(2019-08-08). What America Can Learn From Dick Gregory. truthdig.com 
One afternoon in New York City in the spring of 1964, I marched at the head of a small civil rights demonstration, one of the few white people in the group. I was carrying a watermelon. It was a Dick Gregory joke. | To say the least, not everyone liked that joke, but I thought it was hilarious, a jab by the hottest comedian in the country at one of the oldest racial stereotypes. Some of the black demonstrators in that little parade felt that Gregory's version of guerrilla theater (in which I was a bit…
(2019-08-08). UNRWA Accusations: (Im)Perfect Timing. counterpunch.org 
A damaging internal report has cast a dark shadow over the ethical behavior of top officials of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). As disclosed by Al Jazeera and AFP, the report cites "credible and corroborated reports" that members of an "inner circle" at the top of UNRWA, including Swiss Commissioner-General Pierre Krà§henbàºhl, have engaged in "sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives." The report was sent to UN Sec…
(2019-08-08). Why Do We Hate Immigrants? thenation.com Why Do We Hate Immigrants?
(2019-08-08). Headlines for August 8, 2019. democracynow.org U.N. Scientists Warn Rapid Global Warming Threatens Food Supply, 680 Mississippi Poultry Workers Arrested in Massive Immigration Raid, ICE Raids Targeted Company Whose Workers Won Discrimination Lawsuit, Trump Visits Dayton and El Paso, Sites of Weekend Mass Shootings, El Paso Protesters Link Trump's Racist Rhetoric to Gunman's Manifesto, Trump Supporter with Loaded Pistol, Knife Arrested Outside El Paso Immigrant Center, Trump Suggests Antifa Shares Equal Blame for Deadly Violence, Democratic Presidential Candidates Say Trump Enables White Supremacists, SPLC: State Department Employee Secretly Worked as White Na…
(2019-08-08). Denver's City Council, Led by Democratic Socialist, Stuns For-Profit Prison Operators by Nuking Contracts. theintercept.com It wasn't about pulling money from the halfway houses but from "organizations that put kids in cages, run concentration camps," said one council member.
(2019-08-08). 7 Colombian Soldiers Sentenced For Extrajudicial Killing. telesurenglish.net Seven members of Colombia's armed forces were sentenced Thursday, to 34 years in prison for carrying out an extrajudicial killing. The sentence overturned a ruling last year that absolved the troops of responsibility. The killing was part of the 'false positives' scandal, whereby civilians were murdered and then dressed in guerilla uniforms so that soldiers could claim rewards. | RELATED: | One Sector Blocks Peace in Colombia: Ex-FARC Guerrilla Leader | In 2006, seven soldiers k…
(2019-08-08). 350.org on Exxon Attempting to Pressure Witnesses in New York AG Climate Fraud Lawsuit. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-08-08). The real threat to free speech. greenleft.org.au 
#Folau was still trending on Twitter in Australia on August 7 as the endless whining — amplified by the corporate media — about sacked rugby player Israel Folau allegedly having his freedom to express his bigoted hate speech restricted persists. | Meanwhile, some very serious threats to free speech are going under-reported. | That same day, the High Court reversed former public service worker Michaela Bannerji's successful worker's compensation case. | Bannerji was sacked in 2013 for posting mild criticisms of Australia's inhumane offshore detention of asylum seekers. Her Tweets were not posted under…
(2019-08-08). The hidden refugee 'hell' in Melbourne. greenleft.org.au 
Located in the suburb of Broadmeadows, Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) has been described as a "hidden hell for refugees". | Addressing a forum organised by the Refugee Action Collective (RAC) on August 5 by video message, Iraqi refugee Ali Yousuf, who was previously in MITA and is now in an Adelaide detention centre, said MITA guards regularly provoke people, seeking any reaction as an excuse to attack them. Yousuf suffered a broken hand when assaulted by a guard. | Yousuf said that detention is a waste of money that could be spent on helping the sick and people with disabilities. | He said th…
(2019-08-07). Cyntoia Brown released from prison after serving 15-years of a life sentence. peoplesworld.org 
Cyntoia Brown was released Wednesday morning from the Tennessee Prison for Women after serving 15 years of a life sentence. Brown was originally convicted in 2006 for killing a Nashville real estate agent — she was only 16 at the time. Brown's legal team has maintained that she acted out of self-defense and that Brown …
(2019-08-07). Texas Police Captured Leading Black Man Through Streets on Rope. truthdig.com Galveston police Chief Vernon Hale III has issued a public apology for the officers' behavior. Civil rights leader say it's not enough.
(2019-08-07). Chelsea Manning jailed for a YEAR for refusing to testify against Assange. rt.com 
Refusal to testify against WikiLeaks is costing whistleblower Chelsea Manning over $400,000 in fines and another year in jail, after a federal judge ruled that she must pay for what he called contempt of court.
