2020-06-25: News Headlines

Dennis Broe (2020-06-25). Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods': Black Lives Matter meets 'Rambo' [spoilers]. peoplesworld.org Spike Lee's new film for Netflix, Da 5 Bloods, about the aftereffects on African-American soldiers of the Vietnam War, opens spectacularly. A documentary sequence begins with Muhammad Ali detailing why he chooses not to fight: "My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother or some darker people…for big powerful America..for what?..They never lynched me, …

Kathryn Shihadah (2020-06-25). Selective Tolerance: AIPAC and its Pro-Apartheid Ilk Come to Bat for Black Lives Matter. mintpressnews.com Pro-Israel groups in America are sending mixed signals: yes, we want equality for Black Americans; no, we do not want the same for Palestinians.

Kurt Nimmo (2020-06-25). Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the Neoliberal Color Revolution in America. globalresearch.ca "The protests, riots, violent and non-violent actions sweeping across the United States since May 25, including an assault on the gates of the White House, begin to make sense when we understand the CIA's Color Revolution playbook," writes economic researcher, …

_____ (2020-06-25). CHOP And The Juneteenth Longshore Strike. popularresistance.org On June 19, the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU), a militant union of 42,000 members, shut down 29 ports along the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as workers withheld their labor for 8 hours. The strike was organized to demonstrate the labor movement's solidarity with black lives after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and held on the Juneteenth anniversary of the emancipation of the last chattel slaves in the US in 1865. | As part of the action, a mass demonstration marched through Oakland's port and downtown, with several thousand in attendance.

_____ (2020-06-25). Massive Uprisings Confront White Supremacy. popularresistance.org On May 25, a Minneapolis police officer tortured George Floyd to death in what his brother, Philonise Floyd, called "a modern-day lynching in broad daylight." Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in all 50 states and Washington D.C.; the anti-racist uprisings continue. | Why do a majority of people in this country now support the Movement for Black Lives? Why have calls to defund and abolish the police entered the mainstream discourse? Why are people risking the deadly coronavirus to join the protests? And why are we seeing what may be the broadest popular movement in the history of the United Stat…

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Calls to List Antifa as Terrorist Organisation in Sweden in the Wake of Black Lives Matter Riots. sputniknews.com US President Donald Trump has argued the violent Black Lives Matter rallies that blossomed across the country following the death of African American George Floyd in police custody and which include looting and pillaging, are being led by Antifa, and pledged to designate it as a terrorist organisation, making it illegal on American soil.

Sit.Walk.Listen. (2020-06-25). Sunday 6/28: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park (19th st. and Telegraph ave), Oakland, CA | Dear siblings, these times are a great call for change. | As mindfulness practitioners, we can breathe for others who cannot. Let's bring the practice of peaceful compassionate nonviolence to the streets; to listen, to follow, and support black people. | As Thich Nhat Hanh once said: "Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity." | Together we can walk in peace, love, compassion and awareness.

Defund the Police State (2020-06-25). Ferry Building to City Hall and Beyond: March for Freedom and Justice in San Francisco. indybay.org Black Lives Matter supporters marched from the Ferry Building to City Hall to 555 Franklin, headquarters of the San Francisco Unified School District, with rallies at each stop on June 19.

Peaceful Protest for Black Lives Matter (2020-06-25). Saturday 6/27: Peaceful Protest for Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Santa Cruz Clock Tower | Pacific Ave. and Water St., Santa Cruz…

Jessica Lynne (2020-06-25). How Visual Culture Is Implicated in Mass Incarceration. thenation.com How Visual Culture Is Implicated in Mass Incarceration…

Staff (2020-06-25). Boycotting Israel Is Not A Crime, Says European Human Rights Court. therealnews.com The EHRC overturned the French court's convictions of 12 BDS activists for "incitement to discrimination" in a watershed ruling for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

W. T. Whitney, Jr. (2020-06-25). U.S. must return its political prisoner Simón Trinidad to Colombia. mronline.org Simón Trinidad matters; his time has come. This leader of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) faced bizarre and unfounded criminal charges in a U.S. court. He's being held under the cruelest of conditions in a federal prison in Florence, Colorado. He will die there unless he is released. Simón Trinidad will be …

Kim Petersen (2020-06-25). The Oppressed Have the Moral Right to Decide How Best to Resist Their Oppression. dissidentvoice.org Question: Should people from the oppressor group tell the oppressed people how to conduct their resistance? Should Jews tell Palestinians what form their resistance to Israeli oppression should take? During World War II should Germans have directed Jewish, Roma, Slavic resistance in the concentration camps? Nowadays, should whites be telling Blacks how to resist systemic …

