2020-06-17: News Headlines

Staff (2020-06-17). Trump Administration Sued for Denying Loans to Small Business Owners With Record. truthout.org A coalition of civil rights groups including the ACLU sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for denying coronavirus relief loans to small business owners with criminal records, arguing the restrictive policy violates the law and perpetuates systemic racial injustices by discriminating against people of color. | "The excluded small business owners are more likely to be Black and Latinx because of bias in our criminal legal system, and their communities are hardest hit by Covid-19," ReNi…

NLG-SF (2020-06-17). Civil Rights Class Action Filed in Reponse to Oakland Police Abuses of George Floyd Protesters. indybay.org "It was so heartening to see so many young Black people expressing their outrage and wanting to be part of the change, and they were attacked by our police department, that tells them 'don't come out here, because we will make your life hard, we will hurt you if you organize, we will hurt you if you say that there is anything wrong with society.'" | — Walter Riley…

_____ (2020-06-17). FBI Misled Congress: Black Activists Still Under Investigation. popularresistance.org As Black activists around the country lead protests for racial justice, following the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people, MediaJustice and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still surveilling Black activists using a dated designation they testified to Congress was no longer in use. Of one million pages of documents, responsive to a FOIA request filed by MediaJustice and the ACLU, up to one-third of the pages are on open investigations of Black people as "domestic terrorist" threats for potential "Black identit…

Rose Saxe (2020-06-17). SCOTUS Must Now Ensure LGBTQ People Are Not Turned Away From Taxpayer-Funded Programs. aclu.org On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a

William rivers Pitt (2020-06-17). From Trans Rights to Black Lives Matter, Trump Supporters Are Outnumbered. zcomm.org An F-5 tornado has roared through Trumpland, the rural/exurban village where Trump's base resides with Fox News playing on one channel and OANN on the other…

Sit.Walk.Listen. and SF Sanghas (2020-06-17). Sunday 6/21: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Civic Center Plaza (Polk & McAllister)…

Movement for Black Lives (2020-06-17). Friday 6/19: #SixNineteen: Nationwide M4BL Actions to Defend Black Lives Juneteenth Weekend. indybay.org SF Bay Area, across the USA, & Online…

Staff (2020-06-17). Headlines for June 17, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Surpass World War I Toll; Nine States Report New Highs for COVID Cases, Trump to Hold Rally in Tulsa as COVID Cases Reach New High in Oklahoma, Prison COVID Cases Double in U.S.; Nursing Home Deaths Top 50,000, U.S. Exports Record Amount of Pork as Meatpackers Risk Lives to Keep Factories Running, WHO Hails New Study Showing Widely Used Steroid Could Reduce COVID-19 Deaths, Daily Coronavirus Deaths Reach New Highs in India & Pakistan; Beijing Locks Down Again, Honduran President Tests Positive for Coronavirus, U.S. Extends Border Closures with Mexico & Canada, Study: 450,000 Coronavirus Ca…

Chase Strangio (2020-06-17). Supreme Court Bars Workplace Discrimination Against LGBTQ People. zcomm.org Ruling May Be Transformative…

Miko Peled (2020-06-17). The Murders of Floyd and Halak Exposed the US and Israel as Settler-Colonial Enterprises. mintpressnews.com The systemic oppression faced by blacks and Palestinians in the United States and Israel is indicative of a deeply rooted racism rarely found in true democracies.

Eleanor Goldfield (2020-06-17). Struggle Theater: Don't Let Theatrics Shroud the Reality of Systemic Oppression. mintpressnews.com America's power brokers are hoping murals, kente cloth, and a series of half-baked legislative reforms will appease activists into giving up the fight for real change.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-17). Environment groups sue planning authority in Malta. peoplesdispatch.org The lawsuit was filed over the Maltese Planning Authority's failure to withdraw a controversial development brief prepared for the redevelopment of the site of the former Jerma Palace Hotel in Marsascala…

Staff (2020-06-16). Civil Rights Activist Annie Chambers Is Marching Again Against Police Brutality. therealnews.com Reverend Annie Chambers marched for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King throughout the 60s. This month she took to the streets to demand an end to police brutality when Baltimore City joined the nationwide movement calling for justice for George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minnesota. | The lifelong organizer says that while history repeats itself, racism is even worse than in her youth. "In the 50s and 60s we were taught to suffer. We got beat and shot and attacked by dogs. And you heard what Donald Trump say—get the dogs out on them," Chambers said in a phone interview with The Real News on…

