2020-07-22: News Headlines

Posted By Lynda Carson (2020-07-22). NAACP Mourns the Death of Civil Rights Icon, Congressman John Lewis. indybay.org

ACLU Foundation of Oregon (2020-07-22). ACLU Sues Federal Agents Over "Unconstitutional Nightmare" in Portland. indybay.org Organization Seeks to Block Federal Law Enforcement Attacks on Journalists, Legal Observers in Portland…

Monica Moorehead (2020-07-22). NBA players support reporter vs. right-wing senator. workers.org The intersection between sports culture and politics can happen at any given time. And at this particular juncture, the Black Lives Matter struggle is leaving its imprint on many issues, even international ones. For instance, on July 10 the ultra-right-wing Sen. Josh Hawley, R.-Mo., released a press release on Twitter . . . |

Kent Wong and Rev. James Lawson, Jr (2020-07-22). Strike for Black Lives Aligns Worker Justice and Racial Justice. zcomm.org The strike for Black Lives highlights the fundamental link between worker rights and racial justice. This growing alliance also addresses the dual role of police in repressing both worker organizing and black and other communities of color…

_____ (2020-07-22). SEIU Should Actually Strike For Black Lives. popularresistance.org We want to fight. Workers throughout the country have been involved in the movements on the streets for weeks. In our unions, we have marched as contingents from coast to coast and in pretty much every city. There's been heroism with transit workers refusing to transport political prisoners and even some strikes. And now, there's a growing movement to drop the cops from our unions, from whole labor federations like in the King County Labor Council, to the Writers Guild, to even the efforts in the SEIU. | We rank and filers have not been sitting on the sidelines. But, for the most part, our union leaderships have.

Fight Back (2020-07-22). Trump deploying 150 federal agents in Chicago to repress our movement. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. | What we have watched in Portland is the dress rehearsal for what Trump is preparing for Chicago: an effort to squash the Black Lives Matter protests flowing from this uprising by violent military means. He claims he is targeting the cities controlled by Democrats because of the chaos caused by the largest rebellion in U.S. history. | In truth, broad democratic forces have come together to exercise their right to protest against police murder and violence. We've had signals this was…

Leon Kunstenaar (2020-07-22). Strike for Black Lives and Working People at McDonald's. indybay.org Oakland demonstration part of National Day of Reckoning…

_____ (2020-07-22). Chris Hedges: This Is Kabir's America. popularresistance.org Robert "Kabir" Luma was 18 when he found himself in the wrong car with the wrong people. He would pay for that misjudgment with 16 years and 54 days of his life, locked away for a crime he did not participate in and did not know was going to take place. Released from prison, he was tossed onto the street, without financial resources and, because of fines and fees imposed on him by the court system, $7,000 of debt. He ended up broke in a homeless shelter in Newark, populated with others who could not afford a place to live, addicts and the mentally ill. The shelter was filthy, infested with lice and bedbugs. | "Yo…

Staff (2020-07-22). Headlines for July 22, 2020. democracynow.org As U.S. Records 1,000 More COVID-19 Deaths, Trump Admits "It Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better", California Surpasses New York in Total Coronavirus Cases, COVID-19 Death Toll at San Quentin State Prison Reaches 12, HRW: 14 Egyptians Have Died of COVID-19 in Overcrowded Prison, Brazilian COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 80,000; Bolivian Police Recover 400 Bodies, Israel Authorities Demolish Coronavirus Testing Center in West Bank, U.S. Military Infection Rates Soar, Raising Concerns for Areas Near Overseas Bases, Trump Moves to Exclude Counting Undocumented People in Drawing Congressional Districts, Massachusetts…

