Monthly Archives: June 2020

2020-06-16: News Headlines

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…

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…

NLG-SF (2020-06-16). 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…

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…

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 …

_____ (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…

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!

Movement for Black Lives (2020-06-16). Friday 6/19: #SixNineteen: Nationwide M4BL Actions to Defend Black Lives Juneteenth Weekend. indybay.org SF Bay Area, across the USA, & Online…

_____ (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…

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 …

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…

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…

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 …

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 . . . |

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 …

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…

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?>

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.

_____ (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…

Staff (2020-06-15). Woman Struck by BPD Officer, Defunding the Police, and More. therealnews.com Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon talks about his client who was punched by an officer after she struck another officer.

Eds. (2020-06-15). Atlanta Police shoot and kill Rayshard Brooks as protests demanding racial justice continue worldwide. mronline.org "This is not the first time a black man has been killed for sleeping," said Rev. James Woodall, state president of the Georgia NAACP.

RT (2020-06-15). US Supreme Court refuses to hear challenges to qualified immunity doctrine shielding police from lawsuits. rt.com The US law doctrine, protecting police and other public officials from lawsuits, is not going to be reexamined by the country's Supreme Court. The decision comes amid nation-wide protesting against police brutality. | The US Supreme Court issued an unsigned order on Monday announcing its decision to decline hearing any further cases that seek to reconsider the doctrine of 'qualified immunity'. According to the doctrine, a police officer cannot be personally liable — and thus cannot receive a civil suit — unless their actions violate "clearly established" law or court rulings. Conceptually, the idea w…

RT (2020-06-15). 'Information heroes'?! Reporters Without Borders hails White House press corps for pandemic coverage. rt.com Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has praised journalists who distinguished themselves with courageous work on the Covid-19 pandemic — whistleblowers and reporters who were jailed and persecuted — and the White House press corps. | The press organization

Staff (2020-06-15). Supreme Court Ruling on LGBTQ Rights Defangs Trump's Attack on Trans Health Care. truthout.org The Supreme Court's ruling on anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people is not only an extraordinary victory for workplace equity, it also provides strong legal pushback against Donald Trump's attempts to roll back health care discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. | The Supreme Court on Monday unambiguously

Gabrielle M Haeusler, Robert Phillips, Monica A. Slavin, Franz E Babl, Richard De Abreu Lourenco, Francoise Mechinaud, Karin A. Thursky, Australian PICNICC study group and the PREDICT network (2020-06-15). Re-evaluating and recalibrating predictors of bacterial infection in children with cancer and febrile neutropenia. thelancet.com Degree of marrow suppression (low platelets), features of inflammation (temperature) and clinical judgement (severely unwell) have been consistently shown to predict infection in children with FN. Recalibration of existing CDRs is a novel way to improve diagnostic performance of CDRs and maintain relevance over time.

Hauwa Ahmed (2020-06-15). How Private Prisons Are Profiting Under the Trump Administration. globalresearch.ca There are more people behind bars in the United States than there are living in major American cities[1] such as Phoenix or Philadelphia. According to a 2018 report from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 2 million adults[2] were …

Ali Salam (2020-06-15). Israeli Soldiers Re-arrest Palestinian Immediately after his Release. imemc.org Palestinian prisoner, Salah Hussein, was released on Sunday, when he met his 5 year old son for the first time, accompanied by his wife, Quds News Network reported. Hussein just completed fifteen years in Israeli prison held his son, Ali, for the first time since he was born. Ali was …

Ali Salam (2020-06-15). Palestinian Child Sentenced to Ten Years by Israeli Authorities. imemc.org The Israeli administration, on Sunday, sentenced Palestinian child, Hammoudeh Khader Sheikh, to 10 years in prison, Quds News Network reported. The boy, 15, from occupied East Jerusalem, southern West Bank, was shot and injured by occupation soldiers on August 15, 2019, while with his friend Naseem Imkafeh, 15, whom the …

Ali Salam (2020-06-15). Eight Palestinians, Including one Minor Detained by Israeli Forces in West Bank. imemc.org Israeli forces arrested seven Palestinian civilians across the occupied West Bank, on Sunday at dawn, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society. Israeli soldiers abducted three Palestinian civilians from the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, identified as; 1. Osaid Al-Din Abu Shaira, 17, from Aida refugee camp, 2.

The Sentencing Project (2020-06-15). Private Prisons in the United States. globalresearch.ca Private prisons in the United States incarcerated 121,718 people in 2017, representing 8.2% of the total state and federal prison population. Since 2000, the number of people housed in private prisons has increased 39%. | However, the private prison population reached …

Yanis Varoufakis (2020-06-15). Julian Assange called. To talk about the pandemic's effect on capitalism & politics! peoplesdispatch.org Yanis Varoufakis writes about receiving a call from Julian Assange, who is in Belmarsh prison awaiting a hearing in an extradition appeal by the US.

SF NAACP Youth Council (2020-06-15). Friday 6/12: "We are the Future" Youth March for Justice. indybay.org San Francisco City Hall | 1 Dr. Carlton Goodlett Pl., San Francisco, CA | Civic Center, San Francisco…

National Lawyers Guild (2020-06-15). Statement in Support of #8toAbolition. indybay.org The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) supports the #8toAbolition campaign, which builds on decades of work by Black feminist abolitionists to demand an end to policing and prisons, and community investment that prioritizes the lives and safety of Black people.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-15). Persecuted Egyptian LGBTQ activist Sarah Hegazy dies of suicide. peoplesdispatch.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…

Eds. (2020-06-14). Black Lives Matter & The Question of Violence | Gary Younge. mronline.org "Riots are often justified, what's the French Revolution but a riot blessed by history"

Fight Back (2020-06-14). Thousands march in Minneapolis to oppose police crimes. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN — More than 3000 rallied on the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza, June 13, as people across the country rallied and marched against police crimes. The spirited rally was followed by a march through downtown streets. | The protest was initially called by Black Lives Matter Minnesota as an International Solidarity Day of Protest Against Police Terror. The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar joined the effort, as a part of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repressions' National Day of Action to Stop Police Crimes. The Native Lives Matter Youth Alliance also join…

_____ (2020-06-14). US State Propaganda Outlets Censor Black Lives Matter Protests. popularresistance.org With a budget that hovers around $100 million, RFE/RL broadcasts to something like to 22 countries in 26 languages. And the same censorship regime extends to just about every RFE/RL language division. | I've looked at about a dozen of them. Most have no coverage of the protests at all. A couple — like the Russian and Afghanistan division — do have a tiny protest stories, but they are given very little attention. | In the case of RFE/RL's Russian coverage, the protests are presented from the most reactionary perspective possible: denying racism and blaming the violence on organized armed anarchist comm…

_____ (2020-06-14). George Floyd, Coronavirus And Inequality Stealing Black Lives. popularresistance.org Several Black protesters have said, "If the police don't get you, the coronavirus will." Floyd pleaded for mercy as Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck until Floyd could no longer breathe. His death triggered the protests of the past week. But the issues that have driven people to the streets are the same as those identified in the 1968 Kerner report. Over the years, the report has become a benchmark for racial progress. Though it is typically cited for indicting a white, paternalistic perspective in the news media, it also proclaimed "white racism" as the catalyst for the unrest, condemned polic…

Staff (2020-06-14). The Movement to Uplift Black Lives and Defund Police Can No Longer Be Ignored. truthout.org On May 25, 2020, the nation ignited after a bystander posted a horrific video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for over eight minutes. | Now the movement to uplift Black lives, and to defund and dismantle police departments where officers disproportionately kill and brutalize African-American men and women, has grown to a point where it can no longer be ignored. | We'll hear from activists in Minneapolis, mourners in Houston, and we'll go to our archiv…

Tha Hood Squad (2020-06-14). Friday 6/12: Black Lives Matter – Justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor – East Palo Alto. indybay.org Jack Farrell Park | 2509 Fordham St | East Palo Alto, CA…

