Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin needs to settle above $10,600 to avoid the sell-off – FXStreet

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Bitcoin will go down before it goes up. This popular opinion is shared byBob Loukas, the founder ofThe Financial Tap. He confirmed that the first cryptocurrency may retreat to$8,800-$7,800, while a close above $10,000 would confirm the bullish trend. He also added that in the mid-term, Bitcoin looks super bullish and on the verge of.a major four-year cycle.

Action #bitcoin for intermediate term is super bullish IMO. The 4-Year Cycle is ready to begin it's 12-20 month rising trend to blow-off top. However, move back towards $7.8k-$8.8k looks needed into July Cycle Low. Unless we close above $10.6k, where I'd say bull move confirmed,he tweeted.

BTC/USD has barely moved in recent 24 hours.At the time of writing, the first digital assetis changing hands at $9,750, while the localresistance is created by $9,800. This area was rejected on several occasions earlier this week, which makes it harder for the bulls.The support comes at $9,600, which is the upper line of the broken triangle pattern.

ETH/USD is trapped in a narrowing range with the local resistance at $245.00. A sustainable move above this level will allow for an extended recovery towards a stronger barrier created by psychological $250.00. The initial support comes at $240.00. At the time of writing, the second-largest coin is changing hands at $243.00. It has stayed unchanged since the start of the day.

XRP/USD settled at $0.2030 on Wednesday after a short-lived dip to $0.2000 during early Asian hours. The support is createdthe lower line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band at $0.2010.This barrier is closely followed by psychological $0.2000. If it is broken, the sell-off may gain traction with the next focus on $0.1980 (June 7 low). On the upside, the local resistance at $0.225 limits the recovery.At the time of writing, XRP/USDis changing hands at $0.2020.

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin needs to settle above $10,600 to avoid the sell-off - FXStreet

The World in Brief – NWAOnline

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Airstrikes in Syria displace thousands

BEIRUT -- Suspected Russian airstrikes pounded villages on the edge of the last rebel enclave in northwestern Syria, sending thousands of civilians fleeing, activists reported Tuesday.

The violence at the edge of Idlib province is the most serious breach of the cease-fire in place since early March, when an agreement between Turkey and Russia halted the Syrian government's three-month air and ground campaign into rebel-held Idlib.

The Syria Response Coordination Group, a team of aid workers, said the military escalation displaced more than 5,800 civilians in the past 24 hours from areas in southern Idlib and western Hama countryside. Many of the displaced had only recently returned to their villages after the cease-fire, the group said.

On Monday, insurgents opened a limited offensive against government-held positions, briefly seizing a couple of villages. Government troops, backed by Russian air support, responded, repelling the insurgents but also widening their area of operations, targeting 10 villages, said Mohamed Rasheed, a Syrian media activist documenting the offensive.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recorded 15 airstrikes Tuesday, also saying they were believed to be Russian. The Observatory and other local networks said at least one civilian was killed in Kansafra village.

Meanwhile, Syrian state media outlets said government forces repelled an offensive by the insurgents, and that a soldier was killed.

Border labor lawyer arrested in Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- Border state authorities have arrested a crusading labor lawyer who led a wave of 2019 walkouts for higher wages at border assembly plants known as maquiladoras.

Detectives arrested Susana Prieto on Monday in the border city Matamoros on charges including inciting riot, threats and coercion. Prieto taped her own detention and posted it on social media, saying she had been expecting the arrest.

A volunteer collects turtle eggs Tuesday at a hatching center in Bali,Indonesia.About100newlyhatchedLekangturtleswere released during a campaign to save the endangered sea turtles. (AP/Firdia Lisnawati)

The state prosecutor's announcement of the arrest did not specify the incident that led to it.

Prieto claims that officials in the border states of Chihuahua and Tamaulipas, where she was arrested, are persecuting her because she affected the economic interests of maquiladora operators.

Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, was the city where Prieto led a wave of successful strikes in early 2019 at 48 export-oriented maquiladoras that won workers 20 percent pay increases and $1,650 bonuses.

Prieto also recently campaigned against policies at maquiladora plants in Ciudad Juarez that she claimed put workers at risk of catching the new coronavirus.

Sudanese war-crimes suspect in custody

BANGUI, Central African Republic -- Sudanese militia leader Ali Kushayb, who is charged with 50 crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur conflict, has been arrested more than 13 years after a warrant was issued for him and transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, authorities said Tuesday.

Kushayb surrendered to authorities in a remote corner of northern Central African Republic, International Criminal Court spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said.

In the Darfur conflict, rebels from the territory's ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

The government responded with a scorched-earth assault of aerial bombings and unleashed militias known as the janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes. As many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

According to the court's arrest warrant, Kushayb is accused of commanding thousands of janjaweed militia in 2003-04 and acting as a go-between for the militia and the Sudanese government. The criminal court says he "personally participated in some of the attacks against civilians" and allegedly "enlisted fighters, armed, funded and provided food and other supplies to the janjaweed militia under his command."

Turkish soldiers sought in failed coup

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish prosecutors issued warrants Tuesday for the detention of 191 suspects -- including 181 on-duty servicemen -- who are suspected of involvement in a scheme that allegedly recruited followers of the U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup in 2016 into air force training schools, the state-run news agency reported.

The Anadolu Agency said the suspects are accused of cheating during air force schools' entrance examinations between 2004 and 2016 that favored candidates with links to cleric Fethullah Gulen. At least 145 of the suspects were detained in raids in western Izmir province and 22 other provinces.

The suspects include 173 sergeants, six lieutenants, two first lieutenants, eight former sergeants and two former cadets, Anadolu said.

Turkey is still chasing alleged members of Gulen's network, four years after the coup attempt.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any involvement in the coup attempt, which left 250 people dead.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

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The World in Brief - NWAOnline

Dread Scott on Confronting Racial Oppression in America – ARTnews

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Dread Scott began his career at the center of national controversy with his installation What Is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag? (1989), which prompted visitors to step on an American flag laid on the ground. His work continues to spark national debate and legislation as the artist focuses on the prevalence of racist violence in US history. After the shooting of Walter Scott in 2015, the artist created the flag A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday (2015), taking inspiration from the NAACPs anti-lynching campaign during the Jim Crow Era. Last year, Scott staged a reenactment of the 1811 Slave Rebellion in New Orleans. Amid ongoing protests against racism and police brutality, images of Scotts work have been disseminated widely on social media. During the Covid-19 lockdown, he also created two social media projects that reflect on the viruss toll on the Black community. Scotts work is currently on view in the group exhibition Mourning: On Loss and Change at the Hamburger Kunsthalle through August 2. Below, Scott discusses the ways in which his work incorporates the broader scope of American history and current events to incite thoughtful action.

There are practical ways in which my work gets taken up by a movement. Images of A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday and Sign of the Times [2001] have been printed on T-shirts and shared on Twitter and Instagramand thats great. But, more importantly, my work connects Americas past to our present.

Suite, Malcolm [2020] was a decentralized social media performance that occurred during the pandemic lockdown, as Covid-19 was disproportionately affecting the Black community. I asked participants to make short videos performing part of Malcolm Xs speech The Ballot or the Bullet, in which he says, Im not a Republican, nor a Democrat, nor an American, and Ive got sense enough to know it. Im one of the 22 million Black victims of the Democrats, one of the 22 million victims of the Republicans, and one of the 22 million Black victims of Americanism.

It feels important to make work at a time when the system is increasingly showing that it does not care about peopleit crushes people. Black and Latinx workers were forced to work without personal protective equipment and to forgo social distancing measures so that others would be more comfortable during the lockdown. The Black Lives Matter movement is raising questions about these deep structural problems. When I made A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday, it forced the public to think deeply about the police as inheritors of lynch mob terror. I want people to investigate this decrepit, outmoded system in which we liveto think about it and act.

I made another piece on social media in response to Ahmaud Arberys death. I took images of myself running and sequenced them into a short video. The killing of Black people is not new in America. There are over forty-four hundred documented cases of racial violence and lynchings from 1865 to 1939. Many lynchings were photographed, and the images circulatednot just in newspapers, but as postcards that served as threats to Black people as well as mementos for white people. Now were seeing present-day videos that were made to serve the same purpose as a photograph of a hanging, but have instead sparked outrage.

Lynching images are also present in the work of artists Hale Woodruff, Isamu Noguchi, and Diego Rivera. Its important to look at these images. If you dont know that this is how the police routinely treat Black people, you need to look. You need to hear George Floyd, a man who was handcuffed after possibly passing a counterfeit $20 bill, lying face down with a cops knee pressed to his neck, asking for his dead mother and saying, I cant breathe, as his life drains from his body. Many Americans believed that this was no longer a place where Black people were bought, sold, and hung from trees. They were surprised to learn that Black life matters no more now than it did in 1820. What is fortunate about this moment is that many people have looked and are sickened.

My 1994 installation El Grito, with Joe Wippler, envisioned a rebellion leading to a revolutionan American civil war in the future. It was a fantastical piece that highlighted the fact that it took a war to end slavery. Slavery wasnt a moral question and it was not voted out. The South seceded from the North to expand enslavement. The North initially only cared about preserving the Union. But slavery didnt end with the Civil War or with the Civil Rights Movement. Under slavery, enslavers bought people. Under capitalism, they rent themand its going to take wars to end capitalism, another system that has enslaved and exploited the planet. What does it mean that thousands of people in the United Statesdisproportionately Black and poor peopleare dead because of the policies of this government? People need to question why they have an allegiance to this system that callously bails out wealthy corporations and refuses to provide essentials such as masks and goggles for hospital workers.

My recent project Slave Rebellion Reenactment [2019] looked at how enslaved people in 1811 tried to free themselves by overthrowing the system of enslavement and setting up an African republic on the ashes of New Orleanian society. The history of this radical vision has been suppressed. I decided to reenact it with 350 Black and Indigenous people. We marched in period costume with machetes, muskets, sickles, and sabers twenty-four miles on the outskirts of New Orleans at the locations where this rebellion took place two hundred years prior. We chanted: Freedom or death! Were going to end slavery. Join us! It was not so much about the horrors of slavery, as it was about liberatory potential: Africans and people of African descent, were agents of change, fighting to be free from this system of exploitation. These enslaved rebels had the most radical vision of freedom and democracy in the United Statesthis countrys founding fathers predicated their idea of freedom on owning people. The notion of we the people, as written in the US Constitution, did not include those who worked the fieldsand it could not. You cant tell the history of America without talking about enslavement, and you cant tell the story of enslavement without discussing slave rebellions. Thats what I wanted to understand, because it has everything to do with our present.

Days ago, it was very difficult to see a callous lynching, knowing that its part of a long history of brutality. I know some people have agonized about these uprisings, but theyre missing the point. These mass protests are among the most beautiful things Ive experienced in my entire fifty-five years. People across the countryand all over the worldare heroically standing up with tremendous passion and heart to this confusion of police violence, military force, media lies and slander, and threats posed by President Trump. Theres a lot of work to do and a lot of struggle to be had, but we need to celebrate and continue to fight with determination as we figure out how to build a world where all human beings can flourish. Lets make this count.

As told to Francesca Aton

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Dread Scott on Confronting Racial Oppression in America - ARTnews

The United Kingdom Shows How to Combat China’s Oppression of Hong Kong – Cato Institute

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As China prepares to take over Hong Kongeffectively ending the era of one country, two systemsother countries are struggling with how to respond.

One of the best responses has come from Great Britain. In acolumn for The Times, Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed apath to British citizenship for nearly 3million Hong Kong residents. Johnson writes:

Many people in Hong Kong fear that their way of life which China pledged to uphold is under threat. If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honor our obligations and provide an alternative.

The Washington Post reports that, Chinas Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Britain has no jurisdiction over Hong Kong. Britain must step back from the brink and stop interfering in Hong Kongs affairs and Chinas internal affairs.

