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]

NJ State Senate Votes to Make Juneteenth a State Holiday

Acting to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States and to honor the history and contributions of Black Americans, the Senate today approved a bill that would make Juneteenth an official state holiday. The bill is sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator Sandra Cunningham and Senator Joe Cryan.

“Juneteenth marks a day of freedom for Black Americans who suffered the cruelty of slavery and an opportunity to honor the history and contributions of African Americans,” said Senator Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland). “This takes on greater significance as the entire country is confronting the racism and inequality that is the bitter legacy of slavery. We can use June 19th and the days that follow to undue past harms and renew our commitment to justice and equality for all.”

“It feels especially fitting to be voting on this legislation in the week leading up to the July Fourth holiday. For many Black Americans, the Fourth of July does not hold the same meaning of freedom and independence that it does for other Americans, because Black Americans were not free on July 4, 1776,” said Senator Cunningham (D-Hudson). “Hopefully, through this legislation, as well as deeper education and a more honest review of our history, more New Jerseyans can realize the significance of Juneteenth as a true day of freedom, even as we continue to work towards ‘justice for all.’”

“This is a way of recognizing the end of slavery in America as an important milestone in the Nation’s history,” said Senator Cryan (D-Union). “A state holiday won’t change everything, but it will provide a platform to increase the understanding of what has happened in the past so that we can learn from it. When we recognize the experiences of history, we are better for it. We can be enriched as a state and more able to move towards equality for everyone.”

It was on June 19, 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were finally told about the Emancipation Proclamation. Since then, Juneteenth has evolved as a date to celebrate the end of slavery, to cultivate an appreciation of African American history and culture, and to address the injustices Black Americans continue to experience.

Van Jones Helped Craft the Trump Police Reform Executive Order???

By George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Now we know why CNN's Van Jones praised President Trumps weak executive order so much.

In a report from The Daily Beast it appears that Jones actually helped to craft the order.

I remember listening to CNN when the news of Trump signing the executive order broke and thinking to myself that Jones was going all out to praise this order. I thought at the time he was going a little over board.

Van Jones called President Trump's executive order on police reform "a good thing" and a "a step in the right direction" following a White House signing ceremony on Tuesday.

"The executive order is a good thing," Jones said on "Inside Politics." "Mainly because you saw the support of law enforcement there. That gives you a sense of where the bottom is, where the floor is for reform, and that floor is higher than it has been."

Now let’s be clear there is nothing wrong with working with Trump’s people on an executive order that you think may help African Americans survive police encounters. God bless Van Jones for that. I understand the whole if your not at the table you’re on the menu concept.

There is nothing wrong praising and supporting the order on CNN.

But there is something wrong with not divulging to the audience watching that you worked on the order you are praising so much.

The viewers had a right to know. That information not being divulged shows a lack of journalistic integrity.

We have to wonder if Van Jones told or didn’t tell CNN he worked on the order, and if he did why did CNN decide to put him on air without acknowledging that fact

Someone has some explaining to do...

Group proposes to become NFL’s first Black team owners

A group of predominantly African American business owners and community leaders has proposed to the NFL that it brings a franchise back to Oakland, and becomes the first Black ownership group in the league’s history.

Sen. Cory Booker Statement on Failure of Flawed JUSTICE Act

U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the below statement after the GOP forced a vote, which ultimately failed, on the inadequate, deeply flawed Justice Act:

“We will not meet this moment with half-measures and half-steps that don’t meaningfully fix our broken policing system. The Justice Act is woefully inadequate, deeply flawed, and painfully weak, but don’t take my word for it – take the word of the more than 130 civil rights and faith-based organizations that have condemned the bill for not creating the type of accountability and transparency that is truly needed to end police brutality and change the culture of law enforcement in this country.

“The question is simple: who do you trust more on police reform in America – the NAACP or Mitch McConnell?

“Americans in all 50 states are not chanting in the streets, ‘Give us a commission, we want more data!’ They’re chanting for real accountability, meaningful transparency, and an end to dangerous and excessive policing practices. The JUSTICE Act falls far short of the change the American people are demanding, and what our country so desperately needs in this moment.”

Booker is the co-author of the Justice in Policing Act, introduced with Senator Kamala Harris in the Senate in early June. The groundbreaking legislation, which has the support of 37 Senators and more than 220 members of the House of Representatives, would address police brutality and change the culture of law enforcement departments by holding police accountable in court for egregious misconduct, increasing transparency through better data collection, and improving police practices and training.