild

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Into the Wild bus removed from the Alaskan wild, citing safety issues - Happytrips

More than a 66-million-year-old egg found in Antarctica, scientists finally resolve the mystery behind ‘The Thing’ – Happytrips

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According to the researchers, the millions year old fossil egg, measuring 29 cm by 20 cm (8 inches by 11 inches), is the second-largest egg in the world. The first position still remains with the eggs of Madagascars extinct giant flightless elephant birds.

Lucas Legendre, a palaeontologist in the University of Texas said, This new egg is the very first fossil egg from Antarctica, and the largest soft-shelled egg ever discovered.

He further said that the egg resembles a deflated football. It is elongated, collapsed, with many creases and folds on its surface. One side is flattened, suggesting this is where it came in contact with the sea floor. Its eggshell is very thin and poorly mineralised, like in the eggs of lizards and snakes.

The egg was found by the Chilean scientists in a rock formation, where several other dinosaur fossils were discovered. All these discoveries were stored in Chiles National Museum of Natural History.

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More than a 66-million-year-old egg found in Antarctica, scientists finally resolve the mystery behind 'The Thing' - Happytrips

Go on a treasure hunt of the trolls in Copenhagen – Happytrips

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A Danish artist is making stunning trolls from trash, and everyone is curious to see them. They look horrific, they look funny, they look interesting, and they are the work of recycle art activist, Thomas Dambo. The Danish sculptor has been creating these giant trolls from trashed wood, and all of them will be a part of the Great Troll Folk Fest.

The gigantic outdoor trolls created by Thomas Dambo are going to be hidden in Denmarks green spaces, including islands. You will get clues from him regarding their locations on the social media, and then you can go on a treasure hunt. According to Thomas Dambo, the treasure hunt is for families who could not go out on vacations. They can now go out and take part in this treasure hunt of the trolls. He further emphasizes the fact that these trolls are a reminder that there are beautiful locations in Denmark that need to be explored.

Thomas Dambo has been able to erect dozens of such fantastic trolls since 2014. These are made from wood, and are inspired by folklore, and have in fact been done across the world. In the past, he had erected such trolls in Florida, South Korea, and even in Puerto Rico. Each of these characters is unique and can be something straight out of a fairy tale. They might look a little scary at times but nonetheless, quite interesting.

Trolls are a part of Scandinavia, as you can see them everywhere, hidden in the woods. They play an important role in the tourism industry. Their importance also stems from Norse mythology and poetry, that dates back to the 12th century.

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Go on a treasure hunt of the trolls in Copenhagen - Happytrips

Time and Transformation | TABlog – Tokyo Art Beat

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At the Tokyo gallery Koki Arts this winter, five ice-cast gods sat melting in a vitrine. The water dripping off of Virgin Mary, Buddha, Anubis, Ares, and Ganesha flowed down into a plastic bottle to be collected and refrozen. The next day the gods would be recast in their same forms, and this process would repeat each day of the exhibition.

Kyoko Hamaguchi, the artist who created this installation, calls it God of the Day. Hamaguchi is a Tokyo University of the Arts graduate and an MFA student at Hunter College in New York. Her work deals with themes of transformation, circulation, and time. She also often employs pinhole cameras, as she did at this exhibition, Do Gods Travel Lightly?

In an upper corner of the room Hamaguchi had installed Space Watcher, a pinhole camera with an exposure that lasted for the one-month duration of the show. Meanwhile, the photograph End to End (NYC Subway), taken with another pinhole camera, was arranged in the melting gods line of sight. The image captured the two-minute exposure of the end-to-end journey of New York Citys S Train. Together, these three pieces spoke to themes the multimedia artist continues to explore.

Tokyo Art Beat interviewed Hamaguchi about her work.

My installations take many different forms but conceptually they are also rooted in the nature of photography.

TAB: Your works are expressions of clear ideas. Do you consider yourself a conceptual artist?

KH: I think every artwork has conceptual and visual components, but the emphasis varies. For me, the concept takes priority and drives my decisions about form, materials, and processes. I am constantly searching for ways to utilize a materials fundamental properties to reveal new perspectives about the systems and structures of everyday life. Still, I am invested in the visual outcome and the aesthetic properties of the work, so there is always a push and pull while I am working.

TAB: You started out in oil painting but now work in photography and installations. What has shifting between media been like for you?

KH: In my oil paintings, I was putting down 15 to 20 layers in each painting. As I waited for each layer to dry, time was piling up. This accumulation of time became one of my interests. While exposing a photograph, marks also accumulate as a function of time, so I found photography to be a natural continuation of my interest. My installations take many different forms but conceptually they are also rooted in the nature of photography.

I was wondering if symbols of belonging or objects of faith, which are so often essential markers of identity, could also be presented as flexible.

TAB: How did you choose the five particular gods for God of the Day?

KH: God of the Day is a project with multiple iterations. Each version has a unique combination of gods. I try to choose a diverse grouping from a variety of geographic locations around the world, showcasing gods with a range of physical characteristics.

TAB: To me, God of the Day speaks to a kind of pantheism or interchangeability among religions. Is this the message you were going for?

KH: Today, people, ideas, information, and news travel faster and more flexibly than ever before. With the Internet, it is possible to look up anything at any time instantly and to move from one topic to another fluidly. So, I was wondering if symbols of belonging or objects of faith, which are so often essential markers of identity, could also be presented as flexible. This could be thought of as interchangeability as you say. Perhaps a single spirit can move fast enough to inhabit all of the gods. In God of the Day, the morphing and fluidity of water becomes analogous to this transformative spirit, melting, mixing, and reforming into each god.

Immigrants are always circulating between their original home and their new one, even if they are not doing so physically.

TAB: Youre interested in migration, fluidity, and the passage of time. How do these ideas fit together for you?

KH: For me, circulation is the key word that connects migration, fluidity, and the passage of time. The unprecedented ability to move through the world enables people and ideas to travel and interact with each other to form new identities and notions of home. Immigrants are always circulating between their original home and their new one, even if they are not doing so physically. The fluid mixing of old and new cultures becomes a unifying force that breaks down antiquated barriers. All of these interactions and processes happen in time and may also be revealed through it.

By following my instincts rather than trying to make something that someone else thinks constitutes Japaneseness, I believe I can better understand my culture.

TAB: How has moving between Japan and New York influenced your practice?

KH: New York is a place where many cultures from around the world mingle together. So, you have to stand strong to keep hold of your identity and ethnicity. However, I also realized that in the art world there are so many biases about who you are and what you are interested in based on your background. Often people expect an artist who came from Japan to make work about their Japaneseness. But the Japaneseness they think of is far different from what I experienced in my country. These expectations I felt when I moved from Japan to New York had the effect of making me even more determined not to change anything I had previously pursued. By following my instincts rather than trying to make something that someone else thinks constitutes Japaneseness, I believe I can better understand my culture.

