Showing posts with label Black Lives Matter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Lives Matter. Show all posts

Saturday, June 04, 2022

Cicely Gay appointed New Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Chair

Cicely Gay, an Atlanta activist has been appointed to straighten out the finances of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation

Cicely Gay's appointment was announced by BLM's Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) on April 27, as the group struggles to combat accusations that the money donated has not been wisely spent, or properly accounted for.

With over 20 years of nonprofit and philanthropic experience, Cicley Gay is a powerhouse and leader in the political and communications sphere — more often than not as the only Black woman in spaces she leads. Cicley built the grant allocations process and programmatic infrastructure of a multi-million-dollar national mentoring initiative for Black children and was the founding director of Students Take Action for New Directions, educating students on the impact of federal budget priorities on local communities.

She told The New York Times she had been appointed to straighten out the organization's finances, after BLMGFN faced intense scrutiny over its spending of donor cash.

'No one expected the foundation to grow at this pace and to this scale,' said Gay.

'Now, we are taking time to build efficient infrastructure to run the largest Black, abolitionist, philanthropic organization to ever exist in the United States.'

Friday, April 22, 2022

Pamela Moses' illegal voting registration case dismissed

The Shelby County District Attorney's office has dropped its case against Pamela Moses, the Memphis woman who was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of illegal voting.

Shelby County Criminal Judge Mark Ward ordered a new trial for Moses after the district attorney's office turned over a key piece of evidence that was previously misplaced by the Department of Corrections.Amy Weirich, the Shelby county district attorney, who prosecuted the case, noted Moses had spent 82 days in jail before she was granted a new trial, “which is sufficient”.

“In the interest of judicial economy, we are dismissing her illegal registration case and her violation of probation,” she said in a statement.

Moses was originally convicted by a jury of illegally registering to vote in a November 2021 trial. In February, she was sentenced to six years in prison.

Though Moses will not face a second trial, she will remain banned from voting due to a felony conviction in 2015.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Angela Davis calls recent attacks on Black Lives Matter predictable

In a roundtable with members of the Black press Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors addressed the purchase a $6 million mansion in October 2020 with donor cash.

During that discussion Angela Davis, the legendary freedom fighter and professor, addressed what she called “attacks” on Black Lives Matter, calling them predictable.

“I personally knew from the outset, from the time Black Lives Matter was created, that there would be attacks similar to the historical attacks launched against Black leaders,” Davis said. “You know, particularly when we saw the FBI come up with this notion of black identity extremists. This was a sign that there was continuity with COINTELPRO. I can’t say that I would have predicted exactly how these attacks would express themselves. But I was convinced that they would happen.”

“And I think that now we’re experiencing attacks that have been consolidated,” she added, “not only on the on the right-wing, but within liberal circles as well that are designed to cause people who have supported the end to question their support.”

“I think the other, the most important point is that those media sources … have attempted to create the impression that Black Lives Matter is not interested in creating and helping to create the possibilities for a better world.” Davis continued. “It’s not interested in abolishing the institutions of violence and racism that have caused so much pain and suffering over so many decades and centuries, but rather, is only interested in self-aggrandizement. And that makes no sense at all.”

“However, we know that media strategies and other strategies have become far more effective,” Davis noted, “and particularly given the place of social media and communications environment, it is possible to create the impression that the organization that we in the movement, that we admire and with which we have associated ourselves, is only consisting of people who want to create more wealth for themselves — and that is absolutely ridiculous.”

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Black Gun Owners Association statement on the killing of Amir Locke

By George L. Cook III African American Reports.

Amir Locke, a legal gun owner was killed when Minneapolis Police carried out a no-knock warrant at an apartment belonging to a relative's girlfriend.

Locke had been sleeping under a blanket on the couch, and police body camera footage shows a gun in his hand as he begins to sit up when police begin to approach him. An officer can be seen shooting him less than 10 seconds after entering the room. He was not the target of an ongoing homicide investigation, according to an unsealed search warrant requested as part of a St. Paul Police Department homicide investigation.