RT (2020-07-22). Pangs of conscience or howl of an empty wallet? Steele claims he never meant for infamous Russiagate dossier to go public. rt.com Former British spy Christopher Steele insists he never wanted the notorious Trump dossier, which was central to the Russiagate investigation, to be made public. The belated pang of conscience emerged in response to a new lawsuit. | Steele would have done "whatever I could do to prevent" BuzzFeed from publishing the dossier, he told London's High Court in a written statement on Wednesday. | The document, which Steele compiled at the behest of the US opposition research firm Fusion GPS and Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016, was published in early January 2017, shortly before Donald Trump's inauguration. | The f…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-07-22). Could a New Palestinian-Israeli Prisoner Exchange Be in the Works? mintpressnews.com Various signs indicate that a prisoner exchange between Israel and Palestinian groups is drawing near. The question is, will Netanyahu unleash his winning political card now, or will he wait till later, when he needs it most?

WSWS Repost (2020-07-22). California judge rules against Socialist Equality Party candidates. indybay.org Federal District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee handed down a ruling on Tuesday against the lawsuit filed by the SEP, which argues that California's ballot access laws are "effectively impossible" to satisfy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Norse (2020-07-22). Direct Action to Defund the Out-of-Control Cops Tonight 9 PM Town Clock. indybay.org Marty M, also known as Pirate, brutally seized by police, jailed, and charged with felonies for defending a friend's vehiclehome, has reportedly been released after friends paid the ransom ($2500 for a $25,000 bail). To discourage future such anti-homeless abuses and restore real security in our community, come to the Direct Action protest tonight 7-20 Monday at 9 PM at the Town Clock.

commondreams (2020-07-21). ACLU Calls Trump Anti-Immigrant Census Order Unconstitutional. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Amreeta Mathai (2020-07-21). The Looming Unspoken Crisis: How a Pandemic Exacerbates the Unjust Exclusions Wrought by the Criminal System. aclu.org For Black and Brown people, individuals with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community, any contact with the criminal legal system can be a life sentence of punishment. It is not just the precious time taken away from families and communities and turned over to a maze of arrests, convictions, or incarceration. That lifetime of punishment also includes the

Mark Gruenberg (2020-07-21). 'Strike for Black Lives' targets racism, demands HEROES Act passage. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Even with a recent raise, thanks to her union contract, Alberta Tapia doesn't make enough from her janitorial job to keep herself and three other adults well fed and with a roof over their heads. She winds up falling behind on house payments. And that's what brought her, along with dozens of other people of …

Art Hazelwood (2020-07-21). Black Lives Mattered, and Matter. thenation.com Black Lives Mattered, and Matter…

Al Neal (2020-07-21). 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Show Me $15' ring out at St. Louis strike. peoplesworld.org ST. LOUIS— The rally cries of "Black Lives Matter" and "Show me $15" rang out through the afternoon air in downtown St. Louis Monday. Over 75 fast-food workers, members of the local Fight for $15 campaign, union members representing various area unions, clergy, and community members flooded a local McDonald's restaurant as part of the …

Service Employees International Union (2020-07-21). Monday 7/20: Strike for Black Lives SEIU Livestream (online). indybay.org

The Canary (2020-07-21). Gun-toting St Louis couple charged. thecanary.co A St Louis couple who brandished guns outside their home as non-violent protesters marched against racial injustice nearby have been charged by prosecutors.Mark and Patricia McCloskey were charged on Monday with unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns during a protest outside their mansion last month.Footage of the white couple, who are both personal injury lawyers in their 60s, went viral amid worldwide Black Lives Matter protests.St Louis's top prosecutor, Kim Gardner, told the Associated Press the McCloskeys' actions risked creating a violent situation during an otherwise peaceful protest."It is illegal t…

Jonathan Nack (2020-07-21). Strike for Black Lives targets McDonald's. indybay.org Video of marchers going up Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, CA to the McDonald's restaurant at Telegraph and 45th Street. | July 20, 2020 | Video by Jonathan Nack | Oakland, CA…

patrick maynard (2020-07-21). State Dept-funded Transparency International goes silent on jailed transparency activist Julian Assange. thegrayzone.com For over a year, the West's top anti-corruption NGO, Transparency International, has not said a word about the world's most…