TAB: How is working and living in New York at the moment?

KH: In New York, we have experienced stay-at-home orders for two and a half months, and now, after George Floyds brutal murder at the hands of police in Minneapolis, we are out in the streets protesting to fight systemic racism. We have gone from extreme isolation to intense gathering. This fluctuation and the energy and purpose behind it has been astonishing to witness and participate in. Listening as much as I can has helped me understand the injustices deeply rooted not only in America but in countries all over the world that continue to this day. For me, this moment has been a time of witnessing and learning new histories, not only by reading about them but by experiencing history in the making.

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Time and Transformation | TABlog - Tokyo Art Beat

OPINION: We need to use our voices to stop systemic oppression – Red and Black

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It begins with the systems the reinforcing systems, such as education, government, law enforcement and media. It begins with these influential institutions oppressing groups of people based on their identity while favoring members of the dominant group. Our systems are broken, still tinted by a painful past that we as a people, as a nation, must address by recognizing inequitable patterns and taking action to undo the systemic racism in our country. To do that, we need to use our voices by protesting and voting.

According to the National Equity Project, systemic oppression and its effects can be undone through recognition of inequitable patterns and intentional action to interrupt inequity and create more democratic processes and systems supported by multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual alliances and partnerships.

The recent protests in response to the death of George Floyd and police brutality have evolved into a nationwide movement against systemic racism. From big cities to small towns across the country and now the world, thousands of people gather and march to fight the broken systems and racial injustice in the United States. An article in the New York Times says these protests have achieved a scale and level of momentum not seen in decades.

Amidst the thousands of protesters, a particular sign stood out to me: The Power of the People is Stronger than the People in Power. The message comes from a memoir written by Wael Ghonim, a key figure behind the Egyptian uprising in 2011, that narrates how the power of crowds can create political change. These encouraging words are a reminder that we have the ability to translate our voices into action. Now more than ever, we must use that power by listening, learning and voting.

Across American streets and plazas, that power is amplified by protesters. During the protest in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, June 6, Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement co-founder and rally leader Mokah Jasmine Johnson brought her 18-year-old daughter, Daelynn White, on stage to speak.

We are one of the most diverse nations, and our government does not look that way, White said. Educate yourself If yall arent voting, how is there going to be any change?

Voices are already being heard as the protests begin to initiate policy changes. House Democrats proposed a police reform package on June 8, which includes banning chokeholds and incentivizing state and local governments to conduct racial bias training for officers. On Monday in Georgia, the General Assembly re-opened with a bipartisan call to pass hate crimes legislation. However, with a president who criticizes protesters on Twitter and exerts control with threatening rhetoric, our country lacks the political leadership we need to change the broken systems.

It changes with the people the people who collectively act to interrupt and undo the systemic oppression in our country by peacefully protesting, listening and voting. We should not live in a system that oppresses people because of their racial identity. Keep lifting your signs and raising your voices because activism is seeping into action, and we as a people have the power to stop the injustice that bleeds from the cracks in our systems.

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OPINION: We need to use our voices to stop systemic oppression - Red and Black

JOSHUA WONG: From Hong Kong to Black Lives Matter unity against oppression and police brutality – TheChronicleHerald.ca

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JOSHUA WONG

Amid the ongoing pandemic and global unrest, earlier this month, we marked the one-year anniversary of the Hong Kong protest one that had started a chain of events such as global solidarity movements, many more mass demonstrations in the territory and the Chinese government cracking down on Hong Kong people.

The movement has proven one thing: Hong Kongers value their rights and freedoms more than anything. Many sacrificed their future or even their lives to fight for an ungraspable entity: freedom.

The story of the Hong Kong protest has marked the lives of many; it has changed our beliefs on how important democracy is. Indeed, there are also things that Hong Kong protesters can learn from the ongoing global Black Lives Matter solidarity protests.

On June 9, 2019, more than one million people went onto the streets of Hong Kong to demand the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill. The people of Hong Kong, including the territorys bar association, had used all of the means available to them, via petitions and protests, to thwart the passing of the bill.

Instead of withdrawing the bill or giving more time for reflection, the government insisted on pushing it through to a second reading at the legislative council at 11 p.m. on the day after the mass protest.

This fuelled the anger of the people and a protest two-million strong + 1 to remember one protester who had lost hope and committed sucide followed in late June, 2019.

Yet, in response, the Hong Kong government replied with police brutality and followed an ostrich policy. It spread propaganda against the protesters, instead of withdrawing the bill and setting up an independent inquiry committee to investigate police brutality.

Indeed, this matter has since then gone into a downward spiral, to the point where Beijing has bypassed the legislative council of Hong Kong to pass a national security law without any consultation.

Hence, the fall of the One Country, Two Systems policy that characterized Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, this has become an ongoing battle for Hong Kongers around the world, even if many have lost their homes and identities and soon emigrated.

Yet, during this movement, we have learned quite a bit among ourselves and others. We have learned that, no matter how wealthy Hong Kong is, freedom is priceless. We also learned that the rule of law and a credible police force matter, and democracy is important for it gives the people power to monitor and criticize their own government.

Without such checks and balances, we can see the consequences: no Hong Kong policemen were charged and dismissed because of their brutality, even though their actions were broadcast around the globe.

Indeed, as Hong Kong protesters became observers and allies during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, we saw how people stood valiantly together to fight for equity and equality. We also learned that the voices and actions of people could actually change the world. This power can make ill-behaved policemen face justice and promote a structural reform in society. This is the power of democracy, rights and freedoms.

This is also why these are priceless. Even though this might be our blindness and biases talking, it reminded us as Hong Kongers why we are still fighting, even though our cause has only a faint of hope of succeeding.

We urge all of you to continue to stand with us. Please continue to spread awareness via social media or write to your local member of Parliament about our situation, if you would. No matter how small in number we are and how far we are from Hong Kong here in Nova Scotia, please heed our call: cherish your voice and freedom while you still have it.

Joshua Wong lives in Halifax.

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JOSHUA WONG: From Hong Kong to Black Lives Matter unity against oppression and police brutality - TheChronicleHerald.ca

‘Fight for what is right’: One woman’s battle to keep a Confederate statue out of her community – ABC 57 News

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(CNN) -- As Mae Hazelton walked along West Main Street in Tavares, Florida, in her Sunday best, painful childhood memories took over her.

Now 65, she remembered seeing crosses burning in the distance and drinking from a water fountain with signs that read "colored" and "white only." As she approached the Old Lake County Courthouse, the fear she felt as a girl walking those same streets rushed through her body.

"I think about the Black men that were beaten there and tortured there," Hazelton said.

But she also remembered her grandmother Nellie Virginia Burkes' wise words, "Fight... for what is right."

Hazelton has been in the fight of her life for the past two years.

It started in June 2018, when she learned that the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith was scheduled to move from the US Capitol to the Old Lake County Courthouse.

