(2019-03-02). Vile Racism in West Virginia GOP: Rep. Ilhan Omar Likened to al-Qaeda. commondreams.org Republicans in the West Virginia state legislature held a "GOP takes the Rotunda" event at the state capitol on Friday. As part of this event they hung a poster of the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the Twin Towers, labeled "'NEVER FORGET'—YOU SAID." Below it they placed a picture of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with the caption "I AM PROOF—YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN."
(2019-03-02). Neo-Nazi Group's Leader Is Black Man Who Vows to Dissolve It. truthdig.com Court documents suggest James Hart Stern wants to use his new position to thwart the National Socialist Movement's defense against a lawsuit.
(2019-03-02). The Dakota Access Pipeline Company Is Abusing the Judicial System to Silence Dissent. commondreams.org In a win for free speech, a federal court in North Dakota recently dismissed a baseless $900 million lawsuit brought by the Dakota Access Pipeline company against Greenpeace and a number of individual protesters. The company should have learned its lesson. Instead, it refiled the case in state court.
(2019-03-02). los angeles:courier says se ky has 87 jails and prisons county goals ignored,story hillfol. indybay.org SE KY the 2nd most poorest economy measured households in our land after the Badlands and Sioux nation in South Dakota is feeling the economic affe ts of a mix of cement, steel and glass in counties from Lechter to Leslie from harlan to Owsley.
(2019-03-02). Congressional Field Hearings Gather Stories of Voter Suppression. truthout.org Congressional leaders have begun a series of listening sessions and field hearings that seek to document the need for the full restoration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The U.S. Supreme Court gutted the VRA in its 2013 ruling in the Shelby County v. Holder case out of Alabama that ended federal preclearance of election changes in places with a history of voter discrimination, most of them in the South. | The gatherings are being organized by the House Administration Comm…
(2019-03-02). Trump blames media for twisting his words on Warmbier, issues non-apology. rt.com 
President Donald Trump has scolded the media for "misrepresenting" his words on Otto Warmbier, a US student who died shortly after his release from a North Korean jail, saying that he still holds the reclusive nation responsible.
(2019-03-02). WaPo issues correction to Covington kids story — 6 weeks & 1 lawsuit later. rt.com 
The Washington Post has corrected its erroneous coverage of the confrontation between the boys from Covington Catholic and the activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial, two months after publishing the misleading story.
(2019-03-02). Black woman sentenced to 15 years in brick beating of elderly Mexican man. rt.com 
A young black California woman charged with attempted murder over the brutal beating of a 91-year-old Mexican man with a brick has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
(2019-03-01). The Dakota Access Pipeline Company Is Abusing the Judicial System to Silence Dissent. aclu.org A federal court threw out a baseless lawsuit against Greenpeace and other pipeline opponents and the company promptly refiled the case in state court. | In a win for free speech, a federal court in North Dakota recently dismissed a baseless $900 million lawsuit brought by the Dakota Access Pipeline company against Greenpeace and a number of individual protesters. The company should have learned its lesson. Instead, it refiled the case in state court. | These meritless cases…
(2019-03-01). Activists, Banks and For-Profit Immigrant Detention. counterpunch.org JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo lend to GEO Group and CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America), for-profit operators of immigrant detention facilities under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A campaign to end these banks' financial role is underway. Autumn Gonzalez is with the Sacramento-based NorCal Resist, a migrant activist group advocating on More
(2019-03-01). Is Israel Just a European-Style Democracy but in the Middle East? globalresearch.ca Israel, in fact, is unlike any European state. It does not have a democratic government that ratifies and/or abides by international and United Nations resolutions, agreements and conventions on human and civil rights, nuclear/chemical/biological weapons of mass destruction, or conforms …
(2019-03-01). Activist Faces Prison for Climbing Statue of Liberty & Southwest Key HQ to Protest Family Separation. democracynow.org 
Last week, immigrant activist Patricia Okoumou climbed the Southwest Key building in Austin, Texas, to protest the company jailing immigrant children. Now a judge in New York will decide whether to revoke her bail from her first arrest, when she climbed the Statue of Liberty on July 4 to protest President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy. Okoumou was with the group Rise and Resist on July 4 last year as they dropped a banner from the statute that read "ABOLISH ICE." She broke away from the group and climbed all the way to Lady Liberty's left foot, where she continued to protest and refused to leave until she was a…
(2019-03-01). Cohen's Overlooked Warning — and Other Media Silences Worth Hearing. counterpunch.org 
