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Black Lives Matter takes stock of its progress as the movement turns four years old – Daily Kos

Black Lives Matter was created as a hashtag on July 13, 2013, but became a global movement.

George Zimmerman was acquitted of the killing of Trayvon Martin on July 13, 2013. It was then that Black Lives Matter first became a hashtagwhich lead to the creation of a network co-founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Opal Tometithat since has expanded into a global movement dedicated to the liberation of all black people. Four years after its inception, the network is examining its progress and looking toward the future.

In a newreportfirst shared withMicon Thursday, theBLMnetwork, which consists of more than 40 local chapters in the United States, Canada and the U.K., takes stock of its work at the grassroots level. The reports release comes as, in recent weeks,questionshave been raised about the movements strength and visibility in an increasingly tumultuous national political climate.

For the entirety of their four years of existence, naysayers outside of the BLM movement have critiqued its structure and focus. But the groups purpose goes well beyond blocking traffic and protesting police brutality.Thisreport clearly lays out the networksguiding principles, reasons for organizing, victories and interventions and intentions for expanding its scope. Among some of its importantvictories:raising over $500,000 to bailblack mothers out of jail for Mothers Day, police precinct occupations, trips to Standing Rock in North Dakota to support Indigenous activists.

Its clear that while the movement may sometimes be messy (as all social movements are) and that its stakeholdersmay not always be in agreement, they are about direct action and making strides toward social change.

For example, the success of the New York City chaptersSwipe It Forward campaign, which calls attention to the criminalization of poverty through fare-beating arrests on the subway system, came together through partnership with other Movement for Black Lives groups that shared the chapters vision. Organizers are not always in agreement, but the mission of saving black lives is as critical as its ever been, Shanelle Matthews, the director of communications for the BLM network, said in a statement.

As Black Lives Matter moves from its infancy to maturity, it will have to shift to meet the current moment. This political climate is unlikeany other weve seen in recent decades.Under Donald Trump racial injustice is poised to get worseand black people areunder attack in every way by conservatives and Trump sycophantsfor vocally asserting their right to live in a world free of white supremacy. It is critically important for the movement to do what its doing and continue totake stock of its purpose, where it has been and where its going. As people are energized more to mobilize locally to resist this administration, Black Lives Matter is an important player in helping people to build power, organize and work for change.

Click here to read the report.

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Black Lives Matter takes stock of its progress as the movement turns four years old - Daily Kos

July 14th, 2017

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FLASHBACK: This date in history, July 13, 2017 – StarNewsOnline.com

July 13, 2017

Today is Thursday, July 13, the 194th day of 2017. There are 171 days left in the year.

Today in local history

In 1902, a new Christian Science Church in Wilmington became the second in the state. The First Church of God, Scientists, held a meeting to organize and elect officers at the Murchison Bank building, where it was preparing a meeting hall.

In 1984, Armand Amato Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge. He agreed to cooperate with federal officials investigating what they described as one of the biggest drug-smuggling operations ever discovered in North Carolina.

Elsewhere on this date

In 1787, the Congress of the Confederation adopted the Northwest Ordinance, which established a government in the Northwest Territory, an area corresponding to the eastern half of the present-day Midwest.

In 1793, French revolutionary writer Jean-Paul Marat was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday, who was executed four days later.

In 1863, deadly rioting against the Civil War military draft erupted in New York City. (The insurrection was put down three days later.)

In 1939, Frank Sinatra made his first commercial recording, "From the Bottom of My Heart" and "Melancholy Mood," with Harry James and his Orchestra for the Brunswick label.

In 1955, Britain hanged Ruth Ellis, a 28-year-old former model convicted of killing her boyfriend, David Blakely (to date, Ellis is the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom).

In 1960, John F. Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination on the first ballot at his party's convention in Los Angeles.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to be U.S. Solicitor General; Marshall became the first black jurist appointed to the post. (Two years later, Johnson nominated Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court.)

In 1972, George McGovern received the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Miami Beach.

In 1977, a blackout hit New York City in the mid-evening as lightning strikes on electrical equipment caused power to fail; widespread looting broke out. (The electricity was restored about 25 hours later.)

In 1978, Lee Iacocca was fired as president of Ford Motor Co. by chairman Henry Ford II.

In 1985, "Live Aid," an international rock concert in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, took place to raise money for Africa's starving people.

In 1999, Angel Maturino Resendiz, suspected of being the "Railroad Killer," surrendered in El Paso, Texas. (Resendiz was executed in 2006.)

In 2013, a jury in Sanford, Florida, acquitted neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman of all charges in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager; news of the verdict prompted Alicia Garza, an African-American activist in Oakland, California, to declare on Facebook that "black lives matter," a phrase that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Ten years ago: Former media mogul Conrad Black was convicted in Chicago of swindling the Hollinger International newspaper empire out of millions of dollars. (Black was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison, but had his sentence reduced to three years; he was freed in May 2012.) Family prayer services and a huge public outpouring in Austin, Texas, ushered in three days of memorial ceremonies honoring the late Lady Bird Johnson.