IMEMC News (2020-06-25). Israeli Court Sentences A Detainee To Four Life Terms In Prison. imemc.org An Israeli court on Wednesday sentenced a Palestinian detainee to four life terms, in addition to imposing a fine of 16 Million Shekels after convicting him of killing two Israeli soldiers and of wounding 7 settlers (causing a young woman to miscarry) in two separate incidents in the year 2018, …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-25). Indian rights groups demand bail for political prisoners. peoplesdispatch.org The letter by prominent human rights organizations comes days after reports emerged of the appalling conditions in the quarantine facility in the State of Maharashtra in which activist Gautam Navlakha is currently lodged in…

Al-Mezan Center For Human Rights (2020-06-25). Israeli Soldier Given Derisory Sentence for the Unlawful Killing of a Palestinian Fisherman. imemc.org Press Release By Al-Mezan Center For Human Rights: On 15 June 2020, an Israeli military court sentenced an Israeli soldier, who shot and killed 23-year-old Palestinian fisherman, Nawwaf al-Attar, off the coast of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip, to a derisory 45-day prison sentence to be served through military-related …

_____ (2020-06-25). The Disproportionate Blues. popularresistance.org Here in the year of 2020 of the 21st century, we descendants of the people who created and first started singing the blues set to music, way back in the 19th century, are still singing the blues today. Those people who historically gave us the reasons to write and sing the blues because of our ill treatment and overwhelming oppression could not truly understand, appreciate or relate to our historical or present-day pain and suffering. | We African Americans have often been told that times have changed. We have been told by the powers that be throughout this country's history and our existence to stop crying, to g…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Bayer to pay up to $10.9 bln to settle bulk of Roundup weedkiller cancer lawsuits. yenisafak.com The German drugs and pesticides maker has come to terms with about 75% of the 125,000 filed and unfiled claims overall, it said in a statement on Wednesday of the deal to end legal disputes it inherited with its $63 billion takeover of Monsanto in 2018.The settled cases over Roundup and other glyphosate-based weedkillers account for about 95% of those currently set for trial, it added."The Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end," Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann said. "Unfortunately, we have to pay an awful lot of money for a product…

Lukas Hermsmeier (2020-06-25). Escalation of State Power. indybay.org Uprising in America. The time has come to tear down the system and create a "different America." "The moderate white man for whom order is more important than justice is the greatest obstacle to freedom," said Martin Luther King in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail.

Clare Garvie (2020-06-24). The Untold Number of People Implicated in Crimes They Didn't Commit Because of Face Recognition. aclu.org In January, Michigan resident Robert Williams was arrested for shoplifting from a watch store in downtown Detroit a year ago—a

Victoria Burton-Harris (2020-06-24). Wrongfully Arrested Because Face Recognition Can't Tell Black People Apart. aclu.org Early this year, Detroit police arrested Robert Williams — a Black man living in a Detroit suburb — on his front lawn in front of his wife and two little daughters (ages 2 and 5). Robert was hauled off and locked up for nearly 30 hours. His crime? Face recognition software owned by Michigan State Police told the cops that Robert Williams was the watch thief they were on the hunt for., , There was just one problem: Face recognition technology can't tell Black people apart. That includes Robert Williams, whose only thing in common with the suspect caught by the watch shop's surveillance feed is that…

Karina Piser (2020-06-24). Unions Are Taking a Stand for Black Lives. thenation.com Unions Are Taking a Stand for Black Lives…

Susie Day (2020-06-24). America liberated! Trump found in bunker! mronline.org An ad-hoc alliance of radical armies demanding justice for Black lives broke through federal barricades today to storm Capitol Hill.

Eds. (2020-06-24). 'Act with necessary force': Greta Thunberg says BLM protests & 'corona crisis' give blueprint for climate change fight. mronline.org The Black Lives Matter protests across the world show the 'necessary force' people need to use when fighting global warming, teen activist turned climate change icon Greta Thunberg believes.

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-06-24). The Anti-American Universities Are a Much Greater Threat to Us than Putin and China. thealtworld.com This is an introduction to a letter written by a black American professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He says that the University no longer serves scholarship and has become a servant to the Democratic Party and Black Lives Matter. He says that the university is akin to a suppressive regime that crushes real diversity and exiles free debate. At the end of his letter, he damns the University of California regents and the Berkely history department for eulogizing George Floyd, a depraved, drug-ridden thug "who hurt women. A man who hurt black women. With the full collaboration of the UCB history depa…

Karen Rothmyer (2020-06-24). Rural New York Is in the Streets, Marching for Black Lives. thenation.com Rural New York Is in the Streets, Marching for Black Lives…

