Joe Lockhart, the former executive vice president in charge of communications and government affairs for the NFL, dropped a bomb on the world. After witnessing the nation’s current unrest, and his conscious to get the best of him, he admitted that Colin Kaepernick’s activism is the reason why he is not on a team.
According to Lockhart, who now is a political analyst for CNN, “No teams wanted to sign a player — even one as talented as Kaepernick — whom they saw as controversial, and, therefore, bad for business.”
RIVERDALE, GA – NOVEMBER 16: Colin Kaepernick looks to make a pass during a private NFL workout held at Charles R Drew high school on November 16, 2019 in Riverdale, Georgia. Due to disagreements between Kaepernick and the NFL the location of the workout was abruptly changed. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
In his piece entitled, “Now is the moment to sign Colin Kaepernick,” he continues to confess what most of Black America has already known: Kap was a thorn in their pig-skinned sides.
Lockhart said that during his time in their public relations arm, league owners and executives were “consumed” worrying what to do about this big afro-wearing negro. The league executives tried to do right by Kap, but the owners would not budge.
Lockhart says, “The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, and other league executives tried to persuade the teams to change their minds. The league sent owners and players around the country to try to lead a dialogue on race relations and to move, as the sociologist and human rights activist Harry Edwards said, ‘from protest to progress.’ Though Kaepernick didn’t get his job back, I thought we had all done a righteous job, considering.”
After spending two years in the precarious position, he believed that of the many different fires he had to put out for the NFL this was the one that was the one that challenged him and his colleagues the most.
“But no issue challenged the league and its owners more than Kaepernick and his silent protest during the National Anthem. He started his protest in the preseason of 2016. In fact, the first time he did it no one even noted that he took a seat on the bench rather than stand.”
In fact, he said of his position throughout the debacle, as the voice for NFL, was wrong.
“I think the teams were wrong for not signing him. Watching what’s going on in Minnesota, I understand how badly wrong we were.”
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthyresponded to the article and stated, “Colin is a free agent. Clubs may sign him if they choose to do so.”
Kaepernick has not yet responded to these comments but he has set up a legal defense to help protestors in Minnesota hire representation.
In fighting for liberation there‘s always retaliation. We must protect our Freedom Fighters. We started a legal defense initiative to give legal representation to Freedom Fighters in Minneapolis paid for by @yourrightscamp
The death of George Floyd and subsequent protests are now being exploited by far-right extremists who are hoping for a “boogaloo” which is code for a civil war online.
Vice reported that far-right groups have begun showing up at the protests over Floyd’s murder, often with guns, with the intention of exploiting the anger. The desire is to exploit the combustible elements of Black Lives Matter demonstrating against police brutality into a “race war”.
Demonstrators clash with police during a protest in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Lafayette Square Park near the White House on May 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images).
In particular, the Boogaloo Bois — a group of armed anti-government extremists made visible by their Hawaiian shirts — have shown up to advance their own issues against the police. They are of the mindset that law enforcement is a brute force that has harmed the victims of Ruby Ridge in 1992 to most recently Floyd. However, they do not think Black people are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement.
Nonetheless, they have begun to post on social media about their desire to infiltrate Black Lives Matter for the purpose of mainstreaming their ideas for conflict and civil war. They often post about tactical gear, firearm purchases, weapons and war. Now their movement has seized upon Floyd’s death who died on Memorial Day after now-former police officer Derek Chauvin placed a knee on his neck.
The posted an “operation” on Instagram about how to conquer Minnesota which has been at the epicenter of protests.
“We must think smarter than them and have a strategic plan. It’s great seeing people that have come prepared within the area. Even the group of gentlemen in the second photo have shown that their hearts are in the right place even with little training, equipment, and planning. That may sound like a disaster if something were to arise, which it very well could, but it shows that people are willing to take a stand,” the post read.
The post further advocated for a structure to be built within the community. It was stressed that true believers were necessary.
“What needs to be done is for a modern day minutemen to be formed. This will ensure that if events like the ones we’re seeing occur again (which they will), there will be more structure and confidence in our voices.”
