Monthly Archives: July 2020

2020-07-03: News Headlines

a guest author (2020-07-03). On the Road to Justice with im/migrant TPS holders. workers.org By G. Lechat Inspired by the great Civil Rights Movement and in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, immigrant Temporary Protected Status recipients organizing with Alianza TPS Nacional are forging a "Road to Justice." This is the name they gave their 200+ car caravan that converged on Washington, D.C., June 23-24 . . . |

_____ (2020-07-03). Lawyers Get No Bail In Property Damage Case, Face 45 Years In Prison. popularresistance.org The Center for Constitutional Rights and a coalition of other civil rights organizations are calling on federal prosecutors to release on bail two New York attorneys who are accused of throwing Molotov cocktails into an empty New York police car during protests in Brooklyn on May 30. The lawyers — Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman — are facing a minimum of 45 years in prison if convicted on the federal charges. The two were initially released on bail, but then the federal government challenged the bail conditions, sending them back to pretrial detention — a move that shocked many in the legal co…

RT (2020-07-03). Civil rights groups sue N.Carolina town over protest ban – but where were they when 3 other states banned pipeline protests? rt.com The ACLU and other groups have sued Graham, North Carolina, calling the city's ban on "demonstrations of two or more people" while under a declared emergency unconstitutional. They've remained silent on similar laws, though. | Graham violated protesters' First Amendment rights to freedom of assembly and speech with the law, which bars two or more people (or even a single person carrying a sign) from assembling without a protest permit during a declared state of emergency, the suit, filed on Thursday, states. The Alamance County Sheriff's Office announced last Friday that no further protest permits would be iss…

Louis Proyect (2020-07-03). Smearing Black Lives Matter…From the Left. counterpunch.org Over the past fifty-three years as a socialist, I have seen repeated calls for purifying the left of capitalist influences, both governmental and corporate. The latest flare-up was a Jacobin article titled "Don't Let Blackwashing Save the Investor Class" by Cedric Johnson, a black African American studies professor. Just as Deep Throat advised Bob Woodward

John Davis (2020-07-03). A Requiem for George Floyd. counterpunch.org However complicit we may be in sustaining the historical-racial schema in this country, we can all now agree that, 'Black Lives Matter', but the tag's emblazonment across the country, and internationally, remains a hollow gesture unless there is meaningful collective action to create a social environment in which all black lives can indeed flourish – and matter.

A Guest Author (2020-07-03). Leeds, England: Black Lives Matter. workers.org By Kadesh Anderson Kadesh Anderson is a Black Lives Matter activist and journalist in Leeds, England. Leeds, England — On June 21 in Hyde Park, over 5,000 people came out in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protest. With social distancing measures in place, people came together with their banners . . . |

RT (2020-07-03). Vandals spray-paint and BURN Portland's 'Promised Land' statue (VIDEOS). rt.com Rioters in Oregon used fireworks to torch the 'Promised Land' statue depicting a pioneer family at the end of the Oregon Trail. The vandals also laid siege to the city's Justice Center in what police deemed a "riot." | The city of Portland is known nationwide as a hotbed of left-wing activism, and protesters there have embraced the 'Black Lives Matter' cause with gusto. After

Toby Blomé (2020-07-03). Friday 7/3: "BLACK LIVES MATTER" / Anti-War Light Brigade. indybay.org I-80 Pedestrian pedestrian bridge, south of University Ave. | Gather at 8: 50 pm in open parking area, southwest corner of University Ave. Short walk to get up to the bridge. | Accessed by west side frontage road.

cynthia papermaster (2020-07-03). Saturday 7/4: 4th of July: "Defund Police, Defund Pentagon, Fund Community & Life!" indybay.org 1: 00 – SF City Hall | 1: 30 – 762 Fulton, Black Lives Matter street mural | 2: 00 – Divisadero & Broadway, Nancy Pelosi's House | 3: 00 – Bayview Hunters Point, 11 Innes Court, Lennar office…

Black Lives Matter SLV (2020-07-03). Saturday 7/11: San Lorenzo Valley: Black Lives Matter Protest. indybay.org Meet at San Lorenzo Valley High School, 7105 Hwy 9, Felton…

Jeff Cohen (2020-07-03). Politicians of Color Should Not be Immune From Criticism. counterpunch.org To me, being an anti-racist activist means that one consistently challenges the structures of racist exclusion, exploitation, repression and incarceration It does not mean that one must defend or praise establishment politicians of color. Forty years ago, I was an activist and leader in the battle against police racism, brutality and repression in Los Angeles.

Mnar Muhawesh (2020-07-03). Podcast Panel: Israeli Annexation Could Turn the West Bank Into a Gaza-Style Open Air Prison. mintpressnews.com Palestinian academic Ramzy Baroud, Israeli activist Miko Peled and documentary filmmaker Robert Inkalesh join MintPress to discuss the implication of Israel's coming annexation of the Palestinian West Bank.

