State Senator Julia Salazar
Click here for the report.
Source: The Appeal
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
NYC Curfew Extended Through Sunday
700 Arrested as ‘Packs’ of Looting Youth Defy Order
Click here for the report.
Source: NBC News 4 New York
Monday, June 1, 2020
Statement from David N. Dinkins, 106th Mayor, City of New York
We continue to find ourselves living in desperate times as our nation is ravaged by COVID-19 and reignited racial tensions by the horrific killing of George Floyd. I am deeply saddened and outraged by the violent death of this young man at the hands of four police officers in Minneapolis.
The violence that has erupted in our city and across our nation is also a source of heartbreak. Peaceful protest and vocal dissent against injustice are rights that every American can claim. However, violence and destruction are counter-productive to our cause. Simply put:
Black Lives Must Matter To Everyone.
We all must continue to invoke the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery. . . Amadou Diallo, and so, so many others, with a heavy heart and the weighted reverence their lives deserve. We must continue to demand true justice.
Let us all stand together, with raised voices, on the march toward justice in the non-violent vision Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr held for all of us.
Trump Says He Will Deploy Military If State Officials Can't Contain Protest Violence
NBC News: To do so, the president would need to invoke the Insurrection Act that allows U.S. troops to be deployed domestically.
Click here for the report.
George Floyd Death Ruled a Homicide by Medical Examiner
NBC News: The report’s release came hours after pathologists hired by Floyds’ family concluded that he died after blood and air flow was cut off to his brain.
Click here for the report.
'Keep Your Mouth Shut,' Police Chief Responds to Trump
CNN: Houston police chief Art Acevedo responds to President Trump telling governors to "dominate" protesters.
Mehdi Hasan and Ilhan Omar on Police Brutality and the Murder of George Floyd
The Intercept’s Mehdi Hasan speaks with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar about
systemic racism, the militarized police response to protests in
Minneapolis — which is in Omar’s district — and what real justice looks
like for George Floyd’s family and black and brown communities across
the country.
Curfew in New York City Takes Effect at 11 PM Tonight
Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced a citywide curfew in New York City will take effect beginning at 11 p.m. tonight and will be lifted at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning.
The Governor and the Mayor also announced that the New York City Police Department will double its police presence to help prevent violence and property damage. The additional officers will be deployed to areas where violence and property damage occurred during last night's protests - specifically in lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn.
The Governor and the Mayor also reminded New Yorkers participating in protests to take proper health precautions and wear face coverings while we continue to fight the COVID-19 virus.
"I stand behind the protestors and their message, but unfortunately there are people who are looking to distract and discredit this moment," Governor Cuomo said. "The violence and the looting has been bad for the city, the state and this entire national movement, undermining and distracting from this righteous cause. While we encourage people to protest peacefully and make their voices heard, the safety of the general public is paramount and cannot be compromised. Tonight the Mayor and I are implementing a citywide curfew starting at 11 PM and doubling the NYPD presence across the city."
"I support and protect peaceful protest in this city. The demonstrations we've seen have been generally peaceful. We can't let violence undermine the message of this moment. It is too important and the message must be heard. Tonight, to protect against violence and property damage, the Governor and I have decided to implement a citywide curfew," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "The Police Commissioner and I have spoken at length about the incidents we've all seen in recent days where officers didn't uphold the values of this city or the NYPD. We agree on the need for swift action. He will speak later today on how officers will be held accountable."
Source: The Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
National Urban League CEO: George Floyd 'Did Not Deserve to Die'
NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Provides Assessment
WHO Addresses Trump's Funding Withdrawal, Ebola Outbreak in DRC
Global News: World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the world has long benefited from the contribution of the government and the people of the U.S. towards global health and “it’s WHO’s wish for it to continue.”
This comes after u.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on Friday to "cut all ties" with WHO amid disagreements on their handling of the pandemic.
Tedros also addressed the recent Ebloa outbreak declared in the city of Mbandaka in Westren Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after another complex Ebola outbreak in Eastren DRC, which seems to be in its final phase.
Trudeau Addresses Anti-Black Racism, Including His Own History of Racist Makeup
Global News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government has invested millions of dollars to combat racism in Canada, but acknowledges the status quo is unacceptable and more needs to be done.
