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COVINGTON, La. (BRPROUD) Suriah and Adian White are again allowed to wear Black Lives Matter face masks.

Suriah White attends William Pitcher Junior High School and Adian White goes to Pine View Middle School in Louisiana.

Last month, 13-year-old Suriah White was told that her mask violated the school districts policy that notes styles of dress and grooming should never be such that they represent a collective or individual protest, according to the ACLU of Louisiana.

Pine View Middle School was then notified that Suriahs sibling was wearing the same mask.

Both students received in-school suspension.

That is when the ACLU of Louisiana jumped in and contacted the St. Tammany School Board.

Students do not lose their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse doors, said Bruce Hamilton, ACLU of Louisiana senior staff attorney. As their mother pointed out to administration officials, the students are not engaging in active protest by wearing Black Lives Matter masksbut even if they were, school officials cannot constitutionally prohibit non-violent protest.

Suriah and Adian White were subsequently granted an exemption to the The St. Tammany Parish School Board policy.

Read the rest here:
Two students in Louisiana are allowed to wear Black Lives Matter masks after school board decision - KLFY

This week acting Australian Prime Minister Michael McCormack uttered a controversial phrase.

Defending previous comments in which he compared the Capitol riots to the Black Lives Matter protests, he asserted,

All lives matter.

McCormack was widely condemned for his remarks, including by Indigenous Australian activists, Labor and the Greens.

His use of the phrase was reminiscent of One Nation leader Pauline Hansons failed attempt to have the Senate endorse a motion that all lives matter in 2019. As former Finance Minister Mathias Cormann noted at the time, you have to consider things in their context.

As a linguist, who has just published On The Offensive, a book about offensive language, all lives matter is a phrase that reveals prejudice.

So, where does the phrase all lives matter come from? And given it is of course true that all lives matter, why is the phrase so offensive in todays context?

All lives matter was born out of Black Lives Matter. This is a slogan and a social movement in response to racism and violence perpetuated against Black people, both historically and in the modern era.

This can be traced back to a tragic incident almost nine years ago. In February 2012, 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin was walking home in Florida, after buying Skittles at a convenience store.

Local resident George Zimmerman reported Martin to police as suspicious, then confronted the innocent young man and fatally shot him. Zimmerman claimed the act was in self-defence and was later acquitted.

After this, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter began to appear on social media, in support of Martin and in protest against social and systemic racism that is, racism in society and through institutions. This grew into a movement, co-founded by three Black community organisers, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi.

Concerns and anger about racism towards Black people was reinvigorated more recently after several high-profile, racially charged incidents in the US.

Read more: Black Lives Matter is a revolutionary peace movement

These include the murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was shot while jogging in a south Georgia neighbourhood, and also the murder of George Floyd.

These tragic events inspired worldwide protests against institutional racism. In Australia, Black Lives Matter marches also called for justice for Indigenous people, including Aboriginal man David Dungay Jr, who died in custody in 2015. There have been more than 430 Indigenous deaths in custody since 1991.

What does it mean to say all lives matter?

When the Black Lives Matter motto arose, some people interpreted the phrase as confrontational and divisive. They took it to exclude other races. The phrase all lives matter sprang up in response, ostensibly to argue all lives are equal because we are all human beings.

However, Black Lives Matter was not intended to mean that other lives do not matter. In a world where Black people are stigmatised, marginalised, and discriminated against, Black Lives Matter simply recognises Black lives matter, too.

Responding to Black Lives Matter with all lives matter derails the specific conversation about racism against Black people. The phrase is seen to dismiss, ignore, or deny these problems it shuts down this important discussion.

Read more: The backlash against Black Lives Matter is just more evidence of injustice

US President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and other US conservatives like Rudy Guiliani, have used the phrase to criticise the Black Lives Matter movement.

Through its use, all lives matter has also become associated with white supremacy, far-right nationalism and racism.

Black Lives Matter is intended to promote the peaceful protest of racism against Black people, not only in the US, but worldwide. It also calls for immediate action against systemic and social racism.

When used by Black people, Black Lives Matter is a declaration that Black lives do indeed matter. It is a call for protection and recognition.

When said by allies supportive people outside of the racial group Black Lives Matter acknowledges that Black lives do indeed matter, and says we stand in solidarity with members of Black and indigenous communities both locally, and globally.

So, all lives matter can be understood as a racist dog whistle a direct push-back against the Black Lives Matter movement. It is far from an innocent term celebrating the worth of all humanity.

Read the rest here:
Why is it so offensive to say 'all lives matter'? - The Conversation AU

Injustice often inspires art. When the Ohio National Guard killed four college students protesting the Vietnam War in 1970 at Kent State, Neil Young penned Ohio.

