This is the moment the film-maker Christopher Frierson was pepper-sprayed by police while recording anti-racism protests in Brooklyn, New York. The footage shows toxic fumes hitting the camera lens; simultaneously you hear Frierson's visceral groans of pain as he stumbles and falls to the ground. Within moments he was dragged by protesters to the side of the road. The 37-year-old was unable to see for 10 minutes after the incident
Continue reading...Category Archives: Race
George Floyd memorials held in Houston and Los Angeles as Democrats unveil reforms – live
- Thousands of people come to pay their respects to Floyd
- Derek Chauvin appeared virtually in court Monday
- Lawmakers propose Justice in Policing Act to prevent deaths in custody
- Biden states opposition to defunding police
- New York to start reopening
- Minneapolis lawmakers vow to disband police department
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On Saturday night, 23-year-old Erik Salgado was shot and killed by California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland. His pregnant girlfriend was also injured in the shooting, NBC Bay Area reported.
Last night in East Oakland CHP officers shot and killed Eric Salgado during a traffic stop on the 9600 block of Cherry St. His family is out here mourning.
Police have not released much information about the incident. pic.twitter.com/e4JxH7Xjln
This is the block where the CHP shooting happened last night. Eric’s family is out here. Witnesses, including neighbors say the police shot upwards of 20 rounds into the car. pic.twitter.com/po1C3kFNbF
There’s thousands here. And they keep coming. CHP isn’t getting away with this. We’re putting an end to cops killing with impunity.
No justice, no peace. No racist police. #JusticeForErik pic.twitter.com/LQjmfZMbln
Related: 'George Floyd happens every day': activists seek justice for police killings the media forgot
The force of furious national protests over racist policing is rippling through many different industries now, as workers speak up about racist practices and racist bosses in culture industries like fashion, publishing, and media.
The editor-in-chief of beloved cooking brand Bon Appetit announced today that he is stepping down after photographs of him in “brown face” were recirculated on social media, and an editor spoke out about the “systemic racism” she had experienced at Bon Appetit and its parent company Conde Nast, including alleging that “currently only white editors are paid for their video appearances.” (A company spokesperson told Variety that was not true, but did not offer details.)
Condé Nast’s Bon Appetit Allegedly Pays Only White Editors for Videos, Image of EIC Adam Rapoport in Brown Face Surfaces https://t.co/vleRO9UvWN
Adam confusing Priya for Sohla told us all we needed to know pic.twitter.com/zWn6gIIcKj
Bon Apetit editor stepping down: pic.twitter.com/XSVmC6Do9Z
Continue reading...Britain’s urban fabric comes under spotlight shone by BLM protests
Force of history demands re-evaluation of colonial statues and street names
Cities have always been about apportioning and memorialising power; about writing force into space. Britain’s colonial and imperial past is inscribed into the bricks and mortar of every city and town in the country. Mostly this hidden text of power relations and wealth acquisition lies dormant in the half-forgotten significance of street names, in the knotty iconography of grand facades, in the barely read inscriptions on memorials and sculptures, in the nomenclature of grand public buildings. Forming the backdrop of lived lives, these omnipresent clues are rarely fully decoded. The most monumental of sculptures has a habit of fading away to near invisibility if it is sufficiently familiar.
At times, though, such associations are activated and become urgent. So it has been in the case of the long-running affair of Edward Colston, who made his fortune in the 17th century from the enslavement of thousands of Africans.
Continue reading...George Floyd tribute: Democrats take a knee for almost 9 minutes – video
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, led House and Senate Democrats in a moment of silence at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall after reading the names of George Floyd and others killed in police custody. They kneeled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds - the length of time prosecutors say Floyd was pinned under a white police officer’s knee before he died
Continue reading...‘Just the beginning’: voices from the Black Lives Matter protest in London – video
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in London on Sunday to show solidarity with demonstrators in America, where protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued into a second weekend. Crowds in the UK capital shouted slogans in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, calling for action to end racism and prejudice.