Martha Grevatt (2020-07-03). Another reason to tear down the walls: Ohio jail 100% COVID-positive. workers.org Cleveland, Ohio In a recent report, the Ohio Immigrant Alliance stated that the Morrow County Correctional Facility in Mt. Gilead is the first county jail in the state to be 100 percent COVID-positive. The jail, holding local prisoners as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, is also the first . . . |

Mirinda Crissman (2020-07-03). Behind the walls: a summary. workers.org Case numbers in the thousands At least 48,764 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among prisoners. The data suggest that even these numbers may be underreported. Texas leads in the number of cases with 7,757, followed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons with 6,621 cases. Ohio, Michigan, California and Tennessee . . . |

RT (2020-07-03). Germany joins tiny host of European nations by making 'upskirting' punishable crime. rt.com German MPs have followed their UK and French colleagues, backing legislation that carries a fine or even a prison term for taking unsolicited photos under somebody's clothing. | The Bundestag voted in favor of a law on "improving privacy protection" this Friday, thus outlawing the practice. | From now on, anyone trying to film under somebody's clothing in order to see their underwear or private parts will face a fine or a maximum prison term of up to two years. Under existing laws, upskirting was deemed a minor offence punishable only by a small fine. | Minister Christine Lambrecht, who championed the legislat…

_____ (2020-07-03). #DefundThePolice the Real Strategy Behind the Hashtag. strategic-culture.org The demands of revolutionaries are purposely vague. They always have to do with some feelings-based desire like "freedom" or ending "oppression". The government can create a law, remove a tax, or do all sorts of specific things, but there is nothing that they can do to make you feel freedom or non oppressed. In today's America regardless of any factual evidence there are some who feel like they live in a freedom packed utopia while others claim that they are living under the heel of Hitler 2.0. Both of these positions are based on intuition and feelings not a universal rational freedom scale, which simply could n…

John Malkin (2020-07-02). Oakland Police Banned from Using Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets, Grenades at Protests. indybay.org Interview with Walter Riley, civil rights attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, on the June 18, 2020 temporary restraining order banning Oakland police from using tear gas, rubber bullets, flash bang grenades and other "battlefield weapons" during current Black Lives Matter protests.

ACLU (2020-07-02). Activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham on Building a Lasting Movement. aclu.org In the last month, protests have erupted across the country calling for justice for Black lives, a wholesale restructuring of policing, and a greater racial reckoning across all facets of American society. , , "All of these things are interconnected," Brittany Packnett Cunningham told At Liberty this week. "If we're gonna talk about police violence, we're gonna talk about health care … we're coming for the whole thing.", , Packnett Cunningham is an activist, educator, and writer who has been on the front lines of many of these conversations, most prominently since the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Cha…

Rev. Seigen Hartkemeyer (2020-07-02). The Federal Government's Decision to Proceed with Executions During the Pandemic Puts Me in an Impossible Position. aclu.org As a Buddhist priest to a man on death row, I have prepared myself for the difficult, yet necessary role of attending

commondreams (2020-07-02). ACLU Sues Federal Government for Risking Lives to Resume Executions During Pandemic. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Rebecca Gordon (2020-07-02). Fear of Falling: Can Making Black Lives Matter Rescue a Failing State? counterpunch.org You know that feeling when you trip on the street and instantly sense that you're about to crash hard and there's no way to prevent it? As gravity has its way with you, all you can do is watch yourself going down. Yeah, that feeling. I had it the other day on my way to a

RT (2020-07-02). British historian slammed online for commenting that there are 'so many damn blacks' in UK and Africa. rt.com Controversial British historian David Starkey has been savaged online after arguing in an interview that slavery wasn't a genocide, because if it was "there wouldn't be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain." | Speaking on Tuesday to Reasoned, a YouTube channel dedicated to against-the-grain views, Starkey accused the Black Lives Matter movement of attempting to "delegitimise British history." The historian slammed the activists desecrating statues in London, ridiculed the "arrogant" middle classes supporting the movement, and waved away the notion that Britain's own history of slavery was one of "genoci…

RT (2020-07-02). Karma or overkill? Harvard grad fired by Deloitte after threatening to stab anyone who thinks 'all lives matter'. rt.com A Harvard graduate has reportedly lost her job after posting a now-viral TikTok video in which she vowed to assault anyone who didn't support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. The internet had mixed feelings about her firing. | Claira Janover became an overnight sensation after several news outlets caught wind of a video in which she threatened to attack anyone "entitled" enough to believe that "all lives matter." | "I'ma stab you, and while you're struggling and bleeding out, I'ma show you my paper cut and say, 'My cut matters too,'" she declared in the TikTok clip. | The video sparked pandemonium on soc…

Staff (2020-07-02). Police Unions Are Racist Power Brokers in Opposition to Movement for Black Lives. truthout.org The scene is all too frequent — a Black person is slain or wantonly brutalized on camera by police officers, most often white, and in response, a white police union leader steps to the microphone and unequivocally defends the actions, no matter how indefensible they are. A police chief or mayor, under pressure from the community, attempts to invoke modest reforms in response, and the union wields the power of its contract to defeat the measures. Progressive-leaning prosecutors are m…

Remembering Black Lives Murdered (2020-07-02). Protesters Switch Destination at Last Minute, March on Menlo Park Police Station Pt 1. indybay.org A June 25 rally was purportedly to target FaceBook for paying for a substation and police salaries near their headquarters in Menlo Park.

