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The movement for black lives is alive and well across Americaand on social media, but you probably wouldnt know that from watching CNN.

Reported incidents of anti-blackhate crimesandpolice-involved deathsare actually higher this year than they were two years ago, when coverage of cops killing people of color was so ubiquitousit was impossible to ignore. One would think this would be front-page news.

But Donald Trump is our president now and the mainstream media apparently no longer has the bandwidth to cover alleged discriminatory treatment and brutality inflicted on African-Americans by police. Cable-news pundits are too busy trying to kill off the campaign-season, ratings-friendly Frankenstein monsterthey createdover the previous two years.

This reality makes the mission of activists likeKimberly Ortiz that much more difficult.

Theyre diverting our attention to Trump so we dont have to talk about these issues, the 32-year-old Bronx mother of two said on Monday night. She was standing at the corner of 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem,before she andabout 30 other protesters marched through the New York City neighborhoods streets, shouting verbal indictments and obscenities at the two dozen NYPD strategic response officers who shadowed them in police cruisers.

Their flashing lights illuminated the angry black, brown and white faces of Ortiz and her comrades. Smartphone-wielding pedestrians recorded and documented the scene. Members of the press were notably absent.

The people who have influence are being distracted by the grabbing of the pussies, the Russian spy investigations, Ortiz added.I think its intentional.

A founding member of the pro-Black Lives Matter group NYC Shut It Down, Ortizspent the evening doing the same thingshe and her fellow activists have done every Monday for more than two years now: calling attention to the violent killingof black men, women and children by police or other overtly racist acts.

This weeks subject wasRamarley Graham, anunarmed black teenager who was fatally shot five years ago by an NYPD officer inside the 18-year-olds Bronx home. The killing was witnessed by Grahams 6-year-old brother as well ashis grandmother, whom the officer, Richard Haste, also threatened to shoot as shewatched her grandson dying on the bathroom floor.

On Sunday after years of stalled criminal and civil rights investigations that resulting in no disciplinary action, let alone jail time, Haste quit his jobin lieu of being fired.

An internal affairs probe found the officer guilty of misconduct, saying he had exercised poor tactical judgment leading up to the discharge of his firearm and acted with intent to cause serious physical injury, which led to Grahams death.

The story was covered by The New York Times and other local media outlets but drewlittle or no coverage from national cable news networkslike CNN, MSNBC or Fox News part of a growing trendof flagging mainstream media attention.

Mass media outlets are very selective on the news they report. We already know that, Ortizs friend and fellow activist Shannon Jones of Bronxites for NYPD Accountability said onMonday. This country is not attuned to showing black plight. Its not going to happen over an extended period of time.

Two years ago a slew of disturbing videos of police killing unarmed black men, women and children were plastered all over the 24-hour cable news cycle, making national headlines almost weekly.

In a one-month span late in 2014, police fatally shot 12-year-oldTamir Ricein Cleveland andAkai Gurleyin Brooklyns East New York neighborhood, while grand juries in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York Citys Staten Island, respectively, declined to indict the officers who admitted to killingMike BrownandEric Garner, who bothhad been unarmed.

A few months later in April 2015, another onslaughtof daily media coverage covered the day-to-day developments intheEric Harris, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray;this was followed shortly thereafter by white supremacist Dylann Roofs church massacre in North Charleston, South Carolina, and the mysterious Julydeath ofSandra Bland, the black woman who died in police custody in Texas after a questionable traffic-stop arrest.

But since Trumps election in November, many similarlytroubling videoshave gone viral on Facebook and Twitter, while the mainstream media has turned a relative blind eye.

Last week self-proclaimed white supremacist James Jackson rode a bus from Baltimore to New York, where just a few blocks from Times Square he fatallystabbed through the chest a randomly selected black mannamed Timothy Caughman with an 18-inch blade.

Jackson, who now facesterrorism charges, said he chose to do this in New York because its the media capital of the world, and he wanted to send a message. Thatmessage was apparently lost on reporters and editors at theNew York Postand theNew York Daily News, who for some reason maligned Caughman, rather than his killer, as a career criminal. This has drawn criticism from at leastone writeramong the Daily News ranks as well as members of the pro-Black Lives Matter community.

Media coverage of the racist New York terrorist attack was muted nationally amid the unending litany of stories focusing on Trump congressional hearings concerning hisridiculous tweets, his partys latestfailed attemptto repeal and replace Obamacare andFBI probesof the Trump campaigns possible ties to Russia.

Not only was [Caughman] murdered on the streets, but he was murdered again by the media, organizer Jason Walker of the advocacy group Vocal New York told a crowd last weekof more than 100 people gatheredat the steps of the Union Square park in Manhattan, before a march organizedin the wake ofCaughmans apparent murder.

Other pro-Black Lives Matter activists like Carmen Perez of Justice League NYC, Linda Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York and Nelini Stamp of Resist Here and the Working Families Party marched with Walker to the corner of Broadway and 38th Street,where supporters created a memorial using bouquets of flowers and flyers bearing Caughmans likeness.