That's the same courthouse where in 1949 four young African American men, Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd, Charles Greenlee and Ernest Thomas -- known as the Groveland Four -- were accused of a crime they didn't commit, tortured and subjected to racially motivated oppression.

A memorial for the Groveland Four was erected outside the Old Lake County Courthouse last year, when the young men were posthumously pardoned.

"The brutality and injustice that these men endured resulted in the wrongful death of Mr. Thomas and Mr. Shepherd, and the unfair incarcerations of Mr. Irvin and Mr. Greenlee," the plaque on the memorial reads.

Standing by the memorial, Hazelton said that moving a Confederate statue into a government-owned building known for its racism and oppression against African Americans was just wrong.

"It's evil and wrong and we shouldn't have it here in our community," Hazelton said.

Determined to figure out how a Confederate statue with no link to Lake County could be moved into the community without public input, Hazelton and a group of residents formed a nonprofit organization called Lake County Voices of Reason. And they set off on a mission to uncover the truth.

They found that in June 2018, Bob Grenier, the curator of the Lake County Historical Society, requested and applied for the Kirby Smith statue to a Florida Department of State committee in Tallahassee.

In a video of the meeting available online through the Florida Channel, Grenier said he had been working to bring the statue to Lake County for two years. He said he had the support of all five Lake County Commissioners.

"I've got emails from them saying 'Go get it Bob. Get the statue, bring it back to Lake County,'" Grenier said from a podium.

A year ago, eight mayors, representing 146,165 residents -- or 40% of the population in Lake County -- wrote a letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opposing the statue's arrival in their county.

"Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith had no connection to Lake County and his (statue's) presence would create a negative and hurtful message in our community," the letter read.

Kirby Smith was born in St. Augustine, located in St. Johns County, on May 16, 1824. His statue was moved to National Statuary Hall at the US Capitol in 1922. In 2019 DeSantis officially requested the Kirby Smith statue be replaced by a statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American civil rights activist and educator.

During a 2019 Lake County Board of County Commissioners meeting, residents spoke for and against the statue.

"As a descendent of Confederate veterans and slave owners, the least I can do to atone for the pain my family has caused them is to oppose this statue," Grace Arnold said.

"These statues only exist in a sick attempt to preserve human slavery," Choice Edwards said.

Commission Chair Leslie Campione defended the statue, saying the display would not glorify the man nor the Confederacy.

"It will describe Smith's military service and will tell about his career as a professor, as a botanist following the Civil War," Campione said. "And his friendship with Dr. Alexander Darnes, who became the first Black doctor in Jacksonville."

"Alexander Darnes was Kirby Smith's slave. Period," Hazelton said.

As news spread of Confederate statues tumbling across the US in the wake of George Floyd's death, Hazelton broke down in tears. But she wasn't defeated. She was ready to keep fighting.

"I will lay my body across the front of that [courthouse] and they will have to arrest me before they put the statue there," Hazelton said.

When asked what made her keep going, Hazelton said it was those wise words from her grandmother.

"My grandmother was illiterate, but my grandmother said, 'You fight,'" Hazelton said. "She said, 'You fight for what is right or you lay down for what's wrong.'"

A few days after CNN interviewed Hazelton and requested interviews with Campione and Grenier, which were denied, Campione had a change of heart during a public county commissioner meeting.

"I believe that this entire situation has created really unnecessary strife and division in our community and I know that it's harmed my relationship with some of my friends in the Black community," Campione said last Tuesday.

Hazelton was present at the meeting and says the tension in the room was palpable.

Finally, Lake County Commissioners announced a plan to ask Florida to find the statue a new home.

Hazelton says her voice was "sick with emotion" because "African Americans don't prevail a lot in Lake County" and that day, they had won the fight.

"We are in an inflection point in this country and it is painful. Commissioner Campione, I heard the pain in your voice this morning. Thank you," Hazelton said from the podium during the public comment period. "But nothing is as painful as staying at a point where you know that's not who we are."

The-CNN-Wire & 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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'Fight for what is right': One woman's battle to keep a Confederate statue out of her community - ABC 57 News

Black Lives Matter is International: Where there is oppression, there will be resistance – Council On Hemispheric Affairs

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By Roger D. HarrisFrom Corte Madera, California

The police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th was the spark that ignited the tinder of accrued injustice throughout the US and globally. This injustice has deep antecedents in the US and indeed in much of what is now called the Global South. There is a shared history of colonial conquest of the Indigenous and the abominable institution of the enslavement of African peoples.

What happened has its roots in systemic oppression that has resonated internationally. Just as the police suffocated George Floyd, US unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Zimbabwe, and nearly one third of humanity are designed to asphyxiate those nations which aspire to pursue an independent course.

International Movement Erupts

Defying coronavirus restrictions on public assembly, people are amassing in solidarity.

This historic alliance of the Movement for Black Lives with the oppressed abroad goes back to their 2016 founding document, which then characterized Israel as an apartheid state, condemned US backing for the settler genocide against Palestinians, and supported the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement against Israel.

Linking Home and Abroad

The militarization of the US domestic police is bringing home the practices that the government perfected in suppressing popular expressions for self-determination abroad. The USs closest international partner, Israel, is a master of abusive police practices against its own Palestinian population. Development of those practices, partly funded by the US, are then imported back to the US. Over 100 Minneapolis police received training from Israeli law enforcement officers along with other police departments across the country.

Newsweek describes how Americas police became an army. Under the 1033 Program, military equipment is transferred to the domestic police, who are then mandated to use the equipment as a condition of the program.

While the police have been shooting rubber bullets and teargas at demonstrators in the homeland, the US military deployed a so-called Security Force Assistance Brigade to Colombia. As the worlds policeman, the US has some 800 formal military bases internationally; no other country has more than a handful of foreign bases.

Budgets for both domestic police and the US military are obscenely inflated and continue to grow, receiving bipartisan support. The Black Lives Matter movement questions whether either of these armed forces police and military truly serve or protect us. When Hurricane Katrina flooded poor African American neighborhoods in New Orleans, people were left to die stranded on rooftops while the police and the National Guard guarded private property.

Amid the current pandemic, ordinary people are experiencing punishing austerity with the worst yet to come. While the US Fed is doling out hundreds of billions of dollars daily at a 1/10 of one percent interest rate practically free money to the banks, the average US citizen is saddled with average credit card penalty interest rates of just under 30%. Who is doing the real looting?

Likewise, payments of unjust debt mostly accrued by US-backed military dictatorships to vulture capitalists from the US and other wealthy countries are stealing the livelihoods of the peoples of Argentina and other nations saddled with socially unsustainable debt burdens.

