King's murder fueled Olympic boycott talk

Ed Temple was fully aware of what was going on around him. The young women he coached at Tennessee State University knew what time it was as well. This wasn’t the time to go dancing in the streets. The acts of rebellion spilled out over the United States like a dark cloud of sawdust by the time 1968 rolled around. Revolt and defiance were heavy in the air. Black athletes were just as attached to the movement for the call of social justice as civil rights leaders.     As black Americans, these individuals wanted to do their part to help bring about change as the next man. The fact that they were cheered while in athletic competition didn’t shade them from the full-frontal bigotry they endured and being treated with less respect than a cup of spit. Racism was just as embedded in this country’s falsehood of democracy as a slice of apple pie.

Dr. John Carlos (left) and Dr. Tommie Smith finished first and third in the men's 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics. The two men later engaged in a human rights demonstration on the victory stand which resulted in the pair being sent back home immediately. Carlos and Smith are now revered for the stance they took in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo credit: San Jose State University It certainly was not a walk in the park.   That was highlighted in a call to arms as discussions of a full-fledged boycott by black athletes heated up as the 1968 Summer Olympics approached. This wasn’t something new to Temple. He had seen this drama play out before. Mal Whitfield, a three-time gold medalist and a former Tuskegee Airman with certified combat duty, called for black athletes to boycott and ditch the 1964 Tokyo Olympics altogether. Whitfield felt America needed to live up to its standard of treating all its citizens equally. The country, he reasoned, fell way short of that goal when it came to Negro Americans as he wrote in a commentary to Ebony magazine. “I advocate that every Negro athlete eligible to participate in the Olympic Games in Japan next October boycott the games if Negro Americans by that time have not been guaranteed full and equal rights as first-class citizens,” Whitfield said in the March 1964 edition of Ebony. “I make this proposal for two reasons: First, it is time for American Negro athletes to join in the civil rights fight – a fight that is far from won, despite certain progress made during the past year. For the most part, Negro athletes have been conspicuous by their absence from the numerous civil rights battles around the country. Second, it is time for America to live up to its promises of Liberty, Equality and Justice for all, or be shown up to the worlds as a nation where the color of one’s skin takes precedence over the quality of one’s mind and character,” Whitfield added.

Dr. Tommie Smith, speaking to an audience at the Santa Monica World Peace Ikeda Auditorium on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, re-enacts the gloved-fist, Black Power salute that he and Dr. John Carlos exhibited at the 1968 Olympics. Photo by Dennis J. Freeman/News4usonline Dr. Harry Edwards and the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) picked up the mantle that Whitfield left behind. Edwards and OPHR, with card-carrying members Tommie Smith and Lee Evans, meant business about gutting the appearance of American black athletes at the Mexico City, Mexico Olympics. They had a pretty good impetus for this to come to fruition. To OPHR, athletics was just another arm of injustice used against black Americans. Starting with Muhammad Ali fighting to get back his heavyweight championship belt, OPHR wanted to see change. Ali saw his heavyweight title stripped because of his refusal to go into the United States military draft. OPHR also wanted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to rid itself of president Avery Brundage, the same man who brokered the deal that gave Adolf Hitler the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  With these and other demands going on deaf ears, Edwards and OPHR ramped up their efforts to arouse the consciousness of the black athlete. It seemed to work. Dozens of colleges and universities were left to deal with the upheaval of black athletes requesting better treatment. Protest had been years in the making, so by the time 1968 rolled around, the black athlete was sick and tired of being sick and tired about the perceived abuse they faced.    In Smith, OPHR had the perfect national shot-caller. Smith was on top of the food chain in track and field, having collected 10 world records before he even set foot in Mexico City. His penned letter “Why Negroes Should Boycott the Olympics,” placed Smith alongside Whitfield in the bodacious Negro department.