Fight Back (2020-06-14). 1000s march and caravan for community control of Chicago police. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Over 1000 marchers and 400 cars drove several miles through the Washington Park neighborhood of Chicago, June 12, to demand community control of the police. Hundreds of people came out of hair and nail salons, stepped out of homes, or came off of the sidewalk to chant and march as well. Cries of "Black lives matter" were alternated with "CPAC now!" CPAC is the Civilian Police Accountability Council, legislation in Chicago City Council which would establish control of the Chicago Police by the Black, Chicano/Mexicano and Puerto Rican neighborhoods in the city. | Organized by the Chicago Alliance Agai…

teleSUR (2020-06-14). Venezuela Denounces Arbitrary Arrest of Alex Saab by Interpol. telesurenglish.net The Venezuelan government described the arrest of businessman Alex Saab by Interpol on Saturday as an arbitrary detention that seeks to infringe on the rights of citizens in the Bolivarian Republic. | RELATED: | Saab was traveling through the island-nation of Cape Verge on Saturday when Interpol arbitrarily arrested him and prevented him from returning home. | According to a statement from the Venezuelan Foreign Min…

teleSUR (2020-06-14). Sanders Proposes 10% Cut to Pentagon Budget For Social Programs. telesurenglish.net United States Senator Bernie Sanders announced Friday he will introduce an amendment in the coming days to cut the Department of Defense's US$740 billion budget by 10 percent and redirect that money toward healthcare, housing, and education in the poorest communities. | RELATED: | "Instead of spending US$740 billion on the Dept. of Defense, let's rebuild communities at home devastated by poverty and incarceration,"

Vicky Peláez (2020-06-14). The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery? globalresearch.ca This incisive and carefully researched article was first published by Global Research twelve years ago in March 2008. | Things have got worse since 2008. African-Americans and Latinos are routinely the victims of arbitrary arrest, incarceration and inhumane exploitation in America's …

2020-06-15: News Headlines

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?>

Eds. (2020-06-15). Atlanta Police shoot and kill Rayshard Brooks as protests demanding racial justice continue worldwide. mronline.org "This is not the first time a black man has been killed for sleeping," said Rev. James Woodall, state president of the Georgia NAACP.

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…

Gabrielle M Haeusler, Robert Phillips, Monica A. Slavin, Franz E Babl, Richard De Abreu Lourenco, Francoise Mechinaud, Karin A. Thursky, Australian PICNICC study group and the PREDICT network (2020-06-15). Re-evaluating and recalibrating predictors of bacterial infection in children with cancer and febrile neutropenia. thelancet.com Degree of marrow suppression (low platelets), features of inflammation (temperature) and clinical judgement (severely unwell) have been consistently shown to predict infection in children with FN. Recalibration of existing CDRs is a novel way to improve diagnostic performance of CDRs and maintain relevance over time.

SF NAACP Youth Council (2020-06-15). Friday 6/12: "We are the Future" Youth March for Justice. indybay.org San Francisco City Hall | 1 Dr. Carlton Goodlett Pl., San Francisco, CA | Civic Center, San Francisco…

National Lawyers Guild (2020-06-15). Statement in Support of #8toAbolition. indybay.org The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) supports the #8toAbolition campaign, which builds on decades of work by Black feminist abolitionists to demand an end to policing and prisons, and community investment that prioritizes the lives and safety of Black people.

Fight Back (2020-06-14). Thousands march in Minneapolis to oppose police crimes. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN — More than 3000 rallied on the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza, June 13, as people across the country rallied and marched against police crimes. The spirited rally was followed by a march through downtown streets. | The protest was initially called by Black Lives Matter Minnesota as an International Solidarity Day of Protest Against Police Terror. The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar joined the effort, as a part of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repressions' National Day of Action to Stop Police Crimes. The Native Lives Matter Youth Alliance also join…

Eds. (2020-06-14). Black Lives Matter & The Question of Violence | Gary Younge. mronline.org "Riots are often justified, what's the French Revolution but a riot blessed by history"

David Rovics (2020-06-14). Stop the Evictions Before They Start. dissidentvoice.org Ôªø The system based on a combination of police brutality, mass imprisonment, and evictions at gunpoint may be collapsing, but if it's going to fall in the direction we want it to fall in, we need to push it that way. And if we want to make that happen, we have to organize to stop …