I reached out to the Black Gun Owners Association (BGOA) for a statement on Locke's death and received the following response:

After the murder of Philando Castile we at BGOA begin to strategically focus and educate our members on how to successfully interact with police when being pulled over with a licensed fire arm , We realize there is a double standard as to the way black gun owners are perceived compared to gun owners who are white knowing this , we work tirelessly to try and change perception of how we are perceived.

However after the murders of Air Locke and Breonna taylor, We believe the practice of no knock warrants should be abolished and the officer involved should be charged with murder.

About the BGOA

The Black Gun Owner’s Association (B.G.O.A) is a non-profit organization which advocates gun rights and offers supportive services for gun owners. Our organization provides access to legal protection for our members through alliance’s with attorneys.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Store owner who called police and lied on peaceful BLM protesters ordered to pay $4.5K

A former ice cream shop owner accused of calling police on peaceful Black Lives Matters protesters was ordered Wednesday to pay them $500 each by a judge for violating their civil rights.

Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against the former owner of Bumpy’s Polar Freeze in Schenectady was the first to rely in part on a new state law targeting false, race-based police reports.

The suit alleged that David Elmendorf wielded a baton and air rifle and shouted racial epithets at protesters who came to his business to protest after racist text messages he allegedly wrote circulated on social media.

Elmendorf also was accused of calling 911 to falsely report that armed protesters were threatening to shoot him, referring to Black protesters as “savages.”

The lawsuit accused Elmendorf of violating demonstrators’ rights to peacefully protest by threatening and harassing them.

It also cited a civil statute passed last year following the high-profile case against a white woman who called 911 on a Black birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park and falsely claimed he was threatening her.

Under the ruling, Elmendorf must pay $500 each to nine protesters he harassed, for a total of $4,500. He is permanently barred from making future threats against people because of their race and from brandishing a deadly weapon within 1,000 feet of any peaceful protest.

“There is zero tolerance for harassment, intimidation, or violence of any kind against anyone in New York,” James said in a prepared release.

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Black Lives Matter movement nominated for Nobel peace prize

The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel peace prize for the way its call for systemic change has spread around the world.

In his nomination papers, the Norwegian MP Petter Eide said the movement had forced countries outside the US to grapple with racism within their own societies.

“I find that one of the key challenges we have seen in America, but also in Europe and Asia, is the kind of increasing conflict based on inequality,” Eide said. “Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice.

“They have had a tremendous achievement in raising global awareness and consciousness about racial injustice.”

Eide, who has previously nominated human rights activists from Russia and China for the prize, said one other thing that impressed him about the Black Lives Matter movement was the way “they have been able to mobilise people from all groups of society, not just African-Americans, not just oppressed people, it has been a broad movement, in a way which has been different from their predecessors.”

Nominations for the Nobel peace prize are accepted from any politician serving at a national level, and they are allowed just 2,000 words to state their case. The deadline for this year’s submission is 1 February, and by the end of March the committee prepares a shortlist. The winner is chosen in October and the award ceremony is scheduled for 10 December.

[SOURCE: THE GAURDIAN]

Monday, October 19, 2020

African American Reports Interview with Jerri Haslem, the founder of the 8:46 Breathe Series Race

Hi, this is George Cook of African American Reports. Please check out my interview with Jerri Haslem, the founder of the 8:46 Breathe Series Race to honor George Floyd. Learn more and register for the event here: 846BreatheSeries

Friday, July 24, 2020

Lebron James: Back Lives Matter is not a movement...it's a lifestyle

During his media press conference after the LA Lakers first scrimmage in the NBA bubble, Lebron James commented on the Black Lives Matter movement and what it means to him. He said that "When you're Black, it's not a movement. It's a lifestyle..."

