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The words of the First Amendment are quite straightforward:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Especially simple is that last clause "the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

It was heartfelt. When the First Amendment was adopted in 1791, our founders may have been channeling the Boston Tea Party of Dec. 16, 1773. That was when American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing "taxation without representation," staged one of our country's first protests. And while they were at it, they engaged in a bit of vandalism. At Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts, a crowd of some 7,000 American colonists gathered more or less peacefully to watch fellow colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians chop open 342 tea chests and dump them and their contents into the Boston Harbor.

In response, the British ministry, which was using a tariff to try to create a monopoly for the English trading corporation East India Company, closed the port of Boston, altered the colony's charter and ordered British troops to occupy the town.

Sound familiar? And with neither side willing to back down, the stage was set for the final acts leading to the American Revolution.

Perhaps its no wonder that so many military leaders pushed back last week on King Donald Trump's talk of invoking the Insurrection Act and using the military to quell protests in U.S. cities.

You know Trump, the guy who, after giving a law-and-order speech in the Rose Garden on Monday, had federal law enforcement officials fire tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful demonstrators so he could walk across the street from the White House to the front of St. John's Episcopal Church for a not-so-presidential photo op and hold up a Bible. The church had been slightly damaged by fire in a previous protest.

More than one observer has since noted that Trump didn't bother to open the Bible. Didn't bother to quote from it. Didn't even read Psalm 23 the Lord is my shepherd to calm a stressed nation.

No. His message in the Rose Garden was more like vengeance is mine, sayeth King Trump.

Thankfully, there was almost no audio in the shameful and awkward photo op in front of the historic church where Abraham Lincoln went to pray most every night of the Civil War. Trump said very little mostly his usual babble about making the country greater than ever.

This great country that, under his race-baiting taunts, still wrestles with the rights of any or all of its citizens to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Grievances like dying while a police knee is on your neck for nearly nine minutes. Grievances like being tear-gassed so the president can have a photo op. Grievances like most Americans having to choose between voting or staying healthy as a pandemic rages.

No. This president wants militarized street control.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday differed with his commander in chief: "The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations," Esper said. "We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."

Retired Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. Bush and Barack Obama put it a better way: "Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so," Mullen wrote in The Atlantic, adding that he was "sickened" to watch security personnel clear a path for Trump's photo op.

Retired Marine General and former defense secretary Jim Mattis excoriated the president: We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square," he wrote in a statement Wednesday to The Atlantic. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American peopledoes not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us."

Former President Bush, too, released a rare statement. In it he not only commended Americans demonstrating against racial injustice but criticized those who try to silence them. "There is a better way the way of empathy, and shared commitment, and bold action, and a peace rooted in justice," he said.

Former president Barack Obama, noting the number of violent protesters is tiny compared to the peaceful ones, reminded us that, "Every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals have been won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable. And we should all be thankful for folks who are willing, in a peaceful, disciplined way, to be out there making a difference."

Most Americans black and white get it. Just look at the diversity of protesters in news photos and videos.

Maybe that's exactly what so frightens Trump. That we Americans may in fact be far more united than we've ever been. We don't see color so much anymore. But, oh, yeah, we see injustice. And we're seeing it trumpeted by our wanna-be king Trump himself.

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Sohn: Just what is it that so frightens King Trump? The First Amendment, or our growing unity against injustice? - Chattanooga Times Free Press

By AARON WALKERIndependent CandidateLos Alamos County Council

First of all, I need to address the issue of George Floyds death. This is extremely hard for me to write as a white male. I dont understand first hand the struggles that many people have in this country.

I feel it would be irresponsible of me not to attempt to overcome the awkwardness. This is a national issue, but I would be undermining the major changes this country needs to make by ignoring them. I was very proud to see the turnout at Ashley Pond on Sunday for the peaceful protest.

I was also heartened by the comments that Chief of Police Dino Sgambellone had in response. This country needs radical changes to address the issue of systemic racism and discrimination. We cannot have a nation where all lives matter until we make certain that black lives matter. Rioting and looting are both poor choices.

However, we have a community within our nation that is in pain, angry, and tired of the way things are. Progress is painful and ugly sometimes, but protesting is not meant to make people comfortable. Its meant to evoke emotion and acknowledge that there is a problem. Never forget that it was a riot, damage to possessions, and protest (The Boston Tea Party) that ignited the rebellion that created this country. You dont have to like the rioting and the looting, but its time we all accept that there is a major issue of race in this country. NOTHING can discount or discredit that.

I am running for county council to change the way our local government thinks and acts. It feels and appears like there is no integrity left within the county. Unquarked is finally getting their hearing.