Five years ago: His credibility under attack, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney insisted he had "no role whatsoever in the management" of Bain Capital, a private equity firm, after early 1999, and demanded that President Barack Obama apologize for campaign aides who persisted in alleging otherwise. JPMorgan Chase said its traders may have tried to conceal the losses from a soured investment bet that embarrassed the bank and cost it almost $6 billion far more than its chief executive first suggested. Movie producer Richard Zanuck, 77, died in Beverly Hills, California.

One year ago: With emotions running raw, President Barack Obama met privately at the White House with elected officials, law enforcement leaders and members of the Black Lives Matter movement with the goal of getting them to work together to curb violence and build trust. Theresa May entered No. 10 Downing Street as Britain's new prime minister following a bittersweet exit by David Cameron, who resigned after voters rejected his appeal to stay in the European Union.

Today's Birthdays: Game show announcer Johnny Gilbert (TV: "Jeopardy!") is 93. Actor Patrick Stewart is 77. Actor Robert Forster is 76. Actor Harrison Ford is 75. Singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) is 75. Actor-comedian Cheech Marin is 71. Actress Daphne Maxwell Reid is 69. Actress Didi Conn is 66. Singer Louise Mandrell is 63. Rock musician Mark "The Animal" Mendoza (Twisted Sister) is 61. Actor-director Cameron Crowe is 60. Tennis player Anders Jarryd is 56. Rock musician Gonzalo Martinez De La Cotera (Marcy Playground) is 55. Comedian Tom Kenny is 55. Country singer-songwriter Victoria Shaw is 55. Bluegrass singer Rhonda Vincent is 55. Actor Kenny Johnson is 54. Roots singer/songwriter Paul Thorn is 53. Country singer Neil Thrasher is 52. Actor Ken Jeong is 48. Bluegrass musician Mike Barber (The Gibson Brothers) is 47. Singer Deborah Cox is 44. Actress Ashley Scott is 40. Rock musician Will Champion (Coldplay) is 39. Actor Fran Kranz is 36. Actress Aya Cash is 35. Actor Colton Haynes is 29. Actor Steven R. McQueen is 29. Soul singer Leon Bridges is 28. Actor Kyle Harrison Breitkopf is 12.

Thought for Today: "Individuality is freedom lived." John Dos Passos, American author (1896-1970).

July 14th, 2017

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Myles Loftin, BFA Photography ’20, Challenges Racist Stereotypes Through Photography – The New School News (blog)

Myles Loftin has been shocked by the spate of police shootings of young Black men such as Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, and John Crawford. But hes not surprised.

For as long as the United States has been a country, Black men have been painted in the media as savages, criminals, Loftin, BFA Photography 20, says. These inaccurate depictions trickle down and become ingrained in the minds of the people who see them.

When police officers stop a Black man driving a car, they feel threatened automatically because theyve been fed these negative images for so long, says Loftin, whose observation is backed up not only by his own experiences as person of color but also by a recent study by the American Psychological Association.

You may not realize, the Parsons School of Design student continues, but these images really affect us.

Loftin is combating these skewed representations through art. He created HOODED, a series of photographs that contrast sharply with the medias often menacing portrayals of Black men. In his photos, young men of color are pictured before vibrant backdrops, smiling and laughing while wearing hoodies of different colors a means of subverting negative associations between the article of clothing and the Black male body.

While the photographs provide an antidote to negative stereotypes of young black men, HOODED: A film by Myles Loftin explores the mainstream perceptions reinforcing those stereotypes. In the three-minute film, the subjects of Loftins photographs listen to a speech by Hillary Clinton in which she refers to African-American youth as superpredators, and the 9-1-1 call made by Trayvon Martins killer, George Zimmerman, in which he justified his suspicion of Martin, in part, by the fact that he was wearing a hoodie. Midway through the film, the poet Leo Avedon reads his piece about the fallacy of respectability politics a phrase related to the idea that Black males should dress and act differently if they want to look less dangerous.

A lot of times, portrayals of people of color are not created by people of color, Loftin says. Theyre being moderated or censored by others. To have uncensored, unadulterated images of Black people is important because it reflects reality its the real thing.

HOODED has garnered praise from the BBC, Vice, and the Huffington Post, among other publications. Loftin came to the attention of the media after racking up thousands of followers on Instagram and Twitter, where he shares his work documenting people of color.

Loftins approach to HOODED was shaped by his education at Parsons. Its at the leading art and design school that the photographer has been encouraged to branch out to other media, such as video, and take a thematic approach to his work.

At Parsons, Ive been challenged to go outside my comfort zone, Loftin says.

For his next project, he plans to tackle the idea of cultural appropriation.

Kylie Jenner, Katy Perry, and other white celebrities get praised for putting on different styles, while the Black people who originated those styles are bashed for it, he says. Kylie is considered a trendsetter, while someone who comes from the culture that created the trend is considered ghetto or ratchet. I want to change that perception.

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Myles Loftin, BFA Photography '20, Challenges Racist Stereotypes Through Photography - The New School News (blog)

July 13th, 2017

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Today in history: A blackout hit New York City in the mid-evening as lightning strikes on electrical equipment … – Shelby Star

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 13, 1977, a blackout hit New York City in the mid-evening as lightning strikes on electrical equipment caused power to fail; widespread looting broke out. (The electricity was restored about 25 hours later.)

On this date: