Mediaboss Marketing

George Zimmerman is the Florida man who shot and killed 17-year old Trayvon Martin on 26 February 2012, launching heated public arguments over gun laws and racial profiling. He was found not guilty of Martin's death after a jury trial in 2013. George Zimmerman lived in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, a suburb of Orlando. He was an unofficial neighborhood watchdog, with a history of calling the local police force to report what he considered suspicious behavior. On a Sunday evening in February, Zimmerman spotted Martin, a teenager who was walking home from a neighborhood convenience store. Zimmerman called the police and was told he didn't need to pursue Martin. A short time later, some kind of altercation led to Zimmerman using his pistol to kill Martin. The incident achieved little notice when it first happened, but became a national story a month later, after Martin's parents hired an attorney and went public with the question: Why wasn't George Zimmerman arrested? Local police cited Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law for the use of guns as justification for letting Zimmerman walk, but a more vocal group suggested that Zimmerman had racial motives for pursuing Martin, who was black. A widely-publicized photo of the racially-mixed Zimmerman only muddied the waters (his father is of European descent, and his mother is of Peruvian descent). A national debate ensued, detached from what few facts were known about the case. Florida authorities launched an investigation and appointed a special prosecutor, and in late April of 2012 Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder. His trial began on June 24, 2013; the case went to the jury on July 12th, and he was found not guilty the next day.

Read more:
George Zimmerman Biography (Crime Suspect) - Infoplease

Bill OReilly no longer has a job at Fox Newsafter allegations of him sexually harassing female colleagues caused activists to rail against the network and its advertisers earlier this month.

But OReilly, who has worked at Fox News since the network launched in 1996, was a source of controversy long beforeThe New York Times published its bombshell report on the accusations against him. The anchor has a history of making racist, sexist or otherwise inflammatory remarks none of which prompted companies to pull advertisements from his show.

Heres a look back at some of OReillys worst moments in his 20 years at Fox News.

In 2004, Andrea Mackris, who was then a producer at Fox News,sued OReillyfor sexual harassment. Her allegations, which can be found here,include multiple instances of OReilly making lewd remarks during phone conversations.

OReilly denied the charges, butsettled the lawsuit. As HuffPosts Michael Calderone wrote earlier this week, the suit had no lasting effect on OReillys career at Fox News.

In 2015, Gawker reported on court documents that showed OReilly had been accused of physically abusing his former wife, Maureen McPhilmy. According to the report, OReillys daughter allegedly claimed she had seen her father dragging McPhilmy down a staircase by her neck.

OReilly said the report was 100 percent false. An appeals court, however, awarded McPhilmy primarycustody of the estranged couples two children.

Last month, OReilly mocked Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) hair during a segment of Fox & Friends.

I didnt hear a word she said. I was looking at the James Brown wig, he said. Do we have a picture of James Brown? Its the same wig.

OReilly later apologized for his comments, while Waters took him to task during an interview with MSNBCs Chris Hayes.

I am a strong black woman, and I cannot be intimidated. I cannot be undermined, she said.

Last year, The OReilly Factor aired a five-minute segment featuring longtime producer Jesse Watters walking around New York Citys Chinatown and asking residents offensive questions.

The segment drew widespread condemnation for blatantly mocking Asian-Americans and promoting racist stereotypes. OReilly, however, stood by Watters and the decision to air the segment.

Hes not getting fired, OReilly said. We are a program that is not politically correct.

The Black Lives Matter movement is a frequent target of Fox News scorn, and OReilly is no exception. Hes claimed the group is killing Americans, called it a destructive movement and declared that very few white Americans respect it.

Hes also labeled the movement a hate America group and said Martin Luther King Jr. would not participate in the groups protests.

In a 2013 interview with former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), OReilly blamed the death of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager shot to death by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, on how Martin was dressed at the time.

If Trayvon Martin had been wearing a jacket like you are and a tie like you are, Mr. West, this evening, I dont think George Zimmerman would have any problem, OReilly said. But he was wearing a hoodie and he looked a certain way. And that way is how gangstas look. And, therefore, he got attention.

Last July, OReilly argued that the then-president was incapable of fighting the Islamic State group because of his emotional attachment to the Muslim world, ties the anchor said had hurt the USA.

