Arkansas Times (Arkansas)

Black students at UA call for removal of Fulbright statue; college name

“When we look around the world today, you raise a very fundamental question, the performance of this democracy the last 15 years raises very serious questions. But if you want to go into the fundamentals of the democratic system of one vote for everybody the same, without any qualifications, it deserves considerable discussion. I’m not sure with the development of television, and our system and the way we run it can survive.”

Austin Chronicle (Texas)

Marsha P. Johnson Memorial Rally and Candlelight Vigil

About 100 Austinites gathered at Pan Am Neighborhood Park on the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall riots (June 28, 2020) for a memorial rally and candlelight vigil – organized by Austin LGBT+ for Black Lives – in honor of Gay Liberation Front co-founder Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson (pictured: Black Queer Lives Matter ATX president Ms. Amazing Head, BQLM ATX board member Natalie Sanders aka Ms. Girl6 and non-binary and trans model/visual artists Franki Phoenix).

Chicago Reader (Illinois)

Most of the people arrested at the protests were Black  An analysis of 2,172 detainments raises questions about CPD claims of equitable policing practices

Between May 29 and 31, the Chicago Police Department made 2,172 arrests, according to public records released by the CPD. The Reader‘s analysis of these records shows that the vast majority of these arrests, over 70 percent, were of Black Chicagoans. Meanwhile, Chicago, as a city, is not majority Black, with just 32 percent of the city identifying as Black and 45 percent as white.

City Beat (Ohio)

Photos From Cincinnati’s George Floyd Protest Monday at the Hamilton County Courthouse

People of all ages and races stood facing the courthouse — most in masks, but not all six feet apart — where Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies stood in a line behind their riot shields. 

Cleveland Scene (Ohio)

Cleveland’s Rodney Brown Included in NYT History of “I Can’t Breathe” Deaths

Over the past decade, The New York Times found, at least 70 people have died in law enforcement custody after saying the same words — “I can’t breathe.” The dead ranged in age from 19 to 65. The majority of them had been stopped or held over nonviolent infractions, 911 calls about suspicious behavior, or concerns about their mental health. More than half were black.”

Creative Loafing (Florida)

Some participants skeptical after Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s policing task force opens on Saturday

On Saturday, June 20, at the first meeting of Mayor Castor’s Community Task Force on Policing, Castor—accompanied by Ashley Bauman, City of Tampa Director of Marketing and spokesperson for the mayor—attempted to eject this reporter from the River Center at Julian B. Lane Park. “You weren’t invited. Don’t make us kick you out of here,” Castor said. She was right, I wasn’t invited. The mayor and her staff hand-selected which community members could attend her discussion on policing, and they didn’t pick me. 

DigBoston (Massachusetts)

PHOTO FEATURE: FACES OF THE FRONT LINES

Keiko Hiromi has worked tirelessly these past couple of weeks, capturing images across the region. If something’s going down, she’s often on the scene—from late-night confrontations between protesters and cops, to vigils and rallies, to the scenes of community service and mutual aid in the background that are less often seen in mass media coverage.

Erie Reader (Pennsylvania)

Petition Calls for ‘Counselors Not Cops’ PA United pushes to end the Erie School District’s police contract

As a resident who funds the Erie School District’s budget, I want the entirety of the million dollars currently budgeted for policing in our public schools to be redirected to resources that will help to lift students up in their development rather than speed up the school-to-prison pipeline.  I am calling on you to: (1) Immediately terminate the annual contract between the Erie School District and the police force. (2) Reallocate the 1 million dollars previously allocated to policing schools to other school resources such as more counselors, more bluecoats, more school nurses, and a licensed therapist in each public school. 

Eugene Weekly (Oregon)

Slant (Editorial)

This is a critically important investigation that must be monitored by the leadership of our city, and a sobering reminder that people of color are putting themselves on the line as they march week after week. Black Lives Matter. Be an ally in deeds, not just words on Facebook.