Russell Lee (2020-07-02). Sunday 7/5: March for Black Lives: Reclaim South San Francisco. indybay.org In front of the South San Francisco Municipal Building, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, CA 94080…

Staff (2020-07-02). Headlines for July 2, 2020. democracynow.org States Reverse Reopenings as Daily U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 50,000 for First Time, As U.S. Deaths Top 128,000, Trump Predicts Coronavirus Will "Sort of Just Disappear", Dallas Choir Members Tested Positive for COVID-19 Ahead of Performance for Mike Pence, San Quentin Prisoners Launch Hunger Strike Amid Explosion of COVID-19 Cases, Seattle Riot Police Clear Autonomous Zone, Los Angeles City Council Approves $150M in Cuts to Police Budget, Trump Calls Black Lives Matter Message Outside Trump Tower a "Symbol of Hate", Richmond, Virginia, Mayor Removes Confederate Statue, Trump Backs Confederate Base Names as Monum…

WSWS (2020-07-02). City of Chicago announces plan for mass arrest and detention of youth over holiday weekend. wsws.org The plan for arrest and jailing of teenagers comes as the Lightfoot administration has stepped up policing in wake of recent protests and as President Trump urges Democratic leaders in Illinois to take "decisive action" against gun violence.

Andrew Emett (2020-07-02). Former correctional officers charged with assaulting inmate and falsifying reports. nationofchange.org "Our communities entrust correctional officers to protect detention facilities and the inmates housed within them, and when such officers commit crimes within a detention facility, they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

IMEMC Staff (2020-07-02). Two Palestinian Prisoners Embark on Hunger Strike. imemc.org Two Palestinian prisoners declared, on Thursday, that they would embark on an open hunger strike, in protest of their imprisonment under administrative detention by the Israeli occupation authorities. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society issued a statement, explaining that the two prisoners, identified as Fadi Ghonaimat and Oday Shehada, have begun hunger …

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-07-02). Cuban Asylum Seeker Describes Vicious Pepper Spray Attack on Hunger Strikers at ICE Detention Facility. commondreams.org A Cuban asylum-seeker on Thursday described a pepper spray attack he and about two dozen other people faced in May at a private prison where ICE is holding immigrants. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1192337815_1.jpg

Fight Back (2020-07-02). Israeli annexation of West Bank: More stolen land as time runs out for occupation. fightbacknews.org The Israeli apartheid regime is poised to commit a new crime against Palestine: the annexation of up to 30% of the West Bank. As things stand Israel effectively controls Palestine, with the heroic people of Gaza confined to an open prison and the hapless Palestinian Authority serving as accomplices to the occupation. | The significance of the annexation is twofold. First, it codifies the theft of Palestinian land. It is a statement to one and all, "We are stealing this, and it is ours forever." Second, it is the declaration of the end of a solution that was never really a solution at all, the so-called 'two state…

WSWS (2020-07-02). SEP presidential candidates Kishore and Santa Cruz file federal lawsuit challenging ballot access restrictions in California. wsws.org The Socialist Equality Party's candidates argued in court filings Tuesday that the state's requirement that the candidates gather 200,000 voter signatures is impossible to meet during the pandemic and a violation of basic democratic rights.

Associated Press (2020-07-02). Moore, WNBA star, helps free wrongly-convicted Missouri prisoner. peoplesworld.org JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man was freed from prison Wednesday after a county prosecutor declined to retry his case, punctuating years of work by WNBA star Maya Moore and other supporters who argued he was falsely convicted of burglary and assault charges. Moore was on hand when Jonathan Irons, 40, walked out …

RT (2020-07-02). 'It's a literal insect': Eyerolls all round as Virginia university pledges to examine wasp mascot over fears it's 'exclusive'. rt.com A university in Virginia has taken political correctness to extraordinary extremes with a pledge to examine whether its wasp mascot (yes, the insect) is hampering "inclusion and diversity" on campus. | In the fraught atmosphere of America in 2020, Emory & Henry College has promised its students that it's doing its part to address "systemic oppression." As part of this noble endeavor, the powers that be in the liberal arts college have trained their sights on the ferocious insect that has been the university's mascot for around 100 years. | The university's president, Dr John Wells, explained in an email to stu…

Khury Petersen-Smith (2020-07-02). The United States owes Black America reparations. zcomm.org Following centuries of exploitation, theft and discrimination, here is what a reparative economic agenda should entail…

If Americans Knew (2020-07-02). Remembering Mohammad Abu Khdeir, 6 years on. imemc.org The story of Mohammad Abukhdeir is one of countless examples of Israeli oppression. His death, and the injustices that followed, are a reminder of what can happen when racism goes unchecked. $10 million a day in unconditional funding from the US makes Americans complicit.

