A Florida judge tossed out a lawsuit filed by George Zimmerman against Trayvon Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. Trayvon was in Sanford, Florida, when Zimmerman fatally shot the teen in 2012, AP News reports. In 2019, Zimmerman sued Trayvon's parents, citing alleged abuse of civil processes and conspiracy, according to The...
If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ “Blueprint” for reducing gun violence has sparked concerns of overexposing the Black community to mean encounters with the New York Police Department. Just as concerning, the plan is being considered by the Biden Administration as a national model for best practices. What this means is that civil rights groups may need reinforcement from human rights agencies in opposing the pitfalls — and foremost the United Nations, where activists have documented a legacy of racist practices in American policing. Eric Leroy Adams took office on New Year's Day as the 110th mayor of New York City, and its second Black mayor, with a coalition of Black and brown lower-middle-class supporters in the outer boroughs of the city. He is an ex-policeman turned politician and held positions in the NY state legislature and as the borough president of Brooklyn. Adams ran for mayor as a centrist candidate with a platform to address concerns of rising crime and a promise to avoid the past episodes of targeting residents of color. He spoke persuasively about understanding the toll of gun violence in the Black community and the racism in the police culture. As a former police captain, it could be expected that Adams would identify with the NYPD when it suffered casualties, such as the recent fatal shooting of two patrolmen responding to a domestic violence incident. At a time of inflamed public emotions, he came out with a much-anticipated plan: “The Blueprint to End Gun Violence.” Among the responses is the return of a controversial plainclothes anti-crime unit that caused the deaths of innocent people, the use of facial recognition technology that may play to racial bias, the rolling back of reforms for a bail system used unfairly against people of color and the treatment of children accused of crimes as adults.The “Blueprint'' is setting off alarm bells within progressive circles and his own base of support. For example, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund cried foul over anti-crime proposals that scholars, lawyers and courts have discredited over the years. And if, as Adams once proclaimed, this approach is the new face of the Democratic Party, then advocates will need to be creative in ways to respond. They must be prepared to appeal to international human rights channels for support just like Black activists in the past.That’s what happened in May 2021, when the families of 165 victims of police brutality called on the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to conduct an “independent inquiry into the killings and violent law enforcement responses to protests in the U.S.” They described deadly incidents with police practices of anti-crime street units, chokeholds, stop and frisk detentions, no-knock warrants and other tactics. The result of such ongoing encounters has been a calamity for Black men, women and children in recent decades.Their letter, supported by 250 civil society groups and human rights lawyers from around the world, was submitted on the 70th anniversary of the classic manifesto, “We Charge Genocide: The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief from a Crime of the United States Government Against the Negro People.”The 1951 petition was devised by the Civil Rights Congress (CRC), an association of left-leaning activists founded in the late-1940s by William Patterson, a Detroit lawyer and member of the Communist Party. It claimed to have discovered evidence of violence against more than 10,000 Black citizens by police and white supremacist groups between 1945 and 1951, and called on the UN to investigate under the 1948 “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”The petition documented for the General Assembly evidence of the brutality unleashed on Black people in the years after the Allied victory against fascism. The record of atrocities was gathered from African American newspapers, reports of the Tuskegee Institute (now university), fraternity and sorority records, civil rights association accounts, government documents, and the labor press.The manifesto asserted that genocidal practices is "a crime so embedded in law, so explained away by specious rationale, so hidden by talk of liberty, that even the conscience of the tender minded is sometimes dulled." The petitioners included outstanding figures such as the concert singer Paul Robeson, educator W.E.B. Dubois and newspaper editor Charlotta Bass.While most people think of genocide as the extermination of a group, the UN defines genocide as actions committed under state sanction “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” This includes murders, serious bodily harm or mental harm, conditions of life meant to destroy the group and measures destructive to the children of the group.The petition described the experience of African Americans under those standards: "Our evidence concerns the thousands of Negroes who over the years have been beaten to death on chain gangs and in the back rooms of sheriff's offices, in the cells of county jails, in precinct police stations and on city streets, who have been framed and murdered by sham legal forms and by a legal bureaucracy."The document made assertions that foreshadowed issues of concern over policing today: "Once the classic method of lynching was the rope," it proclaimed. "We submit that the evidence suggests that the killing of Negroes has become police policy in the United States and that police policy is the most practical expression of government policy."The General Assembly declined to take up the petition in 1951 because the United States — although a signatory to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights — had declined to ratify the Genocide Convention. The country would do so 40 years later when President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in1988. Nonetheless, "We Charge Genocide" created for the world community a historical marker for gauging the human rights status of Black people in the United States.In 2021, the families that endured police brutality looked to the Convention once again as a potential instrument for redress. This time, with the momentum of the Black Lives Matter activism, the petition was taken up by the United Nations. In June 2021, Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expanded the scope of the inquiry to the treatment of Black peoples by police agencies in other countries — but the response was directly aimed at conditions in the United States. The OHCHR report declared that “Systemic racism needs a systemic response. We need a transformative approach that tackles the interconnected areas that drive racism, and lead to repeated, wholly avoidable, tragedies like the death of George Floyd.” For now, however, it is unlikely that international human rights institutions can claim jurisdiction over American police agencies. This means proponents of humane policing should look to maximize the value of human rights agency statements on shaping public opinion. This avenue of redress should be considered if, as feared, the Adams “Blueprint” falls short of its promises.____Roger House is an associate professor of American studies at Emerson College in Boston and author of ‘Blue Smoke: The Recorded Journey of Big Bill...
