(2020-06-20). NYC marches for Juneteenth. fightbacknews.org New York, NY – At noon, June 19, several hundred gathered outside of City Hall Park to celebrate, rally and march for Juneteenth. It was the first of several dozen actions happening throughout the boroughs and was called by the December 12th Movement. | Dozens upon dozens of the red, black and green flags were waving in the hands of protesters, as music played. The organizers ensured that protesters were wearing masks and kept social distance by lining them up to march. | This year's Juneteenth has reached mainstream levels of attention as the country enters its 22nd day of protesting for Black lives. As protes…
(2020-06-20). [Comment] Framing health stories: Highlights 2020 photography competition open for submissions. thelancet.com The video and pictures of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, USA, as police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck while he pleaded that he could not breathe, as well as photographs of subsequent anti-racism protests around the world, are some of the most powerful images this year. These pictures highlight the devastating impacts of structural racism and the deep inequities in our societies, and have given renewed urgency to the Black Lives Matter movement. This year has also brought moving and sometimes shocking photographs of health-care staff working in challenging conditions—too often…
(2020-06-20). Black Lives Matter in Bastrop, Texas. workers.org 
With the whole world exploding in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that is sweeping through large U.S. cities and small towns alike, Black Lives Matter may finally become a reality in Bastrop, Texas, for death row prisoner Rodney Reed. Outside court hearing for Rodney Reed, February 2015. WW . . . |
(2020-06-20). Washington DC protesters topple statue of Confederate general Albert Pike. thecanary.co Black Lives Matter protesters have toppled the only statue of a Confederate general in the US capital and set it on fire on Juneteenth — the day marking the end of slavery in the US. | Cheering demonstrators jumped up and down as the 11ft statue of Albert Pike, wrapped with chains, wobbled on its high granite pedestal before falling backwards. | Protesters then set a bonfire and stood around it in a circle as the statue burned, saying "No justice, no peace!" and "No racist police!". | Eyewitness accounts and videos posted on social media indicated that police were on the scene but did not intervene. | Donal…
(2020-06-20). Columbus Statue Finally Removed from Telegraph Hill. indybay.org After decades of protest, going back in memory to 1992, the 500th Anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas, when we were able to move the Columbus Genocide Parade from Market to Fisherman's Wharf, the latest anti-racism movement, Black Lives Matter, finally moved the City & County of San Francisco to take down the Columbus monument outside Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill today.
(2020-06-20). Friday 6/19: #SixNineteen: M4BL Juneteenth Livestream to Defend Black Lives (online). indybay.org Online livestream…
(2020-06-20). Street in Front of Fresno City Hall painted with "Black Lives Matter" indybay.org Over four hundred people came out to downtown Fresno June 18 to paint "Black Lives Matter" in twenty foot tall letters on P Street where it passes in front of City Hall.
(2020-06-20). Protesters blockade Central Prison in North Carolina. workers.org 
June 13 marked the beginning of the third week of protests in Raleigh, N.C., the state capital and home of the murderous Raleigh Police Department and more than 70 other law enforcement agencies. Different days have drawn different groups with varying goals, but not a day has gone by without . . . |
(2020-06-20). Friday 6/19: NAACP Juneteenth Black Family Reuinon & Virtual Town Hall (1pm & 3pm). indybay.org Online…
(2020-06-20). "I Can't Breathe": Remembering David Cross, Killed by Corrections Officers in Santa Cruz County Jail. indybay.org David Cross, a 44-year-old local plumber, was killed on September 18, 2005 in Santa Cruz County Jail while experiencing a mental health crisis. Corrections officers who responded that day to address his health issues decided Cross needed to be restrained, so they sat on his back as he lay on his stomach and "hog tied" him on the floor of the jail. Cross screamed, "I can't breathe," "I'm going to die," and "Please get off me," before his body went limp after 3 1/2 minutes of being restrained. Fast forward to 2020, and it is likely that many will see the killing of David Cross in a new light. The world is currently…
(2020-06-19). America's Intifada Must Dig Deeper. counterpunch.org Palestinians' sustained struggle for freedom and independence offers many lessons The murder of George Floyd and the White House's mishandling (to put it politely) of the COVID-19 pandemic may be providing the perfect toxic storm to fix America. The road to creating an equitable American society will be long and hard, but the U.S. civil rights
(2020-06-19). Policing Protest: the Dangers of Media Bias During Urban Uprisings. counterpunch.org Peter Blackmer is a Research Fellow at the Detroit Equity Action Lab, an initiative of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University Law School.
(2020-06-19). 'We move forward in our fight'. zcomm.org Local unions march from Oakland to Berkeley in support of Black Lives Matter…
(2020-06-19). Conservatives Are Comparing Racial Justice Protestors to Maoists. zcomm.org Right-wing "intellectuals" uncomfortable with the Black Lives Matter movement have latched onto a dubious historical analogy.
