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Why Black lives matter.

Black lives matter.

They matter because they are children, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers.

They matter because the injustices they face steal from all of us white people and people of color alike. They steal our very humanity.

Systemic and institutionalized racismare the defining civil rights and social justice issues of our time. Weve come to understand that to be silent about the violence and threats to the lives and well-being of Black people is to be complicit in that violence and those threats.

There is good news: the first step in overcoming systemic racism and injustice is to simply understand and admit that there is a problem. Its trying to understand the perspective of others whose experiences are different from our own. To not just listen, but to truly understand those whose struggle for justice is real, and not yet complete.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President of the North Carolina NAACP, said it best when reacting to the recent police shooting in Charlotte, NC. He said, Our objective is simple: to ensure justice-loving people act toward justice, with all evidence, and that we stand together and act from a place of power and love, rather than out of fear and anger.

Its been hard to watch the list of unarmed Black Americans killed by law enforcement officers grow longer and longer.We understand that numerous Black Americans and white Americans have profoundly different experiences and outcomes with law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Thats why its become clear to usat Ben & Jerrysthat we have a moral obligation to take a stand now for justice and for Black lives.

We want to be clear: we believe that saying Black lives matteris not to say that the lives of those who serve in the law enforcement community dont. We respect and value the commitment to our communities that those in law enforcement make, and we respect the value of every one of their lives.

But we do believe that whether Black, brown, white, or blue our nation and our very way of life is dependent on the principle of all people being served equal justice under the law. And its clear, the effects of the criminal justice system are not color blind.

We do not place the blame for this on individual officers. Rather, we believe it is due to the systemic racism built into the fabric of our institutions at every level, disadvantaging and discriminating against people of color in ways that go beyond individual intent to discriminate. For this reason, we are not pointing fingers at individuals; we are instead urging us to come together to better our society and institutions so that we may finally fulfill the founding promise of this country: to be a country with dignity and justicefor all.

All lives do matter. But all lives will not matter until Black lives matter.

We ask people to be open to understanding these issues, and not to reflexively retreat to our current beliefs. Change happens when people are willing to listen and hear the struggles of their neighbor, putting aside preconceived notions and truly seeking to understand and grow. Well be working hard on that, and ask you to as well.

- Your friends at Ben & Jerrys

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Why Black Lives Matter | Ben & Jerrys

Leaders and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement sought a delicate balance Friday by both condemning the slaying of five Dallas police officers and promising more demonstrations against deadly shootings by law enforcement.

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CBS News' Margaret Brennan has more on President Obama's call for calm after 5 Dallas police officers were shot and killed in "despicable" attack...

"There are some who would use these events to stifle a movement for change and quicken the demise of a vibrant discourse on the human rights of Black Americans," the Black Lives Matter group wrote. "We should reject all of this.

"Black activists have raised the call for an end to violence, not an escalation of it. Yesterday's attack was the result of the actions of a lone gunman. To assign the actions of one person to an entire movement is dangerous and irresponsible. We continue our efforts to bring about a better world for all of us," BLM wrote.

In Philadelphia, a group planned a "Weekend of Rage" to draw attention to police disparities, while in Atlanta, an organizer said a demonstration would go on Friday night, less than 24 hours after the slaughter in Dallas. In turn, police across the country said they would step up their patrols.

One Black Lives Matter organizer, Sir Maejor, said the rally in Atlanta was scheduled before the Dallas shooting. People are angry over police violence against blacks and need an outlet to demonstrate peacefully, he said.

"Black Lives Matter doesn't condone shooting law enforcement. But I have to be honest: I understand why it was done," Maejor said. "I don't encourage it, I don't condone it, I don't justify it. But I understand it."

Black Lives Matter began in 2013 after black teenager Trayvon Martin was shot to death by one-time community watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Florida. Zimmerman was later acquitted, and the movement grew amid a string of fatal shootings of blacks by police officers, many of which were captured on video and shared on social media.

Jeff Hood, an organizer in Dallas, described hearing shots and seeing officers fall as he marched with hundreds of people through downtown after a rally Thursday night.

"This is a devastating time for us as activists and organizers. We cannot about bring justice through violence," said Hood, a pastor.

In Philadelphia, Erica Mines of the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice said the group is planning a "Weekend of Rage." She is worried about her safety, but said continued action is necessary to bring about change.