His argument largely hinged on photos appearing to show Obama attending his Muslim half-brothers wedding in the early 1990s, as well as information that his stepfather and father were Muslim (despite little evidence that Obama Sr. ever practiced Islam).

What we can tell you with certainty is that Barack Obama has deep emotional ties to Islam, OReilly said.

Carolyn Cole via Getty Images

In 2003, OReilly described undocumented immigrants from Mexico as wetbacks while discussing security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

During the segment, OReilly argued in favor of using military force at the border.

Wed save lives because Mexican wetbacks, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes, theyre not going to do what theyre doing now, so people arent going to die in the desert, he said.

OReilly later said he misspoke.

I was groping for a term to describe the industry that brings people in here. It was not meant to disparage people in any way, he toldThe New York Times.

After first lady Michelle Obama made some emotional observationsin 2016 about what it was like as a black woman to live in a house built by slaves, OReilly seized the opportunity to mansplain that, actually, those slaves had it pretty good.

Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802, he said. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working as well.

After former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson sued Fox News chief Roger Ailes for sexual harassment (leading to his ouster), Fox News personality Megyn Kelly also came forward with allegations against the executive.

OReilly addressed the allegations on his show andcriticized Kelly for her decision to speak out.

If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance. You dont like whats happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave, he said. And then take the action you need to take afterward if you feel aggrieved. There are labor laws in this country. But dont run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it.

Kelly left the network for NBC less than two months later.

While OReillys stance on same-sex marriage appears to have shifted over the years, hes previously claimed that legalizing gay weddings would be a slippery slope toward allowing humans to marry animals, including ducks, goats, dolphins and turtles.

Laws that you think are in stone theyre gonna evaporate, man, he said in 2005. Youll be able to marry a goat you mark my words!

Continued here:
Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Career Was Rife With Years Of Offensive Comments - Huffington Post

Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff

Aaron Hernandezs defense attorney Jose Baez (center) spoke to the media in Boston on Thursday.

Theres a reason the name Jose Baez might sound familiar.

The defense attorney who represented Aaron Hernandez made headlines Thursday after he accused the state of improperly holding Hernandezs brain, saying family members want it studied to see whether he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Advertisement

Baez has quite the storied past himself. He has been involved in many high-profile cases, including famously winning acquittal for Florida mom Casey Anthony.

Heres a look at a few of the high-profile cases Baez has been involved in:

Get Fast Forward in your inbox:

Forget yesterday's news. Get what you need today in this early-morning email.

Baez gained fame during Anthonys 2011 trial on charges that she murdered her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder and other felonies but convicted of four misdemeanors. The case garnered national media attention after photos showed Anthony partying in the days after her daughters disappearance.

The announcement came hours after Hernandezs attorney accused the state of withholding the brain illegally.

At the trial, Baez suggested that the little girl drowned and that Anthonys father, George, helped cover that up and sexually abused his daughter. Her father has denied the accusations.

Baez sat down with ABCs Barbara Walters after the case, telling her during the interview: After I heard not guilty, I had a moment. I thought, My life is going to start to change.

Advertisement

After handling the Anthony case, Baez went on to co-write Presumed Guilty: Casey Anthony: The Inside Story. The book was a New York Times bestseller, according to Amazon.com.

On Baezs website, the lawyer said he has been called the most hated lawyer in America, and that he wears that title like a badge of honor.

Baez, who has two Florida-based branches of his law firm, had reportedly been considered by George Zimmerman to be hired as his defense attorney. Zimmerman became a household name after he was accused of killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was African-American and unarmed, in February 2012. Months later, a report by HLN, citing a friend, said Zimmerman considered Baez but hired Mark OMara instead because Zimmerman was worried about retaining a lawyer connected to the Anthony trial. Zimmerman was ultimately found not guilty.

However, that wasnt the end of Baezs involvement in the case. He was hired in 2012 by Chris Serino, the lead detective in Zimmermans murder trial, according to the Miami Herald. Serino had reportedly quietly filed an arrest affidavit after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed, even as his chief publicly said there wasnt enough evidence to make a case, according to the Miami Herald.