Dr. Harry Edwards, who established the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), speaks at the San Jose University's Inspiration to Innovation Gala 2018 at the Events Center on the campus of San Jose State University on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, in San Jose, Calif. ( Josie Lepe/San Jose State University ) The one major difference was that Whitfield had already put behind his Olympic glory days. Smith was aiming to get his moment to shine, should it come to pass. He wasn’t too concerned about that. Smith was more alarmed at the way black Americans were treated.           As far as Evans, the introspective quarter-miler sort of blended in the background but had the same mindset as his “Speed City” brethren that something had to change…and change soon.               John Carlos decided to hop aboard the mutiny train after attending an OPHR meeting in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights stalwarts made an appearance. According to Carlos, King wanted a full-fledged strategy behind the idea. The talk of a black athlete boycott was getting serious.             “Dr. King made it clear from the beginning that he wasn’t just there to lend moral support,” Carlos said in his book, “The John Carlos Story. “He wanted to help us out hammer a plan and he made it clear that he a public support of the Olympic boycott.” Temple didn’t want his runners to get too caught up in the outside noise that could possibly distract them from what he wanted them to achieve. That outside noise, however, was too loud for anyone to put their heads in the sand and pretend racial tensions had not become the epicenter of the nation’s pulse. The state of Tennessee was in the middle of all this noise when King took a gunman’s bullet on the side of the neck in the spring of 1968. The assassination of the civil rights icon in Memphis set off rioting in hundreds of cities. Temple and his group of athletes could not escape the reality of being black in America.      “I was devastated and sad like everybody else,” Temple said. “It happened in Memphis, Tennessee, so it happened not too far away from us. We felt like everybody else.” This article is an excerpt from a forthcoming book written by Dennis J. Freeman about the Olympics and the legendary Tennessee State Tigerbelles Read the full article

C. DELORES TUCKER (1927-2005)



C. Delores Tucker at Black Caucus Event in Washington D.C., 1996

Courtesy John Matthew Smith (CC BY-SA 2.0)

C. Delores Tucker is best remembered as a civil rights trailblazer who fought for women of color, and toward the end of her life against profane and misogynist lyrics in hip-hop/ rap music. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1927, to Bahamian parents Whitfield and Captilda Nottage. Her father was a Baptist minister, and the couple operated a grocery store, an employment agency, and a real estate business in Philadelphia.

Cynthia Delores Nottage, the tenth of eleven children, attended Philadelphia High School for Girls, graduating in 1946. She then attended Temple University, where she studied finance and real estate. She dropped out however, to open an employment agency for southern blacks, who had just arrived in Philadelphia.  In 1951 she married businessman William Tucker, a construction company owner, who grew wealthy in Philadelphia real estate.

A successful realtor herself, by the 1960s she served as an officer in the Philadelphia NAACP. She worked closely with the local branch president Cecil Moore, to end racist practices in the city’s post offices and construction trades.  Tucker gained national prominence, when she led a Philadelphia delegation on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  By the decade’s end, Tucker’s expertise as a fundraiser for the NAACP, coupled with her Democratic Party affiliation, enabled her to be appointed chair of the Pennsylvania Black Democratic Committee.

Her selection by Philadelphia Mayor James H.J. Tate to serve on the city’s Zoning Commission in 1968, was the first of several prestigious political appointments, including vice chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party (1970). In 1971, Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp appointed her Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Under Tucker’s leadership, Pennsylvania became one of the first states to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, promote voter registration by mail, and to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.

In 1984 Tucker and New York Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, founded the National Political Congress of Black Women. In 1990, she and 15 other women and men, founded African American Women for Reproductive Freedom. Tucker however, failed to win elective office.  She ran, and lost, in her bid for lieutenant governor in 1978, the U.S. Senate in 1980, and the U.S. House in 1992.

By the 1990s Tucker became a highly vocal opponent of the salacious lyrics and sexual innuendos associated with “gangsta rap,” calling the lyrics of many of these songs “sleazy pornographic smut,” She joined conservative Republican Bill Bennett, in launching a national campaign against major music companies, for supporting and sustaining artists profiting from rap music. Tucker picketed stores that sold rap music. She bought stock in Sony, Time Warner, and other major corporations to protest obnoxious lyrics at their shareholder meetings. In response, she often faced the wrath of these artists including Tupac Shakur, KRS-One, Lil Wayne, and Lil’ Kim, who attacked her in their songs. Tucker filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against the estate of Tupac Shakur, for the lyrics he used in his album All Eyez on Me.