Chloé Caldasso (2020-07-21). The invisible oppression of the autistic female. peoplesworld.org When I was in the 3rd grade, I befriended a boy who joined our class halfway through the year. He had a difficult time fitting in, to say the least, but I had always been the type of kid to embrace others eagerly. We became fast friends, our favorite pastime being movie talk. At least …

Miko Peled (2020-07-21). As US Courts Release Inmates amid COVID-19, Palestinian Political Prisoners Are Still Persecuted. mintpressnews.com The now elderly Palestinian political prisoners involved in the Holy Land Foundation case have appealed to the courts for early release, yet despite the looming threat to their fragile health from COVID-19, their motions continue to be denied with tenuous justifications.

RT (2020-07-21). Fox stars Tucker Carlson & Sean Hannity face sexual harassment allegations, as former host Ed Henry accused of rape in new lawsuit. rt.com America's ratings leader in cable news has been rocked by new allegations of sexual harassment, with the latest complaint against Fox News implicating its two biggest stars, in addition to accusing former host Ed Henry of rape. | A

RT (2020-07-21). Florida teachers union sues to stop state school reopening amid Covid-19 pandemic. rt.com Florida's largest teachers' union is suing Governor Ron DeSantis and the state education bureaucracy over their emergency order to reopen schools for the fall, insisting the mandate is "reckless" and "unconscionable." | The

RT (2020-07-21). 'Why didn't they help my son?' Mother of black teen slain in Seattle's disbanded CHOP zone to slap city with wrongful death suit. rt.com The family of a young black man shot dead in Seattle's former protest encampment, known as "CHOP," has filed a wrongful death claim against the city, arguing first responders failed to offer help as the 19-year-old bled to death. | The family of Lorzeno Anderson

Adrienne Jones (2020-07-21). Georgia's Election Disaster Shows How Bad Voting in 2020 Can Be. commondreams.org Georgia's presidential primary election on June 9 was a nightmare mix of inefficiency and discrimination that shows how difficult it is for many Americans — particularly Black Americans — to participate in their democracy. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-07-21_at_4.47.35_pm.png

Earth Justice (2020-07-21). Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration's Order to Open Public Lands to Coal Leasing. globalresearch.ca A coalition including states, conservation organizations, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe today launched a

IMEMC News (2020-07-21). Soldiers Abduct Six Palestinians, Including A Father And His Son. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Tuesday at dawn, six Palestinians, including a father and his son, from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has confirmed. The PPS office in Bethlehem, south of occupied Jerusalem in the West Bank, said the soldiers stormed …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-07-21). Moroccan journalist Hamid el-Mahdaoui released from prison. peoplesdispatch.org Moroccan journalist Hamid El-Mahdaoui was released on July 20, Monday, after spending four years in a prison in Rabat. He was sentenced to a three years prison term in 2018 for "failing to report an attempt to undermine state security." He was welcomed by his family outside the prison. | Mahdaoui was the editor-in-chief of Badil.info news outlet which has been critical to the state's policies. He was arrested in July 2017 for his alleged participation in the Hirak-Rif movement in Morocco's northern al-Hoceima province. He was kept in prison pending his trial and conviction in June 2018. | He was finally sentenced…

_____ (2020-07-21). As COVID-19 Stalks Florida's Inmates, So Does Another Plague. popularresistance.org "They are dying in the heat," said the distraught mother of an inmate at Dade Correctional Institution south of Miami. "What have we done to deserve this. … How is it possible, knowing how hot it is here?" | "We have gone an entire week without a set of showers ‚Å — two were turned off last week because one of them wouldn't turn off, so they just turned the water off and have not been back to fix it," wrote an inmate at Avon Park Correctional Institution, a prison in Highlands County, in an email shared with the Miami Herald. | "Plus the water temp is too hot to stand under and they won't turn…

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-07-21). New Local Lawsuit Challenges 'Violent and Unlawful' Attacks on Portland Protesters by Trump's Secret Police Force. commondreams.org "There is no positive delegation of authority in any law that makes the federal government's recent forays into general policing in Portland either legal or constitutional." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12277186951_0.jpg

WSWS (2020-07-20). John Lewis, civil rights militant turned big-business politician, dies at 80. wsws.org The outpouring of tributes from reactionaries and war criminals demonstrates the class role that Lewis came to play, despite his youthful part in asserting the democratic rights of African Americans.