Other Neo Nazi’s such as accelerationists have been more brazen in their desire to see more Black deaths and using the current climate to accomplish it. They want to speed up the end of society and “exacerbating the ethnic tensions” will do that.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has decried the “chaos,” claiming only 20% of Minnesotans were taking part in these demonstrations. The rest, he said, were provocateurs from out of state.
“The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd, it is about attacking civil society, instilling fear, and disrupting our great cities,” he said Saturday.
“As you saw this expand across the United States, and you start to see whether it be domestic terrorism, whether it be ideological extremists to fan the group, or whether it be international destabilization of how our country works.”
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Governors in several states called in National Guard troops as protests over repeated police killings of black men grew Saturday from New York to Tulsa to Los Angeles, where police fired rubber bullets to scatter crowds and at least one police car burned.
The protests, which began in Minneapolis following Monday’s death of George Floyd after a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, have left parts of that city a grid of broken windows, burned-out buildings and ransacked stores. But the demonstrations have since become a national phenomenon, as protesters decry years of deaths at police hands.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District, the site of a 1921 massacre of black people that left as many as 300 dead and the city’s thriving black district in ruins, protesters blocked intersections and chanted the name of Terence Crutcher, a black man killed by a police officer in 2016. Other peaceful protests were being held in California, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
In Tulsa and Wilmington, Delaware, protesters made their way onto nearby interstates and shut them down temporarily. In Tallahassee, Florida, a pickup truck drove through a crowd of protesters, sending some running and screaming as the vehicle stopped and started and at one point had a person on its hood, police said, but no serious injuries were reported.
In Columbia, South Carolina, a television reporter for WIS-TV was injured by rocks thrown Saturday amid protests outside the Columbia Police Department. Several hundred people participated in the demonstration, tearing down the American and state flags in front of the police department’s headquarters. They also swarmed a Columbia police car, breaking its windows, The State reported.
In Los Angeles protesters chanted “Black Lives Matter,” some within inches of the face shields of officers. Police used batons to move protesters back and shot rubber bullets to scatter the crowd. One man used a skateboard to attempt to break the windshield of a police SUV. A spray painted police car burned in the streets.
In Minneapolis, 29-year-old Sam Allkija, said at Saturday’s protest that the destruction that has accompanied protests is a sign of the frustration and rage the black community has felt for a long time.
“I don’t condone them,” he said. “But you have to look deeper into why these riots are happening.”
COLUMBUS, USA – MAY 30 : Protesters rally outside the state house on the fourth straight day of protests against the death of an unarmed black man who was killed as he was pinned down by a white Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer in Columbus, Ohio, United States on May 30, 2020. (Photo by Megan Jelinger/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz fully mobilized the state’s National Guard and promised a massive show of force to help quell unrest that has grown increasingly destructive.
“The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd,” Walz said. “It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities.”
After a tumultuous Friday night, racially diverse crowds took to the streets again for mostly peaceful protests in dozens of cities. The previous day’s protests, too, had started calmly — in cities from New York to Oakland, California, from Atlanta to Portland, Oregon — before many descended into violence. The massive crowds involved, with many people not wearing masks or practicing social distancing, raised concerns among health experts about the potential for the spread of the coronavirus.
Hundreds of people were arrested Friday, and police used batons, rubber bullets and pepper spray to push back crowds in some cities. Many departments reported officers were injured, while social media was awash in images of police using forceful tactics, throwing protesters to the ground, using bicycles as shields, and trampling a protester while on horseback.
This week’s unrest recalled the riots in Los Angeles nearly 30 years ago after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat Rodney King, a black motorist who had led them on a high-speed chase. The protests of Floyd’s killing have gripped many more cities, but the losses in Minneapolis have yet to approach the staggering totals in Los Angeles. During the five days of rioting in 1992, more than 60 died, 2,000-plus were injured and thousands arrested, with property damage topping $1 billion.
Many protesters spoke of frustration that Floyd’s death was one more in a litany. It comes in the wake of the killing in Georgia of Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot after being pursued by two white men while running in their neighborhood, and in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic that has thrown millions out of work, killed more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and disproportionately affected black people.
On Friday, the officer who held his knee to Floyd’s neck was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — but that appeared to provide little balm. Many protesters are demanding the arrests of the three other officers involved.