(2020-06-19). Podcast: How the Democratic Party Unleashed Decades of Racial Injustice and Police Brutality on Communities of Color. mintpressnews.com Margaret Kimberly and Monique Cullars Doty join MintCast to discuss how Democrats attempt to save face by co-opting justice movements, including Black Lives Matter, and the party's roots in White supremacy.
(2020-06-19). The Movement for Black Lives Is a Small-Town Movement, Too. zcomm.org In small towns around the country, often the places you would least expect, people are having protests with signs that say "Black Lives Matter," "I Can't Breathe," and "Defund the Police."
(2020-06-19). Containing the Black Lives Matter Movement: Democrats and Republicans Play Good Cop/Bad Cop. counterpunch.org A long smoldering and now massive popular response to injustice has been catalyzed by the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th. Even Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson concedes, "this was without precedent in the modern era." A broad consensus critical of the coercive police function of the US state is building.
(2020-06-19). 'Black Lives Matter' Is International. popularresistance.org Corte Madera, California – The police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th was the spark that ignited the tinder of accrued injustice throughout the US and globally. This injustice has deep antecedents in the US and indeed in much of what is now called the Global South. There is a shared history of colonial conquest of the Indigenous and the abominable institution of the enslavement of African peoples. | What happened has its roots in systemic oppression that has resonated internationally. Just as the police suffocated George Floyd, US unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua,…
(2020-06-19). Scheer Intelligence: The Powerful Past, Present And Future Of Black Lives Matter. popularresistance.org Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 after the murder of Trayvon Martin highlighted the dangers Black children, women and men face daily because of the color of their skin. The grassroots movement has protested against police violence and anti-black racism since then, and advocated for policy changes to address racial injustices. Despite having been active for the better part of a decade now, Black Lives Matter was recently launched into the global spotlight after the police assassination of George Floyd rocked the world. | On this week's episode of "Scheer Intelligence," Dr. Melina Abdullah, one of the Black L…
(2020-06-19). Juneteenth: Strike For Black Lives. popularresistance.org We are calling for disruptive actions aimed at shutting down the city: Strikes, sick-outs, blockades, occupations, and spontaneous marches. | We've watched a wave of grieving and rebellion take hold of the nation, and we say it's about time. We seek justice for Terrence Sterling, Jeffery Price, D'Quann Young, Marquees Alston, Miriam Carey, and Ralphael Briscoe, as well as the many hundreds of Black people who have been killed by MPD, ICE, or other white men with badges and guns. | We remember families separated by prison walls and by state borders. We mourn all the community members we've lost doing sex work, def…
(2020-06-19). Solidarity Means Dismantling The System Everywhere. popularresistance.org A new solidarity movement is rising. From Los Angeles to Sao Paulo, Minneapolis to London, "Black Lives Matter" is a cry and a demand heard around the world. | The message of this movement is powerfully simple: stop killing black people — in their homes, on the streets, and traveling across the sea to safer shores. Yet in its simplicity, it contains the seed of a radical transformation in our planetary system, raging against a machine of racist dispossession to make room for collective and communal liberation everywhere. | The last decade has witnessed a sharp turn in two terrifying directions: turning in a…
(2020-06-19). PANDERMONIUM: Snapchat yanks cringeworthy Juneteenth filter that asked users to 'smile to break chains'. rt.com 
Snapchat has removed a Juneteenth-themed that encouraged users to "smile" to break the chains of slavery, something that was quickly flagged by social media users as an offensive attempt to pander to Black Lives Matter activists. | If users chose to use the filter, they could photograph themselves in front of an African flag with the words "Juneteenth" and "Freedom Day" captioned. The user was then told to smile as chains appear and then suddenly break, a clear nod to the day being a celebration of the end of slavery in the US. | The filter was disabled after numerous complaints and removed from the service in…
(2020-06-19). Beatles-glorified Penny Lane NOT actually named after slave trader, museum finds. rt.com 
There's no evidence linking the legendary Liverpool street Penny Lane to slave trader James Penny, the city's slavery museum has said. The street was recently vandalized, amid Black Lives Matter protests. | The widespread misconception that the road was named after an 18th-century slave merchant was debunked by the Liverpool-based International Slavery Museum (ISM) on Friday. | Penny Lane shot to international fame back in 1967, thanks to the Beatles song named after it, and its original street sign was included in the ISM's display when the museum first opened in 2007. Now, however, "comprehensive research" h…
(2020-06-19). EU Parliament meddles into US affairs as it condemns Trump's response to protests and declares 'BLACK LIVES MATTER'. rt.com 
A lengthy resolution by the European Union legislators denounced US President Donald Trump for wanting to use force against rioters and condemned the "appalling death of George Floyd" and arrests of journalists. | In a Condemning the "appalling death of George Floyd" — a Minneapolis,…
(2020-06-19). Friday 6/19: Defend Black Lives Event in Palo Alto. indybay.org Palo Alto City Hall's King Plaza | 250 Hamilton Ave. | Palo Alto 94301…
(2020-06-19). Sunday 6/21: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Civic Center Plaza (Polk & McAllister)…
(2020-06-19). Heroless America Is Losing Ideological Ground Quickly. strategic-culture.org 
Right now, as statues across America and beyond are being defaced and/or destroyed by Black Lives Matter protestors it is a good time to reflect on who the heroes on our monuments should be and ask ourselves if we even need any of these pieces of brass and concrete at all in the 21st century. Why does seemingly every country on Earth bother with using public space for the secular worship of dead political and military figures? What point do monuments even serve? | Regarding heroes it seems very evident that children have over time moved from having historical heroes to fantasy ones. It is hard to imagine, that in…