Kade Crockford (2020-06-16). How is Face Recognition Surveillance Technology Racist? aclu.org Last week, IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft announced they would pause or end sales of their face recognition technology to police in the United States. The announcement caught many by surprise. For years, racial justice and civil rights advocates had been warning that this technology in law enforcement hands would be the end of privacy as we know it. It would supercharge police abuses, and it would be used to harm and target Black and Brown communities in particular., , But the companies ignored these warnings and refused to get out of this surveillance business. It wasn't until there was a national reckoning over…

yenisafak (2020-06-16). US authorities to monitor hanging deaths of two black men. yenisafak.com US federal authorities will monitor ongoing investigations regarding the hanging deaths of two black men in southern California, according to local officials."So we're making sure that we're transparent, fully accountable, and we're gonna constantly be cross-checking each other's to make sure we're right at the right conclusions based on the evidence and the facts that we have at hand," Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Monday, explaining why he requested a monitor and review from the FBI, US Attorney's office in the Central District of California and Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.It…

Staff (2020-06-16). Headlines for June 16, 2020. democracynow.org In Long-Awaited Victory, SCOTUS Rules LGBTQ Workers Protected by the Civil Rights Act, Atlanta Mayor Orders New Police Rules After Killing of Rayshard Brooks, 911 Dispatcher Raised Concerns About Police Treatment of George Floyd During His Arrest and Killing, Protester Shot in Albuquerque While Toppling Racist Statue; Right-Wing Militia Members Arrested, 19-Year-Old BLM Protester Oluwatoyin "Toyin" Salau Found Dead One Week After Disappearance, Mourners Demand Justice for Killing of Black Teenager Na'Kia Crawford in Ohio, FBI, DOJ to Review Probes into Two Black California Men Found Hanging from Trees, U.N. Human…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-16). US apex court judgement for federal workplace protection to LGBT+ workers. peoplesdispatch.org The court ruled with a 6-3 decision that LGBT+ workers are protected as per the provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The ruling can protect millions of workers in the US…

WSWS (2020-06-16). Supreme Court rules that employers cannot fire workers because of sexual orientation or self-identity. wsws.org A 6—3 majority ruled that the federal civil rights in employment statute prohibits employers from terminating workers because of sexual orientation or gender self-identification.

Ashley Curtin (2020-06-16). Supreme Court rules in favor of Civil Rights Act of 1964 protecting LGBTQ employees from workplace discrimination. nationofchange.org "LGBTQI people have a right to the same protections as everyone else, and they deserve to be able to live their lives without fear of discrimination—something the Supreme Court has affirmed today."

Joe Reedy (2020-06-16). NFL Commissioner now encourages teams to sign Kaepernick. peoplesworld.org (AP) Roger Goodell would like to see Colin Kaepernick back in the NFL this season. And, quite honestly, it took too damn long, and cost too many Black lives, to get to this point. The NFL commissioner said during ESPN's "The Return of Sports" special on Monday that he is encouraging teams to sign the 32-year old …

Jim McMahan (2020-06-16). Seattle's 60,000-strong march propels anti-racist struggle in Washington state. workers.org Seattle June 13 — Some 60,000 people, propelled by the ongoing global struggle against racist police repression, took part in Seattle's June 12 march and statewide general strike. The march, called and led by Black Lives Matter of Seattle and Martin Luther King County (BLMSKC), followed two weeks of protests . . . |

Nick Turse (2020-06-16). The Black Lives Matter Protests Are a Tipping Point in US History. thenation.com The Black Lives Matter Protests Are a Tipping Point in US History…

John Catalinotto (2020-06-16). Conflict arises over renaming military bases. workers.org June 14 — The massive Black Lives Matter uprising has aroused demands that the U.S. Armed Forces rename the 10 military bases named for Confederate generals and ban the use of racist symbols — such as the Confederate battle flag. For the second time in weeks, top military officers must . . . |

_____ (2020-06-16). Corporations Now Love 'Black Lives'—But What About Their Own Black Workers? popularresistance.org Never underestimate US business community's capacity for hypocrisy. | That's one of the lessons to be drawn from the explosive reaction to George Floyd's murder. As demonstrators began flooding streets, corporate PR departments flew into rapid response mode, issuing a flurry of agonized, apologetic pledges to do more to combat racism and inequality. | Such statements may, on a personal level, be sincere: the depth of righteous pain and anger expressed by African Americans has induced widespread soul-searching, even in executive suites. Yet this high-profile hand-wringing is used to uncouple the outpouring of outr…

sputniknews (2020-06-16). Photo: US Bar Owner Apologizes After 'Drunk Wives Matter' Shirt Causes Uproar. sputniknews.com The owner of Parallel Wine and Whiskey, a bar based in Ashburn, Virginia, recently issued a public apology after its merchandise was widely criticized for appearing to be insensitive toward the Black Lives Matter movement.

sputniknews (2020-06-16). Canadians' Confidence in Police Drops Amid Black Lives Matter Protests, Poll Reveals. sputniknews.com TORONTO (Sputnik) – Canadians' faith in law enforcement has decreased amid the Black Lives Matter protests that swept Canada and much of the Western world, a Leger and Association for Canadian Studies poll revealed.