Comments from President Donald Trump stoked the anger, when he fired off a series of tweets criticizing Minnesota’s response, ridiculing people who protested outside the White House and warning that if protesters breached the fence, “they would … have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.”
Leaders in many affected cities have voiced outrage over Floyd’s killing and offered sympathy for those who were protesting — but as unrest intensified, many spoke of the desperate need to protect their cities and said they would call in reinforcements, despite concerns that could lead to more heavy handed tactics.
The unrest prompted responses across the globe. A top Vatican cardinal, Peter Turkson who is from Ghana, urged pastors in the United States to plead for calm, while U.S. national soccer player Weston McKennie wore an armband referencing Floyd’s death while playing for Schalke in Germany’s Bundesliga.
Minnesota has steadily increased the number of National Guardsmen it says it needs to contain the unrest, and has now called up 1,700. The governor is also considering a potential offer of military police, which the Pentagon put on alert.
Governors in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Texas activated the National Guard after protests there turned violent overnight, while nighttime curfews were put in place in Portland, Oregon, and Cincinnati.
A person was killed in downtown Detroit just before midnight after someone fired shots into an SUV near the Greektown entertainment district, police said. Police had initially said someone fired into the crowd from an SUV. And police in St. Louis were investigating the death of a protester who had climbed between two trailers of a Fed Ex truck and was killed when it drove away.
Atlanta saw some of the most extreme unrest. While crews in that city worked to clean up glass and debris from rioting the night before, a large electronic billboard on Saturday morning still carried the message, “If you love Atlanta PLEASE GO HOME,” echoing the mayor’s pleas.
National Guard members blocked anyone from approaching heavily damaged buildings, including the College Football Hall of Fame and nearby restaurants.
Video posted to social media showed New York City officers using batons and shoving protesters down as they took people into custody and cleared streets. One video showed on officer slam a woman to the ground as he walked past her in the street.
Underscoring that Floyd’s killing is part of a pattern, the names of black people killed by police, including Eric Garner, who died on Staten Island in 2014, were on signs and in chants.
“Our country has a sickness. We have to be out here,” said Brianna Petrisko, among those at lower Manhattan’s Foley Square, where most were wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. “This is the only way we’re going to be heard.”
___
Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.
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Injustice and discrimination tend to be described in binary terms: good vs. evil, female vs. male, Black vs. White.
However, at one of the at least twenty anti-police violence demonstrations held across the country on Thursday, an act of alliance disrupted that line of thinking by showing White bodies on the line to protect Black lives.
In an image captured by photographer Tim Druck, scores of White women in Lousiville lined up arm-in-arm to form a human shield separating the Louisville Metro Police from protestors expressing their angst about the murder of Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black people at the hands of the police).
Breonna Taylor is pictured in an undated photo. (Credit: Instagram/@keyanna.guifarro)
Taylor was fatally shot by police as they barged in her home in March with a no-knock warrant and killed her while she was laying in her bed. The police were wrong about not only the suspect but also the apartment that they entered.
Using their bodies as sacrificial lambs, they offered up their White privilege for the safety of Black men, women, and children.
The photo went viral as it dismisses a divisive narrative that people of different races can’t get along. More poignantly, that white women like Amy Cooper, have no respect for Blackness if it does not serve them.
“This is a line of white people forming a barrier between Black protesters and the police. This is love. This is what you do with your privilege,” the post states.
According to Druck, Chanelle Helm, who is the lead organizer for Black Lives Matter Louisville, told the Courier Journal that the White protesters used a bullhorn and said, “If you are going to be here, you should defend this space.” After the command, they instructed those present to form the line facing police at 6th and Jefferson streets.
“She was asking for white folks to use their privilege, and put their bodies between police and the other demonstrators,” Druck said. “And people responded. They didn’t, they didn’t need to be convinced. Everybody willingly and enthusiastically did it.”
Minnesota residents are on clean up duty after nights of protest which have often turned violent over the death of George Floyd.
FOX 9 reported that those who live in St. Paul and Minneapolis are using the weekend to clean up after days of protest and looting that led to destruction in properties. In one instance, O’Reilly Auto Parts was set on fire by a crowd. A Wells Fargo branch and a Family Dollar store were also destroyed. Earlier in the week, a police precinct in Minneapolis was taken over and torched.