One protester held up a sign that read BLACK LIVES STILL MATTER, echoing the idea that Americas national focus has shifted away from the movement.

[Caughmans] death is reminding us to not be distracted, Sarsour told the crowd at one point during the protest. We dont see the same type of outrage that we did back in 2014. . . . I want you not to be distracted by the clowns and white supremacists in the White House.

But Ortiz saidthis lack ofmedia attentionis hardlynew for Black Lives Matter supporters and it wont stop her from fighting for whats right.

As long as our black and brown brothers and sisters are still dying and there is no accountability, I will march until I cant march no longer, she said with a laugh. And even then, Ill haunt yall motherfuckers!

Originally posted here:
Black lives blackout: Has the mainstream media forgotten about police violence and African-American resistance? - Salon

NEWS Guest lecturer from Princeton offers insights on black politics by Isabel Banta | Mar 30 2017 | 03/30/17 1:50am

The Power, Violence and Inequality Collective at the University welcomed Asst. African American Studies Prof. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor from Princeton University on Wednesday for a public lecture entitled Black Lives Matter in the Trump Era.

Taylors book From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation was published in 2016 and received the Lannan Foundations Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book. Like her lecture at the University, the book outlines the progression of black politics in America as well as the Black Lives Matter movement.

I think across the country people have been very receptive to some of the things Im talking about because I think that for millions of ordinary people, there is a desire not just to be critical but to figure out what to we do next, where did these problems come from and how do we confront them? Taylor said. Thats the problem and a discussion thats not really happening among the political parties.

Taylor began her lecture by highlighting a Forbes article written in 2008 after former President Barack Obamas election entitled Racism in America is Over. Taylor said this article could not be further from the truth in President Donald Trumps America.

[It] has imbued the confidence of white supremacists and other racists who have [previously] had to operate on the margins of society, Taylor said.

Taylor also said the growth of anti-Muslim organizations has tripled since Trump began his campaign and said it was important to know how America got to this point in its history, drawing Trumps victory as more based on who didnt come out and vote rather than who did.

I think she did an excellent job contextualizing the moment in which we currently reside, Assoc. English Prof. Lisa Woolfork said. Rather than blaming the political right or the political left, I think she paid very careful attention to everyones responsibility for the deep history and context for this problem.

Taylor then switched her focus to police reform, which she said is a difficult problem in America because many localities turn a blind eye to brutal policing.

Black people in America cannot get free alone, Taylor said. Another world is possible, one free of racism, nationalism religious bias, sexism, homophobia, but it is a world that has to be organized and fought for.

The lecture ended with a half-hour for students and visitors to ask Taylor questions, with the complexity of Taylors lecture providing ample room for discussion.

Link:
'Black Lives Matter in the Trump Era' - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily

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Many came with family members who supported the defendants. Family and friends of people killed by Stockton Police gathered and marched at San Joaquin County Courthouse, hoping to get answers for their loved ones.

Lareesha Brown is one of 12 people arrested at a Stockton City Council meeting in early March. She has been an avid Black Lives Matter demonstrator since her friend, Colby Friday was shot and killed by Stockton Police on August 16.

"Eight months went by, and there's no answers to his children," Brown said.

Stockton police said Friday was suspected ofarmed robbery. When confronted by an officer, they say he reached for a gun. That is why they said officers had to shoot him.

The Stockton Black Lives Matter group disagreed.

At recent Stockton Council meetings, protesters have been pressuring the council to force the police department to release videos of these recent shootings.

Instead, Brown said things got rowdy.

In late February, she said a police officer in tactical gear hit her face with a baton. Brown was one of 12 people arrested for misdemeanor charges, including battery, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.

On Tuesday, she faced a judge for her first arraignment. Colby Friday's mother Denise came to show her support.

"I feel like my son was assassinated. And I'm here to support the people that support me," Denise Friday said.

On Tuesday morning, Brown's arraignment was continued. She said she has an uphill battle. But will continue ask Stockton Police and the San Joaquin County District Attorneys Office to release the videos, to give the families closure.

"[Let's] Make it less physical. More verbal," Brown said.

The group will reconvene at tonight's Stockton City Council meeting. They plan to speak when council addresses upgrades for the police department's body cameras.

The rest is here:
Stockton Black Lives Matter Demonstrators Appear in Court, Vow to ... - FOX40

WASHINGTON There was barely any standing room left at a recent town hall meeting on the unacceptable number ofmissing black and Latinx teenagers in the nations capital.

The March 22 gathering was tense.Local D.C. police attempted to answer questions from the predominantly black residents of Ward 8. Residents shared a range of stories about family members who had run away, who had been abducted and returned home safely, and who had never come home at all. The police chief was there.

But photos of the event, circulated later on social media, revealed a disturbing truth:Few, if any,white people showed up for the meeting.

The lack of white faces at an event about missing girls of color provokes a familiar sense of outrage. White people dont turn out for protests condemning police violence, calling for a living wage or pushing for immigrant rights at the same rates as black and Latinx folks.