Cynthia Delores Tucker died on October 12, 2005 at a rehabilitation center in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She was 78, and was survived by her husband, William Tucker. The couple had no children.

Video: Dr. Sutter on updated COVID-19 restrictions

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Video: Dr. Sutter on updated COVID-19 restrictions

On April 1, 2021, the Allen County Department of Health held a news conference to update the COVID-19 restrictions in Allen County, Indiana.

The Biden/Harris Presidential Inaugural Committee announced additional programming in advance of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on January 20. The theme of the now five consecutive nights of events is “America United.”

On Saturday, January 16 is America United: An Inauguration Welcome Event Celebrating America’s Changemakers. The event will “celebrate America, reflect and honor our history, and highlight the incredible diversity of the nation” and kick off the five days of programming.

Whoopi Goldberg, actor Nik Dodani, comedienne and actress Cristela Alonzo, musician Darren Criss, Representative Grace Meng, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Resistance Revival Choir will participate. The Welcome Event will feature a special performance by the Grammy-nominated Black Pumas. It will stream live from 7:00-8:30 PM ET at bideninaugural.org and on Presidential Inaugural Committee social media pages.

Also announced today is United We Serve: A Celebration of the National MLK Day of Service on Monday, January 18. According to the release, thousands of volunteers across the country will participate in the National Day of Service, which will then be celebrated by entertainers and inspiring speakers such as Aloe Blacc, Rev. Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III, Chesca, Rep. Sharice Davids, Rosario Dawson, Andra Day, Yo-Yo Ma, Rev. Al Sharpton, Sean Patrick Thomas, Diane Warren, Lynn Whitfield and Bebe Winans. The event will stream live from 8:00-9:00 PM ET at bideninaugural.org and on the inaugural committee’s social media pages.

Those events are in addition to the already-announced Memorial and Nationwide Tribute to Remember and Honor the Lives Lost to Covid-19 on Tuesday the 19th. At 5:30 p.m. ET, a D.C. ceremony will feature a lighting around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The inaugural committee has invited cities and towns around the country to join in illuminating buildings and ringing church bells.

Inauguration Day events include President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris laying wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and the former First Ladies in attendance.

Tom Hanks will host the primetime Celebrating America special that will culminate the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Along with appearances from the 46th POTUS and 49th VPOTUS, the Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss-produced 90-minute show will feature “The Star-Spangled Banner” courtesy of Lady Gaga; a “musical performance” by Jennifer Lopez, the details of which were not disclosed; and performances from Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, Ant Clemons and longtime Democrat supporter Jon Bon Jovi.

Celebrating America will air on multiple networks. Starting at 8:30 p.m. ET, the unity-aiming special will be carried by ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and CNN, I hear. Additionally, the Weiss-directed show will be seen on Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Bing, NewsNOW from Fox, and AT&T DIRECTV and U-verse as well as the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s social media feeds.

In a lead-up to Wednesday’s ceremony, the Biden team is bringing in some fictional D.C. heavyweights for a January 15 fundraiser. Unveiled today, the Conversations with Actors from The West Wing, Scandal, and Designated Survivor event will see Designated Survivor regular and ex-Obama staffer Kal Penn playing ringmaster.

On January 17th, another star-studded fundraiser takes place. Dubbed the We the People Concert, the event will be hosted by Keegan-Michael Key and Debra Messing. It will feature Ben Harper, Carole King, will.i.am, Fall Out Boy, James Taylor, AJR, Michael Bivens, Connie Britton, Sophia Bush, Jaimie Camil and Cal Penn. The festivities begin at 8 PM ET.