A protester takes a knee in front of San Jose Police officers during a protest on East Santa Clara Street in San Jose, Calif., on May 29, 2020, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Photo by Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)
“We all live in fear,” a local auto shop owner, who chose not to be identified said.
The owner learned from a friend that his business had gone up in flames. He does not know if he’ll be able to open back up again.
An ARMY of volunteers in Minneapolis helping neighbors clean up business damage. “Bring a broom” they were told. What a sight. pic.twitter.com/OjzXpEXCLk
It is just incredible to see so many people here this morning helping to clean up. So many of them tell me they saw what was happening last night and just felt called to come help today. Amazing Minnesota. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/Mxk7DLFN3b
Citizens did their part by heeding the call to help, standing in line to help by either cleaning up the damage and donating food and essentials to those in need and depleted supermarkets.
Gov. Tim Walz activated the National Guard in response to the mayhem. He criticized those who were now exploiting the Floyd tragedy on Saturday.
Minneapolis has been in unrest since Monday when video showed now-former police officer Derek Chauvin was shown on tape placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, and kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for 2 minutes 43 seconds after he lost consciousness and pleaded for help. Prosecutors allege that Chauvin used excessive force as police first encountered Floyd as part of an investigation about the unarmed 46-year-old possibly using a counterfeit $20 bill.
What the media won’t show in Minneapolis. Free food, water and resources.
Protests followed Floyd’s death but Chauvin’s arrest did not stop the protest, especially since the other officers involved have not been held accountable. In the view of Walz, he believed that the demand for justice had now been hijacked by agitators.
“The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd, it is about attacking civil society, instilling fear, and disrupting our great cities,” he said.
“As you saw this expand across the United States, and you start to see whether it be domestic terrorism, whether it be ideological extremists to fan the group, or whether it be international destabilization of how our country works.”
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As Minneapolis burns over the police killing of George Floyd and shock and disappointment in Africa grow, some U.S. embassies on the continent have taken the unusual step of issuing critical statements, saying no one is above the law.
The statements came as the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemned the “murder” of Floyd and said Friday the continental body rejects the “continuing discriminatory practices against black citizens of the USA.”
Floyd, a handcuffed black man, died after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.
Africa has not seen the kind of protests over Floyd’s killing that have erupted across the United States, but many Africans have expressed disgust and dismay, openly wondering when the U.S. will ever get it right.
“WTF? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’?” tweeted political cartoonist Patrick Gathara in Kenya, which has its own troubles with police brutality. He, like many, was aghast at the tweet by President Donald Trump, flagged by Twitter as violating rules against “glorifying violence,” that the president later said had been misconstrued.
Mindful of America’s image on a continent where China’s influence has grown and where many have felt a distinct lack of interest from the Trump administration in Africa, some U.S. diplomats have tried to control the damage.
The ambassador to Congo, Mike Hammer, highlighted a tweet from a local media entrepreneur who addressed him saying, “Dear ambassador, your country is shameful. Proud America, which went through everything from segregation to the election of Barack Obama, still hasn’t conquered the demons of racism. How many black people must be killed by white police officers before authorities react seriously?”
The ambassador’s response, in French: “I am profoundly troubled by the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Justice Department is conducting a full criminal investigation as a top priority. Security forces around the world should be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
Similar statements were tweeted by the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Uganda, while the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya tweeted a joint statement from the Department of Justice office in Minnesota on the investigation.
At the time, the U.S. was quick to join in, with the embassy in Beijing issuing a critical security alert titled “Discrimination against African-Americans in Guangzhou” and noting actions against people thought to be African or have African contacts.
Now the Africa-facing version of the state-run China Daily newspaper is tweeting footage from Minneapolis with the hashtags #GeorgeFloydWasMurdered and #BlackLivesMatter.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Shouting “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe,” several hundred people converged on the White House for a second straight day Saturday to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and President Donald Trump’s response.
Trump, who earlier belittled the protesters, pledged to “stop mob violence.”
“I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace, and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack and menace,” the president said in Florida after watching the launch of a SpaceX rocket. “Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos are the missions at hand.”