The problem here is that there is zero chance that they get a fair hearing. The fact that the county manager is on the appeals board is unacceptable. Since he has a supervisory role over the Community Development Department (CDD), he has a vested interest in how this hearing turns out. The county attorney is representing both the county and the Council Chair. How have the optics of this not been thought about and rectified in advance? Now, with news coming out of the plaza where Unquarked is located being sold, the optics continue to get worse. Why are our small businesses being treated like this?

The optics of this issue, and ones that have come before dont paint a pretty picture for businesses within the county. I know that I wouldnt want to open a business here if I had to deal with CDD. WHY is this accepted and defended? Regardless of which side is truly at fault here, we will likely see the obvious outcome: The county will defend their actions to the death, and the lopsided hearing will indefinitely turn out in their favor. The real loser here is the small business owners, potential small business owners, and the people of the county. Because the county must have total control, this hearing is over before it begins.

That type of mentality is unacceptable to me. We MUST have integrity and accountability within our county. As a county councilor, I will strive to hold the county accountable for its actions and poor responses. I will do everything I can to ensure this county becomes a place that welcomes small businesses and works WITH them, not against them.

I am getting closer to my signature goal to qualify for the ballot. I still need your assistance however. Since I am still not canvassing and knocking on doors due to COVID-19 concerns, you can contact me at walker4cc@gmail.com and I will set up a time to drop off a petition to you with no contact. Thank you for your support.

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Letter To The Editor: George Floyd's Death; Small Business - Los Alamos Daily Post

SACRAMENTO, Calif. Protests have been a large part of this country's history since it's inception. One of the country's most well known acts leading up to the Revolutionary War was a protest the Boston Tea Party.

For African Americans, the fight for civil rights has felt like one long protest to be treated equally and served justice for centuries of injustice they've faced.

From the slave revolts to the civil rights movement to the Black Panther Party it's not as though the protests and riots erupted overnight.

In 1992, riots lasted over five days in Los Angeles after police beat Rodney King, a black man, almost beyond recognition. The riots and protest made news headlines across the nation.

Almost 30 years later, the police killing of George Floyd has ignited more than a week's worth of protests, stemming from the same problem people revolted over in the Rodney King Riots.

In the video above, ABC10 spoke with several people who remember the time when Los Angeles erupted in anger over the Rodney King beating to talk about why mass protests happen.

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'We are at a reckoning in a America' | Protests bring injustice to the forefront - ABC10.com KXTV

Books on race and systemic racism. Basic Books, Verso, and Little Brown Spark hide caption

Books on race and systemic racism.

As of Friday, 15 of the top 20 bestselling books on Amazon were about race or racism. Earlier this week, Code Switch was number one on Apple Podcasts which, as host Gene Demby said, is "dope," but unfortunately occurred under "soul-crushing circumstances." And The Help is trending on Netflix (ahem, a film that drew immediate ire upon release).

We're in the middle of one of those awfully predictable news cycles a video of police killing a black person goes viral, protests ensue and broader America suddenly realizes we need to talk about race. Of course, while this week has happened before, it's also happening on a much larger scale than ever before, with demonstrations in all 50 states.

To help people be better allies, lists of antiracist books, films and podcasts are being published in droves. There's never a bad time to learn, but such a list can become erroneously prescriptive, a balm to centuries-old lacerations that cut deeper than the individual reader. As Lauren Michele Jackson wrote for Vulture, "The word [anti-racism] and its nominal equivalent, "anti-racist," suggests something of a vanity project, where the goal is no longer to learn more about race, power, and capital, but to spring closer to the enlightened order of the antiracist."

So, with that in mind, we've compiled a list of books, films and podcasts about systemic racism, acknowledging that they are just books, films and podcasts. You'll find research on how racism permeates everything from the criminal justice system to health care. We hope you spend some time with these resources (and that you listen to Code Switch here's a list of episodes to get you started). Information is power you decide what you do with it.

Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum

This classic text on the psychology of racism was re-released with new content in 2017, 20 years after its original publication. By providing straight talk on self-segregation and inequality in schools, Tatum shows the importance and possibility of cross-racial dialogues starting young.

Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

A finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in History, Race for Profit chronicles how the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 failed to stop racist, exploitative mortgage lending practices. Since the policy was supposed to be a balm to the 1960s uprisings much like the ones we're seeing now it serves as a reminder to remain vigilant when policymakers promise change.

A Terrible Thing To Waste: Environmental Racism And Its Assault On The American Mind by Harriet A. Washington

From lead poisoning to toxic waste, Americans of color are disproportionately harmed by environmental hazards. This is detrimental to physical health air pollution is linked with higher COVID-19 death rates, according to Harvard researchers. But Washington also argues that environmental racism is causing cognitive decline in communities of color. A deconstruction of IQ and an indictment of EPA rollbacks, A Terrible Thing To Waste is a stirring read.