More people are behind bars in the US than anywhere else in the world, largely due to the so-called war on drugs, which in fact is a war on the most vulnerable and a pretext for the deployment of coercive means of social control. Black and brown people are targeted for arrest, adjudication, and imprisoned disproportionately compared to their numbers in the general population. The NAACP reports African Americans are imprisoned at five times the rate of whites. While poor communities in the US, particularly those of color, are suffering from the plague of drugs, the primary world source of cocaine is the US client state of Colombia and the primary world source of heroin is US-occupied Afghanistan.

Delegitimization of American Exceptionalism

President Obama unequivocally exclaimed: I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being. In another speech, he proclaimed: [W]hat makes us the envy of the world[is] the fact that weve given everybody a chance to pursue their own true measure of happiness. Thats who we are.

Thats not who we are, and the chant no justice, no peace is exposing that to the world. American exceptionalism is the ideological construct used to extol American world leadership based on the vision that the US is uniquely just and therefore has an obligation to endow the rest of the world with its freedom. As George Floyds niece Brooke Williams asked, when has America ever been great?

The US leads the world in incarceration of its own people, in consumption of addicting illicit drugs, in military and police spending, and in foreign military bases. No one elected the US to impose its full spectrum dominance on the globe. With the internationalization of the Black Lives Matter movement, this justifying ideology is being challenged, delegitimizing the US imperial project.

The internationalization of the protests reflects an understanding that it is the same US imperialist knee on the neck at home and abroad. Martin Luther Kings indictment that the United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, rang true in 1967 and ever more so now. Appropriately, the movement around Black Lives Matter, which has engaged the popular classes in what Che called the belly of the beast, has taken international prominence signifying that where there is oppression, there will be resistance.

As activist and lawyer Mark P. Fancher observes, resistance is global. International solidarity among the oppressed has a long tradition and is gathering momentum based on the understanding there is one struggle for justice with many fronts. No justice, no peace is being heard around the world.

Roger D. Harris is Associate Editor at COHA and also part of the Task Force on the Americas, a human rights group working in solidarity with the social justice movements in Latin America and the Caribbean since 1985.

[Main photo-credit:Patricio Zamorano/COHA.org]

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Black Lives Matter is International: Where there is oppression, there will be resistance - Council On Hemispheric Affairs

The government knows exactly what its doing by focusing on white working-class boys instead of anti-black racism – The Independent

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In recent weeks, the central messages of the Black Lives Matter movement have been hijacked in mainstream media and political discourse. We're discussing issues that do nothing to address the inequalities that black people have been highlighting; debates have raged following the removal of statues of slave traders and the cancellation of racially offensive television shows; MPs have expressed their indifference towards the global push against anti-blackness.

I welcome discussions about what should and should not occupy our public spaces black Britons should not have to live their lives under the gaze of those who enslaved their ancestors but the focus on individual television shows and statues risks embroiling the Black Lives Matter movement in an unnecessary "culture war", diverting attention away from their central aim: the liberation of black lives through the dismantling of oppressive power structures.

The UK governments response to Black Lives Matter movement has been laughable. Instead of engaging with these issues in sincere ways, it has displayed a distinct lack of sensitivity and urgency.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, and his belief that the Black Lives Matter movement is simply born of "restlessness", or that taking a knee in support of it, is akin to "subjugation", or indeed that the act itself originates from Game of Thrones is just one, thoroughly disappointing example.

Boris Johnson's choice to order yet another commission on racial inequality the announcement of which was buried in a piece for The Telegraph about Winston Churchill and statues, laying bare the prime ministers priorities is another. And that's without mentioning the many other public figures in the UK who have contributed to the deluge of insensitive reactions to this resurgence of anti-racist campaigning.

How many more commissions and inquiries are required before the government takes decisive action? From the Lammy Review, Race Disparity Audit, Baroness McGregor-Smith review and the Independent review of the Windrush Scandal to name a few, we have had so many now that they are beginning to lose meaning. In three years, there have been eight reviews looking at the impact of race or racial inequality the government has created a culture of inquiries and inertia.

Previous reviews have provided a thorough overview of the racial inequalities that exist across various areas of British life. Why not act on those clear recommendations? Systemic racism is a matter of life and death; the governments inaction appears to be an attempt to kick the issue into the long grass.

In what seems to be another cynical ploy to minimise anti-black racism, Johnson has also made clear his intentions for the commission to focus on the disadvantages faced by white working-class boys. While there is no denying the disadvantages white working-class boys face, centring them in an inquiry that was set up to look at the issues of racial inequality at a time when anti-black racism is on the global agenda, will only serve to muddy the waters and conflate the issues faced by the different marginalised groups. There's also the glaring issue of the fact that problems faced by the white working class have very little to do with race, and much more to do with class itself. Nevertheless, it's a common device often framed by politicians and sections of media as the result of increased immigration or diversity, in an attempt to pit groups against each other.

Moreover, the racialisation of the working-class as exclusively white eliminates the experiences of other ethnic minority groups. This was evident during the media coverage and political debates in the lead up to the 2016 EU Referendum where there was a renewed focus on how one part of a cross-section of groups who've been affected by a mixture of austerity, Brexit, the hostile environment and now lockdown, were "left behind". As the Runnymede Trust's "Who Cares About The Working Class?" paper suggests, "By presenting the white working class in ethnic terms, as yet another cultural minority in a (dysfunctional) multicultural Britain, commentators risk giving a cultural reading of inequality, focusing on the distinctive cultural values of disadvantaged groups, rather than looking at the bigger picture of how systematic inequality generates disadvantage."

Protesters confront police in Whitehall near Parliament Square, London. The Democratic Football Lads Alliance and far-right organisations gathered to protect statues following Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Worldwide protests have taken place following the death of George Floyd, an African-American man, who was killed on 25 May after an officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes, while in police custody in the city of Minneapolis.

PA

People threw bottles and other missles at police throughout the protests

AFP via Getty

Reuters

A man kicks a barrier

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PA

Protests took place in other places in the UK, like Bolton

SWNS

PA

Getty

Many broke through barriers in attempts to reach Black Lives Matter protesters in Trafalgar Square

Getty

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Protesters confront police in Whitehall near Parliament Square, London. The Democratic Football Lads Alliance and far-right organisations gathered to protect statues following Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Worldwide protests have taken place following the death of George Floyd, an African-American man, who was killed on 25 May after an officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes, while in police custody in the city of Minneapolis.

PA

People threw bottles and other missles at police throughout the protests

AFP via Getty

Reuters

A man kicks a barrier

Getty

PA

Protests took place in other places in the UK, like Bolton

SWNS

PA

Getty

Many broke through barriers in attempts to reach Black Lives Matter protesters in Trafalgar Square

Getty

Getty

Including white working boys in a review on racial inequality, therefore, makes absolutely no sense, as they are not discriminated against on the basis of their whiteness. Britains history, let us not forget, is intimately tied to white supremacy and the anti-black systems of oppression that exist today can be traced back centuries to Britain too. Remember, the money borrowed to compensate slave traders for the Slavery Abolition Act was only paid off by taxpayers in 2015.