At Lafayette Park, across from the White House, three lines of barricades separated protesters from a loose line of uniformed police officers. At one point, the protesters left the park, chanting as they marched up a nearby street. A block from the White House, they held a moment of silence and brief sit-in.
In a series of tweets earlier Saturday, Trump doubted their allegiance to Floyd’s memory, saying they were “professionally managed.” He offered no evidence to back his assertion, and the president even seemed to invite supporters to make their presence felt: “Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???”
Trump later rejected the suggestion that he was stoking a potential conflict between protesters and his supporters. “I was just asking. But I have no idea if they are going to be here,” he said. “MAGA is Make America Great Again. By the way, they love African American people. They love black people.”
At Saturday’s demonstration, there was no evidence of a counter-move by Trump supporters.
Trump said he had “watched every move” from inside the executive mansion during Friday’s protest and “couldn’t have felt more safe” as the Secret Service let the protesters carry on, “but whenever someone … got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on then, hard — didn’t know what hit them.”
The president also criticized the mayors of Washington and Minneapolis.
Trump said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey “is probably a very good person, but he’s a radical, left mayor.” He then described how he watched as a police station in the city was overrun. “For that police station to be abandoned and taken over, I’ve never seen anything so horrible and stupid in my life,” Trump said when speaking briefly to reporters at the White House.
He said Minnesota officials have to get tougher with rioters, and that by doing so they would be honoring the memory of Floyd.
The Secret Service said in a statement Saturday that six protesters were arrested in Washington and “multiple” officers were injured. There were no details on the charges or nature of the injuries. A spokesman for U.S. Park Police said their officers made no arrests, but several suffered minor injuries and one was taken to a hospital after being struck in the helmet by a projectile.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Saturday called the protesters “criminals” who committed “acts of violence while hiding behind their First Amendment right of lawful protest.”
Wolf said the Secret Service was “evolving and adapting to the changing nature of the threats they face.”
Floyd is the black man who was being held in handcuffs when he died Monday in Minneapolis after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. Protests have erupted in U.S. cities in the days since.
As he tweeted, Trump claimed that many Secret Service agents were “just waiting for action” and ready to unleash “the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.” His reference to “vicious dogs” potentially being sicced on protesters revisits images from the civil rights movement when marchers faced snarling police dogs and high-pressure fire hoses.
In a news conference Saturday afternoon, Muriel Bowser, mayor of the nation’s capital, called Trump’s remark’s “gross” and said the reference to attack dogs conjures up with the worst memories of the nation’s fight against segregation.
“I call upon our city and our nation to exercise restraint, great restraint, even as the president tries to divide us,” she said. “I feel like these comments are an attack on humanity, an attack on black America, and they make my city less safe.”
In contrast with the president’s tweets, the Secret Service said it “respects the right to assemble and we ask that individuals do so peacefully for the safety of all.”
In protests that stretched into the early hours Saturday, people hurled pieces of bricks, bottles and other objects at Secret Service and Park Police officers who were in riot gear behind barricades around the White House. Protesters at times kicked and punched officers and wrestled over the barricades.
The crowd of hundreds chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Say his name: George Floyd.”
As some in the crowd grew more aggressive, police deployed pepper spray to keep them back and maintain a perimeter of officers around the White House. Fellow demonstrators came to the aid of protesters who were sprayed, their eyes red and puffy, offering bottles of milk and water to splash on their faces.
By the end of the night, the protesters had stolen about 15 barricades and left police to form a line of officers holding riot shields to keep back the swelling crowd. At one point, the protesters were able to gain control of an officer’s shield and set it ablaze before trying to toss it back at the line of officers. Police used a smoke device to stop them.
The protest went on for hours before police declared the gathering “unlawful” and ordered everyone to leave Lafayette Square, a seven-acre public park located directly north of the White House. Dozens of officers pushed forward with their shields and fired off streams of pepper spray at protesters.
“Out of the park or you will be sprayed,” an officer shouted at the crowd.
___
AP video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.
Another video offering a different vantage point of George Floyd‘s final moments has emerged.