(2019-08-07). Headlines for August 7, 2019. democracynow.org Dems and Grieving Communities Voice Resistance to Trump Visits to El Paso and Dayton, FBI Investigating Gilroy Mass Shooting as Domestic Terror, Dems Call on Congressional Leaders to Pass Bills Addressing White Supremacy, Civil Rights Groups Rally Against Gun Violence and White Supremacy at White House, Walmart Workers Plan Walkout to Protest Gun Sales, Toni Morrison, Visionary Author and Nobel Laureate, Dies at 88, Nigerian Journalist and Political Activist Omoyele Sowore Arrested After Calling for Revolution, U.S Warns Turkey Against Syria Attacking Kurdish Forces in Syria, 25% of World's Population Under "Extr…
(2019-08-07). Toni Morrison's Black Art Spoke in a Nation That Would Silence Us. truthout.org | | "To create art amid sorrow or oppression is to insist on excavating meaning from the dull senselessness of pain. It is to be alive and speaking back. Art dives headfirst into the uncharted perils and delights of the human condition. For people whose humanity is often denied, taking that plunge with an audience is inherently rebellious." —Hannah GiorgisMy mother called to tell me T…
(2019-08-07). Brazil's PT Warns Lula Prison Transfer Is Political Persecution. telesurenglish.net The substitute judge of the 12th Federal Court of Curitiba Carolina Lebbos decided Wednesday morning to transfer former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from a federal jail in Curitiba to a prison in the state of Sao Paulo. | RELATED: | 'Resistance Caravan' Travels Brazil in Support of Lula | A few minutes after this information was released, the Worker's Party (PT) president Gleisi Hoffmann explained that such ruling did not respect the request made by Lula's lawyers, who had asked…
(2019-08-07). 17 million U.S. voters purged from voter rolls. nationofchange.org A new report published by the Brennan Center for Justice has stated at least 17 million people were removed from voter poles between 2016 and 2018. This report also shows a particularly significant increase in purged U.S. voter rolls in states with a history of racial discrimination. "As the country prepares for the 2020 election, …
(2019-08-07). Trump's Housing Department Is Making It Harder to Fight Discrimination. truthout.org | | In 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to a $175 million settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations that its lenders unfairly steered homeowners in Black and Latino communities into subprime mortgages. The company denied any wrongdoing, but former employees described a lending "machine" that saddled people of color in Maryland and several other states with j…
(2019-08-07). House Committee Sues to Force Don McGahn to Testify. truthdig.com WASHINGTON—The House Judiciary Committee took another step toward possible impeachment proceedings, filing a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday aimed at forcing former White House counsel Donald McGahn to testify about his interactions with President Donald Trump. | McGahn was a star witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation who — under Trump's orders — has refused to testify before the panel. The Democratic lawsuit challenges the White House rationale that McGahn and other witnesses have "absolute immunity" from appearing and can defy subpoenas. | The legal action comes at a…
(2019-08-07). UN Security Council 'utterly failed' Syrian detainees; a victim voices her plea to 'end impunity and stop this horror'. un.org The Security Council has "utterly failed Syrian detainees and their families", Amina Khoulani, Co-founder of Families for Freedom, told the Security Council on Wednesday, during a meeting focussed on those who have been jailed or gone missing across Syria, during years of brutal conflict.
(2019-08-07). Cyntoia Brown, Symbol of Unfair Sentencing, Is Freed From Prison. truthdig.com 
She won clemency after celebrities rallied for her release as she served a life sentence for killing a man who picked her up for sex at 16.
(2019-08-07). After Demands for Justice Drove Her Clemency, Cyntoia Brown Released From Prison. commondreams.org Sex trafficking victim spent roughly half her life in prison | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/cyntoia-brown-released.jpg …
(2019-08-07). Selected Articles: The US-China Trade War. globalresearch.ca Online independent analysis of US-led wars, rampant corruption, corporate greed, civil rights and fraudulent monetary transactions is invariably relegated to the bottom rung of search engine results. | As a result we presently do not cover our monthly running costs which …
(2019-08-07). #WhiteSupremacyKills: 100+ civil rights groups rally to reject GOP's excuses for massacres and demand concrete action. nationofchange.org 
More than 100 civil rights groups rallied outside the White House Tuesday to unequivocally state that white supremacy, easy access to guns, and indifference from policymakers about both were to blame for the massacres in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend. Gun control and racial justice advocates assembled in the nation's capital …
(2019-08-06). Labour-controlled Tower Hamlets council refused to host Palestinian charity event, citing "anti-Semitism" fears. wsws.org The decision is a blatant attack on free speech and confirms that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism provides a mechanism for censoring, silencing and even criminalising individuals and organisations that oppose Israel's brutal suppression of the Palestinians, while slandering the entire left as "anti-Semitic."
(2019-08-06). Judge lets bribe-taking UAW bureaucrat Norwood Jewell off with a slap on the wrist. wsws.org The former head of the union's Fiat Chrysler department was sentenced to 15 months in a minimum-security prison for his role in the illegal bribery scheme.
(2019-08-06). All States have 'primary responsibility' to protect against hate attacks. un.org The UN's top rights official has added her voice to condemnation of the weekend mass-shootings in the cities of El Paso and Dayton, insisting on Tuesday that "not just the US, but all States" should do more to stop discrimination.
(2019-08-06). Trump, Republican Party Sue Over California Tax Return Law. truthdig.com The rule requiring presidential candidates to release such data to run in the primary is "a naked political attack" on Trump, lawsuits say.
(2019-08-06). #WhiteSupremacyKills: 100+ Civil Rights Groups Rally to Reject GOP's Excuses for Massacres and Demand Concrete Action. commondreams.org More than 100 civil rights groups rallied outside the White House Tuesday to unequivocally state that white supremacy, easy access to guns, and indifference from policymakers about both were to blame for the shootings. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-08-06_at_2.44.10_pm.jpg …
(2019-08-05). Stuck abroad: U.S. child begs Trump and Congress to save his life. peoplesworld.org 
On Sun., July 7, 2019, Egyptian authorities arrested a U.S. citizen, Reem Desoky, and her child, Mustafa Hamed, when they arrived at the airport in Cairo. The mother and her son live in Lancaster, Penn. Reem was sent to jail and Mustafa was given to his uncle Noor Desoky. Reem was arrested over Facebook posts, …
(2019-08-05). New Civil Rights Memorial to be installed on 54th anniversary of Voting Rights Act. splcenter.org Jimmie Lee Jackson was beaten and shot by Alabama state troopers during a peaceful voting rights march on Feb. 18, 1965.
(2019-08-04). Biden His Time. workers.org 
This column by political prisoner and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal was posted on Prison Radio.com on July 24. The candidacy of Joseph R. Biden Jr. for President of the United States has caused multiple reactions across the land. Biden, who enters his 77th year of life, draws warm feelings from Blacks . . . | Continue reading Biden His Time at Workers.org
(2019-08-03). 'You don't have any rights': CBP agents interrogate US citizen and seize his phone after Venezuela solidarity trip. thegrayzone.com The detention of a US citizen returning from Venezuela was an apparent extension of the US government's efforts to punish…
(2019-08-03). United Church of Canada should Come Clean on Anti-Palestinian Accord. dissidentvoice.org Toronto church Trinity-St. Paul's shameful suppression of a Palestinian youth cultural event highlights anti-Palestinian rot festering in the United Church of Canada. It ought to also shine a light on a little discussed anti-Palestinian accord UCC leaders signed with Israel lobby groups five decades ago. Under pressure from B'nai B'rith and the Jewish Defence League …
(2019-08-02). The Lines Between Us: The Modern History of Baltimore Apartheid (2/2). therealnews.com 
In part two, Lawrence Lanahan says the fight for fair housing did not end after the civil rights movement.
(2019-08-02). "You're Gonna Kill Me": Bodycam Video Shows Dallas Officers Mocking Man as He Died Pinned to Ground. democracynow.org 
In August 2016, 32-year-old Tony Timpa called 911 to ask for help. Timpa had schizophrenia and depression, and was off his medication for schizophrenia. Timpa told the Dallas dispatcher that he was scared. The police responded, and within 20 minutes Timpa was dead. For the past three years, the city of Dallas has fought efforts to release police bodycam footage showing what happened, but the video was finally released this week after a prolonged legal battle. The shocking video contains disturbing footage, with officers arriving on the scene where Timpa was already handcuffed by a private security guard. In the v…
(2019-08-02). Update: Devonia Inman's Chance to Prove His Innocence. theintercept.com More than eight years after DNA evidence revealed the state of Georgia sent the wrong man to prison for murder, Inman may have a chance to prove his innocence.