Gambit Weekly (Louisiana)

A Saturday night protest continued the call to remove several New Orleans monuments

Upon his death, McDonogh willed $2 million to New Orleans and Baltimore to build public schools. An annual tradition developed to have students pay homage to McDonogh during racially segregated ceremonies at the Lafayette Square statue. In 1954, Black public school students and teachers boycotted the ceremony in one of the city’s first Civil Rights era protests.

Houston Press (Texas)

Turner Unveils Police Reform Task Force

Inlander (Washington)

With the knee-on-neck tactic under fire, Spokane law enforcement speak to needed changes in training

“If a suspect is combative or the knee on the shoulder is not working, an officer may go to the neck, to get control, but once they get control, they don’t sit on the neck for 8, 9 minutes like they did with George Floyd,” Gere says. “I’ve never seen that in 20 years. That’s why it shocked the conscience of everybody, not just the public, but law enforcement as well.”

Isthmus (Wisconsin)

Statues toppled, senator punched After arrest of Black activist, protests turn destructive

“Dylan. We know who you are and the Black leadership [of this protest] doesn’t want anyone to film,” said one of the protesters, who was white and wearing a mask and a hat. “We aren’t going to let you do it. We will stop you.” 

Jackson Free Press (Mississippi)

With a Pen Stroke, Mississippi Drops Confederate-Themed Flag

Among the small group of dignitaries witnessing the bill signing were Reuben Anderson, who was the first African American justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, serving from 1985 to 1991; Willie Simmons, a current state Transportation Commissioner who is the first African American elected to that job; and Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of civil rights icons Medgar and Myrlie Evers.

Lansing City Pulse (Michigan)

Invest in our community, not in our punishment

We, the people, will be empowered to decide for ourselves what we need, whether it is community watches to protect our neighbors from property crime, community mutual aid efforts to assist those in need, or transformative justice programs to truly stop the prison-to-prison cycle. The fact is, it does not make sense to structure our entire multi-million-dollar social safety apparatus around a relatively rare class of behaviors. As a city, we do not need to spend millions on police. Police do not stop crimes; they only respond to them (if they respond at all).

LEO Weekly (Kentucky)

Protesters demanded defunding the police, Mayor, City Council said: no

Protesters, mobilized by the law enforcement killings of Black people, have been calling for American cities to defund police departments for weeks. They got their wish, in varying degrees, in Minneapolis, Boston, Los Angeles and New York. They did not in Louisville. Last Thursday, Metro Council approved an operating budget that increased police funding from the year before, from $189.8 million to $190.5 million.

Nashville Scene (Tennessee)

Orlando Weekly (Florida)

A massive Black Lives Matter mural on Rosalind Avenue seemed like a positive step. But some in Orlando’s Black community would rather see systemic change

Overnight, graffiti saying “Abolish the police,” “Defund OPD” and “Not enough,” among other phrases, was spray-painted across the giant mural letters. While BLM murals in other cities including Cleveland, Charlotte, Eugene, Oregon and Montpelier, Vermont have also been defaced, those acts seemed to have been motivated by anti-BLM sentiment. In this case, it was a more nuanced criticism – an implication that the mural was a symbolic move, but nothing more.

Pittsburgh City Paper (Pennsylvania)

Protesters rally in Wilkinsburg for Romir Talley; demand names of officers involved in his shooting

“We don’t know anything and we need answers,” said Denson. “It’s been six months.”

Queen City Nerve (North Carolina)

Wheels for Equality Evolves From a Bike Squad That Wanted to Help

Now, as protests around Charlotte begin to taper off, Bike Squad founder Greg Martinez is asking what he and his crew can do to stay active in the movement. The immediate need for Bike Squad’s services — blocking roads and supplying protesters with food and water — is dwindling, but the fight for systemic change in a racist America is still very much alive.

Random Lengths News (California)

Hahn Wants County to Strengthen Non-Law Enforcement Crisis Response

Hahn’s motion instructs the Human Services Crisis Response Coordination Steering Committee to report back to the board in three months on the feasibility of:

• Establishing a unique number for non-law enforcement health and human services crisis responses;
• Reconfiguring 911 to more effectively triage calls involving health and human services crises to non-law enforcement first responders by default.