As reported by NBC News, the short recording, taken from an alternate angle of a widely circulated video capturing the 46-year-old’s brutal encounter with Minneapolis police, shows three officers pinning down Floyd, not just one.
The additional footage shows Derek Chauvin, the former cop now facing murder charges, pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck as two other officers restrained him to the pavement with their hands and knees on his back.
Floyd can be heard crying and pleading repeatedly: “My face is gone. I can’t breathe, man, please. Please, let me stand.”
The footage was taken from across the street before onlookers gathered around the scene outside a Cup Foods store to protest Floyd’s treatment.
While four officers were present during the May 25 incident, the original video clip only shows Chauvin, 44, kneeling on Floyd’s neck. Chauvin sat in that position for at least 8 minutes, even after Floyd became unresponsive.
All four officers were fired by Minneapolis Police Department the day after when the initial video circulated the internet. At this time, Chauvin is the only participant to be arrested. He was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday.
Multiple days of demonstrations have sprouted in Minneapolis and in big cities across the nation. Minneapolis’ 3rd precinct set afire Thursday, according to Fox 9.
Protesters are outraged about Floyd’s death and the lack of arrests made prior to May 29.
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The Morehouse College alum delivered words of motivation and inspiration to 200 HBCU students at the Culture Creators‘ virtual C2 Summit earlier this month. The four-day summit, which was held May 18–21, was designed to enrich graduates by highlighting the achievements of diverse professionals in entertainment. The digital experience included panel discussions, one-on-one interviews, speed mentoring, culture chats, and a pitch competition. Students were also granted access to job recruiters and seasoned influencers with various backgrounds in business, entertainment, technology, finance, and lifestyle.
“Your biggest hater you have to worry about is yourself. I was my biggest hater—still am for the most part,” said Pamon during a virtual keynote. “You start thinking about what could go wrong, when the truth of the matter is, the best predictor of future behavior is what? Past performance. Nobody invited to this Zoom has a continued history of messing up.”
He also warned students not to compare themselves to others, which can leave them feeling discouraged. “We use the wrong measurements to judge our success,” said Pamon, who oversees all aspects of Parkwood Entertainment, Parkwood Touring, and Parkwood Ventures. Pamon was responsible for managing the launch of Beyonce’s athleisure line, IVY Park, as well as the entertainer’s brand partnerships with WTRMLN WTR, Global Citizen, and Chime For Change.
Other speakers at the C2 Summit included chairwoman and COO of Atlantic Records Julie Greenwald; Sports Agent (CAA) Carlos Fleming; Motown General Manager, Marc Byers; Miami Dolphins Marketing Executive Marques Jackson, and Nickelodeon Human Resources Exec Courtney Oliver.
Founded in 2015, Culture Creators celebrates black culture across music, television, film, visual arts, fashion, sports, tech, and entrepreneurship. The organization focuses on education and digital content and aims to educate, inspire, and empower millennials and Gen Z.
The fallout from Derek Chauvin’s alleged murder of George Floyd continues.
After finally being arrested and charged, his wife has now filed for divorce from the former Minneapolis police officer, according to her lawyer.
As reported by CBS Minnesota, Kellie Chauvin, is seeking divorce from her husband in the aftermath of Floyd’s death, which took place on Memorial Day when Derek Chauvin drove his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes.
A statement about Kellie Chauvin’s decision was offered by Sekula Law Offices.
“She is devastated by Mr. Floyd’s death and her utmost sympathy lies with his family, with his loved ones and with everyone who is grieving this tragedy,” the statement said. “She has filed for dissolution of her marriage to Derek Chauvin.”
“While Ms. Chauvin has no children from her current marriage, she respectfully requests that her children, her elder parents, and her extended family be given safety and privacy during this difficult time,” according to the statement.
Derek Chauvin's wife, Kellie Chauvin, announced she has filed for divorce. Says she is "devastated" at the death of #GeorgeFloydpic.twitter.com/RXNsE80Qnh
— Unheard Voices Magazine (@unheardvoices) May 30, 2020
Derek Chauvin was arrested Friday, four days after the incident took place. Floyd’s death was caught on camera and has incited multiple days of protests and civil unrest across the country.
MinnesotaDepartment of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said it took time to gather enough evidence to make an arrest.