_____ (2020-06-24). Reparations And The Palestinian Right Of Return. popularresistance.org The calls "Black Lives Matter" and "Free, Free Palestine," serve to remind us that Palestine is not free and that if the lives of Black people mattered, there would be no need for the call. In both cases, people are in the grips of a cruel, racist system that refuses to let go. In both cases, people are being hunted down, caged, strangled, and shot to death, and the root cause of their suffering is rarely addressed. | In Palestine, the return of refugees is the issue that has the capacity to completely alter the conversation and ultimately bring justice to Palestinians. However few are willing to bring it up, muc…

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Why Black Lives Matter Global Network's Fundraising Bonanza Rings the Scam Alarm. sputniknews.com Though the Black Lives Matter Global Network positions itself as a charity, its funding and spending are not transparent, while its activities appear partisan and less than peaceful, say Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel and Robert Bishop, retired corporate CPA, suspecting the entity may be involved in potential fraud and money laundering schemes.

RT (2020-06-24). Liberal white woman on crusade to 'fix racism' goes viral for berating black cops (VIDEOS). rt.com A liberal white woman is being roasted on social media for attempting to explain away her harassment of black police officers as part of her crusade to "fix racism." | The incident took place on Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington DC on Tuesday, when the woman was among a group of protesters haranguing police officers, who were monitoring the demonstrations taking place in the shadow of the White House. | The woman could be heard asking a black police officer "when you take off your uniform are you afraid of police?" only to be met with stoic silence from the cop, who was one of several black cops who were…

Martha Grevatt (2020-06-24). Coast to coast, marchers declare: 'Black trans lives matter!'. workers.org "Say his name! Tony McDade!" These words rang out on June 20 as hundreds of Clevelanders, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community and allies, marched to the theme, "All Black Lives Matter." They took to the streets to raise the name of Tony McDade, a Black trans man killed by police . . . |

Staff (2020-06-24). Popularity of Bail Funds Continue Protests' Momentum. therealnews.com ATLANTA—On June 1, police officers had 20-year-old William Lefforge, and about 50 other protesters, boxed in on the sidewalk near Atlanta City Hall. The officers warned the protesters they had three minutes to leave, but according to Lefforge, the group could not get by the police. The police arrested them and transported Lefforge and his group to the Atlanta Detention Center. Lefforge estimated his arrest happened around 4 p.m., well before the 9 p.m. curfew that Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has since lifted. | Lefforge called his mother, Jen, who in turn reached out to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. Thanks to…

Staff (2020-06-24). Outbreak at San Quentin: COVID Is Skyrocketing in CA Prisons. Why Haven't More People Been Released? democracynow.org As coronavirus rapidly spreads through California's overcrowded prisons, 400 people have tested positive for the virus at San Quentin State Prison. Advocates and incarcerated people warn conditions behind bars make it nearly impossible to stop the virus once it enters. We speak with Adnan Khan, executive director of Re: Store Justice, an organization that advocates for policy and alternative responses to violence and life sentences. He links inhumane prison conditions to the mass uprising in the streets against systemic racism and state violence. "There are literally millions of people in prison based on the 'cred…

Raul Diego (2020-06-24). The High-Tech Profiling of Native Americans Under COVID-19 Could Be Headed Your Way. mintpressnews.com As a racial profiling scandal unfolds in a New Mexico hospital targeting Native American mothers, the same principles of racial discrimination dominate the emerging technological surveillance landscape.

Kym Smith (2020-06-24). The prison system is slavery in another form. liberationnews.org The following is based on a talk given by Kym Smith, a leading member of PSL in Columbia, South Carolina, on a national PSL webinar on June 18. I would love to scream Happy Juneteenth, but slavery isn't over, it has only been reformed into what is now the prison system. Every president, every member …

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2020-06-24). U.S. must return political prisoner Simón Trinidad to Colombia. peoplesworld.org Murderous violence and oligarchy were at the center of Colombian political life during the 20th century. Colombians by the millions were marginalized, impoverished, and/or displaced from small land holdings. Violence and the failings of liberal democracy turned Simón Trinidad into a revolutionary. Few in the United States and Europe know about him. Colombia's allies in …

Zero Hedge (2020-06-24). Bayer Pays $10 Billion to Settle Thousands of Monsanto Glyphosate Lawsuits. globalresearch.ca After decades of widespread use as company scientists played down research showing a definitive link between the product and growing rates of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Monsanto parent company Bayer has agreed to pay up to $10 billion to settle claims that …

Andrew Butler (2020-06-24). Here's why you might not be seeing the systems of oppression that surround us. thecanary.co Sometimes it's hard to see the systems of oppression we're living in. This is especially true when you're not directly subjected to that oppression yourself. I say this as a caution, not as an excuse. Here's why. | I was born in South Africa in 1974. That year John Vorster, a staunch proponent of apartheid, was re-elected president in a ballot in which only white people could vote. Nelson Mandela was in prison and the

