With the start of summer comes seasonal drinks for kickbacks with friends and family while enjoying the weather. While COVID-19 restrictions may still be in effect as states ease to reopen, its still a time where you can enjoy your favorite summer drink either by yourself or with a companion. As you prepare your bar with your favorite wine and spirits, add a few Black-owned brands to your top shelf.
As the first Black-owned rose based out of St. Tropez, France, founder and CEO, Donae Burston wanted to created a wine that was more multicultural focus in its marketing materials. The fruity, eco-friendly rose wine is ideal for outdoor outings like picnics and festivals with friends on a beautiful day.
Cremas is a Haitian rum similar to coquito in Puerto Rico. Cremas Absalon brings the traditional drink to a larger audience with a twist: a cream liqueur with a taste that reminds you of an island vacation. The company also produces an ice cream made from the rum to enjoy during the summer.
Gin is another popular spirit that shows a lack of diversity in its field. The owners behind HH Bespoke Spirits used the inspiration of the Harlem Renaissance to bring their traditional London Dry style gin to a modern American audience.
Sangria is a staple at many brunches around the country, and California-based Bass Sangria is now bringing consumers and a new assortment of flavors for the summer. The brand is known for its fruit and herb combinations, including raspberry hibiscus.
Uncle Nearest is named after the country’s first Black master distiller, Nathan “Nearest” Green, who was believed to perfect the Lincoln Country Process that created Tennessee Whiskey. He is also the one who taught Jack Daniels how to distill his whiskey. The brand opened in 2019 in Tennessee to honor the African American whiskey maker.
Created by jazz pianist, Marcus Johnson, the founder’s love of music and wine find their way into a Sonoma wine that is the perfect red blend of merlot, zinfandel, and cabernet.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., the last of three one-time Ku Klux Klansmen convicted in a 1963 Alabama church bombing that killed four Black girls and was the deadliest single attack of the civil rights movement, died Friday in prison, officials said. He was 82.
Gov. Kay Ivey’s office said Blanton died of natural causes. He was being held at Donaldson prison near Birmingham, prison officials said.
In May 2001, Blanton was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Ivey, in a statement, called the bombing “a dark day that will never be forgotten in both Alabama’s history and that of our nation.”
This undated file photo shows Alabama inmate Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., a one-time Ku Klux Klansman convicted in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls in Birmingham, Ala. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File)
When asked by the judge during sentencing if he had any comment, Blanton said: “I guess the good Lord will settle it on judgment day.”
Sen. Doug Jones, who prosecuted Blanton, said the fact that Blanton remained free for almost 40 years after the bombing “speaks to a broader systemic failure to hold him and his accomplices accountable.”
“That he died at this moment, when the country is trying to reconcile the multi-generational failure to end systemic racism, seems fitting,” Jones said in a statement.
The church bombing, exposing the depths of hatred by white supremacists as Birmingham integrated its public schools, was a tipping point of the civil rights movement. Moderates could no longer remain silent and the fight to topple segregation laws gained new momentum.
The investigation into the bombing was stalled early and left dormant for long stretches, but two other ex-Klansmen, Robert Chambliss and Bobby Frank Cherry, also were convicted in the bombing in separate trials. Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and died in prison in 1985. Cherry was convicted in 2002 and died in prison in 2004.
On Sept. 15, 1963, a bomb ripped through an exterior wall of the brick church, killing four girls who were inside preparing for a youth program. The bodies of Denise McNair, 11, and Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, all 14, were found in the downstairs lounge.
Visitors look at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday, July 29, 2016. The church was the scene of a Ku Klux Klan bombing that killed four black girls in 1963. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
Collins’ sister, Sarah Collins Rudolph, survived the blast but lost her right eye and is known as the “fifth little girl.” Glass fragments remained in her chest, left eye and abdomen for decades after the explosion.
A parole hearing was scheduled next year for Blanton, and Rudolph and her husband planned to attend in opposition to his release, which was denied during a previous hearing.
