Daily Archives: February 6, 2021

Gail Somers, owner of Yahso Jamaican Grill in Keene.

Black and Brown-owned businesses are few in New Hampshire because of the states low diversity rates. According to the 2010 census, 94% of NH residents are white. There are even fewer Black and Brown-owned businesses in more rural areas, such as Keene and Peterborough. Compared to others, minority business owners face different challenges compared to their white counterparts.

The most recent and notable example of the different challenges facing minority-owned businesses was access to PPP loans. On July 3, 2020, several minority business owners sent a letter to Gov. Chris Sununu urging him to make state resources more accessible for minority-owned businesses.

The deployment of state resources has fallen short, the letter said. Black, brown, and new immigrant communities are not benefiting from the COVID-19 resources the state and federal governments have provided thus far. Major gaps exist in the dissemination of information these communities need to understand the grant process and their ability to navigate the pre-qualification requirements to meet deadlines.

The letter requested additional funding from CARES act funds specifically for minority-owned businesses. In October, it was announced that the Governors Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery was making changes to ensure equal access for businesses. But to some businesses, the changes were too late.

We did get a PPP loan, but it was very insignificant. notes Gail Somers, owner of Yahso Jamaican Grill in Keene. Im grateful for what I got, but honestly, we need more. And Im not sure what another round of stimulus will look like.

Somers emigrated from Jamaica to the United States in the 1990s. She received a degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and eventually moved up to Keene with her family. She and her family only just recently opened Yahso in May 2019.

We did very well, and Id say its a success in the making. Somers says. The business concept caught on really good. Part of it is theres nothing like this in the area. Im pretty fortunate to be part of a community thats looking for a variety in food and cuisine.

Apart from being a unique minority-owned business in majority white and rural Keene, Yahso also saw increased business from the Black Lives Matter movement. As Black Lives Matter reignited after the killing of George Floyd, Black-owned businesses saw a surge of support.

Keene itself has been the host for a few different rallies and demonstrations, and we would typically see a big crowd come in afterwards. says Somers. Thats like an immediately good thing out of that situation, just feeling that support from the people that would come out to let their voices be heard.

But because of COVID-19, business has still not been up, or ideal as Somers wants it to be. Like many other restaurants in the country, Yahso partnered with third-party delivery services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats to keep the restaurant afloat.

Yahso is a part of DoorDashs Kitchen Without Borders, an initiative to support and promote immigrant-owned restaurants.

Our business is the only Black-owned business in the area in Kitchens Without Borders, which is supporting the immigrant community in America. says Somers. Those things build awareness about who we are. And again, we get support from anyone who is interested in showing their support there.

But not all Black-owned businesses saw a noticeable increase in support during the racial justice movements. In Peterborough, Sga, a health and wellness collective, has not had much business specifically related to Black Lives Matter.

No, uh-uh. I wish. says Ivor Edmonds, co-owner of Sga, laughing when asked about any additional support over the summer. If people wanted to give us support that would actually be a very intelligent thing to do.

Edmonds co-owns Sga with his wife, Brianna Graves. Sga offers classes such as Pilates, meditation, and yoga. All of these classes were in-person but COVID-19 quickly changed that. Graves and Edmonds had to adapt like every other business.

I would say about, when looking at the numbers, it was probably about 35% of my services that I could no longer offer, says Edmonds. But the other 65%, I was able to put online and then expand.

Edmonds has had experience with business in other states as well and describes common challenges that impact Black-owned businesses more compared to white-owned businesses.

I know from Massachusetts that Black business owners have challenges with red tape. notes Edmonds. Anytime theres red tape when it comes to financing, regulation, licensure or insurance. Anytime theres red tape, youre generally going to see Black people take twice as long. Maybe I have to speak to two landlords, two banks when a white business owner only has to speak to one.

It is well known that red tape regulations disproportionately affect small, local businesses, but these regulations disproportionately hurt small, local businesses that are Black-owned as well. This disproportionate effect was easily seen in the inaccessibility of PPP loans to minority-owned businesses.

