June 2, 2020
Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter is speaking out on behalf of black families grieving the loss of a loved one killed at the hands of the police.
The hip-hop billionaire and Team ROC, the philanthropic arm of his entertainment and sports management company Roc Nation, partnered with activists, attorneys, and the families who lost someone to police violence to dedicate a full-page ad in several newspapers Tuesday in honor of George Floyd. Floyd died last week after being detained and killed by Minneapolis police.
The ad featured an extended quote from a speech made by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. It is captioned “in dedication to George Floyd. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd.”
“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right,” it reads. “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. So we’re going to stand up amid horses. We’re going to stand up right here, amid the billy-clubs. We’re going to stand up right here amid police dogs, if they have them. We’re going to stand up amid tear gas!”
The ad appeared in The New York Times, The Denver Post, The Chicago Tribune, The LA Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Orlando Sentinel, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among other papers.
In addition to Carter, signees of the ad include the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Reform Alliance, Angela Rye, Charlamagne Tha God, and Eboni K. Williams. The parents of Botham Jean, DJ Henry, and Antwon Rose II—three unarmed black men killed by police officers—also signed the letter.
According to a press release sent to BLACK ENTERPRISE, Team ROC plans to run another ad in Wednesday’s newspapers.
Last week, Carter called on Minneapolis Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute all of the officers involved in the killing of Floyd to the “fullest extent of the law,” reports Billboard. The rap superstar also spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in pursuit of justice for Floyd.
June 2, 2020
On Monday, hundreds of people gathered in front of City Hall in San Francisco to hear from Mayor London Breed, community leader Amos Brown, District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, artist Jamie Foxx, and other leaders in the community. Just a day after over 1,000 people peacefully protested in the streets, Breed organized a Kneel-In rally in support of black lives. Many of the leaders shared remarks that moved the crowd. But many were blown away by Mayor Breed as she made it a point to not mince her words.
Since being elected mayor of San Francisco, Breed has garnered the support of many as the first black woman to hold the position in the history of the city. As a woman who grew up in public housing in the western section of San Francisco, Breed is familiar with the plight of the overlooked black community in the city from housing disparities to the wealth gap. And of course, police brutality. In 2006, Breed’s cousin was killed by a San Francisco police officer. And as black America cries out for the end of white supremacy and more value to be placed on black lives, Mayor Breed has been vocal about being sick and tired of being sick and tired.
ABC 7 News reported and shared the video from Kneel-In with Breed and it has since caught the attention of many.
Related: London Breed’s Victory is an Ode to San Francisco’s Invisible Black Population [Opinion]
During the rally, Breed told the crowd, “Don’t get it twisted, I am the mayor, but I’m a black woman first.”
When addressing the crowd, she opened with, “My heart has been heavy. Yes, I’m the mayor, but I’m a black woman first. I’m a black woman first. I grew up in this city. I grew up not too far from here in public housing. I never thought I’d be mayor. I never thought I’d be in any situation to push for change. The reason why I got involved in public office in the first place had everything to do with wanting to make sure that I’m the norm and not the exception,” said Breed.
To allies, she said, “I appreciate all of you for being here. I appreciate those who care and are genuinely concerned. But I want to say one thing. Black Lives Matter is nobody’s joke. I’m tired of people treating it that way. I’m tired of people masking their racism in Black Lives Matter. It is not a joke.”
She went on to say, “It is not a joke. It is born out of pain. It is born out of racism that we are gonna fight against. It is born out of our struggle, our blood, sweat, and tears for all that we have struggled through in this country. Don’t get it twisted. It is not a joke.”
“So, for those of you who are genuine in this struggle, we thank you and we welcome you. But for those of you who are using this movement as a way to push violence, to go after other black people, to tear us down, we will not tolerate that,” she exclaimed.”
She concluded her time on the steps of City Hall saying, “Don’t get it twisted. I am the mayor, but I’m a black woman first. I am angry. I am hurt. I am frustrated. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don’t want to see one more black man die at the hands of law enforcement. That’s what this movement is about,” she then led the crowd in the chant, “Not one more.”
Mayor Breed sentiments are shared with leaders and people around the world.
June 2, 2020
CNN host Don Lemon wasted little time blasting President Donald Trump following his Rose Garden address to the nation Sunday while military police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful protesters.
According to The Daily Beast, Lemon immediately grasped the severity of Trump’s words as they reflected many of the dictators the U.S. has helped defeat throughout history.
“This was a made for television moment,” Lemon said. “Open your eyes, America. Open your eyes. We are teetering on a dictatorship. This is chaos.”
“Is the president declaring war on Americans?” Lemon, who hosts CNN Tonight asked. “What is happening here? He’s saying he wants to protect peaceful protesters at the same time sending law enforcement and military into the streets to push peaceful protesters back, to be aggressive with peaceful protesters. He is doing the exact opposite of what he said in that speech.”