RT (2020-06-16). No defunding: Trump's police executive order to ban chokeholds, urge safer policing. rt.com US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order urging police departments across the country to "adopt the highest professional standards," including increased use-of-force training and a partial ban on chokeholds. | Trump announced the order at the White House on Tuesday, after meeting with several Black Lives Matter families. It would ban chokeholds — except for when the police officer's life is at risk — and prioritize federal funding to departments that meet high standards on use of force and de-escalation training. | Police would also be encouraged to use new nonlethal weapons, and sh…

RT (2020-06-16). Good vibes by day, wild west by night: CHAZ is an anarchist camp with a split personality (VIDEO). rt.com The Left says it's a peaceful community of activists and rebels. The Right says it's an anarchic dystopia ruled by a warlord. The truth is that the experience in Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone differs from day to night. | For more than a week now, a collection of Antifa types, anarchists, 'Black Lives Matter' activists and leftists of all stripes have occupied a six-block area around an abandoned police precinct in downtown Seattle. The 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,' or CHAZ, is a district without police, in which the ideas of the radical Left can bloom, and in which the occupiers hope to demonstrate…

Staff (2020-06-16). Henry Giroux: Black Lives Matter Rebellions Are Pushing for Structural Change. truthout.org A protester kneels and holds up a fist as he and others demonstrate against the death of George Floyd by closing down and blocking traffic on I-395 in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 2020.Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images | In this interview, Henry A. Giroux argues that the current rebellions taking place across the globe offer new hope for both educating people about the interrelated registers of racism, militarism, neoliberalism and scandalous inequality. This is a diverse political rebellion in…

Lee Siu Hin, Immigrant Solidarity Network (2020-06-16). Summer 2020 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Immigrant News Alert! indybay.org Justice for George Floyd, Black Lives Matter! Multi-Ethnic Unity Against Racism & Police Brutality!

Sarah Lahm (2020-06-16). Midwest Dispatch: When Bill Clinton Came to Minneapolis. progressive.org Once referred to as "Murderapolis," the city is now home to an uprising spurred by demands to end mass incarceration and police brutality.

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-16). Convicted US Spy, Sentenced in Moscow on Charges of Espionage. globalresearch.ca On Monday, a Moscow court sentenced US spy Paul Whelan to 16 years imprisonment. | Charged with espionage, he was caught red-handed in December 2018 and arrested after accepting a flash drive with sensitive information from an undercover Russian Federal Security …

_____ (2020-06-16). July 1: Call To Action To Confront Israeli Annexation, Free Palestine. popularresistance.org We know that many Palestinians in exile and supporters of Palestine are, like Samidoun's members, engaged in the uprisings and mass mobilizations taking to the streets to confront anti-Black racism and demand the defunding and dismantling of police and other structures of oppression. Confronting Israel's annexation plans — fully backed by U.S. imperialism and inspired by Zionist racism — also comes as part of the global fightback against racism, colonialism and imperialism. Israel's crimes are backed by $3.8 billion in military aid from the U.S. each year as well as unlimited diplomatic, political and…

Fight Back (2020-06-16). Hundreds march to defend DACA for immigrant youth, support movement against police terror. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – With the Supreme Court set to rule on their future, almost 1000 immigrant youth and their supporters marched on June 12 to defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that shields 800,000 young immigrants from deportation. | Organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the march started outside of Senator Amy Klobuchar's office on Washington Avenue and marched to the Hennepin County Jail in downtown Minneapolis. | The march was very spirited, and speakers and chants made repeated connections between the fight against deportation and the fight of Blac…

pip.hinman (2020-06-16). Stop the brutality. Abolish prisons. greenleft.org.au

IMEMC News (2020-06-16). PPS: "Israeli Soldiers Abduct Thirteen Palestinians In West Bank" imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has confirmed that Israeli soldiers abducted, on Tuesday at dawn, thirteen Palestinians from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank. The PPS office in Hebron governorate, in southern West Bank, said the soldiers stormed and ransacked many homes, especially in Beit Ummar …

RT (2020-06-15). 'Seismic shift in policing': NYPD disbands controversial plainclothes 'anti-crime' unit. rt.com The New York Police Department has liquidated its anti-crime unit, reassigning some 600 plainclothes cops to neighborhood policing and detective work as protesters nationwide demand reforms in the wake of the George Floyd killing. | NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced the disbanding of the unit in a press conference on Monday, calling it "a seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city." Heralding the move as "closing one of the last chapters of 'Stop, Question and Frisk'" — the controversial policing tactic beloved by ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg and criticized by civil rights gr…