The Union Leader reported that in New Hampshire, less than 200 of the 23,000 PPP loans granted to small businesses were given to minority-owned companies, less than 1% of all the loans.

But despite the difficulties and challenges of running a minority-owned business in such a rural area, these business owners find importance in running their own business and supporting other few minority-owned businesses in rural New Hampshire.

I look at the fact that Keene is home to a pretty sizable university, Keene State College, and there are a lot of Black and Brown kids that come to school here. Somers notes. As a Black or Brown kid, student, or young adult, you really want to be somewhere where you dont stick out like a sore thumb, right?

And me being an immigrant, once an international student, I know how much it matters to get to a community and still feel some sense of belonging and familiarity. Somers continues. I think thats why businesses like mine in these rural areas add to the fabric of the community.

For Ivor Edmonds, supporting local minority-owned businesses is also about social responsibility.

When it comes to any issue of injustice and inequality, especially in an environment where most of the people here are White, its how you treat the least of you that determines how everyone is treated. says Edmonds.

Edmonds also says that people that are not already supporting minority-owned businesses are just missing out on good business in general.

The first thing that comes to mind is just quality that people are missing. Edmonds says. If you havent become a patron of the Black businesses in New Hampshire, then there is just quality you are missing. Some of the best stuff, some of the best food, some of the best experiences.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.

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Black Lives Matter. Black Businesses Matter. | The Business Journal of greater Keene, Peterborough and Brattleboro | sentinelsource.com - The Keene...

Researchers are working to preserve the history that is being made today.

COLUMBIA, S.C. The University of South Carolina is launching a new projectto showcase and preserve first-hand experience of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Last summer, the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others prompted an outpour of voices for Black Lives Matter in the United States.

Now, researchers at USC are hoping to preserve these experiences for future generations through a grant from USC'sRacial Justice and Equity Fund.

Amie Freeman is a scholarly communication librarian at USC and is helping to form Voices of SC: Black Lives Matter.

As a librarian, we sort of recognize what is going to be historically important in the long term," Freeman said.

The project is asking for those who are willing to share their experiences with the project, whether that be photos, videos, art, poems, stories or whatever else may be significant to their experience.

These are experiences that deserve to be lifted, that deserve to be documented and deserve to be preserved just because future generations are going to look back at this moment and they are going to want an understanding," Freeman said, "They will want to hear first hand from all of the people who were involved in doing this work.

Black Lives Matter South Carolinas founder Lawrence Nathaniel thinks what USC is doing is a good way to preserve their history.

Preserving the history so our next generation can have the opportunity to understand the mistakes and to understand what we all learned to help our country and our state move forward, he said.

One of the things that's really important to us is having potential participants understand that we care about them and we respect their privacy and their right to participate or not participate as they see fit," Freeman said, "Because it is a very personal decision and we want people to feel comfortable with whatever it is that they decide.

Freeman says they hope to eventually have a virtual museum experience to permanently hold these records.

Students can also earn money through the project's Student Outreach Partner program where you help recruit people to tell their stories.

To read more about the program and submit an experience, visit their web page here.

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USC looks to preserve the Black Lives Matter Movement through firsthand experiences - WLTX.com

Scenes of protests over atrocities experienced by Black people in the United States at the hands of police are etched in the minds of Black Canadians as they watched from a distance, knowing those same injustices are also being experienced on this side of the border.

When we talk about police violence in this new digital age, we are able to grieve with people down in Oakland, down to New York and B.C. etc. etc. And at the time the seeds were starting to be plated for BLM activity in Toronto, said Rodney Diverlus, co-founder Black Lives Matter Toronto.

Over the last seven years Black Lives Matter Toronto has grown from a small organization of activists to the massive movement fighting anti-Black racism that we know today. It started in the United States in 2012 following the police involved killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The shooter, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of murdering Martin sparking outage and protests in the U.S. As Canadians watched closely, it was in 2014 when Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri by a white police officer that sparked a global response. It was that moment when Black Lives Matter Toronto was born.