While Boris Johnsons plan is light on details, it provides atemplate for other countries responses to Chinas increasingly authoritarian takeover of Hong Kong. The threat of losing millions of talented citizens could motivate the Chinese government to ease its grip. Other countries should follow Great Britains lead and provide asafe haven for individuals whose lives and liberties are under threat by the Chinese Communist Party.

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The United Kingdom Shows How to Combat China's Oppression of Hong Kong - Cato Institute

COMMUNITY VOICES: Is this the right thing to do? – The Bakersfield Californian

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The plight of a minority one of the most crucial issues to understand today. The difficulties they face and the lack of opportunity they have are prevalent. While many are making strides in improving the lives of minorities, the crux of the problem remains unsolved.

Today, I write not simply as a minority group member myself, but as a citizen of the United States to all law enforcement and to my fellow citizens. The key in a situation as dire as ours is to listen to one another with an open mind and heart. So, before you read this article, I request us all to take a few minutes and attempt to be mindful of our actions, as they will inevitably impact our world as we know it and its future.

Our history is filled with events of oppression and injustice toward minority groups. The origin of the United States was itself a heroic act against oppression by the government. The Civil War divided the North and South due to an egregious injustice: slavery. History is filled with narratives of misconduct against smaller groups of people: the Jim Crow laws, the Japanese internment camps, etc. It continues in recent history, involving police brutality.

On May 25, George Floyd, an African American male, was murdered in Minneapolis by a Caucasian policeman, Derek Chauvin. Ex-officer Chauvin handcuffed and restrained Mr. Floyd before needlessly kneeling on his neck for nine minutes. Three other cops stood by watching while Mr. Floyd gasped for air, calling out for his mother, repeating the haunting words, I cant breathe. Granted, these four officers were fired from Minneapolis PD. Americans cried out for the arrest of these four men for the death and for an obvious misuse of the uniform. Due to the delay in the criminal justice system, peaceful protests were organized in Minneapolis and other cities in the U.S. This horrifying event has shattered the faith of the American people in the government. Inaction on the part of the U.S. government system has escalated the situation otherwise peaceful citizens are now protesting violently to be heard, demanding justice.

Millions of people all around the world have seen this unbelievably xenophobic video where former officer Chauvin is kneeling on the neck of a clearly restrained and unarmed Floyd. Articles are flowing through daily about the countless names of people who have dealt with police brutality, often resulting in their deaths. The situation makes me angrier than ever, and it saddens me; but worse, it puts a deep fear in my heart. Mr. Floyd couldve been my friend, my brother, my father, or he couldve been me. I am disappointed, and as an otherwise proud American citizen, I feel ashamed knowing that my countrys justice system isnt choosing to uphold its core values the same way for all lives. The American democracy, a harbor for people around the world and a beacon of hope, one that is supposed to protect all of its citizens the same, is allowing key elements to abuse their powers to hurt.

My faith in people of the United States has been rejuvenated as I see people bringing awareness through social media and peaceful protests: Black Lives Matter. This is the opportunity for minorities to show the world of the inherent racism rooted within the so-called justice system. It is time to bring a change and make sure that the deaths of George Floyd, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and several others were not in vain. However, some violent protests have unknowingly changed the narrative. During what was a peaceful protest, people started to hurl projectiles at the police in precincts and in the Atlanta CNN center. Because innocents have now been hurt, the violent protests are unfortunately sending the message that we are no better than the police officers who we are condemning.

As it is morally incorrect to generalize any group of people, it is equally wrong to stereotype and retaliate against all police force. Instead of focusing on the dysfunctional and unjust justice system in the United States, the violence has unwittingly made the story about the people causing unrest in the streets of several cities in our nation. Instead of accomplishing a feat beneficial for all individuals in the United States, the violent protests have made the story about people throwing rocks at innocent police officers and breaking windows of minority-owned businesses. While I wholeheartedly agree with the cause to protest against differential treatment, by resorting to violence, we will have squandered the opportunity to accomplish justice for all.

Had Derek Chauvin and the others before asked themselves this one basic question, perhaps our status quo wouldnt be so grim. That is the question we each need to ask ourselves also: Is this the right thing to do?

Our great leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks and the Dalai Lama, all have proven one basic tenet: nonviolent protest is powerful. Studies have demonstrated that nonviolent protest doubles the efficacy of the cause in comparison to violent protest and rioting. I urge protesters and social reformers to choose not to engage violently, and to instead honor the memory of George Floyd with peace.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, Riots are the voice of the unheard. People who are using his initial statement out of context are using it to justify the violent protests. MLK had since then clarified this statement by saying, Riots are self-defeating and socially destructive. Let us carry on his legacy of nonviolence as a joint task force and send our message by means of nonviolent protest. We would be building towards his famous dream and fortifying the core of the Black Lives Matter movement.

This could be the great moment in our lives, when we each choose to be catalysts for positivity and equality in the system. Lets stop the focus from shifting to the rocks being thrown at windows, and instead, bring awareness for the BLM movement by throwing the rock of nonviolent protest at the U.S. government. Lets choose to honor George Floyds last breath and his memory, push the justice system to correct itself and make peaceful efforts to demand equality for all. It is time to take our rightful place in the history of revolutionary change. Together, we can do it.

Vivek K. Gupta is a former Stockdale Mustang and is currently studying at Amity University in New Delhi, India.

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COMMUNITY VOICES: Is this the right thing to do? - The Bakersfield Californian

Johnson government falls in behind Washington’s economic war with China – World Socialist Web Site

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By Jean Shaoul 9 June 2020

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come out openly in support of the US against China over Hong Kong. He announced that Britain will open its doors to any of the 2.9 million Hong Kong citizens eligible for a British National Overseas passport if China imposes its national security law.

Writing for the Murdoch press Times newspaper June 3, Johnson said that his offer, which would require a change in Britains immigration rules, would allow anyone holding or eligible to hold these passports to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months, be allowed to work or study and thus potentially be eligible for citizenship. He described his offerriddled with all sorts of loopholesas extending the hand of friendship to the people in Britains former colony.

He forgot to say that this former colony, seized from China, has never benefited from Britains friendship. It was wrested from China in 1841 during Britains first two-year-long opium war, served as Britains commercial gateway to the country and became a byword for colonial domination, oppression and social misery.

In 1997, after the expiry of its 99 year leasea term that denotes its feudal and exploitative relationship with the territorythe UK handed Hong Kong back to China under a 50-year form of semi-autonomy known as one country, two systems that perpetuated its citizens lack of democratic rights under British rule.

Johnsons offercoming from a man whose career has been built on fostering xenophobia and who made limiting immigration into Britain the centrepiece of his Brexit strategy, even increasing the visa fee for vital staff for a National Health Service which has more than 100,000 vacanciesis disgusting. It is a cynical and hypocritical public relations stunt aimed at demonstrating his craven support for US President Donald Trump, even though it means threatening the City of Londons profit base, the last prop of the British economy.

Johnson made this offer amid the Trump administrations escalating anti-China campaign. This has included blaming Beijing for the global COVID-19 pandemic and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos declaration that the facts on the ground showed that Hong Kong no longer had a high degree of autonomy from China.

The US is preparing to impose a raft of economic and trade sanctions that would damage Hong Kongs position as a global financial hub, the third most important in the world, and its role as a springboard into mainland China due to its looser export controls and agreements on technology transfers, academic exchanges, taxation, currency exchange and sanctions. This economic assault on Hong Kong forms part of Washingtons broader efforts over the last 10 years to undermine Chinas economic and strategic position and prepare for a possible war.

Pompeos announcement came in response to Chinas declaration last month that its annual National Peoples Congress (NPC) would pass a new national security law covering subversion, terrorism and foreign influence in Hong Kong. The legislation, if enacted, would override Hong Kongs legislature, which had to abandon a similar law in 2003 in the face of mass demonstrations against its reactionary measures, led by pro-imperialist forces.

Trump upped the ante, saying in a bellicose speech that the US would respond very powerfully if the NPC passed the proposed legislation, while Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell confirmed that the State Department was discussing what punitive action to take.

Washingtons assault on Hong Kongs special economic status threatens to undermine Britains banking, financial services, fintech and commercial corporations, on whose speculative and parasitic activities the British economy has become ever more dependent and which are in turn heavily reliant on the Far East for the majority of their profits, not to say their viability.

More than 300 UK-based companies have regional headquarters or offices serving Hong Kongs domestic market and the region, while the UK is the prime destination for Chinese foreign investment, which in the last five years has equalled the total in the previous 30 years.

Last week, Britains largest bank HSBC, which had once threatened to move its headquarters to Hong Kong and generates the bulk of its profits in Asia, announced that first-quarter profits had nearly halved as it set aside $3 billion in bad loan provisions due to the coronavirus pandemic. This comes just two months after it announced that it would shed 35,000 jobs worldwide to cut costs.

Johnsons very public support for Washington has prompted a furious response from Chinas foreign ministry, which warned Britain to step back from the brink and abandon its cold war mentality. It said, Interfering in Hong Kongs affairs will definitely backfire. Both HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank have now distanced themselves from Johnson and declared their support for Chinas national security legislation for Hong Kong, thereby driving a wedge between the City and the government and intensifying its political crisis.

Johnsons Get Brexit Done game plan involved straddling two horses: seeking an ever-closer alignment with Washingtons economic and military agenda while at the same time pursuing bilateral trade deals with countries around the world, including China. He thought that a Global Britain approach would either compensate for the loss of trade with the European Union (EU), that accounts for nearly 50 percent of British exports, or enable him to force a trade deal with the EU on the strength of his alliance with Washington.

He had therefore been reluctant initially to alienate China and join the Trump administrations economic war. However, Washington made it clear abstentionism was unacceptable.

Johnson then came under heavy pressure from right-wing forces in both the Conservative and Labour parties opposed to Chinas growing economic power.

The Henry Jackson Society, a British foreign policy think tank closely aligned with neo-conservatives in the US, argued in a recent report, endorsed by former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove, that the Five Eyes countries (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK) should reduce their dependence on China for strategic goods that service critical national infrastructure. It called for Huawei, the Chinese telecoms manufacturer, to be designated as a high-risk vendor and barred from playing any part in the development of Britains 5G network.

Johnson has been forced to review the decisionmade in Januaryto allow Huawei equipment a limited role in the project. A similar controversy has erupted over the plan to build the Sizewell C nuclear plant with China Nuclear Energy (CGN). Sizewell is the second of three nuclear plants that the Chinese government agreed to build in the UK under a 2015 deal signed with the Cameron government.

Pro-imperialist NGO Hong Kong Watchs chief executive Johnny Patterson described Britains response as limp, inane and could have been copied and pasted directly from their previous statements and called for the government to coordinate a joint response of like-minded countries to Chinas move.

Adding to the pressure on Johnson, seven former foreign secretaries, both Labour and Conservative, appealed to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for Britain to be more assertive over Hong Kong. Concerned that the response to China should not be left to Trump, and unwilling for Britain to sever its ties with the European powers from whom it is becoming increasingly isolated, they appealed to him to coordinate a European response to China.

While Trump has proposed a meeting in September of the G7 nations plus Australia, Korea, India and Russia, the European Union is at odds with the Trump administration over its handling of the conflict with China, which it views as contrary to its commercial and geostrategic interests. At an EU meeting last week, only Sweden supported Washingtons proposed sanctions.

In throwing in his lot with Washington, however reluctantly, over sanctions against Hong Kong and China, Johnson has intensified his governments political crisis and isolation. His delusional fantasy of Global Britain has been exposed as a chimera. It has proved impossible for Britain to pursue its own international commercial interests without jeopardising its strategic relationship with the US, the worlds dominant military power that has, since the end of World War II, enabled London to punch above its weight on the world arena.

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Johnson government falls in behind Washington's economic war with China - World Socialist Web Site

Communication is everything: Communities finding the best way to support – The Cherokee One Feather – Cherokee One Feather

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By JONAH LOSSIAH

ONE FEATHER STAFF

With the Black Lives Matter movement reaching global support, many organizers in small towns have begun to demonstrate their support on a local level.