Lemon described the feelings of many of the protesters Sunday night, saying “There are a lot of Americans who are out on these streets who are upset, who are frustrated, who are angry.”
The CNN host also stressed he does not condone violence at any level and hopes that the protests remain peaceful. On Sunday, President Trump said if the protests continue he would invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807. The Act gives the president the power to deploy military troops within the United States in particular circumstances while suppressing civil disorder, insurrection, and rebellion qualify under the Act.
“Now, the entire country, according to his orders, we are living under a militarized country or we will be soon and it will play out in front of our very eyes on national television,” Lemon said Sunday night.
President Trump has been supporting violence to clamp down on the protests since last week. Last Saturday, Twitter added a warning label to one of Trump’s tweets for inciting violence.
June 2, 2020
A beloved black restaurant owner in Louisville, Kentucky, has been killed by police officers on Monday as they were enforcing a mandated curfew, according to The Guardian.
A wave of protests over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police officers as well as a previous recent police shooting in Kentucky’s largest city has caused people to take to the streets in protest.
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Steve Conrad, the police chief of Louisville, was fired on Monday when the mayor found out that police officers involved in the shooting that killed David McAtee did not activate the body cameras. McAtee was a well-known member of the community and the owner of a popular barbecue spot who was known for offering free meals to police officers.
“This type of institutional failure will not be tolerated,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Accordingly, I have relieved Steve Conrad of his duties.”
McAtee, who was the owner of YaYa’s BBQ in western Louisville, was been shot and killed early Monday morning after police officers and soldiers from the National Guard opened fire on protestors.
According to Louisville Police Chief Steve Conrad, the incident took place around 12:15 a.m. in the parking lot of Dino’s Food Mart, which is located about one block from YaYa’s BBQ. Conrad claims someone shot at the crowd, and then law enforcement returned fire, killing McAtee. The identities of the alleged gunman and the law enforcement officers who returned fire have not been released.
“At this point in the investigation, we do not know who shot [McAtee],” Louisville’s new police chief, Rob Schroeder, said at a press briefing, according to BuzzFeed News. “We do not know if it was related to a separate incident or if it was due to shots by our officers by the national guard soldiers. We’re working diligently to work what happened.”
Schroeder said that the two officers who fired their weapons violated policy by “either not wearing or not activating their body cameras.”
“This is completely unacceptable,” Schroeder said, adding that there will be disciplinary measures for the officers who violated the policy.
Schroeder said that McAtee was friendly to police officers. “Over the years he’s been a good friend to the police officers … frequently making sure our officers had a good meal on their shifts,” he said.
McAtee’s mother, Odessa Riley, said to The Courier-Journal: “My son was a good son. All he did on that barbecue corner is try to make a dollar for himself and his family, and they come along and they killed my son.”
June 2, 2020
Where’s the beef?
The country is in turmoil with the economy failing, coronavirus lingering, and national protests against racism and police brutality. And now, amid reports of an owner of a Wendy’s franchise donating almost half a million dollars to President Donald Trump, social media users are expressing outrage using the #WendysIsOverParty hashtag.
According to Business Insider, Wendy’s fast-food restaurant is facing backlash after it was revealed that a franchisee donated more than $440,0000 to Trump. Last month, the White House announced that Muy Cos. CEO James Bodenstedt would be participating in a proposed roundtable with the president on the restaurant industry’s recovery.
The company Bodenstedt runs, Muy Cos., owns and operates hundreds of Wendy’s, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut locations across the country. This distinction makes Bodenstedt the first fast-food franchisee to publicly advise the White House on how to help the restaurant industry recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Business Insider previously reported that Bodenstedt had donated more than $440,000 to the president’s reelection campaign. He has most recently donated $200,000 to the Trump Victory PAC in March.
Earlier today, the hashtag #WendysIsOverParty was trending on Twitter.