The Supreme Court voted last Monday to allow Alabama to redraw its district lines in a way that will reduce the power of Black voters to elect representatives in the state, at least for this year. After the Republican-controlled government announced its redistricting plans, the redrawn state district map prompted groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund to sue, arguing that the new map constituted illegal racial gerrymandering. A federal court agreed with the reasoning behind the suit and paused the redistricting process, but the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, reversed the ruling of the lower court. Alabama’s Republican-controlled government can therefore go ahead with its plans to redraw the state’s district...
A trial is underway in Florida over the state’s recently enacted voting laws, and the results could have a major impact on this year’s elections and beyond. Last year, Florida became one of many states that passed restrictive voting laws after the 2020 election, as well as other regulations targeting Black and minority citizens. The new law puts additional restrictions on requesting mail-in ballots, limits the numbers and hours of operation of early voting drop boxes and limits the ability of private citizens, nongovernmental organizations and even local or county government officials to assist with voting or resolve disputes. Because of the negative impact, these changes will likely have on voter participation, the Brennan Center for Justice described Senate Bill 90 as a “sweeping voter suppression...
A Minneapolis press conference addressing the killing of Amir Locke took an unexpected turn when a Black civil rights attorney and activist interrupted the city’s mayor and police chief, chastising them for engaging in a “cover-up” over the young man’s death. As interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman addressed reporters with Mayor Jacob Frey standing by her side, her remarks were interrupted by Nekima Levy Armstrong, a former president of the Minneapolis NAACP who has served as co-chair of a citywide safety working group convened by the...
If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____Building Black prosperity is not the story of one Black person or one Black family, but the endeavor of generations of Black people. It’s not a tale of easy triumphs, but one of resilience. The barriers to this success are made up of countless instances of systemic breakages that have ripple effects, often compounding over generations. The racial inequities of the GI Bill are one such example.The GI Bill, originally known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. The bill made financial subsidies available to 16 million World War II veterans in the U.S. pursuing higher education, applying unemployment insurance or purchasing their first homes. The effects of the GI Bill granted unparalleled prosperity for American veterans and the economy for years to come. Yet, systemic inequities continued to serve as a gatekeeper for Black veterans — limiting access to these benefits and substantially increasing the inequalities between them and their white counterparts.When Black veterans returned from war, they had to face the challenges of segregation, which created barriers to education and homeownership — essential tools for wealth building. Denying an entire population of Black people from opportunities to build wealth, created a huge racial wealth gap in postwar America, the effects of which can still be felt today.Black veterans failed to receive equal education benefits compared to their white counterparts. Instead of granting them acceptance into four-year universities, the VA encouraged Black veterans to apply to vocational and non-degree institutions. 95% of Black veterans were forced to attend all-Black colleges. As a result, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) had a high influx of applications from Black veterans, which then forced the HBCUs to turn away other prospective students. This caused a ripple effect for the Black community in receiving equal education and opportunity for generational wealth.After WWII, our nation was met with a strong housing boom that represented the American Dream — but not for all Americans. White veterans under the GI Bill were able to take advantage of government-backed mortgages so they could purchase a home for their families. However, since the VA itself was unable to guarantee loans, Black veterans were subject to redlining, which denied or limited financial services to specific neighborhoods.For the Black veterans who received GI benefits, they only got 40% of what white veterans received. Adjusted for inflation, these differences amounted to about a $170,000 difference in value per veteran. The negative effects many Black veterans faced under the GI Bill may seem irreversible, but there is still an opportunity to rectify these inequities. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s (IAVA) flagship program, the Quick Reaction Force (QRF), is one of these examples. Over the past several years of operation, the number of Black veterans reaching out for assistance and connected to much-needed services has steadily risen more than 20% year over year, and we expect this increase to continue. This unique program offers 24/7 confidential peer-to-peer support, comprehensive care management and resource connections for all veterans and their families, no matter the era they served or their ethnic background.On Veterans Day of 2021, the first-of-its-kind GI Bill Restoration Act was introduced. Representatives Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts introduced the bill in the House and a Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, the son of a WWII veteran. This bill aims to provide the families of Black WWII veterans a benefit to use for college, home or business ownership — opportunities to build wealth that they’d previously been excluded from.While we will never be able to fully repay the heroes who fought for freedom from tyranny, this legislation represents a step in the right direction towards addressing the economic and civil rights injustices experienced by our Black veterans and their families.The GI Bill Restoration Act is a first step to the change Black veterans have been fighting decades for. This Black History Month, it is critical to acknowledge the need to build on such legislation, to address the unjustified barriers to Black wealth and advance opportunities to continually build Black prosperity.____Jeremy Butler is the Chief Executive Officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America...