COVID-19 Protection for Protesters
From The G-Man urges all those protesting to do so respectfully and safely.
New York Public Library President Issues Special Message
The following statement was submitted by Anthony W. Marx, President of the New York Public Library.
This is an unprecedented moment in our history; we all feel it. The
pandemic continues to be deeply challenging for everyone, and tragic for
too many. Now, the horrifying death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and
the protests that have followed are weighing heavily on all our minds.
COVID-19 has magnified and exposed our most deeply embedded failings and
fault lines. We stand with the Black community, our hearts aching for a
country so divided by racial injustice, arrogance, and hatred. It’s
hard not to be sad, not to be angry, and to remain hopeful.
In the face of cruelty, fear, and anxiety, we need to search for what we can still hold on to, what we can still believe in. We can all be proud that the mission of the Library—to educate, welcome and respect all perspectives, convene safe and productive conversations, and offer opportunity to all—directly combats divisiveness, ignorance, hate, and racism. It is and remains our founding idea: that everyone can learn and contribute, and must be respected. And in learning about others we learn about ourselves and hopefully find ways to live together, to embrace and better understand each other.
Our varied backgrounds and experiences within our city and society are our greatest source of strength: bringing new ideas and perspectives, teaching empathy, and shining a light on how we falter. But not if we close our eyes and ears to the lessons of diversity, rejecting the validity and equal value of experiences and lives other than our own. When we fail as a society to respect learning and each other, we become inhumane and untold tragedy follows.
We all have a responsibility to actively participate in our democracy as informed citizens, to collectively refine, demand, and enact justice. Educating ourselves further about the legacy of racial injustice in this country is a key piece of this.
The Library, your Library, is committed to enabling that learning. We will offer every tool, book, and collection we can, welcome and serve all, and encourage all to respect each other, learn together and from one another. All the accumulated knowledge we hold reminds us that we are capable, yes, of horror, but on balance, we are still capable together of imagining and achieving better.
For 125 years, whether in person or for now only online, we have led the fight against ignorance to support understanding, empathy, and solidarity. In this difficult moment, we reinforce our mission, and stand with all of our communities against injustice and racism.
Thank you, and please stay safe.
In the face of cruelty, fear, and anxiety, we need to search for what we can still hold on to, what we can still believe in. We can all be proud that the mission of the Library—to educate, welcome and respect all perspectives, convene safe and productive conversations, and offer opportunity to all—directly combats divisiveness, ignorance, hate, and racism. It is and remains our founding idea: that everyone can learn and contribute, and must be respected. And in learning about others we learn about ourselves and hopefully find ways to live together, to embrace and better understand each other.
Our varied backgrounds and experiences within our city and society are our greatest source of strength: bringing new ideas and perspectives, teaching empathy, and shining a light on how we falter. But not if we close our eyes and ears to the lessons of diversity, rejecting the validity and equal value of experiences and lives other than our own. When we fail as a society to respect learning and each other, we become inhumane and untold tragedy follows.
We all have a responsibility to actively participate in our democracy as informed citizens, to collectively refine, demand, and enact justice. Educating ourselves further about the legacy of racial injustice in this country is a key piece of this.
The Library, your Library, is committed to enabling that learning. We will offer every tool, book, and collection we can, welcome and serve all, and encourage all to respect each other, learn together and from one another. All the accumulated knowledge we hold reminds us that we are capable, yes, of horror, but on balance, we are still capable together of imagining and achieving better.
For 125 years, whether in person or for now only online, we have led the fight against ignorance to support understanding, empathy, and solidarity. In this difficult moment, we reinforce our mission, and stand with all of our communities against injustice and racism.
Thank you, and please stay safe.
Happening in Harlem: Jamal Joseph Interview on Facebook Live
Click on the flier to increase its size.
Source: VozaRivers/New Heritage Theatre Group
Sunday, May 31, 2020
NYC Mayor de Blasio's Daughter Arrested During Saturday Night Protests
NBC News: Chiara de Blasio was arrested Saturday night in Manhattan for “unlawful assembly” during the protests over George Floyd's death.
Click here for the report.
A Message from NY State Attorney General Letitia James
I understand and feel the pain and frustration of New York and our entire nation.