Equipe Media (2020-07-02). Saharawi activist Mahfouda Bamba Lefkir, "I left the small prison just to enter the big one" peoplesdispatch.org After six months in jail on a politically-motivated charge, Saharawi Human rights activist Mahfouda Bamba Lefkir has been released but enjoys only partial freedom…

Unicorn Riot (2020-07-02). GEO Group's ICE Jail Lies to Immigration Lawyer, Attempts Unlawful Deportation. unicornriot.ninja Aurora, CO — On the morning of June 30, 2020, Pablo Mackleen Grijalva's lawyer tried to contact him at the GEO Group's ICE jail where he is detained, but to her shock, the officer on the phone told her he was not there. She immediately…

IMEMC News (2020-07-02). Army Abducts Seven Palestinians In West Bank. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, on Thursday at dawn, seven Palestinians from their homes in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Hebron governorates in the occupied West Bank. The PPS office in Jenin, in northern West Bank, said the soldiers stormed and ransacked homes in the al-Marah …

IMEMC News (2020-07-02). Soldiers Abduct A Lawyer, Who Previously Spent 9 Years In Prison, While His French Wife, Child, Were Deported. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, two days ago, a Palestinian lawyer with French citizenship, from occupied Jerusalem, a former political prisoner who was previously imprisoned for more than nine years, and moved him to the al-Maskobiyya interrogation facility. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that the soldiers abducted Salah Hammouri while …

_____ (2020-07-02). Bolivia: Añez Wants To Jail The Favored Candidate In The Coming Elections. popularresistance.org Bolivia's de facto president, Jeanine Añez, is losing more and more of her mask obscuring democracy that, with the complicity of the United States and the European Union, she had to put on to justify the violent overthrow of Evo Morales in November of last year. | Now, in a fragrant demonstration that in Bolivia there are no constitutional guarantees and that persecution is the rule of order, a coup is being prepared against the presidential candidate of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Luis Arce Catacora. | In a confirmation of the validity of the lawfare method (judicial war) against popular leaders, the le…

Gary Macfarlane — Mike Garrity (2020-07-02). Conservation Groups Sue Trump Administration to Halt Massive Logging in Steelhead Critical Habitat. counterpunch.org Friends of the Clearwater and the Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed a lawsuit this week against the Trump administration's U.S. Forest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service for authorizing massive logging on the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. The groups contend the logging violates the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and

NAACP (2020-07-02). Wednesday 7/1: #Protest to the Polls: NAACP in Conversation w/ Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin. indybay.org Online…

ICE Out of Marin (2020-07-02). Friday 7/3: ICE Out of Marin Plans Large Demonstration at County Jail. indybay.org Marin County Jail…

_____ (2020-07-01). Pro-Israel Racist Group ADL Moves To Co-Opt Black Lives Matter. popularresistance.org For those who yearn for an end to systemic racism, these are exhilarating times as Black activists and organizations lead a global uprising against symbols and structures of white supremacy. | But if you are a racist group masquerading as a civil rights organization, these days are fraught with the danger that you'll get found out. | It's a balancing act that has for years bedeviled the Anti-Defamation League, a major Israel lobby group in the United States. The crisis is particularly acute right now as the ADL tries to portray itself as an ally of Black Lives Matter while also shielding Israel from criticism ove…

sputniknews (2020-07-01). Cisco Systems Sued in California Over Alleged Caste Discrimination. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Equality Labs, a civil rights group, has claimed that 67 percent of dalits working in the US felt like they were being treated unfairly. Reuters reports that Cisco Systems, like other large Silicon Valley employers, hires thousands of Indian immigrants, but that most are Brahmins or from other traditionally privileged castes.

Michele Goodwin (2020-07-01). The Racist History of Abortion and Midwifery Bans. aclu.org In 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered a speech best known as"Ain't I A Woman?" to a crowded audience at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio. At the time, slavery remained in full force, a vibrant enterprise that fueled the American economy. Various laws protected that system, including the Fugitive Slave Act, which resulted in the abduction of "free" Black children, women, and men as well as those who had miraculously escaped to northern cities like Boston or Philadelphia. Bounty hunters then sold their prey to Southern plantation owners. The law denied basic protections for Black people caught in the greed-fi…

Brooke Madubuonwu (2020-07-01). How Nursing Homes Got Away With Hiding Bodies During the COVID-19 Outbreak. aclu.org When COVID-19 first reached the U.S., the epicenter was a single nursing home in Washington State, where 45 people died. That nursing home outbreak was a precursor of what was to come. Ever since, the virus has been devastating nursing homes across the country, due in part to

Chris Schiavo (2020-07-01). Black Lives Matter: Walking Forward. thenation.com Black Lives Matter: Walking Forward…

2020-07-02: News Headlines

John Malkin (2020-07-02). Oakland Police Banned from Using Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets, Grenades at Protests. indybay.org Interview with Walter Riley, civil rights attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, on the June 18, 2020 temporary restraining order banning Oakland police from using tear gas, rubber bullets, flash bang grenades and other "battlefield weapons" during current Black Lives Matter protests.