Worse yet, this new commission will be headed by Munira Mirza, the director of the No 10 Policy Unit, who is sceptical about the existence of structural racism. It will also reportedly be overseen by Kemi Badenoch, who, this month, also dismissed the extent of racism in the UK. But structural racism is not, as Mirza has claimed in the past, a perception more than a reality; it has been evidenced by the various audits and inquiries on racial inequality in recent years and by the lived experiences of ethnic minorities in the UK.

Instead of writing articles eulogising Winston Churchill, the prime minister should come up with a clear policy plan that seeks to make the radical changes we need.

Those on the sharp end of systemic racism and state violence are not concerned with the cancellation of television shows or further inquiries that will at best tell us what we already know. What we really want is the systems of oppression undergirded and sustained by white supremacy to be dismantled. Our lives matter, it cannot be right that black people are still being killed just because of the colour of their skin. We are sick of platitudes and demand action so things can change.

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The government knows exactly what its doing by focusing on white working-class boys instead of anti-black racism - The Independent

COLUMN: Bravely warding off oppression – Gazette & Herald

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I have mentioned before that as my dad was a devout Catholic, we girls were educated at the Bar Convent in York. We were taught how important Mary Ward was in our schools story, but to be honest, back then the teenage me didnt really appreciate just what a brave pioneer she was.

She was born in Ripon in 1585 at a time when girls were not educated and it was extremely dangerous to be a practising Catholic. She wasnt afraid to stand up for what she believed in, a trait which ran in the family. Two of her maternal uncles, John and Christopher Wright, were shot in 1605 for their involvement in the Gunpowder Plot to overthrow Protestant King James I and his government.

Mary has been described as a typical Yorkshire woman, being straight-talking and determined, yet blessed with unshakeable good humour. Her faith meant everything to her, and although she wanted to be a nun, she hated the idea of having to live a quiet, contemplative life, which was the only option available.

She sought the kind of existence enjoyed by her male counterparts which was serving God by travelling the world, teaching and spreading the faith. She entered an enclosed convent in Flanders but within a couple of years the charismatic Ward had gathered round her a supportive band of women and in 1609, at the tender age of 24, she established her own religious institution and began openly teaching local girls.

Her school was immediately popular, and over time Mary established schools and communities all over Europe. The Catholic establishment was outraged and declared her a heretic, and she was even imprisoned for nine weeks, and yet she remained undeterred.

On her release, she secured an audience with the progressive Pope Urban VIII and her impassioned plea to allow nuns to practice the ministry in the open, and to educate girls, won him over. She was cleared of heresy and even allowed to set up a school in Rome itself.

Ill health brought Mary back to York in 1639, and she died in 1645. She left behind a band of followers eager to continue her legacy. Such a person was Frances Bedingfield, another very brave woman who in 1686 built a school on land just outside York city walls.

It was still a very dangerous time to be a Catholic and the house was designed in such a way as to disguise the activities going on within. To blend in outside the convent, instead of wearing habits, the nuns wore plain grey dresses which were the fashion of the day. Nevertheless, the school was raided several times by the authorities, and Frances Bedingfield was even imprisoned for her actions.

The beautiful chapel that lies at the heart of what is now the Bar Convent Museum was built in 1769 at a time when Catholic places of worship were still illegal.

Eight exits were included in the design should the congregation need to flee in a hurry, and its beautiful domed ceiling was hidden by a plain slate roof. From the outside, it was impossible to see that a chapel was there at all.

Another unique feature was a priest hole, hidden under the floor so that the celebrant could hastily conceal himself should it ever be necessary. The priest hole is still there and can be seen by visitors to the chapel.

Priest holes began to appear in the latter part of the 16th century when the penalty for shielding a Catholic priest was death, as my dad mentions in his column from June 21, 1980.

It was an era when many great houses were built, extended or modernised, and wealthy Catholics seized the opportunity to incorporate secret hiding places behind walls, wooden panelling and even within the chimneys of their huge inglenook fireplaces.

There is a priest hole at Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, which has been home to the Catholic Ingilby family for the past 700 years, and yet it was so well concealed that it was only discovered in 1963 while the building was being inspected for death watch beetle.

Id like to give the last word to the courageous lady who sparked this piece, Mary Ward. She was several centuries ahead of her time when she declared in 1617: I hope in God it will be seen that women in time will do much.

Read more at countrymansdaughter.com. Follow me on Twitter @countrymansdaug

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COLUMN: Bravely warding off oppression - Gazette & Herald

Opinion: Canada has an unused card up its sleeve against China: our immigration system – The Globe and Mail

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Protesters waves flags in a shopping mall during a demonstration in Hong Kong on June 15, 2020.

Vincent Yu/The Associated Press

Robert Falconer is a research associate in immigration and refugee policy at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. Ai-Men Lau is a communications officer at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Canada is limited in the ways it can respond to the bully tactics of larger countries such as the Peoples Republic of China. Yet as it confronts Chinas heavy-handed attempt to quash the autonomy it had promised Hong Kong, Ottawa is not without levers of influence. One policy tool that Canada should immediately deploy is our immigration, refugee and asylum system.

As governments worldwide closed their countries borders, and as the United Nations suspended its refugee program, a more subtle trend emerged: an uptick in the number of Hong Kongers claiming asylum. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 25 Hong Kongers have claimed asylum in the first three months of 2020; unofficial sources suggest the number may be as high as 46. While thats still a relatively small number, it represents a six-year high for Canada in just three months. Regardless of the choices Canada makes, we are likely to see record-high levels of people from Hong Kong fleeing here to seek refuge when international travel fully resumes.

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Our asylum system is particularly well-suited to receiving claims from Hong Kong. It includes the ability to streamline cases from countries with well-established human-rights abuses, where asylum seekers have reliable forms of identification, and where the evidence is not ambiguous regarding the risks they face for holding an adverse political opinion or for opposing the current government.

Choosing to welcome those seeking asylum is not only the right thing to do but has practical benefits as well. It might seem odd to make a utilitarian argument in favour of asylum, and indeed, if all policy-makers and politicians were angels, such a justification would not be necessary. But there is a compelling case to be made for a renewed Canadian foreign policy that considers the role immigration and refugee status plays in our national security and response to foreign competitors. As the Peoples Republic seeks to impose its will on Hong Kong, an open refugee policy is one that permits Hong Kongers to vote with their feet between an oppressive China or an open Canada.

The decision to welcome Hong Kongers as part of a robust foreign policy is not without precedent. Conservative governments in the 1970s and 80s understood that an open-door policy was one that would attract those with the greatest levels of dissatisfaction in the Soviet bloc. The arrival of refugees and immigrants during that time strengthened our economies and added linguistic diversity and cultural understanding to our law enforcement, military and intelligence communities.