On June 2, a solidarity march in Sylva brought together hundreds of people. (Sylva Herald photos)

There have been several demonstrations around the region over the past couple of weeks. Asheville has seen large protests and Bryson City had a march this week. Just down the road in Sylva there has also been gatherings, all of which have been entirely peaceful.

On June 2, a solidarity march in Sylva brought together hundreds of people. They held speeches at the courthouse steps and marched downtown. The event was calm from beginning to end, with the organizers and many protestors consistently thanking the police officers that were helping to direct traffic and facility the demonstration.

Communication is everything, said Chris Hatton, Chief of Sylva Police.

Meeting with and speaking with the organizers for events like this is the most crucial part of having a successful event. The sooner law enforcement leaders can get involved in that planning and that conversation, the sooner they can get to know those folks. And, those folks get to know the law enforcements leaders and that creates trust, said Hatton.

Carrie McBane, who was one of the organizers of the march, said that she has been impressed with Sylva police during Hattons time there. McBane works with the Jackson County chapter of Down Home North Carolina, a grassroots organization that works to build multi-racial power for working families in North Carolinas small towns and rural places. However, the demonstration was not organized directly by Down Home North Carolina.

Hatton has been nothing but willing to work with us and to be transparent. And, I did not get that feeling from the last police departmentI really feel like he came into this community wanting to see change, wanting to see effective change. Thats important to him, and I think that has come across I appreciate his willingness to stand up for the rights of everybody, said McBane.

She also said that if she could give advice to anybody regarding marches or demonstrations such as the ones in Sylva, it would be to do their research. There are permits that need to be obtained, as well a need for a network of people. She said that communication between everyone involved is crucial.

This is true when it comes to the Qualla Boundary as well. When asked about any potential demonstrations, Alica Wildcatt, of the Cherokee Indian Police Department said that they would need to file for the proper permit or else the act would be unlawful. She sited Section 167-1 of the Cherokee Code.

Radonna Crowe, EBCI Public Health and Human Services public information officer, said she hopes that an event of this sort would take into account community safety.

If an individual plans to protest, due to the increase of COVID-19 cases in our community, we ask that they: wear a cloth face covering, use hand sanitizer, keep at least six feet apart from others stick to small groups that they have been quarantined with, stay hydrated and stay safe. When the event is over get tested/re-test for COVID-19, said Crowe.

For more information regarding COVID-19 and testing, you can call the CIHA Hotline 497-3743.

Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed has been preparing for protests in the area. He recently discussed his views in a commentary with the Cherokee One Feather.

Like all Americans, I was outraged when I saw the video of George Floyd pleading for his life, only to have his pleas fall upon deaf ears and his life snuffed out at the hands of an overzealous government official. As Native Americans, we understand prejudice, we understand struggle, and we understand the trauma inflicted upon a people when government officials, sworn to protect the rights of the people, become oppressive, said Chief Sneed in a commentary on the subject.

Those of us who have suffered the trauma of oppression will no longer tolerate the oppression of our friends, our neighbors, or our fellow citizens. We cannot allow this message of truth to be lost in noise, chaos, and violence. It is incumbent upon each of us to exercise our right to free speech to make this truth known. But to be successful- to actually get others to listen to us- we must remember that meaningful and respectful dialogue will be the mechanism for change, Sneed continued.

When it came to the event in Sylva, Police Chief Hatton said he came into the event prepared for peace. He said they intentionally wore a more relaxed uniform and that he gave a talk to his team beforehand. He said that afterward all his officers were encouraged by the support at the event. That they lost count of the thank yous they received, and that it was a great experience for everyone involved. Hatton continued by saying that he wishes to maintain the level of mutual respect moving forward.

What I told [the organizers] was, Im giving you my word. My officers are not here to slow down anything youre doing. In fact, theyre here to protect what youre doing. Even though some people may see police presence as a form of control, what were actually here to do is to make sure you get to have your voice and you get to say what you want to say. And that nobody else stops you from doing that.

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Communication is everything: Communities finding the best way to support - The Cherokee One Feather - Cherokee One Feather

The courts and Covid-19 | Citypress – News24

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The Covid-19 coronavirus might not be a disaster in the ordinary meaning of the word. As when faced with a tsunami, most people cannot protect themselves against it. It requires extraordinary measures, and the responsibility to provide such protection rests with the state. Picture: GCIS

VOICES

For the affluent, who can practise social distancing and keep the vulnerable masses at bay because they benefited from the exploitation and conquest of the majority, a disaster will have a different meaning. They have the resources and capacity outside the state to protect themselves. And the rich will be the first to use the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to fight off anything they regard as an invasion of or intrusion on their rights.

The vulnerable majority will be their excuse as to why the governments interventions should be challenged.

The exploiters of the poor and the vulnerable become messiahs when it suits their interests. They have trapped the vulnerable into alcohol and will fight to keep them drunk so that they do not confront the real issues. The rich know they can always replace the cheap labour if those who work for them get sick. The rich enjoy the high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment because it presents a captive market of the desperate and vulnerable.

The government should not be able to invade our human rights and there should be no doubt about that.

We, the masses, have lived the pain of colonial and apartheid governments that passed many laws to oppress and subjugate us. Any form of oppression must be rejected with the contempt it deserves.

READ:High Court rules lockdown regulations unconstitutional and invalid

But how should the government react and what should it do to deal with the pandemic? It is true that the regulations promulgated by the government as part of the measures to fight this invisible enemy might not pass legal and constitutional muster. And, of course, they should to be sustainable. If they fail, they should be set aside as the high court ruled and the government must be ordered to correct any anomalies to bring them in line with our constitutional values and prescripts.

The reality remains, though: With or without the regulations and their validity or otherwise, Covid-19 is upon us.

Not even the functioning of the courts has been spared by the aggressive virus. When it struck, the judiciary, like the other two arms of the state, imposed restrictions on citizens that stopped access to the courts and, by extension, to justice.

The heads of the various courts adopted measures no less different in principle than those adopted by the executive and Parliament. There must have been a good reason for this. It would be foolhardy to argue that their intention was to violate rights. Their true intention was to protect life and limb.

One cannot argue that the measures were inordinately restrictive and too intrusive

Modidima Mannya

Equally, one cannot argue that the measures were inordinately restrictive and too intrusive. To say so would suggest that there was a far better mechanism the courts could have adopted. Like all of us, the judicial officers were confronted with the reality of an invisible enemy.

It is significant that those who took the executive to court to have the regulations declared unlawful and unconstitutional did not do the same about the measures adopted by the courts. The courts, like the executive, allowed for the exercise of the rights of access to justice under certain restrictions.

Those who had urgent matters could still have their cases heard under certain conditions, the same way we were allowed to go to the shops to buy essentials under level 4. But the restriction to access the courts has affected economic activity.

There are those whose livelihoods depend on the courts functioning every day without restriction. There are those who had disputes that required the attention of the courts to survive in their businesses and their lives. And there have been many court cases which could not be heard because of the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the virus.

Those who could not afford lawyers were simply deprived of any opportunity to have their justiciable disputes heard by the courts, not because of the regulations, but because of the measures adopted by the courts.

This category of people has suffered an oppression and subjugation at no fault of the regulations.

READ:Government to appeal judgment declaring lockdown unconstitutional and invalid

Removing the offending regulations does not remove the offending virus. The infection and death rates continue to rise. Nothing says the court officials, legal practitioners and judicial officers will be spared getting infected and possibly dying if courts open and social distance is not maintained.

The reality of Covid-19 is that it not only is invisible and incapable of easy detection but strikes at the heart of the most precious human right, the right to life.

The regulations and directives issued might have been invasive and, in some instances, legally irrational but the primary objective remains logical and is intended to protect the good of the public.

At this time it has been difficult to maintain a proper balance between the realities of an invisible deadly enemy and constitutionalism. The beneficiaries of poverty and inequality will always be those who have the means.

Those without the means will remain oppressed and subjugated by both the deadly virus and the application of the law supposedly meant to protect them.

Mannya is an advocate, writer and executive director of legal services at Unisa

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1968 Isnt The Only Parallel For This Political Moment – FiveThirtyEight

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When protests kicked off throughout the nation a week and a half ago, commentators turned to history to make sense of events. One year dominated the conversation: 1968. Racial tensions, clashes between police and protesters, a general sense of chaos 1968 and 2020 seemed to have a lot in common. Observers wrote about how Trumps use of law and order rhetoric echoed Richard Nixon and George Wallace in 1968. The comparison makes broader sense, too: 1968 was a destabilizing year in American politics, marked by Civil Rights protests, uprisings born out of racist oppression, assassinations, violence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (classified later as a police riot) and protests against the Vietnam War. Racial tensions and inequality were at the center of the instability that year, with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. sparking uprisings in cities across the country.

[Related: How Much Can History Teach Us About These Protests?]

But 1968 isnt the only chapter in American history thats relevant to the current crisis. America has a long history of racial injustice, which makes it difficult to isolate any one precedent for the current environment. History has a way of building on itself; the injustices of one generation are passed on to the next, even as incremental progress is made. This is why I want to share with you three other episodes that also help contextualize the moment were in now. They, like 1968 and the broader Civil Rights movement, highlight the depths of violence and injustice that black Americans have faced, and explain why everyday political processes have failed to bring about lasting systemic change.

The early 1990s saw two connected developments that still shape the dynamics of policing in the U.S. First, in 1991, before there were cell phones everywhere, a witness in Los Angeles caught police officers beating Rodney King on a hand-held camcorder, and the video caught the nations attention. The four officers charged in the incident were acquitted, which sparked further national outrage, and some Los Angeles residents took to the streets, turning to violence and destruction of property. In total, the demonstrations lasted for five days.

The Rodney King episode is different in important ways from the protests happening now over George Floyds death, but there are still some similarities. Namely, it was a high-profile incident of police brutality that underscored just how differently police treat black Americans from white Americans. Additionally, a bystanders video recording of the officers beating King brought the incident to national audiences, heightening a broad sense of injustice when the verdict was announced.

[Related: De-escalation Keeps Protesters And Police Safer. Departments Respond With Force Anyway.]

The fallout after the King verdict is worth considering in this moment. For one, some research shows that the event triggered lower public trust in the police in Los Angeles, especially among African Americans.

The role of the federal government is instructive here as well. In 1992, California Gov. Pete Wilson requested military assistance under the Insurrection Act of 1807, which Trump has suggested he might also invoke now. But LAs ordeal also prompted federal change Congress passed legislation allowing the Department of Justice to order reforms of police departments found to have engaged in misconduct. That ability has allowed the federal government to investigate police departments and root out poor practices. This oversight, however, has not been enough to prevent police killings, as we saw again with Floyd.

This provision was also part of a larger piece of anti-crime legislation the now somewhat-infamous 1994 crime bill that helped create the mass incarceration crisis and forced recent Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden to confront their past stances on crime. The crime bill arguably helped to create some of the challenges todays protesters are responding to. As sociologist Philip McHarris explained in The Washington Post, the bill flooded black communities with police, helped states to build prisons and established harsher sentencing policies. These policies not only helped to create the conditions for further police violence, but by expanding policing and incarceration in the U.S., they also helped to diminish the political power of many black communities through disenfranchisement and disengagement.

The point is that while focusing national attention on police brutality brought about needed change in some respects, reforms fall short when the system charged with implementing that change has racist origins.

After the American Civil War ended slavery in 1865, there was no road map for what Southern society would look like, but white Americans quickly adoped two major changes that harmed formerly enslaved people. First, Southern states passed laws restricting black citizens freedoms and essentially preserving the abuses of slavery. Second, violence against freed people living in those areas changed form but very much continued, and included the destruction of homes and churches, and sexual violence.

