(2019-07-04). California passes law to protect black people's 'natural hair' from discrimination. rt.com 
California has upheld its liberal image by officially making 'hair discrimination' a thing. "Natural" black hairstyles like dreadlocks and braids are now legally protected there against encroaching "Eurocentric" employers.
(2019-07-04). Australian filmmaker James Ricketson calls on journalist Peter Greste to defend Assange. wsws.org Ricketson's "Open Letter" debunks Greste's claim that Assange is not a journalist and therefore not deserving of support, and calls on him to defend the WikiLeaks founder, as he did Ricketson who was wrongly jailed in Cambodia.
(2019-07-04). Another Whitewashed Trial of War Crimes by USA Invader. indybay.org The latest acquittal(except for an "unauthorized posing of a photo of a prisoner" charge) of a Navy SEAL is another case of Imperialist impunity of war crimes in America's global "War on Terror." Special Op. Chief Edward Gallagher was cleared of all other far more serious charges, including one for killing an injured teenage ISIS fighter in Iraq in 2017. He was released without having to serve any more time, since his sentence of 4 months for the "photo posing" charge has been offset by his pretrial detention. Apparently, this is a prime example of "victor's justice" in America's long history of overseas Imperial…
(2019-07-04). Bombing of detention center in Libya kills at least 44 refugees. wsws.org The tragedy is the product of the 2011 US-backed war for regime change which has plunged Libya into nearly a decade of civil war and the EU's war on refugees.
(2019-07-04). American Concentration Camps, Then and Now. theantimedia.com (FPIF) — In our history textbooks, "Japanese internment," as it's carelessly called, features as a mistake, blunder, or brief departure from constitutional piety following the trauma of Pearl Harbor. The summary detention of 120,000 people of Japanese descent — around 80,000 of whom were American citizens — can be more accurately described as one of the worst …
(2019-07-04). UN says Libyan guards reportedly shot at migrants during airstrikes. cgtn.com 
The United Nations said on Thursday it had information that Libyan guards shot at refugees and migrants trying to flee from airstrikes that killed at least 53 people, including six children, in a migrant detention centre late on Tuesday. | Blood stains are seen at a detention centre for mainly African migrants that was hit by an airstrike in the Tajoura suburb of Tripoli, Libya July 3, 2019. | A U.N. humanitarian report said there were two airstrikes, one hitting an unoccupied garage and one hitting a hangar containing around 120 refugees and migrants. | "There are reports that following the first impact, some re…
(2019-07-04). Libya's Civil War is Becoming a Proxy War. therealnews.com 
The shooting down of a Turkish drone near Tripoli and the capture of six Turkish sailors by Gen. Haftar's forces reveals the Turkey's and Egypt's involvement on both sides of the civil war. Meanwhile Haftar's forces are accused of bombing a migration detention center near Tripoli, killing 44 and injuring 130…
(2019-07-04). Mexico deploys National Guard, detains immigrants at record levels. wsws.org Mexico launched its 70,000-member National Guard as immigrant detentions rose by a third since May.
(2019-07-04). Pediatricians Release Migrant Children's Drawings of Their Time in US Border Prisons. theantimedia.com (TMU) — Pediatricians have shared harrowing images drawn by migrant children separated from their parents while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention camps that show people in prison-like conditions. The drawings were released by a social worker at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas to the American Academy of Pediatrics, who …
(2019-07-04). 'Monstrous': Trump Blames Migrants for Appalling Conditions at Border Patrol Detention Centers. commondreams.org "It's hard to overstate the level of venality and depravity this man is capable of." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/donald_trump.jpeg…
(2019-07-04). Latest Office of Inspector General report reveals inhumane conditions at US immigrant detention centers. wsws.org Children are being detained without access to showers or hot meals and in one instance adult immigrants were held in standing room only conditions for a full week.