The counterculture anthem is one of the greatest protest songs written: Tin soldiers and Nixons coming / Were finally on our own / This summer I hear the drumming / Four dead in Ohio.

Keeping Nixon in the lyrics was one of the bravest things Neil has ever done, former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young vocalist-guitarist David Crosby said during a 2018 interview.

Protest songs take courage. Say It Loud, Im Black and Im Proud by James Brown and Get Up, Stand Up by the Wailers are examples of powerful protest songs that have endured.

In recent years, protest songs inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement have made quite an impact.

When Janelle Monae was asked about her powerful BLM protest song Hell You Talmbout, the vocalist-actress gasped.

When you have a platform like I do, you have to make an impact, Monae said during a 2018 telephone interview. Its our responsibility. I really believe that silence is our enemy, and sound is our weapon.

Monae namechecks several Black victims of police brutality throughout Hell You Talmbout such as Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland and Freddie Gray.

One of Monaes musical heroes, Prince, was inspired to write Baltimore, one of his final singles, because of the death of Gray, a 25-year-old man who died in police custody five years ago in Baltimore.

Last June, Princes estate released his handwritten note on intolerance. Nothing more ugly in the whole wide world than INTOLERANCE (between) Black, white, red, yellow, boy or girl, INTOLERANCE.

2020 Riots: How Many Times, by Trey Songz, could be the theme of the BLM movement during the coronavirus. The R&B singer, who was inspired to write the compelling tune after Floyds murder, focuses on the injustices.

With the words in this song, I just wanted to speak to everyones hearts and acknowledge the pain and anguish everyone is going through right now, Songz said via a statement.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Leon Bridges was also moved to write after Floyds tragic death. Bridges responded by crafting Sweeter, about a Black man being denied the freedom to breathe.

It was the first time I wept for a man I never met, Bridges said courtesy of a statement. I am George Floyd, my brothers are George Floyd, and my sisters are George Floyd. I cannot and will not be silent any longer. Just as Abels blood was crying out to God, George Floyd is crying out to me. So, I present to you, Sweeter.

One of the most moving BLM anthems is I Cant Breathe, written and recorded by H.E.R., aka Gabriella Wilson.

The catchy blues song with a memorable vocal hook features some jarring lyrics:

Starting a war, screaming peace at the same time? All the corruption, injustice, the same crimes? Always a problem if we do or dont fight / And we die we dont have the same rights / What is a gun to a man that surrenders / What its gonna take for someone to defend us? If we all agree that were equal as people / Then why cant we see what is evil.

Kendrick Lamars Alright was featured at a number of BLM protests throughout the country. Its not surprising since Alright exudes determination and persistence, and its relentlessly positive.

We gon be alright, a backing vocal by Grammy winner Pharrell, who produced the track, is a phrase that is a beacon of hope in a sea of darkness courtesy of this 2015 number.

Ushers I Cry, also released in 2015, is one of the most beautiful BLM tunes. The piano ballad is deep, emotional and catchy.

Free was written and recorded by J. Cole not long after Ferguson police killed Michael Brown in 2014. Cole makes his statement during the chorus: All we want to do is take the chains off / All we want to do is be free.

Black Thought tipped his cap to Martin in 2018 with Rest in Power. One killer, one child, one weapon / The shooter was unthreatened / 71 seconds / So many unanswered questions / If the wounds heal, the memories never fade / I wonder if youre in heavens 11th grade / Six thousand, two hundred and 30 days / Too young of an early age / Such evil and worldly ways.

The video features the Roots frontman rapping next to an American flag and a brick wall with the projected images of Martin, BLM protests and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott-Heron was written and recorded long before the BLM movement, but it fits. The cut, which is a poem and a song, is a clever and provocative piece that doesnt sound as if its been around for a half-century.

But the song was at the forefront of the Black Power movement. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised was released less than a year after Ohio. 1970-71 was a good period for protest songs. Perhaps the same will be said for 2020-21 a half-century from now.

See the rest here:
Black Lives Matter protest songs: 'Silence is our enemy, and sound is our weapon' - The Spokesman-Review

BELCHERTOWN A condominium owner prevailed over trustees who attempted to fine her $50 a day for displaying a Black Lives Matter sign in her flower bed, after a judge ruled in her favor in Hampshire Superior Court on Friday.

Margery Jess, owner of a unit at Summer Hill Estates, in October sued trustees of the condominium association who tried to strong-arm her into taking down the sign, threatening fines that would have amounted to more than $18,000 annually.