“She hopes that he found Jesus Christ and repented,” George Rudolph said on behalf of his wife.
Lisa McNair, the sister of Denise McNair, said she also hoped Blanton had repented and added: “I wish I could have sat down with him to find out if he had had a change of heart.”
Blanton never admitted any role in the blast, but evidence showed he was part of a group of hard-core Klansmen who made a bomb and planted it on a Sunday morning.
During the trial, then-U.S. Attorney Jones, appointed as a special state prosecutor, said Blanton acted in response to months of civil rights demonstrations. The targeted church was a rallying point for protesters.
“Tom Blanton saw change and didn’t like it,” Jones said in the trial.
Sarah Collins Rudolph, who survived a racist church bombing that killed sister Addie Mae Collins and three other girls in 1963, stands with husband George Rudolph at the remains of a Confederate memorial that was removed in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
Blanton proclaimed his innocence years after being sent to prison. In a 2006 interview with Birmingham station WBRC-TV, he claimed the government used trumped-up evidence and lies to gain his conviction.
“I think I was cleverly set up by the government … and that’s why I’m here,” Blanton told the television station from prison. “I’m sorry it happened. Deeply sorry. But I’m not responsible for it.”
A 1993 meeting in Birmingham between FBI officials and Black ministers led to the reopening of the bombing case against Blanton and Cherry. The investigation remained quiet until 1997 when agents went to Texas to talk to Cherry.
A decade earlier, the U.S. Justice Department concluded that former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had blocked prosecution of Klansmen in the bombing.
____
Associated Press writer Daniel Yee in Atlanta contributed to this report.
In the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed and for some of us, participated in the fight against police brutality with the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tanisha Anderson, Sandra Bland and countless others.
The Black Lives Matter movement has been re-energized and has taken collective action through protest and demands for policy changes related to police reform and accountability.
The changes that have taken place in the last month has been nothing short of extraordinary. We’ve witnessed symbolic shifts in almost every social institutional setting imaginable: sports (i.e. Bubba Smith and the removal of the confederate flag in any affiliation with NASCAR), politically (the removal of Confederate Generals) from the halls of Congress, business implementing policies supporting Black commemorative holidays such as Juneteenth with the denouncing of egregious long-existing policies such as racial comments in the work i.e. LinkedIn and racist comments made during an internal corporate Zoom call.
Black Lives Matter protesters rally at Westlake Park before marching through the downtown area on June 14, 2020 in Seattle, United States. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
June is LGBTQ Pride Month. While we don’t want to overshadow the issues this country is facing regarding systematic racism and white supremacy, police brutality, and a slow erosion of our democracy itself by the nation’s leader, we should be reminded that the fight against police brutality and toward Black liberation must include Black LGBTQ persons of color.
I’m not suggesting that our Black LGBTQ family is excluded from the fight or cause. We should fully embrace the struggles of the Black LGBTQ movement as an arm of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Your liberation as Black people relies on the liberation of people, including our gay, lesbian and transgender brothers and sisters.
Black Lives Matter and Gay Liberation flags are waved at the annual Pride Parade on Sunday, June 29, 2019 in New York, NY. (Photo by Erin Lefevre/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Black LGBT people have been engaged and integral to every struggle for Black liberation through American history. However, in moments like these, our voices are often muted or ignored, both as champions of freedom and as victims of oppression by both the larger dominant culture and the Black community itself.
Black LGBTQ leaders have led the charge in some of the most powerful social movements for liberation that has taken place in our nation. The Stonewall Riots was sparked as a result of the fiery rebellion of Black Trans persons who were fed up with being harassed by police officers but goes largely unrecognized when the story of the uprising is told.A movie was released a few years ago that bombed due to its lack of a true depiction of the events that occurred (thanks Black Twitter!).