Particularly relevant to the current moment: Then-President Andrew Johnson allowed all this to happen. He failed to extend federal protection to the victims of the violence that Southern whites were engaging in, and, through his liberal use of pardons and lax loyalty requirements, he even allowed former Confederate leaders to find important roles in new state governments. These individuals, once in power, enacted oppressive measures. As historian Annette Gordon-Reed describes in her biography of Johnson, simple things like hunting and fishing became criminal activities for many black Americans, meaning they were increasingly dependent on their employers for their livelihoods.

Johnsons decision to allow both state and non-state violence against southern blacks deeply shaped American racial politics. The laws states adopted in this period ultimately created the status quo that the civils rights movement of the 1960s pushed back against.

[Related: Trumps Use Of Tear Gas To Break Up A Protest Undermined Three Core Values Of American Democracy]

But this historical period is also a pivotal one in understanding race relations in America today as it highlights the lasting repercussions of morally bankrupts presidential judgment. As my colleague Perry Bacon and I wrote a few days ago, the events of the last few days and years suggest that Trump is not interested in using federal power to help those protesting racial injustice, and is, at best, indifferent to those goals. Experts have compared Johnson to Trump for years. History shows us that when federal leaders ignore racial injustice and violence and certainly when they embody and enshrine it that injustice and violence continues unabated, even if its form changes.

The power structure created after the Civil War led to a lynching crisis in the South (and elsewhere in the U.S.). Thousands of lives were lost in this brutal and inhumane system of vigilante justice journalist Ida B. Wells, for instance, wrote extensively to document the violence of lynching and to spread awareness nationwide about what was happening.

But it is also in this dark chapter of American history that black American activists entered a new phase in organizing against systemic racism, using a variety of approaches. As political scientist Megan Ming Francis has written, this period gave birth to civil rights organizations like the NAACP, which pushed to change policy through Congress, the White House and the courts.

Those efforts made a real difference. Francis emphasizes the way in which black Americans organized and achieved these changes despite their exclusion from much of the political process and lack of traditional political power. These groups increased public awareness, improved legal standards and persuaded presidents to publicly denounce lynching.

[Related: What Protests Can (And Cant) Do]

The struggles of this movement, however, also illustrate how slow and frustrating it can be to work through official government channels. For instance, at the urging of these early civil rights activists, the House of Representatives passed an anti-lynching bill. But the bill died in the Senate after a filibuster, and no federal anti-lynching law was ever passed. (The latest anti-lynching bill was held up in the Senate as recently as June 4, 2020.) The American political system makes change difficult. In both Congress and the White House, Southern votes exerted a great deal of influence, and the opponents of an anti-lynching bill had both political power and the power of the status quo.

Every moment in history is distinct, and there are no perfect parallels for whats happening in 2020. However, looking at other points in both the distant and recent past helps us see how deeply racial injustice is ingrained in the American system. The 1968 comparison can be helpful, but it also tempts us to frame the situation in terms of tranquility and unrest. But tranquility has been defined by those in power almost always whites. Looking at other events helps answer some deeper questions about why people have taken to the streets to demand change and why protesters may be able to accomplish more faster by disrupting normal life. Because the system itself is part of the problem, politics, again and again, has set up the rules to make it difficult to pursue accountability and justice within the system.

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1968 Isnt The Only Parallel For This Political Moment - FiveThirtyEight

The irony of Egpyt accusing Turkey with invading Istanbul and ‘oppression since 1453’ – YASIN AKTAY – Yeni afak English

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Turkey using its influence in Libya upon the request and in the interests of the countrys legitimate government has completely tipped the scales in the country. However, this change has also led countries to increase their efforts for diplomacy and review all their plans.

Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who was increasingly isolated until now for incurring losses despite being the representative of the legitimate administration, is now at the center of everyones attention. He has become the most important player in Libya, with whom everyone, primarily Russia, wants to re-establish ties.

In the meantime, Libyas pro-coup parties jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire in Cairo by striking poses with Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi; they were later joined by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Russia, Saudi Arabia, and France. However, Frances attitude toward Libya is viewed as strange in both Europe and NATO, because it is now being considered as a sort of autonomy that does not comply with any ethics of the alliance.

NATOs strongest countries, the U.S., Turkey, the U.K., Germany, and Italy have taken a completely contrary attitude to France regarding this matter; and the NATO and the U.S. are rapidly adopting the stance of Turkey, which is providing support to Libyas legitimate government. As a matter of fact, this means that the military victories achieved on the ground by the GNA with Turkeys support have been positively reflected to the international political domain.

President Erdoan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump spoke yesterday with the main focus being on Libya, during which a consensus was also reached. Yet, allow me to reiterate: it was only six months ago that Trump held a telephone call with Libyas putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar based on the trajectory of the battlefield. It was probably after that conversation, when Haftars rapport with Russia was made clearer, reconfirming its untrustworthiness, that the U.S. started to adopt the vision put forth by Turkey, with whose support the GNA made great advances on the field.

We need to accept that international relations also develop based on ones power on the ground.

There are many examples in history of those who won on the battlefield but lost at the diplomacy table. Therefore, it is critical for the victories on the ground to be carried to the diplomacy table by a strong political will. Those who face defeat on the ground opening up fictitious areas in the discourse and propaganda domain in efforts to make gains by mispresenting the situation there is a common occurence. Thus, even if they cannot make any gains, they will be seeking solace or try to exact revenge from the winning side by spitting fire and cursing.

The alliance, whose chosen method in the Middle East is coups, is exponentially increasing its attacks on social media against Turkey and particularly Erdoan in proportion to the smackdown they faced in Libya. The insults directed at Erdoan through caricatures and photoshop effects are truly inversely proportional to their circumstances. It is not at all difficult to understand their mindset, but of course, there is also nothing about it to take seriously. In fact, the more such posts and publications increase, the easier it becomes to form an idea about the dimensions of that axis intention.

For example, out of nowhere, the Egyptian Fatwah Council made a statement describing the Conquest of Istanbul in 1453 as an Ottoman invasion. What was that all about? Positioning oneself against the Conquest, which is unquestionably accepted by the entire Islamic world, by associating the issue of Hagia Sophia a current hotbutton topic in Turkey with Erdoan, purely out of resentment against him, will do Turkey no harm. However, it will completely disrepute the Egyptian Fatwah Council in the eyes of the Muslim world.

In fact, it appears that the matter was not heard by anyone other than a very small faction in Turkey and, hence, it drew no reaction here. Yet, every segment of the Muslim world, on the other hand, harshly reacted. For example, International Union of Muslim Scholars Secretary-General Ali Muhyiddin al-Qaradaghi said that the statement was a mark of shame.

Meanwhile, we also discerned an interesting parallel. At about the same time Sisi was staging his bloody coup with Tamarod in 2013, we were also experiencing a coup attempt in Turkey with the Gezi Park events. It was soon understood that they were both cooked up in the same kitchen. Of course, those who are still romanticizing the Gezi Park events cannot begin to comprehend this connection. However, one of the most provocative slogans of Gezi was a slogan written on the wall: The Oppression started in 1453.

It is not a great surprise that the religious staff of the coup that was dished up in Egypt during the same period are thus opposing the transformation of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. It seems that the disintegration between the coup plotters and those representing the values of the people which everyone knew about and has long been ongoing in the Middle East, needed to be thus exposed.

NOTE: When the statement made by the Egyptian Fatwah Council drew great reaction on social media, the council stepped back and made another statement saying, The great conquest was realized by sufi Ottoman Sultan Fatih Sultan Mehmet, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoan has no relation whatsoever to Sultan Mehmet.

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The irony of Egpyt accusing Turkey with invading Istanbul and 'oppression since 1453' - YASIN AKTAY - Yeni afak English

Police terror, COVID-19 are womens issues – Workers World

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Justice for Breonna Taylor protest, Louisville, Ky., May 29.

These slightly edited remarks were given by Monica Moorehead at a June 7 International Womens Alliance webinar: Building our militant global womens movement to resist imperialism in the time of COVID-19.

This series of International Womens Alliance webinars could not have come at a more opportune time. A wave of rebellion is sweeping the globe. Who would have thought six months ago that the epicenter of this rebellion would be the U.S. the imperialist belly of the beast? It is both shocking and not surprising that this is happening.

The billionaire ruling class, their Wall Street investors and the Trump government are having nightmares, fighting among themselves, knowing that their entire system is under attack first for ignoring all the early signs of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the lack of testing and health care for everyone, including essential workers and with the unemployment rate approaching Great Depression levels, not counting 2 million incarcerated workers in prisons and detention centers, undocumented migrant workers, working-class and oppressed youth. Workers are resisting with strikes, sit-ins, car caravans and even resisting armed neofascists who want to reopen businesses.

The second pandemic is the rebellion ignited on May 25 by the horrific torture and police lynching of the 46-year-old Black man in Minneapolis, George Floyd. It took five days for the cop who asphyxiated Floyd to be charged and several days later for the three other cops to be arrested. That rebellion will reach two weeks tomorrow (June 8).

This rebellion against police terror has brought together Black, Latinx, Indigenous and white people of all generations, genders and abilities with marches, rallies, shutting down bridges, interstates, carrying out civil disobedience and expropriation all in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, with people risking their health to be in the streets in all 50 states, in large and small cities. This inspiring rebellion has spread around the world on almost every continent in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, which is an international struggle.

Underneath these two unprecedented pandemics is a dying capitalist economic system based on making profits, not meeting human needs. Capitalism has been in a permanent economic crisis since the housing market crash in 2008. It never has and never will fully recover. This crisis is reflected in low-wage jobs, lack of housing, closings of hospitals and clinics, mass incarceration, a rise in domestic and sexual violence, attacks on reproductive justice, police brutality, environmental racism, lack of healthy foods, etc.

For working-class people and people of color, there has always been a generational social crisis for years before 2008. But COVID-19 has made these issues more acute, especially with the genocidal numbers of people of color dying, at a rate 50 percent higher than whites due to institutionalized racism.

Women are resisting on all fronts

In my organization, International Working Womens Coalition, our main slogan is Every issue is a womans issue. We have a 10-point program that begs the question:

Can we live without all the basic human needs like health care, jobs, housing, food and more? We say that in order to win these rights, you have to unite and fight capitalism and imperialism, which propagates white supremacy in all forms. And patriarchy and gender oppression are used to divide women and all sectors of our class.

Who are on the front lines in the COVID-19 crisis? Mainly health care workers, the majority being women who put their lives on the line to save lives, but are dying because they dont have personal protective necessities, access to ventilators and other lifesaving equipment. Women, especially women of color, have seen their numbers swell as incarcerated workers. Many are single mothers.

Women have also been victims of police violence, like Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT worker, shot eight times by Louisville, Ky., police while sleeping this past March. Her 27th birthday was on June 5. She is just the latest victim of police terror. Theres Sandra Bland in Texas, Rekia Boyd in Chicago, Shantel Davis and Kyam Livingston in New York, and countless other women of color whose lives have been tragically cut short. None of the police involved have been arrested or charged.

But women are resisting on all fronts. Women of color, Black, Latinx and Indigenous, as well as anti-racist whites, a vast majority of them young, are on the front lines of this rebellion, not backing down from the police. Health care workers are rallying and marching against their terrible conditions, fighting both COVID and saying Black Lives Matter. Women are on the frontlines fighting these and other neoliberal policies emanating from the imperialist system both at home and abroad.

The COVID-19 virus may be keeping a lot of us off the streets due to age and preexisting health conditions, but we can still show solidarity in other ways to fight any isolation, including womens assemblies. We need to agree on some global united days of action on issues that most impact women, because despite where we live and struggle, we face the same struggles and the same fight against the same oppressive system. A good start is to defend this global rebellion against police and military terror, however long it lasts, because it is a womans issue. As the Assata Shakur chant says, as it applies to women and gender-oppressed people, We have nothing to lose but our chains.

Monica Moorehead is an executive committee member of IWA. She is also a coordinator of the International Working Womens Day Coalition in New York City. Moorehead is a managing editor of Workers World newspaper and a contributing writer for the 1995 pamphlet, Capitalisms war on women: Why the system is responsible for violence against women.