Baez represented a 12-year-old girl who was charged in connection with the suicide death of Rebecca Sedwick, 12, who jumped to her death in September 2013 after she was bullied online by more than a dozen girls, according to Fox News. (One of the girls charged whom Baez did not represent appeared to brag about the bullying online, posting afterward to Facebook: Yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself but I dont give a [expletive], officials said.)

Both girls, including the 12-year-old Baez represented, have been charged with stalking, but those charges were dropped in November 2013, according to NBC News.

It was announced in June 2016 that Baez would represent Hernandez in his double murder trial, along with Harvard Law professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. (The former pro football star was represented by Boston attorneys Michael Fee, James L. Sultan, and Charles Rankin in the previous murder trial of Odin L. Lloyd.)

During jury selection, Baez whom Globe reporter Travis Andersen described as a flashy litigator used rhetorical flourishes throughout the week as he pressed jurors on whether they could judge Hernandez fairly.

During the trial, Baez aggressively attacked star prosecution witness Alexander Bradleys credibility, deriding him on the stand as a killer nicknamed Rocky because you rock people to sleep. Bradley had told jurors he was driving Hernandezs Toyota 4Runner when the athlete reached across him and fired five shots into the victims BMW in the early morning hours of July 16, 2012.

Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for killing Odin L. Lloyd in 2013, was acquitted last week of committing a double murder in 2012. Five days later, he was found hanged inside his cell at the states maximum security prison in Shirley.

No, Baez did not represent James Holmes, who went on a rampage in a Colorado movie theater in 2012, leaving 12 people dead and 70 injured. However, Baez did reportedly represent victim Marcus Weaver, who was shot during the attack, as well as the mother of Rebecca Wingo, 32, who was fatally shot, according to TMZ.

Continued here:
Jose Baez has been involved in a string of high-profile cases - The Boston Globe

An image taken from The Trial of Trayvon Martin play. Photo courtesy of Art Voice

The five-year anniversary of Trayvon Martins death recently passed back in February, and his story still resonates today. So much so that it is the basis for a recent play that is happening in Buffalo, NY.

As a part of the Subversive Theatres Black Power Play Series, the performance space is hosting a play titled The Trial of Trayvon Martin.

The play,directed by Gary Earl Ross, offers an alternate take on the confrontation that took place between Martin and George Zimmerman, with the latter dying and the former having to go to trial. A synopsis of the play is as follows:

This original Two Act play blends the urgency of protest theatre with the intensity of courtroom drama and the creative bite of historical fiction by asking a series of WHAT IFs. What if it was George Zimmerman who died that fateful night in Florida in 2012? What if it was Trayvon Martin who went on trial for murder? How would the same jury that acquited Zimmerman in real life react to the same stand-your-ground defense on the lips of a 17-year-old black man? How badly are the scales of justice tipped in this land? This hypothetical tale looks at the brutal reality of American racial injustice from a fresh and unrelenting angle.

The play is sure to be controversial but seems to be offering an interesting take on the incident, providing a commentary on the double standards Martin would have likely faced if he were the one that had survived. You can find out more information about the play here.

Trayvons mother, Sybrina Fulton,recentlyreflected on her sons deathat Western Michigan University, as a part of the schools Lyceum Lecture series.

I lived this average lifestyle until February 26, 2012, when my average lifestyle was interrupted, Fulton said. Theres a part of me that just wants to go just back to my old lifestyle and my old way of living and my old way of thinking, but from that day I can never go back.

In a public question-and-answer session that followed, Fulton took questions from the audience, one of which was how long it would take her to forgiveZimmerman.

Nobody can tell me how long its going to take to heal my heart, she said.

See original here:
This NY Play Imagines Trayvon Martin Surviving 2012 Shooting ... - Okayplayer (blog)

Credit: Alex Bergstrom

Robin DiAngelo grew up poor and white. But it was years before she realized that despite living in poverty, she still had privilege because she was white.

I had a very deep sense of shame and otherness growing up But I had never looked at how, where in my life did I have an advantage? And where might I have been actually benefiting from the oppression of somebody else? she says.