We organized a solidarity vigil outside of the U.S. consolidate in November 2014 and we essentially called out our community to come together to grieve and to cry. And just overnight, the next day, over 3,000 people came, explained Diverlus. Outside there, all of us huddled together, chanting Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, over and over again. It was really the seed that began all of this.

Black Lives Matter Canada is an organization with chapters across the country. It is also a movement actively working to dismantle all forms of anti-Black racism. The organization works to support Black Canadians through several programs and education initiatives such as the WildSeed Centre for Art and Activism, a multi-purpose artist run community.

Im so excited to see we shifted from a place of just like give us this, give us this to This is what we need,' said Diverlus.

2020 and Defunding the Police

After six years of organizing and activism, 2020 saw exponential support for the movement across the globe, including Toronto. Thousand took to the streets alongside BLM to protest the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis. The summer of 2020 also saw activists and their allies demanding the defunding of police and to redirect that money to supports and services for racialized communities.

We as a society have actually over relied on a carceral system to actually fix a lot of our societal issues, said Diverlus. Were not targeting poverty. Were actually sending cops just to raid communities. Were not targeting mental health and homelessness. Were actually just using the police as a band-aid solution for these broader societal issues that we know need attention.

Defund the police was a campaign used as a framework for Black Lives Matter to reimagine ways Canadians can deal with issues like police violence, anti-Black racism, homelessness and mental health.

Its asking for that to be re-shifted and for us to re-shift our priorities from incarcerating and putting people into prisons that dont actually work to actually working with communities in thinking what is it that is best for them.

The idea to defund police isnt a modern day one. Movements fighting against injustice and anti-Black racism such as Black Lives Matter have been taking place in Toronto for decades.

Black people have always resisted oppression; Black people have always resisted violence. This is a historic thing, said Beverly Bain, professor of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto.

Bain says Canada also has a grim history when it comes to its treatment of Black people. But it was in the 60s and 70s where Toronto began seeing Black people take to the streets protesting violence against their community.

In the 70s, following the shooting of Albert Johnson, people from the Caribbean and other Black communities protested this shooting and were at the head of these movements, particularly Black women, explained Bain.

Bain says similar movements in history saw success when Black people worked with other marginalize communities such as Indigenous communities.

While focusing on the livability of Black people, we also ensured that we focused on the genocide and continuing killing of Indigenous people at the hands of the state and of police as well as racialized people, she said. We see that this is a struggle we all have to be a part of and as Black people we have never engaged in struggle without some kind of coalition building with other allies who are racialized and Indigenous.

Black Lives Matter 2021 and Beyond

After the movement shook the world in 2020, Diverlus calls this stage life after the storm and the calm after protest. He says this is going to be a big year for BLM across the country.

What were going to see this year is BLM activity happening from coast-to-coast, regular sustained programs, campaigns, initiatives and not just one offs.

BLM Canada is also working to build off its organizations policy platform looking into new ideas to help promote Black people and ideas across all sectors of business.

Were moving from a place of just talking and fighting but now setting out a vision for where we need to go.

The nationwide platform will also look at how to better serve the needs of Black Canadians.

This year will also see a continued collaboration with Canadas Indigenous community. Diverlus says BLM is looking to build partnerships with Indigenous people.

How do we talk about anti-Black racism from a broader conversation of decolonizing our spaces and in recognizing when Black and Indigenous people have worked together in the past, mainly on the East Coast, we are able to accomplish a lot, said Diverlus. Its going to be a momentous year and whats even more exciting about that is its not going to stop at this year. Whatever opening we create for ourselves are things that will hopefully be of use to our community for generations to come.

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The history of Black Lives Matter Toronto and its momentous fight for change - CityNews Toronto

HAVE I EVER TOLD YOU BLACK LIVES MATTERWritten by Shani Mahiri KingIllustrated by Bobby C. Martin Jr.

THE ABCS OF BLACK HISTORYWritten by Rio CortezIllustrated by Lauren Semmer

The week I wrote this review, Kamala Harris became the first woman, first African-American and first Asian-American to take the oath of office as vice president of the United States. At the same event, Amanda Gorman, the nations first National Youth Poet Laureate, dazzled the world with her inaugural poem. Roughly two weeks before that, Bianca Smith joined the Red Sox organization, becoming the first Black woman hired to coach professional baseball. There will be more firsts before the sun sets on this day, and already Black authors and illustrators across the country are dreaming up ways to get these new accomplishments down on the page.

But which breakthroughs should they include? No matter their choices, other equally worthy facts and personalities will have to be left out, and well-informed readers will call out sins of omission. Why include Augusta Savage but not Edmonia Lewis? Angela Davis but not Assata Shakur? Huey P. Newton but not Fred Hampton? These are never unreasonable questions, but a book can have only so many pages. Besides, the Black experience is so vast and multifaceted it cant ever be contained within covers.

Shani Mahiri King (an associate director of the Center on Race and Race Relations at the University of Florida, where he is also a law professor) addresses this dilemma directly in Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter, choosing to focus on the collective power in the breadth and richness of 116 individuals. They embody an impressive range, from the early American revolutionary Crispus Attucks to up-to-the-minute figures such as Jay-Z and Chadwick Boseman.

Have I Ever Told You adopts a conversational approach. The authors tone resembles that of a patient elder addressing an attentive youthful audience. The typography may be challenging for grandparents and hopelessly analog folks (like this reader) who look forward to sharing this work with loved ones. I suspect it wont present such difficulties for digital natives and readers of more recent vintage. In contrast, the luminous color schemes will be accessible to everyone. The pages are wonderfully alive with electric hues.

King excels when he avoids platitudes in favor of quotations that reveal some crucial aspect of a notable individuals personality. I couldnt stop smiling, for example, when I came across this nugget from Bessie Smith: I dont want no drummer. I set the tempo.

Such taglines are where the illustrator, Bobby C. Martin Jr., really shines. Its easy to visualize his imaginative blends of text (and sometimes images) emblazoned on posters and T-shirts. No doubt many of us have room in our lives for his dramatic rendering of this reminder from the great artist Faith Ringgold: You cant sit around and wait for somebody to say who you are. I wasnt aware of Martins work before now. (His design credits include the June 24, 2020, New York Times Magazine cover What Is Owed and the April 2018 special edition of The Atlantic honoring Martin Luther King Jr.) Im grateful for the introduction and hope to see more.

The books narrative rhythms portray time as a river of swirling currents as opposed to points on a straight line. Kings long view of history connects the past strongly to the present, and vice versa. A mention of Colin Kaepernick expands to include Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Black athletes who bravely protested at the 1968 Olympics. A mention of Ida B. Wells sends us cascading through generations of journalists who have followed in her stead, including Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Yamiche Alcindor. In the world King has created, Jean Toomer occupies the same space as Jacqueline Woodson, and its but a small leap from Josephine Baker to Gregory Hines. At strategic intervals the narrator wisely reasserts plainly that Black lives matter.

In The ABCs of Black History, Rio Cortez (a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet) picks up a similar refrain. Black lives matter, she proclaims on the M page, emphasizing the word matter. Every breath, every dream /Every thought, each idea, each impossible scheme. In rhyming couplets, she leads readers on a journey through Black life that acknowledges pain and struggle while building confidence with examples of triumph. Its a tricky maneuver when writing for children, but Cortez pulls it off. Theres no condescending to her readers; she assumes theyll be able to follow when she tells them, for instance, that D is for diaspora. Not surprisingly, her celebration of Blackness is worldwide, as in this nod to Caribbean carnival: J is for Jouvert, when the drummers drum-drum,/from Trinidad, Grenada and Haiti they come!

Lauren Semmers illustrations are warm and friendly, rendering Black characters in a range of dynamic shades. In perhaps her best panorama, G is for Go! echoes Jacob Lawrences Migration Series, with the epic African-American journey from South to North spreading across two pages along a serpentine railroad track, on top of which stream passenger cars crammed with Black dreamers and strivers. Another strong sequence is simple, subtle and moving: Behind Cortezs words L is for love. L is always for love, Semmer has placed portraits of the actor-activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, the Stonewall activist Marsha P. Johnson, and Mildred and Richard Loving, among others.

