Addressing a panel from his My Brother's Keeper movement in the wake of George Floyd's death, former US president Barack Obama had a message of hope for young people of colour, saying they had witnessed too much violence. 'I want you to know you matter, your lives matter, your dreams matter,' he said. Obama also discussed the idea that both voting and protest can 'bring about real change' and that the current scary times can be an opportunity.
Category Archives: George Floyd
‘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.
Continue reading...George Floyd killing: reports over 10,000 arrested; ex-defense secretary denounces Trump – live
James Mattis accuses Trump of dividing US and ordering military to violate constitutional rights of Americans
- James Mattis accuses Trump of dividing US
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks out over George Floyd killing
- Are you taking part in US protests?
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Associated Press are reporting that more than 10,000 people have now been arrested in protests against racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death. It’s not an official figure, but comes from their own tally of arrest reports.
The AP figures show that Los Angeles has had more than a quarter of the national arrests, followed by New York, Dallas and Philadelphia. Many of the arrests have been for low-level offences such as curfew violations and failure to disperse. Hundreds were arrested on burglary and looting charges.
If you’ve been following the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on social media you may have been surprised this morning by a sudden flood of Korean characters and the repeated phrase: “We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.”
The source of this is the world’s biggest K-Pop band, BTS, who posted on social media this morning:
우리는 인종차별에 반대합니다.
우리는 폭력에 반대합니다.
나, 당신, 우리 모두는 존중받을 권리가 있습니다. 함께 하겠습니다.
We stand against racial discrimination.
We condemn violence.
You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.#BlackLivesMatter
Met feared ‘serious disorder’ if lockdown rules were enforced at racism protest
Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick also calls for justice and accountability following death of George Floyd
Britain’s top officer has said police feared there would be violence if they tried to intervene with protesters in London angered by the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of an American officer.
Demonstrators at protests in London on Sunday and Tuesday flouted coronavirus lockdown rules on how many people can gather together.
Continue reading...‘We built this country’: inspiring moments from the George Floyd protests – video
Cities across the US witnessed another night of protests despite widespread curfews a week after George Floyd's death. Among the violence and anger, moments of peace and hope have emerged as some police forces have shown solidarity with protesters, and anti-racism demonstrations have spread around the globe
Continue reading...The Gambia demands US investigation into police killing of citizen in Atlanta
Shooting of Lamin Sisay, son of former UN diplomat, last week prompts outrage as family and friends reject police version of events
The Gambia has demanded the US investigate the police killing one of its citizens, a former UN diplomat’s son.
The shooting of Lamin Sisay, 39, in Atlanta last week prompted anger in the Gambian community, who have described it as another example of the police brutality against black Americans that has prompted country-wide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
Continue reading...George Floyd killing: thousands march peacefully in New York, defying curfew – live
- US troops from 82nd airborne division moved from Fort Bragg – reports
- Floyd’s family: ‘I want justice for him because he was good’
- Biden says Trump ‘is part of the problem and accelerates it’
- Washington archdiocese: ‘Reprehensible’ to allow Trump visit
- Trump’s threat to deploy military raises spectre of fascism
- Are you taking part in US protests after the death of George Floyd?
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In Los Angeles, thousands took to the streets. Mayor Eric Garcetti took a knee with protestors, even as crowds chanted, “defund the police”.
In New York, thousands of protesters defied curfew and remained on the streets, as officers began making arrests.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau lost for words over Trump handling of George Floyd protests
Canadian prime minister pauses for 20 seconds before saying: ‘We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States’
Justin Trudeau, when asked about US president Donald Trump threatening to use the military to quell protests over the police killing of George Floyd, paused for more than 20 seconds before responding that Canadians were observing events in the US with horror.
“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” the Canadian prime minister said on Tuesday at a daily news briefing, after a reporter pressed him on Trump’s idea of using soldiers against protesters.
Continue reading...‘He will never see her grow up’: tearful mother of George Floyd’s daughter – video
Roxie Washington, the mother of George Floyd's six-year-old daughter, spoke at a news conference on Tuesday after days of protests following his death in Minneapolis. "I'm here for my baby and I'm here for George because I want justice for him," Washington said through tears. "He was a good man"
- George Floyd protests: curfews set in with US soldiers reportedly poised outside Washington – live
- Are you taking part in US protests after the death of George Floyd?
Mark Zuckerberg defends decision to allow Trump to threaten violence on Facebook
CEO says decision was ‘tough’ but ‘thorough’ as company faces harsh criticism and public dissent from employees
Mark Zuckerberg is standing by his decision to allow Donald Trump to threaten violence against George Floyd protesters on the platform despite harsh criticism from civil rights leaders and public dissent from his own employees, including a public resignation.
In a video conference with staff on Tuesday, Zuckerberg said that his decision to not remove Trump’s warning on social media on Friday that “when the looting starts the shooting start” was “tough” but “pretty thorough”, the New York Times reported. The company usually holds an all-staff meeting on Thursdays, but the session was moved up to address growing discontent among employees, hundreds of whom staged a “walkout” on Monday by requesting time off.
Continue reading...‘How did we get here?’: Trump has normalised mayhem and the US is paying the price
More than 100,000 have died in a pandemic and troops are on the streets. The rate of fresh affronts has outpaced the ability to digest them
The sheer tumult of the Trump era, the unceasing torrent of events that were unthinkable even hours before, has left a nation constantly off balance, unable to find its bearing and grasp how far it has traveled.
The developments of the past 24 hours were a reminder of how slippery the downward slope has been.
