Daily Archives: 2020-06-18

2020-06-18: News Headlines

NLG-SF (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…

Eds. (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.

Eds. (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.

Ed Rampell (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…

RT (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

Milestone in History (2020-06-18). 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.

Movement for Black Lives (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…

Palo_Alto_Action_4 _Justice (2020-06-18). 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…

Sit.Walk.Listen. and SF Sanghas (2020-06-18). Sunday 6/21: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Civic Center Plaza (Polk & McAllister)…

Liberation staff (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 …

Jeff Cohen (2020-06-18). Let Us Name the System: "Racial Capitalism" zcomm.org At every stage in U.S. history — beginning with the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and continuing through modern methods of injustice from redlining to mass incarceration and private prisons — U.S. racism has been inextricably embedded in the system of profiteering.

Voces en Lucha (2020-06-18). Daniel Gallardo and the Spanish walls. peoplesdispatch.org Prisons drag themselves through the humidity of this world, | walking the gloomy road of the courts: | They search for a person, they search for a people, | they chase them, absorb them, devour them. | Miguel Hernández | Spain has a long history of jails and penitentiary centers and thousands of social and political prisoners have passed through their walls. Not all of them survived. Since ancient times, punishment has been part of stratified societies, but the concept of ‚Äã‚Äãprison that we know today is a relatively modern idea. In the 16th century, prisons where prisoners o…

Eds. (2020-06-18). Persecuted Egyptian LGBTQ activist Sarah Hegazy dies of suicide. mronline.org 30-year-old Sara Hagezy was in exile in Canada since her release from jail in 2018. She was arrested after she waved a rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo…

_____ (2020-06-18). We should abolish modern slavery before statues. truepublica.org.uk Guest Writer —Erin Rizzato Devlin: In this historical moment, when our reality is being reshaped by new forces to fight discrimination and slavery, the best practice employed for such a task seems to be the popular fashion of removing statues. The frigid and (quite literally) stony-hearted bodies of bearded oppressors and senile slave-owners have been dragged …

Abayomi Azikiwe (2020-06-18). Ballots, Bullets and the African American Struggle in Georgia. globalresearch.ca Continuing problems with voter suppression and the brutal execution of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta highlights racism and national oppression in the contemporary South | *** | "This is why I say it's the ballot or the bullet. It's liberty or it's death. …

Santa Cruz Police News (2020-06-18). "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…

sputniknews (2020-06-17). Civil Rights Groups Call for Facebook Boycott Over Platform's Failure to Address Hate Speech. sputniknews.com Several civil rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), have urged corporations to boycott advertising on Facebook in July because they believe the platform has failed to address hate speech.

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…

_____ (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…

Afroze Fatima Zaidi (2020-06-17). Idols must fall. We can't address racism in the present without condemning Britain's colonial past. thecanary.co As the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement continues to make waves and hold racist power structures to account, the marketplace of ideas is thriving. People wanting to reduce racism to a debate and consider 'both sides' insist that while racism is bad, vandalising statues is arguably The prime minister

Ipek S. Burnett (2020-06-17). Bringing America to the Knee. counterpunch.org When Black Lives Matter protesters join together in Minneapolis, Louisville, Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York, and take a knee to leverage their despair and outrage in quest for racial justice, to lay bare the instability of a deeply broken system, to take part in a movement, they evoke much of the aforementioned—from reverence and love, to the memories of violence and resistance.

sputniknews (2020-06-17). Anti-Racism Protest Against Police Brutality Takes Place in Atlanta – Video. sputniknews.com Amid the Black Lives Matter movement, protests against police brutality and racial injustice have spread across all 50 of the Unites States. In Atlanta, they have been reignited with the killing of Rayshard Brooks, shot dead by a police officer in a drive-thru line at a Wendy's fast food restaurant.

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.

Jason Kerzinski (2020-06-17). Reforming the Police and Jails of New Orleans: an Interview With Sade Dumas. counterpunch.org "If it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes a movement to undo an occupation." — Ruth Wilson Gilmore Since 2004, the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) — which includes Women With A Vision, Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children, Voice of the Experienced, and New Orleans Workers' Center for

RT (2020-06-17). Collusion with China, wanting to stay in office forever: Leaked Bolton book excerpts cash in on anti-Trump frenzy. rt.com Former national security adviser John Bolton has leaked excerpts of his book to major newspapers, accusing President Donald Trump of colluding with leaders in China and Turkey, and obstruction of justice "as a way of life." | Facing a DOJ lawsuit seeking to block the publication of his memoir for containing classified information, Bolton decided to go to the press, leaking parts of the book to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. | | Breaking News: John Bolton says in his new book that the House…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-17). LGBTQ unionists hail ruling but say hearts and minds are another matter. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Winning at the U.S. Supreme Court, with its ban on job discrimination in the workplace is one thing, say LGBTQ federal workers. Changing hearts and minds, however, is quite another. At least that's what a group of them, convened by the Government Employees (AFGE) for a Zoom discussion, reported. The union's Women's and Fair Practices …

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

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…

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…

WSWS (2020-06-17). UAW, federal prosecutors announce talks over corruption scandal. wsws.org Whatever the friction between the US Attorney's office and the UAW, both share as their central aim the suppression of the rising tide of opposition among autoworkers.

John Whitehead (2020-06-17). The System Is Rigged: Qualified Immunity Is How the Police State Stays in Power. mintpressnews.com Lawyers tend to offer complicated, convoluted explanations for the doctrine of qualified immunity, which was intended to insulate police from frivolous lawsuits, but its real purpose, writes constitutional attorney John Whitehead, is to rig the system,…

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…

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."

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.

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…

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 . . . |

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 …

Fréa Lockley (2020-06-16). A powerful call to rename streets that are 'still littered with slave traders' names'. thecanary.co On 7 June, Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol

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). 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.