So, Wendy’s is donating huge sums of money to the 45* campaign. Since the only good thing on their menu is the frosty, here’s the recipe.#WendysIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/t2xvIykUtT
— FlowState Photography (@FlowState_Photo) June 2, 2020
RIP Wendy’s 4 for 4
I will miss you #WendysIsOverParty @Wendys pic.twitter.com/rRo9YJlukU— (@daniloo_pr) June 2, 2020
Finding out Wendy’s CEO donated to trump be like #WendysIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/leBNTnYBuJ
— Sarcasm & Irony (@SarcandIron) June 2, 2020
So I guess no more 4for4 meals now that Wendys is a disappointment #wendys #wendysisoverparty pic.twitter.com/0EEqSh7frs
— that person (@canyou_no) June 2, 2020
Yall wildin over 400k? Wendys chairman helped Trump raise 10 million dollars and donated 6 million to the Republican party while pandering a McDonald’s diss tracks to black and brown people added with some clever tweets. #WendysIsOverParty https://t.co/uf525WjddJ
— Monnie The Commie (@BlackBernieBabe) June 2, 2020
#WendysIsOverParty Wendy’s PR when they checked Twitter this morning….. pic.twitter.com/1qZA0G09qk
— Giselle Ann (@GiselleAnnxx) June 2, 2020
WELP. That’s that on that, friends. You won’t catch me here no more. On to McDonald’s. #WendysIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/IjUi1HWdkU
— Ren (@price_ren) June 2, 2020
There’s always Five Guys and so far none of them are racist! #WendysisoverParty pic.twitter.com/jmHd9cv0H6
— Thomi Johnson (@JohnsonThomi) June 2, 2020
June 2, 2020
A black female police officer is receiving praise on social media for berating a white male officer after pushing a black woman protesting on her knees.
According to Distractify, the situation occurred Sunday near a parking garage in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Officer Steven Pohorence was walking through a crowd of protesters when an African American woman dropped to her knees in front of him.
Pohorence grabbed the woman by the back of her head and shoved her head forward as he walked by. The female police officer, identified as Krystle Smith, immediately begins screaming at Pohorence and shoves him past several police officers.
The protest, which was largely peaceful until then, turned as protesters began throwing bottles and other debris at the police.
Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione praised Smith for her actions in deescalating the situation.
“She did what you are supposed to do: When you see either adrenaline or emotion or some kind of interaction going south … that is our job to do, is intervene,” Maglione told reporters Monday. The Fort Lauderdale police declined to make Smith available for an interview.
Social media also praised Smith. Twitter user @illest_A tweeted “This is what society is asking for!!! For the GOOD COPS to speak up and hold the bad apples in the system accountable for their dirty ass actions!!!!”
According to various news reports Monday, Pohorence has been suspended with pay pending an investigation.
Incidents of police attacking protesters have only added fuel to the fire while politicians and city employees choose sides.
In New York City, two NYPD vans drove into protesters trying to force them to move out of their way. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the officer’s actions Sunday.
“It is inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers,” he said in a press briefing. “That’s wrong on its face and that hasn’t happened in the history of protests in this city.”
The night before, a New York City bus driver refused to drive arrested protesters to jail. TWU local 100, which represents bus drivers in the city, released a statement Friday saying drivers can and should refuse to drive arrested protesters.
Former President Barack Obama has also weighed in on the protests and the killing of George Floyd.
June 2, 2020
The viral video of a white woman named Amy Cooper caused a firestorm of controversy when she verbally charged at a black man named Christian Cooper in Central Park when he asked her to put her dog on its leash while he was bird watching. In her angry response, she calls the police stating that an African American man was threatening. The video incited public outcry and fury resulting in Cooper losing custody of her dog and her employment.
Over the weekend, an African American woman went on Instagram with the user @_brownsugarbaby recording a white woman named Svitlana Flom in a disturbing interaction where Flom is antagonizing her and threatening to call the police. According to the woman’s account in her Instagram caption, Flom approached her because she was disturbed by her presence in the area. She says she was simply sitting outside in their Upper West Side neighborhood on a bench in a public outdoor area. Guest of a Guest reports that Svitlana Flom is a well-to-do entrepreneur and socialite in New York City and the Hamptons.
In the video, the woman is with her husband attempting to walk away from the confrontation that lasted for just over an hour. Flom can be seen trying to call the police to the scene stating that “an African American woman is attacking me and my children.” The woman said there were others in the area that witnessed the ordeal but no one intervened. She shared the video of the ordeal on social media to warn others in light of other incidents that have been circulating this past week.
June 2, 2020
A white Ohama bar owner who shot and killed a 22-year-old protestor, will not be charged with the young black man’s killing, according to ABC’s KETV Omaha.
James Scurlock was shot and killed by Jacob Gardner, the owner of The Hive and Gatsby’s.
Nebraska Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said Monday that prosecutors in his office, homicide detectives, and everyone who reviewed all the evidence agreed that Gardner shot Scurlock in self-defense. “The actions of the bar owner were justified.”
Kleine revealed a video shot just before the shooting took place and then he showed a second clip of the actual shooting. He did so to thwart the misconception that the wrong information was spreading on social media.
Kleine stated that he understands the emotions and issues that are surrounding Scurlock’s death, but he has to focus on “justification for use of force.”
“You can’t use deadly force to protect property,” he told ABC’s KETV Omaha. “Deadly force can only be used if someone is in fear of their own life or serious bodily injury and they don’t feel like they can retreat safely. Even if they are mistaken, if their beliefs have a reasonable basis, it’s justifiable for them to use deadly force…that’s what the law is.”