The Reader (Nebraska)

Nothing Else Matters If We Don’t Get This The most important thing we can do to save our future

We all have a lot to learn. One thing that would be different as public policy is to be very mindful of our power. The ability to share it, to give it away has actually delivered some of the best successes within the community. Generosity is the mark of our ambition. Believe innately in the homegrown individuals and organizations in the community, and allow for a model that doesn’t push what power thinks are the best solutions. Instead elevate the hopes and dreams of those long denied it.  And even though there have been and will be many stumbles, that’s part of the work too. Restore your belief and reflection with every misstep, regardless of the fault.

The River (New York)

What Does It Mean to Defund the Police? Every police reform that governments have tried has failed to address and correct what is toxic in American law-enforcement culture.

For those who interact with police most, then—Black people, indigenous people, Latinx people, the poor, and those protesting in accord with their constitutional rights—the call to defund police represents hope for survival, safety, and a better society.

Rochester City Newspaper (New York)

Siena Poll: white and Black New Yorkers divided over policing 

Of the Siena poll’s respondents, 65 percent were white, 15 percent were Black, and 11 percent were Latino. Roughly three-quarters of the participants had incomes over $50,000, and 38 percent had incomes exceeding $100,000.

Santa Fe Reporter (New Mexico)

Survey Says Latino Parents Fear Police Violence Some Hispanic and Latino New Mexicans use the video of George Floyd’s death as a way to talk to their children about racism, according to a survey by Latino Decisions

“The survey reveals that Hispanic families in New Mexico have a strong connection to the underlying issues driving this movement toward racial equality and the dismantling of structural racism,” reads an analysis of the survey. “New Mexico has a deep history with police brutality that culminated recently in the Department of Justice requiring the City of Albuquerque to reform the police force in the state’s largest city, following a report that found a majority of police-involved shootings they investigated were unconstitutional.”

SLO New Times (California)

SLO Police Department preparing ‘after action’ report on protests

Because the report is still in progress, the city has denied public records requests for all officer body camera footage, drone footage, and police reports related to the protests.

Volume One (Michigan)

Eau Claire City Leaders Speeding Up Timeline to Buy Police Body Cams

The city learned late last year that it would have to replace squad car and interview room cameras because the company that sold them will no longer support the technology after 2020, so it makes sense to replace those systems and buy body cameras all from the same vendor, City Manager Dale Peters said. If the City Council approves funding for the body cameras and related systems in the CIP, then the city would go ahead with a request for proposals from vendors. Once the equipment is purchased, it could be installed sometime in 2021, officials say. In addition to the cameras themselves, implementing body-worn cameras will require additional data storage and staff to manage that data, Peters added.

Washington City Paper (Washington, DC)

D.C. Council Moves to Cut Some Ties Between Police and Schools The education committee just passed a proposal to move the security guard contract from the police department to DC Public Schools. But advocates argue it’s “nowhere near enough.”

MPD was not always in charge of security in schools. The police department’s oversight of dozens of school resource officers and hundreds of contractual security guards happened over the last 15 years. 

BONUS

Cleveland Scene

‘Black Lives Matter is a Terrorist Organization’ — The Cleveland Police Union’s Ugly History With BLM

A week after, Scene asked Henton to reflect on the conversation. He had three main takeaways. First, that Delguyd was only doing his job as a rep for the union shop. Second, that the union agreed to be part of the conversation at all, and that the lawyer made the long-overdue gesture to open a dialogue, indicates just how powerful the groundswell of support for the Black Lives Matter movement has become.

“We go from the inflammatory talk that we would normally get from [Steve] Loomis or [Jeff] Follmer to him saying, ‘I’d love to talk to you.’ That means they’re nervous,” he said. “They’re seeing us for who we really are — as folks that are trying to advocate for necessary change. There’s legitimacy. And folks acknowledge the legitimacy of the protests. That’s a heck of a message.”

NYADENYA OGHENEVO FRANCIS INYAGWA

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Nyadenya is a photojournalist and reporter from Boston who enjoys writing and illustrating comics.

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