Sari Beth Rosenberg (2020-07-20). Living Monuments: John Lewis and C.T. Vivian. progressive.org We lost two great civil rights leaders on the same day, but their legacy of service, challenging inequality, and advocating for voting rights lives on.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-07-20). Tributes pour in for civil rights icon John Lewis. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—From Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson to Richard Trumka and Black Lives Matter, tributes poured in over the weekend of July 18-19 for Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the longtime civil rights leader and "conscience of the Congress" who died late at night on July 17 of pancreatic cancer. He was 80, and had represented Atlanta …

Tim Wheeler (2020-07-20). A personal remembrance of two civil rights giants. peoplesworld.org Two giants of the struggle for equality and human rights died this weekend, Rep. John Lewis who represented Atlanta for 17 terms in Congress and the Rev. C.T. Vivian, both lifelong fighters for voting rights. I met and interviewed both of these mass leaders on March 11, 2005, when my wife Joyce and I were …

Staff (2020-07-20). "I Felt Like I Was Going to Die": The Late John Lewis on Selma's "Bloody Sunday" truthout.org Image Credit: Getty Images | As the United States mourns the loss of civil rights icon and 17-term Democratic Congressmember John Lewis, we feature his 2012 in-studio interview, when he tears up remembering the historic 1965 Selma to Montgomery march he helped lead in 1965 as a 25-year-old man, when he was almost beaten to death by police in what came to be called "Bloody Sunday" and helped push the country toward adopting the Voting Rights Act. "They came toward us, beating us with nightsticks an…

Staff (2020-07-20). Headlines for July 20, 2020. democracynow.org Coronavirus on the Rise Around the World, with the U.S. Leading the Charge, Trump Seeks to Block Billions in Federal Funds for Testing as He Continues to Downplay Virus, Civil Rights Icon and Long-Standing Congressmember John Lewis Dies, C. T. Vivian, Civil Rights Legend, Dubbed "Greatest Preacher to Ever Live" by MLK, Dies at 95, Protesters Rail Against Federal Officers' Violent and Covert Attacks in Portland, Charges Dropped Against BLM Protesters as New Info Emerges About Police Killing of Breonna Taylor, Police in Chicago Punch Black Teenage Activist in Face, Knocking Out Her Teeth, Two Men Charged over Racis…

Staff (2020-07-20). Rep. John Lewis on the Freedom Rides, Surviving KKK Attacks, 1963 March on Washington & Malcolm X. democracynow.org Civil rights movement icon and 17-term Democratic Congressmember John Lewis, who died July 17 at the age of 80, helped found SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and was the youngest of the so-called Big Six who addressed the March on Washington in 1963. Before that, he was among the 13 original Freedom Riders who rode buses across the South to challenge segregation laws. He spoke to Democracy Now! in 2012 about his activism and that historic campaign, during which they were beaten and attacked by white mobs and the Klu Klux Klan, including by Klansman Elwin Wilson, who apologized to Lewis decades…

Staff (2020-07-20). Remembering C. T. Vivian, Civil Rights Icon MLK Called "Greatest Preacher to Ever Live" democracynow.org Reverend C. T. Vivian, whom Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once described as "the greatest preacher to ever live," died July 17 at age 95. Vivian was a giant of the civil rights movement and a leading proponent of nonviolent struggle against injustice. He spoke to Democracy Now! in 2015 outside the historic Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama, on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in 1965. Vivian describes how he was assaulted on the steps of the courthouse as he tried to escort a group of African Americans inside to register to vote. "There is nothing we haven't done for this nation," Vivian said of the civ…