Like Have I Ever Told You, The ABCs of Black History takes an imaginative view of time. Protest placards from earlier eras with messages such as I Am a Man and Separate Is Not Equal are placed alongside contemporary slogans such as Hands Up Dont Shoot and We Cant Breathe. On one particularly cool layout, Gwendolyn Brooks recites her poetry just inches from DJ Kool Herc, spinning jams on his wheels of steel. With such creativity at our disposal, Cortez and Semmer seem to suggest, full equality for African-Americans is not only possible but inevitable.

I am heartened by the daily scroll of parents and educators (not all of them Black!) proudly showing off on Instagram and Pinterest the libraries theyve compiled for the young Black readers in their lives. Such posts should be required viewing for any employees of publishing companies who still dare to question whether sufficient readers exist for books with African-American themes. Publish volumes like these and they will surely come.

Jabari Asims books for children include Preaching to the Chickens: The Story of Young John Lewis and A Childs Introduction to African-American History.

HAVE I EVER TOLD YOU BLACK LIVES MATTERWritten by Shani Mahiri KingIllustrated by Bobby C. Martin Jr.80 pp. Tilbury House. $17.95.(Ages 9 to 12)

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2 Picture Books Celebrate the Poetry and Promise of Black Lives - The New York Times

Dion Diamond grew up in Petersburg, Va. a totally segregated town for the first 18 years of his life.

But he refused to be limited by that world view, and in 1959 took matters into his own hands, staging his own personal sit-in.

I would go into the local five and dime store, go to the white-only lunch counter, only to be told I couldnt be served, and I would sit, Diamond said at an event Thursday sponsored by Easton, Weston and Redding organizations to kick off their Black History Month programming.

And while hes seen progress with desegregation throughout the country, and noted that Black politicians and police chiefs now serve in places where he was once arrested for protesting and more integrated families are on television, he cautioned there remained work to do.

If you look at racial issues today, dont think that we have made it to the promised land, he said. Youve got to carry the torch again and take it down the road a wee bit more.

Diamond was one of three early civil rights activists known as Freedom Riders who spoke at Thursdays event. The other panelists were Charles Person, who was on the first Freedom Ride, and Joan Browning, who was expelled from her white womens college for attending a Black church and was on one of the last Freedom Rides.

The Freedom Riders were civil activists who rode interstate buses throughout the South during the spring and summer of 1961 to show that a 1960 Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal to segregate public buses, bus terminals and restaurants serving interstate buses wasnt being enforced.

The rides began in May 1961 and lasted seven months. The Interstate Commerce Commission ultimately issued new regulations with fines of up to $500 that eventually ended segregated bus facilities.

The Freedom Rides were important, Person said. It was one of the first major campaigns where, in the end when the edict was passed, it affected every state in the union. That was a good thing because you didnt have to replicate it in each state like we had to do in the sit-ins.

Person got involved while he was studying at Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta. Before the rides, he was involved in the sit-ins, marches and boycotts. He was arrested in February 1961 and spent 10 days in solitary confinement for singing too loud, he said.

Person said he was trained in nonviolence tactics and so readily applied for the Freedom Rides when the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, asked for student volunteers.

At that time, I would have volunteered to go anywhere, any time, to fight segregation, he said.

He was beaten during the first ride in Alabama; the damage included a lump the size of his fist at the base of his skull he carried until it was surgically removed in 1996.

He also said he soon learned the other bus on the ride had been stopped by white protesters and Ku Klux Klan members who smashed the windows, beat the riders and threw a firebomb into the bus.

Diamond was also among the first Freedom Riders. He continued fighting segregation while attending Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, D.C., which itself wasnt segregated so the students focused on civil rights activities across the river in Virginia. After successful sit-ins and protests, Diamond said he signed up for the Freedom Rides.

On May 24th of 1961, I left school thinking I was going to be gone on a long weekend, he said. That long weekend lasted two years and three months. That was the bus that went into Jackson, Mississippi, from Montgomery.

He was arrested in Jackson.