Russell Lee (2020-07-02). Sunday 7/5: March for Black Lives: Reclaim South San Francisco. indybay.org In front of the South San Francisco Municipal Building, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, CA 94080…

Remembering Black Lives Murdered (2020-07-02). Protesters Switch Destination at Last Minute, March on Menlo Park Police Station Pt 1. indybay.org A June 25 rally was purportedly to target FaceBook for paying for a substation and police salaries near their headquarters in Menlo Park.

Black Lives Matter SLV (2020-07-02). Saturday 7/11: San Lorenzo Valley: Black Lives Matter Protest. indybay.org Meet at San Lorenzo Valley High School, 7105 Hwy 9, Felton…

cynthia papermaster (2020-07-02). Saturday 7/4: 4th of July: "Defund Police, Defund Pentagon, Fund Community & Life!" indybay.org 1: 00 – SF City Hall | 1: 30 – 762 Fulton, Black Lives Matter street mural | 2: 00 – Divisadero & Broadway, Nancy Pelosi's House | 3: 00 – Bayview Hunters Point, 11 Innes Court, Lennar office…

Staff (2020-07-02). Headlines for July 2, 2020. democracynow.org States Reverse Reopenings as Daily U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 50,000 for First Time, As U.S. Deaths Top 128,000, Trump Predicts Coronavirus Will "Sort of Just Disappear", Dallas Choir Members Tested Positive for COVID-19 Ahead of Performance for Mike Pence, San Quentin Prisoners Launch Hunger Strike Amid Explosion of COVID-19 Cases, Seattle Riot Police Clear Autonomous Zone, Los Angeles City Council Approves $150M in Cuts to Police Budget, Trump Calls Black Lives Matter Message Outside Trump Tower a "Symbol of Hate", Richmond, Virginia, Mayor Removes Confederate Statue, Trump Backs Confederate Base Names as Monum…

Fight Back (2020-07-02). Israeli annexation of West Bank: More stolen land as time runs out for occupation. fightbacknews.org The Israeli apartheid regime is poised to commit a new crime against Palestine: the annexation of up to 30% of the West Bank. As things stand Israel effectively controls Palestine, with the heroic people of Gaza confined to an open prison and the hapless Palestinian Authority serving as accomplices to the occupation. | The significance of the annexation is twofold. First, it codifies the theft of Palestinian land. It is a statement to one and all, "We are stealing this, and it is ours forever." Second, it is the declaration of the end of a solution that was never really a solution at all, the so-called 'two state…

Associated Press (2020-07-02). Moore, WNBA star, helps free wrongly-convicted Missouri prisoner. peoplesworld.org JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man was freed from prison Wednesday after a county prosecutor declined to retry his case, punctuating years of work by WNBA star Maya Moore and other supporters who argued he was falsely convicted of burglary and assault charges. Moore was on hand when Jonathan Irons, 40, walked out …

Khury Petersen-Smith (2020-07-02). The United States owes Black America reparations. zcomm.org Following centuries of exploitation, theft and discrimination, here is what a reparative economic agenda should entail…

Equipe Media (2020-07-02). Saharawi activist Mahfouda Bamba Lefkir, "I left the small prison just to enter the big one" peoplesdispatch.org After six months in jail on a politically-motivated charge, Saharawi Human rights activist Mahfouda Bamba Lefkir has been released but enjoys only partial freedom…

IMEMC News (2020-07-02). Soldiers Abduct A Lawyer, Who Previously Spent 9 Years In Prison, While His French Wife, Child, Were Deported. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, two days ago, a Palestinian lawyer with French citizenship, from occupied Jerusalem, a former political prisoner who was previously imprisoned for more than nine years, and moved him to the al-Maskobiyya interrogation facility. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that the soldiers abducted Salah Hammouri while …

_____ (2020-07-02). Bolivia: Añez Wants To Jail The Favored Candidate In The Coming Elections. popularresistance.org Bolivia's de facto president, Jeanine Añez, is losing more and more of her mask obscuring democracy that, with the complicity of the United States and the European Union, she had to put on to justify the violent overthrow of Evo Morales in November of last year. | Now, in a fragrant demonstration that in Bolivia there are no constitutional guarantees and that persecution is the rule of order, a coup is being prepared against the presidential candidate of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Luis Arce Catacora. | In a confirmation of the validity of the lawfare method (judicial war) against popular leaders, the le…