Kleine said Gardner believed Scurlock was attempting to grab his weapon.
“It is a senseless death, a loss of a young man’s life, it shouldn’t have happened,” he said. “We know that emotions are running very high…this decision may not be popular and may cause more people to be upset. I would hope that they understand that we’re doing our job to the best of our ability and looking at the evidence and the law. And that’s all we can do. All right, that’s what the basis of this decision was it can’t be based on emotions, it can’t be based on anger, it can’t be based on any of those things. But I would hope that this great community that we live in, will be able to get through this.”
Kleine said there was a consensus among law enforcement that Gardner’s actions were justified. He expressed disappointment to see people calling the death “a cold-blooded murder.”
“That is not what we have here,” he said.
He is also asking for anyone who has other evidence or other witnesses to the incident to come forward.
“The other thing I would ask if there is any other evidence that people are aware of other videos. Other witnesses. Anything else that would guide us or help us in decision making process, we would still like that, to come forward because I’m going to talk to you about the decision we’ve made it based at this point in time,” he said.
Gov. Pete Ricketts said: “Don Kleine is a well-respected prosecutor in the law community both in Omaha and in the state. If Don Kleine doesn’t believe he can bring charges at this time, I believe him. Keep an open mind. We have to heal, and move on together.”
Nebraska State Sen. Justin Wayne, who is an attorney representing the Scurlock family, said he was disappointed by Kleine’s decision. He and the family are asking Kleine to turn the case over to a grand jury. Wayne feels charges could be filed against Gardner, such as manslaughter, a concealed carry permit violation, or firing a shot within city limits.
“This was a rush to judgment,” Wayne tells The Ohama World-Herald.
June 2, 2020
Over the years, people around the world have used social media as a megaphone to amplify their voices and deliver information to others in the palms of their hands. Therefore, one would think that using social media to promote grassroots and national movements like Black Lives Matter by using the popular hashtag would be helpful. But, activists are asking people to stop overusing the hashtag because important information is being hidden by the oversaturation of irrelevant posts added to the hashtag feed by users.
According to CNN, users and activists began to pinpoint the issue online yesterday.
It has come to my attention that many allies are using #BlackLivesMatter hashtag w black image on insta. We know that’s it no intent to harm but to be frank, this essentially does harm the message. We use hashtag to keep ppl updated. PLS stop using the hashtag for black images!! pic.twitter.com/eG2fPaybNW
— Kenidra4Humanity ~ BLACK LIVES MATTER ~ (@KenidraRWoods_) June 2, 2020
There are no rules on social media when it comes to using a hashtag, that is why activists are asking people to use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag responsibly.
To date, there are over 15.1 million posts tagged with the hashtag on Instagram. But when you scroll through the feed, many of the posts are black images with no resourceful information. There are also thousands, if not millions, of other images that are in no way associated with the movement tagged as well.
Related: Alicia Garza on the Importance of Self-Preservation for Black Leaders Amid COVID-19
my initial thought is it feels dangerous… because once you click on the blm hashtag you’re directed to an overflow of black images, instead of other more useful content people could look at for information. pic.twitter.com/QiaHPeoWGP
— A (@atothebed) June 2, 2020
The Black Lives Matter movement and hashtag are arguably one of the largest social movements led by young people since the Black Panther Party. And with social media as a powerful tool, it is important for leaders to be able to use platforms to accurately disseminate information.
As people continue to organize in support of justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless black people who have had their lives taken by police officers and vigilantes, people are taking a break to post to social media today in recognition of Black Out Tuesday.
June 2, 2020
The viral video showing a Minneapolis police officer suffocating an unarmed black named George Floyd by putting his knee into his neck has caused intense public scrutiny and has lead thousands around the country and the world to march in protest, calling for not only justice for Floyd but the many others that have also died from police brutality and other violent acts including Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Social media has been flooded with videos and images of protesters being assaulted by law enforcement officials and of looters breaking into local establishments. For one man living in Minneapolis, the protests led to his business being burned down but now the community is stepping in to make sure he doesn’t lose his livelihood.
Korboi Balla saved up for a long time to open his own sports bar. The former firefighter originally planned to open his bar in March but was delayed because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Balla was in the midst of preparing to open on June 1 after the state granted permission to bars and restaurants to open back up. On Friday morning, he woke up to shock when he found out that his bar had been burned down during the protest.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Balla told CBS News in tears according to the Daily Signal. “It hurts, man. It’s not fair, it’s not right. We’ve been working so hard for this place. It’s not just for me, it’s for my family.”
His wife, Twyana Balla, wrote about the incident on Facebook in fury about the damage caused by looters and the threat to their livelihood.
Balla decided to launch a GoFundMe campaign afterward to help raise funds to rebuild the bar. In less than 24 hours, the campaign reached over $160,000. The current total is now over $1 million.