Drawing by Nathaniel St. ClairI fear that if he loses the election in 2020, there will never be a peaceful transition of power. | — Michael Cohen, speaking to the U.S. Congress, February 27, 2019 | It's the silences — the things left out and sent down the "memory hole" — that strike me most in the United States' Orwellian capitalist and white-supremacist media. | Urban Racism as a Nonstory | Here in Chicago, the Jussie Smollett and R. Kelly cases were recently all the local media rage. By contrast, recent reports that 63 Black people have so far been exonerated after having bags of heroin and coc…
(2019-03-01). Cohen Knows What Trump Is Capable Of. His Testimony Should Terrify Us. zcomm.org On February 27, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee for six hours. In two months, Cohen will begin serving a three-year prison sentence. He pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations involving illegal hush money and falsely testifying to Congress that Trump Tower Moscow negotiations had Read more…
(2019-03-01). Lula Gets Day-Release From Prison For Grandson's Funeral. telesurenglish.net Brazilian authorities, after pressure from social movements, have granted former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva permission to leave prison in Curitiba in the state of Paraná, for his grandson's wake and funeral in Sao Paulo. | RELATED: | UN Human Rights Council To Probe Lula's Case in March | The 7-year-old grandson of Lula, Artur Araujo da Silva, died Fri…
(2019-03-01). Headlines for March 1, 2019. democracynow.org U.N. Human Rights Panel: Israel May Have Committed War Crimes in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Be Indicted on Corruption Charges, NYT: Trump Intervened to Give Security Clearance to Jared Kushner, In Peace Talks with Taliban, U.S. Floats Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal, Somalia: At Least 15 Dead in Twin Suicide Bombings, North Korea Disputes Trump's Account of Why Kim-Trump Summit Failed, Immigrant Groups Cite "Alarming Increase" in Babies Jailed by ICE, House Approves Bill to Extend Gun Purchase Waiting Period, Lawmakers Seek Interview of Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, Virginia's First Lady A…
(2019-03-01). UNF SDS wins campaign demands. fightbacknews.org Jacksonville, FL – On February 19 the University of North Florida Students for a Democratic Society (UNF SDS) held a rally speaking out against Trump's Declaration of a National Emergency to fund his racist, xenophobic border wall. About 30 students attended despite the chilly rain. Several speakers addressed the protesters about the importance of organizing on campus and opposing Trump's backwards policies. | After the speeches, students from UNF SDS marched across campus to the university president's office and occupied it until the administration met with SDS to discuss the students' demands. SDS dem…
(2019-03-01). Other People's Money, Other People's Blood: Which Trump Do We Fight? counterpunch.org Former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's incendiary testimony to the House Congressional Oversight Committee on 27 February, calling the president "a racist, a con-man and a cheat," highlighted not for the first time the contradiction between condemnations of Trump as the unwanted, kitschy, proto-fascist, poisoned flower of American capitalism — a "legitimate businessman" and global More
(2019-03-01). Former President Lula Accuses Bolsonaro of Destroying Brazil. telesurenglish.net On the eve of the carnival holiday, Senators Gleisi Hoffmann and Paulo Pimenta visited the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba, where Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is serving a prison sentence since April 7, 2018. | During their visit, Lula accused President Jair Bolsonaro of being the "destroyer" of the social and institutional achievements which the popular struggles made possible in the last decades. "There are people who are e…
(2019-03-01). 'Most entertaining war of all time'? Daily Show host slammed for joke about India/Pakistan conflict. rt.com 
The Daily Show's Trevor Noah is being raked over the coals on Twitter for a joke he made about the threat of war between India and Pakistan. Was it racist? Insensitive? Not funny? Or are his viewers just "triggered?"
(2019-03-01). Activist Faces Prison for Climbing Monuments to Protest Family Separation. truthout.org Last week, immigrant activist Patricia Okoumou climbed the Southwest Key building in Austin, Texas, to protest the company jailing immigrant children. Now a judge in New York will decide whether to revoke her bail from her first arrest, when she climbed the Statue of Liberty on July 4 to protest President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy. Okoumou was with the group Rise and Resist on July 4 last year as they dropped a banner from the statute that read "ABOLISH ICE." She broke away from the group and climbed all the way to Lady Liberty's left foot, where she continued to protest and refused to leave until she wa…
(2019-03-01). California refused 5,600 ICE requests to turn over criminal illegals in 2016-2017 — report. rt.com 
California refused 5,600 federal requests to turn over criminal illegal aliens to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), more than half of which involve charges of serious crimes like rape and murder, according to ICE data.