I'm so fucking angry

I'm 16, so I can't vote

I'm living in my parents' house, so I can't go out and protest

I have signed so many petitions, but I still feel like I should be doing more

I just learned about the steps to fascism in school, and I see the signs

I can't tell my parents this is happening because it's "fake news"

My healthcare rights as a trans person just got taken away, but "just stop being trans it won't affect you"

I want to take a bigger stand on social issues happening, but I can't

The only fucking things I can do is try and help save the fucking bees, because that's not a matter of human rights so for some fucking reason I'm allowed to talk about it without getting yelled at

https://blacklivesmatter.com/petitions/

So go and sign some of those petitions maybe?

I'm so fucking sorry to everyone that has to deal with this first hand, but I know that the most important thing for me right now is staying alive so I can help make more changes later

EMMETT TILL - MEDGAR EVERS - GEORGE JUNIUS STINNEY JR. - DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR - HENRY SMITH - JOHN CRAWFORD III - MICHAEL BROWN - EZELL FORD - DANTE PARKER - MICHELLE CUSSEAUX - MARY TURNER - LAQUAN MCDONALD - MALCOLM X - TANISHA ANDERSON - AKAI GURLEY - TAMIR RICE - RUMAIN BRISBON - JERAME REID - MATTHEW AJIBADE - JAMES N. POWELL JR. - FRANK SMART - ERNEST LACY - NATASHA MCKENNA - TONY ROBINSON - ANTHONY HILL - MYA HALL - PHILLIP WHITE - ERIC HARRIS - WALTER SCOTT - WILLIAM CHAPMAN II - ALEXIA CHRISTIAN - BRENDON GLENN - VICTOR MANUEL LAROSA - JONATHAN SANDERS - FREDDIE CARLOS GRAY JR. - JOSEPH MANN - SALVADO ELLSWOOD - SANDRA BLAND - ALBERT JOSEPH DAVIS - DARRIUS STEWART - BILLY RAY DAVIS - SAMUEL DUBOSE - MICHAEL SABBIE - BRIAN KEITH DAY - CHRISTIAN TAYLOR - TROY ROBINSON - ASSHAMS PHAROAH MANLEY - MICHAEL STEWART - FELIX KUMI - KEITH HARRISON MCLEOD - JUNIOR PROSPER - LAMONTEZ JONES - PATERSON BROWN - DOMINIC HUTCHINSON - ANTHONY ASHFORD - ALONZO SMITH - TYREE CRAWFORD - INDIA KAGER - LA?VANTE BIGGS - MICHAEL LEE MARSHALL - JAMAR CLARK - RICHARD PERKINS - PHILLIP PANNELL - NATHANIEL HARRIS PICKETT - BENNI LEE TIGNOR - MIGUEL ESPINAL - MICHAEL NOEL - KEVIN MATTHEWS - BETTIE JONES - QUINTONIO LEGRIER - KEITH CHILDRESS JR. - JANET WILSON - RANDY NELSON - ANTRONIE SCOTT - WENDELL CELESTINE - DAVID JOSEPH - CALIN ROQUEMORE - DYZHAWN PERKINS - CHRISTOPHER DAVIS - MARCO LOUD - JAMES BYRD JR. - PETER GAINES - TORREY ROBINSON - DARIUS ROBINSON - KEVIN HICKS - MARY TRUXILLO - DEMARCUS SEMER - AMADOU DIALLO - WILLIE TILLMAN - TERRILL THOMAS - DEMETRIUS DUBOSE - ALTON STERLING - PHILANDO CASTILE - TERENCE CRUTCHER - PAUL O?NEAL - ALTERIA WOODS - BOBBY RUSS - JORDAN EDWARDS - AARON BAILEY - RONELL FOSTER - STEPHON CLARK - COREY CARTER - ANTWON ROSE II - TAYLER ROCK - MALICE GREEN - RAMARLEY GRAHAM - ELIJAH MCCLAIN - AIYANA STANLEY JONES - BOTHAM JEAN - PAMELA TURNER - DOMINIQUE CLAYTON - SEAN BELL - ATATIANA JEFFERSON - JEMEL ROBERSON - JAMES LEE ALEXANDER - RYAN MATTHEW SMITH - DERRICK AMBROSE JR. - ADDIE MAE COLLINS - CAROL DENISE MCNAIR - CAROLE ROBERTSON - CYNTHIA WESLEY - NICHOLAS HEYWARD JR. - CHRISTOPHER WHITFIELD - WILLIE MCCOY - VICTOR WHITE III - MARCUS DEON SMITH - CHAVIS CARTER - MARTIN LEE ANDERSON - CHRISTOPHER MCCORVEY - BRADLEY BLACKSHIRE - TIMOTHY THOMAS - REGINALD DOUCET JR. - DANROY "DJ" HENRY JR. - KARVAS GAMBLE JR. - ERIC REASON - KORRYN GAINES - REKIA BOYD - KIONTE SPENCER - DARIUS TARVER - WAYNE ARNOLD JONES - MANUEL ELLIS - VICTOR DUFFY JR. - KOBE DIMOCK-HEISLER - CLINTON R. ALLEN - DONTRE HAMILTON - TIMOTHY CAUGHMAN - SYLVILLE SMITH - COREY JONES - TYRE KING - ERIC GARNER - MILES HALL - KENDRICK JOHNSON - CHARLEENA LYLES - MICHAEL LORENZO DEAN - TRAYVON MARTIN - RENISHA MCBRIDE - KIMONI DAVIS - KIWANE CARRINGTON - OSCAR GRANT III - BREONNA TAYLOR - KALIEF BROWDER - DARRIEN HUNT - TROY HODGE - WILLIAM GREEN - AHMAUD ARBERY - DION JOHNSON - TONY MCDADE - ANDREW KEARSE - JAMEL FLOYD - GEORGE FLOYD - RAYSHARD BROOKS - ITALIA MARIE KELLY - DAVID MCATEE - CHRIS BEATY