(2019-08-02). Boycott HP products to show solidarity with Palestinians. greenleft.org.au 
Not many people know about the role of IT giant HP in Israel's grave violations of Palestinian rights and its system of military occupation, racial segregation and oppression. | Just as many companies profited from the South African Apartheid regime, HP is today profiting from Israel's apartheid policies towards Palestinians. It supplies Israel with technology, equipment and information that is used in its ongoing violations of Palestinians' rights. | July marked a year since Israel adopted its Jewish "nation-state" law, giving constitutional status to its apartheid policies towards Palestinian citizens of Israel…
(2019-08-01). 2nd Dem Debate Pt 2: Takes on Police Reform, Shows Divide on Criminal Justice (2/4). therealnews.com 
Julian Castro demands police accountability for first time in a presidential debate while candidates attack each other over their mass incarceration policies. With Kimberly Moffitt, Jacqueline Luqman, and Marc Steiner as host…
(2019-08-01). "You're Dipping into the Kool-Aid": Booker Accuses Biden of Helping Drive Mass Incarceration. democracynow.org 
In one of the most heated exchanges of the debate, Senator Cory Booker criticized Joe Biden's role in backing several key crime bills during his time in the Senate. Biden fought back, attacking Booker's record as mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
(2019-08-01). receiving our inheritance.jpg. progressive.org A legendary civil rights organization comes face-to-face with white supremacy—again.
(2019-08-01). Inside the Hive Mind. progressive.org After several years submerged in violent prison racism, I became a fascist.
(2019-08-01). Inside the Hive Mind. progressive.org After several years submerged in violent prison racism, I became a fascist.
(2019-07-31). Los Angeles demands justice for Anthony Vargas — #JailKillerCops! liberationnews.org 
On July 27, over 60 members of the Los Angeles community gathered outside the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to celebrate the life of Anthony Daniel Vargas, who would have been celebrating his 22nd birthday that day.
(2019-07-31). Oklahoma Victims Compensation Program Disproportionately Denies Funds for Black Victims. aclu.org Data shows that Black victims are often denied compensation for the very same crimes as committed against white victims, who did receive compensation. | Tiras Johnson, age 23, was unarmed when he was shot and killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His family was devastated by his death, and they were struggling to pay for Tiras' funeral. Like many victims' families, Tiras' mother applied for financial compensation through the Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Act in order to cover his funeral costs, but instead received a surprising response in the mail. | The letter, addressed to Tiras' mother, Netarsha, explained that h…
(2019-07-29). Supreme Court Order No 'Big Victory' For Trump's Border Wall. The Fight Continues. aclu.org The Supreme Court has not yet decided the case, or given Trump's abuse of emergency powers the stamp of approval. | Late Friday evening, the Supreme Court gave the Trump administration a temporary green light to begin construction of the border wall using military funds Congress denied. The order, while temporary and limited to specific wall projects where fencing already exists, threatens to permanently damage border communities, the environment, and our Constitution's separation of powers. | But it's not the "big victory" President Trump q…
(2019-07-26). Family of Herbert Lee to visit Civil Rights Memorial that honors his sacrifice. splcenter.org Clifton Franklin was a high school football running back who — at 16 — wanted to play in a big game between Louisiana rivals. His mother, however, had other plans.
(2019-07-26). When Kicking Around an Orange Gets You On Probation. aclu.org I was in 8th grade. I just didn't want to get in more trouble, so I signed the papers, like I was told to. | I was in 8th grade when it happened. I'll never forget the feeling of those cold, clanky pairs of metal constraints. I was being handcuffed in front of my friends and classmates. | As a lot of middle school students do, I was fooling around with my friends outside at lunch. We found an orange and started kicking it around like a soccer ball. It turns out I picked a bad day to fool around, and a bad person to tick off. A school resource officer — basically a cop — was stationed in the cafeteria,…
(2019-07-25). This County Criminalized Students for Bad Grades — Until Now. aclu.org Today, we filed a landmark settlement that will end the relationship between the probation department and school districts in Riverside. | Since 2001, the Riverside County, California probation department has been needlessly funneling young people struggling with grades, behavior, trauma, and mental health into the criminal justice system. | This direct line to the criminal system is the product of a partnership between local school districts and the county probation department called the Youth Accountability Team (YAT). Instead of counselors or other school and community-based supports stepping in to support and…
(2019-07-25). Hawaiians are Taking to the Streets and Exercising their First Amendment Rights. aclu.org We're ensuring the right to protest and cultural access at the world's tallest mountain. | Driving up Daniel K. Inouye Highway on the Big Island of Hawai'i at 4: 30 in the morning is a sight few will forget: a silent, pitch-black road, with black lava and sparse trees. The dark air is a chilly 50 degrees. In our backpacks are packaged tuna, crackers, water, walkie talkies, and a voice recorder. However, the most important items are without a doubt our blue ACLU of Hawai'i legal observer vests and first aid kit, which is stocked with goods like antacid (to rinse our eyes of pepper spray) and earbuds. Sitting in the…
(2019-07-25). SPLC: Resuming barbaric practice of federal executions serves no useful purpose. splcenter.org The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it plans to resume the executions of people who are awaiting the death penalty in federal prisons, ending nearly two decades in which the federal government had not imposed capital punishment.