The Canary (2020-06-14). Couple falsely arrested by armed police receive apology and £200,000 police payout. thecanary.co A couple arrested when armed police stormed their home and held them for 36 hours over the Gatwick Airport drone chaos have received £200,000 in compensation and an apology.Paul and Elaine Gait have settled their claims for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment against Sussex Police, their legal team announced on Sunday.Drone sightings near the runways over a three-day period in December 2018 caused chaos, with the airport being repeatedly forced to close.Travellers excited for Christmas-time getaways were horrified as flights were cancelled in droves as police investigated the sightings.No-one has ever be…

Toni Gilpin (2020-06-14). Corporations Now Love 'Black Lives'—But What About Their Own Black Workers? zcomm.org Never underestimate the American business community's capacity for hypocrisy…

_____ (2020-06-14). George Floyd, Coronavirus And Inequality Stealing Black Lives. popularresistance.org Several Black protesters have said, "If the police don't get you, the coronavirus will." Floyd pleaded for mercy as Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck until Floyd could no longer breathe. His death triggered the protests of the past week. But the issues that have driven people to the streets are the same as those identified in the 1968 Kerner report. Over the years, the report has become a benchmark for racial progress. Though it is typically cited for indicting a white, paternalistic perspective in the news media, it also proclaimed "white racism" as the catalyst for the unrest, condemned polic…

_____ (2020-06-14). US State Propaganda Outlets Censor Black Lives Matter Protests. popularresistance.org With a budget that hovers around $100 million, RFE/RL broadcasts to something like to 22 countries in 26 languages. And the same censorship regime extends to just about every RFE/RL language division. | I've looked at about a dozen of them. Most have no coverage of the protests at all. A couple — like the Russian and Afghanistan division — do have a tiny protest stories, but they are given very little attention. | In the case of RFE/RL's Russian coverage, the protests are presented from the most reactionary perspective possible: denying racism and blaming the violence on organized armed anarchist comm…

Staff (2020-06-14). The Movement to Uplift Black Lives and Defund Police Can No Longer Be Ignored. truthout.org On May 25, 2020, the nation ignited after a bystander posted a horrific video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for over eight minutes. | Now the movement to uplift Black lives, and to defund and dismantle police departments where officers disproportionately kill and brutalize African-American men and women, has grown to a point where it can no longer be ignored. | We'll hear from activists in Minneapolis, mourners in Houston, and we'll go to our archiv…

Tha Hood Squad (2020-06-14). Friday 6/12: Black Lives Matter – Justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor – East Palo Alto. indybay.org Jack Farrell Park | 2509 Fordham St | East Palo Alto, CA…

Fight Back (2020-06-14). 1000s march and caravan for community control of Chicago police. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Over 1000 marchers and 400 cars drove several miles through the Washington Park neighborhood of Chicago, June 12, to demand community control of the police. Hundreds of people came out of hair and nail salons, stepped out of homes, or came off of the sidewalk to chant and march as well. Cries of "Black lives matter" were alternated with "CPAC now!" CPAC is the Civilian Police Accountability Council, legislation in Chicago City Council which would establish control of the Chicago Police by the Black, Chicano/Mexicano and Puerto Rican neighborhoods in the city. | Organized by the Chicago Alliance Agai…

Vicky Peláez (2020-06-14). The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery? globalresearch.ca This incisive and carefully researched article was first published by Global Research twelve years ago in March 2008. | Things have got worse since 2008. African-Americans and Latinos are routinely the victims of arbitrary arrest, incarceration and inhumane exploitation in America's …

Fight Back (2020-06-14). Thousands of Greek protesters sent message: "I can't breathe. Break the chains of exploitation!" fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following account by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) of the June 11 protests. | Thousands of workers protested in Athens and other Greek cities, on June 11, against the system that creates poverty and unemployment, war and refugees, racism and all forms of discrimination. | In Athens, starting with the rally in Syntagma, outside the Greek parliament and marching to the U.S. embassy, workers from all the sectors, from different workplaces, along with the self-employed, students and other young people, took part in the first rally organized after the end of the restric…

Staff (2020-06-14). Protesters Take to the Streets in Atlanta After Police Kill Rayshard Brooks. truthout.org Demands for accountability and sweeping reforms mounted Saturday after Atlanta police shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, Friday night amid a wave of global protests against police violence and systemic racism sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis late last month. | In a message to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Saturday, the Georgia NAACP