Bayard Rustin was one of the chief architects of the March on Washington in 1963. His efforts, however, were overshadowed by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who Rustin advised should be the face of the March. Not because he was more talented (Rustin was known as brilliant and an extraordinary community organizer), yet the specter of heteronormativity and homophobia placed Rustin in the background of the movement.
(Getty Images)
James Baldwin was instrumental in educating Americans about the immutable position white supremacy placed on Blacks and Whites. Additionally,Baldwin was integral to the civil rights movement, participating in protests in the South and using his pen as a weapon for liberation against White supremacy and homophobia.
He served as an intellectual emissary to the literary, intellectual, and social movement leaders of his time including Medgar Evers, Malcolm X (they often had spirited debates), Dr. King and author Lorraine Hansberry. His groundbreaking “Giovanni’s Room” was revolutionary at the time because of its sheer raw prose regarding homosexuality and living as a gay man in the closet.
American author James Baldwin (1924 – 1987) during an interview at the Whitehall Hotel in Bloomsbury Square, London. (Photo by Jenkins/Getty Images)
Audre Lorde was an intellectual pioneer in the third wave of feminism with her literary works greatly contributing to the growth of Black feminist thought and queer theory. She set the stage for contemporary leaders such as Laverne Cox and Janet Mock. And let’s not forget local leaders, such as Dr. Ron Simmons, a former Howard Professor, and founding member of Us Helping Us, a DC-based HIV prevention organization serving the Black community for over 30 years.
Ron Simmons (Photo: Todd Franson / Courtesy Metro Weekly)
Dr. Simmons passed away this year, but how many of us are aware of the quiet, important work that he’s done in Washington and the country toward the goal of ending the HIV epidemic in the Black community?
These were some of the greatest Black minds of the Twentieth Century and their work paved the way for leadership today and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Just imagine how many others that we’ve left out of the movements because of homophobia and transphobia.
As we protest in the street over the lives lost and affected by police brutality, let us not forget our Trans brothers and sisters. For far too long trans men and women have been brutalized in the hands of police officers and (and citizens) with little or no recourse to address violence towards them.
According tothe Human Rights Campaign, 2020 has already seen 14 transgender and non-conforming people murdered, the majority of whom were Black trans women. Two recent deaths because of violence toward Trans people include Riah Milton and Dominique Fells, both Black Trans women and Tony McDade, a Black Trans man, who was brutally shot and killed by police officers in Tallahassee, Florida.
Last Sunday, thousands protested outside of the Brooklyn Museum, in New York to express solidarity with the Black Trans community — our community! In 2013, James Dixon murdered Islan Nettles, a young Black Trans woman, in my own neighborhood of Harlem.
The amount of talent and lives we’ve lost from the Black LGBTQ community does not escape me in our efforts to end police brutality and reform policing. As we combat brutality and celebrate Pride month, let’s commemorate the lives of those we’ve lost due to police brutality and the lives that we may potentially lose or throw away because of ignorance.
Dr. Sheldon Applewhite is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. His work focuses on Black same-gender-loving couples and resilience and his recent research on COVID-19 and Culture in the Black community. He can be reached on Twitter at @DrSApplewhite
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The mother of J. Alexander Kueng wants the public to know that her son, who was charged for his role in the death of George Floyd while in police custody, joined the police force to address the tension between police and Black communities.
Joni Kueng, who raised J. Alexander as a single mother, told The New York Times that J. Alexander, 26, was inspired to diversify the Minneapolis police ranks to root out racial disparities and brutality in policing that he has witnessed in his lifetime.
He sought to change the flawed system from the inside.
“He said, ‘Don’t you think that that needs to be done from the inside?'” Joni Kueng said detailing her son’s motive to become an officer in the wake of past high-profile incidents of police violence against Black people.
“That’s part of the reason why he wanted to become a police officer — and a
Black police officer on top of it — is to bridge that gap in the community, change the narrative between the officers and the black community.”