(2020-06-19). Free Muntaqim, Mutulu and all U.S. political prisoners! workers.org 
Two prisoner liberation movements in the U.S. have finally awakened people to the fact that there are political prisoners in the U.S. The first is the international outcry during COVID-19 letting the world know that people are being held in prisons, jails and detention centers without personal protective equipment, adequate . . . |
(2020-06-19). Detention of HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas is violation of rights, says top Turkish court. peoplesdispatch.org The Turkish constitutional court said the detention of Selahattin Demirtas is in violation of his rights to liberty and security provided by the country's constitution. He has been in jail since November 2016…
(2020-06-19). United Nations calls for reparations to confront legacy of slavery and colonialism. peoplesworld.org 
GENEVA—Reparations should be paid and countries must confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism to better understand continuing "systematic discrimination," according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. She was speaking at the UN session in Geneva on Wednesday in an urgent debate in response to the killing of George Floyd at the …
(2020-06-19). Struggle Theater: Don't let theatrics shroud the reality of systemic oppression. mronline.org 
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.
(2020-06-19). Union Leads West Coast Port Shutdown On Juneteenth. therealnews.com 
Former political prisoner Arthur League talks about the ILWU shutdown and the campaign to free Black political prisoners, some of whom have been imprisoned for over 50 years.
(2020-06-19). Lawsuit Challenges Trump OK of Commercial Fishing in Atlantic Marine Monument. globalresearch.ca A federal lawsuit filed today says President Trump's June 5 executive order allowing commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was illegal. The
(2020-06-19). Aboriginal group in Australia files lawsuit over land loss due to mining. peoplesdispatch.org An aboriginal group in Australia filed cases against the Western Australia State government over the loss of land due to mining and other activities. According to reports, two cases were filed by members of the Tjiwarl tribe in Western Australia for cultural damage and loss of access to land in the Goldfields-Esperance region. The case was filed at a federal court tribunal on June 17, Wednesday. | Among the activities listed as the reasons for the loss of land are lands and groundwater licenses granted to mining companies, like BHP Group, and a highway development project. | The case is reportedly inspired by the…
(2020-06-19). New Film Explores U.S. Suppression of Key Footage from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. asia-pacificresearch.com …
(2020-06-19). Bolivians demand freedom for female political prisoners and immediate general elections. peoplesdispatch.org A large group of Bolivians, mostly women, demonstrated in the capital, La Paz, on June 17. They demanded freedom for all female political prisoners, who have been arrested on false charges by the de-facto government led by far-right Jeanine àÅñez, after the coup against President Evo Morales in November 2019. In addition to the liberation of the political prisoners, they also called for immediate general elections in the country. àÅñez has been trying to delay the elections using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext, in pursuit of her imperialist and neoliberal policies. | At around 10 am, wearing face…
(2020-06-19). Congress approves controversial bill allowing life imprisonment for child rapists. colombiareports.com Colombia's congress approved a constitutional amendment to sentence convicted child rapists and killers to life in prison amid a major controversy. The constitutional amendment proposed by the government of President…
(2020-06-19). So It's OK to Erase Soviet Statues, but Not Western Imperialist Ones? strategic-culture.org Statues commemorating colonizers, slavers and imperialists are toppling from their pedestals on both sides of the Atlantic in the wake of mass protests over the U.S. police killing of African-American man George Floyd. The surge in anti-racist public anger has widened to target other icons seen as glorifying racism and oppression of other peoples. | In recent days, the U.S. has seen
(2020-06-18). 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…
(2020-06-18). Local Officials: Pledge to Divest from Police and Reinvest in Black Communities. aclu.org In the wake of the killings by police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others, we are seeing a massive popular political realignment around the role and scope of policing in the United States, led by Black organizers and Black-led movement groups. More than ever before, this movement is calling for divestment from police departments, and reinvestment into the life-affirming services that help communities thrive., , It's not enough for local governments to make small cuts, to invest in yet another set of flawed training programs, or to paint the streets with slogans. Cities, towns and local leaders mus…
(2020-06-18). A Landmark Supreme Court Decision Affirms LGBTQ Rights. aclu.org 
It's been more than 50 years since Black and Brown trans women led the revolutionary Stonewall Riots, fighting back against police brutality and discrimination and launching a movement for equality. This week, we celebrated another incredible landmark in the fight for LGBTQ rights. , , In a 6 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court affirmed that it is illegal for employers to fire or otherwise discriminate against someone simply because they are LGBTQ. Though more work remains to protect the rights of the LGBTQ community, this decision will go a long way towards affirming legal protections in education, housing, cred…
(2020-06-18). Revolutionary ideals of the Paris Commune live on in Black Lives Matter autonomous zone in Seattle. mronline.org 
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle—or Chaz as it has come to be known—was set up on June 8 in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. It came about as a result of BLM protesters moving in after the Seattle police abandoned the precinct due to clashes with protesters.