I got this list from

I'm so fucking sorry to every single one of you

I'll make sure things change, or die trying

I promise

Each one of these names was somebody's baby.

EMMETT TILL - MEDGAR EVERS - DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR - HENRY SMITH - JOHN CRAWFORD III - MICHAEL BROWN - EZELL FORD - DANTE PARKER - MICHELLE CUSSEAUX - LAQUAN MCDONALD - TANISHA ANDERSON - AKAI GURLEY - TAMIR RICE - RUMAIN BRISBON - JERAME REID - MATTHEW AJIBADE - JAMES N. POWELL JR. - FRANK SMART - NATASHA MCKENNA - TONY ROBINSON - ANTHONY HILL - MYA HALL - PHILLIP WHITE - ERIC HARRIS - WALTER SCOTT - WILLIAM CHAPMAN II - ALEXIA CHRISTIAN - BRENDON GLENN - VICTOR MANUEL LAROSA - JONATHAN SANDERS - FREDDIE CARLOS GRAY JR. - JOSEPH MANN - SALVADO ELLSWOOD - SANDRA BLAND - ALBERT JOSEPH DAVIS - DARRIUS STEWART - BILLY RAY DAVIS - SAMUEL DUBOSE - MICHAEL SABBIE - BRIAN KEITH DAY - CHRISTIAN TAYLOR - TROY ROBINSON - ASSHAMS PHAROAH MANLEY - FELIX KUMI - KEITH HARRISON MCLEOD - JUNIOR PROSPER - LAMONTEZ JONES - PATERSON BROWN - DOMINIC HUTCHINSON - ANTHONY ASHFORD - ALONZO SMITH - TYREE CRAWFORD - INDIA KAGER - LA’VANTE BIGGS - MICHAEL LEE MARSHALL - JAMAR CLARK - RICHARD PERKINS - PHILLIP PANNELL - NATHANIEL HARRIS PICKETT - BENNI LEE TIGNOR - MIGUEL ESPINAL - MICHAEL NOEL - KEVIN MATTHEWS - BETTIE JONES - QUINTONIO LEGRIER - KEITH CHILDRESS JR. - JANET WILSON - RANDY NELSON - ANTRONIE SCOTT - WENDELL CELESTINE - DAVID JOSEPH - CALIN ROQUEMORE - DYZHAWN PERKINS - CHRISTOPHER DAVIS - MARCO LOUD - PETER GAINES - TORREY ROBINSON - DARIUS ROBINSON - KEVIN HICKS - MARY TRUXILLO - DEMARCUS SEMER - AMADOU DIALLO - WILLIE TILLMAN - TERRILL THOMAS - SYLVILLE SMITH - DEMETRIUS DUBOSE - ALTON STERLING - PHILANDO CASTILE - TERENCE CRUTCHER - PAUL O’NEAL - ALTERIA WOODS - BOBBY RUSS - JORDAN EDWARDS - AARON BAILEY - RONELL FOSTER - STEPHON CLARK - COREY CARTER - ANTWON ROSE II - TAYLER ROCK - MALICE GREEN - RAMARLEY GRAHAM - ELIJAH MCCLAIN - AIYANA STANLEY JONES - BOTHAM JEAN - PAMELA TURNER - DOMINIQUE CLAYTON - SEAN BELL - ATATIANA JEFFERSON - JEMEL ROBERSON - JAMES LEE ALEXANDER - RYAN MATTHEW SMITH - DERRICK AMBROSE JR. - ADDIE MAE COLLINS - CAROL DENISE MCNAIR - CAROLE ROBERTSON - CYNTHIA WESLEY - NICHOLAS HEYWARD JR. - CHRISTOPHER WHITFIELD - VICTOR WHITE III - CHRISTOPHER MCCORVEY - TIMOTHY THOMAS - REGINALD DOUCET JR. - DANROY "DJ" HENRY JR. - KARVAS GAMBLE JR. - ERIC REASON - KORRYN GAINES - REKIA BOYD - KIONTE SPENCER - DARIUS TARVER - WAYNE ARNOLD JONES - MANUEL ELLIS - VICTOR DUFFY JR. - KOBE DIMOCK-HEISLER - CLINTON R. ALLEN - TIMOTHY CAUGHMAN - COREY JONES - TYRE KING - ERIC GARNER - MILES HALL - MICHAEL LORENZO DEAN - TRAYVON MARTIN - RENISHA MCBRIDE - OSCAR GRANT III - BREONNA TAYLOR - KALIEF BROWDER - DARRIEN HUNT - TROY HODGE - WILLIAM GREEN - AHMAUD ARBERY - TONY MCDADE - JAMEL FLOYD - GEORGE FLOYD