The same applies to Hong Kongers and mainland Chinese fleeing oppression. Indeed, combatting the possibility of intellectual-property theft and industrial espionage is far more likely to be aided, rather than hampered, by recruiting from a population that shares similar cultural and linguistic characteristics and understands the methods of potential competitors. Above all, welcoming Hong Kongers aligns with Canadian democratic traditions standing against tyranny and welcoming the oppressed.

Granting asylum to Hong Kongers fleeing persecution from Beijing should not be a difficult task for this government, either. While the Trudeau government has shifted its tone regarding Canadas relationship with China, it has faltered when asked whether Canada will accept refugee claimants from Hong Kong. In contrast, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that Britain will allow 2.8 million Hong Kongers to live and work in Britain if China implements its national-security law on the former British colony. In response, the Chinese Communist Party regime has threatened Britain with vague consequences if it continues to meddle in an internal affair.

Granting asylum to Hong Kongers will force the federal government to recognize the well-established truth that China is a hostile actor, and doing so will signal to both the international community and China that Canada acknowledges that hard truth. Dealing with China is not a risk- or cost-free interaction. There are no other options, aside from total silence, that will not draw retaliation from Beijing, and it should be expected if Canada decides to grant asylum to claimants from Hong Kong. But the government needs to accept this reality, recognize the risks and rethink how to move forward. Granting asylum to Hong Kongers seeking to flee persecution is not only the right thing to do it is the Canadian thing to do.

For a government that prides itself on the principles of championing human rights, our inaction on Hong Kong remains a persistent dark stain.

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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday urged opponents of Beijing's plan to impose national security legislation in the financial hub to stop "smearing" the effort, saying those who did were "the enemy of the people". Reuters

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Opinion: Canada has an unused card up its sleeve against China: our immigration system - The Globe and Mail

The state is trying to co-opt Black and Muslim women’s struggle – don’t be fooled – Middle East Eye

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Recent revelations that the British government has been covertly diffusing its counterterrorism propaganda through the empowerment of women of colour on social mediais yet another reminder of where interests lie when it comes to the state.

When it feigns interest in the liberation of the oppressed, it is always, in one way or another, a ploy to further that oppression in a new way. This is yet another cautionary tale, and a reminder that we can only free ourselves by defeating the structures that oppress us.

Stoosh, an online space with both a Facebook page and Instagram account, was created in March 2017 by the communications company Breakthrough Media. While it presented itself as a social justice-minded platform for women of colour, it was contracted by a unit within the Home Office known as the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT).

Scrolling through and watching some of the short videos uploaded to Stooshs social media platforms, one is overwhelmed by the superficiality of its content. Each discussion that delves into the issues faced by women of colour, and particularly Muslim women, are incredibly shallow. They appear as an attempt at a sort of subconscious civilising mission - reinforcing good behaviour and punishing bad.

Depoliticised, interfaith-esque chat on inter-religious marriages, check! Vacant references to inspiring, good Muslim role models such as Malala Yousafzai, who confront barbaric Islamic terrorism, check! Examples of Western Muslim women taking on brown and Muslim patriarchy across their homelands, from Iran to Afghanistan, check! Calling out explicitly Muslim slut-shaming, check! The list goes on.

The entire set-up is a slick attempt at shaping the so-called ideal British Muslim identity

There is even an attempt to cover rising Islamophobia targeted at women after the Finsbury Park mosque attack, when the far-right inspired Darren Osborne drove a van into worshippers, taking the life of Makram Ali and injuring many more. Absent is any engagement with structural questions, such as the role of government policies in igniting the flames of hatred that embolden fascists and racists to take to the streets, where they physically and verbally attack Muslim women.

The entire set-up is a slick attempt at shaping the so-called ideal British Muslim identity. The diversity of those involved, the co-option of language - including use of the patois word stoosh (meaning superior) - and the use of famous figures from political and cultural platforms could fool anyone into thinking this was a space set up by and for young women of colour.

But thats just it - you would be forgiven for making such an assumption if you avoided delving too deeply into the content, or putting it into context.

The messaging mobilises a superficial language of empowerment. Given the centrality of this vacuous approach to so much media coverage and equality and diversity work that we find plaguing every place of employment, education and public service, it is easy to be taken in by it.

Yet, it is impotent in opposing oppression, because it fails to engage the violent history out of which it emerges - and it silences the necessary rage needed to fight racism, gendered Islamophobia and misogyny. The depoliticised nature of Stoosh is symptomatic of all areas of work delivered by our government in the name of helping the most marginalised.

UK counter-terror programme targeted BAME women using Instagram influencers

More unnerving than the whitewashing of the states own role in the oppression of Muslim women and women of colour, and even the co-option of their struggles, is the Home Office using this group to control expressions of resistance.

It reinforces the old racist trope and colonial strategy of women of colour being merely vessels for the policing of their community, the imposition of state-sanctioned narratives, and the disorganisation of liberation struggles.

Not dissimilar to imperialist white saviour missions across the Middle East, these practices highlight the foundations of the counter-extremism agenda. The state functions with little to no transparency, let alone scrutiny, and defends its interventions as noble, seeking to free Muslim women.

In reality, this is all predicated on the belief - which British imperialism and its institutions, such as the Home Office, accuse backwards Global South nations of having - that Muslim women and women of colour have no agency, and should they attempt to apply any, cannot be left to their own devices.

It flies in the face of the professed goal of the Stoosh Facebook page to promote a safe online environment for young women to tell their stories, taking ownership of their own narrative.

With Black Lives Matter uprisings around the globe, and as calls for justice and reparations against the wealthy and powerful continue to mount, we must be even more vigilant of state attempts to co-opt our movements. Thechallenges for radical anti-racism are also a battle over language, narrative and analysis. Our refusal to let the struggles of the most oppressed be packaged and sold by corporations, or institutionalised and depoliticised by the state, should be total.

As Nisha Kapoor, author of Deport, Deprive, Extradite: 21st Century State Extremism, warned: In a world where politics is increasingly mediated via surveillance technologies, we should be very attentive to the ways in which government is using covert methods to discipline, manipulate and control the behaviour of young black women. Its ultimate intent is to promote ignorance, encourage docility and quash dissent.

This is also yet another reason for social justice movements, groups and individuals to strengthen broad coalitions that allow for the sharing of information, as well as methods of resistance

This is also yet another reason for social justice movements, groups and individuals to strengthen broad coalitions that allow for the sharing of information, as well as methods of resistance - especially given that this is not a first for the Home Office, which also used a platform known as This Is Woke.

The Home Office and its OSCT unit can try to rebrand the face and quotes of Angela Davis, but the very politics that saw her branded a terrorist by the US state, arrested, forced into hunger strike, and attacked throughout her life, teaches us to dismantle the counter-extremism apparatus - and the state that pushes it - in its entirety.