(2019-07-04). Let Us Reject the Ugly Nationalism of Independence Day. truthdig.com 
The United States' Independence Day celebrations are marked each year by gaudy displays of red, white and blue, violent-sounding fireworks and inaccurate claims of America being the world's greatest country. | It is as though we as a nation are trying so hard to prove our greatness to ourselves and to the world that we manufacture an alternate reality. In our flag-waving imagination, we are a nation of prosperous innovators and potential billionaires. The meritocracy is alive and well, no one dies of preventable illnesses, all those who end up in prison deserve their fate, immigrants who simply follow the laws ar…
(2019-07-04). Democrats of the World Lift Your Heads: Kurds Have Arrived! counterpunch.org You could say that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan played with fire—and got burned. Even better—it was Kurds who lit the flame. It started when Mr. Erdogan noticed his handpicked candidate for mayor of Istanbul, Binali Yildirim, was losing in the polls. In desperation, he turned to Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), for help. More
(2019-07-04). There Are Alternatives to Caging Immigrants in Dehumanized Conditions. therealnews.com 
We talk with Vicki Gaubeca from Southern Borders Community Coalition about the conditions in the immigration prison camps, the Border Patrol's FB page, and proposals for humane treatment of refugees…
(2019-07-03). Florida makes the restoration of voting rights contingent on criminal debt payments. nationofchange.org Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a measure approved by state lawmakers that makes the restoration of voting rights for people convicted of felonies contingent on having paid off all criminal debt associated with their conviction. A coalition of civil rights groups immediately filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the new law by having it declared unconstitutional. I'm …
(2019-07-03). "We won't stop fighting": Groups file new lawsuit to fight Keystone XL. nationofchange.org "The Trump administration has proven to be just as reckless with our Constitutional separation of powers as this dangerous Keystone XL pipeline is to the safety of our water and climate."
(2019-07-03). AMA Abortion Lawsuit Puts Doctors in the Thick of Debate. truthout.org The American Medical Association is suing North Dakota to block two abortion-related laws, the latest signal the doctors' group is shifting to a more aggressive stance as the Trump administration and state conservatives ratchet up efforts to eliminate legal abortion. | The group, which represents all types of physicians, has tended to stay on the sidelines of many controversial political issues, and until recently has done so concerning abortion and contraception. Instead, it has focused on legislation that affects the practice and finances of large swaths of its membership. | But, said AMA President Patrice H…
(2019-07-03). Everyone counts: Trump's census "citizenship question" is dead. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—Lawmakers and state officials representing Hispanic-named citizens hailed the Trump Commerce Department's July 2 decision to throw in the towel and not add a "citizenship" question, one they deemed racist, to next year's census. So did the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which helped assemble the successful lawsuit against the query. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, …
(2019-07-03). Ecuador: Security Forces Deployed Against Illegal Gold Mining. telesurenglish.net More than two thousand police and military were deployed Tuesday for an operation against illegal mining in the Imbabura province, just a few hours after President Lenin Moreno decreed a 60-day state of emergency at the Buenos Aires parish. | RELATED: | Ecuador: Ola Bini Released as Court Grants Habeas Corpus | Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo admitted…
(2019-07-03). NAACP Responds to Trump Administration's Decision to Abandon Attempt to Add Citizenship Question to 2020 Census. naacp.org The following statement is from Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of NAACP on the Trump Administration's decision not to include the controversial citizenship question to the 2020 Census: "The Trump administration's decision today to abandon its attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census is a victory for democracy. It is the outcome …
(2019-07-03). Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights "Pleased" Justice Department Will Print 2020 Census Questionnaire Without Bigoted Citizen Question. blackstarnews.com 
In response to the Department of Justice confirming the decision has been made to print the 2020 Decennial Census questionnaire without a citizenship question, and that the printer has been instructed to begin the printing process, Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement: | "The Supreme Court's ruling left little opportunity for the administration to cure the defects with its decision to add a citizenship question and, most importantly, they were simply out of time given the impending deadline for printing forms. We are…
(2019-07-03). Thousands of Voices Are Telling the Supreme Court: Don't Roll Back LGBTQ Rights. aclu.org Businesses, women CEOs, civil rights organizations, Republicans tell the Supreme Court to protect LGBTQ employees like Aimee Stephens and Don Zarda. | President Trump has told the Supreme Court it should be legal to fire someone just because they're LGBTQ. The President may be a bully, but he's just one voice. Today, more than 2,000 voices from across the country joined together to tell the Supreme Court: Don't roll back our rights. | The message came in the form of friend-of-the-court briefs—nearly 50 in all—filed in a…
(2019-07-03). How the Third Temple Movement in Israel Rebranded Theocracy as "Civil Rights" mintpressnews.com 
The Temple Activist movement is now more mainstream than ever before and its effort to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, has advanced with great rapidity since the year began and has picked up precipitously in recent weeks.