BabyNames.com stands in solidarity with the Black community. #blacklivesmatter

I shared my version of ‘STRANGE FRUIT’ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/juneteenth-now-get-us-free-back-by-popular-demand-tickets-111204345190?ref=estw On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. In his Nobel Peace Prize speech in December that year, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called this legislation a “…second Emancipation Proclamation.” We are determined to strengthen our resolve to work for justice until we get all people free! On this July 2nd, please enjoy this re-broadcast of Juneteenth Now: Get Us Free, a commemoration of Black resistance, resilience, healing and joy. Produced by Charles Randolph-Wright, the evening will feature performances from a wide variety of artists and activists: Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Jenifer Lewis (Black-ish), Lynn Whitfield (Greenleaf), Nicole Ari Parker (Empire), Keith David (Greenleaf), Aunjanue Ellis (The Clark Sisters), Rosario Dawson (Rent), Christina Elmore (Insecure), Sarayu Blue (I Feel Bad), Angela Birchett (The Clark Sisters), Kelly AuCoin (Billions), Angelique Cabral (Life in Pieces). The evening includes a special appearance from the descendants of Frederick Douglass—Kenneth B. Morris, Jr and Nettie Washington Douglass. Musical performers include Soul icon Nona Hendryx, Gospel legend BeBe Winans, Aly Palmer (BETTY), Kendall Ramseur (Sons of Serendip), award winning theatre artists L Morgan Lee (A Strange Loop), Antwayn Hopper (A Strange Loop), Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill), The Broadway Husbands Bret Shuford (Beauty and the Beast) and Stephen Hanna (The Phantom of the Opera). Grammy Award Winning artist Marcus Hummon will also perform with the Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir. As our nation remains gripped in protests against police violence, this program will amplify calls for justice while simultaneously highlighting the joy, virtuosity and excellence that are too-often absent in media portrayals of Black culture. And—against the President’s white nationalism—the show will offer a vision of a justice-oriented, multicultural America in striking contrast. Proceeds benefit the shared, intersectional work of The Middle Project and Middle Church (at Manhattan, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGd3xagqBf/?igshid=1h9w0hyv8s0jy