J. Alexander Kueng, who is half-white and half-Nigerian, was a rookie on his third shift when that fateful interaction between Floyd and four officers took place about a month ago.
Joni Kueng, who is White, also adopted four Black children. Her adoptive daughter, Radiance Kueng, 21, told The Times that her mother never discussed race with her kids and that it was a detriment to their lives.
A man holds a picture of George Floyd during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 18, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
“Race was not really a topic in our household, unfortunately,” she said. “For her adopting as many Black kids as she did — I didn’t get that conversation from her. I feel like that should have been a conversation that was had.”
Two of J. Alexander Kueng’s siblings, Radiance Kueng and Taylor Kueng, 21, both called for the arrests of all the officers involved in Floyd’s killing. The two also went out to protest in Minneapolis.
Radiance Kueng said that her brother should have intervened as Floyd screamed multiple times that he could not breathe, The Times reports. She is also considering changing her last name.
“I don’t care if it was his third day at work or not,” she said in a Facebook post. “He knows right from wrong.”
J. Alexander Kueng is currently charged with aiding and abetting in murder for his part in Floyd’s death. He and another officer held a handcuffed Floyd to the ground a third officer, Derek Chauvin, put his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds until his death.
All four cops involved have been fired and charged. Chauvin faces the most serious charges, including for second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Kueng was released on $750,000 bail last week and his relationships have suffered.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted approvingly of a video showing one of his supporters chanting “white power,” a racist slogan associated with white supremacists.
The video appeared to have been taken at The Villages, a Florida retirement community, and showed dueling demonstrations between Trump supporters and opponents.
“Thank you to the great people of The Villages,” Trump tweeted. Moments into the video clip he shared, a man driving a golf cart displaying pro-Trump signs and flags shouts ’white power.” The video also shows anti-Trump protesters shouting “Nazi,” “racist,” and profanities at the Trump backers.
Trump tweeted a video of a supporter chanting “white power.”
Donald Trump is a flat out racist. His campaigns have been racist. His presidency has been racist.
Any person of any race who supports Trump’s white supremacy should be ashamed of themselves. pic.twitter.com/jn154U83is
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) June 27, 2020
“There’s no question″ that Trump should not have retweeted the video and “he should just take it down,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told CNN’s “State of the Union.” Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate.
The president’s decision to highlight a video featuring a racist slogan comes amid a national reckoning over race following the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans. Floyd, a Black Minneapolis man, died after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes.
Protests against police brutality and bias in law enforcement have occurred across the country following Floyd’s death and there has also been a push to remove Confederate monuments, an effort Trump has opposed.
Trump’s tenure in office has appeared to have emboldened white supremacist and nationalist groups, some of whom have embraced his presidency. In 2017, Trump responded to clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white nationalists and counter-protesters by saying there were “very fine people on both sides.”
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Trump’s decision to share the video.
Another day, another hit television show takes down an episode featuring blackface in its compendium.
Disney-ABC Domestic Television was the latest company to do so after the distribution company asked Hulu to pull an episode of The Golden Girls from the streaming platform that featured a scene of two White characters in blackface. The show, which aired between 1985 and 1992 on NBC, is centered on four older women who live together in Miami and relive their golden years.
Hulu, which is majority-owned by Disney, cut the episode titled “Mixed Feelings.” The scene in question, which aired in 1988, comes from episode 23 of The Golden Girls‘ third season, according to Deadline.
The storyline found the families of Michael (Scott Jacoby) and Lorraine (Rosalind Cash), an older Black woman, trying to break up a wedding that the couple was planning. Dorothy (Beatrice Arthur), Michael’s mother, objects to the marriage because of the age gap and Lorraine’s mother objects because she wants her daughter to marry a White man.
In one scene of the episode, there’s a bit in which Rose (Betty White) and Blanche (Rue McClanahan) appear in front of Lorraine and her family in blackface after they both applied mud facials.