From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America by Elizabeth Hinton

The origins of mass incarceration which disproportionately puts black people behind bars are often pinned on Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. But Hinton argues the carceral state was erected "by a consensus of liberals and conservatives who privileged punitive responses to urban problems as a reaction to the civil rights movement." The 1965 Law Enforcement Assistance Act, part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society plan, led to today's police militarization. This account of history poses relevant questions for today's land of the free.

Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks

Algorithms are made by humans, so they are susceptible to human biases. From deciding which neighborhoods get policed to who gets welfare benefits, discrimination has gone digital. By scrutinizing statistical models and telling personal stories, Eubanks shows that machines do not correct racist systems they only shift blame.

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale

In the wake of high-profile cases of police brutality, the same ideas for reform are trotted out implicit bias training, body cameras, police-community dialogues. But Vitale argues that this fails to get to the root of the problem policing itself. While calls to abolish the police are often met with skepticism, academics and activists have long-discussed alternatives to addressing homelessness, domestic disputes and substance abuse. A free ebook of The End of Policing is available now. (And you can read Code Switch editor extraordinaire Leah Donnella's conversation with Vitale here.)

Blackballed: The Black Vote and U.S. Democracy by Darryl Pinckney

As young Americans take to the streets to say black lives matter, they're often told to vote. While voting is important, it's also important to remember how black political representation has been chipped away by voter ID laws, gerrymandering and felon disenfranchisement. Blackballed addresses the struggle for voting rights and for racial equality more broadly, drawing on Pinckney's own experiences and writings of civil rights leaders to create a complicated picture of black political identity.

Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class by Ian Haney Lpez

"Entitlement mentality." "Quotas." "Welfare queens." From Barry Goldwater to Bill Clinton to the Tea Party, politicians have relied on racially coded language to win over white voters and decimate social programs. Dog Whistle Politics makes the case that not only does this strategy endanger people of color, but it also hinders economic mobility for all Americans.

Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology by Deirdre Cooper Owens

The foundational knowledge of American gynecology relied on the exploitation of enslaved black women's bodies. In Medical Bondage, Cooper Owens centers the stories of black women that have been overshadowed by the "discoveries" of white male doctors who experimented on them. Baseless theories about black inferiority and higher pain tolerance still permeate medical schools today.

Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination by Alondra Nelson

The Black Panther Party is most remembered for its militant action, but health care was also a major pillar of its activism. The People's Free Medical Clinics tested for hypertension and assisted with housing and employment. Its outreach also brought attention to rampant discrimination within mainstream medicine. Nelson writes that the Black Panther Party understood health as a human right, echoing today's fight for universal health care. You can read Body and Soul online for free.

13th

The U.S. imprisons more people than any other country in the world, and a third of U.S. prisoners are black. In this infuriating documentary, director Ava DuVernay argues that mass incarceration, Jim Crow and slavery are "the three major racialized systems of control adopted in the United States to date."

I Am Not Your Negro

Narrated by the words of James Baldwin with the voice of Samuel L. Jackson, I Am Not Your Negro connects the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter. Although Baldwin died nearly 30 years before the film's release, his observations about racial conflict are as incisive today as they were when he made them.

Whose Streets?

The 2014 killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Mo. was one of the deaths that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. Frustrated by media coverage of unrest in Ferguson, co-directors Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis documented how locals felt about police in riot gear filling their neighborhoods with tear gas. As one resident says, "They don't tell you the fact that the police showed up to a peaceful candlelight vigil...and boxed them in, and forced them onto a QuikTrip lot."

LA 92

LA 92 is about the Los Angeles riots that occurred in response to the police beating of Rodney King. The film is entirely comprised of archival footage no talking heads needed. It's chilling to watch the unrest of nearly 30 years ago, as young people still take to the streets and shout, "No justice, no peace."

Teach Us All

Over 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, American schools are still segregated. Teach Us All explains why that is school choice, residential segregation, biased admissions processes and talks to advocates working for change. Interspersing interviews from two Little Rock Nine members, the documentary asks how far we've really come.

Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

In this two-part series, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. chronicles the last 50 years of black history through a personal lens. Released days after the 2016 election, some themes of the documentary took on a deeper meaning amid Donald Trump's win. "Think of the civil rights movement to the present as a second Reconstruction a 50-year Reconstruction that ended last night," Gates said in an interview with Salon.

Floodlines from The Atlantic

An audio documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Floodlines is told from the perspective of four New Orleanians still living with the consequences of governmental neglect. As COVID-19 disproportionately infects and kills Americans of color, the story feels especially relevant. "As a person of color, you always have it in the back of your mind that the government really doesn't care about you," said self-described Katrina overcomer Alice Craft-Kerney.

1619 from The New York Times

"In August of 1619, a ship carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans arrived in the English colony of Virginia. America was not yet America, but this was the moment it began." Hosted by recent Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones, the 1619 audio series chronicles how black people have been central to building American democracy, music, wealth and more.