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Tapping into Lived Experiences of People in Black Communities Is Key to Police Reform Efforts – Mirage News

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From small towns to big cities, to nations across the world, people have gathered en masse to protest the deaths of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody on May 25, Breonna Taylor, who police fatally shot in her home on March 13, and the many other unarmed Black Americans who have been killed by the police. A second week of protests and rallies united against police brutality and systemic racism in the United States has brought a resurgence of attention to policy ideas that could reduce racial injustice.

Many people are protesting not only the numerous police murders of many people, especially Black people, but also the day-to-day oppression they face, says Spencer Piston, a Boston University College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of political science whose research focuses on racial and economic inequality.

Last year, Piston and research collaborators revealed that general political knowledge-what Americans are taught about the United States legal system through school curricula and media exposure-does not take into account the real lived experiences of people in communities that frequently interact with the police.

The paper describing their findings, which Piston coauthored with Vesla Weaver of Johns Hopkins University and Gwen Prowse of Yale University, describes how individual perspectives are shaped by the presence of police in their communities. The researchers hope their findings will help broaden the conventional definition of political knowledge, which ignores the experiences of people living in heavily policed communities, which are disproportionately low-income communities and communities of color.

If you start with the premise that people who are routinely oppressed by police know more about the carceral system, then we can learn from [those communities], become better advocates, and improve the quality of our actual democracy.

Were challenging the story by taking a very different approach, which is to ask the question, what happens when we look at [political] knowledge people actually have about the face of government thats most relevant in their lives? says Piston. That face is the police, or the carceral state, a term used to capture all of the ways a state can exercise control over individuals, including jail, prison, and forms of surveillance.

The researchers read the transcripts of 233 conversations that happened between Black Americans living in neighborhoods in Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Newark. These conversations were facilitated through The Portals Policing Project, an initiative started by law students at Yale University after the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager who was shot by police in 2014. The Portals-gold-painted shipping containers retrofitted with immersive virtual technologies that connect residents of different cities as if they are in the same room together-fostered conversations about policing in everyday life within Black and Latinx communities. The project has compiled the largest collection of first-hand accounts of police interactions to date, according to the projects website.

The researchers found Black Americans possess dual, contradictory knowledge about how the state should operate based on written law and how it actually operates as a lived experience, and this knowledge is a byproduct of forced, frequent interactions with the police in those communities. These interactions-some of which escalate quickly and violently-cause affected individuals to distance themselves from both the American political and carceral system in order to preserve physical safety, autonomy, and dignity.

Of the study participants, 28 percent reported being stopped by the police in the last week or month, and 39 percent had been stopped over seven times starting, on average, at 15 years old. While the number of incarcerated people is slowly on the decline in the US, stark racial disparities persist. Black people are incarcerated at a reported five times the rate of white Americans, and Latinx people account for 23 percent of inmates while only making up 16 percent of the adult population.

If you start with the premise that people who are routinely oppressed by police know more about the carceral system, then we can learn from [those communities], become better advocates, and improve the quality of our actual democracy, says Piston. I think [this paper] should change how we approach our fellow citizens. And its a start in addressing tremendous problems in our democracy in practice.

In response to the death of George Floyd, Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley has introduced a resolution to condemn police brutality, racial profiling, and the excessive use of force, cosponsored with Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar. The weeks of protests have also prompted a rethinking of the responsibilities given to the police and how they operate in society, with many protesters calling for police forces to be defunded, as well as US Senate and House Democrats to propose new plans for police reforms.

In recent decades, many reforms have been tried and failed, or even backfired, says Piston. Some reforms, such as body cameras and implicit bias training, actually transfer additional resources to police. The ideal strategy is to reduce the scope of our carceral state, and take resources, authority, and power away from police.

Already in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin, kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes, city council members have voted to dissolve their police department and recreate their public safety system.

Encouraging people to vote in national and local elections is also an essential step in using political knowledge within a democracy, Piston believes, and as essential as voting remains, social movements and political protest must exist alongside the civic duty to elect leaders who understand how to reimagine and reexamine policing as it currently exists.

I do think that voting is not enough, and many of the folks in these conversations are very aware of that, he says. Its hard to know how much things will change, but the [recent] protests provide reason to be hopeful about the future of our democracy. They are liberalizing white peoples racial attitudes, and are also placing many policy options on the table that were nowhere near consideration in a variety of states and localities.

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Tapping into Lived Experiences of People in Black Communities Is Key to Police Reform Efforts - Mirage News

3 takeaways from the first US Senate debate between Democrats John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff – The Colorado Sun

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John Hickenlooper touted his record as governor and ability to find compromise, and his rival Andrew Romanoff called for bolder action to address racial injustice, health care and climate change in the first Democratic U.S. Senate primary debate.

The differences in style and substance between the candidates became clear from the start of the 30-minute virtual event hosted Tuesday by 9News. Romanoff took an aggressive approach and staked out progressive stances while Hickenlooper played defense and answered for the state ethics commissions verdict Friday that he violated Colorado law.

WATCH: The Colorado Sun, CBS4 and PBS12 will host the second Democratic primary debate in the U.S. Senate race at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10. Watch it streaming live at coloradosun.com

The debate unfolded at a crucial point as Democratic and unaffiliated voters begin to receive mail ballots this week ahead of the June 30 primary, and the candidates prepare for two more debates in a weeks span.

Heres a breakdown of what we learned about Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor, and Romanoff, the former state House speaker, from the first debate.

In the debates opening question, Hickenlooper declined to endorse calls from civil rights activists to defund police a term that refers to reducing spending on police departments and diverting the money to social service programs. Instead, he said he supports banning the use of chokeholds and requiring officers to wear body cameras, as well as broader actions to address equal opportunity in housing and jobs.

I dont think we should defund the police, but I do believe we need to reform the police, Hickenlooper said.

Romanoff replied: Reform is not enough. We do need to shift resources and demilitarize the police. We need to invest in community services. John fundamentally misunderstands this moment just as he misunderstood what Black Lives Matter means.

The remark invoked a comment Hickenlooper made at a recent racial injustice forum. When asked what Black Lives Matter means to him, Hickenlooper replied that it means every life matters. Days later he clarified his position, saying he tripped on his words and said the same again when given the opportunity in the debate.

But Romanoff didnt let go at that point. He noted that Hickenlooper backed the unproven broken windows theory of policing when he was Denver mayor in 2006 and even hired the criminologist who led the push for the policy, which suggests that cracking down on small infractions will help reduce more serious crimes.

Romanoff said Hickenloopers approach is responsible in part for this new era of mass incarceration.

We need a new approach, and thats why I stand with the protesters in their effort to turn America into a source of equality and end the oppression that has persisted for generations and centuries, Romanoff said.

Hickenlooper touted efforts he made to address police accountability shortly after taking office, including putting in police oversight measures, but he acknowledged the efforts didnt go far enough.

MORE: Find more coverage of Colorados U.S. Senate race

Days ahead of the debate, the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission determined that Hickenlooper accepted rides in a corporate-funded private plane and luxury limousine, twice violating the states constitutional ban on public officials accepting gifts.

In his first comments on the verdict, Hickenlooper said he accepted responsibility for his actions but declined to apologize. He also didnt address the commissions decision to hold him in contempt for ignoring a subpoena to testify.

I made a commitment to travel anywhere and everywhere to try and bring jobs and created economic growth for Colorado, he said, explaining why he took a private jet owned by homebuilder MDC Holdings and rode in a Maserati limousine in Italy paid for by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on separate trips in 2018.

Romanoff said the violations should disqualify him from the race because it plays into the Republican opposition and helps U.S. Sen. Cory Gardners reelection chances.

The truth is that John Hickenlooper represents a threat that we cannot afford, Romanoff said. I believe he should consider withdrawing from this race.

Hickenlooper, whose candidacy is predicated on his electability in November, came armed with a retort against his rival.

I campaigned statewide in 2010 and 2014, difficult years for Democrats, and won both times. Andrew you havent won in what, 12 years? Hickenlooper said, referring to Romanoffs failed bids for U.S. Senate in 2010 and U.S. House in 2014. I think its clear I have a relationship with Coloradans through thick and thin and they are going to recognize these as smear tactics.

MORE: Hickenlooper makes campaign trail debut touting compromise. His rivals in Senate race say its the wrong approach.

The differences between the candidates became apparent on most issues throughout the debate.

On health care, Hickenlooper said he supports a public option to expand insurance coverage, calling the federal health care law signed by President Barack Obama a great foundation to build upon. And he defended his record working with the oil and gas industry to craft new methane emission standards.

Romanoff said he supports government-paid health insurance through Medicare for All, a plan that would dismantle the costly current health care system. On the environment, he reaffirmed his opposition to fracking and his support for the Green New Deal, a proposal to take quicker action to address climate change. He also announced support for trillions of dollars in reparations for African-Americans and Native Americans.

The candidates crystalized their viewpoints in the closing moments of debate.

Hickenlooper talked about compromise as an antidote to government dysfunction. I worked to bring change to Colorado, he said, adding a moment later: I want to take that change to Washington.

Romanoff responded with a more urgent call. This is no time for timidity, he said. We need bold, structural change to address each of the challenges we discussed tonight.

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Dr Ebun Joseph: Why Black Studies Matter In Ireland and Responding to the Murder of George Floyd – hotpress.com

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Dr Ebun Joseph, an unapologetically black Irish woman of Nigerian descent, established the countrys first Black Studies university course at University College Dublin. Here she talks about racism in Ireland, the importance of black studies and bringing an end to Direct Provision

On May 25, the horrific murder of George Floyd took place in Minneapolis. The resulting protests against age-old racism in its most visceral form have since spread across American cities. The murder of George Floyd has led to the commitment made over the weekend by the city council in Minneapolis to dismantle the police force there.

The police officer responsible for kneeling on George Floyds neck for almost nine minutes, Derek Chauvin, has now been charged with second-degree murder. The other three officers present Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng have also been charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin in committing murder and in committing manslaughter. All four officers were immediately fired from Minneapolis police force.

This appalling, naked injustice and its brutal execution have stirred collective political consciences, from Washington to Dublin to Sydney. George Floyd has become a symbol of racism and how deeply ingrained it has been in America for so long.

In Ireland, a country that is itself a survivor of colonial oppression, murals of George Floyd and slogans have appeared on walls in different cities. The children of James Connolly flocked through the streets of Dublin, Belfast, Galway and elsewhere, to take a stand against the oppression of black Americans. In the process, Black Lives Matter came into focus as the new mantra of a generation too often wrongly accused of apathy.

But does the anger sparked by the murder of George Floyd mean that racism no longer exists on our island? Not by a long shot.

Dr Ebun Joseph, an unapologetically black Irish woman of Nigerian descent, established the countrys first Black Studies university course at University College Dublin (UCD). Dr Joseph became a microbiologist in Nigeria at 20 and migrated to Ireland in 2002, at the age of 30. She focused her PhD on Social Justice and has worked her way up to become a lecturer in Trinity and UCD.She says that we sweep Irish racism under the carpet.

Our colonial past makes honest discussions around the issue doubly complicated we tend to see ourselves as the oppressed, not the oppressor. Yet the system, she says dramatically, referring to the barbaric way in which George Floyd was murdered, kneels on the necks of Irelands marginalised people, every day, frequently rendering them invisible.

Dr. Ebun Joseph hopes that the rise of Black Lives Matter will prompt sincere deliberations in Ireland, forcing us to admit that racism, in all its forms, is a global social issue and that it plagues us too.