(2019-07-03). Headlines for July 3, 2019. democracynow.org DHS Watchdog: "Dangerous Overcrowding" and Dire Conditions at Texas Migrant Jails, 30-Year-Old Honduran Migrant Dies in U.S. Custody, Federal Judge Blocks Trump Plan to Deny Bail to Asylum Seekers, DHS Fining Immigrants Up to $500,000 for Not Leaving the U.S., Nationwide Protests Demand Lawmakers #CloseTheCamps, Cory Booker Vows to End Immigrant Detention in 2020 Proposal, In Defeat for Trump Admin, 2020 Census Will Not Include Citizenship Question, House Dems Sue Treasury and IRS over Trump's Tax Returns, Airstrike Hits Migrant Detention Center in Libya, Killing At Least 40, Ethiopian-Israeli Community Protests…
(2019-07-03). Reporting a Rape in Immigration Jail: One Asylum Seeker's Fight for Justice. truthout.org Content note: This article contains detailed descriptions of sexual assault.In a shaky, melancholy voice over a staticky phone line from the Yuba County Jail in northern California, Rene Lopez told Rewire.News she is depressed, scared, and alone. | The gender-nonconforming 24-year-old, who identifies as a gay boy and uses she/her pronouns, said she was raped by another detainee this past spring. | Lopez and her attorney have sought justice without success. They have struggled to access basic information from officials at the jail and within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who are investigating t…
(2019-07-03). Airstrike on a Detention Centre in Tripoli Leave More Than Forty Migrants Dead Hundreds Injured. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-07-03). Libya detention centre airstrike could amount to a war crime says UN, as Guterres calls for independent investigation. un.org An airstrike on a detention centre in Tripoli that killed scores of migrants and refugees "deserves more than condemnation", UN agencies said on Wednesday, as both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the head of the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL), insisted that it may amount to a war crime.
(2019-07-03). Nurses Redouble Commitment to Provide Critical Medical Aid to Migrants and Asylum Seekers as Details Emerge of Inhumane and Brutal Conditions in Federal Detention. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-07-03). American Concentration Camps, Then and Now. counterpunch.org 
In our history textbooks, "Japanese internment," as it's carelessly called, features as a mistake, blunder, or brief departure from constitutional piety following the trauma of Pearl Harbor. The summary detention of 120,000 people of Japanese descent — around 80,000 of whom were American citizens — can be more accurately described as one of the worst More
(2019-07-03). As Trump Announces Mass Immigration Raid, Documents Show How ICE Uses Arrest Quotas. theintercept.com As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at the behest of President Donald Trump, plans mass raids following the July Fourth holiday, newly released documents shed light on the tactics the agency employs during such operations. | The documents, released Wednesday by the immigrant rights groups Mijente, Just Futures Law, and Detention Watch Network, show that ICE officials are building arrest target lists for mass raids to meet specific numbers, even as the agency continues to internally and publicly stress a "public safety" rationale for immigration arrests. | Most…