Intersectionality Matters! from The African American Policy Forum

Hosted by Kimberl Crenshaw, a leading critical race theorist who coined the term "intersectionality," this podcast brings the academic term to life. Each episode brings together lively political organizers, journalists and writers. This recent episode on COVID-19 in prisons and other areas of confinement is a must-listen.

Throughline from NPR

Every week at Throughline, our pals Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei "go back in time to understand the present." To understand the history of systemic racism in America, we recommend "American Police," "Mass Incarceration" and "Milliken v. Bradley."

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This List Of Books, Films And Podcasts About Racism Is A Start, Not A Panacea - NPR

For North Texas native Ruth York, impacting her community and advancing liberty doesnt have to mean grand speeches or massive crowdsit often looks like simply showing up to a meeting or writing a thank-you card.

Ruth was born a few miles from Cisco, Texas, a small town a couple of hours west of Dallas. Shes been married to her husband, Joey, for 42 years, and together they have eight children and 21 grandchildren, most of whom live nearby.

Amid her wonderful, family-filled life, Ruth still had a passion for educating her family and community about their precious God-given rights.

She put that passion into action roughly a decade ago, when she simply went to a local meeting of a conservative group that would later become the Tea Party Patriots of Eastland County.

I just went and enjoyed the ride, heard interesting speakers, and learned a lot, Ruth said.

In 2014, as the group became more organized with its own bylaws, which she helped with, Ruth also found herself unexpectedly asked to be the vice president, something she initially thought she was too busy or not fit for. Yet Ruth found it actually opened a whole new array of opportunities for her to educate and encourage her neighbors: she helped contact speakers to come present to the group, coordinated events, and even appeared on a local radio station.

I discovered it was really fun. It was a huge avenue for getting acquainted with other liberty-minded people, she said. I feel like [the radio interviews] are a benefit to the community, certainly to our organization. Its been very helpful to have that time slot to address some of the different current issues.

In 2015, Ruth began a new venture called The Grateful Texan, where she simply writes notes of appreciation to elected officials who do something beneficial. She said it began when she saw State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (RBedford), known for his bold outspokenness on liberty-advancing causes, getting lambasted at the capitol by other representatives.

I felt like he was acting on my behalf, even though hes not my representative, and I just wanted him to know someone appreciated him, she said. So I would send him cards and just sign them a grateful Texan because he obviously didnt know me from anyone else.

Ruth began to see the true impact it made when Stickland actually came to Cisco to speak at a meeting and told the story about getting the cards. Not only were they meaningful in uplifting him to continue fighting, but they encouraged every one of his staff who saw them.

So I thought, maybe this is something we should try to do on a larger scale, Ruth said, describing how many good representatives who get elected need help when they go to the Austin swamp. They need reminders to hold fast to their principles and causes, and encouragements that someone is noticing and appreciating when they act boldly and beneficially.

So we started The Grateful Texan, and all you do to join is sign uptheres no cost. And in return, you receive a daily or weekly text or email that has the cause to celebrate, the address of the person, and maybe a link to get more information on the issue and why were thanking them, Ruth explained.

I just want people to send heartfelt notes of gratitude or prayer to someone whos doing a good and noteworthy thing, she added. Its mostly focused on the politics and elected officials in Texas, but it goes beyond that. We send a number of notes to the president and others, whatever issue or person catches our notice. Its been really fun, and its great when you get a call back from someone who says thank you or that it made their day.

Not only do the thank-you cards encourage the elected officials who are in the fight, but The Grateful Texans text and email alerts help educate the public on issues that mightve escaped their notice.

In addition to those initiatives, Ruth also is involved in her churchs salt and light ministry, which helps educate and empower the congregation to be active voting citizens, and she recently began essentialcitizens.org, an information hub for Eastland County citizens during the coronavirus shutdowns.

Ruth reiterated that in everything shes become involved in, her desire is to make others aware of their God-given rights and whats happening around them that could threaten them.

I think this lockdown has shown that we dont really know what our rights are, Ruth said. I think going into this situation, we were willing to do pretty extraordinary things to keep our fellow countrymen safeourselves, too. But it has become something more and is really making those in our county suffer even though we are low-risk and have only five confirmed cases of the virus.

Ruths advice to those wondering how they can do something about whats happening around them? Start by simply showing up.

Find a conservative group. Walk in. Its gonna be a friendly bunch of patriots. Take a chair and open up your ears. Its not that hard, she said. Therell be someone there who will have an idea of what you can do.

In her free time, Ruth enjoys spending time with her children and many grandchildren, playing and writing music, and being active in a Cisco writers club.

Those interested in learning more about the projects mentioned can visit thegratefultexan.org, as well as essentialcitizens.org.

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Ruth York: Spreading Liberty and Gratitude - Texas Scorecard