We must work together to fix what’s broken, we must work together to move forward.
My message to New Yorkers: pic.twitter.com/r5RuVjeio9— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) May 31, 2020
Ferguson Police Take a Knee in Honor of George Floyd
The Huffington Post: Chief Jason Armstrong, who joined the department last year, called the
2014 shooting of Michael Brown “a wake-up call to law enforcement.”
Click here for the report.
NOBLE Responds to the Arrest in the George Floyd Incident
Encourages Law Enforcement Agencies to Adopt Effective
Operating Policies and Training to Build Community Trust
Operating Policies and Training to Build Community Trust
Alexandria, VA. – “Justice must be fair. Justice must be transparent. Justice must be equal. George Floyd deserves justice,” said NOBLE National President Cerelyn J. Davis in response to Hennepin County District Attorney Mike Freeman’s announcement of the arrest and charging the arresting officer responsible for the death of George Floyd. “NOBLE believes in justice by action. The community and the officers involved deserve their day in court.”
NOBLE supports a full and thorough investigatory process to include charging all the people responsible for the death of Mr. Floyd. Justice must be served. The actions of all four officers involved in the incident are clear violations of the policing practices that NOBLE advocates as national standards. NOBLE encourages all law enforcement leaders to develop and implement 21st century policing practices for their agencies including: mandatory de-escalation training for all officers; prohibition of all physical restraint maneuvers on or above the neck; requiring officers to render medical aid to all people; and requiring that officers intervene where physical force is being applied to either stop or attempt to stop another officer when force is being inappropriately applied or is no longer required.
These operating principles and others that NOBLE supports must be implemented, trained, and enforced throughout the agency. These practices have been proven effective, increase public trust, improve public safety, and protect officers and the community. The margin of error is literally life or death and we emphasize the sanctity of life.
NOBLE has and will continue to work with law enforcement and community leaders to improve the partnerships between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.
Since 1976, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) has served as the conscience of law enforcement by being committed to justice by action. NOBLE represents over 3,000 members internationally, who are primarily African American chief executive officers of law enforcement agencies at federal, state, county and municipal levels, other law enforcement administrators, and criminal justice practitioners.
NOBLE supports a full and thorough investigatory process to include charging all the people responsible for the death of Mr. Floyd. Justice must be served. The actions of all four officers involved in the incident are clear violations of the policing practices that NOBLE advocates as national standards. NOBLE encourages all law enforcement leaders to develop and implement 21st century policing practices for their agencies including: mandatory de-escalation training for all officers; prohibition of all physical restraint maneuvers on or above the neck; requiring officers to render medical aid to all people; and requiring that officers intervene where physical force is being applied to either stop or attempt to stop another officer when force is being inappropriately applied or is no longer required.
These operating principles and others that NOBLE supports must be implemented, trained, and enforced throughout the agency. These practices have been proven effective, increase public trust, improve public safety, and protect officers and the community. The margin of error is literally life or death and we emphasize the sanctity of life.
NOBLE has and will continue to work with law enforcement and community leaders to improve the partnerships between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.
Since 1976, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) has served as the conscience of law enforcement by being committed to justice by action. NOBLE represents over 3,000 members internationally, who are primarily African American chief executive officers of law enforcement agencies at federal, state, county and municipal levels, other law enforcement administrators, and criminal justice practitioners.
Click here for additional information on the organization.
Source: NOBLE
'Future Hope' Column: Chalking and Walking Because Black Lives Matter
By Ted Glick
It
was about 6 am this morning, and I was in the last part of today’s
several times a week, 1 ½ hour, north Jersey bike ride, my freedom time.
I was feeling pretty good, still high after my participation in
yesterday’s historic demonstration of many thousands in Newark against
racist police violence and white supremacy. Long-time residents of
Newark said it was the largest demonstration they had seen in many
decades.
All of a sudden I started seeing Black Lives Matter messages on the pavement within a Nutley, NJ park that I was riding through. Then I started seeing young people, teenagers, mainly women and mainly white, stretching out for what became a quarter of a mile, chalking literally dozens of messages, including: “We See You, We Hear You, We Mourn With You, We Stand With You, We Fight With You, Black Lives Matter”—“Remember George Floyd”—“Remember Ahmaud Arbery”—“Remember Breonna Taylor”—“Donate to Fund Racial Justice at Black Lives Matter”—“If You Are Neutral in Situations of Injustice, You Have Chosen the Side of the Oppressor, Desmond Tutu.”