Staff (2020-07-20). "I Felt Like I Was Going to Die": Civil Rights Icon John Lewis Recalls 1965 "Bloody Sunday" in Selma. democracynow.org As the United States mourns the loss of civil rights icon and 17-term Democratic Congressmember John Lewis, we feature his 2012 in-studio interview, when he tears up remembering the historic 1965 Selma to Montgomery march he helped lead in 1965 as a 25-year-old man, when he was almost beaten to death by police in what came to be called "Bloody Sunday" and helped push the country toward adopting the Voting Rights Act. "They came toward us, beating us with nightsticks and bullwhips, trampling us with horses," he told Democracy Now! "All these many years later, I don't recall how I made it back across that bridge to…

Nicole Regalado (2020-07-20). McDonald's is Hiding Policies That Perpetuate Systemic Racism Behind Woke-Washing. aclu.org Corporate anti-racism is all the rage these days. We've exposed the hypocrisy of companies from

commondreams (2020-07-20). ACLU Comment on Reported DHS Plans to Deploy Federal Forces to Chicago. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Jim Dickson (2020-07-20). Let Me Vote: My Voting Rights as a Blind Man are the Same as Everybody Else's. aclu.org The first time I voted was in 1968. As a blind man, I needed the assistance of a poll worker to cast my ballot. I'll never forget the moment the poll worker looked at my ballot and said loudly, for everybody to hear, "You want to vote for who?", , The poll worker's comment left me shocked, embarrassed, and wondering whether she marked the ballot the way I wanted. Years later, I would ask my wife to mark my ballot. She would joke with me, "I know you love me, but now I know you really trust me." I knew my wife would mark my ballot the right way., , I'm lucky to have the help of someone I trust, but I shouldn'

Fight Back (2020-07-20). Historic day in Florida: Black Lives Matter actions in Gadsden, Wakulla and Leon Counties. fightbacknews.org Tallahassee, FL – Coinciding with a National Day of Protest initiated by the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (NAARPR), independently-organized actions took place on Saturday, July 18 in Quincy, Crawfordville and Tallahassee, Florida, representing Gadsden, Wakulla and Leon counties respectively. | In Quincy, which recently saw the removal of a Confederate monument, around 30 people attended a "Peace and Prayer for our Community" march in response to recent local gun violence, with the heading, "Black Lives Matter To Us." | In Crawfordville, Kendra Smith was the lead organizer of a 100-plu…

Jeffrey C. Isaac (2020-07-20). In Praise of a Young Black Lives Matter Leader With His Eyes on the Prize. commondreams.org Travon Brown, with megaphone, leads the Black Lives Matter Protest march through Marion, Virginia on Friday, July 3, 2020. (Earl Neikirk for The Washington Post via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/brown.jpg

commondreams (2020-07-20). 350.org on Today's SEIU-led Strike for Black Lives. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Aaron Morrison (2020-07-20). Tens of thousands walk off job in 'Strike for Black Lives'. peoplesworld.org NEW YORK (AP)—Organizers of a national workers strike say tens of thousands are walking off the job today in more than two dozen U.S. cities to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. Dubbed the "Strike for Black Lives," labor unions, along with social and racial justice organizations …

Juan Cole (2020-07-20). Trump's Cynical and Deeply Dangerous Reelection Ploy: Sow Chaos in US Cities. commondreams.org Police arrest demonstrators as Black Lives Matter supporters demonstrate in Portland, Oregon on July 4, 2020 for the thirty-eighth day in a row at Portland's Justice Center and throughout Portland, with a riot declared about 12.20 am on July 5. CS tear gas and less-lethal weapons were used, and multiple arrests were made. (Photo by John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/portland.jpg