White feminists, in particular, have been criticized for their tendency not to show up for issues pertaining to women of color. Signs from the Womens March on Washington, a large-scale movement to protest the policy stances of President Donald Trump, targeted these women, asking them if they would be attending the next Black Lives Matter protest and reminding us all who helped put Trump in office.

Kevin Banatte

Its not as though the issue doesnt affect everyone.Children of all races go missing. But black and Latinx kids are less likely to return home, more likely to be written off as runaways, and often dont get as much media attention when foul play is suspected.

The minimal white attendance at the town hall highlights the hypocrisy of the All Lives Matter crowd. That phrase, constructed to both mirror and contradict Black Lives Matter, supposedly advocates for the lives of all people by cautioning against focusing on one demographic. The same criticism applies to Blue Lives Matter folks, who attack the Black Lives Matter movement any time a person of color commits an act of anti-police violence. When white people kill police, they usually have nothing to say.

In reality, All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter are racist attempts to distractfrom the black-led push against police violence. If the people crying those slogans cared about each life, as they proclaim, they would be fighting to save black and Latinx kids, too.

The missing white people at last weeks meeting also highlighted the terrible power of residential segregation. Washington remains one of the countrys most segregated cities. The town hall was held at a school convenient for many worried black residents and completely off the radar for most white residents because everybody knew who wasnt coming anyway.

They probably wont show up until white children go missing en masse.

Read the original:
All Lives Matter Didn't Show Up For A Meeting About Missing Black And Brown Teens - Huffington Post

An attorney for a prominent Black Lives Matter activist urged a federal judge Monday to dismiss a lawsuit by an unnamed Baton Rouge police officer who claims he was injured during a protest four days after the deadly police shooting of Alton Sterling in the city.

A lawyer for the officer, however, asked Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson to allow the suit to move forward and for the officer who filed it to remain anonymous for health and safety reasons.

Jackson took the arguments under advisement and said he would issue a ruling in the coming days. The officer sat with his attorneys during the hearing.

Billy Gibbens, who represents DeRay Mckesson, of Baltimore, argued the suit against Mckesson should be thrown out because it makes only unsupported, speculative allegations.

Donna Grodner, one of the officer's attorneys, acknowledged in court that it is not known who threw a piece of concrete at the officer, causing him to lose teeth and suffer other injuries during the July 9 protest outside Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters at the intersection of Airline Highway and Goodwood Boulevard.

A Baton Rouge police officer who lost teeth and suffered other injuries during aprotestout

The suit, filed in November, alleges Mckesson came to Baton Rouge in July "for the purpose" of "rioting to incite others to violence against police and other law enforcement officers."

The suit also claims Mckesson organized the protest, was in charge of it, gave orders throughout the day and night, and that the unknown person who injured the officer was "under the control and custody" of Mckesson.

"I'm very sorry that happened," Gibbens said of the officer's injuries. "I think they're suing the wrong person."

Grodner argued the protest "turned into a riot" because of Mckesson's actions.

"They were begging for the police to come out and confront them," she said of the protesters.

Grodner also argued the officer should remain anonymous during the legal proceedings for the health and safety of himself and his family, but Gibbens told the judge such anonymity would prejudice Mckesson.

"Mr. Mckesson will be unfairly viewed as a threat," he said.

Grodner conceded to Jackson that there is no current, credible threat of violence against the officer.

Gibbens added there is no justification for allowing the officer to sue Mckesson -- and Black Lives Matter -- anonymously.

"We absolutely, 100 percent believe there is no risk from my client," said Gibbens, who only represents Mckesson in the suit.

Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed July 5 by a Baton Rouge police officer during a confrontation with officers outside the Triple S Food Mart on North Foster Drive.

Two days later in Dallas, five officers were killed and seven were seriously injured by a sniper during a Black Lives Matter protest, and back in Baton Rouge on July 17, a former U.S. Marine from Kansas City, Missouri, shot and killed a sheriff's deputy and two police officers in an ambush and wounded three other officers.

Grodner alleged that a "pattern of some pretty violent activity" has followed Black Lives Matter protests.

Jackson noted that the city of Baton Rouge had to deal with "tragic deaths" last summer.

At least three lawsuits have been filed in Baton Rouge since Sterling's death accusing police of violating protesters' civil rights. The most recent was filed last week and alleges the arrests of protesters show a pattern of "racist law enforcement" in the city.

Law enforcement officials in Louisiana's capital face another federal lawsuit accusing them

Police arrested nearly 200 protesters following Sterling's death. The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office chose not to prosecute roughly 100 protesters who were arrested only on charges of obstructing a highway.

The city and other defendants already have agreed to a settlement with attorneys for those protesters, including Mckesson, only arrested for obstructing a highway. The deal calls for $500 cash payments to up to 90 protesters.

The president of the union representing Baton Rouge police officers is lambasting Metro Coun

The union representing Baton Rouge police officers has called the settlement agreement a "slap in the face" to officers.

Follow Joe Gyan Jr. on Twitter, @JoeGyanJr.

See the rest here:
Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson wants Baton Rouge ... - The Advocate