Eliza Egret (2020-06-13). Black Lives Matter protesters face violence from 'the British KKK'. thecanary.co Hundreds of racists turned up in London on 13 June to counter-protest a Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration. As they became violent towards anti-racist protesters and police, one person called them "the British KKK". | The BLM march was officially Does an…

Ted Kelly (2020-06-13). The govt, the Klan, cops and prisons. workers.org The following talk was given by Ted Kelly of Philadelphia during a May 16 webinar sponsored by the Prisoner Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. I'll begin by quoting two different passages. The first is from Workers World Party founder Sam Marcy's book, "The Klan and the Government: Foes or . . . |

The Canary (2020-06-13). Right-wing violence escalates and white man urinates next to police memorial. thecanary.co A man urinated next to a memorial dedicated to the police officer killed in the Westminster terror attack amid violent clashes between far-right protesters and police in central London.Several hundred demonstrators, mostly white men, attended the protest organised by far-right groups, including Britain First, which claimed they wanted to protect statues such as Winston Churchill from vandalism. Meanwhile, anti-racist Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations were peaceful.But fights erupted in areas near the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square, as demonstrators repeatedly assailed officers with foul-mouthed c…

The Canary (2020-06-13). Black Lives Matter protesters fill Trafalgar Square. thecanary.co Black Lives Matter protesters flocked to London's Trafalgar Square on the afternoon of Friday 12 June, as widespread demonstrations continued following the killing of George Floyd in the US.African American Floyd died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on25 May . | Participants in Friday's protest were warned of counter-rallies from the far-right and urged to "stay calm" if they encountered these. They marched to Trafalgar Square, passing Buckingham Palace on the way.(Dominic Lipinski/PA)(Dominic Lipinski/PA)(Kirsty O'Connor/PA)(Kirsty O'Connor/PA)Hundreds o…

ahtribune (2020-06-13). The Scourge of Islamophobia in Canada. ahtribune.com Muslims in Canada deserve to feel what non-Muslims feel when they hear of a vicious crime or a foiled plot committed by someone who looks like them: abhorred by the crime but knowing the crime reflects the perpetrator alone. Any other thought process should never occur. | — Graeme Truelove, Un-Canadian: Islamophobia in the True North (Nightwood Editions, 2020): location 35% | The police murder of George Floyd set off the powder keg filled by centuries of oppression of Black peoples in the United States. The United States has been beset by countrywide protests, some marred by violence of protestors and po…

Ted Glick (2020-06-13). Dealing with Government Repression. zcomm.org Among these impacts is a willingness by some police to carelessly shoot and brutalize young black men and other men of color for no justifiable reason, which has given rise to the deeply important Movement for Black Lives.

Fight Back (2020-06-13). Black Lives Matter-Lansing event declares racism a public health crisis, confronts mayor. fightbacknews.org Lansing, MI – Police brutality protests continue in both Lansing and East Lansing after the downtown march on May 31 but they are not the only challenge to police brutality based in the Lansing metropolitan area. Black Lives Matter-Lansing and One Love Global hosted a live "Call to Action" on Facebook and Eventbrite. | After a spoken word performance and moment of silence for victims of racist violence, One Love Global CEO and Black Lives Matter-Lansing cofounder Angela Waters Austin spoke with panelists from the Ingham County Health Department about public health deficits experienced by African Americans and oth…

The Lancet (2020-06-13). [Editorial] Medicine and medical science: Black lives must matter more. thelancet.com Emblematic of the profound sense of outrage at the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black men and women at the hands of law enforcement, hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets in the USA and across the globe. They set aside the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2, judging that what they were marching for was more immediately urgent. Marches have been held to draw attention to the continued murder by police of Black people and to the persistent, pervasive racism that exists across societies.

