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Protesters carrying a Black Lives Matter flag march inside a fountain at Veterans Memorial Park following a march from the Grand Rapids Police Department.Photo: Daniel Shular (AP)

On Monday, a lawyer for one of two brothers who have been detained since June for felonies they apparently committed during the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol said his clients actions were comparable to those who participated in Black Lives Matter protests.

Adam Jackson, and his brother Brian Scott Jackson, face a slew of charges including: committing an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, civil disorder, resisting, assaulting or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon and physical violence.

Even though prosecutors allege that Adam Jackson threw an orange traffic cone at police guarding the entry to the building before charging at them while holding a stolen police riot shield, his lawyer Joseph McBride argued that somehow Black Lives Matter protesters were given a pass and seemingly didnt understand the difference.

How do you say youre a white supremacist without saying youre a white supremacist?

McBride stated:

No matter how you feel about Jan. 6, or no matter how anybody feels about George Floyd and that situation, there is some commonality there. Im referring to the fact that lots of people, when it came to the Black Lives Matter protests, participated in acts of violence, but they were largely given a pass. Why were the given a pass? Because society, the court system, the media recognizes that when those people left their front door, they left for political, constitutionally protected reasons.

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US District Judge Rudolph Contreras who is overseeing the case wasnt amused by McBrides comparison. The one violent Black Lives Matter protester that came to me went to prison, so some arguments are going to resonate more than others, he retorted.

However, a comparison simply cannot be made. Those who participated in storming the Capitol on January 6 took an unfathomably violent approach to desperately keep former president Donald Trumpa fascistin office. Because he glorified violence and increased militarization of homeland security agencies. Because he was instrumental in separating immigrant families by placing their children in cages. Because he relished in the belief that people of color are racially inferior.

Because he wasand isthe embodiment of white supremacy.

The people who took to the street in solidarity with BLM brought awareness to how we are the ones being shot and killed by police like clockwork (and were lucky if the officers responsible are punished for their crimes). They used their individual power to come together and try to save lives, not destroy them.

Studies have shown that in more than 93% of protests associated with Black Lives Matter over the course of 2020, those who participated were not violent or destructive. More than 2,400 locations documented peaceful protests, while fewer than 220 locations reported violent demonstrations.

In addition, 900 people have been charged in the January 6 insurrection, while 2020 BLM protests saw only around 300 people arrested. The mob who took it upon themselves to protect a second Trump presidency were heavily armed, stormed government property, attempted to detonate pipe bombs and assaulted nearly 150 officers.

They used sheer terror and quite frankly, whiteness, to be able to execute in such an abrasive and dangerous stunt. No, the insurrection is nothing like Black Lives Matter demonstrations. To entertain such an absurdly false equivalence wouldnt just make someone ignorantbut a bonafide racist as well.

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Only Racists Would Equate The Capitol Riot To Black Lives Matter Protests - The Root

I am troubled by this possibility. As an African American who has lived all over this nation, I have seen and experienced much that raises this question. At the same time, my life has been enriched by generous, affirming, justice-seeking white Americans.

Yet, the opening question often plagues me. By most, I dont mean the overwhelming majority. I do mean some number more than half. Anything more than half is most.

Former President Donald Trump lost the election but won the white vote. Depending on the source, between 55-58% of white men and women voted for him. Among white evangelicals, his support was over 75%. I, and many white Americans, opposed Trumps blatant racism, misogyny and hateful rhetoric.

Yet, apparently, his positions were acceptable to most white Americans. His policies, speeches, tweets and advisors espoused a frightening white nationalism and drew violent groups out of the shadows. I would not say everyone who voted for Trump is a racist. I would say, however, everyone who voted for him cast their ballot for racism. Abortion, taxes, or outsider status may be the reason, but the result is a vote for white supremacy.

I am also troubled that the leadership of the Republican Party. Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and others, do not condemn the violent impulses of white nationalists. Election workers are threatened, hate-filled rhetoric is rampant, and the leadership winks and nods. I mention the Republican Party because race is, and always has been, THE most important factor in our two-party system. The Republican Party began in opposition to slavery. The Democratic Party stood for the horrors of slavery. That existed for decades, until the Democratic Party came to support European immigrant workers, urban labor, and eventually civil rights for African Americans. Beginning with Franklin Roosevelt and solidified with John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, the Democratic Party was associated with labor and civil rights. Suddenly, white people, in particular the South (the former, Democratic, Solid South), flocked to the Republican Party. While the Democratic Party also reflects the nations racism, Trump has unleashed a long-smoldering and violent element. This element will flourish unless courageous whites with integrity speak out.