Continue reading...George Floyd: Barr denies police are systemically racist as protests sweep US – live
- Attorney general denies White House protesters were peaceful
- Peaceful protests sweep US as calls for racial justice reach new heights
- A week that shook a nation: power of protests leaves Trump exposed
- ‘Tearing apart America’: How friends and foes now view Trump’s rule
- ‘George Floyd happens every day’: police killings the media forgot
George Floyd’s body has arrived in Houston ahead of a memorial service and burial in the coming days.
Floyd, who was killed by police in Minnesota last week, spent most of his life in Houston where he had been a high-school football star. There will be a public viewing and memorial service in Houston on Monday before he is buried on Tuesday next to his mother, Larcenia Floyd. A memorial service for family was held on Saturday near his birthplace in North Carolina.
The Episcopal bishop of Washington DC, Mariann Budde, has renewed her criticism of Donald Trump in a sermon on Sunday. Budde said she was “outraged” last week when law enforcement used pepper spray and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters from near the White House so the president could attend a photo opportunity at a local church.
Related: Bishop 'outraged' over Trump's church photo op during George Floyd protests
Continue reading...Cheers as Bristol protesters pull down statue of 17th century slave trader – video
Black Lives Matters protesters in Bristol have pulled down a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston, whose company transported more than 100,000 slaves from West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas between 1672 and 1689. Demonstrators attached a rope to the Grade II-listed statue, pulled it down and rolled it into the city's harbour. It follows the toppling of several Confederate statues during Black Lives Matter protests in the US
- BLM protesters topple statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston
- George Floyd protests: latest coverage
‘Enough is enough’: the faces and voices of the Black Lives Matter protest in London
Guardian contributor Anselm Ebulue photographed some of the protesters at a Black Lives Matter rally in London and heard their reasons for attending following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis
Continue reading...Omission of air pollution from report on Covid-19 and race ‘astonishing’
Failure to consider dirty air as a factor in higher death toll among ethnic minorities wholly irresponsible, say critics
The failure to consider air pollution as a factor in the higher rates of coronavirus deaths among minority ethnic groups is “astonishing” and “wholly irresponsible”, according to critics of a Public Health England review.
The PHE report released on Tuesday confirmed the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on people from ethnic minorities but did not mention air pollution. Minorities in the UK, US and elsewhere are known to generally experience higher levels of air pollution, and there is growing evidence around the world linking exposure to dirty air exposure to increased coronavirus infections and deaths.
Continue reading...US protests live: hundreds of thousands march against racial injustice
Large crowds from coast to coast demonstrate against police killing of George Floyd
- States announce police reforms after controversial tactics
- Protests about police brutality met with wave of police brutality
- In their own words: the protesters at the heart of America’s uprising
- What freedom of the press looks like in the US right now
The top editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer has resigned following an uproar over a headline bemoaning property damage incurred during the ongoing protests decrying police brutality and racial injustice, the newspaper has announced.
Guardian US reporter Nina Lakhani reports from Harlem:
Hundreds of people prayed and protested in Harlem this afternoon, in a peaceful and hopeful mobilization characterized by dignity, anger, resistance, and determination.
“Get off our necks,” and “racism is America’s original sin,” were among the hard-hitting truths chanted by protesters as they marched uptown from the National Black Theatre, a historical and cultural landmark situated on the corner of 5th Avenue and West 125th Street. Pastors and other faith leaders gave rousing speeches outside the theatre and other iconic spots including the Schomburg Centre for research in black culture – an internationally renowned archive for information on people of African descent which is located on the corner of Lennox Avenue and West 135th Street.
Continue reading...In life and death, George Floyd’s plight reflected the burden of being black in America
Floyd’s struggles resonate with many black Americans and the timing of his killing created a spark that lit this week’s uprising over centuries of racism
With a knee to his neck and head against the concrete, George Floyd became the face of one of the largest uprisings in modern American history. His final moments at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers was replayed on social media and television all across a country that was already in crisis.