Eliza Egret (2020-06-13). As people continue to take to the streets, knowing your rights is more important than ever. thecanary.co Last week's Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests saw the police in London acting heavy-handedly, Kettling: a favoured police tactic: | The Metropolitan police…

yenisafak (2020-06-13). Right-wing and anti-racism protesters scuffle in Britain. yenisafak.com Anti-racism protesters rallied again around Britain on Saturday, with scuffles breaking out in London as counter-demonstrators also came out to protect monuments targeted for their links to colonial history.Statues of historical figures including Winston Churchill – Britain's World War Two leader whom protesters call a xenophobe – were boarded up to try and minimize trouble.In Trafalgar Square, police separated two groups of about 100 people each, one chanting "Black Lives Matter", the other racial slurs. Some groups jostled, tossed bottles and cans, and set off fireworks, as riot police with dogs and horses line…

yenisafak (2020-06-13). Facebook fires employee who protested inaction on Trump posts. yenisafak.com Facebook Inc fired an employee who had criticized Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's decision not to take action against inflammatory posts by U.S. President Donald Trump this month, citing his tweet challenging a colleague's silence on the issue.Brandon Dail, a user interface engineer in Seattle, wrote on Twitter that he was dismissed for publicly scolding a colleague who had refused to include a statement of support for the Black Lives Matter movement on developer documents he was publishing.Dail sent the tweet a day after joining dozens of employees, including the six other engineers on his team, in abandoning…

en.mehrnews (2020-06-13). VIDEO: Back Lives Matter protests in Australia. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 13 (MNA) — The aerial footage shows thousands of people taking part in Black Lives Matter and pro-refugee protests in Australia's Perth with the social distancing protocols in place.

Staff (2020-06-13). Corporations Claiming to Love Black Lives Fight Against Living Wages and Unions. truthout.org This story was originally published at Never underestimate the American 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…

Sit.Walk.Listen. and SF Sanghas (2020-06-13). Sunday 6/14: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Civic Center Plaza (McAllister & Polk)…

_____ (2020-06-13). Johnson ponders introducing a law to prevent foreign takeovers of UK firms. truepublica.org.uk Business groups have warned that introducing a law to prevent foreign takeovers that threaten national security could have a "chilling" effect on investment in the UK. The government is said to be considering new rules that would mean directors could be jailed or companies could be fined hundreds of thousands of pounds for failing to …

Fight Back (2020-06-13). New Orleans protesters un-arrest Black community member and rally to defund police. fightbacknews.org New Orleans, LA – The Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition led a rally outside City Hall during the city council's Jun. 11 meeting. The week before, the New Orleans Police Department fired tear gas and rubber stinger rounds at protesters on a bridge 200 feet above the Mississippi River. In response, the rally demanded that the city defund and demilitarize the police. | Sade Dumas of the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) said, "Around 25% of the city's funds are spent on over-policing residents. Those funds can be better used for social services that improve public safety and enhance the lives…

Andrew Moss (2020-06-13). Racial Fault Lines and the Coronavirus. zcomm.org With almost 2.3 million people behind bars, the U.S. continues to have the highest number of prisoners in the world, a legacy of several decades of racially propelled policies of harsh sentencing and rapid prison building…

en.mehrnews (2020-06-13). Introduction ceremony to new head of State Prisons org. held. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 13 (MNA) — Farewell to Asghar Jahangir and introduction ceremony to Mohammad Mehdi Hajmohammadi as the new head of State Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organization was held on Saturday in Tehran. The ceremony was attended by Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the first deputy head of the judiciary.

Faith in Action, NAACP, UNIDOS US, others (2020-06-13). Thursday 6/11: #Equity For All Forum: Racial Equity in HEROES Act & End Anti-Black Police Brutality! indybay.org Online…

Jeremy Brecher (2020-06-12). Black Lives and the Green New Deal. zcomm.org The Green New Deal may be a vehicle for building the broad movement for structural change necessary to truly make Black lives matter…

ACLU (2020-06-12). Policing the Press: A Journalist on the Frontlines. aclu.org Journalists covering protests against police brutality across the country are facing an influx of violence, suppression efforts, and arrests by police. Since the George Floyd protests began, there have been more than 400 claims of aggressions against the press, according to the

Shimbun Akahata (2020-06-12). Activists in Japan join the global Black Lives Matter movement. peoplesworld.org TOKYO—In response to the Black Lives Matter movement spreading from the United States to the rest of the world, several rounds of anti-racism demonstrations in Tokyo and Osaka have seen massive turnout—even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. On June 7, the chant "Black Lives Matter" echoed throughout downtown Osaka City. The rally was …