"Everyone is not going to be on our side, but those who understand will join in the struggle and help educate the masses. We are hurting. We are tired. We are fed up," she said.

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CBS News security contributor Ron Hosko breaks down the hours-long standoff between police and one of the Dallas shooting suspects.

Police said at least one gunman ambushed Dallas officers as they walked along streets filled with demonstrators upset over police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota. Authorities identified the gunman as Micah Johnson, a 25-year-old Army veteran from suburban Dallas. Police haven't given any indication that the Dallas shooter had anything to do with Black Lives Matter or any other group.

Police Chief David Brown said the gunman told a police negotiator during a standoff that he was "upset about Black Lives Matter" and had acted on his own. Brown didn't elaborate on the man's statements about the group, but added: "He said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated that he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers."

Two civilians also were hurt, but police appeared to be the prime targets. Rather than tactical gear, many officers were wearing uniform shorts. A few posed for photos with the demonstrators before the gunfire began.

Some took to social media to blame the killings on Black Lives Matter, and the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network appeared to strike a critical tone of the movement in a statement that said Sharpton "reaffirms his commitment that the movement must continue but that it must be anti-police misconduct, not anti-police."

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Activists for social justice don't always see eye to eye on the best way to bring about change, but they can work together

A law enforcement source told CBS News that monitoring of social media overnight indicated an increase of threats to police online, with one post saying "kill cops," CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

A Texas organizer of Black Lives Matter, Ashton P. Woods, said criticism of the group was unfair.

"We could say the same things about white hate groups that inspire xenophobia or hatred against Muslims," said Woods, of Houston. "We can't really focus on whether people are going to cast us as a hate group when we are working to dismantle hate."

Woods said the repeated shootings by police are pushing some unstable people over the edge.

"That does something to the human psyche. I don't care what color or ethnicity you are," he said.

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Black Lives Matter condemns Dallas, pushes forward with ...

A new coalition is challenging Trumps agenda with a radical vision of their own on a national stage.

Black Lives Matter activists march in St. Paul, Minnesota on October 4, 2015. (AP Photo / Craig Lassig)

Welcome to The Majority, a new coalition encompassing more than 50 organizations and groups, including the Black Lives Matter Global Network. On Thursday, The Majority announced its first national campaign: Beyond the Moment. From April 4 to International Workers Day on May 1, participating organizations will hold a series of actions across the country aimed at raising awareness around issues including white supremacy, economic justice, reproductive justice, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, indigenous rights, and attacks on Muslim communities. The focus, under the new administration, is to bring together activists, organizers, and groups with different missionsfrom the Fight for $15 to indigenous land rights.

Beyond the Moment is the first major national campaign launched by the newly formed Majority, but its not exactly the first time weve heard from them. Many of the participating organizations come out of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), another BLM organizing coalition that released an official platform last August with a list of 40 policy recommendations and demands focusing on a wide range of issues including demilitarization of police forces, decriminalization of drugs, and expanding unionization in industries that are largely nonunion, like on-demand economy jobs like Uber or Lyft. The platform was received as the first centrally planned document to emerge from BLM, a movement that had been criticized for being diffuse, and for failing to articulate policy goals. But that was before Donald Trump was elected, when many assumed the political future of the United States would be quite different.

This new organizing body, which involves many of the same players as in past iterations of BLM, comes three months into Donald Trumps presidency. Organizers, however, are careful to point out that while the fight looks different under a Trump administration, the tenets of the movement, laid out back in August, remain the same. These actions that were taking from April 4 to May 1 are a resistance against Trump and his administration, but its also part of a long-term strategy to build a world where people can live in dignity and where we can situate people at the margins to have power, Patrisse Cullors, one of the three founders of BLM, told me over the phone.

BLM is often understood as a series of protests in response to the indiscriminate killings of black Americans by law enforcement, but the first day of action planned by the Majority, on April 4, will include protests in two dozen cities centered on the fight for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, an issue that disproportionately impacts people of color. Its proof that BLM is working to become a broader movement.

THE STAKES ARE HIGHER NOW THAN EVER. GET THE NATION IN YOUR INBOX.

One place where youll see depth in the conversation is around protecting our communities, Cullors told me. That means from ICE raids, and from further criminalization and violence. Cullors said that this new iteration of the movement is not just about campaigns and strategic plans but a broad-based movement that coalesces around the idea of sanctuary for all.