On The Lessons of Minneapolis

Firstly, it should make us realise that racism is real, and it is bigger than we think, and if we are not addressing it if we are sweeping it under the carpet it is going to cause a lot of damage. We are in the middle of a [health crisis] that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, but what is raging now? Race and racism. I think we underestimate how important the issue of race is. If we want to learn from what happened in America, we should admit that racism is not something that just happens over there. It is right here. Here, we think, 'Oh it is American, it is in the UK.' I'm like, are you joking? Racism it is here too. Yes, we are not being physically killed, but every day when we apply for jobs people who look like me we are being discriminated against. We're being called the N-word. You are kneeling on our necks, and thats why I'm saying, we can't breathe.

On Seeing the Murder of George Floyd

I cry every time I watch it. My first reaction was sadness that we have to deal with this in 2020. For me, that video is evidence to the permanence of racism. A man puts his hand in his pocket and kneels on another human being. As African-Americans would say 'a grown-ass man, was lying on the floor and crying for his mother. He was saying, 'Mama, I can't breathe. His mum was dead. He knew he was being killed. That picture is etched in my mind. It's never going to go away.

On Direct Provision in Ireland

People are effectively incarcerated in our Direct Provision system. You know it's like Donald Trump and his wall (laughs). Direct Provision is the same idea as Trump's wall. There is a base that wants Direct Provision to exist, and the Government wants to please them. We repealed the Eighth Amendment; we have marriage equality now, because there was a political will for that; but the Government doesn't have the same will to abolish Direct Provision. Theyd rather pay billions of Euros to private companies to incarcerate people and it is a form of incarceration than to allow them to work and live in society. We are actually spending more money than we would if we were to give people autonomy to have their own lives and be a part of the community here and contribute to the system. We talk about how lockdown is hard, how we don't have our freedom but people live five/six/ten years in Direct Provision. It should make us look inside and (then) underscore the issue of race and racism in Ireland in academia, in our schools and Government. Race studies is the most under-resourced topic in Ireland. We dont believe it is a big issue here.

On the Meaning of White Supremacy

The way we imagine Ireland is that it was the victim of British colonisation, of the Irish oppression in America, but we stop the history there. We dont teach our students, our nation, that once Ireland gained independence when we became white and we became white on the backs and the necks of Africans. When we ticked that box of whiteness, we began enjoying our white privileges. Now, when we hear the word white supremacy, we think of KKK. No. White supremacy is when a white person places another white person above a black person: that's what white supremacy is to me. When you think because you're white you're superior, that's what white supremacy is.

On the Oppressed and the Oppressors

In Ireland, we think we can't be racist because we were once discriminated against. We were the oppressed. If you go and read Paula Freires Pedagogy of the Oppressed, it says, that when the oppressed is free, if they're not careful, they can become worse than their oppressors. When I tell you that the racism we experience in Ireland is of the worst kind, it is not because we are doing worse things than the rest of the world. No, we are not doing half as much they are doing. It is because, here, we still have to grapple with admitting that we have racism here. Nobody in the US would tell you that there is no racism in their country. In the UK, they agree with you if you talk about their racism. In Ireland, we can't even admit that we have racism.

On the African Scholars Association

Because we don't see many people coming out to report racism, we think we don't have it. When people don't come out to report, it is an indicator of the level of oppression within our system. People are insecure; they are afraid. In the US, people of colour, they became President, they are managers, CEOs. They're in the police force. They are also drug dealers (laughs): they are at every sector. So is the case in the UK. Here black people, Travellers, people who have a different name, who look visibly different, they are at the bottom of the ladder. So, there is no occasion for conflict. Here, black people are cleaners. Your cleaner won't confront you about your racism. They would be afraid. They know if they talk, they can lose their jobs. I set up the African Scholars' Association. I get emails from people who have PhDs in nursing, working as a care assistant. Do you understand? Im being blacklisted, they say, if we get her, shes going to bring her black activism into things. But, so be it. I am unapologetically black. Im Ebun Joseph, and Im willing to pay that price.

On the Influence of Leaders

Leadership is everything. The minute you do something or say something, you tell people that it is okay to do that or say that. Leaders are role models. Leo Varadkar made a statement just last night at about 8 pm or so, and it was not a strong statement. He forgot to mention to young people that he understands how difficult this must be, to make them feel calm. Many of us still look to Obama for leadership. He wasn't perfect, but I was still looking to read a statement from him. When Donald Trump said, 'When looting starts, shooting starts,' that is a 1968 racist comment and that's what he is teaching his people. So, people focus on the looting. Who taught people how to loot? Who taught people that looting was a weapon of war? Who taught us looting, rioting and burning? The British and the French, when they went to Africa, when they went to Benin: the first thing they did was burning beautiful houses. They looted and rioted. They taught us how to loot.

On the 27th Amendment to the Constitution

In 2004, when we took away the citizenship rights of children who are born to non-Irish parents in Ireland, what we did was create classes of citizenship, categories of citizenship. That's why (racist) people can go out and call us 'paper Irish'. [The 27th Amendment] acknowledges that there are levels of Irish citizenship. That's why even if you have an Irish passport if your name doesn't sound Irish or you have a different skin colour, they can say you're not Irish. Remember the little, black girl who did Irish dancing and they went after her. It's like Africans telling white people you can't rap because we invented rap music. So, Irishness is defined on the basis of whiteness. So, we feel if were not white, we cant be Irish.

On Feedback from Students

I was in a bad way because of George Floyd these past few days. But I got the most amazing email from a young man. I taught him in Trinity College. He wasn't part of my Black Studies course. I taught him Race, Ethnicity and Identity. I'm used to getting these emails from black students or white, female students. But I held this one so dear in my heart. He was a young, white male student. His email said, 'Thank you so much for teaching me so excellently that he's not somebody who normally gets a 70. But he wrote [his essay for me] on whiteness, the hypocrisy of whiteness. I didnt give him that topic. He chose that topic. I had to go back and re-read his essay to see what he wrote, and it was brilliant again. I tried to encourage him to get it published. When I get that email from him, thats exciting.

On Feedback from Students Part 2

Last year, my Black Studies students emailed me as part of black history month that they are running a seminar on the significance of Black Studies. I was like, 'Oh my god'. They finished the course in June and on their own in November, they were going to do that. The course taught black students how they were programmed to be embarrassed by their race. It helped them to find pride in themselves. Now, they are unapologetically black. It was a mixed class though, half-white and half-black students. What I enjoy most about it is that in Black Studies, I'm teaching students that history is not about the amazingness of whites' achievements and black slavery.

On her plan for the Institute of Black Studies in Ireland

There was also a UN resolution in 2019 that schools should teach students African history, and Africans should teach it. No one is doing that here. But I put myself behind this, and I'm going to make it happen. UCD should not take any credit for the Black Studies course. All they did was giving me a platform, and thats because I had people like [UCD Prof] Kathleen Lynch advocate it. They have no right to the glory of it. Its my sweat and blood. Im going to set up The Institute of African Studies in Ireland. All these colleges have Diversity and Inclusion officers. What does that even mean? How many of them reached out to their migrant students to see how they were doing during the pandemic? They just give themselves big titles.

On Online Harassment

I recently looked and realised that I had blocked 720 people. Do you know how draining it is to block 720 people? I think what triggers them the most is that I don't fit into the stereotypes. Im confident. One of them told me that I should be grateful that they gave me an education. Im like, no. You didnt fucking give me anything. I paid for my education.

On the Race to Deliver Her Thesis

I stayed up for 78 hours, and I submitted my PhD dissertation, because if I didnt submit that on time, I had to pay for extensions, and I didnt have the money. My body was shaking from lack of food and sleep. I jumped into my car and drove to Maynooth to print it. They couldnt print it there. I drove to the city. We had to submit it [physically] I think at 4pm. I got to UCD at 3.48pm. I was so hungry, I tried to eat, but I couldn't. And you want me to be grateful? I worked for it. I was working full-time, doing my PhD and raising two kids as a single parent. I wasn't funded by any organisation. When they tell me, we gave you these things, I'm like, then let's give them to everybody. Why are we not doing that?

On the Disproportionate Impact of the Pandemic on Women

We recently had a series of webinars, and one of them was the Gendered Face of Covid-19. You can see that we are taking all the flak. Even my son was telling me, 'Mum, I think you're actually cooking more now. When I'm going to work, I'm like: 'Guys, sort yourselves out.' But when I'm at home, I feel like since I'm not commuting, I can use that one-hour to cook and clean because women still do over 80 per cent of the work at home. I also saw that more men were publishing academic work during the pandemic. In the academic world you get promoted based on your publications and research so, what happens is that once the pandemic ends, these men are going to get ahead of women because women had to take care of the kids. You can't try to publish; you don't have time to write down anything. I'm not saying all the men, but a high percentage of them, are not taking on home responsibility. And when they do, it is called helping, and when it is called helping, that means you don't see it as your responsibility. Gender roles still negatively impact women. A vast majority of our nurses are women because it is considered to be a female profession.

On the Formation of a New Government

There are so many issues that opposition parties need to prioritise. Once the pandemic is over, we are going to try to make the health care system privatised again, and that is going to affect our marginalised groups. We're not going back to square one. We're going back to square zero. Before the pandemic homelessness was a major issue, but we saw that if we wanted to house the homeless, we could. So, parties must make sure we are not going back to having our men, women and children on the streets. Inequality of income must be addressed. I think the Government realised that the social welfare payment was not enough, during the pandemic. So, maybe it is time we had a liveable, basic income for everybody, if they need help, whether they are cleaners or consultants. Our health system serves the wealthy. Let's try to see if we can have an equal health service. Lets abolish Direct Provision and help people actualise their citizenship. These are some of the things that the new Government should prioritise.

On The Possibility of Running for Office

No way (laughs). My dad was a politician. He was like a commissioner for education and finance, different things during his life. He's retired now. He's 82. But it made me realise that politics was dirty. You get there with all those amazing ideas, and you get disillusioned. I'm an academic. I want to teach future politicians and managers. If I can change their mindset, then I can have a bigger reach and have an influence on politics.

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Dr Ebun Joseph: Why Black Studies Matter In Ireland and Responding to the Murder of George Floyd - hotpress.com

Gladstone Library responds to calls for statue to be removed and name to be changed amid BLM protests – North Wales Live

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A library named after former Prime Minister William Gladstone has responded to calls for its name to be changed and his statue to be removed due to links with slavery.

Activist Ciara Lamb said the name of the Gladstone Library in Hawarden "glorifies" the former PM and that his family, including his father John Gladstone, was "one of the largest slave-owning families in the country".

The call to change the name and remove Gladstone's statue has come in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests around the world, including a protest in Bristol which saw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston pulled down.

The library was formerly known as St Deiniols Library, but changed its name in 2010.

In 1895, Gladstone bequeathed 40,000 to the library - the equivalent to 3.31m today - and much of his own book collection can be found there.

Ms Lamb, who launched a petition to change the library's name, said it is a "symbol of oppression" and changing it would be a sign of progress which the community "so desires".

She said: "St Deiniol's Library - within recent years renamed as Gladstone Library, after Prime Minister William Gladstone - is a centrepiece to the village of Hawarden.

However, the links to PM Gladstone are now even tighter affiliated due to this name change.

"With the recent Black Lives Matter protests, a symbol of such oppression is not what our village supports.

"His history in building the library and initiating the collection of books held there are impactful yes, however the glorification of a man known to negatively impact the BAME peoples in our community cannot be celebrated.

The library is a place of great knowledge within our community and is something many of us hold dear to our hearts, the change in name would be the progress our community so desires.

A national campaign called "Topple the Racists" is calling for the removal of numerous statues across the UK, including the statue of Gladstone which stands outside the library in Hawarden.

Responding to the calls, Peter Francis, warden and director of Gladstone Library, said: "We also believe that if it is the democratic will, after due process, to remove statues of the founder, William Gladstone, we would not stand in the way. Nor, I think, would Gladstone.

"At the core of our being, we at Gladstones Library believe that Black Lives Matter.

"What matters is how we live today: our values, our democratic process and political involvement.

"William Gladstone, whose politics were strikingly different to his Tory fathers politics and values, was the first British politician to lead a left-leaning government and to institute dramatic democratic changes when he introduced the secret ballot, universal education and a foreign policy based on freedom and liberty and not the aggrandisement of Empire.