(2019-02-28). A Connecticut Bill Would Help Ensure That Re-Entry Doesn't Last a Lifetime for the Formerly Incarcerated. aclu.org Connecticut could be the first to make the formerly incarcerated a protected class under the state's antidiscrimination law. | This year, I moved from one city in Connecticut to a new one. On top of the usual stress of trying to find an affordable, comfortable place to live, I was burdened with extra anxiety. | Despite my success in the 12 years since being released from prison, I dreaded explaining my criminal record again. Weeks into my search, I revealed that part of my past to a potential landlord. When I did, that home's door was closed to me. | My experience is not unique. | Ninety-five percent of the milli…
(2019-02-28). In an Era of Religious Refusals, the Do No Harm Act Is an Essential Safeguard. aclu.org The bill would restore the original intent of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by making clear that it cannot be used to discriminate. | Earlier this year, the Trump administration granted a request from the state of South Carolina for an exception to a federal rule barring discrimination in federally funded child welfare programs. With its action, the administration allowed government-contracted and taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies in South Carolina to turn away would-b…
(2019-02-28). A Criminal in the Oval Office? Michael Cohen Accuses Trump of Lying, Racism & Illegal Activity. democracynow.org 
In an explosive 5-hour hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen accused his old boss of committing multiple criminal acts before and during his presidency. Cohen provided evidence that Trump had violated campaign finance laws by paying hush money to women, accused the Trump Foundation of committing fraud by using the tax-exempt organization for personal purposes, and said Trump lied when he said he couldn't release his tax returns because they were being audited. He also claimed that Trump had advance knowledge that WikiLeaks was preparing to publish a trove of e…
(2019-02-28). Salt Lake City says no to the 'National Emergency' to build wall. fightbacknews.org Salt Lake City, UT – 40 community members gathered on a cold Saturday afternoon, February 23, to protest Trump's declaration of a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border. People came out to denounce what is understood as a racist and anti-immigrant 'emergency' and border wall. They also came because of the anti-immigrant attacks that continue to happen in Salt Lake City. Police brutalize Black and brown people, family members continue to be deported and anti-immigrant white supremacist groups have started organizing on college campuses in the city. | Ella Mendoza, with the Nopalera Artist Collective, said t…
(2019-02-28). Darius James's Antic Satire of American Racism. thenation.com Darius James's Antic Satire of American Racism…
(2019-02-28). Canadian Company Profits from Apartheid Israeli Railway. therealnews.com 
Jonathan Kuttab discusses the lawsuit against the Canadian company Bombardier, which is building an illegal railway through occupied and confiscated Palestinian land in the West Bank, violating international law…
(2019-02-28). Mexico: AMLO's government expands controversial preventive detention laws. greenleft.org.au 
Mexico's new left-wing government has tripled the list of crimes that carry automatic pre-trial detention, in what President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) says is a crackdown on corruption. Human rights groups, however, have warned the move may end up funnelling more innocent people into Mexico's already strained penal system. | On February 19, the Chamber of Deputies, approved an expansion of the constitution's controversial Article 19, which allows for the automatic "preventive detention" of individuals accused of crimes such as homicide, human trafficking, rape and any violent offence committed with a fir…
(2019-02-28). Can Sanders Win Black and Trump Voters? therealnews.com 
Our panel discusses how Sanders must walk a fine line between appealing to white Trump voters and dealing with systemic racism and reparations — with Jacqueline Luqman, Eugene Puryear, Norman Solomon, hosted by Paul Jay…
(2019-02-28). Grand Rapids Police caught lying. fightbacknews.org Grand Rapids, MI — The Grand Rapids Police Department was caught lying and covering up for Captain Curt VanderKooi this week. VanderKooi racially profiled an ex-Marine and contacted ICE to detain him in November 2018. The recent Grand Rapids police investigation claims VanderKooi contacted ICE out of concern for possible 'terrorism.' | However, Michigan ACLU lawyers and immigrant rights activists are pointing out that this is a blatant lie. The FBI is the agency that VanderKooi would contact, not Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Captain VanderKooi works with both and knows the difference. | The outrageo…
(2019-02-28). Italy: Government institutionalises hatred and racism. greenleft.org.au 