Once he was released, he stayed to register voters in Mississippi and did sit-ins in Maryland. He was arrested again in Louisiana and charged with seven different crimes as he tried to recruit students to help with voter registration.

I was charged with criminal anarchy. They said that I was trying to overthrow the government of the state of Louisiana, Diamond said. In fact, now that I think about it, I was guilty of that. That state had laws that said segregation was legal and thats what I was trying to overthrow.

All three speakers said activism is built on the work of those who came before, both for them in the 1960s and with Black Lives Matter today.

We didnt come out of nowhere, Browning said. We came out of a long history of resistance.

They said it was important to know the history and build on that.

Dont forget where the history of our country is, Diamond said. Please keep trying to get equal rights for all of us.

They also offered advice for young people organizing Black Lives Matter events: marching designated routes that return to the starting point so participants can return home safely; not having events at night, and making sure there is a clear mission so people know what you stand for. They also cautioned against people trying to hijack the movement.

They said there was a strong sense of community among the Freedom Riders that was fostered from their training and time together which, they said, isnt apparent in some movements around the world today where people organize online.

I would have died for the other Freedom Riders and they would have died for me, Browning said.

Within Connecticut, they said its important for affluent communities to address disparities, especially in terms of schools where they can ensure students have access to the same quality of resources and technology.

Wiley Mullins, one of the events leaders, said the Freedom Riders visited Darien and Bridgeports high schools on their last visit to Connecticut in 2017.

Theres an absolute stark difference, yet all of those kids are asked to compete in the same room, Mullins said.

Browning said her answer for why she, as a white woman, decided to join the Freedom Rides, makes the same point.

Were all limited by not taking advantage of all the skills and all the resources and developing the children to the best they can be, she said. Its not doing something for the less advantageous, its doing something thats good for all of us.

kkoerting@newstimes.com

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'Carry the torch:' Freedom Riders reflect on civil rights and Black Lives Matter movements - CT Insider

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The Port Authority of Allegheny County on Friday filed a motion seeking to stay a federal court injunction while it appeals the decision that found prohibiting employees from wearing Black Lives Matter masks was unconstitutional.

In the filing, the agency wrote that the court disregarded Port Authoritys interest in protecting its captive customers from political or social protest messages.

The appeal will go to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The authority implemented a uniform policy prohibiting employees from wearing masks of a political or social protest nature following widespread protests over the death of George Floyd in May. Weeks later, after increased scrutiny by employees and community protests, the authority implemented an even more restrictive policy, allowing employees to wear only four approved types of masks: one with the agencys logo, the union logo, solid blue or black, or a surgical N95 mask.

Employees with the authoritys Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 filed a federal lawsuit against their employer on Sept. 30, alleging the policy violated their constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection.

On Jan. 19, U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan ruled on a motion for an injunction in favor of the employees. He found that the authoritys policy banning political speech was arbitrary and overly broad.

The ruling enjoined the authority from enforcing its mask policy.

In its filing Friday, the authority alleges that Ranjan erred in several important respects.

Authority attorneys said the court committed reversible error in performing the balancing test to weigh the agencys interest in prohibiting employees social protest speech and serving customers.

In its motion, the authority said it was entitled to consider the potential disruption caused by allowing employees to wear Black Lives Matter masks.

In addition, they alleged the court failed to recognize that the authoritys customers are a captive audience and that, under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, transit agencies can lawfully prohibit political advertisements to avoid imposing the blare of political propaganda upon their captive customers.

Further, the authority argued that Ranjans decision eliminated the agencys right to prevent anticipated disruption.

Although there was testimony indicating there was no public disruption of service over the masks, the lawyers wrote that doesnt mean there wont be in the future. They noted that because of the covid-19 pandemic, ridership declined more than 70%.

The practical effect of the courts ruling was to require Port Authority to prove that its employees speech had already caused actual disruption, and not just that the speech was reasonably likely to cause disruption, the motion said. In fact, the court went so far as to suggest that Port Authority should (1) eliminate its uniform policy and (2) discipline its employees on a casebycase basis after their speech has disrupted Port Authoritys operations.