“We have now been able to put together the evidence that we need. Even as late as yesterday afternoon, we did not have all that we needed,” he explained. “This is by far the fastest that we’ve ever charged a police officer.”
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency early Saturday to activate the state National Guard as violence flared in Atlanta and cities nationwide following the death in Minnesota of George Floyd after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck while taking him into custody.
Another 500 Guard soldiers were mobilized in and around Minneapolis, where Floyd died and an officer faced charges Friday in his death. But after another night of watching fires burn and businesses ransacked, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said early Saturday that he was moving to activate more than 1,000 more and was considering federal help.
The Guard was also on standby in the District of Columbia, where a crowd grew outside the White House and chanted curses at President Donald Trump. Some protesters tried to push through barriers set up by the U.S. Secret Service along Pennsylvania Avenue, and threw bottles and other objects at officers wearing riot gear, who responded with pepper spray.
The police have been getting extremely aggressive in front of the White House. I took a nasty blow to the head as these cop started throwing punches at DC residents and the journalists covering their protest of the execution of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/VLw8TnSWCu
A person was killed in downtown Detroit just before midnight after someone in an SUV fired shots into a crowd of protesters near the Greektown entertainment district, police said. In Portland, Oregon, protesters broke into police headquarters and authorities said they lit a fire inside. In Virginia’s capital, a police cruiser was set on fire outside Richmond police headquarters, and a city transit spokeswoman said a bus set ablaze was “a total loss,” news outlets reported.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted that up to 500 members of the Guard would deploy immediately “to protect people & property in Atlanta.” He said he acted at the request of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who earlier appealed in vain for calm.
At the request of Mayor @KeishaBottoms & in consultation with public safety & emergency preparedness officials, I have issued a State of Emergency for Fulton County to activate as many as 500 @GeorgiaGuard troops to protect people & property in Atlanta. (1/2)
In scenes both peaceful and violent across the nation, thousands of protesters chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Say his name. George Floyd.” They hoisted signs reading: “He said I can’t breathe. Justice for George.”
Some demonstrators smashed police cars and spray-painted the iconic logo sign at CNN headquarters in downtown Atlanta. At least three officers were hurt and there were multiple arrests, Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos said, as protesters shot at officers with BB guns and threw bricks, bottles and knives.
Atlanta officials said crews were unable to reach a fire at Del Frisco’s restaurant in the Buckhead neighborhood several miles north because of protesters there.
“This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” Bottoms said. “You are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country.”
"If you care about this city then go home." Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was visibly angry at a news conference during the Atlanta protests on Friday https://t.co/RyApQwICJxpic.twitter.com/3sPHG4t474
Bottoms was flanked by King’s daughter, Bernice King, and rappers T.I. and Killer Mike.
“We have to be better than burning down our own homes. Because if we lose Atlanta what have we got?” said Killer Mike, crying as he spoke.
Video posted to social media showed New York City officers using batons and shoving protesters down as they took people into custody and cleared streets. One video showed on officer slam a woman to the ground as he walked past her in the street.
According to reports the officer who assaulted this young woman is Vincent J. D’Andraia of the 73rd Precinct.
His brutality of Black people is well documented all over Brownsville, and condoned by #NYPD Commander Craig Eldelman, who is in the white shirt. pic.twitter.com/qzg0jzDKRa
— Obama is a Republican (@mlkradical) May 30, 2020
Demonstrators rocked a police van, set it ablaze, scrawled graffiti across its charred body and set it aflame again as officers retreated. Blocks away, protesters used a club to batter another police vehicle.
“There will be a full review of what happened tonight,” Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, referring to the Brooklyn protest. “We don’t ever want to see another night like this.”
The police department said numerous officers were injured, including one whose tooth was knocked out.
The names of Black people killed by police, including Floyd and Eric Garner, who died on Staten Island in 2014, were on signs and in chants.
“Our country has a sickness. We have to be out here,” said Brianna Petrisko, among those at lower Manhattan’s Foley Square, where most were wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. “This is the only way we’re going to be heard.”
Protesters in Houston, where Floyd grew up, included 19-year-old Jimmy Ohaz from the nearby city of Richmond, Texas: “My question is how many more, how many more? I just want to live in a future where we all live in harmony and we’re not oppressed.”