Watch his comments below:

Monday, June 29, 2020

NBA plans to paint 'Black Lives Matter' on courts in Orlando

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are planning to paint "Black Lives Matter" on the court inside both sidelines in all three arenas the league will use at the Walt Disney World Resort when it resumes the 2019-20 season late next month in Orlando, Florida, league sources told ESPN.

Players have insisted that the fight for racial equality and social justice be a central part of the NBA's return.

On a conference call with reporters Friday, leaders of both the NBA and the NBPA said the league and union were discussing several ways to use the NBA's platform in Orlando to call attention to racial equality, social justice and police brutality. Over the weekend, Chris Paul, president of the players' union, told ESPN that the league and union were collaborating to allow players to wear uniforms with personalized messages linked to social justice on the backs of their jerseys in place of players' last names.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Thursday, June 25, 2020

A conversation with NJ Assemblyman Jamel Holley on police reform and social justice.

The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, & George Floyd have brought racism and police reform to the forefront.

Many of us have marched and protested, but what’s next?

Many of you have rightfully asked what those with the power to make or change laws are doing to address police reform.

Here are some answers from one of our state legislators, Assemblyman Jamel C. Holley about police reforms and social justice.

Tuesday, June 09, 2020

Sen. Kamala Harris statement in three officers that killed Breonna Taylor

Senator Kamala Harris took to Twitter to make the following statement about the three officers that murdered Breonna Taylor:

It’s past time for all three police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor to be arrested. It’s been almost three months. There’s no reason for them to still be roaming free.

Saturday, June 06, 2020

George Floyd's brother to testify in front of House Judiciary Committee

Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee next Wednesday, June 10, sources confirmed to The Hill.

It's not yet clear if Philonise Floyd will testify in-person or virtually now that the House has amended its procedures to allow virtual hearings in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The hearing comes as House Democrats plan to unveil policing reform legislation this week that would repeal the so-called "qualified immunity" doctrine on Monday.

SOURCE: THE HILL

Jordan Brand and Michael Jordan Statement on $100 million Commitment to the Black Community

Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand released the following statement on it's commitment to donate $100 million to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education:

Jordan Brand is us, the Black Community.

Jordan Brand is more than one man. It has always been a family. We represent a proud family that has overcome obstacles, fought against discrimination in communities worldwide and that works every day to erase the stain of racism and the damage of injustice. The will, the work, the excellence the world has come to know is the result of one generation after another, pouring their dreams into the next.

It’s 2020, and our family now includes anyone who aspires to our way of life. Yet as much as things have changed, the worst remains the same.

Black lives matter. This isn't a controversial statement. Until the ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people.

Today, we are announcing that Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand will be donating $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education.

“Through our Jordan Wings Program, we have been focused on providing access to education, mentorship and opportunity for Black youth facing the obstacles of systemic racism. But we know we can do more. In addition to the investment from NIKE Inc., we are announcing a joint commitment from Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand to donate $100 million over the next 10 years. We must join forces with the community, government and civic leaders to create a lasting impact together," said Craig Williams, President of Jordan Brand. “There is still more work for us to do to drive real impact for the Black Community. We embrace the responsibility."

Friday, June 05, 2020

Black NFL stars team up for powerful message to the league

More than a dozen players, including Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, Michael Thomas, Saquon Barkley,Deshaun Watson, Odell Beckham and Marshon Lattimore took part in a video telling the NFL to listen to its players when it comes to racism, social justice , and how they want to protest.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Rep. Al Green: Black lives don't matter as much as white lives

Rep. Al Green (TX-09) took to the floor of the House of Representatives and made an impassioned speech in which he said that Black lives don't matter as much as white lives do, and asked for a war on racism.

Friday, March 30, 2018

Sacramento Kings partner with Black Lives Matter

On Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings announced a partnership with the Build. Black. coalition – a group of community leaders who have organized in the wake of the Stephon Clark tragedy – and Black Lives Matter Sacramento, in their dedication to fundamentally transform black communities and support black youth in the Sacramento region.