She taught us, and continues to teach us, that our liberation is only delivered through the systematic, difficult and unpopular method of grasping things at the root.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

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The state is trying to co-opt Black and Muslim women's struggle - don't be fooled - Middle East Eye

Zoom Will Offer End-to-End Encryption for All Users – Infosecurity Magazine

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Zoom has reversed its controversial decision to restrict access to end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for some users and will now offer the feature to customers of both its free and premium services.

The video conferencing app said it had consulted with rights groups, child safety advocates, government representatives, encryption experts and its own CISO council to gather feedback.

We are also pleased to share that we have identified a path forward that balances the legitimate right of all users to privacy and the safety of users on our platform, the firm's CEO Eric Yuan said in a blog post yesterday.

This will enable us to offer E2EE as an advanced add-on feature for all of our users around the globe free and paid while maintaining the ability to prevent and fight abuse on our platform.

Users of the free service will be required to authenticate in a one-off process with information such as their phone number, in order for the platform to reduce the mass creation of abusive accounts, Yuanadded.

The news came as rights groups, tech firms and internet users petitioned the firm to reverse its policy on E2EE.

They argued that E2EE is too important to be a premium feature, especially in the context of global protests against racial injustice and government oppression. The technologyprotects activists, journalists and other vulnerable parts of the population from government repression and surveillance, as well as from cyber-criminals, they said.

The campaigners also argued that want to disguise any malicious intent or illegal activity can simply pay for the premium service.

Yuan was reported saying on an analyst call earlier this month that the firm would not be offering free users E2EE because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose.

Mozilla welcomed the news. The tech non-profit,which wrote an open letter to Zoom earlier in the week signed by tens of thousands of internet users, argued that E2EE should always be the default setting, not a luxury.

We're heartened that Zoom listened to consumers, especially at a time when millions of people are relying on the platform to stay connected amid the pandemic and to organize in support of Black lives, it said in a statement.

Zooms decision is part of an emerging trend: Consumers are demanding more of the technology products and services they use every day. And companies are changing their products to meet these demands.

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Zoom Will Offer End-to-End Encryption for All Users - Infosecurity Magazine

There’s a Petition Asking Tennessee Officials to Replace Confederate Monuments With Dolly Parton Statues – HouseBeautiful.com

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As protests continue across the U.S. in response to the murders of Black Americans, numerous statues and monuments linked to racism or oppression have either been removed by officials or taken a hit by protestors. In Tennessee, as in many other states, residents are currently asking for the removal of several Confederate statues. Some folks are even going as far as to ask for these statues to be replaced with one particular Tennessee icon: Dolly Parton.

A petition circulating on Change.org started by user Alex Parson asks that all Confederate statues in the state be replaced with Dolly Parton statues. The petition, which has almost met its signature goal of 15,000, will be sent to Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee State House, and the Tennessee State Senate. Parson explains that the state is littered with monuments exalting Confederate officers, noting that "history should not be forgotten, but we need not glamorize those who do not deserve our praise." He suggests that the state swap out these statues in order to "honor a true Tennessee hero," Ms. Dolly Parton. As you may already know, the 74-year-old country singer was born and raised in Tennessee and still currently resides in the state. Tennessee is also home to her highly popular amusement park, Dollywood.

The petition goes on to explain why Parton is the perfect candidate: Parson notes that over the years, Parton has given millions of dollars to charities and organizations alike. Not only that, but her own foundation, the Dollywood Foundation, has provided books and scholarships to millions of American children. Most recently, the crooner donated $1 million to coronavirus research and started reading virtual bedtime stories to kids during the pandemic. "Dolly Parton has given more to this country and this state than those confederate officers could ever have hoped to take away," the petition reads.

Many folks praised the idea in the petition's comment section. One user wrote "We need more statues of female trailblazers. And Dolly Parton is an incredible person!" Another added, "As a direct descendant of a Confederate general, I feel it's time for a change. We need to put racism behind us." While many seem enthusiastic about the idea, the fate of the statues ultimately lie in the hands of the Tennessee government. Let's hope they're bigger fans of Jolene than the Confederacy.

Want to learn more about statue removal? Read this preservationist's guide here.

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There's a Petition Asking Tennessee Officials to Replace Confederate Monuments With Dolly Parton Statues - HouseBeautiful.com

One Million Man March celebrates Juneteenth with marching band and singing – Columbia Chronicle

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Hundreds of protesters stand at Daley Plaza to celebrate Juneteenth with live music, speeches and dancing.

Celebratory music from a marching band playing When the Saints Go Marching In could be heard from blocks away while close to a thousand protesters with vibrant signs for the One Million Man March made their way north on Dearborn Street to celebrate Juneteenth.

Ashley Michelle Munson, the lead organizer of the march held Friday, June 19, said she celebrates Juneteenth because it commemorates Black liberation. But she added that there is more work to be done because Black people are only free-ish in America, a reference to the ABC television show, Black-ish.

Today we are here to not only commemorate Juneteenththe day that marks the emancipation of all slaves in the Confederacywe are here to [take] a stand, she said.

The event started from 701 S. State St. and ended at Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St. Friday was the official Juneteenth celebration, but other events were held across the city throughout the weekend.

Perla Vargas, an occupational therapy student at Lewis University said growing up in a small town of about 1,200 people, she was not taught Black history and learned about Juneteenth only a few years ago.

Vargas said she wants to be a part of the change in how the country addresses race relations and give a voice to those who could not physically attend the march.

A lot of people see posts and theyre like, Oh, just because I shared it, thats enough, but you have to be able to understand the background of that , Vargas said.

Juneteenthofficially celebrated on June 19celebrates the day the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas learned of their liberationmonths after the Civil War ended and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.

However, Juneteenth is not an official federal holiday, nor is it a state or city holiday in Chicago. Alderperson Maria Hadden (49th Ward) introduced legislation to make it an official holiday in November 2019.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded to the proposal in a virtual Chicago City Council meeting Wednesday, June 17, and said the city could not afford to add an additional paid holiday. Rather, Lightfoot said, the city would honor and recognize the day and celebrate African American freedom and achievement, as reported by WTTW June 17.

In a Friday, June 19 press conference, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he would work with the Illinois General Assembly to make Juneteenth an official state holiday. In his Juneteenth proclamation, Pritzker ordered all flags under state jurisdiction to fly at half-staff and urged Illinois residents to reflect on our history and our future.

Also on Friday, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and other elected officials marched from Roosevelt and Columbus drives to Grant Park to celebrate the day.

In addition to demanding Juneteenth become an official holiday, Munson said she is pushing for equity in the education system and community investments, passing the Civilian Police Accountability Council ordinance and seeking reparations from the federal government among other social justice reforms.

She said the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and its proximity to Juneteenth has pushed Black people to come together to move forward and unite for greater strength.

Black people are tired, quite frankly, and so this is a culmination of people being tired and fed up, Munson said. This is a culmination of people from diverse backgrounds coming together for one simple reasonbecause Black lives matter.