(2019-07-03). Abhorrent Attack on Migrant Detention Center in Libya Must Be Investigated as a War Crime. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-07-03). Tucson protest tells Trump: No raids! No deportations! No family separations! fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – Over 100 people braved the intense desert sun Tuesday morning, July 2, to demonstrate their anger at Trump's threat for ICE raids aimed at thousands of undocumented families. Many demonstrators also expressed their demand to reunite families and to close the concentration camps operating as detention centers. | Outside the federal building protesters held signs reading "Close the camps!" and "Dismantle ICE!" The group then marched to the Pima County Office to demand an end to the Sheriff's collaboration with ICE and Border Patrol. Organizer from Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Isabel Garcia, said "The…
(2019-07-03). Migrants Denounce 'Psychological Abuse' in US Detention Centers. telesurenglish.net Central Americans allege they were victims of "psychological abuse" by U.S. federal authorities at detention centers in Arizona, which human rights defenders have described as "concentration camps." | RELATED: | 'Help, 40 Days Here!', Migrants in US Border Facilities: Images | Javier Torres, a Honduran father who crossed the border with his wife and his 5-year old son, stayed at three detention centers, where he was kept in extremely cold rooms, with music at full volume, perm…
(2019-07-03). 'Chuck Schumer Has Some Dinner Guests': Protesters Outside of Minority Leader's Home Demand Action on Detention Camps. commondreams.org "He's afraid to take a stand for immigrants, because he's afraid of how it's going to come off to white moderates." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/schumer_close_camps.jpg…
(2019-07-03). I Spent 16 Months in Solitary Confinement and Now I'm Fighting to End It. aclu.org A new report proves that the degrading conditions in solitary confinement continue to harm people and communities. | I was just 17 years old when I was sent to solitary confinement in "Camp J," one of the most severe lockdown units at one of America's most brutal prisons, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. I languished in solitary for 16 months. | Back then I didn't know that Louisiana was the solitary confinement capital of the world. All I knew was that I'd been convicted of a crime I didn't commit, and I had to maintain my humanity in one of the most dehumanizing places on earth. | It's called "23 and…
(2019-07-03). Letter from prison: Communist leader Carl Winter on the 4th of July. peoplesworld.org 
Editor's Note: Carl Winter, who was an editor of The Worker (formerly the Daily Worker and later re-named People's World), was among the first group of defendants falsely convicted under the anti-communist Smith Act of conspiring to overthrow the United States Government in 1949. Winter would serve a five-year sentence in federal prison. Upon release, …
(2019-07-03). Japanese Internment Camp Survivor: 'Never Again Is NOW!'. progressive.org A filmmaker and therapist tells of her family's internment in a maximum security camp during World War II, and her views on the current imprisonment of people from south of the border.
(2019-07-03). Our Immigrant Prisons Are an Atrocity. commondreams.org This administration is moving full speed toward atrocity and the government-sanctioned traumatization of an entire community. (Photo: Shutterstock) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/cages.jpeg…
(2019-07-03). Chicago: Book signing for Frank Chapman's autobiography. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Frank Chapman's new book, The Damned Don't Cry: Pages from the Life of a Black Prisoner and Organizer, is getting a great reception. About 30 people attended a book signing at the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, July 2. Chapman's autobiography is available here.