“This is mud on our faces, we’re not really Black,” they said.
This episode removal is the latest of what seems to be a mass scramble to purge images of blackface and limit the depiction of racial tropes on video streaming services. Four episodes of NBC’s 30 Rock containing scenes of White actors in blackface were be pulled by NBCUniversal, at the request of show actress and writer Tiny Fey and co-showrunner Robert Carlock.
Greg Daniels, creator of The Office that aired on NBC, had a scene from a 2012 episode of the mockumentary sitcom cut for depicting a character in blackface. He said he is “sorry for the pain that [he has] caused.” In addition, an episode of Community, which also aired on NBC, that featured actor Ken Jeong wearing blackface was removed from both Hulu and Netflix.
The issue of White actors and public figures wearing blackface has been particularly contentious as of late. Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon came under fire when a 20-year-old Saturday Night Live sketch of him wearing blackface during a Chris Rock impersonation resurfaced on social media.
Fallon would later apologize for the incident via his Twitter page, saying “I’m very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.”
In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface. There is no excuse for this.
I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.
Fellow late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, of ABC‘s Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel, also apologized for an old skit of him wearing blackface while doing a Karl Malone impression on Comedy Central‘s The Man Show.
“There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke,” Kimmel said in a statement obtained by CNN.
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TikTok announcedearlier this week that it is launching the Summer Songwriting Academy, a program to help students with less access to resources find the words and the platform to express the experiences and the inequalities of their communities.
Talented musicians have organically been using the social platform to share songs that have a positive impact on people in their community. TikTok states that it is committed to amplifying that impact and has made an agreement to partner with the nonprofitAfter-School All-Stars, as well as with music publisher Sony/ATV and Syracuse University’s Bandier Program to launch the inaugural Songwriting Academy.
According to the press release, “The Songwriting Academy allows All-Stars students the chance to showcase their unique voice and perspective through the creation of original lyrics honed with the mentoring and coaching of industry experts. Students will work through a curriculum designed by The Bandier Program that will cover music theory, use of technology, and the business of the music industry.”
“To celebrate the Songwriting Academy, we’ve invited notable friends from our music community to share their personal success stories: Timbaland, Jozzy, Tiagz, Jack Harlow, JetsonMade, DJ Dahi, Ilsey Juber, Tainy, Anitta, Melanie Martinez and Mikey Keenan.”
According to Rolling Stone, Danny Gillick, TikTok’s senior manager of music content and label partnerships, came up with the idea after working with After-School All-Stars on COVID emergency food programs.
“We set out to build a program to give students from underrepresented communities the opportunity to be heard and to connect with like-minded individuals in the creative community,” Gillick said in a statement.
The program, which started on June 24, will allow artists to go LIVE each week for the next four weeks to share their content based on stories and their creative processes around some of their biggest recordings. In-app, TikTok will feature the hashtag #BehindTheSong on its Discover page for the music community to share their talent and creativity.
“Music has a rich history in speaking out against injustice and speaking up for the rights and freedoms of all people,” said After-School All-Stars Executive Vice President of Programs Carlos Santini in a statement.
“Our after-school programs sit in the very cities that have experienced the inequities brought by COVID-19 and the ongoing racism that has yet again been exposed through police brutality and the death of George Floyd and many others in the Black community. Our collective voice will be heard in a bigger way because of this amazing collaboration.”
To view and experience the live streams, viewers can tap the TikTok Summer Songwriting Academy banner in TikTok’s Discover page or go to@afterschoolallstars on TikTok.
Something in milk ain’t clean, as old Southerners used to say.
America is enduring yet another racial crisis. The recent murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks taking place during a global pandemic has people of all races united in protest. However, not everyone at the recent protests is on the side of Black people. Others were starting fires, damaging public property, working against the protests, and scapegoating Black people in the process. These actions are doing a huge disservice, only furthering the demonization of Black America.