Two protests against racial injustice took place on Saturday in Gulfport

Two protests against racial injustice took place on Saturday in Gulfport

While nationwide protests continue, so do protests in our own community.

Protesters and police marched together from Jones Park to the Gulfport Police Department Saturday morning, unifying against hate, violence, racism, and discrimination. All of which Minister Greg Whitfield reminds the crowd are what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. looked to eradicate years ago. “But the dream he had 57 years ago…

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Autopsy disputing police account of shooting prompts anger

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Autopsy disputing police account of shooting prompts anger

SACRAMENTO, Calif.  /March 30, 2018 (AP)(STL.News)—  Calls for justice and charges against two police officers who fatally shot an unarmed black man aren’t abating in California’s capital city after an autopsy showed Stephon Clark was shot in the back, a counter to the department’s statement that he was approaching officers when he was killed.

“His back was turned — he didn’t get a chance,” said Latarria McCain, who joined several hundred people protesting downtown Friday, a larger crowd than those at three previous protests.

Sacramento native and former NBA player Matt Barnes has organized another rally for Saturday afternoon, hours before a Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors game will bring thousands of fans to the downtown arena that protesters have twice blocked.

Several Kings players joined black community activists’ calls for racial justice at a Friday night community meeting, nearly two weeks after Clark’s March 18 death.

“I want to make sure that these mistakes that keep happening have consequences,” player Garrett Temple said.

Earlier, the famed pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu announced Clark was hit by eight bullets — six in the back, one in the neck and one in the thigh — and took three to 10 minutes to die.  Police waited about five minutes before rendering medical aid.

“The proposition that has been presented that he was assailing the officers, meaning he was facing the officers, is inconsistent with the prevailing forensic evidence,” Omalu said at a news conference with family attorney Benjamin Crump.

He said it was not clear if Clark would have survived had he gotten immediate medical attention.

Sacramento police responded with a brief statement that said the department had not yet received an official autopsy report from the Sacramento County coroner’s office. It said the coroner’s death investigation is independent from the investigation being conducted by police and the state Department of Justice.

A day after the shooting, police distributed a press release that said the officers who shot Clark “saw the suspect facing them, advance forward with his arms extended, and holding an object in his hands.”

Police video of the shooting doesn’t clearly capture all that happened after Clark ran into his grandmother’s backyard. He initially moved toward the officers, who are peeking out from behind a corner of the house, but it’s not clear he’s facing them or that he knows they are there when they open fire after shouting “gun, gun, gun.”

After 20 shots, officers call to him, apparently believing he might still be alive and armed. They eventually approach and find no gun, just a cellphone.

“When a young man who is 22 is shot down in his grandma’s backyard, which is supposed to be a safe place, I don’t know. What’s beyond a crisis?” said Nikki Whitfield, who works at a local adoption agency and attended the community forum.

With a joyous but somber feel, the event marked a change in tone from the protests that have disrupted the capital city’s downtown. But the message was similar, with several hundred members of the black community discussing police brutality and calling out of the names of black people who have been killed by law enforcement.

Later downtown, protesters chanted outside City Hall before marching, with some briefly entering a downtown bar and chanting Clark’s name.

Gov. Jerry Brown issued his first statement on the situation Friday, calling it a tragic death that “raises a number of very serious questions and I support the California Attorney General’s independent oversight of the investigation.”

The autopsy was released a day after an emotional funeral service. The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy and praised demonstrators for their restraint and urged them to follow the lead of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his advocacy of nonviolent protest.

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By KATHLEEN RONAYNE,By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

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