NAACP (2020-07-02). Wednesday 7/1: #Protest to the Polls: NAACP in Conversation w/ Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin. indybay.org Online…

ICE Out of Marin (2020-07-02). Friday 7/3: ICE Out of Marin Plans Large Demonstration at County Jail. indybay.org Marin County Jail…

_____ (2020-07-01). Pro-Israel Racist Group ADL Moves To Co-Opt Black Lives Matter. popularresistance.org For those who yearn for an end to systemic racism, these are exhilarating times as Black activists and organizations lead a global uprising against symbols and structures of white supremacy. | But if you are a racist group masquerading as a civil rights organization, these days are fraught with the danger that you'll get found out. | It's a balancing act that has for years bedeviled the Anti-Defamation League, a major Israel lobby group in the United States. The crisis is particularly acute right now as the ADL tries to portray itself as an ally of Black Lives Matter while also shielding Israel from criticism ove…

sputniknews (2020-07-01). Cisco Systems Sued in California Over Alleged Caste Discrimination. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Equality Labs, a civil rights group, has claimed that 67 percent of dalits working in the US felt like they were being treated unfairly. Reuters reports that Cisco Systems, like other large Silicon Valley employers, hires thousands of Indian immigrants, but that most are Brahmins or from other traditionally privileged castes.

Michele Goodwin (2020-07-01). The Racist History of Abortion and Midwifery Bans. aclu.org In 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered a speech best known as"Ain't I A Woman?" to a crowded audience at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio. At the time, slavery remained in full force, a vibrant enterprise that fueled the American economy. Various laws protected that system, including the Fugitive Slave Act, which resulted in the abduction of "free" Black children, women, and men as well as those who had miraculously escaped to northern cities like Boston or Philadelphia. Bounty hunters then sold their prey to Southern plantation owners. The law denied basic protections for Black people caught in the greed-fi…

Brooke Madubuonwu (2020-07-01). How Nursing Homes Got Away With Hiding Bodies During the COVID-19 Outbreak. aclu.org When COVID-19 first reached the U.S., the epicenter was a single nursing home in Washington State, where 45 people died. That nursing home outbreak was a precursor of what was to come. Ever since, the virus has been devastating nursing homes across the country, due in part to

Ruth Fowler (2020-07-01). Then as Farce: the Commodification of Black Lives Matter. counterpunch.org Martin Luther King was arrested in April 1963 for publicly protesting, an act deemed illegal in Alabama at the time. While in jail, eight white clergy figures publicly admonished King, judging his actions "unwise and untimely". It was this which prompted King to respond with his little-shared letter about the "white moderate", a comment that

Collective 20 (2020-07-01). How movements can turn Public support into lasting change. mronline.org Taking "movement moments" to change, from the Red Summer to Black Lives Matter.

Chris Schiavo (2020-07-01). Black Lives Matter: Walking Forward. thenation.com Black Lives Matter: Walking Forward…

Fight Back (2020-07-01). RHS Alumni for BLM holds march and rally in solidarity with Black Lives Matter-LA. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – On June 17, Roosevelt High School Alumni for Black Lives Matter (RHS Alumni for BLM) held a rally in Boyle Heights. Chanting "Prosecute killer cops!" and "Defund the police," participants marched almost two miles, from Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights to downtown Los Angeles. | Once in downtown, the marchers joined Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles for their weekly protest against Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey. The weekly protests denounce Lacey for her notorious refusal to prosecute cops who unjustly brutalize and murder Chicano and Black Angelinos.

RT (2020-07-01). Black Lives Matter is 'anti-christian' & 'anti-civilizational' — outspoken senior Russian Orthodox Bishop. rt.com A prominent Russian cleric believes the 'Black Lives Matter' movement isn't a battle for human rights, but rather a "struggle for who is most important in humanity." He says its true nature is "becoming increasingly apparent." | Bishop Savva of Zelenograd, the deputy administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate says the campaign is "anti-Christian and anti-civilizational." | Also on rt.com | | The churchman was reacting to news that the statue of Emperor…

RT (2020-07-01). WATCH police on BIKES arrive to shut down Seattle's CHAZ. rt.com Backed up by bikes and armored vehicles, legions of cops have swooped into Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) after Mayor Jenny Durkan ordered that the area, taken over by Black Lives Matter protesters, be vacated. | The officers descended on the six-block anarchist encampment in the early hours of Wednesday morning, hours after receiving the order from Mayor Durkan. The mayor had previously been reluctant to retake the six-block zone, but a spate of recent shootings — the most recent leaving one black teenager dead and another seriously injured — appeared to force her hand. | In video foo…

RT (2020-07-01). CHAZ protesters make their last stand, barricade streets with SPIKE STRIPS and port-a-potties (VIDEOS). rt.com As the Seattle Police Department cleared out the 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone', some protesters refused to go without a fight. Video footage shows them scrambling to barricade the streets. | Seattle police officers descended on the so-called 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone' (CHAZ, or CHOP) on Wednesday morning, clearing out the 'Black Lives Matter' protesters who had occupied the six-block area for nearly a month.