The murder of Ahmaud Arbery was a stark reminder of violence and silence. A jogging Black man frightens a white man so he calls his father and friend to go hunt him down. They corner him like an animal, murder him, and go home. Remarkably, they are not charged until months later, after videos and protests force law enforcement to act. Absent protests, the killers would be home barbecuing ribs and watching football. Violence, and acceptance.

George Zimmerman, later acquitted in the death of Trayvon Martin, was arrested only after mass protests. Zimmerman, an armed grown man, was accused of killing a Black teenager for the crime of walking in his neighborhood with a dangerous bag of skittles. Violence, and acceptance.

I am convinced violent whites are a small minority, otherwise Jan. 6 would have been a mob of millions. What most concerns me is not the violent minority, but the silent majority. If the majority do not stand up for whats right, our future is bleak. Bumper stickers like Lets Go Brandon or Im with Kyle, armed protests at government offices, and replacement rhetoric should be unacceptable to all people of good will.

Republican candidates who stand against Trump lose their seats, voting in Black communities is a hurdle instead of a right, Anti-CRT movements flourish. The real question is, do we want a just and multi-racial society, or one of white privilege and dominance?

And what of Black Lives Matter? Professor Treva B. Lindsey says, to even have to proclaim Black Lives Matter and know that people will dispute it, or counter with all lives matter, is a result of entrenched and learned anti-blackness. In what world would saying Black lives matter prompt a rejoinder? A fundamentally anti-Black one. I am hopeful we can create a society different than described by Professor Lindsey.

No amount of skulduggery, lies, treason or corruption deters millions of white Americans from supporting Trump. What explains that devotion? Anger? About what? Fear? Of who? As white militias grow and the internet rumbles with threats, I fear the majority is silent. I believe but a small fraction of white America is prone to racist violence. That small group, however, is dangerous if the majority does not stand up.

Believe me when I say, I dont enjoy thinking this, and frankly, I would be happy to be proven wrong.

Daryl Grigsby lives in Nevada City

Read more:
Daryl Grigsby: Need I be fearful of most white people? - The Union

Photo: Marc Pagani Photography (Shutterstock)

The dangerous heat and severe storms that have become our new normal are the unequivocal impact of climate change. And as the Biden Administration is working to push through the solutions in its climate agenda, The Movement for Black Lives is taking steps to ensure that communities of color are a part of the conversation. On August 25, the group announced the Black Hive initiative, their new plan to address climate change and its impact on the Black community.

The initiative is bringing together Black environmental leaders from over 200 organizations across the country to assess the impact of climate change on communities of color. It also plans to revive the Black Climate Mandate, which recommends investing in equitable climate solutions that center Black communities concerns.

The climate crisis is happening because of corporate greed, government negligence, the divestment of solutions and the investment into the harmful institutions like the fossil fuel industry, that are harming our people, said Valencia Gunder, national co-lead of The Black Hive. Its time for America to address the anti-Black racism that happens here.

Research has shown that communities of color are hit hardest by the impacts of climate change. Segregation has placed African Americans in the low-lying, flood-prone areas hit hardest by dangerous storms. And a 2019 study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that African Americans breathe in 56 percent more particulate matter than they produce from their consumption, confirming racial inequities in pollution exposure.

The Biden Administration just scored a big win with the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes provisions such as consumer home energy rebate programs for low-income consumers and investments in community-led environmental justice programs.

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But according to Aleta Alston-Toure of the Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative, the Inflation Reduction Act doesnt go far enough to protect communities of color, which is why The Movement for Black Lives is stepping up. These solutions are Band-Aids, she said.Theres no solution if Black (communities) and Indigenous nations, especially the Gulf South, have to suffer in order to have Band-Aid solutions for the wider public. We want to be taken serious and know that our votes matter because this is a lynching of our communities, and we have to be heard.

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The Movement for Black Lives Is Amplifying the Climate Conversation - The Root

As a direct relative of two prominent members of the Black Panther Party, revolutionary thought and family history have always been intertwined for Jonathan Peter Jackson, particularly in August.