Marisa Franco, director of Mijente, a Latinx rights organization, is one of the organizers of Beyond the Moment, and echoes Cullorss point about the need to embrace inclusivity. We cant say, hey dont let ICE on your campus and not call out over-policing of people of color on college campuses. We cant celebrate local police who might consider not working with ICE but who over-police and wont make those same proclamations for other communities of color, Franco said.

The planned actions, between April 4 and May 1, may mark a shift into national action for the movement, but Cullors reminds me that BLM is a movement that is rooted in local communities. Every community faces different challenges, Cullors explained to me, and emphasized the importance of organizers to continue to do work to secure protection for individual communities after May Day.

More here:
Meet the New Social Change Coalition: 'The Majority' - The Nation.

(1 of ) Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors speaks at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ) (2 of ) Patrisse Cullors (WWW.PATRISSECULLORS.COM) (3 of ) Alicia Garza, from left, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, arrive at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards at NeueHouse Hollywood on Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

CHRISTI WARREN

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | March 29, 2017, 9:41PM

In front of a crowd of about 200 people gathered in the Sonoma State University Student Center on Wednesday night, Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, issued a rallying cry and urged attendees not to give into fear brought on by what she called President Donald Trumps divisive policies.

Instead, she said, its time to mobilize.

Cullors is one of three co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, born in reaction to police-involved shootings of young black men, that campaigns for equality and justice for people of color. She was at SSU as the keynote speaker for the colleges first North Bay Women of Color Conference, a daylong event that offered a variety of workshops and panels centered on the experiences of women of color in the community.

I deeply believe that although many of us were not prepared for this moment, were resilient, she said, speaking of Trumps surprise presidential victory. We have an opportunity to fight back against probably the biggest enemy of our lifetime, to change the course of history. We have an opportunity to save our childrens lives, and their childrens lives. This isnt just about America. This is about the planet. And so our work right here, right now, is investing in your local context. It is showing up, and it is speaking out.

The call to action was exactly what Marquisha George, 21, a senior at SSU, came to the conference to hear.

The sociology major showed up early for Cullors talk with two other friends from SSUs Black Student Union.

Im interested in politics, she said. But I feel like you have to get people active in order to get them involved in the process.

Though Cullors talk and many discussions throughout the day centered on resisting Trumps agenda, planning for the program actually started last summer, well before his election.

The idea arose as part of a conversation about the absence of women of color on Sonoma States campus, said Patricia Ayala Macias, 22, who co-organized the conference.

I think, especially in higher education, its hard to see ourselves reflected because there arent a lot of women of color faculty or staff on campus, and so when you speak about finding a role model, its hard to see yourself, she said.

Ayala Macias is a first-generation college student, double-majoring in Chicano and Latino studies and business administration.

It took her seven semesters, she said, to have a woman of color teach a business class.

I didnt see myself as a business student, she said. I didnt see myself as graduate school material. When you see yourself reflected in these classrooms, it makes you feel like someone understands me.

That confidence is something, she said, that came just from being involved in planning the conference.

Its really empowered women to see themselves as leaders, and thats what I want this conference to be a place for them to network, a place for them to see themselves. A place for them to learn about themselves, and not just talking about it, but doing something about the issues they see as important.

Excerpt from:
Black Lives Matter co-founder speaks at SSU to crowd of 200 - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

By Olivia Krauth

A sign supporting the Black Lives Matter movement was stolenfrom the Kent School of Social Work Thursday night.

According to an email from Kent School Dean David Jenkins to students, someone cut the banners ties and removed it from the building.

Since it was hung on that small balcony on the second floor, someone had to be serious about getting access to it and wanted it down pretty badly, Jenkins said.

Earlier today, a student returned the banner, saying they found it across the street. Jenkins said the banner hasnt been taken down since it was hung in October and it was promptly rehung this morning.

Jenkins said while feedback surrounding the banner has been mostly positive, there has been some negative feedback. One person called earlier in the week, saying the sign was offensive and it should be removed.

Regardless of the response, we, as a faculty of social workers and our staff, believed it was important for us to do something in response to the events that were happening across the country, Jenkins said.

Jenkins said University of Louisville Police have been notified.

This story will be updated.

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Black Lives Matter sign stolen from Kent School - Louisville Cardinal Online