It has now become clearer than ever: the Italian government coalition operates at the behest of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini and his party's racist and reactionary policies. | Since the Five Star Movement (M5S) and Salvini's far-right League (formerly the Northern League) formed a coalition government League's support has soared. In less than a year since the March 2018 general elections, their support has grown from 17 percent to 33 percent, according to the latest polls. | In the same period, support for the M5S decreased from 32 percent to 22 percent. | These figures show League'
(2019-02-27). North Carolinians Voted to End Cooperation With Trump's Deportation Force. ICE Retaliated. aclu.org The federal agency stepped up raids after sheriffs stopped notifying it about the immigration status of people arrested. | President Trump's Department of Homeland Security frequently claims to be motivated by a dedication to law and order, but its immigration enforcement tactics are often directly contrary to local communities' legal and electoral choices. | Recent raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in North Carolina were a failed attempt to achieve by force what was soundly rejected at the ballot box last November: Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. ICE targeted places and people based on democ…
(2019-02-27). It's Time to Make Sure Our Kids Are No Longer Bound, Shackled, or Locked Away When They're at School. aclu.org Congress is finally holding a hearing on the use of restraints and seclusion in our schools. | In 1998, teachers in West Virginia strapped a 4-year-old autistic girl with cerebral palsy to a wooden chair. Why? She was being "uncooperative" because she needed to use the bathroom. The girl suffered bruises and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. | In 2003, school officials in Michigan held a 15-year-old autistic boy in a face-down restraint for an hour after he had a seizure and lost control of his extremities. He died without receiving medical attention. | These are just two of many barbaric s…
(2019-02-27). dream hampton on Making "Surviving R. Kelly" & the Grassroots Activists That Helped Bring Him Down. democracynow.org 
R. Kelly was released from jail in Chicago on Monday, three days after he was arrested and charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. The charges involve four women and girls, three of whom were under the age of 17 at the time of the alleged crimes. A judge set bail at a million dollars and forced the singer to surrender his passport. Almost immediately after he posted bond and pleaded not guilty on Monday, Kelly was spotted at a McDonald's in downtown Chicago—a spot his accusers say he used to frequent to prey on young girls. Kelly has been accused of abuse, predatory behavior and pedoph…
(2019-02-27). Trump Threatens Havana With a New Embargo. consortiumnews.com Opening the litigation floodgates would harm U.S. companies and punish the Cuban people even more, writes Marjorie Cohn. By Marjorie Cohn Truthout The Trump administration is threatening to unleash a flood of lawsuits involving Cuba, which no U.S. president has ever… Read more →
(2019-02-27). Lula: Brazil 'Cannot Submit to US Imperialism' in Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com In a letter penned from prison, former president Lula Da Silva says that the U.S. and Brazil shouldn't intervene in Venezuela. He also criticized the U.S. blockade as a 'dirty trick'.
(2019-02-27). Not Even Prison Walls Can Silence Duterte's Nemesis. thenation.com Not Even Prison Walls Can Silence Duterte's Nemesis…
(2019-02-27). NAACP President's Response to Michael Cohen's Testimony Before the House Oversight Committee. naacp.org BALTIMORE — NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson issued the following statement regarding Michael Cohen's testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Donald Trump has been showing us his true colors for decades. Trump's presidency and entire career has …
(2019-02-27). Frank Chapman speaks in Minneapolis about Black liberation and socialism. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – On February 20, Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted Black liberation leader Frank Chapman. Over 50 people attended the event. | In a program entitled "The Radical History of the Black Freedom Movement," the talk began with an explanation of how capitalism was "consciously dependent," as Chapman put it, on slavery. However, Chapman insisted that an honest portrayal of Black history could not focus only upon enslavement and oppression. | "The first thing we got right was the day we started to fight," Chapman exclaimed. He furthered the point by explaining: "If you talk about slavery, you ha…
(2019-02-27). Patty Hearst and the SLA's militarist disaster. greenleft.org.au 
American Heiress: The Kidnapping, Crimes & Trial of Patty Hearst
| Jeffrey Toobin
| Profile Books, 2017, 371 pages | "Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people." With this hyperbolic declaration by "General Field Marshall" Cinque M'tume (the nom-de-plume of a Black prison escapee), the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) introduced itself to the American people in the early 1970s. | It derived its mysterious name from contrasting the "symbiosis" of a harmonious socialist society to the "parasitism" of a capitalist elite. | The political catch-phrase, and the military pretension of it…
(2019-02-27). Sanders and Systemic Racism: Did he Answer the Critics? therealnews.com 