Staff (2020-07-01). Prisoners Mobilize for Black Lives and Against Brutality Behind Bars. truthout.org Over Memorial Day weekend, a mob of ten or more prison guards maced and beat "Pooh Bear," a Black man incarcerated in Alabama's Kilby Correctional Facility, in the head arms, ribs, legs and back with clubs. | An officer had kicked him the night before, an incident that Pooh Bear reported. To retaliate against this "snitching," two guards, officers with the last names of Moss and Turner, ordered Pooh Bear to go outside. Every incarcerated person at Kilby knows, reportedly, that such an order is code f…

Susan Schnur (2020-07-01). Cleveland LGBTQ2S+ for Black Lives. workers.org LGBTQ2S+ March for Black Lives, Cleveland, June 27 On June 27, the Cleveland community held a LGBTQ2S+ March for Black Lives. Called by two queer activists using social media, the Greater Cleveland LGBT Community Center not only co-sponsored the action, but actively participated in the militant demonstration. Over 300 people . . . |

A Guest Author (2020-07-01). Queer Liberation March attacked by police in New York City. workers.org Police attack Queer Liberation March, June 28, NYC. New York City, June 28. By Quell Nessuno New York City The New York City Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality on June 28 was defiled by police violence, proving once again that the armed enforcers of the . . . |

commondreams (2020-07-01). US Supreme Court Ruling that Children of Asylum-Seekers Must be Released from Detention Lacks Necessary Provisions for Parents; Risks Further Family Separation. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Ashley Curtin (2020-07-01). Federal judge rules Trump administration must release detained children from ICE detention centers. nationofchange.org "They need to make the sensible choice and release the parents to care for their children."

Bianca Sierra Wolff (2020-07-01). ICE is Leaving Immigrants to Die in Detention. zcomm.org And Retaliating When They Speak Out…

_____ (2020-07-01). Venezuela Slams Interpol Arrest Of CLAP Contractor In Cape Verde. popularresistance.org Alex Nain Saab Moran, 48, was arrested on the archipelago island while on a technical stop-over in his private jet on Friday. He was allegedly en route to the Islamic Republic of Iran to negotiate food import contracts on behalf of the government's subsidized CLAP food program, as well as medicine and other imports needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced Saab's arrest as "illegal," claiming that no Interpol warrant existed at the time of detention. He also accused the French-based international policing organization of violating "the diplomatic immunity which international…

Editor (2020-07-01). 45 years after FBI frame-up, Leonard Peltier must be freed. workers.org Workers World Party demands the immediate release of political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Forty-five years after being framed by the FBI for an alleged role in a killing at Pine Ridge Reservation, Peltier still languishes behind bars. Peltier, a leader of the American Indian Movement, was targeted for his political activism. . . . |

sputniknews (2020-07-01). Hong Kong: Boris Johnson Promises BNO Passport Holders a Route to Citizenship. sputniknews.com On 30 June, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) approved the National Security Law that provides from three years to life imprisonment for conspiring with foreign states or foreign organisations to undermine national security.

Leon Kunstenaar (2020-07-01). ICE Out of Marin Plans Large Demonstration At County Jail. indybay.org Demonstration set for 5pm July 3 at the Marin County Jail to maintain pressure to defund Sheriff's budget and end Sheriff's cooperation with ICE.

André Robert Lee (2020-06-30). Confronting the Living History of the Civil Rights Struggle. thenation.com Confronting the Living History of the Civil Rights Struggle…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-30). House OKs anti-redlining bill, 230-178. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—GOP President Donald Trump's regime wants to let banks redline communities of color. The Democratic-run U.S. House doesn't—and with backing from organized labor, civil rights, and community groups, the Dems won a 230-178 straight party-line vote on the issue. Technically, what was on the table on June 29 was a joint resolution, HJRes 90, to …

Heather L. Weaver (2020-06-30). Taxpayers Shouldn't Have to Fund Religious Education: How Today's Supreme Court Decision Further Erodes the Separation of Church and State. aclu.org Today, in an unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Montana must provide funding for religious education as part of its school voucher tax credit program — despite the fact that the Montana Constitution forbids government aid for religious education and activities. The court's

Kate Ruane (2020-06-30). The EARN IT Act is a Disaster for Online Speech and Privacy, Especially for the LGBTQ and Sex Worker Communities. aclu.org After a month of unprecedented protests against police brutality across the country, in which

Jamal Rich (2020-06-30). Prison and police abolition: Re-imagining public safety and liberation. peoplesworld.org Since the Trayvon Martin murder in 2012 and the Ferguson uprising in 2014, the Movement for Black Lives has further developed its demands from so-called 'reformist' reforms such as new police training methods, "community policing," body cameras, and diversity in hiring to a more militant stance of defunding and eventually abolishing the police in the …

Sarah Lahm (2020-06-30). Midwest Dispatch: We Are 'Woke.' Now What? progressive.org As coverage of the protests dies down, supporters of Black lives and police abolition wonder what else they can do.