“More than anything, I’m proud of Sacramento and proud of the Kings,” said NBC Sports analyst Doug Christie prior to Thursday’s game against Indiana. “We talk about Sacramento Proud – I think now more than ever, it’s not a just an idea, it’s real.”

As part of the commitment, the Kings will establish an education fund for Clark’s children and create a multi-year plan in partnership with Build. Black. to support the education of young people – providing workplace preparation and economic tools needed to build an efficacious future.

“That means a great deal,” said Garrett Temple on Thursday night. “What Vivek said after the [March 22] game wasn’t just talk, we wanted to step in and help the community with this problem.”

The organization’s effort begins Friday, March 30, when Vince Carter, Temple and Christie join ‘Kings and Queens Rise: A Youth Voice Forum for Healing’ at the South Sacramento Christian Church.

“It’s real important, it’s about how we can listen to people and bring some smiles to kids’ faces in the midst of what is going on,” continued Temple. “We have to use that influence we have in a positive manner.”

“It’s a touchy, sensitive subject but it is something that needs to be done,” said Carter. “We need to educate ourselves on both sides of the fence.”

The group will be part of a panel of powerful voices in the community helping to facilitate an open dialogue, and ultimately healing.

“Our team was saved by our community, so it’s only right that it comes full circle,” concluded Christie.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

AMC Developing TV Series Based On Black Lives Matter Book

AMC has put in development a drama based on Wesley Lowery’s bestselling nonfiction book They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice. It comes from Brad Weston’s Makeready and writer LaToya Morgan (Into the Badlands, Turn: Washington’s Spies).

Published in 2016 by Little, Brown & Company, the book was acquired by Makeready last fall. It examines how decades of racially biased policing in segregated neighborhoods with failing schools, crumbling infrastructure and too few jobs has led to the high-profile cases of police brutality in Ferguson, Cleveland, Baltimore and elsewhere and the birth of Black Lives Matter movement seeking justice for the deaths of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Freddie Gray.

Written by Morgan, who is under an overall deal at AMC, the potential series also will reflect current events and race relations through the stories and voices of fictional characters. Morgan will executive produce with Makeready founder and CEO Weston and creative heads Pam Abdy and Scott Nemes.

[SOURCE: DEADLINE]

Check Out The Book the series Is based On:

PAPERBACK----- HARDCOVER----- KINDLE

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Colin Kaepernick items to be part of Smithsonian's Black Lives Matter collection

Items pertaining to Colin Kaepernick will be part of the Black Lives Matter collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

"The National Museum of African American History and Culture has nearly 40,000 items in our collection," Damion Thomas, the Washington museum's sports curator, told USA Today Sports. "The Colin Kaepernick collection is in line with the museum's larger collecting efforts to document the varied areas of society that have been impacted by the Black Lives Matter movement."

Thomas had previously told USA Today Sports that items would include a game-worn jersey and shoes.

Kaepernick, as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, kneeled during the playing of national anthem throughout the 2016 season. The free agent quarterback said he was protesting racial inequality and social injustice in the country.

[SOURCE: ABCNEWS]

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Black Lives Matter Wins 2017 Sydney Peace Prize

SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE CITATION FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER

For building a powerful movement for racial equality, courageously reigniting a global conversation around state violence and racism. And for harnessing the potential of new platforms and power of people to inspire a bold movement for change at a time when peace is threatened by growing inequality and injustice.

THE 2017 SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE WILL BE AWARDED ON THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER AT THE CITY OF SYDNEY LECTURE AND AWARD CEREMONY AT SYDNEY TOWN HALL. A CELEBRATORY DINNER, THE FOUNDATION’S ANNUAL FUNDRAISING EVENT FOR THE PRIZE, IS ON FRIDAY 3 NOVEMBER.

In 2014, Black Lives Matter emerged as a global phenomenon when the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter turned into a rallying cry for a new generation of civil rights activists and organisers. A movement swept across the United States, affirming black humanity in the face of relentless police brutality, mass incarceration and racial disparity.