DiAngelo has been working on race and social justice issues for more than 20 years as a lecturer, consultant and trainer. Shes the author of the book, What Does It Mean to Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy.

She came to understand her advantage and privilege when she took a job as a diversity trainer. It was eye opening as she worked with mainly white clients who were uncomfortable with having to deal with the issue of race. It was through that work that she developed the concept of white fragility to explain why white people have such difficulty in talking about racism.

DiAngelo and I talked about her work and why it is important for white people to have a serious conversation about race in America today.

Here are some excerpts from our conversation.

Q: Lets talk about white fragility. What is it?

A: If you try to talk to white folks about race in a way that just allows them to assert their opinions and perspectives unchallenged, that tends to go pretty well. But if you push back on it, that tends to go really poorly.

I saw it so consistently in my work trying to talk to white people about race and racism and trying to guide them in self-reflection about What does it mean to be white? And it looked like a form of fragility. And fragility is not weak. I think that its weak in the sense of the difficulty to hold the discomfort, but it ends up functioning to block the challenge, to stop the conversation. Its actually quite powerful in its effectiveness. It really does block the conversation, protect our worldviews and allow us to continue on without really understanding

Q: Or doing anything about it.

A: Exactly.

Q: I moderated a town hall about race. It included Mark OMara, the attorney who represented George Zimmerman in the shooting death trial of Trayvon Martin. I asked why is it so difficult for white people to talk about race? And his take on it was that they dont have to.

A: Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, you could pretty openly come out as a white person and proclaim, Yes we are better. We deserve what we have because we are a fundamentally superior people. This is the great joke of Archie Bunker; his children were saying, You cant say that anymore Dad! So, post-civil rights, to be a good, moral person and to be complicit with racism were morally exclusive. So, if you suggest Ive done anything racist youve basically just suggested that Im for racismand, of course, that is a character insult to me. And now I need to defend my character. This makes it virtually impossible to talk to white people about the inevitable blind spots and assumptions and patterns that we have across race by virtue of living in the society that we live in.

Q: Sometimes, in talking to someone who is white about issues of race, they say, Im not racist. I think if you have to say that then maybe you have some tendency to be that way.

A: Im hoping all the white people listening right now just heard you say that. Its not convincing. So much of what we say, our claims, what we provide as evidence that we are not racist, its so problematic. Its so unexamined. And it just isnt convincing. What youre probably thinking is, Uh oh, Im probably interacting with someone who doesnt have a lot of self-awareness.

Q: And I get angry about it.

A: The person will say that youre too sensitive, right? Its like this maddening Catch-22.

Another classic is: I was taught to treat everyone the same. I think thats probably the number one white racial narrative. But thats not actually humanly possible. We make meaning of the world through the cultural framework we were socialized to make meaning of it through. And its infused with biases and assumptions.

Q: You got your Ph.D. at the University of Washington and your focus was on whiteness. Then you started doing diversity work. What was the aha moment?

A:We had to go through a five-day train the trainer and it was a very racially mixed group of people. For the first time, my racial worldview was being challenged in a sustained, consistent way. It was very intense and then we went out into the field. And we were in rooms filled primarily with white people who were so angry and hostile and so upset that they had to have this conversation.

And over time, because its so predictable and patterned, the sociologist in me kind of said, Okay, what are we doing? And so then I got better and better at speaking back to it. I do want to add that because I grew up poor, I had a very deep sense of shame and otherness growing up. And I could have told you all about it, and Im female and I could just tell you all the ways that I had never had an advantage. But I had never looked at how, where in my life did I have an advantage? And where might I have been actually benefiting from the oppression of somebody else? And so having that to draw from helped motivate me.

Q: So what is the responsibility of someone who is white on issues of race?

A: When we think about race, we think about asking you [people of color], whats it like? And for as long as weve been doing that, people of color have been saying, Well, actually why dont you look at yourselves? Is it possible that you might be our problem? And certainly, theres a relationship here. I do think that the way race has been set up in this country, it is a white problem. And if white people dont get involved in addressing it, we can only support and maintain it.

This interview has been edited and condensed. To hear the conversation in its entirety gohere.

Follow this link:
Why white people can't face up to racism - Crosscut