White Ninjas
Jonathan Douglass, a rising writer, actor, and opera singer from Brooklyn, New York called these kinds of people “Ninjas.” In the context of white people, he calls them “White Ninjas.”
“White Ninjas have other agendas to accomplish and using the Black Lives Matter movement as a means to stoke chaos. For them, it’s about asserting dominance, and essentially co-opting a movement meant to elevate Black people, but instead, turning it into a disheveled mess. They are committed to performing ally theater for their own selfish benefit; are almost always undercover cops, or even feds, and often look like a bargain bin Fred Durst. These people are the most dangerous because they move like shadows in the larger swarm of cops, and pretend to be against them when we can clearly see their god–n bullet-proof vests.” They have been the bane of the existence of most, if not, all race riots since the turn of the 20th century.”
I have a theory that isn’t based on any real scientific evidence but is wholly based on the knowledge I have of Black people. During riots, Black people will loot. The looting process is part of the survival for those genuinely in need, and also a place where opportunism thrives. My good friend and cohort of the Adultish podcast, Afiya Augustine, spoke with me about the three stages of the looting process for Black people:
There are the looters taking goods for immediate use in their own homes;
There are the looters taking items to sell so that they can make money to survive;
And there are the looters who are there to take whatever they can get their hands simply because the opportunity has presented itself. Like an opportunistic infection, they see a way to take advantage of a situation and go for it.
Usually, Black people do not set fire to public property at the outset of public outcry. That is not our initial answer to inflicted injustices upon our people. I won’t attest that we have not engaged in such behavior in the past, but it isn’t Black America’s immediate form of protest. However, that is definitely something White Americans do. New York Magazine published several examples of “white people rioting for no reason,” and none of these are in response to systemic issues.
The Ways White Ninjas Move
Wesley Somers, a 25-year-old white man from Nashville, Tennessee, was arrested on charges of felony arson, vandalism, and disorderly conduct for setting fire to Nashville’s Historic Courthouse.
There is no way to decipher what this young man’s motives were for vandalizing a courthouse. Perhaps, he did this in protest. Maybe he was giving the middle finger to the justice system because it was created to work against Black people. Or, he was one of many angry people taking advantage of the current social unrest to “blow off a little steam.”
When the media initially brought attention to the vandalization of the courthouse, the images they showed were of Black people protesting peacefully. Thankfully, several people took photos of him setting the fire, reported it in response to the false media narrative, resulting in his arrest. Thank goodness for smartphone cameras.
These “allies” were caught spray-painting Black Lives Matter (BLM) onto the side of a Starbucks. The protesters who caught them had words with them about their actions.
(Twitter screenshot)
And who can forget the woman in the wheelchair during the Target looting, “Jennifer.”
“Jennifer’s” contribution to the social unrest created opportunities for her actions to be manipulated. Conservative media outlets focused on “Jennifer” covered in foam after she was violently doused with a fire extinguisher.
However, later in the video, you’ll find that Jennifer had a sharp object, shown in the photo above, and stabbed several protesters as she attempted to protect Target. This Target in Minneapolis refused entry to peaceful protesters whose eyes were burning from tear gas fired by the police. The refusal set in motion what led to the weaponization of the fire extinguisher. A White man perpetrated the fire extinguisher attack, but it isn’t easily seen in the circulated videos.
Below, “Jennifer” gets up out of her wheelchair and is able to walk with no problem. Ask yourself, why would this seemingly disabled woman fake a disability?
Allies do not engage in ally theater. Black people should not have to deal with dissidents disempowering Black voices. If you aren’t here to follow Black people’s lead when it comes to matters affecting us, to listen to the nuances of systemic racism, and scapegoat Black people, then your allyship is not wanted or needed.
This editorial does not necessarily reflect the views and sentiments of BLACK ENTERPRISE.
A Black man and a Muslim woman, who are both attorneys, are looking at the possibility of serving 45 years to life in prison for vandalism according to The Huffington Post.