Osman Kavala (2020-06-24). Osman Kavala and the Snails: watch, enjoy, share. zcomm.org The world's first lockdown opera, ten minutes of delight against oppression…

WSWS (2020-06-24). Antigone from Canada recounts the struggle of an immigrant youth to defend her brother against state violence. wsws.org Unlike insipid mainstream Canadian cinema, Antigone deals honestly with critical issues such as the oppression of immigrants, police violence, a mounting youth revolt and, to some extent, social inequality.

splcenter (2020-06-24). Seven years after Shelby County vs. Holder, voter suppression permeates the South. splcenter.org

Matt Sedlar (2020-06-24). The Quiet Seizure of Independent Agencies. cepr.net The American Prospect See article on original site It has taken a herculean effort and immense sacrifice over almost a decade—countless people in the streets, thousands in jail, and many with permanent injuries from "nonlethal" weapons—for anti-racist protesters to begin to expand the horizon of political possibility. Not everyone in our society must expend such …

WSWS (2020-06-24). Fascist US Army soldier faces terrorism-related charges. wsws.org Ethan Melzer, 22, is facing life in prison for passing on information regarding the deployment of his unit to an occult neo-Nazi organization, Order of the Nine Angels.

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Charges Dropped Against Alberta First Nations Chief Who Resisted Police Arrest – Report. sputniknews.com The case of Chief Allan Adam has drawn harsh criticism from both the public and officials, including Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and has been used to highlight racial discrimination by law enforcement against ethnic minorities.

NAACP (2020-06-24). Wednesday 6/24: NAACP Town Hall: A Legal Perspective on Disparities & Systemic Racism in America (online). indybay.org

Patrisse Cullors (2020-06-23). 'Black Lives Matter' is About More than the Police. aclu.org Every time another Black person is murdered by the police, it's easy to point to a single officer as the culprit. George Floyd was killed under the knee of officer Derek Chauvin — we saw it ourselves. But Chauvin is just one officer in a culture of police violence, and policing is just one of the systems responsible for taking Black lives. COVID-19 exposed a number of the others. , , It's no coincidence that Black people, who are more likely to be killed by the police, are also dying at disproportionate rates of COVID-19. While some say it's due to the prevalence of underlying health issues like diabetes…

_____ (2020-06-23). Black Activists Expose The FBI Targeting Their Movements. popularresistance.org In 2017, a leak from the FBI revealed they were targeting black activists organizing to end racist policies and practices calling them "Black Identity Extremists." This is consistent with the FBI's long history of investigating and harassing black and brown activists. Organizations like Media Justice and the ACLU have been working to get information from the FBI about what they are doing and who they are targeting but the FBI has been putting barriers in their way. We speak with Myaisha Hayes of Media Justice about what they have learned so far and its impact on activists. Hayes also discusses their efforts to ur…

Andrea Mazzarino (2020-06-23). The War Zone is America: a Military Spouse's Perspective on Racism and Armed Violence in the United States. counterpunch.org Recently, in this Black Lives Matter protest moment, my five-year-old son looked at me and asked, "Mommy, where did all the brown people go? Did the police here shoot them?" We'd just moved to the outskirts of a more affluent rural town from a city where my son and three-and-a-half-year-old daughter mixed daily with black,

Mathew González (2020-06-23). Students Not Suspects: the movement to defund and remove school police. liberationnews.org On June 16, during a closed-door Los Angeles Unified School District board meeting, members from Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, Students Deserve, and other members of the Students Not Suspects Coalition gathered on the corner of Lucas Avenue and Third street, near downtown Los Angeles, before marching toward the LAUSD building. Surrounded by a crowd …

RT (2020-06-23). WATCH: White BLM activists incur wrath of black protesters for dramatic history-flipping 'whipped slaves' demonstration. rt.com There were furious scenes at a Black Lives Matter protest in Charleston, South Carolina, when a group of liberal white activists enraged their black counterparts with a demonstration that featured white slaves and a black owner. | The ill-judged display took place in Charleston's Marion Square where a group of monument defenders gathered to show their support for a statue of John C. Calhoun, a pro-slavery American vice president. | Unsurprisingly, that gathering attracted a counter-protest in which dozens of Black Lives Matter activists chanted slogans including "George Floyd" and "take it down." | But things…

R. Robertson (2020-06-23). BLM Demonstrators Calling for Racial Justice March on Facebook HQ. indybay.org On June 12, hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters demanded Facebook stop funding local police by marching on the social media giant's headquarters in Menlo Park.