April Rodriguez (2020-06-15). We Won't Address Our Mass Incarceration Crisis Until We Rethink Our Approach to "Violent Crime" aclu.org During the COVID-19 pandemic, jails and prisons have become

Rose Saxe (2020-06-15). What Today's Supreme Court Ruling Means for the LGBTQ Community. aclu.org The Supreme Court has ruled that What did the Supreme Court's decision say?: | The Supreme Court ruled that the federal law prohibiting sex discrimin…

WSWS (2020-06-15). Washington, DC's Democratic mayor renames city street "Black Lives Matter Plaza" wsws.org Mayor Muriel Bowser's co-option of the slogan as protests surge throughout the US and internationally is an attempt to cover up the record of the Democratic Party.

A Guest Author (2020-06-15). Black Lives Matter in Alpine, Texas. workers.org This protest march and rally, in the small town of Alpine, Texas, might have been a common scene in the tumultuous summer of 1968, but this was June 6, 2020. Not Dallas or Houston or San Antonio, but in Alpine. Hundreds mobilized in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and against . . . |

Elie Mystal (2020-06-15). We've Protested for Black Lives Before—and We'll Have to Protest Again. thenation.com We've Protested for Black Lives Before—and We'll Have to Protest Again…

Staff (2020-06-15). Activists Paint 'Defund Police' In Front Of Baltimore City Hall. therealnews.com Black Lives Matter activists are demanding Baltimore cut half its police budget to fund schools and violence prevention programs.

Eds. (2020-06-15). Statement of Support for Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police. mronline.org Between 1963 and 1972, there were more than 750 Black-led urban revolts in the United States in 525 cities. How did sociologists react?>

Brett Heinz (2020-06-15). Rio de Janeiro: Police Violence and Solidarity. cepr.net On May 31, hundreds of people in Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in Brazil, joined protesters around the world in marching against police brutality. While the protest was in solidarity with the wave of Black Lives Matter protests in the US following the killing of George Floyd, Brazilian protesters were marching against their …

Dennis Broe (2020-06-15). Statues also die as racist memorials come down in Europe. peoplesworld.org PARIS—The first week of European and particularly French and Francophone protests in the wake of the U.S. Black Lives Matter movement concerned parallel police actions against French minorities, including the death on his birthday of Adama Traoré, held down by three French cops in a hold similar to that executed on George Floyd. Traoré was …

_____ (2020-06-15). Minneapolis Is Trying To Punish Transit Workers Who Wouldn't Help The Police. popularresistance.org The Amalgamated Transit Workers union's public support for the uprisings, and some members' public refusal to do work that helps the police, sparked praise and inspiration around the country. As the Black Lives Matter protests spread, so did transit workers' refusal to assist in police crackdowns. In New York, bus drivers refused to transport people arrested at protests, as crowds cheered them on. "None of our bus ops should be used for that," J.P. Patafio, vice president of New York's Transport Workers Union Local 100, told Motherboard on May 29. Ryan Timlin: We are working on a class-action grievance because th…

sputniknews (2020-06-15). Anti-Racism Protest in Atlanta Over Rayshard Brooks' Death – Video. sputniknews.com Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot by police near a drive-through restaurant after making an attempt to use a Taser against an offcier. His death has intensified Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by police earlier in May.

RT (2020-06-15). Don't ask, don't tell? NYC mayor directs contact tracers not to question people about attending BLM protests. rt.com The army of contact tracers hired by New York City to conduct the 'test and trace' campaign to weed out coronavirus infection vectors will reportedly not be allowed to ask people if they attended Black Lives Matter protests. | Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on May 8 that NYC would be hiring hundreds of Covid-19 contact tracers to help bring the coronavirus, which wreaked havoc on the densely-populated city's population, to heel. The city has witnessed 210,000 cases resulting in at least 17,193 deaths from the infection. | However, before May came to an end, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, sparki…

The Canary (2020-06-15). Johnson's racial inequality commission written on 'back of a fag packet' says Lammy. thecanary.co Boris Johnson's pledge to establish a cross-government commission on racial inequality is a "back of a fag packet" plan designed to "assuage the Black Lives Matter protest", Labour has claimed. | Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said there have been several reviews into racism in the UK in recent years — and the announcement of another makes it feel like "we want figures, data — but we don't want action". | Johnson, writing in the Daily Telegraph, said the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities would look at "all aspects of inequality — in employment, in health outcomes, in academic and a…