"Gladstones Library, and I should add the Gladstone family, have continued to uphold and promote those liberal values.

"As a Library, we are building our programme around the Gladstonian themes of democracy, human rights and freedom of belief and we do not mean by simply looking back at history but by reading the signs of the times and working for a more democratic, humane and tolerant society."

Mr Francis said the library is aware of John Gladstones "plantation-owning past" has "instituted a scholarship for research into historical and contemporary slavery".

He said: "William Gladstones record of public office was one of almost unequalled service.

"He was the driving force behind the emergence of the Liberal party, he was a humanitarian, one could even celebrate him as one of the founders of the modern concept of human rights.

"He was passionate about education for all rather than just the elite. He was quick to defend the oppressed whether in Italy, Ireland, Bulgaria or Armenia.

"It is a career that is worth celebrating but we memorialise it best by being politically involved, humane and tolerant."

Mr Francis said it is "undeniable" that, during the early 19th century, Gladstones father owned land in the West Indies and South America that used slave labour.

He said that, while John Gladstone received 106,769 in compensation when slavery was abolished, William Gladstone himself received nothing.

"In 1831, William did speak in the Commons in favour of compensation for slave owners," said Mr Francis.

"It was his first speech in the Commons and he was still in thrall to his father."

Mr Francis said that, by 1850, Gladstone was "a changed man" and described slavery as by far the foulest crime that taints the history of mankind in any Christian or pagan country.

"He had changed," said Mr Francis.

"Towards the end of his life, he cited the abolition of slavery as one of the great political issues in which the masses had been right and the classes had been wrong.

"He thought it was a taint on national history and politics. His change was a move towards a profound commitment to liberty and perhaps this quote exemplifies his shift: 'I was brought up to hate and fear liberty. I came to love it. That is the secret of my whole career.'

"Liberty today means countering racism, sexism and intolerance wherever we see it.

"That is where our energy should be exerted. That would be truly Gladstonian."

The University of Liverpool has said it will rename its Gladstone student halls because of the former PMs links to the slave trade.

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Gladstone Library responds to calls for statue to be removed and name to be changed amid BLM protests - North Wales Live

Tackling deep-rooted racism will take courage – The Guardian

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N

eville Lawrence is so right to say that black people are still treated as second class in Britain (Neville Lawrence: black people still second-class citizens in Britain, 9 June). I was 70 before I realised with a shock that all my life I had subconsciously regarded all people of colour as inevitably second class.

I was listening to a speech by an imam, and slowly it dawned on me. I was a liberal-minded white chap, churchgoing. I was in tears, and finally managed to get up and apologise to the imam. I fear that perhaps over half the nation feels as I did. Its not just the police. Its ingrained from 400 years ago. My great-grandfather employed slaves on his Virginia tobacco plantation. As a Jew, when after seven years he released them, fellow owners burned his barns down and he fled to Cuba.

But now at 90 I still worry sometimes over growing immigration, and the vast gap between rich and poor that one day must surely come to the boil.John MunroArundel, West Sussex

We should not be concerned with racism only in our own country. Big (mainly western) companies are dumping toxic waste in mainly low- or middle-income and non-white countries, causing illness and death. The worst example is the pesticide plant of Union Carbide Corporation, now taken over by Dow Chemical, in Bhopal, India, where the poison gas leak of 1984 is to this day compounded by toxic contamination of the water supply. Women are particularly affected, in their health, by being widowed, and by having to devote their lives to caring for children born with toxin-induced disabilities. When they applied for compensation, a Dow PR man said $500 is plenty good for an Indian. There is much talk of corporate responsibility: this should be put into practice by detoxifying the site and restoring what is left of their lives.Martin WrightLondon

The world of drama and acting is dominated by rich, privately educated white people (Drama schools accused of hypocrisy over anti-racism statements, 9 June; Gbolahan Obisesan: give BAME talent trust and theatre will thrive, 9 June). Including a proportionate number of rich black people would leave privilege largely intact. Many middle-class white parents throughout the country go to any lengths to ensure that their children attend a good middle-class white school (New UK teachers union chief: Institutional racism in schools has got to be addressed, 9 June).

These same people are often the most prominent in offering lip service to campaigns against systemic racism: their performative support diffuses and deflects from their particular privilege. Action on systemic racism will have to include class awareness if it is to be effective.Peter McKennaLiverpool

While I support the view that black history should be taught in schools, I am not sure that it should be termed black history (Calls grow for black history to be taught to all English school pupils, 8 June). It is white history as well. It is the history of empire and colonialism. It is a history of supremacy and oppression.

It is not just history either. Slavery is alive and doing very well for those who are still trading in human bodies here and across the world. I believe that we should be encouraging children to look at why and how people can become supremacists. We have a number of leaders of nations who are supremacists. History can show us whole galleries of supremacists whose beliefs have led to the slaughter and subjugation of millions of people.

We need to be taught to think about how these acts can not only be conceived of, but how it is that people can allow them to happen. George Floyds murder was an illustration of this phenomenon. How did those policemen come to believe that that act was OK?Jane DarlingHythe, Kent

I am sure all Guardian readers welcome the call for black history to be included in the schools history curriculum. But let us not forget those of us who grew up in the 1960s when the rented-sector advertising said no blacks, Irish or dogs. So let us also include the appalling period of history when Ireland was part of the UK between 1801 and 1922, my forebears language was systematically destroyed and over a million of the 8 million population died of starvation.Brian KeeganPeterborough

I am Chinese, which means I come under the minority ethnic part of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME). Our often sorry history under British imperialism and colonial rule is seldom mentioned. It needs also to be included in the curriculum. Not to do so would seem like another example of institutional and systemic racism. If black history is to be mandatory, then yellow history should be too.Dorothy ChangLondon

Is it time for an educational programme to be set up to teach the realities of the Atlantic slave trade, following the models of Holocaust education? Could there be educational visits to the forts on the West African coast, in the way that there are to Auschwitz? Are there philanthropists willing to support such innovations? Would the government provide funding?Barbara HibbertHarrogate

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Tackling deep-rooted racism will take courage - The Guardian

Hierarchical Harmony: Walking the Talk – Armenian Weekly

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We have a history of intra-communal conflict. It is not unique, but it has certainly influenced our journey. Despite the romantic notions of Vartanantz, there were Armenian feudal lords (nakharas) who did not rally behind the cause and were considered duplicitous. The absence of a sovereign state over the centuries made Armenians targets for division and disunity. Students of our modern history will note that many of the names identified by the Ittihad leadership on April 24, 1915 were offered by Armenians. This is a sad note we prefer not to discuss. We are an independent-minded and diverse-thinking people which has been a double-edged sword, particularly in the post-Genocide errors.

The attributes that have enabled our survival have also contributed to sub-optimizing that survival. This has been particularly evident in the diaspora where, prior to 1991, different perspectives on Soviet Armenia eventually led to intra-communal conflict that altered the structure of the diaspora. It was prominently manifested in the church with the administrative division in 1933-34 after months of debate, arguments and the tragic murder of the sitting Primate Ghevont Tourian. This began an era where several unaffiliated churches (that were either expelled or exited depending on your perspective) continued from 1933 to 1956 as independent churches without an allegiance to a hierarchical See. The decision in 1956-57 to seek affiliation with the Great House of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon (which until 1915 was seated in Sis, Armenian Cilicia and relocated to Antelias in 1930 as a result of the Genocide) cemented a dual affiliation in the Americas. That administrative division remains in place today with two entities in Canada, Western US and Eastern US.

The division was not limited to the church. As the most prominent institution was divided, the adjacency impact resulted in de facto alignments of certain organizations. The AYF, ARS, ARF, Homenetmen and Hamazkayin were essentially aligned with the Prelacy community, while the ACYOA, AGBU, Tekeyan and ADL were traditionally with the Diocese. The good news is that, particularly since 1991 and a common goal to help sovereign Armenia, the walls built since the 1930s are being dismantled. The emerging generation is basically ambivalent to a problem from the 1930s. Social relationships and collaboration have transcended traditional boundaries with a pan-Armenian atmosphere. The bad news is that the reality of what remains rears its ugly head displaying hypocrisy to the nation.

To illustrate this point , lets briefly identify the hierarchical Sees of the Armenian Church. For centuries, the Armenian Church has had four hierarchical Sees, each with a distinct history and responsibility. Two of the seats have had a stable geographic presence for centuries. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem was established in the seventh century when the church became a permanent part of the Christian leadership in the Holy Land. Its jurisdiction includes those churches and lands under its responsibility either singularly or jointly with other Christian denominations. It has a rich tradition and is a great presence for the Armenians in the land where Jesus ministry on earth took place.

The Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul) was founded by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1461 to lead the Armenian community in the millet system of governance. The Patriarchate has a long and noble history of service to the Armenians of the empire, but has also suffered greatly, particularly in the last 125 years, at the hands of Turkish oppression and interference. Both Patriarchates operate independently, but accept the spiritual hierarchical authority of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Holy Etchmiadzin is the birthplace of the Armenian church where the only begotten descended in 301. It is the seat of the supreme Catholicos of All Armenians. Ironically because of political turmoil and instability in the region, the seat was moved many times over the centuries, finally settling in the Cilicia region in the 11th century with the establishment of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. In the 15th century (1441), with conditions in eastern Armenia stabilizing, the seat was returned to Holy Etchmiadzin for the first time in many centuries as it continues today.

The last of the four Sees is the Great House of Cilicia, which continued after the return of the supreme Catholicos to Etchmiadzin in 1441. It began in Sivas early in the 11th century and by the end of the century was in the new kingdom of Cilicia. For nearly 400 years, the Catholicos of All Armenians resided in Cilicia. After 1441, the Great House of Cilicia continued, eventually moving to Sis administering to the needs of the Armenians in Cilicia. The Cathedral and monastic complex were destroyed during the Genocide. After Turkish nationalists retook Cilicia in 1921, the See was without a permanent home tending to the refugee needs in former Ottoman territories. The See settled in Antelias, Lebanon in 1930 on a site owned by the Near East Foundation where it remains today. The See recognizes the primacy of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin. It is interesting to note that today what most Armenians are aware of are the jurisdictional conflicts between the Holy Sees of Etchmiadzin and Cilicia, which are post-Genocide issues. For many centuries the four Sees operated with major disagreement. These matters of conflict seem to find their source in external factors (geo-politics, genocide, creation of the diaspora), but we tend to define them as internal disagreements.

A great deal has changed with 2020. The Cold War and its secondary conflicts are long gone. Armenia and the church institutions live in a free state. Our conflicts were masked for decades by larger global issues. There is no excuse for the church Sees to not resolve any open disagreement. There is a tendency to exclude the laity from these realities as if they dont exist. Coming together when the leaders deem it convenient is unacceptable. As many have reminded me, it has improved. True, but the need has increased at a pace greater than the progress. We should remind ourselves that the remaining issues are self-imposed. During the Soviet era, it was difficult to resolve issues when the church was under the control of the Soviets. Today, they are experiencing more freedom than at any point in modern history. An institution based on Christian love must lead with reconciliation and forgiveness.

In 2015, we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Genocide. There was a particularly powerful event held in Washington D.C. The Holy Badarak was celebrated with His Holiness Karekin II and Aram I. It was a beautiful sight as priests from both the Prelacy and Diocese offered Holy Communion to the faithful. The ultimate unity, the Body and Blood of Christ, was the gift of that day. As a church there is no greater statement, no reverse gear. After that weekend, several of us suggested to both the Prelacy and the Diocese that the respective Vehapars should conduct Hrashapar service in the others parishes. Break down those walls after the Holy Communion experience. Sadly we were almost laughed at. Lets not push it was the common response. How can we not expect continued Christian love and respect after sharing the most holy of His gifts? It is shameful that our church does not have the will and courage to build momentum after major breakthroughs. That day I recall many of my diocesan friends saying how impressed they were with Aram I, and for most, it was their first encounter. It reminded me of my youth in the Prelacy where I admired Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan for his courage and vision, yet our paths would not naturally cross until I decided to expand my horizon.