Demonstrators on the West Coast blocked highways in Los Angeles and Oakland, California.
About 1,000 protesters in Oakland smashed windows, sprayed buildings with “Kill Cops” graffiti and were met with chemical spray from police, who said several officers were injured by projectiles.
— Jackie #BlackLivesMatter (@ohhellojackie) May 30, 2020
One Los Angeles officer received medical treatment, police said. An LAPD vehicle had its windows smashed, and at least one city bus was vandalized. Police declared an unlawful assembly throughout downtown, where aerial footage from KTLA-TV showed scored of people corralled by police.
An LAPD spokesman told The Associated Press they were still tallying arrests.
“I believe in our city. L.A. is strong enough to stand for justice and walk in love,” Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted, cautioning “violence and vandalism hurts all.”
San Jose, California, police said that Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies shot at a fleeing SUV that was shown on video striking protesters, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Protesters repeatedly clashed with police in San Jose, said Mayor Sam Liccardo, and police responded with flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets. One officer was hospitalized with a non-life-threatening injury, officials said.
Liccardo said his city’s officers shared the community’s outrage over Floyd’s death.
“It was a horrible injustice,” he told the AP.
Portland, Oregon, police said at least one shooting was tied to the protest, although details weren’t immediately released. Two people were arrested during overnight riots in which protesters set fires throughout downtown and smashed storefront windows, police said, but arrest details were immediately available.
Police, who declared the protest a riot, said they deployed gas after people threw projectiles at them.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler tweeted a plea to protesters to remain peaceful and said that, while he had left Portland to attend to his dying mother, he was heading back.
“Portland, this is not us,” he wrote. “When you destroy our city, you are destroying our community. When you act in violence against each other, you are hurting all of us. How does this honor the legacy of George Floyd?”
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Ezinma, the classically-trained violinist who became a viral sensation after her video covers of trap music went viral, is sharing her gift of music with inner-city students.
Affectionately known as “Classical Bae,” the 29-year-old Nebraska native developed a love for the violin at the age of four after being assigned to create a homemade version of the instrument by a teacher. She told Complex last year that she then became obsessed with playing the violin.
“I just begged my parents to play. I did not stop,” she said. “Finally, they gave in and rented this little violin, and I ended up really taking to it and loving it.”
As a young adult, Ezinma moved to New York and graduated from the Mannes School of Music and gained notoriety for fusing classical music and hip hop. She had her breakthrough moment in 2017 when her cover of Future’s “Mask Off” went viral as part of the rapper’s #MaskOffChallenge. She even caught the eye of Beyonce and traveled with the megastar on her Formation World Tour.
In addition to working with Queen Bey and performing at Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden, Ezinma became one of the faces of Essentia latest campaign, encouraging people to “do that ‘thing’ they really want to do.”
Now, Ezinma is sharing the lessons and tools she learned during her journey with young people of color. During quarantine, the musician joined forces with Re-Create, which provides educational programming during after school hours for New York City Public School students between kindergarten and 5th grade, reports Fox 32 Chicago. According to a press release, spearheaded lessons like “How To Make a Violin At Home,” “How to Make a Foot Chart,” and “My First Violin Lesson” for students attending PS 9, PS 166, and PS 84.
Ezinma also partnered with Wide Open School to tell the history of Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous piece “Symphony No. 5 in C# Minor,” which is famously known as “Beethoven’s Fifth.”
Moving forward, Essentia says the violinist will lend her support to their commitment to After-School All-Stars, an organization that dedicated to uplifting underserved communities.
Furthermore, Ezinma is gearing up for the launch of her nonprofit foundation, HeartStrings, a music-based youth development program for children K-5 of diverse backgrounds, later this year, says Essentia. The HeartStrings Academy will equip each student with a quality instrument, music instruction, and community engagement activities along with access to world-renowned concerts and performance. Her goal is to help children of color get more exposure and access to classical music.
“Being somebody who is not white or Asian in the classical space is difficult,” she told Complex. “I never saw another black person playing the violin until I was 15 or 16. Anything that veers from [what’s traditional] feels disrespectful in [the classical] world.”
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