_____ (2020-06-30). Silence Is Not An Option": Black Women Make History. popularresistance.org Mainstream media and politicians have paid almost exclusive attention to ideas and images of Black men — whether as victims of police violence or as protesters against it. Yet Black women, who are no less subject to structural racism and violence, have been at the forefront of the multi-racial Black Lives Matter Movement for years. | ROAR associate editor Eleanor Finley had the opportunity to explore some of these subjects with Dr. Keisha N. Blain, an award-winning historian and Black feminist scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Blain is also president of the African American Intellectual History S…

_____ (2020-06-30). Whole Foods Is Quietly Telling Workers Not To Show Black Lives Matter Support. popularresistance.org This week, a group of Whole Foods workers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, walked out after being told they couldn't wear Black Lives Matter masks because they weren't part of "the company dress code." | Prior to the incident, wearing masks with other symbols or logos, including ones that featured the New England Patriots, were reportedly acceptable. | This is according to a report in the Boston Globe, which details how Whole Foods worker Savannah Kinzer and a few of her colleagues wore BLM-themed masks on Wednesday. A manager told them they either had to remove the masks or go home. Seven of them walked out. On Thur…

_____ (2020-06-30). Silence Is Not An Option: Black Women Make History. popularresistance.org Mainstream media and politicians have paid almost exclusive attention to ideas and images of Black men — whether as victims of police violence or as protesters against it. Yet Black women, who are no less subject to structural racism and violence, have been at the forefront of the multi-racial Black Lives Matter Movement for years. | ROAR associate editor Eleanor Finley had the opportunity to explore some of these subjects with Dr. Keisha N. Blain, an award-winning historian and Black feminist scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Blain is also president of the African American Intellectual History S…

sputniknews (2020-06-30). St. Louis Couple Who Pointed Weapons at BLM Protesters Offer Reason Why They Acted in That Fashion. sputniknews.com On Sunday, a white couple in St. Louis, Missouri, stole the spotlight on social media after the appeared in a viral video pointing firearms at unarmed and peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators who were passing in the vicinity of the couple's mansion while en route to Mayor Lyda Krewson's house.

RT (2020-06-30). Black Lives Matter rioter shoots at driver in Utah, then CONTINUES to protest ( VIDEOS). rt.com A Black Lives Matter rally turned violent in the city of Provo, Utah, when a protester fired in the window of a vehicle at point-blank range. The injured driver floored the gas and escaped, as the gunman fired at him again.

Staff (2020-06-30). Can Making Black Lives Matter Rescue a Failing State? truthout.org You know that feeling when you trip on the street and instantly sense that you're about to crash hard and there's no way to prevent it? As gravity has its way with you, all you can do is watch yourself going down. Yeah, that feeling. | I had it the other day on my way to a Black Lives Matter demonstration when I caught my toe on a curb and pitched forward. As time slowed down, I saw not my past, but my future, pass before my eyes — a future that would at worst include months of rehabbing a broken hip and at be…

Bianca Sierra Wolff — Lisa Knox (2020-06-30). ICE is Leaving Immigrants to Die in Detention, and Retaliating When They Speak Out. counterpunch.org The spread of COVID-19 to immigrant detention facilities poses a mortal danger to everyone who is unjustly detained. For months now advocates, organizers and those detained have urged elected officials and governmental agencies to take affirmative steps to prevent needless deaths and suffering inside immigrant detention facilities.

Staff (2020-06-30). NAACP's Derrick Johnson on Mississippi's State Flag, Trump's White Power Tweet & Boycotting Facebook. democracynow.org In a historic vote, the Mississippi state Legislature passed a bill to remove the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag, making it the last state to do so, after an ongoing nationwide uprising against racism and police brutality and a mounting pressure campaign in Mississippi. Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, says it has been a "long journey" to change the Mississippi flag. "We've had to fight both against the symbol of racial oppression, the revisionist history of racial oppression, and now the next step is to fight against the structural racism that's embedded in the public policy, not o…

Staff (2020-06-30). #OccupyCityHall: Mayor's "Tone Deaf" Pledge to Move $1B from NYPD Budget Fails to Satisfy Protesters. democracynow.org New York police have closed in on peaceful protesters camped outside City Hall who are demanding $1 billion be cut from the police department's $6 billion budget, as the city approaches its July 1 budget deadline. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a budget deal that would move $1 billion in NYPD funding in an apparent nod to protesters' demands, but organizers say they're not satisfied. "All they've really done is shifted money from the NYPD budget over to school safety officers," says Bianca Cunningham with the #OccupyCityHall encampment, who adds that school safety officers still contribute to a school-to-prison p…