The daily protests, which are taking place worldwide, were put n motion after a video clip was shown of a Black man, George Floyd, being killed at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
Originally, two lower court judges allowed the defendants to be out on $250,000 bond on June 1. But the two defendants were sent back to the Metropolitan Detention Center a couple of days later after the government appealed.
According to a press release from The United States Attorney’s Office, Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., released this written statement.
“Amid largely peaceful demonstrations taking place on the night of May 29, 2020, these defendants allegedly hurled Molotov Cocktails at NYPD vehicles without regard for the potentially deadly consequences,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “Such criminal acts should never be confused with legitimate protest. Those who carry out attacks on NYPD Officers or vehicles are not protesters, they are criminals, and they will be treated as such.”
The seven-count indictments each charge the two attorneys with “the use of explosives, arson, use of explosives to commit a felony, arson conspiracy, use of a destructive device, civil disorder, and making or possessing a destructive device.”
The press release also details the case against Mattis and Rahman. It states that “an NYPD surveillance camera recorded Rahman tossing a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD vehicle parked near the 88th Precinct in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, then fleeing in a tan minivan. Police Officers pursued the minivan and arrested Rahman and Mattis, who was the vehicle’s driver. In the vehicle, the NYPD found several component items for Molotov Cocktails, including a lighter, a bottle filled with liquid suspected to be gasoline and toilet paper, additional bottles and toilet paper, and a gasoline canister.”
If convicted on all counts, the defendants face sentences of up to life imprisonment.
Black Lives Matter protests and calls to dismantle white supremacy ramped up in recent weeks following the killings of George Floyd,Breonna Taylor, and other black men and women by the hands of police. As a result, the rise in racial and social consciousness nationwide has pressured many corporate companies to confront their own racist past, including Uncle Ben’s, Aunt Jemima, and Cream of Wheat. But those aren’t the only brands getting a marketing makeover: Disney announced that it will redesign its Splash Mountain theme park attraction due to its problematic ties to racial stereotypes.
Walt Disney announced Thursday that Splash Mountain will be “completely reimagined,” reports CNN. Created in 1989, the popular log flume ride is based on the controversial 1946 film Song of the South, which has long been criticized for its racially insensitive portrayals of African Americans as well as its glorification of slavery and the antebellum South. The film is best known for the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1948. The notorious film, however, has been locked away in the Disney vault for decades.
The announcement comes as more than 20,000 people signed a petition on Change.org asking the company to change the ride’s theme from Song of the South to the 2009 animated film Princess and the Frog, which features Disney’s first Black princess Tiana.
“While the ride is considered a beloved classic, its history and storyline are steeped in extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes,” reads the petition. “There is a huge need for diversity in the parks and this could help fill that need.”
In response, Disney revealed that the new Splash Mountain concept will be inspired by Princess and the Frog. “It speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year,” said the company.
Disney added that the design for the new ride is underway.
“Tiana is a modern, courageous, and empowered woman, who pursues her dreams and never loses sight of what’s really important,” Disney said. “It’s a great story with a strong lead character, set against the backdrop of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou.”
While he did it for laughs, the footage brings into question the YouTuber’s sense of humor.
Smith popped on the scene in 2010 with her debut single, “Whip My Hair.” Backed not just by her parents Will and Jada Pinkett Smith but also ROC Nation head Jay-Z, the kid-friendly club banger was a hit out the gate. It brought a lot of attention to the pint-sized pre-teen and her fan base included tons of adults.
Dawson was one (or at least it seems).
In a skit, Dawson pretends to be sexually attracted to Smith in a six-second video. The internet comedian posted the gag and immediately received push back, being called disgusting by users disappointed by its inappropriateness.