Maicol David Lynch (2020-06-12). Young Communists hit the streets in New York with Black Lives Matter. peoplesworld.org NEW YORK—"How do you spell racist? NYPD!" the crowd chanted as it proceeded up Fifth Avenue towards Central Park from Washington Square Park in Manhattan. The Young Communist League Organizing Committee of New York wasted no time mobilizing its members to participate in and even lead the dozens of protests which have taken the streets …

Staff (2020-06-12). Georgia's Elections Were A Voter Suppression Horror Show. therealnews.com Georgia's primary election could be a warning for what's to come when Americans head to the polls in November.

RT (2020-06-12). Starbucks bows to online roasting and 'cancel' calls, changes dress code to declare 'Black Lives Matter'. rt.com Starbucks overrode its long-standing dress code and pledged to sponsor 'Black Lives Matter' merchandise after celebrities and activists threatened to 'cancel' the coffee chain for its perceived lack of wokeness. | The company announced on Friday it would sponsor 250,000 'BLM' shirts for its employees and allow buttons supporting the cause, reversing course after just one day of social media brigading. | The shirts are intended to "demonstrate our allyship and show we stand together in unity," the executives wrote in a letter on Friday, titled 'Standing together against racial injustice'. | Black Lives Matter.

RT (2020-06-12). Starbucks roasted & faces boycott by Black Lives Matter activists for reminding employees that dress code matters too. rt.com Celebrities and activists are calling for a boycott on Starbucks after the company reminded its employees that wearing accessories, even in support of the noble Black Lives Matter cause, is still a violation of its dress code. | According to an internal memo obtained by Buzzfeed, Starbucks doesn't want employees donning any Black Lives Matter attire — pins, buttons, t-shirts, etc. — part of a sweeping ban on any accessory related to a "political, religious, or personal issue." For BLM in particular, the company observed that there are people who "misconstrue" the movement and the sight of such items…

RT (2020-06-12). Facebook pitched language suppression tool in workplace chat product to employers — report. rt.com New 'benefits' of Facebook Workplace reportedly include a feature that helps employers prevent workers from unionizing. The social media giant seems to be joining other Big Tech companies with anti-union bias. | The Intercept Facebook Workplace is the tech giant's answer to Slack, and allows employees to col…

Fight Back (2020-06-12). The time is now to join a revolutionary organization: Join Freedom Road Socialist Organization. fightbacknews.org If you have been out in the streets this past few weeks, the odds are good that you've been thinking about the difference between the kind of change this system has to offer, and the kind of change this country needs. Capitalism is failed system that thrives on exploitation, inequality and oppression. The reactionary and racist Trump administration has made the pandemic worse. The unfolding economic crisis we are experiencing is the worst since the 1930s. Monopoly capitalism is a dying system and we need to help finish it off. And that is exactly what Freedom Road Socialist Organization is working for. | Freedom…

David Schultz (2020-06-12). The Killing of George Floyd and the Final Fracturing of the Democratic Party, Labor, and Civil Rights Coalition. counterpunch.org George Floyd being killed by a police officer in Minneapolis is not simply about the death of one Black man. His death also killed an historic but uneasy alliance among the Democratic Party, labor unions, and the civil rights movement. The reaction to his death is ending the last vestiges of the historic New Deal

Kanya Bennett (2020-06-12). Congress Can Lead the Charge on Divesting From Law Enforcement. aclu.org As a former Hill staffer, I know how the sausage gets made: the backroom deals, the pet projects, and the extreme partisanship. Our current moment requires far more than the ego, moderation, and compromise that is typically reflected in federal legislation. This country's recognition — finally — of the devastation and destruction that comes from the over-policing and over-criminalization of Black bodies and communities warrants real, meaningful change. The acknowledgment that Black Lives Matter — finally — demands bold and visionary leadership at the national level., , That audacious vi…

Collective 20 (2020-06-12). From 'Movement Moments' to Change, From the Red Summer to Black Lives Matter. zcomm.org "I think we really are on a trajectory for something different"