(2019-07-03). Border Patrol Is Using "Virtual Wall" Technology Israel Uses in Palestine. truthout.org Off a shrubby desert rural roadway about 10 miles north of Nogales, Arizona, a surveillance tower's metallic glare beamed in the sun, sticking out like a cellular antenna from a distant bluff about a mile away. "There it is up ahead," I pointed, leaning forward from the back seat of the car. | In the driver's seat and passenger side sat two visitors on a national speaking tour for the Addameer prisoner support group based in Ramallah, Palestine. One of them, Lana Ramadan, had expressed astonishment when I'd met her the night before about what she had learned during her visit to Southern Arizona, where she'd me…
(2019-07-03). In photos: As fury grows, tens of thousands rally across us demanding immediate action to #ClosetheCamps. nationofchange.org 
Tens of thousands of Americans showed up at rallies across the country on Tuesday to demand the Trump administration close the detention centers and prison camps where migrants are being held. The "Close the Camps" rallies were organized by MoveOn and other progressive organizations in response to growing public outrage over the Trump administration's treatment of asylum …
(2019-07-02). 2020 Census Form Will Not Include Citizenship Question, Trump Administration Says. theintercept.com The Trump administration admitted defeat on Tuesday, confirming that forms for the 2020 U.S. census will not include a question asking residents who respond to the survey if they are U.S. citizens. The change of plans follows last week's Supreme Court decision that the Commerce Department had failed to provide a valid reason for adding the question. | The news was conveyed in an email from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to lawyers who had contested the effort in lawsuits, and confirmed to The Intercept by…
(2019-07-02). Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Speak During NAACP's 110th National Convention. naacp.org 
Speaker of the House of Representatives to deliver remarks at 110th NAACP National Convention BALTIMORE (July 2, 2019) — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's foremost civil rights organization, has announced that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will give remarks at the 110th National Convention in Detroit on July 22, 2019. …
(2019-07-02). There Can Be No Queer Liberation Without Trans Liberation. thenation.com There Can Be No Queer Liberation Without Trans Liberation…
(2019-07-02). Democratic Governor Considering Signing Major GOP Voter Suppression Legislation in Pennsylvania. theintercept.com Gov. Tom Wolf is weighing whether to sign SB 48, a GOP bill that would ban straight-ticket voting and give Donald Trump an edge in 2020.
(2019-07-02). Headlines for July 2, 2019. democracynow.org Lawmakers Decry Dire Conditions and Lack of Accountability During Visit to Texas Migrant Jails, Migrant Child Freed from Clint Border Patrol Jail: "They Treated Us Badly", ProPublica: Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Rife with Racist, Sexist and Anti-Immigrant Posts, Migrant Father and Daughter Who Drowned in Rio Grande Buried in El Salvador, #CloseTheCamps Protests Planned Across the U.S., Mexico Deploys National Guard, Ramps Up Crackdown on Immigrants, Hong Kong Protests Continue as Activists Renew Demands to Withdraw Extradition Bill, Iran Surpasses Enriched Uranium Stockpile Allowed Under Nuclear Deal, Jap…
(2019-07-02). Amnesty International Condemns U.S. Attacks on Border Journalists and Human Rights Defenders. theintercept.com The shape of the Trump administration's approach to policing immigration is at this point familiar. Since January 2017, federal agents and officers have been under orders to enforce a harsh interpretation of immigration laws without restraint. The result has most infamously manifested in the forced separation of immigrant parents from their children and, more recently, a series of horrific reports detailing conditions in border-area detention centers. | Though undocumented people have always been the core target of this campaign, the blast radius of the government's hyper-politicized crackdown has steadily expand…
(2019-07-02). "THE FISH ROTS FROM THE HEAD DOWN:" TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION XENOPHOBIA IS BEING IMPLEMENTED BY ROTTENLY RACIST BORDER GUARDS. blackstarnews.com 
Trump's racist immigration detention and child separation policy is causing death and misery… | Washington, DC — The following is a statement from Pili Tobar, Deputy Director of America's Voice: "We are witnessing a human rights crisis in real time, the magnitude of which should shake us to our core. | As the saying goes, the fish rots from the head down. And Donald Trump has failed and corrupted the system from top to bottom, emboldening an already out of control agency, and advancing policies and actions that are resulting in a callous disregard for basic humanity and exacting a terrible toll that…
(2019-07-02). SPLC sues Florida officials to keep citizens from losing right to vote again. splcenter.org After completing her prison sentence and probation time, Rosemary McCoy had her voting rights restored and cast a ballot in the Jacksonville, Florida, runoff city council election earlier this year.
(2019-07-02). Venezuela: 'Shocked' by alleged torture, death of navy captain, UN human rights chief urges 'in-depth' investigation. un.org The UN human rights chief has expressed her deep concern over the alleged torture and subsequent death of a retired navy captain who had been imprisoned in Venezuela, urging authorities to conduct a prompt, thorough, independent, and transparent investigation into his death.