In the CNN Town Hall, Bernie Sanders acknowledged he could have been stronger in his approach to racial inequities; he was asked if he supported reparations for descendants of African slaves — a discussion with Jacqueline Luqman, Eugene Puryear, Norman Solomon, hosted by Paul Jay…
(2019-02-27). Muslim Immigrants Sue ICE for Getting in the Way of Religious Observance. theintercept.com Muslim immigrants detained at a Florida jail made more than 20 requests — orally and in writing — for religious accommodation throughout last year. Their asks were simple: They wanted their meals to be religiously compliant, to be able to make their five daily prayers without obstruction, and to have access to basic items like prayer rugs and copies of the Quran. | The officials at the Glades County Detention Center, which doubles as an immigration detention center, ignored or denied those requests, according to five Muslim men at the facility. | Now, they're suing. On Wednesday, the men, all of whom…
(2019-02-26). Prosecutors Have the Power to Stop Bad Roadside Drug Tests From Ruining People's Lives. aclu.org Local prosecutors can play a pivotal role in preventing flawed roadside tests from jeopardizing innocent people's liberty. | Three years ago on New Year's Eve, Dasha Fincher was arrested in Monroe County, Georgia, after the deputies performed an on-the-spot test of a bag of blue substance that they found in the car in which she was a passenger. The suspicious stuff in the bag came up positive for methamphetamines. After her arrest, the judge in her case set bail at $1…
(2019-02-26). Texas Is Planning an Execution Based on Fraudulent Testimony. aclu.org Two of Texas's unreliable "future danger" experts have been discredited, but Billy Wayne Coble may be executed this week based on their faulty claims. | Billy Wayne Coble was convicted of a Texas triple homicide in 1989. On Thursday, he is scheduled for execution., , A former ACLU client, Coble's story was not a happy one before he found himself on death row. He was a Vietnam veteran who had been raised by a mother who was institutionalized for mental illness and by a father debilitated by alcoholism. But if Coble's execution goes forward, he wi…
(2019-02-26). What Does Alabama's Attorney General Have to Hide in the Police Killing of EJ Bradford? aclu.org Steve Marshall sows community distrust as he withholds evidence he relied on to decide a local cop was "justified" in killing an innocent Black man. | In Alabama, a family is still grieving after local police killed their son on Thanksgiving night after a gunman opened fire at a mall. But several months after the incident, the Alabama attorney general is still keeping the Bradfords, and the region's Black community, in the dark about critical details of what happened that night. The Bradfords and the community still don't know the identity of the Hoover Police Department officer who fired the fatal shots and the…
(2019-02-26). Incarceration Is a Deadly Health Risk: Former Chief Medical Officer of NYC Jails Speaks Out. democracynow.org 
The former chief medical officer of New York City jails has just published a remarkable new book about the health risks of incarceration. The book is titled "Life and Death in Rikers Island." Dr. Homer Venters offers unprecedented insight into what happens inside prison walls to create new health risks for incarcerated men and women, including neglect, blocked access to care, physical and sexual violence, and brutality by corrections officers. Venters further reveals that when prisoners become ill, are injured or even die in custody, the facts of the incident are often obscured. We speak to Dr. Venters and Jennif…
(2019-02-26). Editors' Pick: 28 Black-Owned Businesses on the Rise. naacp.org 
Black History Month might be drawing to a close, but the celebration of all things Black should be a year-long event. Taking into account that Nielsen estimates the Black buying power to be at $1.2 trillion, a great way to celebrate Black culture should be to put some of this money back into our communities. …
(2019-02-26). Today: In Historic Moment NAACP Rings Closing Bell on Wall Street to Highlight Launch of New Minority Impact ETF. naacp.org 
NEW YORK — February 26, 2019 — Today the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) joined Impact Shares in ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), to highlight the launch of the NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF (NYSE Arca: NACP). L-R: NAACP Economic Director Marvin Owens, …
(2019-02-26). Dallas protesters say 'Hands off Venezuela'. fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – On February 22, protesters gathered at Dealey Plaza to demand an end to U.S. interference in Venezuela. The protest was called by the Dallas Peace and Justice Center and Veterans for Peace Chapter 106. | Protesters held signs that read "Hands off Venezuela" and "No more war for oil." One banner read "Support the Bolivarian Revolution." Local activist Hadi Jawad led chants such as "Trump, Bolton, Abrams, too, we don't want your stinking coup." | One speaker suggested Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special envoy to Venezuela, should be imprisoned for his role in the Guatemalan genocide, stating, "During…