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Post by Admin on Aug 29, 2020 0:37:45 GMT
The sister of George Floyd, whose death in police custody sparked months of racial turmoil across the US, has urged civil rights protesters to "be his legacy" as thousands gathered for a rally in Washington DC. "My brother cannot be a voice today," said Bridgett Floyd. "We have to be that voice, we have to be the change". Ms Floyd was one of several relatives of black Americans harmed or killed by police to address the event commemorating a historic 1963 civil rights march. Speakers demanded racial justice and urged people to vote. Jacob Blake Sr, whose son was shot in Wisconsin on Sunday, told the rally they were holding court on racism in America - and the verdict was "guilty, guilty, guilty!". What is the 2020 March on Washington? Thousands of people gathered in Washington DC for the event that commemorated the 1963 civil rights March on Washington and in protest at police violence. Called the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks - a reference to the death of George Floyd, who died in May after a policeman knelt on his neck for several minutes - it follows renewed protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The event brought together generations of activists to call for police reform and to urge Americans to vote in November's general election. It was organised by civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III - the eldest son of Mr King Jr. The families of black Americans shot or killed by police spoke at the same site where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his I Have a Dream speech. Some 250,000 supporters packed the 1.9 miles (3 km) strip from Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, making it one of the largest political gatherings the country had ever seen. Rev Sharpton announced the 2020 march - which falls on the 57th anniversary of the 1963 event - at Mr Floyd's memorial service in June. His organisation, the National Action Network, worked with Mr King III to convene the rally.
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Post by Admin on Aug 29, 2020 4:22:26 GMT
Jacob Blake, who remains hospitalized after sustaining multiple injuries, is now handcuffed to his bed, his family said.
Blake's uncle told CNN on Thursday that Blake's father visited the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin hospital where his son is recovering from at least one surgery. He was "heartbroken" to see that his son was handcuffed.
"This is an insult to injury," Justin Blake, the uncle of the victim, said. "He is paralyzed and can't walk and they have him cuffed to the bed. Why?"
Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, has spent several days in the hospital. A Kenosha police officer shot him seven times in the back on Sunday while trying to detain him, state investigators said.
Kenosha police and sheriff's department, as well as the district attorney's office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CNN has reached out to the Blake family's attorneys.
A spokesperson with the Froedtert Hospital, where Blake is being treated, deferred CNN's questions to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Andrew Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate and CNN contributor, said Thursday that he spoke with Blake's father. He told Yang that he's glad to see that his son is awake, but is angry that he's restrained.
"His father actually used the words 'chains.' He said my son is chained up," Yang told CNN's Erin Burnett.
When speaking to his father for the first time since the shooting, Yang said that Blake asked why was he shot so many times.
"When asked what message I could share on his family's behalf, #JacobBlake Sr. said to me, 'Tell them my son is a human being,'" Yang tweeted about his conversation with Blake's father.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a news conference that he "couldn't imagine" why Blake was handcuffed.
"I would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary," Evers said, answering a reporter's question.
"I would hope that we would be able to find a more, a better way to help him ... in recovering. That seems counterintuitive. It seems to be bad medicine."
The shooting has spurred nightly protests, and a wildcat strike across the sports world. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin law enforcement officials leading the investigation finally offered their first version of events, leaving gaping holes in its timeline.
Local officials have not discussed many details about Blake's shooting but continue addressing the nightly protests in Kenosha, especially after two people at a protest were killed and a third was seriously injured this week.
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Post by Admin on Aug 31, 2020 1:28:05 GMT
A New Jersey teen thought she was only exercising her First Amendment right when she organized a rally in support of Black Lives Matter. Not long after, she received a bill for thousands of dollars in the mail from the mayor, CBS New York reports.
The mayor has since said he is rescinding it.
Emily Gil, who is 18, was inspired to hold a rally in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, this summer after watching thousands of Americans show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
"It's an issue we care about. And we notice these issues in our own town, so we can do something about it," Gil said.
She also wanted to highlight a lack of affordable housing.
Gil said she notified local officials in June about the protest and even met with the police chief to iron out logistics. The protest went off without a hitch on July 25 and lasted about 90 minutes.
A few days later, Gil said she received a letter from Mayor Mario Kranjac, billing her for about $2,500 worth of police overtime used during the protest.
"I was shocked when I read that I had to pay to exercise my First Amendment right," said Gil. She thinks she was targeted for her take on affordable housing in the community.
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Post by Admin on Aug 31, 2020 7:46:52 GMT
Adele is facing backlash for the bikini and hairstyle she wore in an Instagram post marking the canceled Notting Hill Carnival festivities. On Sunday, the British pop star, 32, shared a photo in tribute to Notting Hill Carnival, which celebrates Caribbean and Black culture in the U.K. In the photo, Adele wore a Jamaican flag bikini top and Bantu knots, a traditional African hairstyle. http://instagram.com/p/CEh6gF5AwXh "Happy what would be Notting Hill Carnival my beloved London 🇬🇧🇯🇲," she captioned the post for Carnival, which is being celebrated virtually this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Adele came under fire after posting the photo, as many on social media accused her of cultural appropriation. One follower commented, "black women are discriminated against for wearing cultural hairstyles like bantu knots and locs but white people are not, that’s not fair and that’s why people are pissed off." Others took offense with Adele's Jamaican bikini top. "Dear white people, please just be yourselves and stop it for good with cultural appropriation. Adele the bantu knots were unnecessary. The Jamaican flag bikini top was unnecessary... Please just stop it," another follower wrote.
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Post by Admin on Sept 7, 2020 6:24:09 GMT
The Trump administration has instructed federal agencies to end racial sensitivity trainings that address topics like white privilege and critical race theory, calling them "divisive, anti-American propaganda." In a letter to federal agencies Friday, the director of the Office of Management and Budget said the president recently became aware of the racial sensitivity programs, which encourage frank conversations about race in the workplace and discuss potential actions to combat systemic racism. The memo, issued by OMB Director Russell Vought, reads in part: "All agencies are directed to begin to identify all contracts or other agency spending related to any training on 'critical race theory,' 'white privilege,' or any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either (1) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil." The memo said agencies "should begin to identify all available avenues within the law to cancel any such contracts and/or to divert Federal dollars away from these un-American propaganda training sessions." Citing "press reports" of training sessions at which employees were allegedly told "virtually all white people contribute to racism," Vought wrote that these sorts of trainings perpetuate misguided views and contribute to racial division. It was not clear which specific agencies or training sessions he was referring to. The directive was issued against the backdrop of the ongoing national conversation around police brutality and systemic racism. It's a debate in which Trump has sided with law enforcement over advocates for racial justice and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. As demonstrations were at their peak earlier this summer, an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that two-thirds of Americans believed the president has made race relations worse.
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