What we can do now about Stone Mountain’s 150ft Confederate carving | Ryan Gravel and Scott Morris

The largest celebration of the Confederacy should be obscured by vegetation and the park outside Atlanta repurposed away from white supremacy

The current national attention to the interrelated issues of policy reform and representation, along with the murder of two Black men here in Georgia, got me thinking again about the state’s giant monument to white supremacy on the side of Stone Mountain.

It is too big to just tear down, like they are doing with statues in Richmond and elsewhere, but something is going to happen with it eventually. Anti-racist sentiment is growing, and the makeup of Georgia’s population is changing so fast that some kind of modification is inevitable. And while I believe decisions about what ultimately happens there should emerge from meaningful public engagement, I don’t believe we have to wait any longer to make change. Below are some ideas we can start to implement now.

Continue reading...

What made a pastor want to describe white privilege as ‘white blessings’? | Poppy Noor

Louie Giglio said his choice of words was poor, but his attempt to rebrand white privilege should also grab our attention

On Monday evening, Atlanta megachurch pastor Louie Giglio apologized for calling slavery a blessing. In an online church service, he was apparently aiming to have an “honest conversation around how racism has plagued our city for generations”.

Then he said: “We understand the curse that was slavery, white people do, and [we] say ‘that was bad’. But we miss the blessing of slavery, that it actually built up the framework for the world that white people live in and lived in.”

Continue reading...

‘Trust with the police is broken’: Rayshard Brooks’s family tell of devastation – video

The family of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot and killed by a white police officer, have paid tribute to him and told of their devastation. During a press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Brooks’s cousin said the trust between the Atlanta community and its police department had been broken and called for the officer involved to be charged and convicted.

The press conference comes a day after a medical examiner concluded that Brooks, 27, died by homicide caused by gunshot wounds to the back

Continue reading...

Beyoncé demands justice for Breonna Taylor in letter to Kentucky attorney general – live

Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been defaced yet again during Sunday afternoon’s Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles, although these days it might qualify as bigger news if the former reality TV host’s terrazzo-and-brass totem went longer than a week unmolested.

Trump’s star was defaced during today’s Hollywood protest march. #blm #hollywoodprotest #JusticeForGeorgeFlyod #hollywoodboulevard #hollywoodblvd #protests pic.twitter.com/UI3SOIZSiV

Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered at the Montana State Capitol building in Helena in protest of the killing of George Floyd and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Helena Independent Record reports Sunday’s protest is the largest of a number of demonstrations that have been held in Montana’s capital city in recent weeks amid the nationwide backlash to police-related violence against black and brown people.

The protest for George Floyd in Helena, MT is... huge. pic.twitter.com/LLwdiHMwxZ

Continue reading...

Rayshard Brooks: police body-cam footage shows buildup to fatal shooting – video

Footage from Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan shows the officers approaching Rayshard Brooks in his car, which was parked in a Wendy’s drive-in lane, and asking him to move it. They question him and make him take a breathalyser test. The officers then attempt to arrest and handcuff Brooks, leading to a scuffle, which culminates in his shooting. The interaction lasted about 45 minutes. The footage in this video has been edited for length

Continue reading...

George Floyd: protesters and police clash in cities across US – live

The Guardian’s Ankita Rao, reporting from New York, on the mayor’s controversial late-night statements:

Mayor Bill de Blasio took to the podium on Saturday night to tell protestors across the city that they were “heard, loud and clear”.

I’m in Brooklyn to talk about tonight’s protests. https://t.co/oBVXGh7JWo

US prosecutors have filed federal charges against three people in New York, accusing them of using “molotov cocktails” on New York police vehicles during the Friday protests:

BREAKING: Three people charged with federal crimes in connection with Molotov cocktail attacks on the NYPD during #GeorgeFloyd protests in NYC Friday night. pic.twitter.com/dyaDJByMit

Continue reading...

Atlanta police chief says ‘black lives being diminished’ as Floyd protests grow

Erika Shields says angry reaction is understandable as governor declares state of emergency

After hours of peaceful protest over the death of George Floyd, some demonstrators in downtown Atlanta turned violent on Friday night, smashing police cars, spray-painting a sign at CNN headquarters and breaking into restaurants and stores.

The crowd pelted officers with bottles, chanting “Quit your jobs.”

Continue reading...

Joe Biden’s boast of African American voter support backfires – video

Joe Biden boasted about his support among African American voters during the fifth Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta on Wednesday. 'I come out of the black community in terms of my support,' Biden said and listed 'the only black African American woman who had ever been elected to the United States Senate' as one of his endorsements, at which the candidate and senator Kamala Harris threw her hands in the air, laughing: 'Nope. That's not true. The other one is here.'

Continue reading...

The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century

Where’s Mad Men? How did The Sopranos do? Does The Crown triumph? Can anyone remember Lost? And will Downton Abbey even figure? Find out here – and have your say

Continue reading...

Atlanta’s confederate monuments: how do ‘context markers’ help explain racism?

Symbols dedicated to the south’s soldiers have come under debate for not mentioning their roots in racial segregation

Atlanta’s monuments to its Confederate past cannot be taken down by law. But the city is now moving to provide much-needed historical context on the realities of slavery, the civil war and the era of Jim Crow segregation that followed.

Homages to Atlanta’s history crop up in many cemeteries and parks. Little context accompanies those stone memorials with engraved plaques referring to “heroic efforts” and the south’s soldiers’ efforts to “unite” the country after the civil war. There is no mention of racism or slavery and segregation.

Continue reading...

‘Every day, it is a risk’: immigrant communities paralyzed by fear of impending Ice raids

Mayors in major cities have pledged to support those targeted by Sunday’s ‘enforcement operations’

When CG heard that Donald Trump had announced raids by the immigration enforcement agency Ice a few weeks ago, she turned to her husband. Get groceries, she told him, like a storm is coming.

“Bananas, milk and bread,” CG lists off, remembering what she told him, “Because who knows when we’ll leave the house.”

Continue reading...

My family will pay off your loans, billionaire tells graduating students – video

Robert Smith, a billionaire investor, surprises students at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, by using his speech at a commencement ceremony to pledge to wipe the debts of the 2019 class. 'This is my class – 2019 – and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. I know my class will make sure they pay this forward,' he said

Continue reading...

Billionaire pledges to pay student debt for 2019 class at historic black US college

Robert Smith makes pledge to eliminate students’ debt estimated at $40m at Morehouse, Martin Luther King’s alma mater

Delivering the commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta, the alma mater of Martin Luther King Jr, the billionaire technology investor and philanthropist Robert F Smith made a surprise announcement: his family would wipe out the student debt of the entire class of 2019.

Related: $1.5tn in debt: student loan crisis shatters a generation's American dream

Continue reading...

Rapper 21 Savage arrested by US immigration – for being British

  • Atlanta rapper held early on Sunday in Super Bowl city
  • Star is nominated for two awards at Grammys next week

The rapper 21 Savage was arrested in Atlanta early on Sunday morning by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).

Related: 'I'm the gay Tupac': Jussie Smollett plays first concert since alleged attack

Continue reading...

Super Bowl: 33 arrested for sex trafficking in Atlanta in run-up to game

Four victims have been rescued, authorities say, as more than 600 DHS officials will be in the city on Sunday for protection

Federal authorities say 33 people have been arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, on sex trafficking charges before the Super Bowl this weekend.

Related: The NFL is 70% black, so why is its TV coverage so white?

Continue reading...