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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

MARTINSBURG Each week in June, the Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS) is offering half-day programs with camp-like activities designed for families with children 3 and up. The organization is offering these programs in lieu of their regular Audubon Discovery Camp sessions, which are canceled for the month of June.

There are two-day ($30/day) and three-day ($45/day) options available. There are also multiple time slots for sessions: morning sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to noon, afternoon sessions from 1-4 p.m and evening sessions from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

These programs will be held at both Cool Spring and Yankauer Nature Preserves. Cool Spring Preserve is located at 1469 Lloyd Rd., Charles Town. Yankauer Nature Preserve is located at 438 Whitings Neck Rd., Martinsburg.

To maximize safety, group sizes will be kept small. Registrants may attend as an individual family or with another family group with whom they have been self-quarantining. Registration may include a group of two (minimum) up to eight children (maximum) and two adults. At least one adult must attend with each group to help monitor children.

This program has been designed in a way that helps prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Those interested should visit the following link for more information and to register: http://www.potomacaudubon.org/education/youth/discovercamp/.

NSDAR to host Tea Party in the Park on June 14BERKELEY SPRINGS Ye Towne of Bath Chapter, NSDAR (National Society Daughters of the American Revolution) is hosting a Tea Party in the Park, celebrating the Morgan County 2020 Bicentennial, from noon-3 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at Berkeley Springs State Park in the heart of the historic town.

Chapter members are in period costumes as they provide sweet and unsweetened tea along with one scone per patron. Ladies of the Ye Towne of Bath Chapter are joined by local authors Jeanne Mozier and Steve French sharing history and selling their books.

To meet with capacity requirements set by the park, 25 free tickets are being issued for each half hour. Tickets may be obtained at Berkeley Springs Memories on Washington St. open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Tuesday.

Blue Ridge Patriots to meet ThursdayHEDGESVILLE Blue Ridge Patriots meeting will hold its meeting 6:30 p.m. June 11 at 103 N. Mary St., Hedgesville. Social time begins at 6 p.m. They meet to defend the Constitution one line at a time. New members are welcome.

HCC announces new degree programHAGERSTOWN The Hagerstown Community College Foundation announces a new program, called Take2!, which is designed to help eligible local residents complete an associate degree, free of charge, after previously starting at a four-year college and not finishing.

Through the program, residents of Washington County and border counties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia will have the opportunity to complete an associate degree within one year at no cost for tuition and fees. Students must commit to attend HCC full-time, beginning in the fall of 2020.

To be eligible for Take2! funding, each student must have earned a minimum of 24 college-level credits at an accredited four-year college(s) with minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5. In addition, students must have completed the 2020-2021 FAFSA and have an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of $10,000 or less. This agreement is a last-dollar contribution, which means that federal and state financial grant aid and scholarships must be used prior to Take2! funds.

The deadline to apply is July 1, 2020. Eligibility and program requirements may be made by the HCC Take2! Review Committee on individual bases and with the support of the assigned academic advisor. To learn more, visit http://www.hagerstowncc.edu/take2.

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Around the Region - June 7th - Martinsburg Journal

WASHINGTON Before there was Trump, there was Steve King.

First elected to Congress in 2002, the Iowa Republican found that his brand of anti-immigrant and frequently racist nationalism had traction in the GOP, enough to make him a thorn in the side of Republican leadership and to defeat attempts at immigration reform.

TV personality Donald Trump, who had been transitioning from a supporter of abortion rights and universal health care into a fire-breathing right-winger, took notice of King in 2011 and adopted his politics as the basis for his 2016 presidential campaign.

Im here to support Steve King, a special guy, a smart person with really the right views on almost everything, Trump said at an event in Iowa for King in October 2014. They were so like-minded we dont really have to compare notes, Trump added, previewing what would become his campaign slogan: I want to see someone whos going to make our country great again, which is basically the same thing as Steve.

It is for this reason that I see a glimmer of light this week, even as our country faces its darkest hour in a half-century or more: the worst economy since the Great Depression, the worst health crisis since 1918, flaring racial strife, violence in the streets and ominous tensions with China. For on Tuesday night, Republican voters in Iowa ousted King in a primary. They did so because Republican leaders finally disowned King last year after the latest of many outrageous provocations, and the Republican establishment lined up behind a challenger with Kings conservatism but without Kings bigotry.

This means there is at least a sliver of hope that Republicans have learned from their failure to deal similarly with Trump. The president now controls the party utterly, but the King episode suggests that after Trump is done shedding his virus, the party might have the antibodies to resist the next person who tries to infect it with totalitarian instincts and racist sentiments.

King made his name promoting western civilization and opposing bilingualism. He famously described dreamers immigrants brought to the United States when they were children having calves the size of cantaloupes because theyre hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. He supported racist leaders abroad, and he argued that demographics are our destiny. We cant restore our civilization with somebody elses babies. And on, and on.

His demagoguery gave him power. He got his proposal to end birthright citizenship considered in committee, and he defeated President George W. Bushs hopes of immigration reform. Above all, he found an admirer in Donald Trump.

Trump saw the growing power of Kings politics with the Tea Party success in 2010, and in 2011 Trump praised King for doing great work in the House. For Kings reelection in 2014, Trump taped a robocall and went to Iowa for a fundraiser and endorsement news conference for my friend King.

There, they celebrated what King called their common cause a sovereign America and the rule of law. Trump nodded along as King made insinuations about President Barack Obama giving special treatment to Africans and spoke of immigrants bringing in drugs, disease and gangs. Trump chimed in about Mexican drug lords shooting our people and killing our people.

Trump, testing a presidential run, returned for a King-hosted event in January 2015, at which he expressed his great respect for King, a great guy who doesnt get fair press.

King, in turn, though initially endorsing Ted Cruz, campaigned with Trump in 2016. As late as October 2018, Trump, in Iowa, hailed King as the worlds most conservative human being and recalled: I supported him long before I became a politician.

And Trump has imitated him ever since. But while Republican officeholders tolerate Trumps anti-immigrant bigotry, they had a higher standard for King. In early 2019, King told the New York Times: White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization how did that language become offensive? Republican leaders stripped King of his committee assignments. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other pieces of the Republican establishment supported a King primary challenger. Officials blocked King from Air Force One when his protege flew to Iowa in mid-2019.

In a Facebook video early Wednesday morning, King described himself as the victim of powerful forces seeking to push out the strongest voice for full-spectrum, constitutional, Christian conservatism. ... What I regret is these tactics may get legs and be used against the next most effective, and the next and the next.

Kings regret is my hope. Its too late for Republicans to stop Trump. But as they survey the epic wreckage his presidency has caused, with their complicity, maybe they will find the courage to stop the racist demagogue in their midst the next time if, after this catastrophe, there is a next time.

Milbank writes for the Washington Post. Follow him on Twitter, @Milbank.

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Commentary: GOP just ousted Trump's role model and that bodes well - Lewiston Morning Tribune