Journalism – Page 48

He was suspected of outing drug dealers on Facebook. Someone came for him during a livestream

9Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

He was suspected of outing drug dealers on Facebook. Someone came for him during a livestream

Prentis Robinson rarely went a day without using Facebook Live - his go-to way of broadcasting his music and his musings. He was on Facebook Live Monday, recording himself with a selfie stick, wearing the straw cowboy hat he often wore in videos. He talked about how his phone was stolen as he walked around his town of Wingate, North Carolina, 30 miles southeast of Charlotte. He stopped by the Wingate Police Department to check in with Chief Donnie Gay. “Bring his phone back so he can get on with his way today,” Gay told Robinson’s camera, according to video, part of which was posted by The Charlotte Observer. Robinson left and kept walking. Moments later, the camera captured and broadcast Robinson’s death. It happened about five and a half minutes into the video, when Robinson was app...

Worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles hold commitment ceremony

7Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles hold commitment ceremony

Crown-wearing worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles drank holy wine and exchanged or renewed wedding vows in a commitment ceremony at a Pennsylvania church on Wednesday, prompting a nearby school to cancel classes. With state police and a smattering of protesters standing watch outside the church, brides clad in white and grooms in dark suits brought dozens of unloaded AR-15s into World Peace and Unification Sanctuary for a religious event that doubled as an advertisement for the Second Amendment. The church, which has a worldwide following, believes the AR-15 symbolizes the “rod of iron” in the book of Revelation, and encouraged couples to bring the weapons. An AR-15 was used in the Florida high school massacre on Feb. 14. The Rev. Sean Moon, who leads the church, prayed for “a kingdom of...

Court upholds removal of cross-shaped monument on public land in Md.

5Mar

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Journalism

Court upholds removal of cross-shaped monument on public land in Md.

A federal appeals court is standing by a ruling that calls for the removal or destruction of a cross-shaped, 40-foot monument on public land that has towered over a busy intersection for nearly 100 years. In a closely divided vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit refused to reconsider an earlier decision that found government funding for the 40-foot-tall memorial in suburban Prince George’s County, Maryland, to be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The 8-6 vote drew passionate dissents from several judges who said it puts other monuments on public grounds nationwide at risk. The case could end up before the Supreme Court, which has not provided clear guidance about displays of religion on government land. Supporters of the Peace Cross, who say it is a secular tr...

A talkative Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflects on becoming himself

3Mar

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Journalism

A talkative Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflects on becoming himself

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been a best-selling author, civil-rights activist, actor, historian and one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived. One thing Abdul-Jabbar has never been — at least not in public — is chatty. “I’m not known for being a blabbermouth, you know?” the soft-spoken Abdul-Jabbar concedes with a smile, something else he was never particularly known for during his playing days. But, he adds, still smiling, his public can expect to see that change — and soon. This fall Abdul-Jabbar will embark on a cross-country tour as part of “Becoming Kareem,” a stage show in which he’ll discuss his life, answer audience questions and talk about the key mentors he says helped him achieve his goals. Among them: civil rights heroes Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, his legendar...

White nationalist is latest to sue over social media ban

28Feb

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Journalism

White nationalist is latest to sue over social media ban

A prominent white nationalist is suing Twitter for banning his accounts at a time when social networks are trying to crack down on hateful and abusive content without appearing to censor unpopular opinions. Jared Taylor filed the lawsuit Tuesday in state court in San Francisco, marking the latest legal challenge filed by right-wing groups and figures banned from social media sites. Taylor is the founder of the Virginia-based New Century Foundation, an IRS-classified charity that operates the American Renaissance online magazine. The magazine touts a philosophy that it’s “entirely normal” for whites to want to be a majority race. Twitter suspended the accounts of well-known white nationalists in December, saying it was enforcing new rules aimed at reducing abusive content. Social media s...

Fewer Americans are working don’t blame immigrants or food stamps

26Feb

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Journalism

Fewer Americans are working don’t blame immigrants or food stamps

Where did all the jobs go? Well, we’re finally starting to find some satisfactory answers to the granddaddy of all economic questions. The share of Americans with jobs dropped 4.5 percentage points from 1999 to 2016 - amounting to about 6.8 million fewer workers in 2016. Between 50 and 70 percent of that decline probably was due to an aging population. Explaining the remainder has been the inspiration for much of the economic research published after the Great Recession. Economists and politicians have pointed at immigration, China, video games, robots, opioids, universities, working spouses - everything up to and including the academic equivalent of shrugging their shoulders and muttering, “Kids these days.” Until recently, there was no good system to untangle it all. University of ...

N.Y. landlord obliterated dozens of graffiti murals. Now he owes the artists $6.7 million.

23Feb

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Journalism

N.Y. landlord obliterated dozens of graffiti murals. Now he owes the artists $6.7 million.

From the elevated 7-train, millions of people passing through Long Island City, Queens, could spot the massive warehouses. Five stories high, the buildings took up most of a city block. But that’s not the only reason the complex was hard to miss. Its bright yellow walls were covered with hundreds of graffiti murals: colorful bubble letters, fantastical creatures, mesmerizing portraits and tributes to legendary musicians. Known as 5Pointz, it was a graffiti mecca. Aerosol artists would travel from around the world to use its walls as canvases - legally. Busloads of tourists or students on field trips would frequent 5Pointz on a daily basis. It was used as a backdrop for movies and music videos, weddings and concerts. 5pointz transformed dilapidated warehouses and a previously crime-infes...

22Feb

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Journalism

Black contributions recognized

Sunday’s Black History Month Extravaganza provided a look back and a path forward. The program was held before a near-capacity crowd at Kewanee’s First Congregational Church and included city leaders, 74th Dist. Rep. Dan Swanson, a representative of U.S. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and the choirs of Kewanee and Wethersfield high schools. “It’s not just something for black people, but for all of America,” said the Rev. Marshall Jones of the annual month of commemoration, which was started by Carter G. Woodson Association of the Study of Negro Life and History in 1926 and formalized by President Gerald Ford in 1976. February was selected because both Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were born that month. Jones spoke of the “great gains” made by African American people since emancipation ...

Why I Teach a Course Called “White Racism”

16Feb

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Journalism

Why I Teach a Course Called “White Racism”

The need for students to learn about racism in American society existed long before I began teaching a course called “White Racism” at Florida Gulf Coast University earlier this year. I chose to title my course “White Racism” because I thought it was scholarly and succinct, precise and powerful. But others saw it differently. Many White Americans (and some people of color) became upset when they learned about this course. Thousands took to social media and far-right news sites and racist blogs to attack the course and me personally. Some 150 of these individuals sent me hateful and threatening messages. It might be tempting to blame the hostility to my course on the current political climate, in which the president of the United States routinely makes overtly racist statements and rece...

His Traveling Museum Is Bringing Black History to a Town Near You

14Feb

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Journalism

His Traveling Museum Is Bringing Black History to a Town Near You

As a social studies teacher in Detroit in 1994, Khalid el-Hakim used African American artifacts he collected to supplement information about Black history he found lacking in middle school textbooks. It was a charge, el-Hakim says, by Minister Louis Farrakhan at the Million Man March in 1995 to men to go back to their cities and “join a community organization and try to make some type of contribution to our community,” that was the catalyst to start a mobile museum. El-Hakim went from having tabletop displays at meetings of the local organization he joined to setting up exhibits for various organizations and institutions—first throughout the city and then across the state and nationwide. His Black History 101 Mobile Museum travels throughout the year from coast to coast sharing Africa...