America is in an economic free fall as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And it is black Americans who have been disproportionately impacted by mounting deaths and crushing job losses, making up a disproportionate number of the 42 million people left unemployed.
Continue reading...What the George Floyd protests say about America – video explainer
Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn explains why the unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd could be a defining moment for racial politics in America, and how the coronavirus pandemic set the backdrop for the protests
- Inside the George Floyd protests in New York: 'We are not the problem' – video
- Moments of hope and solidarity from the George Floyd protests – video
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Donald Trump: ‘This is a great day’ for George Floyd – video
Donald Trump has claimed it is a ‘great day’ for George Floyd, after the US posted better than expected job numbers. ‘Hopefully, George is looking down right now and saying: “This is a great thing happening for our country,”’ the US president said of Floyd, who died while being restrained by police last week
- Trump's comment 'this is a great day' for George Floyd draws immediate outrage
- Twitter disables Trump campaign tribute to George Floyd due to copyright complaint
Canada police under scrutiny after two women die after encounters with officers
Agency faces criticism over its capacity to de-escalate situations involving racial minorities or those with mental health issues
Police in Canada are facing growing scrutiny after two women – both members of ethnic minorities and both suffering mental health problems – died following encounters with officers.
The deaths come as tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the US in protest over police violence against racial minorities, prompted by the police killing of George Floyd.
Continue reading...Oxford students to get anti-bias training after George Floyd ‘joke’ at hustings
Candidate for ‘cake rep’ sparks anger after comparing killing of black man to flour shortages
An Oxford college has ordered staff and students to undergo training to combat racial bias after an undergraduate made a “joke” drawing a comparison between protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and flour shortages.
The comments, described as racist and trivialising by witnesses, were made during a virtual hustings event by a candidate for the position of “cake rep” – a welfare position on the junior common room committee at Christ Church college.
Continue reading...‘Get your knee off our necks’: Al Sharpton delivers eulogy at George Floyd memorial – video
Delivering the eulogy at a memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Reverend Al Sharpton said: 'George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks.' In an emotive speech punctuated by several standing ovations, Sharpton said the sight of diverse crowds of protesters across the world gave him hope that real change would come to the criminal justice system
Continue reading...Inside the George Floyd protests in New York: ‘we are not the problem’ – video
The police killing of George Floyd continues to ignite protests across the US. On 2 June, the Guardian embedded with activists as they marched through New York City to voice their outrage at Floyd's death and the systematic racism that enabled it
- Moments of hope and solidarity from the George Floyd protests – video
- Movement to defund police gains ‘unprecedented’ support across US
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Can Joe Biden convince protesters he would be a ‘transformational’ president?
‘It’s not enough to just be better than Trump’ Democratic hopeful told amid anti-racist uprising sparked by killing of George Floyd
Hours before peaceful protests against police brutality were forcibly dispersed so that Donald Trump could pose with a Bible in front of St John’s church, Joe Biden also went to church.
Head bowed, Biden prayed with community leaders at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church in his home town of Wilmington, Delaware. For days the nation had been convulsed over the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer for a fatal eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Continue reading...Meghan on George Floyd killing: ‘the only wrong thing to say is nothing’ – video
In a video for a virtual graduation ceremony at her old high school in LA, the Duchess of Sussex recalled words of advice given by a teacher when she was 15, who said to her: 'Always remember to put another’s needs above your fears.' She told the graduating students: 'I am sorry that in a way we have not gotten the world to a place that you deserve it to be'
Continue reading...‘Sing his name’: thousands gather in London for George Floyd protest – video
Thousands of protesters have marched through central London in an overwhelmingly peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration that culminated in passionate crowds gathering at the heart of Westminster.
The demonstrators, the vast majority of whom were under 30, chanted: 'No justice, no peace, no racist police', 'I can’t breathe' and 'the UK is not innocent', in a lockdown-defying demonstration that was largely organised through word of mouth and social media away from established anti-racism groups.
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