The leaders of the hierarchical Sees must walk the talk within their jurisdictions and provide us with a sustained sense of oneness. The days of becoming one church when it is convenient for large public issues (earthquakes, genocide, etc.) only to return to business as usual is both a turnoff and hypocritical. Today, the perception of the newly-elected Patriarch Sahag in Istanbul is still open. He gets a pass from many for the dire conditions of leading a church under Turkish oppression. The early indications are that he will be a placater to the government. In Jerusalem, Patriarch Nurhan is a strong leader who has brought stability and strong leadership to a seat that operates under challenging circumstances. Aram I is a highly respected intellectual and spiritual leader who was mentored by Karekin I of blessed memory. Aram Vehapar has been consumed by the instability of the Middle East and its impact on the Armenian communities, particularly in Lebanon and Syria. Karekin IIs popularity has plummeted after years of corruption allegations. His visibility in the public has diminished as it has been several years since an extended pontifical visit to the United States.

Our church cannot afford to offer sacraments of the church with photo ops and then return to a partitioned state. This only frustrates the faithful further from the euphoria of the Eucharist to the downside of returning to the status quo. We have the most powerful force in the universe as our foundation: Gods love. There is no need for fear. There should be courage, love and the desire to build a stronger church. All of these leaders have titles and jurisdictions, but most importantly they are Armenian clergymen. They need to look at us from that perspectiveone faithful community.

Stepan was raised in the Armenian community of Indian Orchard, MA at the St. Gregory Parish. A former member of the AYF Central Executive and the Eastern Prelacy Executive Council, he also served many years as a delegate to the Eastern Diocesan Assembly. Currently , he serves as a member of the board and executive committee of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). He also serves on the board of the Armenian Heritage Foundation. Stepan is a retired executive in the computer storage industry and resides in the Boston area with his wife Susan. He has spent many years as a volunteer teacher of Armenian history and contemporary issues to the young generation and adults at schools, camps and churches. His interests include the Armenian diaspora, Armenia, sports and reading.

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Hierarchical Harmony: Walking the Talk - Armenian Weekly

Bipartisan resistance to reining in the surveillance state – OCRegister

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Have you been on the Internet lately? Where did you go? What did you do there?

If you think the answers to these questions are nobodys business, be grateful that the House of Representatives didnt pass a new reauthorization of the governments power to conduct warrantless surveillance of Americans.

March 15 was the expiration date for three Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorities: the foreign surveillance authorities known as Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the lone wolf authority and the authority for a roving wiretap. During that same month, the House passed a reauthorization bill, and the Senate made a few changes and sent it back to the House.

While the reauthorization of surveillance authorities has often stirred debate, in the end, something was always worked out to keep the authorizations in force.

This time it was different. Privacy advocates, including the American Booksellers for Free Expression, formed a coalition to call for the adoption of a privacy amendment. It would have aligned the law with court rulings to make clear that internet browsing and search history was not to be collected under Section 215, which allows the government to peruse records without meeting a probable cause standard.

The amendment introduced by Senators Steve Daines, R-Montana, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, was replaced by a negotiated amendment that was weaker, and Sen. Wyden announced his opposition.

Opposition also came from President Trump, who threatened to veto the bill. Warrantless surveillance of Americans is wrong! he tweeted, later adding, Our country has just suffered through the greatest political crime in its history. The massive abuse of FISA was a big part of it!

Support from House Republicans who had voted for reauthorization in March fell away, and they were joined by some Democrats. Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin, said, the people of this country are over-policed and over-surveilled.

On the opposite side, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, said the privacy amendment to restrict the collection of internet browser searches was too great a risk to national security. Acknowledging that FISA authorities had been abused, Cheney said the House should still not pass a bill which would fundamentally weaken our ability to keep the nation safe.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi couldnt pull the votes together, and she pulled the bill off the floor.

The House has now referred the FISA reauthorization bill to a conference committee, where House majority Democrats will negotiate with Senate majority Republicans on a compromise version of the legislation.

Warrantless, secret surveillance of the phone and Internet records of Americans has always been unsettling, more so now that we have had multiple reports from the Justice Department inspector general documenting that the FBI and DOJ presented the secret FISA court with seriously flawed applications in order to obtain warrants for spying. Following an investigation that found 17 inaccuracies, omissions and significant errors in four applications for surveillance of Trump campaign associate Carter Page, IG Michael Horowitz looked at warrant applications in 29 other cases and found an average of 20 errors in each.

Before Americans again trust the government with the power to override Fourth Amendment protections in the name of national security, the failings that allowed these abuses to happen must be corrected.

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Bipartisan resistance to reining in the surveillance state - OCRegister

CBS 2 Chicago Wins Peabody Award For [un]warranted: A Series That Exposed Chicago Police Pattern Of Raiding Homes Of Innocent Families – CBS Chicago

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CHICAGO (CBS) CBS Chicago won the prestigious Peabody Award for [un]warranted, an investigative project and documentary exposing an alarming pattern of Chicago Police officers raiding the wrong homes, traumatizing innocent families, and, in the process, violating citizens Fourth Amendment rights.

CBS Chicago was the only local news winner of the award.

The reporting discovered that CPD officers routinely violated department policies during these raids, yet none of the officers involved were investigated or disciplined. In 2019 alone, the project included more than 25 investigative news reports and a 30-minute documentary examining the impact of these wrongful raids on families of color in Chicago. It resulted in a new state law to protect children, two city probes into how officers obtain and execute search warrants, and nearly a dozen federal civil rights lawsuits.

The police department also changed its search warrant policy to ensure more oversight and accountability and additional protections for children. Newly appointed Superintendent David Brown also committed to tracking wrong raids for the first time in the departments history.

As a result of this exhaustive, moving report, the Governor of Illinois signed the Peter Mendez Act into law. Named for a boy whose home was wrongly raided, the legislation instructs police departments to train officers on how to de-escalate force if children are present during a raid. For its tenacity, thoroughness, and impact, CBS Chicago wins a Peabody Award, wrote the Peabody Board of Jurors in its winning citation.

According to the Peabody website, Judging for the Peabody Awards is a rigorous, deliberative process based on the belief that face-to-face discussions among board members is the best possible way to adjudicate more than 1,200 entries that Peabody receives each year. The Peabody Awards judging process ensures that each and every entry receives full attention in its pursuit of excellence.

The Peabody Awards recognixed 30 programs as the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and digital media during 2019.The Peabody 30 are the best of nearly 1,300 entries submitted from television, radio/podcasts, and the web across the genres of entertainment, news, documentary, childrens and public service programming. All winners are chosen unanimously by a board of 19 jurors. The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

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CBS 2 Chicago Wins Peabody Award For [un]warranted: A Series That Exposed Chicago Police Pattern Of Raiding Homes Of Innocent Families - CBS Chicago

Contact Tracing Shouldn’t Upend 4th Amendment Protections – Law360

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By Lara Yeretsian

Law360 is providing free access to its coronavirus coverage to make sure all members of the legal community have accurate information in this time of uncertainty and change. Use the form below to sign up for any of our daily newsletters. Signing up for any of our section newsletters will opt you in to the daily Coronavirus briefing.

Law360 (June 8, 2020, 2:14 PM EDT) --

Contact tracing works by identifying where people who have tested positive for the virus have traveled and with whom they've interacted.

The intent of these programs, which have shown positive results in other countries, is to alter the trajectory of the pandemic. It's an unobjectionable undertaking, but it could end up becoming a criminal justice nightmare.

Contact tracing requires that the information of more than one person is collected. A subject who has opted to participate in the program allows his or her geolocation and proximity data to be tracked. That person's friends, colleagues and acquaintances may now show up on the government's radar screen, whether they've agreed to be tracked or not, and without any forewarning.

Without probable cause for a search warrant, law enforcement could, absent legal restrictions, use geolocation data to build a case for probable cause against a criminal suspect. Proximity data could provide police with new tools for tracking cohorts against whom there isn't reasonable suspicion, simply by using other parties' location information.

It's not unlike DNA that has been submitted to a genealogical site for purposes of uncovering one's ancestry. The person submitting a DNA sample does not agree to its use by law enforcement to track down and arrest relatives who may have committed unsolved crimes. The implications of extending the same legal sophistry to law enforcement's use of COVID-19 data to go after criminal suspects should be troubling to everybody who cares about our system of justice.

At the end of April, U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., John Thune, R-S.D., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act, whose intent is to "provide all Americans with more transparency, choice, and control over the collection and use of their personal health, geolocation, and proximity data."

The act would require covered companies to obtain express consent from individuals to collect, process or transfer their personal health, geolocation or proximity information for the purposes of tracking the spread of COVID-19. Companies would have to tell consumers how their data will be handled, to whom it will be transferred, and how long it will be retained. They would also be required to delete or deidentify all personally identifiable information when it is no longer being used for the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Covered companies those subject to Federal Trade Commission jurisdiction, as well as not-for-profit entities and common carriers would be obligated to disclose to consumers at the point of collection how their data will be handled, to whom it will be transferred, and for how long it will be retained.

They would be required to publish transparency reports every 30 days describing their data collection activities related to COVID-19 and to delete or deidentify all personally identifiable information when it is no longer being used for the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Companies would also be required to have an effective opt-out mechanism for individuals to revoke their consent for the collection, processing and transfer of personal information, and they would need to adhere to prescribed data minimization and data security requirements for all personally identifiable information they collected.

Information that is aggregated, deidentified or publicly available is not considered covered data under the proposed law. Significantly, the bill would provide no private right of action, authorizing state attorneys general to enforce its provisions.

The act defines "precise location data" and "proximity data" as a person's past or present physical location. There are important public safety benefits to tracking the location of individuals who have received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, as well as the identity and location of others with whom they've come into contact.

It's critical to understand who has been exposed to a COVID-19 carrier so that those people can be notified and can take immediate precautionary steps to prevent further exposures.

At the same time, however, the specter of Big Brother arises when we talk about tracking people's exact whereabouts. Without clear legal boundaries, geolocation and proximity data could become weapons in law enforcement's arsenal, used to track down people suspected of crimes in direct contravention of more than two centuries of protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Once the data is collected, how do we ensure that it isn't used for a different purpose?

The text of the CCDPA doesn't answer the question. Section 3(a) provides as follows:

During the COVID19 public health emergency, it shall be unlawful for a covered entity to collect, process, or transfer the covered data of an individual for a purpose described in subsection (b) unless. ... (3) the covered entity publicly commits not to collect, process, or transfer such covered data for a purpose other than the purpose described in subsection (b) to which the individual consented unless (A) such collection, processing, or transfer is necessary to comply with the provisions of this Act or other applicable laws. (emphasis added)

Notwithstanding subsection (a), a covered entity may collect, process, or transfer the covered data of an individual or group of individuals for a purpose described in subsection (b) during the COVID19 public health emergency without obtaining the affirmative express consent of the individual if such collection, processing, or transfer is necessary to allow the covered entity to comply with a Federal, State, or local legal obligation.

Relying on attorneys general to monitor and assess penalties for alternative uses of the information especially to give a leg up to law enforcement in prosecuting suspected criminals is unrealistic.

Location data could give police another mechanism for pursuing suspects, despite laws against unreasonable search and seizure. Just as with other violations of Fourth Amendment rights, evidence gathered as a result of geolocation or proximity tracing must be thrown out of court as unlawfully obtained.

Unless a suspect's relationships and location are public knowledge or are obtained through a valid search warrant, evidence obtained as a direct result of contact tracing data must be deemed inadmissible.

When society stops protecting the rights of criminal suspects, it stops protecting all of our rights.

The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the firm, its clients, or Portfolio Media Inc., or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.

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Contact Tracing Shouldn't Upend 4th Amendment Protections - Law360