That's the month in 1971 when his uncle and famed Panther, George Jackson, was killed in an uprising at San Quentin State prison. A revolutionary whose words resonated inside and out of the prison walls, he was a published author, activist, and radical thought leader.

Many people know February as the month dedicated to celebrating Black Americans' contributions to a country where they were once enslaved. However, Black History Month has an alternative: Black August.

First celebrated in 1979, Black August was originally created to commemorate Jackson's fight for Black liberation. Fifty-one years since his death, Black August is a month-long awareness campaign and celebration dedicated to Black American freedom fighters, revolutionaries, and self-professed radicals, both living and deceased.

The annual commemorations have been embraced by activists in the global Black Lives Matter movement, many of whom draw inspiration from freedom fighters like Jackson and his contemporaries.

"It's important to do this now because a lot of people who were on the radical scene during that time period, relatives and non-relatives, who are like blood relatives, are entering their golden years," Jonathan Jackson said.

Additional sources AP

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Black August: A time of reflection and revolution - Africanews English

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'Woke' is being used across social media and current affairs, and not for its original meaning of waking from sleep. So, what does woke mean?

As language changes and society evolves, new ideas and concepts come to the forefront, bringing new words with them. Sometimes it can feel hard to keep up with these phrases entering the mainstream, from what does asexual mean (opens in new tab) and what does demisexual mean (opens in new tab) to what is gaslighting (opens in new tab)?

Woke is no different and - to make it even more confusing - it's a word that already has an existing meaning that's different to its slang definition. With the term becoming more and more widespread in modern debates, we've explained what does woke mean, where it comes from and everything else you need to know about the word.

The word woke is used to describe a person who is well-informed and aware of social issues, usually relating to issues of discrimination and injustice. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term as "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)."

In 2017, the Oxford English Dictionary (opens in new tab) added the term, saying "In the past decade, the meaning [of woke] has been catapulted into mainstream use with a particular nuance of 'alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice', popularised through the lyrics of the 2008 song Master Teacher by Erykah Badu (opens in new tab), in which the words 'I stay woke' serve as a refrain, and more recently through its association with the Black Lives Matter movement, especially on social media."

The word woke was first used in the 1800s, but back then it was only in relation to the act of not being asleep. The politically aware meaning of 'woke' was first used in 1962 in a New York Times article about black slang.

The article was written by African-American novelist William Melvin Kelley (opens in new tab) and was titled 'If You're Woke, You Dig It' (opens in new tab). The article was accompanied by a glossary called 'phrases and words you might hear today in Harlem' - a neighbourhood in the north of New York City where many African-Americans live.

Ten years later, a character in the Barry Beckham play Garvey Lives! says hell stay woke. The line reads "I been sleeping all my life. And now that Mr. Garvey done woke me up, Im gon' stay woke. And Im gon' help him wake up other black folk."

'Woke' is heavily used in reference to the fight against racism and has been widely used as slang in African-American communities.

In 2008, Erykah Badu's song Master Teacher (opens in new tab) used the phrase 'I stay woke', and in 2012 Badu tweeted (opens in new tab) "Truth requires no belief. Stay woke. Watch closely," in support of a Russian feminist group.

Use of the word 'woke' first entered the mainstream in 2012, with the Black Lives Matter movement and the hashtag #staywoke.

In 2012, unarmed African-America teenager Trayvon Martin was shot dead in Florida by neighbourhoodwatch volunteerGeorge Zimmerman. The incident sparked the Black Lives Matter movement after Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in 2013.

In 2014, the hashtag #staywoke took off again after another unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Though the former officer, Darren Wilson, fired a total of 12 bullets, no charges were brought against him.

The term 'woke' has become weaponised - often by right-wing groups - and used to mock those who campaign for social justice, in a similar way to the term 'politically correct' is sometimes used.

In January 2021, Piers Morgan labelled the people calling for the movie Grease to be banned for sexism 'woke idiots' in a tweet (opens in new tab). Similarly, Jeremy Clarkson criticised Lewis Hamilton for being 'woke' in an article for the Sun (opens in new tab) where he talked about the F1 driver's stance as an environmentalist.

The term 'woke police' has also sprung up recently, and is used to negatively describe those who see themselves as woke, while 'woke washing' describes companies with ethically or morally dubious practices capitalising on social movements.

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What does Woke mean? Origins and definitions explored - goodtoknow