Judge Richard Carey initially granted Jess a temporary injunction to prevent the association from forcing her to take the sign down or face fines. Carey ruled Friday the condo associations bylaw designed to control the content of signage is unconstitutional and violates free speech protections.

Summer Hill Estates Condominium Trust is hereby permanently enjoined from interfering with Plaintiff Margery Jesss right to post, at and near her condominium and without prior permission of the Board from placing a Black Lives Matter sign or other signs that are consistent with the Rules and Regulations of the Trust that comply with the Courts Declarations above, Carey wrote in a brief ruling.

In her complaint, filed with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union and Northampton attorney Luke Ryan, Jess said trustees told her to take the sign down on May 30, one day after she placed it in a flower bed outside her condo. Frank Pudlo, chairman of the condominium trust, sent her an email ordering the removal of the sign, arguing it was political during an election year.

Pudlo cited a rule in the associations bylaws requiring owners to seek prior permission to place signs outside their units. Jess sent a request when she learned of the rule, but was denied after a meeting she was not invited to attend, according to court records.

Summer Hill Estates is an over-55 development off Route 202 in Belchertown, billed as a vibrant and growing community, according to its website.

Jesss complaint said her neighbors were displaying signs with patriotic and ethnically based messages outside their units, including a Civil War-era flag. She and the trustees jousted over the matter in emails, court records show.

As some residents have hearts displayed on their doors and windows as an expression of supporting healthcare providers during COVID-19, I (am) supporting our fellow Black Americans as they deal with continued institutional racism and police brutality, Jess wrote in one email.

The Trustees voted today on your request and the majority vote was not to allow your sign to be displayed, the trustees responded. Our decision is to not allow signs with any political intent or connotation. This decision is especially relevant with this being an election year. The other signs (located outside other owners units), are not political and are considered decorations.

The sign remains in the window of Jesss condo, said William Newman, director of the ACLU of Massachusetts Western Regional Law Office.

This case is a poignant reminder of the foundational importance of freedom of speech, particularly in these fraught and perilous times, Newman said. Ms. Jess standing strong for this fundamental freedom has been inspiring.

Jess released a statement lauding Careys ruling.

I am enormously appreciative of the Courts judgment, which guarantees my right to freely exercise freedom of speech in support of anti-racism and social justice in my community, she said.

The ACLU also applauded the judges ruling as part of the civil liberties lobbys efforts to protect free speech and beat back condominium associations efforts to control members First Amendment rights.

Across Massachusetts, we see condo and homeowners associations impeding the right of property owners and tenants to engage in free speech through signs at and near their homes, said Ruth Bourquin, senior and managing staff attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts. We hope this landmark decision is a wake-up call that such restrictions must end.

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Judge overrules Belchertown condo association that tried to bar Black Lives Matter lawn sign - MassLive.com

COVINGTON, La. More than a month after the St. Tammany Parish School System allegedly told two students they cannot wear Black Lives Matter masks, the district is reversing course.

The decision comes after the ACLU of Louisiana sent the district a letter claiming the system violated the students First Amendment rights. Although theyre allowed to wear their BLM masks, their mom believes this should never have been an issue.

Yall made a big deal about a mask. Not education, but a mask, Ebony Wright exclaimed.

Wright is still disgusted with the St. Tammany Parish School System and the obstacles her kids faced in order to wear Black Lives Matter masks.

A mask that says Black Lives Matter hurt someone so much that you had to take my children out of school and stop education to say what, Wright said.

According to Wright, her kids Suriah and Adrian were pulled from class in December and given in-school suspension. The district maintains that never happened.

When I requested the documentation, they told me there was no documentation, Wright said.

The ACLU of Louisiana believes the students did not violate the districts dress and grooming policy.

For them to be singled out is very troubling. It should have been obvious that their right to free speech is protected, said ACLU attorney Bruce Hamilton.

In order to get permission to wear BLM masks, Wright had to file an application for exemption from the dress and grooming policy. Although, a spokesperson for the district said no one has to file for exemption to wear BLM masks.

In documents obtained by WGNO News, Wright did file an application and had to justify why her kids should receive an exemption.

Ultimately, the districts lawyers sent two letters saying the exemptions were granted.

Hamilton said, We maintain that the policy is unconstitutional in its face.

The district said moving forward, families will not have to file exemptions over masks. A spokesperson said Wright was the first to make a case.

We asked Wright if she is planning to file suit against the district and she said she is leaving that up to her lawyers to decide the best way to move forward.

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District reverses course and allows students to wear Black Lives Matter masks - WGNO New Orleans