Rep. Cori Bush gave an impassioned speech about the history of the country on the House floor as a large photo depicting a lynching stood behind her. Bush launched into a history lesson for Republican policymakers who have been attempting to downplay the current and present displays of racism in the United States, The Independent reports."St Louis and I rise today because if America's students are not taught the truth in school, we can at least make the House of Representatives their classroom," the Missouri Democrat said.If teaching the truth about Black history is being banned from schools, we can make the floor of the House of Representatives our classroom.Here's a Black history lesson for my colleagues and our country.No matter how hard they try to deny it, this is American history. pic.twitter.com/rDgGsINg43— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) February 8,...
A proposed change to the self-defense law in Missouri is raising alarms in the state. Critics worry that the proposed law, perhaps appropriately labeled Senate Bill 666, would let all hell loose in Missouri by encouraging murder and even justifying racist violence. Specifically, the bill would create a presumption of self-defense for people who use “physical or deadly force” against another person. Basically, anyone who commits an act of violence, including killing another person, can claim self-defense or defense of a third party, and that claim will be automatically presumed valid unless prosecutors can definitively prove...
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) had a squabble with Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) on Tuesday when she asked him to put on his mask before entering the U.S. Capitol's subway. Cell phone video caught the incident, showing Rogers allegedly telling Beatty to "kiss my ass," The Week reports."I'm a member of Congress like you, and I'm a woman. You will NOT disrespect me. ... You picked the wrong woman today," she told Rogers in a response that was caught on video."I'm a member of Congress like you, and I'm a woman. You will NOT disrespect me ... You picked the wrong woman today." - Rep. Joyce Beatty to Rep. Hal Rogers https://t.co/JBKRwS6skc— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 8,...
Pamela Moses, the founder of the Black Lives Matter Memphis chapter and a former Democratic mayoral candidate, received a six-year and one-day prison sentence for illegally registering to vote, the New York Post reports.The activist was ineligible to vote due to previous felony convictions in 2015 but she said she was unaware she permanently forfeited her voting rights when she pleaded guilty at the time, The Washington Post reports. The corrections department and the county election commission approved her 2019 voter registration application and verified that she completed her probation, thereby restoring her voting privileges. Officials later admitted they made a mistake and her voting privileges had not been restored.Pamela Moses,was sentenced to 6 years in prison for attempting to register to vote in error after she was told she was eligible.She’ll be doing more time than anyone who stormed the Capitol & tried to overthrow our government on January 6.@GovBillLee#PardonPamelaMoses
pic.twitter.com/Y22qs9H7Ky— Christopher Webb 🇺🇸 (@cwebbonline) February 8,...
This feature is part of Blavity’s African Spotlight series, which highlights heads of state, as well as other politicians and societal leaders, who are currently in power or influencing change on the continent. African leaders are making significant impacts both in their own countries and internationally. Growing diasporas and increasing interconnectivity make developments on the continent more relevant to Black America and people everywhere than ever before.The list of Black billionaires is small but growing. A couple of the people in this exclusive club are well-known individuals from the worlds of sports or entertainment, such as Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey. Others might name Black businessmen Robert Smith or David Steward. Kanye West, who recently made the list, has sometimes been mistakenly reported as the richest Black man in America. But recently, Nigerian DJ Cuppy went on Twitter to set the record straight concerning who’s at the very top of the Black billionaire list.“I am a HUGE @KanyeWest fan,” Cuppy wrote on Twitter in January. “However with ALL due respect, I feel the need to remind him that he is not the “richest black man” — it is in fact my Godfather @AlikoDangote.Random, I know…I am a HUGE @KanyeWest fan 🔵However with ALL due respect, I feel the need to remind him that he is not the “richest black man” -it is in fact my Godfather @AlikoDangote. Just clearing the air with #Facts 🖌— Cuppy (@cuppymusic) January 16, 2022Cuppy's godfather is 64-year-old Aliko Dangote, a name that most Americans have never heard. Dangote, and the company that bears his name, are much better known in his home country, Nigeria, and across Africa. Over several decades, the Dangote Group has grown to be one of the largest companies on the continent, and it’s made its founder, Aliko Dangote, the richest Black person in the...
The Black lawmakers oppose the latest of many laws in Mississippi and elsewhere that restrict discussion of racism, as well as other topics and identities.
Mississippi recently saw an unusual protest in its state legislature when every Black lawmaker in the state Senate walked out in protest as their white colleagues voted on a new bill that targets critical race theory, or CRT.Black members of Mississippi's senate walk out of the chamber before the final vote on a bill to ban teaching critical race theory in schools and universities. The vote passed. pic.twitter.com/hLUwAn6ekL— Kobee Vance (@kobeevance) January 21,...