As I rode my bike by these wonderful, inspiring young people, I gave every one of them a thumbs up or said, “good job,” or “great work.” It was like a gift from God.
As I continued my ride, I began thinking that I should go back and take some pictures, so after I got home, I got in our car and did just that. The young people were still there when I arrived, and after I took a number of pictures I spoke with one of them, an Asian American woman. I told her who I was, that I have been working on racial justice issues in NJ for 20 years, and that I was at the big demonstration yesterday in Newark. I asked her if their group was an organized thing, and she said no, that what had happened was that one of them who had gone to the Newark demonstration yesterday had texted to the others with this chalking idea. They were all Nutley residents. And like young people often do, they didn’t waste any time putting the idea into effect.
These are the kinds of things that happen when a mass movement is alive and well, inspiring and moving new people to action.
Nutley is not exactly a hotbed of anti-racism, or of progressive activism in general. It’s a predominantly Italian American town historically, though there have been some demographic changes in recent decades. For these young Nutley residents to be taking this early morning action was very noteworthy.
One of the many good things about the massive demonstration in Newark yesterday was the unity in action on the part of the predominantly Black and very multi-racial gathering. Larry Hamm, leader of the People’s Organization for Progress which called the action, made it clear over the loudspeaker to a lot of applause that if people were there for something other than the planned mass march for justice, they should go somewhere else. News reports this morning indicated that later in the day there was some minimal violence by some demonstrators, but none during the several hours of the march for justice.
I have no idea where all of the energy, overwhelmingly positive, of this multi-racial uprising against white supremacy is going to lead, as far as systemic changes in the way the racist US criminal justice system and individual police function. Right now, it sure looks like conditions have ripened for this piece of the progressive agenda, in addition to Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, a humane and just immigration policy and more, to become a top priority over the coming months.
That will only happen if not just Black people and other people of color but growing numbers of white people, like those chalking this morning, speak out and take action, taking Desmond Tutu’s words to heart and publicly rejecting the oppressive and racist system.
Ted Glick is the author of the just published Burglar for Peace: Lessons Learned in the Catholic Left’s Resistance to the Vietnam War. Past writings and other information can be found at https://tedglick.com, and he can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jtglick.
Long Lines at Sole NYC ATM of State Unemployment Benefit Card Provider
This notification was submitted on May 30.
NEW YORK – Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer warned Governor Cuomo of lines of hundreds of unemployed New York City residents at an ATM machine in the Flatiron District where the only KeyBank ATM is located. In a letter to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Brewer wrote that "Some New Yorkers go to this bank because of the high maximum daily withdrawal limit and others just want to avoid surcharges. Some do not know that in addition to KeyBank ATMs, they can use Allpoint ATMs as well, including at RiteAid, CVS and Target."
"KeyBank and the state must work together to fully communicate these options to unemployed New Yorkers who are already faced with burdensome and challenging conditions as it is," Brewer added, proposing that text messages and emails be sent to unemployed debit card users to inform them of other ATM locations, and that this information be reiterated during the weekly certification process.
NEW YORK – Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer warned Governor Cuomo of lines of hundreds of unemployed New York City residents at an ATM machine in the Flatiron District where the only KeyBank ATM is located. In a letter to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Brewer wrote that "Some New Yorkers go to this bank because of the high maximum daily withdrawal limit and others just want to avoid surcharges. Some do not know that in addition to KeyBank ATMs, they can use Allpoint ATMs as well, including at RiteAid, CVS and Target."
"KeyBank and the state must work together to fully communicate these options to unemployed New Yorkers who are already faced with burdensome and challenging conditions as it is," Brewer added, proposing that text messages and emails be sent to unemployed debit card users to inform them of other ATM locations, and that this information be reiterated during the weekly certification process.
Source: The Office of the Manhattan Borough President
Governor Cuomo Announces Attorney General James Will Review Protests in NYC & Brooklyn
This video was published on YouTube on May 30.
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