Built and sustained by many, the Black Lives Matter Global Network (BLM) has played a vital role in growing the Movement for Black Lives, and its loud calls for justice, dignity and equality have resonated around the world.

Not a moment, but a movement

Since creating the social media hashtag #BlackLivesMatter in 2012, BLM’s Co-Founders, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi steadily and strategically built the scaffolding of a nationwide on-the-ground political network that now has 39 chapters worldwide.

Encouraging a broader and deeper conversation about what justice for black people looks like — and how people can join forces to achieve it — the Black Lives Matter Network nurtures an inclusive, decentralised and leaderful movement from the bottom-up. The Founders want the faces of this movement to reflect the change they strive towards in their own communities, which is that all black lives matter, regardless of their gender, class, sexual orientation, or age.

An intervention

For the Founders, Black Lives Matter Network is not ‘just’ about extrajudicial killings and police reform. Rather, it is an intervention: Black Lives Matter demands that American society reconsider how it values black lives by identifying where and how black life is cut short by the state, whether in viral videos of police brutality, the self-fulfilling prophecy of the criminal justice system, or in areas where black communities disproportionally face homelessness, poverty and economic disparity.

Black Lives Matter is our call to action. It is about replacing narratives of black criminality with black humanity. It is a tool to reimagine a world where black people are free to exist, free to live, and a tool for our allies to show up for us.

Patrisse Cullors, Co-Founder

Black Lives Matter is about changing the conversation: If it is true that black lives matter, then what does that mean for police reform, for our justice systems, for schools, for jobs, for infrastructure, and for economic development? If black lives matter, then what needs to change in politics and in the media?

In only a few years, it has rapidly evolved well beyond a hashtag, into a social movement that is healing and organising communities across the USA, and has both political aims as well as visionary policy demands.

Vision, leadership, heart and courage

Without justice, peace is hollow and fragile. As societies and human beings, we cannot be at peace when people around us are suffering. Or when rules, institutions and behaviours that shape our daily lives – visible or invisible – tell us that the lives of people around us matter less, or don’t matter at all.

The committee noted that the conversation about Black Lives Matter is an age-old conversation, but commended today’s movement for creating a unique opportunity to change the course of history:

Black Lives Matter offers bold and visionary solutions to build societies where black people, and by extension all people, are free to live safe and dignified lives. This vision of love, hope, resistance and dissent resonates around the globe and particularly in Australia where the struggle with racism towards our First Peoples, asylum seekers and other excluded and marginalised communities scars our country and tarnishes our international reputation.

To turn a radically inclusive message into a rallying cry for millions of people requires vision, leadership, heart and courage. Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi and the many other Black Lives Matter leaders challenge us all to rethink, reimagine and reconstruct the societies we live in. This is an urgent and vital challenge, not least here in Australia, a country that struggles to come to terms with its past and fails to right ongoing wrongs.

This is the first time that a movement and not a person has been awarded the Peace Prize – a timely choice. Climate change is escalating fast, increasing inequality and racism are feeding divisiveness, and we are in the middle of the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Yet many establishment leaders across the world stick their heads in the sand or turn their backs on justice, fairness and equality.

The power of ordinary people is a phenomenal force for change – now more than ever, popular movements and political resistance is crucial.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Feds revive probe of Eric Garner chokehold death

The feds have revived the grand jury probe into the NYPD chokehold death of Eric Garner — and a police witness who was questioned in front of the panel believes an indictment is looming, sources told The New York Post on Thursday.

A high-ranking NYPD official and a sergeant testified behind closed doors in the Brooklyn federal courthouse on Wednesday after being slapped with subpoenas, sources said.

Revelation of their appearances before the grand jury marks the first sign that the US Justice Department hasn’t abandoned the racially charged case since the inauguration of President Trump and the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Read more: Feds revive probe of Eric Garner chokehold death