To get a stay pending appeal, the authority must show it has a strong likelihood of success on the merits, that it will suffer irreparable harm without a stay and that it serves a public interest.

An attorney for the union employees did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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Port Authority asks to stay injunction permitting Black Lives Matters masks while it seeks appeals - TribLIVE

INDIANAPOLIS After a summer of Black Lives Matter protests, Republicans at the Indiana Statehouse introduced a slew of bills aimed at relieving the strife and civil unrest of business owners and law enforcement.

We had businesses that were destroyed in downtown Indianapolis and those owners really were helpless, Sen. Michael Young, who chairs the Corrections and Criminal Law committee, said Tuesday.

The committee discussed and heard testimony for Senate Bills 187, 198 and 199 that seek to create a policy statement on historic monuments, enhance rioting penalties and expanded self-defense protections, respectively. Bills 198 and 199, both authored by Young, R-Indianapolis, were held back for further amendments but had testimony.

Senate Bill 187, by Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, passed unanimously with no opposition.

Guy Relford, founder of the gun rights group 2A Project, spoke on SB 199, which expands the definition of reasonable force in relation to self-defense. Under the bill, business owners can defend their properties from threats of violence with reasonable force which includes pointing a loaded or unloaded firearm.

Under Indiana code its a crime to point a firearm at someone unless youre justified in using reasonable force, Relford, an attorney, said. The problem what (is) when one is defending their property, theyre not only talking about their home. Were talking about property other than their home (which) could be a business.

Relford said that current law would make protecting your business with a loaded firearm a felony or a misdemeanor if using an unloaded firearm.

Michael Moore, the assistant executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council, worried the bill would encourage citizens to act as law enforcement officers.

Young said the above issue would be examined and possibly addressed by amendment next week.

Youngs other bill, SB 198, had over an hour of testimony and opposition from both public defenders and prosecutors. He said he crafted the bill to protect the rights of peaceful protesters but wanted to send a message to those who destroyed property.

But other committee members worried about how the lengthy bill would impact Hoosiers without foreknowledge of any crimes.

The unlawful assembly definition as we discussed here is kind of confusing and its very broad, Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, said. You may have a group that comes to peacefully demonstrate something and all of the sudden somebody in that group spontaneously committed some(thing) that turned into a melee. Now all of the other people who come to this demonstration can be charged.

Taillian noted that, under this law, everyone at the D.C. riots on Jan. 6 would be held responsible for the five deaths that occurred, possibly even law enforcement officers who underestimated the crowd.

Moore said his organization had serious concerns about the bill, its impact on the right to assemble and its denial of bail to those charged with crimes.

The bill essentially ignores the root causes of why people protest; it goes to the aftereffects of when some people turn and riot its important to understand that riots dont happen first, protests do, Moore said.

Moore said that looting, vandalism, battery and criminal mischief already had penalties under criminal code. Requiring people to leave a rally turned violent or report the crimes was unprecedented and could be used to criminalize bystanders and observers.

We have concerns that this is a wide net that could encompass a lot of people and make them a criminal when in fact they were a bystander, Moore said.

Tallian wondered if the bill could be used to prosecute journalists reporting on riots and other legal observers.

David Powell, the executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, similarly opposed the bill and its limits on prosecutorial discretion by allowing the attorney general to step in and press charges if local prosecutors refused to do so.

We just dont see a need for this, Powell said. We can live with a lot of it, but there are things that need to be cleaned up.

Young said amendments to both of his bills would be considered in the upcoming weeks.

The bills authors, Young and Koch, both said the summers events inspired the bills, though a report found that 93% of Black Lives Matter protests were peaceful and just 7% qualified as riots.

The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which conducted the analysis, found that counterforces against protesters, such as armed military officers or militia groups, played a role in escalating the violence seen at protests.

The IndyStar wrote that Indianapolis businesses reported more than $2 million in damage and Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears charged 27 people out of the 100-plus arrested.

Originally posted here:

Bills filed to counter Black Lives Matter protests - The Herald Bulletin