Disgusting video found by @stre_ed where Shane Dawson pretends to masturbate over a poster of then 11 year old Willow Smith while sexualizing lyrics of her debut song. Truly depraved man. pic.twitter.com/e8WF9OX5Nl
Dawson is 12 years older than Will Smith‘s 19-year-old daughter. The age difference is alarming and speaks to one of the reasons the young girl dropped out of the industry. Even as a kid, she said she felt that all the attention she received was not good for her.
Willow has yet to publically comment on the video, but her and older brother, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jaden Smith, respectively, called him out.
SHANE DAWSON I AM DISGUSTED BY YOU. YOU SEXUALIZING AN 11 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO HAPPENS TO BE MY SISTER!!!!!! IS THE FURTHEST THING FROM FUNNY AND NOT OKAY IN THE SLIGHTEST BIT.
Jaden also called him out for doing Blackface “on the regular,” says the young people have to support content creators whose morals support Black people.
This Man Was Also Doing Black Face On The Regular. As The Youth We Need To Support Creators Who Support Us And Our Morals. This Is Not Okay.
Dawson issued a 20-minute apology video entitled, “Taking Accountability.”
The 31-year-old comedian says that he has made excuses for himself in the past. One way he has previously justified his actions was to say that he was only trying to be edgy and funny. Today, however, the YouTuber was more remorseful for his actions.
“I was at least 20 when I started YouTube, and I made the decision to play stereotypes of Black people, or Asian people, or Mexicans, or pretty much every race.”
“I made that decision. I said, ‘Oh this is funny,’ and I put that on the internet,” Dawson said, The New York Post reported. “Now, years later, I look back at that, and … when I say I hate that person, I mean it in the most intense way possible.”
Dawson claims he hated himself, an angry, closeted homosexual, for years.
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This is precisely why a group of educators is pushing to “dismantle systemic racism” in Georgia schools.
Last Friday, teachers of all kinds gathered to march on the golden dome of Georgia State’s capitol. Their demands seem simple; to ask the legislature to focus more resources on underserved children throughout the state.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Brittany O’Neal, a first-grade teacher, said that she thought of the “Kids’ Lives Matter” protest about two or three weeks ago. She then posted her idea on social media to gauge support for her brainchild.
There were many who were also concerned about students of color and leaped at the opportunity to organize real solutions to change how the education system is structured.
Claudine Miles, a former Atlanta charter school administrator turned educational consultant, worked with her to form a group called Civic Georgia and developed the concept of the Educators for Black Lives march.
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Despite the legislative session in Georgia ending and it being too late for elected officials to review their proposal, they did submit a list to be considered in the future.
The following are a list of demands from the Educators for Black Lives:
End “zero tolerance” discipline, and implement restorative justice.
Actively hire more Black teachers.
Mandate Black History and Ethnic Studies in K-12 curriculum with a social justice lens.
Fund more school counselors.
Invest in Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum & Training.
Redesign the school funding formula and while including stakeholder input (participatory budget).
Design well-rounded assessments instead of high-stakes testing.
Fund wrap-around service to support community needs (ie. food banks).
Students in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
The advocates hope to bring awareness of the issues outside of the General Assembly. They hope their message will convey from the school boards to Congress, The AJC reported.
“We really believe there is power here to start a movement,” Miles said.
The group is getting backed by other civil rights organizations, including Atlanta Coalition for Educational Equity, the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda, and the NAACP.
Attorney Gerald Griggs, a leader of the Atlanta NAACP, marched alongside protesters.
“The country is awakening to the issues of systemic racism,” he said.
Griggs is best known for representing one of the educators during the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, which involved teachers and principals in the Atlanta Public Schools district who allegedly cheated on state-administered standardized tests in 2009 and subsequently went on trial between 2014 and 2015.
The two-hour-long march started at 3 p.m. at the south of downtown of Rosa L. Burney Park on Windsor Street. They made stops outside the city jail, the headquarters for Atlanta Public Schools, the Georgia Department of Education, and Atlanta City Hall before they arrived at the Liberty Plaza across the street from the Georgia State Capitol.
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