(2020-06-18). Abolition will not be randomized. mronline.org 
In the wake of the current uprising in support of Black Lives Matter, there has been increasing interest in the use of mainstream empirical methods in economics—like randomized control trials (RCTs) and administrative data evaluation—to address issues of racism and violence in the institution of policing.
(2020-06-18). If Black Lives Matter, must 'Gone with the Wind' be gone? peoplesworld.org 
In 1953 author Simone de Beauvoir asked Must We Burn De Sade? regarding the French Marquis and his sadomasochistic books. Today, as the multiple plagues of COVID-19, widespread economic displacement and police brutality disproportionately ravage the African-American community, we're likewise asking: Must Gone with the Wind be gone? On June 10, the birthday of Hattie …
(2020-06-18). What Would The Black Panthers Think Of Black Lives Matter? popularresistance.org The U.S. ruling class, whose capitalist system is the historical midwife of modern racism, is not threatened by the racialist and black-capitalist BLM. But just to make sure that black anger is kept within safe political boundaries, a critical, cash-rich arm of concentrated wealth agreed last year to lavishly fund the group and a significant number of black middle class-led policy and advocacy groups coming in under its rubric. | In August 2016, when I first heard that BLM had scored $100 million from the Ford Foundation and other elite philanthro-capitalists (including the Hill-Snowden Foundation, the NoVo Found…
(2020-06-18). Reporter Sues Newspaper For Prohibiting Her Coverage Of Protests. popularresistance.org A reporter in Pittsburgh is suing the newspaper she works for after the company prohibited her from covering the city's Black Lives Matter protests because of a tweet concerning the issue. The suit claims that Ms. Johnson was prevented from pursuing stories on jailed protesters or social-media efforts to raise bail funds after she posted a tweet on 31 May highlighting the different treatment black and white people regarding property damage. | "Horrifying scenes and aftermath from selfish LOOTERS who don't care about this city!!!!!" the tweet says. "…. oh wait sorry. "No, these are pictures from a Kenny Chesney…
(2020-06-18). 'Independent' Facebook fact-checker exposed as partisan smear factory packed with CNN alumni. rt.com 
Facebook fact-checker Lead Stories is a biased outfit bristling with ex-CNN staffers that presents itself as neutral, despite most of its employees having donated to the Democratic Party, a conservative outlet has revealed. | The National Pulse (TNP), whose story about supposed financial links between Black Lives Matter, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and fundraiser ActBlue was flagged as "partly false" by Lead Stories on Facebook, did some
(2020-06-18). Police investigate desecration of enslaved African man's grave in "retaliation attack" in Bristol. thecanary.co 
Police are investigating after the grave of an enslaved African man was vandalised in a "retaliation attack", following the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston.Two headstones in memory of Scipio Africanus, who lived in Bristol in the 18th century, were smashed and a message scrawled in chalk on flagstones nearby. It called for the statue of Colston, which was pulled down and thrown into the harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest on 7 June, to be put back or "things will really heat up".St Mary's church in Henbury, Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA)The Grade II-listed, brightly painted memorial to Scip…
(2020-06-18). Friday 6/19: #SixNineteen: Nationwide M4BL Actions to Defend Black Lives Juneteenth Weekend. indybay.org SF Bay Area, across the USA, & Online…
(2020-06-18). Milwaukee Pride for Black Lives Matter. liberationnews.org 
Well over 3,000 people turned out to a "March with PRIDE for #BLACKLIVESMATTER" rally and march, brought together in only a couple days by members of the Black and Brown LGBTQ community in Milwaukee. Signs such as "White Silence is Violence," "Queer and Trans for Black Lives Matter," and "Black and Brown Unity," put the …