Continue reading...Trudeau speechless at Trump’s reaction to Floyd protests – video
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was silent for 21 seconds in reaction to a question on Donald Trump's handling of protests across the US over the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer.
Trudeau said Canada also had to face up to 'systemic discrimination' and become allies against it
- Washington archdiocese: ‘Reprehensible’ to allow Trump visit
- Trump’s threat to deploy military raises spectre of fascism
- Are you taking part in US protests after the death of George Floyd?
Peaceful George Floyd protests around the US – in pictures
Protesters marched in their thousands in towns and cities across America, part of a wave of demonstrations that have followed the killing of George Floyd
Continue reading...‘A wake-up call for the nation’: Joe Biden addresses the killing of George Floyd – video
Joe Biden has addressed the killing of George Floyd and the protests that his death has sparked. During a speech in Philadelphia, the Democratic presidential candidate said Floyd’s last words, 'I can’t breathe', were a 'wake-up call for our nation'. Biden also sought to draw a clear distinction between himself and Donald Trump, saying the US president was 'part of the problem'
Continue reading...Mark Zuckerberg criticised by civil rights leaders over Donald Trump Facebook post
Activists say Facebook boss’s decision to leave ‘shooting threat’ up sets dangerous precedent
Civil rights leaders have criticised Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to take no action against a Facebook post from Donald Trump appearing to threaten to start shooting “looters”, after a Monday night meeting with the company’s executives ended in acrimony.
“We are disappointed and stunned by Mark’s incomprehensible explanations for allowing the Trump posts to remain up,” Vanita Gupta, Sherrilyn Ifill and Rashad Robison said in a statement. “He did not demonstrate understanding of historic or modern-day voter suppression and he refuses to acknowledge how Facebook is facilitating Trump’s call for violence against protesters.
Continue reading...‘Words of a dictator’: Trump’s threat to deploy military raises spectre of fascism
The president suggested the US could use troops against Americans – true to the instincts of a man surrounded by sycophants
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross,” goes an oft-quoted line of uncertain origin.
On Monday evening, Donald Trump, with four US flags behind him, threatened to send in the military against the American people, then crossed the road to pose for a photo outside a historic church while clutching an upside-down Bible.
Continue reading...In 1919, the state failed to protect black Americans. A century later, it’s still failing | Carol Anderson
There is something so wounded in American society that basic commitment to justice is not part of the operating code
In 1919, as soldiers returned from the first world war, many white Americans saw African American men in military uniforms for the first time. That sight, and the challenge it posed to the political, social, and economic order, was deeply threatening to them. Groups of armed white men hunted down and slaughtered hundreds of black Americans across the country. The wave of lynchings and race riots came to be known as the Red Summer.
The black community did its best to fight back, without protection from the state. In some cases, police actively participated in the lynchings. The US attorney general, A Mitchell Palmer, claimed that leftwing radicals were behind the uprisings – a false charge and one that further endangered African American lives. Palmer worked for President Woodrow Wilson, an ardent segregationist who screened Birth of a Nation in the White House and praised the Ku Klux Klan even as it deployed terrorism to keep blacks away from the voting booth. Wilson had been silent while whites slaughtered African Americans in East St Louis in 1917, and he did little to nothing in 1919 when they again attacked and killed black people, this time on an even more horrific and grisly scale.
Continue reading...Trump threatens to deploy military against protesters as teargas fired outside White House – live
- George Floyd’s death a homicide, county medical examiner says
- Family autopsy points to homicide by asphyxiation
- Curfew to go into effect for New York City from 11pm to 5am
- Floyd’s family calls for peaceful protests
- Pressure grows for other three officers to face charges
- Minneapolis police chief: all four officers ‘complicit’ in death
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Bobby Rush, an Illinois congressman and a Civil Rights era leader who co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers in 1967, responded to Trump’s Rose Garden address with this:
We are living in a police state. https://t.co/YjO8x7QZjt
The Episcopal bishop of DC told The Washington Post that she was “outraged” after the officers cleared peaceful protestors gathered near the White House with tear gas and rubber bullets, to clear the way for Donald Trump to take photos outside St. John’s Church.
The Episcopal bishop of DC – who oversees the DC church Trump just stopped at – tells the @washingtonpost she is "outraged" and that neither she nor the rector was asked or told… “that they would be clearing with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop.." 1/3
"We so disassociate ourselves from the messages of this president. We hold the teachings of our sacred texts to be so so grounding to our lives and everything we do and it is about love of neighbor and sacrificial love and justice." @Mebudde Bishop Mariann Budde 3/3
Continue reading...‘Let’s do this another way’: George Floyd’s brother calls for peace – video
George Floyd’s brother implores protesters to remain peaceful, urging people to go out and vote rather than turn to violence. ‘Stop thinking our voice don't matter, and vote,’ Terrence Floyd said, visiting the site of his brother’s death. ‘If I’m not over here wilding out, if I'm not over here blowing up stuff, if I'm not over here messing up my community, then what are y'all doing?’
Continue reading...Facebook employees hold virtual walkout over Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to act against Trump
- Workers dissatisfied with decision to not remove the president’s post
- An oversight board member is involved in a racist speech controversy
Facebook employees are staging a rebellion over Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to act against Donald Trump, expressing their dissatisfaction with their boss on social media in a rare public display of dissent and, in some cases, staging a “virtual” walkout.
Disagreement came from employees at all levels of the company, including some senior staff. Particular criticism was levelled at Zuckerberg’s personal decision to leave up the Facebook version of a tweet sent by Trump in which the president appeared to encourage police to shoot rioters. By contrast, Twitter hid the message behind a warning.
Continue reading...