Nadjah McLaurin, a recreational therapist and Naperville resident who attended the march with Vargas, said she attended the march to advocate for herself and the many other Black, Indigenous and people of color, or BIPOC, who continuously face abuse and oppression by the government.

Im fighting for my own life, fighting for my friends life, my familys life, she said. [Im] standing up for people who also dont have a voice that cant speak no more because of police brutality and oppression.

McLaurin said it is not Black peoples duty to educate others about racism. Instead, allies should take initiative and inform themselves. She also said there are many resources like books, podcasts and movies that can help.

Englewood resident Tanisha Peoples, one of the speakers at the march, said true liberation is colorblind, gender blind and label blind. But in order to reach full equality, she said White people need to be willing to sacrifice some of their privileges for Black people.

We got to make Black lives matter, she said. Black lives dont matter in America because talk is cheap, but history got receipts.

Link:

One Million Man March celebrates Juneteenth with marching band and singing - Columbia Chronicle

VIDEO: They have a fear of being counted: Local advocates hope to ease anxiety over Census – Long Beach Post

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Through mariachi, old-school cars, food and raffles, a local organization popped up in a West Long Beach neighborhood on Saturday morning to remind residents to fill out the 2020 census.

Dubbed Dads and Grads: Census Caravan, the event drew a few dozen people on Canal Avenue and Summit Street after a brief car caravan nearby Cabrillo High School, an immigrant community that has been historically undercounted.

I know that this area, because of the challenges of poverty and violence and suppression and oppression in this community, they have fear of being counted, they have fear of government, said Jessica Quintana, executive director of Centro CHA.

Organizers of the event, Centro CHA, a non-profit Latino human and social service agency, said that they also wanted to celebrate the Fathers Day weekend and the recent graduates of 2020.

To fill out the census, visit 2020census.gov.

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VIDEO: They have a fear of being counted: Local advocates hope to ease anxiety over Census - Long Beach Post

Sikh Community and Others Push for the City to Remove Gandhi Statue from Central Park – The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

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Across the country, we are seeing protesters and jurisdictions taking down statues of figures that are racist symbols, everything from confederate generals to Columbus. But the protesters on Saturday at Central Park in Davis, largely from the Sikh community and totaling perhaps 50 or so, acknowledged that the legacy of Gandhi is more complicatedas he is viewed as a human rights symbol.

But to them hes not. As the community learned during the debate over the Central Park Gandhi Statue in 2016, the international symbol of non-violence protest and peace is viewed very differently by the Sikh communityto them he is their tormenter, with a legacy of racism, castes, and even sexual abuse.

American needs to come together, we have seen so much suffering, one of the organizers said. One of the symbols that stands in this park is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi commonly called Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi has never set foot in America. Yet his statues are dawned in every city from San Francisco, Washington DC, New York, you name it. Most prime real estate are lined with the statues of Gandhi.

The mythological Gandhi, propagated by Hollywood and the propaganda by India, is a far cry from the actual Gandhi he explained.

It was four years ago that an effort to bring in the statue produced multiple meetings and countless hours of debate and discussion with the Davis City Council before the majority finally approved it.

Peter Fredrick explained in great detail the actual history of Gandhi. He noted that all over the country, statues that represent the glorification of slaveholders should be taken down. He said, There is at least one useful thing about these statues, at least they stand for what we expect. They symbolize what they are intended to symbolize.

What you see is what you get, he said, a statue of a racist.

But he said we face a more complicated journey when we are confronted by statues of people who, we are told, represent the justice, quality and peace and yet actually and in fact represented the exact opposite.

He noted that for Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, the basis for their non-violent resistance was based on Gandhis ideas and vision.

Thus we are told the face of Black liberation from the United States to South Africa owes its various existence to Gandhi, he said. The 1982 film Gandhi is the vision most people in this country have of him, but he said what is less well known is that the Indian Government funded the film

Fredrick noted that at the same time India was funding these projects and readying to install hundreds of statues of Gandhi around the world, they were supporting genocide and ethnic violence against religious and ethnic minorities in India.

The violent and supremacist rulers of that country today use Gandhi-plomacy or propa-gandhi as a foreign policy weapon to conceal their atrocities and divert attention from their constant and most egregious violations of human rights.

He pondered, What if Gandhi has been able to whitewash the (Indian Government) atrocities because Gandhi himself has been whitewashed?

Fredrick said, The hard fact of the matter is that Gandhi was actually the champion of inequality. He said, Gandhis anti-black racism is widely acknowledged today although rarely closely examined and often quickly excused.

Gandhi as Fredrick explained lived in South Africa for 21 years, spending a huge portion of his professional life there, only returning to India at the age of 45.

When he was there, he said a lot of racist things, Fredrick said. A lot of very racist things.

He referred to Black Africans as savages and said they are very lazy and of no use.

He added, Gandhi didnt just say racist things, Gandhi demanded segregation. He joined the white colonizers in a war to exterminate Black freedom fighters.

Moreover, he argued, Gandhi never changed, saying it was not just a young and immature Gandhi who harbored these thoughts. But Fredrick rejected this, noting this was an extremely well educated man in his thirties and forties. Moreover, he never acknowledged his words and when he returned to India, he continued to push for the caste system.

He said, Gandhi moved back to India and switched from promoting racism to promoting casteism.

Among the other speakers was Dillan Horton, running for the Davis City Council.

He noted that his family members are the decedents of Central Texas slaves, so Juneteenth has a deep meaning in my family.

On the Gandhi issue, he said, This should be an easy issue for the city of Davis. He said, There is a statue right behind me of an anti-black segregationist. He added, He set up multiple systems of oppression in multiple countries.

He noted, Most people in Davis if you ask them will say that doesnt represent my valuesyet the statue is here.

The statue has to come down, its the only thing thats consistent with our values, he said. Obviously we are here today because we dont have the leadership in our city thats given it to us. The statue has been here for four yearswhen the statue was put here in the first place, it was protested by people in the community. Protested by people all across the state. Yet the statue is here.

Leaders of the community have been dismissed and rebuffed when they have tried to have conversations about whether the statue is consistent with our communitys values has arisen.

Obviously this is not going to change with your current city leadership, Horton said. He noted that the city council election will be on the ballot along with the presidential election, and he quipped, We have a mayor right now who is the most unabashedly pro-police person on the current Davis City Council.

He added, He is a person who has been willing to sign a blank check to expanded policing and reduced police accountability every chance they got.

In August of 2016, there was a long contentious council meeting on the issue of the statue. In February that year, the council on consent voted to accept a Gandhi statue, donated from the Indian government for a placement in Central Park.

But it was then-Mayor Robb Davis and Mayor Pro Tem Brett Lee that brought the item back for consideration.

They ended up losing that vote 3-2, where Will Arnold, Lucas Frerichs and Rochelle Swanson voted to oppose reconsideration.

David M. Greenwald reporting

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Sikh Community and Others Push for the City to Remove Gandhi Statue from Central Park - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis